While the dawn opens grey
Across the December sky
Spirit of Christmas unfurls
Below the hustle glitter
Of the manufactured world
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas is Upon Us!
I'm guessing you've been as busy as I with all the last-minute hustle and bustle. Monday night found my husband and me zipping through a cold rain to trudge from store to store on the quest for just the right gifts for the kids, as well as their difficult-to-buy-for grandfathers.
Now it's the day before the big day, and I pray that we are ready. I know we have food, we have alcohol, the house is decorated, there seems to be a tree with presents under it, and we're all together.
I think that might be as good as it gets. :)
Below I'll give you the lyrics to one of my favorite nontraditional Yule songs. It's better with the music which helps emphasize the narrator's progression from disillusioned to enchanted.
Christmas by Blues Traveler
Comes the time for Christmas
And I really have to ask
If this is feeling merry
How much longer must it last?
I wish a one horse open sleigh
Would come carry me away
But I've been waiting here all day
And one just hasn't come my way
Now excuse me if I'm not being reverent
But I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Save me from my righteous doubt as I watch helpless
And everybody sings
If it's Chanukah or Kwanza
Solstice, harvest or December twenty-fifth
Peace on earth to everyone
And abundance to everyone you're with
Laha da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da da
Laha da da da da
Laha da da da da
Comes the time for Christmas
And as you raise your Yuletide flask
There's like this feeling that you carry
As if from every Christmas past
It's as if each year it grows
It's like you feel it in your toes
And on and on your carol goes
Harvesting love among your woes
I want to buy into the benevolent
And I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Make me know what it's about
As the longing in me makes me want to sing
Noel or Navidad
Season celebration or just the end of the year
Christmas can mean anything
And I mean to keep its hope forever near
As if a cold and frozen soul is warmed to love
By love’s own hand
So goes the prayer (if for a day)
Peace on earth
And good will to man
At twenty below, the winter storm it billows
But the fire is so warm inside
And the children while nestled in their pillows
Dream of St. Nicholas's ride
And how the next day they'll get up and they will play
In the still falling Christmas snow
And together we'll celebrate forever
In defiance of the winds that blow
My God in heaven now I feel like I'm seven
And Spirit calls to me as well
As if Christmas had made the winter warmer
Made a paradise from what was hell
As if a cold and frozen soul is warmed to love
By love’s own hand
So goes the prayer (if for a day)
Peace on earth
And good will to man …
I wish a one horse open sleigh would come carry me away
And I'll keep waiting through next May
Until Christmas comes my way
Words by J. Popper. Music by T. Anastasio and J. Popper
Merry day before Christmas to you. I wish you peace, abundance, and few errands!
Now it's the day before the big day, and I pray that we are ready. I know we have food, we have alcohol, the house is decorated, there seems to be a tree with presents under it, and we're all together.
I think that might be as good as it gets. :)
Below I'll give you the lyrics to one of my favorite nontraditional Yule songs. It's better with the music which helps emphasize the narrator's progression from disillusioned to enchanted.
Christmas by Blues Traveler
Comes the time for Christmas
And I really have to ask
If this is feeling merry
How much longer must it last?
I wish a one horse open sleigh
Would come carry me away
But I've been waiting here all day
And one just hasn't come my way
Now excuse me if I'm not being reverent
But I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Save me from my righteous doubt as I watch helpless
And everybody sings
If it's Chanukah or Kwanza
Solstice, harvest or December twenty-fifth
Peace on earth to everyone
And abundance to everyone you're with
Laha da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da da
Laha da da da da
Laha da da da da
Comes the time for Christmas
And as you raise your Yuletide flask
There's like this feeling that you carry
As if from every Christmas past
It's as if each year it grows
It's like you feel it in your toes
And on and on your carol goes
Harvesting love among your woes
I want to buy into the benevolent
And I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Make me know what it's about
As the longing in me makes me want to sing
Noel or Navidad
Season celebration or just the end of the year
Christmas can mean anything
And I mean to keep its hope forever near
As if a cold and frozen soul is warmed to love
By love’s own hand
So goes the prayer (if for a day)
Peace on earth
And good will to man
At twenty below, the winter storm it billows
But the fire is so warm inside
And the children while nestled in their pillows
Dream of St. Nicholas's ride
And how the next day they'll get up and they will play
In the still falling Christmas snow
And together we'll celebrate forever
In defiance of the winds that blow
My God in heaven now I feel like I'm seven
And Spirit calls to me as well
As if Christmas had made the winter warmer
Made a paradise from what was hell
As if a cold and frozen soul is warmed to love
By love’s own hand
So goes the prayer (if for a day)
Peace on earth
And good will to man …
I wish a one horse open sleigh would come carry me away
And I'll keep waiting through next May
Until Christmas comes my way
Words by J. Popper. Music by T. Anastasio and J. Popper
Merry day before Christmas to you. I wish you peace, abundance, and few errands!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Illustration
The moon curls like a bubble above the waving water, a silver-purple-blue picture in a children's book.
******
On the longest night of the year, Happy Winter Solstice everyone.
******
On the longest night of the year, Happy Winter Solstice everyone.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Net of Lights
A net of lights glows
On the slate green wall
At the back of the coffee shop
The vanilla warmth of waffles fills the air
Christmas arrives with spices
Scents, shining shades
The bleak loneliness of season
Pours its riches
Like the ocean’s foam
Through a net of lights
On the slate green wall
At the back of the coffee shop
The vanilla warmth of waffles fills the air
Christmas arrives with spices
Scents, shining shades
The bleak loneliness of season
Pours its riches
Like the ocean’s foam
Through a net of lights
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
NO!
A strong word. One of our very first words.
From such an early age, we draw our boundaries and separate ourselves from others.
From such an early age, we draw our boundaries and separate ourselves from others.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Grace for Sunday
Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, said this to Laura Miller. Co-founder of Salon.com, she just wrote The Magician's Book about loving, disdaining, and reclaiming the Narnia series. I thought the quote was fitting for the day:
You can't regain the grace you've lost.
The only thing to do is go on through that
and eventually acquire the other sort of grace,
the conscious grace.
Experimental
If I were going to write something here, something meaningful, something deep, what would I say? Would I look from my window at the rain-splattered yard and notice the curious lift of my dog's head? Her fawn hair is slicked in wet stripes against her cheeks, and she twists her muzzle here and there, standing calm, scenting the wind to see where she will go next.
I think my yard matters. It matters to me. But do you care about my yard and the view from my window? How do I go about transporting the content of my small space into yours? How do the words that I spill across your screen make any difference to your dog, in your house, with your own pattern of sun and wind, or rain and snow gathering outside your own front door?
Why am I writing so predominantly in questions? Did you miss my writing over the weekend? If my writing here stops, will you wonder where I went? Or will you merely move on to reading the next blog on your list before you return to your workaday world of fixing meals and paying bills?
I like writing in the second person. But why? I talk to you, but I don't know you really. Yet the second person suggests that I do, that somehow we are conversing, that my words are opening a path between us that you did not realize existed until this moment of reading them.
Do you see what I am saying?
This is writing that wants to be a poem. This is writing that wants to say something. Shadow moth memories of other poems I have read circle through my mind, brushing their luminescent wings among my thoughts with a whisper I can almost hear. This is what you will come back to, says Margaret Atwood. This is where you begin. This is the way the world ends, TS Eliot wrote, but that's not what I'm saying in the slightest, merely copying his rhythm that my thoughts suggest to me.
I think my yard matters. It matters to me. But do you care about my yard and the view from my window? How do I go about transporting the content of my small space into yours? How do the words that I spill across your screen make any difference to your dog, in your house, with your own pattern of sun and wind, or rain and snow gathering outside your own front door?
Why am I writing so predominantly in questions? Did you miss my writing over the weekend? If my writing here stops, will you wonder where I went? Or will you merely move on to reading the next blog on your list before you return to your workaday world of fixing meals and paying bills?
I like writing in the second person. But why? I talk to you, but I don't know you really. Yet the second person suggests that I do, that somehow we are conversing, that my words are opening a path between us that you did not realize existed until this moment of reading them.
Do you see what I am saying?
This is writing that wants to be a poem. This is writing that wants to say something. Shadow moth memories of other poems I have read circle through my mind, brushing their luminescent wings among my thoughts with a whisper I can almost hear. This is what you will come back to, says Margaret Atwood. This is where you begin. This is the way the world ends, TS Eliot wrote, but that's not what I'm saying in the slightest, merely copying his rhythm that my thoughts suggest to me.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
In the Bleak Midwinter- Snow Had Fallen, Snow on Snow
It's Saturday; how about a poem?
This is a Christmas favorite for me. I fell in love with it through a beautiful picture book I used to read my daughters. The illustrations combine a second narrative to the nativity story.
The first stanza is my very favorite, of course. Such imagery.
In the Bleak Mid-Winter
In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.
Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
Christina Rossetti (1872)
This is a Christmas favorite for me. I fell in love with it through a beautiful picture book I used to read my daughters. The illustrations combine a second narrative to the nativity story.
The first stanza is my very favorite, of course. Such imagery.
In the Bleak Mid-Winter
In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.
Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
Christina Rossetti (1872)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Always Revising 3
My older daughter stayed home sick. Only she wasn't very. But it's always a hard call in the morning to decide if a complaining child is school-worthy or not.
So I let her stay home, which put yoga class out for me. She had to go with me to do my errands - Farmer's Market and some Christmas shopping.
As previously mentioned, she really was fine so it was nice to have her company.
And also restricting. It meant that I had to pay attention to her instead of just being lost in my thoughts.
Today was a day when I really needed to think. With the weekend coming and then vacation schedule, I'll be back with my family so much of my time. I love them so dearly, but sometimes the effort I put forth on their behalf exhausts me.
When they are older, maybe they will understand how very much I loved them and how very much I cared about their best interests.
Patience, I remind myself. Endurance, Faith. Deep, calming breaths.
So I let her stay home, which put yoga class out for me. She had to go with me to do my errands - Farmer's Market and some Christmas shopping.
As previously mentioned, she really was fine so it was nice to have her company.
And also restricting. It meant that I had to pay attention to her instead of just being lost in my thoughts.
Today was a day when I really needed to think. With the weekend coming and then vacation schedule, I'll be back with my family so much of my time. I love them so dearly, but sometimes the effort I put forth on their behalf exhausts me.
When they are older, maybe they will understand how very much I loved them and how very much I cared about their best interests.
Patience, I remind myself. Endurance, Faith. Deep, calming breaths.
In My Dreams
The narrow box of donuts
Was really just a box
Of candle drippings
Muted and brown
That interfered
with my typing
I had driven such
A long way
Already
I got out of the truck
At my house
To rest a while
2:30 am
Two of Swords
During meditation, I try to still my thoughts. Hush, hush, I tell myself.
Two memories repeatedly float themselves to the surface of my mind: an image of the Two of Swords card, and Ursula's quote about patience.
When class ends, I approach my teacher P. Not only is she an excellent yoga teacher, but she also reads Tarot Cards. (She's also a published novelist and a professor of creative writing. P's quite the package of skills! She's one of my heroes.) In fact, I'll be taking a Tarot class with her on Sunday, as my own skill at reading (so many texts) keeps presenting itself.
P is kneeling on a sheepskin spread before the stereo, sorting CDs back into their cases. "What does the Two of Swords mean to you?" I ask.
She peers up through the muted light. "Patience."
I snort in surprise. Of course, it does.
She continues. "Swords are Ego cards. The Two is one of the few positive swords. It's about the Ego encountering the first obstacle on its journey."
"But why is her back to the ocean?" I want to know.
"She's blindfolded and calm. She has her swords ready to protect her, but for now she's just waiting, relying on her own strength."
I've intentionally kept myself ignorant of established meanings for Tarot Cards, in part because they vary so widely from source to source, and in part because I want to read with my own intuition and unconscious associations. But I'm not that surprised to find that my mind has sorted out this meaning of the card and the quote to go with it.
Patience.
This is what life tries to teach me over and over.
About a month ago, every time I pulled a card it was either the Two of Swords or the Three of Pentacles. I haven't touched my deck for weeks. It's interesting that my mind decided to present a card to me through my thoughts.
I promise that this exchange really did happen and I am not making this up.
(If you don't believe in Tarot Cards, please don't think I'm crazy. I'm not crazy. I didn't either until a few years ago. I'm still a heavy skeptic. But I think there are keys to the unconscious in iconic images such as these cards.)
Scattered Stones
The sky scrubbed clean by wind paints the horizon as muted rainbow.
******
As he brushes by, the palm frond ruffles his hair like an old friend.
******
I rush out my front door, car keys in hand, to find the widening dawn. Mindfulness sweeps me with a wave of intense gratitude.
******
Dependence and her intense vulnerability hit her over and over with the disbelieving gasp of icy waves.
******
When we're gone, where do we go?
******
As he brushes by, the palm frond ruffles his hair like an old friend.
******
I rush out my front door, car keys in hand, to find the widening dawn. Mindfulness sweeps me with a wave of intense gratitude.
******
Dependence and her intense vulnerability hit her over and over with the disbelieving gasp of icy waves.
******
When we're gone, where do we go?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
This I Know
With pop music groups broaching the subject of love right and left, I'll relate the mild argument my therapist and I had today. (Okay, yes, I have a therapist. It explains a lot. As if you don't.)
My therapist took the stance that all love is conditional.
"No way," I said. "Love can be unconditional."
He challenged me to name unconditional love.
"Easy. The love for your children."
T argued that love for children may begin as unconditional but the older they become, the more your love for them becomes conditioned by your feelings about them as people. "What if your child was a drug addict, violent scumbag?" he asked.
But I held firm. Sure, I admitted, you wouldn't LIKE them. You absolutely wouldn't like their behavior. But it is possible to still LOVE them. Not everybody does, of course. But it's quite possible.
I went further. I actually think I LOVE my children more now than I did when they were younger, because with each year, they become more separate from me and more of the people that they really are.
He and I did readily agree that of all the relationships, romantic/relationship love is actually the most conditional. Most relationships are complexly negotiated contracts with each party agreeing to abide by their stipulations. That's why relationships fail so relatively frequently and easily.
But Unconditional Love? It exists - without a doubt. I know it does. And I didn't even mention the classic example - God's neverending love for us, which I deeply feel and believe in - as I thought it would be too difficult to prove or disprove.
In fact, in a real and deep sense, since you're reading this blog right now, I'm sharing Unconditional Love with you. Yep, you. For your humanity and all that you are, I love you unconditionally. And you know it. You can feel it. That love will persist despite all those annoying character flaws that you have. (We all have our share after all.) Even if I didn't like you, I could love you.
Reminds me of something S was teaching about in yoga training this weekend. Like many, he's clearly been scarred by a Christian upbringing. That's a common factor that brings Westerners to Yoga. He even went so far as to angrily declare, "Fundamentalist religions are stupid, that's all they are. All Fundamentalists religions are just stupid!"
After a calming breath, he continued, "Christianity is a Deep Practice. That's a heavy load to lay on people, To love others as yourself. It's no wonder so many crack under that pressure."
Good point. That is a Deep Practice.
Unconditional Love.
But it is possible. This I know.
My therapist took the stance that all love is conditional.
"No way," I said. "Love can be unconditional."
He challenged me to name unconditional love.
"Easy. The love for your children."
T argued that love for children may begin as unconditional but the older they become, the more your love for them becomes conditioned by your feelings about them as people. "What if your child was a drug addict, violent scumbag?" he asked.
But I held firm. Sure, I admitted, you wouldn't LIKE them. You absolutely wouldn't like their behavior. But it is possible to still LOVE them. Not everybody does, of course. But it's quite possible.
I went further. I actually think I LOVE my children more now than I did when they were younger, because with each year, they become more separate from me and more of the people that they really are.
He and I did readily agree that of all the relationships, romantic/relationship love is actually the most conditional. Most relationships are complexly negotiated contracts with each party agreeing to abide by their stipulations. That's why relationships fail so relatively frequently and easily.
But Unconditional Love? It exists - without a doubt. I know it does. And I didn't even mention the classic example - God's neverending love for us, which I deeply feel and believe in - as I thought it would be too difficult to prove or disprove.
In fact, in a real and deep sense, since you're reading this blog right now, I'm sharing Unconditional Love with you. Yep, you. For your humanity and all that you are, I love you unconditionally. And you know it. You can feel it. That love will persist despite all those annoying character flaws that you have. (We all have our share after all.) Even if I didn't like you, I could love you.
Reminds me of something S was teaching about in yoga training this weekend. Like many, he's clearly been scarred by a Christian upbringing. That's a common factor that brings Westerners to Yoga. He even went so far as to angrily declare, "Fundamentalist religions are stupid, that's all they are. All Fundamentalists religions are just stupid!"
After a calming breath, he continued, "Christianity is a Deep Practice. That's a heavy load to lay on people, To love others as yourself. It's no wonder so many crack under that pressure."
Good point. That is a Deep Practice.
Unconditional Love.
But it is possible. This I know.
a long and dark December
I heard this driving from one appointment to another today. Since ColdPlay was already on my mind, I thought I'd make it a lyrics-block post.
I love the music; the video's a bit creepy; the sentiment is uncomfortably plea-like. But I'm posting it here simply because random fate and some DJ's playlist suggested it today.
(Oh, and also because I love anything about winter, Christmas or December. Look for more themed poems to appear in coming weeks!)
Violet Hill
Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember
There was snow, white snow
Clearly I remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below
When the future's architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You'd better lie low
If you love me
Won't you let me know
Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And a fox became God
Priests clutched onto bibles
Hollowed out to fit their rifles
And a cross was held aloft
Bury me in armour
When I’m dead and hit the ground
My nerves are poles that unfroze
And if you love me
Won't you let me know
I don't want to be a soldier
Who the captain of some sinking ship
Would stow, far below
So if you love me
Why d'you let me go
I took my love down to violet hill
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still
Said if you love me
Won't you let me know
If you love me
Won't you let me know
I love the music; the video's a bit creepy; the sentiment is uncomfortably plea-like. But I'm posting it here simply because random fate and some DJ's playlist suggested it today.
(Oh, and also because I love anything about winter, Christmas or December. Look for more themed poems to appear in coming weeks!)
Violet Hill
Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember
There was snow, white snow
Clearly I remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below
When the future's architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You'd better lie low
If you love me
Won't you let me know
Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And a fox became God
Priests clutched onto bibles
Hollowed out to fit their rifles
And a cross was held aloft
Bury me in armour
When I’m dead and hit the ground
My nerves are poles that unfroze
And if you love me
Won't you let me know
I don't want to be a soldier
Who the captain of some sinking ship
Would stow, far below
So if you love me
Why d'you let me go
I took my love down to violet hill
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still
Said if you love me
Won't you let me know
If you love me
Won't you let me know
ColdPlay - Viva La Vida
It's been a while since I posted any lyrics. (I think I've showed remarkable restraint actually!)
But this one is by request, for T.
Viva La Vida
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you know there was never,
never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world(Ohhh)
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
(Ohhhhh Ohhh Ohhh)
Hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
(Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh)
But this one is by request, for T.
Viva La Vida
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you know there was never,
never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world(Ohhh)
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
(Ohhhhh Ohhh Ohhh)
Hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
(Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Earth and Heaven
Mmmmm. Browsing poetry on the net. Have to love it, even when it tears at my heart.
I talked to an old friend this afternoon, my oldest friend really. We go all the way back to high school. Her teenaged daughter, my goddaughter, wants to be a writer. My friend and I have drifted now, but we maintain the ties we still have out of respect for how close we once were. When her child was born, she was like my own for several years. I loved her with a ferocious intensity that never tired.
My friend jokes that J takes after me. "You influenced her in those crucial years of early development," she claims.
I laugh. Then I offer this advice that I mean quite seriously. I've heard it from other writers, and it rang true. If it is at all possible for her to do anything else she should, I tell my friend. If your daughter can leave writing behind, if she can be happy with any other tasks, she'll live a happier life. Writing is amazing. Writing is a lover that lingers with us always. But writing, while it can lift us to heights and depths that we only imagine, is not kind.
I told you I'd been reading poetry. Via Negativa is an extraordinary site. I lifted the following straight from Fiona's blog (Hope she won't mind!):
Wanting Sumptuous Heavens
No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.
-Robert Bly
What do I want? I ask myself.
I want love, most of all. I want compassion, both given and received. I want enlightenment. I want security. I want connection, attachment of the positive kind, happiness for those I love. I want to make a difference and to help others all around me. I want friendship upon friendship, showers of friendship shooting from the sky like silvered falling stars. I want forgiveness and redemption, reconciliation and starting again. I want passion and truth. I want not satisfaction, but contentment, like the wise heron.
Hope and Faith I fortunately and inexplicably have in spades. I have enough of that to spare.
If I could sit on Santa's velveted lap and have his kindly gaze turn upon me, these are the things I would ask for. Not diamonds, not a shiny car, not even guaranteed-return market investments.
I would ask for these intangibles. I am asking for these. I'm human, with opposable thumbs, and this is the list of what I want.
I talked to an old friend this afternoon, my oldest friend really. We go all the way back to high school. Her teenaged daughter, my goddaughter, wants to be a writer. My friend and I have drifted now, but we maintain the ties we still have out of respect for how close we once were. When her child was born, she was like my own for several years. I loved her with a ferocious intensity that never tired.
My friend jokes that J takes after me. "You influenced her in those crucial years of early development," she claims.
I laugh. Then I offer this advice that I mean quite seriously. I've heard it from other writers, and it rang true. If it is at all possible for her to do anything else she should, I tell my friend. If your daughter can leave writing behind, if she can be happy with any other tasks, she'll live a happier life. Writing is amazing. Writing is a lover that lingers with us always. But writing, while it can lift us to heights and depths that we only imagine, is not kind.
I told you I'd been reading poetry. Via Negativa is an extraordinary site. I lifted the following straight from Fiona's blog (Hope she won't mind!):
Wanting Sumptuous Heavens
No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.
-Robert Bly
What do I want? I ask myself.
I want love, most of all. I want compassion, both given and received. I want enlightenment. I want security. I want connection, attachment of the positive kind, happiness for those I love. I want to make a difference and to help others all around me. I want friendship upon friendship, showers of friendship shooting from the sky like silvered falling stars. I want forgiveness and redemption, reconciliation and starting again. I want passion and truth. I want not satisfaction, but contentment, like the wise heron.
Hope and Faith I fortunately and inexplicably have in spades. I have enough of that to spare.
If I could sit on Santa's velveted lap and have his kindly gaze turn upon me, these are the things I would ask for. Not diamonds, not a shiny car, not even guaranteed-return market investments.
I would ask for these intangibles. I am asking for these. I'm human, with opposable thumbs, and this is the list of what I want.
Living through History
At the office, the mood is subdued. My co-workers gather silently around the glass table, pulling white-bread sandwiches out of brown bags.
A round of lay-offs swept through headquarters last week, a cutting wind scattering leaves before it. They worry that it will spread to the regions next.
At one point, we find ourselves lamely naming states and countries that start with "New" in a dispirited effort to talk about something. My boss wants extra credit for Nova Scotia.
I try to cheer them up a bit, to bring some hope and diversion into their routines. I chat blithely, lapsing into stories about Santa Claus that gets everyone enthusiastically reminiscing.
More serious is the possibility that my words will bring in the revenue that will spare their jobs. They welcome my presence for many reasons.
Before I leave, my friend and I are catching up.
"Such an interesting time to live through." I put a good face on it. "We'll be able to look back and say it was so historic."
"Yeah," she replied glumly. "I just hope I won't be saying, I remember History. The History of when I used to own a house and a car."
Me too.
A round of lay-offs swept through headquarters last week, a cutting wind scattering leaves before it. They worry that it will spread to the regions next.
At one point, we find ourselves lamely naming states and countries that start with "New" in a dispirited effort to talk about something. My boss wants extra credit for Nova Scotia.
I try to cheer them up a bit, to bring some hope and diversion into their routines. I chat blithely, lapsing into stories about Santa Claus that gets everyone enthusiastically reminiscing.
More serious is the possibility that my words will bring in the revenue that will spare their jobs. They welcome my presence for many reasons.
Before I leave, my friend and I are catching up.
"Such an interesting time to live through." I put a good face on it. "We'll be able to look back and say it was so historic."
"Yeah," she replied glumly. "I just hope I won't be saying, I remember History. The History of when I used to own a house and a car."
Me too.
Notable
I've come across this quote three or four times within the last few weeks, most recently in this book review:
The past isn't dead; it isn't even past - William Faulkner
(Not quite sure what life is saying to me with this one.)
The past isn't dead; it isn't even past - William Faulkner
(Not quite sure what life is saying to me with this one.)
Always Revising 2
O, Blog, You are so tempting. Calling to me even more than food (which is actually a GOOD thing) and particularly more than work.
Okay, just a short chat.
I'm on my way to Upland now, because I didn't go yesterday. You'll remember that yesterday I changed my plans and went out for a working lunch in the cafe. Problem was, by the time I finally got everything together and bustled in the door, surrounded by that deliciously warm coffee aroma, the heart of lunchtime had arrived. Every table near an outlet was taken.
Since my trusty, bulky laptop has a battery life of approximately 11.38 minutes, and since I couldn't even draw that much work from it as it was completely uncharged, the lack of electricity meant I couldn't write.
So I just stared dreamily out at the street and counted passing cars. I would have eavesdropped on the other customers but a complete silence reigned below the piped-in music as everybody lucky enough to have a plug-in tap-tapped at their little keyboards. I think the young woman nearest me was writing a paper for her business management class, but it looked pretty dull.
After eating, I needed to head back home to work. Just to make myself feel like I didn't drive all that way to eat a waffle, I popped in to the Trader Joe's. I bought 1 gallon of milk, 2 quarts of eggnog, 1 pint of half-and-half, 2 bananas and a bottle of brandy. (What ?- for Christmas cooking!!) We're big on the dairy products in my home.
However, I'm glad to report that just being out with other people did make me feel more social. On the drive home, I got through 3 important business calls. (Because there's no better time to talk business than when you're hurtling along at 80 miles per hour with no possible hope of taking any notes. I just agree a lot and really concentrate.)
Yesterday, I finished one grant. I made myself get out of bed at 2:30 am so I could have several hours of silence and finished the other. All emailed off and waiting for their owners (?) by 8:30 am.
And, now, I get to head out to the office and start a whole new round of work.
Maybe I'll stop by Trader Joe's and buy some vodka, cornflakes and chocolate. I like to be useful!
Okay, just a short chat.
I'm on my way to Upland now, because I didn't go yesterday. You'll remember that yesterday I changed my plans and went out for a working lunch in the cafe. Problem was, by the time I finally got everything together and bustled in the door, surrounded by that deliciously warm coffee aroma, the heart of lunchtime had arrived. Every table near an outlet was taken.
Since my trusty, bulky laptop has a battery life of approximately 11.38 minutes, and since I couldn't even draw that much work from it as it was completely uncharged, the lack of electricity meant I couldn't write.
So I just stared dreamily out at the street and counted passing cars. I would have eavesdropped on the other customers but a complete silence reigned below the piped-in music as everybody lucky enough to have a plug-in tap-tapped at their little keyboards. I think the young woman nearest me was writing a paper for her business management class, but it looked pretty dull.
After eating, I needed to head back home to work. Just to make myself feel like I didn't drive all that way to eat a waffle, I popped in to the Trader Joe's. I bought 1 gallon of milk, 2 quarts of eggnog, 1 pint of half-and-half, 2 bananas and a bottle of brandy. (What ?- for Christmas cooking!!) We're big on the dairy products in my home.
However, I'm glad to report that just being out with other people did make me feel more social. On the drive home, I got through 3 important business calls. (Because there's no better time to talk business than when you're hurtling along at 80 miles per hour with no possible hope of taking any notes. I just agree a lot and really concentrate.)
Yesterday, I finished one grant. I made myself get out of bed at 2:30 am so I could have several hours of silence and finished the other. All emailed off and waiting for their owners (?) by 8:30 am.
And, now, I get to head out to the office and start a whole new round of work.
Maybe I'll stop by Trader Joe's and buy some vodka, cornflakes and chocolate. I like to be useful!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
A Yoga Narrative
Okay, I'll tell you another story that happened in Yoga Teacher Training on Sunday:
The afternoon was winding to a close, and S was wrapping things up. Instead of just letting us go an hour early, he wanted to lead us through meditation.
He spoke about the Chakras, the seven energy wheels that are aligned with our spines. According to him, Hatha Yoga came into existence as an offshoot of earlier practices about 1200 years ago with the description of these Chakras. I don't know the Sanskrit off the top of my head (yet), but the first Chakra is at the top of the head. The next is at the third eye or forehead. The next is the throat. The heart centers it all. Then the solar plexis has energy, so does a spot in from the navel at roughly our center of gravity, and, finally, the "lowest" the root of the spine.
So S was being S, making these grand pronouncements. "In my opinion, nobody has ever tapped into the energy of the lower Chakras," he said. "Well, only a few, and they've probably been corrupted by the energy. The energy of the lower chakras is as powerful as a train coming down the tracks. It's a good thing we can't access it, and most people probably shouldn't even try..." And so on and so forth.
I sat there churning this around in my mind. Is this true? I wondered. I thought of my own fairly limited meditation experience. I'm actually pretty sure that I HAVE tapped into this chakra energy. I've felt that. Besides why would there be all this energy inside of us if we couldn't access it? That makes no sense.
But S is very into the "danger" of yoga - he advises caution in everything he teaches. (Remember, he warned us that a side effect of breath practice might be death. Which was an interesting conundrum. Breathe and you might die; don't breathe and you will die!)
So he talked for about 15 minutes about all the dangers, then he said, "Okay, let's give it a shot!"
And I burst out into peals of laughter.
Which I think may have offended his sensibilites, and ruined the dramatic mood he had set. Defensively he said, "Well, it's no good if I warn you AFTER something happens."
So we meditated on just the lower three Chakras. Everyone seemed to make it through the experience undamaged.
Teacher training is fun!
The afternoon was winding to a close, and S was wrapping things up. Instead of just letting us go an hour early, he wanted to lead us through meditation.
He spoke about the Chakras, the seven energy wheels that are aligned with our spines. According to him, Hatha Yoga came into existence as an offshoot of earlier practices about 1200 years ago with the description of these Chakras. I don't know the Sanskrit off the top of my head (yet), but the first Chakra is at the top of the head. The next is at the third eye or forehead. The next is the throat. The heart centers it all. Then the solar plexis has energy, so does a spot in from the navel at roughly our center of gravity, and, finally, the "lowest" the root of the spine.
So S was being S, making these grand pronouncements. "In my opinion, nobody has ever tapped into the energy of the lower Chakras," he said. "Well, only a few, and they've probably been corrupted by the energy. The energy of the lower chakras is as powerful as a train coming down the tracks. It's a good thing we can't access it, and most people probably shouldn't even try..." And so on and so forth.
I sat there churning this around in my mind. Is this true? I wondered. I thought of my own fairly limited meditation experience. I'm actually pretty sure that I HAVE tapped into this chakra energy. I've felt that. Besides why would there be all this energy inside of us if we couldn't access it? That makes no sense.
But S is very into the "danger" of yoga - he advises caution in everything he teaches. (Remember, he warned us that a side effect of breath practice might be death. Which was an interesting conundrum. Breathe and you might die; don't breathe and you will die!)
So he talked for about 15 minutes about all the dangers, then he said, "Okay, let's give it a shot!"
And I burst out into peals of laughter.
Which I think may have offended his sensibilites, and ruined the dramatic mood he had set. Defensively he said, "Well, it's no good if I warn you AFTER something happens."
So we meditated on just the lower three Chakras. Everyone seemed to make it through the experience undamaged.
Teacher training is fun!
Always Revising
I'll apologize to most of you for the incomprehensibility of the post below. Sometimes I write to please only myself. I mean, after all, it is MY blog.
But I am capable of writing with clarity and precision. I feel a bit embarrassed after reading Andrew's crystalline prose. Oh well. Process.
I suspect my post needed to go through several more revisions than I have time for.
Just like my day today. It is currently being revised - one of the joys of freelancing. I thought I was going to Upland to work at my main nonprofit client. But I don't feel much like being in an office environment.
I do have two proposals that I must finish and submit. So I think I'll pack it all up, heft my trusty (bulky) laptop and head to the Plaza for waffles and inspiration. (You'll be relieved to know that I'm no longer boiling water when I'm in the house alone. So I'll welcome a cup of hot tea in the cafe, as well.)
A bit of good news that I want to share - I got an excited call from my boss this weekend. One of my grants came through for $20,000 that the organization sorely needs. It feels good to help others help others. :)
Words have amazing power.
But I am capable of writing with clarity and precision. I feel a bit embarrassed after reading Andrew's crystalline prose. Oh well. Process.
I suspect my post needed to go through several more revisions than I have time for.
Just like my day today. It is currently being revised - one of the joys of freelancing. I thought I was going to Upland to work at my main nonprofit client. But I don't feel much like being in an office environment.
I do have two proposals that I must finish and submit. So I think I'll pack it all up, heft my trusty (bulky) laptop and head to the Plaza for waffles and inspiration. (You'll be relieved to know that I'm no longer boiling water when I'm in the house alone. So I'll welcome a cup of hot tea in the cafe, as well.)
A bit of good news that I want to share - I got an excited call from my boss this weekend. One of my grants came through for $20,000 that the organization sorely needs. It feels good to help others help others. :)
Words have amazing power.
Reader Response Criticism
That is what was. This is what is. I'm most interested in what could be.
I'd like to be happy someday. I'd like to be unified. I'd like my stories to fit together into one book, bound together without disparity. I'm tired of telling this story and that.
Yoga teacher trainer S and I had a moment in front of the class this weekend. Sometimes I'm quiet and reserved in class even though I disagree. Other times I let that energy be apparent. I gasped in feigned shock when he told us that if we didn't focus our energy while we were painting our assigned Yantra then we would be stupid. I was pointing out that a teacher shouldn't call our work stupid.
But S rounded on me. He said, "Come on, Marie, admit that. If you make your Yantra from a place of mind chatter, it's just stupid. Your mind chatter is stupid. Isn't it? Isn't most of what you say in your mind just negative, self-critical stuff?!"
Man, he wanted to be right. He wanted my instant agreement that my mind chatter is full of negative voices that I'm hardly aware of. But I couldn't agree. Nor did I really want to explain my psyche to the whole class.
I understood what he meant - not to create from a place of superficial worry and self-restriction. A Yantra is a painting that is meant to also be a meditation, an offering, a performed prayer.
I could have said, "I'm not a good example." I could have said, "I've spent the last few years in a deep and extensive examination of my mind chatter. I hear it and interact with it at a level unusual for Westerners. My mind chatter isn't critical of me. My mind chatter is stories about life and reality."
Sometimes I'm quite amusing to listen to.
Ack. Writing. And now this has become a story. I started with one aim, one expression and these words have veered elsewhere.
I'll say it simply - I think it's up to you, reader. I don't think I can change this whole story from where I sit. The dance of narrative is a dance between teller and listener, words and story, signifier and signified. I think you have to bridge this gap that I can't.
Of course it is from my point of view. But that's the only place I can write from. I am reliant, even dependent, on my readers to participate in this construction of meaning along with me. Otherwise, my story does not exist, and my words are void.
I'd like to be happy someday. I'd like to be unified. I'd like my stories to fit together into one book, bound together without disparity. I'm tired of telling this story and that.
Yoga teacher trainer S and I had a moment in front of the class this weekend. Sometimes I'm quiet and reserved in class even though I disagree. Other times I let that energy be apparent. I gasped in feigned shock when he told us that if we didn't focus our energy while we were painting our assigned Yantra then we would be stupid. I was pointing out that a teacher shouldn't call our work stupid.
But S rounded on me. He said, "Come on, Marie, admit that. If you make your Yantra from a place of mind chatter, it's just stupid. Your mind chatter is stupid. Isn't it? Isn't most of what you say in your mind just negative, self-critical stuff?!"
Man, he wanted to be right. He wanted my instant agreement that my mind chatter is full of negative voices that I'm hardly aware of. But I couldn't agree. Nor did I really want to explain my psyche to the whole class.
I understood what he meant - not to create from a place of superficial worry and self-restriction. A Yantra is a painting that is meant to also be a meditation, an offering, a performed prayer.
I could have said, "I'm not a good example." I could have said, "I've spent the last few years in a deep and extensive examination of my mind chatter. I hear it and interact with it at a level unusual for Westerners. My mind chatter isn't critical of me. My mind chatter is stories about life and reality."
Sometimes I'm quite amusing to listen to.
Ack. Writing. And now this has become a story. I started with one aim, one expression and these words have veered elsewhere.
I'll say it simply - I think it's up to you, reader. I don't think I can change this whole story from where I sit. The dance of narrative is a dance between teller and listener, words and story, signifier and signified. I think you have to bridge this gap that I can't.
Of course it is from my point of view. But that's the only place I can write from. I am reliant, even dependent, on my readers to participate in this construction of meaning along with me. Otherwise, my story does not exist, and my words are void.
Monday, December 8, 2008
No title comes to mind
Outside my window, the sky darkens. Dusk comes, bringing before it a storm. Suits my mood. Not writing, not accomplishing much.
Stuck here with my questions and the answers I won't find. Sigh.
I don't know. I guess this public space isn't the right place for what I really want to say. I'm not even free to write my thoughts, don't even know for sure what they are.
There's a bit of longing. A bit of hunger. Wistfulness. Loneliness. Curiousity. Wanting just to be, to be together, to be a bit of a family, to connect.
Wondering how a writer writes a story, when it starts and when it stops, and what to do next with the plot arc.
Stuck here with my questions and the answers I won't find. Sigh.
I don't know. I guess this public space isn't the right place for what I really want to say. I'm not even free to write my thoughts, don't even know for sure what they are.
There's a bit of longing. A bit of hunger. Wistfulness. Loneliness. Curiousity. Wanting just to be, to be together, to be a bit of a family, to connect.
Wondering how a writer writes a story, when it starts and when it stops, and what to do next with the plot arc.
Word Problem
I keep twisting
the variables
around
trying them in
different equations
thinking that if I
just keep at it
I will find the
ONE
solution
long ago
my classmates would
have crumpled this
paper up
and left the room
Process
I wrote so many
things
that I erased
Deleted
Revised
Words that spin
their dance
into
our thoughts
And with them
Tell our stories
Back to Yoga
In class today, a favorite stanza from a lovely song:
Oh my Beloved,
I bow to you
Divine teacher
Divine friend
I bow
to you
Again
and
Again
(It's really just prayer, for me.)
Saturday, December 6, 2008
It's Not You, It's Me...
I saw a great bumper sticker today, during the lunch break of my yoga training:
I Love You America
But I think we should see other people
Friday, December 5, 2008
Christmas Stories
I love Christmas, in all its crazy, frantic, generous, divine aspects, and I love Christmas stories.
Connie Willis says much the same thing in the delicious introduction to her anthology Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. If you've never read it, it's a treat. The introduction insightfully examines the history of Christmas narratives. Having been scarred by unwitting childhood reading of HCA, I particularly enjoy this bit:
Wow. I wish I'd thought to say that. Still though, with apologies, what follows in the next post is my own short Christmas story, rife with mawkish sappines and impending death. Alas.
Connie Willis says much the same thing in the delicious introduction to her anthology Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. If you've never read it, it's a treat. The introduction insightfully examines the history of Christmas narratives. Having been scarred by unwitting childhood reading of HCA, I particularly enjoy this bit:
"In addition, the Christmas-story writer has to walk a narrow tightrope between sentiment and skepticism, and most writers end up falling off into either cynicism or mawkish sappiness.
And, yes, I am talking about Hans Christian Andersen. He invented the whole three-hanky sob story, whose plot Maxim Gorki, in a fit of pique, described as taking a poor girl or boy and letting them 'freeze somewhere under a window, behind which there is usually a Christmas tree that throws its radiant splendor upon them.' Match girls, steadfast tin soldiers, even snowmen (melted, not frozen) all met with a fate they (and we) didn't deserve, especially at Christmas.
Nobody, before Andersen came along, had thought of writing such depressing Christmas stories. Even Dickens, who had killed a fair number of children in his books, didn't kill Tiny Tim. But Andersen, apparently hell-bent on ruining everybody's holidays, froze innocent children, melted loyal toys into lumps of lead, and chopped harmless fir trees who were just standing there in the forest, minding their own business, into kindling. Worse, he inspired dozens of imitators, who killed off saintly children (some of whom, I'll admit, were pretty insufferable and deserved to die) and poor people for the rest of the Victorian era."
Wow. I wish I'd thought to say that. Still though, with apologies, what follows in the next post is my own short Christmas story, rife with mawkish sappines and impending death. Alas.
Christmas Yet To Come
I was taking a writing class two summers ago when I wrote this. Not for the class exactly, but because I observed something curious. In one front yard, a twinkling horse and sleigh lit up the warm nights. As I drove past this house each week one question kept coming back to me: Why would anyone display a Christmas scene in mid-summer? This story was my answer.
*******
*******
Christmas Yet to Come
Jenna was getting sicker and sicker. Her face was ash grey now, and the coughing fits, when they came, took her over in the same way the Santa Ana winds would toss about the branches of the big elm outside. Still though, she had nothing but brave little smiles for Ralph, brave smiles and small, dry kisses that she pressed onto his hands or his cheek as he bent over her, watching, concerned, helpless.
She spent her days on the blue overstuffed couch in the living room. The couch had big pink flowers splashed over it that Jenna had never liked. She had always meant to get a different one, something more chic, more modern. Oh well, at least that wouldn’t be an annoyance anymore. You see, there always was a positive.
Her nights, Jenna spent curled up in bed next to Ralph. The visiting nurse had suggested buying a hospital bed, had informed Ralph in soothing tones of concern that the Medicare would pay for its cost. But Jenna was comfortable in their bed, and Ralph couldn’t bear the thought of kicking her out of it for his own comfort. So he listened to her coughing and her labored breathing and reached out in the dark hours of the early morning, fumbling, lonely, to hold her thin hand between his.
One crisp cool morning, Ralph stepped from the house and realized that fall had arrived. The trees were golden and dry, and the air had that still crisp quality to it and that hint of motion soon to come that heralded the arrival of autumn and winds. Just a few weeks now, the nurse said. Ralph wondered how long Jenna would make it. What would he ever do without her?
Staring off into space, lost in his musings about the uncertain future, Ralph had an idea. Yes, it would take some time, but he had the whole day.
That night, when Ralph lifted Jenna up to carry her to bed, he walked out the front door instead.
“There’s something I want you to see,” he said in his gruff voice.
Their Christmas decorations filled the front yard. Red, blue, gold and green lights festooned the branches of the fir. Candy canes and snowmen leapt along the walk. And in the center of the grass was Jenna’s favorite piece, the lighted outline of a sleigh they had bought together at Costco the year Ralph retired. Bulbs flashed on and off to give the illusion that the horses’ hooves were moving, and that the sleigh was gliding along over fields of ice, just as Jenna remembered real sleighs doing in her girlhood in Nebraska. It always made her smile.
“Oh, Ralph, but it’s only September.”
“That’s okay, my girl. I had some extra time and I wanted to get a head start.”
Jenna smiled and gave his arm a quick squeeze. Tears shone in her brown eyes. They both knew what Ralph wasn’t saying. December seemed a long, long way away from September, especially for her.
Jenna was getting sicker and sicker. Her face was ash grey now, and the coughing fits, when they came, took her over in the same way the Santa Ana winds would toss about the branches of the big elm outside. Still though, she had nothing but brave little smiles for Ralph, brave smiles and small, dry kisses that she pressed onto his hands or his cheek as he bent over her, watching, concerned, helpless.
She spent her days on the blue overstuffed couch in the living room. The couch had big pink flowers splashed over it that Jenna had never liked. She had always meant to get a different one, something more chic, more modern. Oh well, at least that wouldn’t be an annoyance anymore. You see, there always was a positive.
Her nights, Jenna spent curled up in bed next to Ralph. The visiting nurse had suggested buying a hospital bed, had informed Ralph in soothing tones of concern that the Medicare would pay for its cost. But Jenna was comfortable in their bed, and Ralph couldn’t bear the thought of kicking her out of it for his own comfort. So he listened to her coughing and her labored breathing and reached out in the dark hours of the early morning, fumbling, lonely, to hold her thin hand between his.
One crisp cool morning, Ralph stepped from the house and realized that fall had arrived. The trees were golden and dry, and the air had that still crisp quality to it and that hint of motion soon to come that heralded the arrival of autumn and winds. Just a few weeks now, the nurse said. Ralph wondered how long Jenna would make it. What would he ever do without her?
Staring off into space, lost in his musings about the uncertain future, Ralph had an idea. Yes, it would take some time, but he had the whole day.
That night, when Ralph lifted Jenna up to carry her to bed, he walked out the front door instead.
“There’s something I want you to see,” he said in his gruff voice.
Their Christmas decorations filled the front yard. Red, blue, gold and green lights festooned the branches of the fir. Candy canes and snowmen leapt along the walk. And in the center of the grass was Jenna’s favorite piece, the lighted outline of a sleigh they had bought together at Costco the year Ralph retired. Bulbs flashed on and off to give the illusion that the horses’ hooves were moving, and that the sleigh was gliding along over fields of ice, just as Jenna remembered real sleighs doing in her girlhood in Nebraska. It always made her smile.
“Oh, Ralph, but it’s only September.”
“That’s okay, my girl. I had some extra time and I wanted to get a head start.”
Jenna smiled and gave his arm a quick squeeze. Tears shone in her brown eyes. They both knew what Ralph wasn’t saying. December seemed a long, long way away from September, especially for her.
Pain Relief (and a poem)
I write so long this morning that I am almost too late to go to Farmers Market. But I do, because my family needs fresh vegs and fruits.
Driving, I realize that I don't feel cheerful at all. I feel lonely, and quite sad. Bummer. So sad, that I don't really want to walk around the Market, chatting with the sellers and buying food. But I do, because my family needs fresh foods. Bags of strawberries and asparagus and brussels sprouts and persimmons later, I feel a little happier. I always feel better when I spend time around people.
Perhaps I am down because I am SO hungry. This is getting pathetic to admit, but I boiled dry a THIRD pan of water this morning. Utterly disgusted, I confine myself to one of the girls' yogurt snacks and an apple for breakfast on my way out the door, reasoning that I should be safe with cold foods.
I don't get any tea until this afternoon when I grab a waffle for lunch at Coffee Depot. Again, I don't really feel like hanging out in Coffee Depot, but I do because it's Friday, and what else am I doing? The counter guy takes pity on me; he gives me two tea bags so my tea can be dark and strong. Still though, my headache persists past food and caffeine. Perhaps I had a bit too much fizzy vodka last night...
I am actually delighted when my cell phone rings. It's my boss calling. Well, one of my bosses. Or is he my point-of-contact? It gets confusing when you're working for multiple places. But I think of him as my boss because he approves or disapproves my work and when he tells me to do something, I do it. I love making business-related calls during the day. It's my only contact with adults since everyone else I know is working at their "real" job during daylight hours and don't really welcome just-to-chat phone calls.
When I get home, I take the unusual step of swallowing down some ibuprofen. That's how bad the aching is, like hot needles pushing into various spots on my skull and blood clotting behind my eyes.
Seeing the bottle reminds me of this poem that I wrote this summer. It's sort of a tribute to my Tylenol-substitute.
Pain Relief
On the bathroom counter,
The simple white bottle
Of generic tablets that I take
For my clenching headaches
Proclaims
PAIN RELIEF
In jagged red letters.
Considering,
My aching heart twists
With the wish that it were
Just that easy.
Oh, dear. This isn't uplifting at all, is it? Well, such is life... in all its variety and menu options. I'm not always cheerful, you know. I just persistently claim happiness as the better choice when possible.
The newspaper I scan in the cafe agrees with me. A front page article trumpets that happiness is vital to social health and is transmissible through your contacts (like the flu, but with better resulting effects.) I knew that; I really did.
Now I feel even more of an obligation to be happy for you all.
Driving, I realize that I don't feel cheerful at all. I feel lonely, and quite sad. Bummer. So sad, that I don't really want to walk around the Market, chatting with the sellers and buying food. But I do, because my family needs fresh foods. Bags of strawberries and asparagus and brussels sprouts and persimmons later, I feel a little happier. I always feel better when I spend time around people.
Perhaps I am down because I am SO hungry. This is getting pathetic to admit, but I boiled dry a THIRD pan of water this morning. Utterly disgusted, I confine myself to one of the girls' yogurt snacks and an apple for breakfast on my way out the door, reasoning that I should be safe with cold foods.
I don't get any tea until this afternoon when I grab a waffle for lunch at Coffee Depot. Again, I don't really feel like hanging out in Coffee Depot, but I do because it's Friday, and what else am I doing? The counter guy takes pity on me; he gives me two tea bags so my tea can be dark and strong. Still though, my headache persists past food and caffeine. Perhaps I had a bit too much fizzy vodka last night...
I am actually delighted when my cell phone rings. It's my boss calling. Well, one of my bosses. Or is he my point-of-contact? It gets confusing when you're working for multiple places. But I think of him as my boss because he approves or disapproves my work and when he tells me to do something, I do it. I love making business-related calls during the day. It's my only contact with adults since everyone else I know is working at their "real" job during daylight hours and don't really welcome just-to-chat phone calls.
When I get home, I take the unusual step of swallowing down some ibuprofen. That's how bad the aching is, like hot needles pushing into various spots on my skull and blood clotting behind my eyes.
Seeing the bottle reminds me of this poem that I wrote this summer. It's sort of a tribute to my Tylenol-substitute.
Pain Relief
On the bathroom counter,
The simple white bottle
Of generic tablets that I take
For my clenching headaches
Proclaims
PAIN RELIEF
In jagged red letters.
Considering,
My aching heart twists
With the wish that it were
Just that easy.
Oh, dear. This isn't uplifting at all, is it? Well, such is life... in all its variety and menu options. I'm not always cheerful, you know. I just persistently claim happiness as the better choice when possible.
The newspaper I scan in the cafe agrees with me. A front page article trumpets that happiness is vital to social health and is transmissible through your contacts (like the flu, but with better resulting effects.) I knew that; I really did.
Now I feel even more of an obligation to be happy for you all.
Scattered Stones
My daughter B says, "I think Heaven is like a non-stop home."
******
The 100 degree sunshine glitters sharply off the red, green, and gold strip-mall Christmas tree ornaments.
******
A woman wrestles a bouquet of lilies and greenery and a large bunch of balloons into a silver subcompact.
******
The bottle caps littering the dirt path gleam the same red as Christmas tinsel.
******
The sprig of rosemary is already working its magic: she is remembering to forget.
******
The man bustles into the counseling office carrying a pair of dun slacks and blowing out a sigh.
******
The 100 degree sunshine glitters sharply off the red, green, and gold strip-mall Christmas tree ornaments.
******
A woman wrestles a bouquet of lilies and greenery and a large bunch of balloons into a silver subcompact.
******
The bottle caps littering the dirt path gleam the same red as Christmas tinsel.
******
The sprig of rosemary is already working its magic: she is remembering to forget.
******
The man bustles into the counseling office carrying a pair of dun slacks and blowing out a sigh.
I Am Officially a Hazard
Oh my God! I just burned my SECOND pan of water for the morning. I am not making this up!
I think I'm going to have to ban myself from the kitchen when I'm home alone in the interest of safety.
I'm so hungry. Can somebody please make me some toast and hot tea???
I think I'm going to have to ban myself from the kitchen when I'm home alone in the interest of safety.
I'm so hungry. Can somebody please make me some toast and hot tea???
Celebration
Last night, my patient, helpful, long-suffering husband and I worked through the uprushing dusk to string the first phase of Christmas lights on our house while our daughters held hands and danced in the grass.
We were invited to an astonishingly delicious dinner at our neighbors' house consisting of course after course of breads, dipping oils and vinegars, italian appetizers, grilled pannini, and homemade mac & cheese. To drink, our hostess made her favorite concoction of pink lemonade, vodka and beer. It's quite fizzy and light and it was a good thing that we only had to walk home.
Our neighbors gave our daughters gifts and said how lucky they feel to have us, a feeling that is deeply reciprocated.
This morning, I dropped off a couple of bags of snacks for my younger daughter's second grade class. Every few weeks, when her teacher runs low on supplies, I add boxes of cereal bars and tubs of cookies to my weekly shopping. It's not that hard, but the kids are so happy. I guess the ones whose parents don't send a snack along with them get really hungry before lunch.
When I carried in the bags today, the whole class said, "It's B's Mom (that's my name to them). Hi B's Mom. Yay, Snacks!!" And broke into a cheer and applause. Two or three girls rushed to hug me. I was the anti-hunger hero. I am so happy to be able to do things like that with my daughters and their classes.
My job consists of sitting in my own home and typing a grant proposal while listening to Christmas music and watching the sun spill through the trees in my back yard. (And burning water, don't forget that part.)
Today is my dear friend's 37th birthday and she never looked more beautiful or vivacious. I know her life is only going to get more wonderful from here. Happy Birthday, A!!
Another wonderful, talented friend and I had the best, hours-long conversation yesterday about writing, publishing and book ideas. What fun to be part of the planning/thinking process. I really can't wait to read what she's going to write next!
There's a lot of good stuff in my life every day. There just is. I'm so glad and grateful for that.
(Do you think "uprushing dusk" works as a description? Is uprushing even a word? I don't think so, but I like the sound of it all the same.)
We were invited to an astonishingly delicious dinner at our neighbors' house consisting of course after course of breads, dipping oils and vinegars, italian appetizers, grilled pannini, and homemade mac & cheese. To drink, our hostess made her favorite concoction of pink lemonade, vodka and beer. It's quite fizzy and light and it was a good thing that we only had to walk home.
Our neighbors gave our daughters gifts and said how lucky they feel to have us, a feeling that is deeply reciprocated.
This morning, I dropped off a couple of bags of snacks for my younger daughter's second grade class. Every few weeks, when her teacher runs low on supplies, I add boxes of cereal bars and tubs of cookies to my weekly shopping. It's not that hard, but the kids are so happy. I guess the ones whose parents don't send a snack along with them get really hungry before lunch.
When I carried in the bags today, the whole class said, "It's B's Mom (that's my name to them). Hi B's Mom. Yay, Snacks!!" And broke into a cheer and applause. Two or three girls rushed to hug me. I was the anti-hunger hero. I am so happy to be able to do things like that with my daughters and their classes.
My job consists of sitting in my own home and typing a grant proposal while listening to Christmas music and watching the sun spill through the trees in my back yard. (And burning water, don't forget that part.)
Today is my dear friend's 37th birthday and she never looked more beautiful or vivacious. I know her life is only going to get more wonderful from here. Happy Birthday, A!!
Another wonderful, talented friend and I had the best, hours-long conversation yesterday about writing, publishing and book ideas. What fun to be part of the planning/thinking process. I really can't wait to read what she's going to write next!
There's a lot of good stuff in my life every day. There just is. I'm so glad and grateful for that.
(Do you think "uprushing dusk" works as a description? Is uprushing even a word? I don't think so, but I like the sound of it all the same.)
Facing Anger
In the face of blazing anger, I think the first reaction is feeling frightened or feeling angry back. We become defensive and even accusatory in self-protection. Those are valid reactions and sometimes very useful.
But sometimes angry energy isn't the way to go. It's rarely helpful to the person who was angry in the first place.
If possible, I think a better reaction is to try for empathy. Looking past the anger to the root emotions, maybe you would say to the angry person in a sincere and loving way, "I'm so sorry for your pain. I feel helpless to help you, but I care and I want to understand. I wish things were better for you right now."
Try it sometime. It's not the most instinctive reaction and it takes a bit of practicing. But I've had good results with this when dealing with extreme anger situations, especially with my children.
It feels better to stay in connection with your love for the person rather than to slip into your own ego defenses.
But sometimes angry energy isn't the way to go. It's rarely helpful to the person who was angry in the first place.
If possible, I think a better reaction is to try for empathy. Looking past the anger to the root emotions, maybe you would say to the angry person in a sincere and loving way, "I'm so sorry for your pain. I feel helpless to help you, but I care and I want to understand. I wish things were better for you right now."
Try it sometime. It's not the most instinctive reaction and it takes a bit of practicing. But I've had good results with this when dealing with extreme anger situations, especially with my children.
It feels better to stay in connection with your love for the person rather than to slip into your own ego defenses.
I'm Here!
Oh, God.
(Is it the weather?) :)
I told myself that if I was diligent and FINISHED the grant I was working on, THEN I could come play on my blog. Hurray!!! I don't even know which post to start with!
I just noticed this: Lately I excel at burning water. So true and so sad.
I put a pan of water on to boil so I can make tea. Then I get absorbed in writing and forget all about it until a smoky stench wafts into my study. Whereas I leap up and find the pan empty and creaking on a red-hot glowing burner. I think it's a very bad thing to do to the pan. Perhaps I should buy a new one - I've probably altered the chemical composition of the one I favor into something highly toxic. I can't live into my 90s if I poison myself.
Today I even set a timer to remind me to actually make the tea... and then I ignored the timer.
Oh well. No breakfast yet.
But at least that darn proposal is finished!
(Is it the weather?) :)
I told myself that if I was diligent and FINISHED the grant I was working on, THEN I could come play on my blog. Hurray!!! I don't even know which post to start with!
I just noticed this: Lately I excel at burning water. So true and so sad.
I put a pan of water on to boil so I can make tea. Then I get absorbed in writing and forget all about it until a smoky stench wafts into my study. Whereas I leap up and find the pan empty and creaking on a red-hot glowing burner. I think it's a very bad thing to do to the pan. Perhaps I should buy a new one - I've probably altered the chemical composition of the one I favor into something highly toxic. I can't live into my 90s if I poison myself.
Today I even set a timer to remind me to actually make the tea... and then I ignored the timer.
Oh well. No breakfast yet.
But at least that darn proposal is finished!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
I'm in love...
...with my park.
Is it possible to adore a place?
My favorite park is a living creature with a spirit and a sentience all its own. Paths wind below huge calming trees. Squirrels leap and chatter. The fresh air soothes and revives me. Blossoms twirl their colored arms in their own special dance of welcome.
In the park, I am calm. I feel relaxed and hopeful. What is, is. What will be, will be. Time shifts form, in a malleable, promising swirl.
I go to the park faithfully, as often as my schedule permits. Sometimes I read there; other times I write. I walk for exercise and to expand into the vastness. The soft grass under my favorite pine is by far the best place for Tarot reading or simply musing.
I was at the park Tuesday, eating my lunch in the open air. A nice break in a long day of writing and tasks. Before I started my walk, I set an Intention, this one a wish without conscious thought or words, simply a half-formed inclination contained in a motion.
Immediately my eye fell open a lost fortune lying in my path. The distinctive white rectangle of proclamation gleamed against the dusty brown.
"Be prepared to modify your plans," it declared.
Okay by me. I have only the vaguest outline of plans anyway. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could even tell if they WERE modified.
A bit further on, I picked up some trash under the old walnut tree and found a discarded perfume sample shaped like a bottle. REALITIES, it said.
Exactly, I thought.
It continued, "Live in the moment, every chance you get."
Which is precisely what I'm doing.
Is it possible to adore a place?
My favorite park is a living creature with a spirit and a sentience all its own. Paths wind below huge calming trees. Squirrels leap and chatter. The fresh air soothes and revives me. Blossoms twirl their colored arms in their own special dance of welcome.
In the park, I am calm. I feel relaxed and hopeful. What is, is. What will be, will be. Time shifts form, in a malleable, promising swirl.
I go to the park faithfully, as often as my schedule permits. Sometimes I read there; other times I write. I walk for exercise and to expand into the vastness. The soft grass under my favorite pine is by far the best place for Tarot reading or simply musing.
I was at the park Tuesday, eating my lunch in the open air. A nice break in a long day of writing and tasks. Before I started my walk, I set an Intention, this one a wish without conscious thought or words, simply a half-formed inclination contained in a motion.
Immediately my eye fell open a lost fortune lying in my path. The distinctive white rectangle of proclamation gleamed against the dusty brown.
"Be prepared to modify your plans," it declared.
Okay by me. I have only the vaguest outline of plans anyway. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could even tell if they WERE modified.
A bit further on, I picked up some trash under the old walnut tree and found a discarded perfume sample shaped like a bottle. REALITIES, it said.
Exactly, I thought.
It continued, "Live in the moment, every chance you get."
Which is precisely what I'm doing.
What??
Seriously.
What?!?
(That one word has to hold all, all, all the others that I cannot even figure out how to tumble out of my self.)
What?!?
(That one word has to hold all, all, all the others that I cannot even figure out how to tumble out of my self.)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
My New Motto - Hayride!
The other night I was laying awake in bed. It was dark. It was quiet. My mind was hopping from thought to thought in that way it loves to do, just like a squirrel in a tree.
I was musing and I was fretting. Suddenly I heard a deeper voice. "Hayride!"
"Um, excuse me?" demanded my thinking mind, somewhat peevishly.
"You heard me - Hayride!" the voice exclaimed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" My mind is not very happy about being interrupted.
The voice explained. "You are WAY too serious about everything. Don't you know this is all just a game? Do you think all this is real? It's just a lark, an adventure. You're supposed to enjoy it. It's like a big fun HAYRIDE!"
Really? My deeper self feels that I am taking the problems of my life too seriously. I should instead conjure up the image of a worn wooden wagon, golden scratchy bales of straw, and the steady brown and white horses plodding along before it? I can just see myself, sitting on that hay, feeling the sun on my head and shoulders while I look around curiously at the farm and laugh with the other passengers and...
Oh. I see. So that would be a better lens through which to see my existence? Just kind of focus on enjoying the ride and seeing the sights. Hmm.
Hayride - my new motto for a long and happy life.
I was musing and I was fretting. Suddenly I heard a deeper voice. "Hayride!"
"Um, excuse me?" demanded my thinking mind, somewhat peevishly.
"You heard me - Hayride!" the voice exclaimed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" My mind is not very happy about being interrupted.
The voice explained. "You are WAY too serious about everything. Don't you know this is all just a game? Do you think all this is real? It's just a lark, an adventure. You're supposed to enjoy it. It's like a big fun HAYRIDE!"
Really? My deeper self feels that I am taking the problems of my life too seriously. I should instead conjure up the image of a worn wooden wagon, golden scratchy bales of straw, and the steady brown and white horses plodding along before it? I can just see myself, sitting on that hay, feeling the sun on my head and shoulders while I look around curiously at the farm and laugh with the other passengers and...
Oh. I see. So that would be a better lens through which to see my existence? Just kind of focus on enjoying the ride and seeing the sights. Hmm.
Hayride - my new motto for a long and happy life.
when I am 93...
I made a decision last week, as much as one can ever make a decision about the future. I decided that, God willing, I intend to live for a very, very long time. Yep, I'm going to make it at least into my 90s, maybe even hit 100, round the bases and keep going.
See, I'm at that age in life when it's possible to stop thinking of oneself as young. I've seen my friends slowing down, shrugging away dreams, lowering their expectations for the rest of life.
But I think that's a huge mistake. Whatever you think is how you act. And how you act becomes how you live. So...
I've decided that compared to how I'll look and feel at 90 right now I am a picture of blazing youth and vitality. I've got teeth, I've got hair, and the sagging is not too bad. When I get out of bed, nothing creaks or pops and I can pretty much move however I want.
And, honestly, honestly, I believe it's only going to get BETTER from here. Oh sure, I'll get wrinkles; we all do. But who's to say that wrinkles are all bad. They just prove that you've lived a little.
It's just so exciting to think of such a long future stretching out before me. I have time to start a whole new, super successful career. Heck, I have time for two. With 5-odd decades out in front of me, I can achieve any dream I might wish.
I can easily devote the next 10 years to being the best, most attentive mother in the world, and then I'll still have time to hit every night club and cafe in Paris and London.
This intention brings with it some responsibility. If I'm going to live a long life, I want to be healthy and happy. That means that I have to live every moment like I'm going to be around for a long, long time. Healthy eating is a must. So is saving some money to fund all those travels.
I can't think of anything more important for a long and zesty life than daily exercise. I tend to be sedentary and slow, but if I want to be out dancing when I'm a senior - and I do!- then I better make sure to move as much as I can. Health leads to health, you know.
Okay, that's my plan. I know it's not all up to me. Fate might decide differently, and that would be fine. But, for the parts that are under my control, I have a positive intention, optimistic energy and the willingness to make choices to take me far along that yellow brick road.
Hey, why don't you come along?
See, I'm at that age in life when it's possible to stop thinking of oneself as young. I've seen my friends slowing down, shrugging away dreams, lowering their expectations for the rest of life.
But I think that's a huge mistake. Whatever you think is how you act. And how you act becomes how you live. So...
I've decided that compared to how I'll look and feel at 90 right now I am a picture of blazing youth and vitality. I've got teeth, I've got hair, and the sagging is not too bad. When I get out of bed, nothing creaks or pops and I can pretty much move however I want.
And, honestly, honestly, I believe it's only going to get BETTER from here. Oh sure, I'll get wrinkles; we all do. But who's to say that wrinkles are all bad. They just prove that you've lived a little.
It's just so exciting to think of such a long future stretching out before me. I have time to start a whole new, super successful career. Heck, I have time for two. With 5-odd decades out in front of me, I can achieve any dream I might wish.
I can easily devote the next 10 years to being the best, most attentive mother in the world, and then I'll still have time to hit every night club and cafe in Paris and London.
This intention brings with it some responsibility. If I'm going to live a long life, I want to be healthy and happy. That means that I have to live every moment like I'm going to be around for a long, long time. Healthy eating is a must. So is saving some money to fund all those travels.
I can't think of anything more important for a long and zesty life than daily exercise. I tend to be sedentary and slow, but if I want to be out dancing when I'm a senior - and I do!- then I better make sure to move as much as I can. Health leads to health, you know.
Okay, that's my plan. I know it's not all up to me. Fate might decide differently, and that would be fine. But, for the parts that are under my control, I have a positive intention, optimistic energy and the willingness to make choices to take me far along that yellow brick road.
Hey, why don't you come along?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tech Talk
The tweet is the medium of throughput on the microblog.
(I love the functional flexibility of language!)
(I love the functional flexibility of language!)
Monday, December 1, 2008
Time To Get Back To Work
Okay. It's Monday.
One major holiday behind us, one to go.
Here's my small stone for today:
She tosses back the last inch of water as if it were whiskey, slams down the tumbler and returns to her keyboard.
One major holiday behind us, one to go.
Here's my small stone for today:
She tosses back the last inch of water as if it were whiskey, slams down the tumbler and returns to her keyboard.
www.writers-review.com
Good morning, all!
I just received the email below. I'm pasting it here for your reference as I know many of you are either writers or interested in writing. Mike Foley is an amazing teacher - enthusiastic, insightful, and deeply experienced. I've taken classes with him through the university and online, and I've always been thrilled with his invaluable and detailed feedback about writing projects.
Some of you may also want to join his mailing list and receive his free monthly writing newsletter.
******
I just received the email below. I'm pasting it here for your reference as I know many of you are either writers or interested in writing. Mike Foley is an amazing teacher - enthusiastic, insightful, and deeply experienced. I've taken classes with him through the university and online, and I've always been thrilled with his invaluable and detailed feedback about writing projects.
Some of you may also want to join his mailing list and receive his free monthly writing newsletter.
******
"This holiday season, Mike Foley will once again offer a special discount on all
critique work. Short manuscripts (up to 100 pages, double-spaced) will be
reviewed at a 10% discount. Novel and book-length manuscripts will
be reviewed at a 15% discount. This offer applies to all manuscripts
received by January 1, 2009. Contact Mike Foley for a quote:
http://us.mc359.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=mike@writers-review.com
For
fee information, visit Mike’s website:
http://www.writers-review.com/"
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