Day Two

So, Day Two has come and mostly gone - what to write, what to write.....shall it be the grand insights to life, love, or how to make a million dollars off of home foreclosures? I think if the television watching public took the time wasted on bad sitcoms and reality tv and actually lived life, we'd be even MORE depressed and OBESE.....we hide in plain sight, we lock ourselves away every night not wanting to come out till the morning's light. I ask, do we like ourselves? do we know if we like ourselves or not or are we blindly going along with routine, always doing the safe thing.

Every day do something brave, do something bold....make a promise to yourself to do one thing to make yourself laugh. I remember growing up a song that to this day I enjoy singing as I walk the pups - "Sing, sing a song, make it simple to last your whole life long, no matter that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear just sing, sing a song"

Tomorrow - sing your song

I'm BAAACK

Has it truly been four months since my last post? Life has kept me busy so for the few, the proud, the crazy who read this - I'm going to do better! I saw a friend this weekend who writes a great blog -I sh ared that I was totally impressed that he posts daily updates - an aspiration of mine! So beware - I'm going to try and suck a few minutes of every day from you to share a little insight to the millions of bouncing neurons in my head!

So, let's start with a personal update - as the song goes, for every season turn, turn turn, there is a season turn, turn, turn....so I'm entering a new season - spring. The dark days of my emotional winter are turning to the inspirations and aspirations of spring. Like the bulbs lying dormant underground waiting to come out of hiding, so am I ready to poke out and feel the sunshine. Enough said - stay tuned.

Woo Wee time flies

Wow - I haven't posted in six weeks - bad, bad me! September is a busy month of events for my family - not that we spend any of them together given geographical barriers but on the 1st my parents celebrate their wedding anniversary - 59 years - well, back up into August and it was my grandmother's birthday - a book unto herself - miss her, - oh, and August was also my godmother's birthday - two books for her - she was awesome! So, moving forward - the 14th is my birthday, my cousin's birthday (he's my parents' godson as well) and my godparents' anniversary. We move to the 28th, my Dad's birthday - turned a hale and hearty 83, and Oct. 5 is my brother's birthday - 50! Yeesh - so needless to say, we keep Hallmark very, very busy this month.

What's the point of all that background? I find myself intrigued by the intersections that happen on dates - is it coincidence that my godparents' wedding anniversary is on the same day as my birthday? My godmother passed away on the anniversary of the day my parents' brought me home after adopting me - coincidence? My grandmother passed away on my mother's birthday - coincidence? I'm fascinated by the possibility that every event is part of a grand plan - that our beginnings and ends are woven together for eternity with those closest to us. Others would say, there are only so many days in the year so of course there's going to be overlap. I'm not so sure.

I'm reading Carl Sagan - fascinating man - he made astronomy and science popular by popping up on the Johnny Carson show on a somewhat regular basis - and in this series of speeches he gave in Great Britain, he discusses how special and unspecial our planet is - and how with a variance of .0001 percent in some instances our world would not have been able to support life. He discusses the vastness of space and the 14,000 million other galaxies that are out there which may or may not be like us. It's just fascinating to gain a better perspective on how small we are and yet how important we as a species think we are.

So what's the purpose of today's ramblings - the world and our lives are random, small, and in the grand scheme of the universe, quite mundane but to each of us and our interconnectedness - we thrive and celebrate each day for its unique possibilities.

Moments of clarity

It has been mentioned to me that I'm a bit bitter in my commentary - I prefer to say biting social criticism but you say tomahto, I say tomayto - :) So this past weekend, I went hiking in Lost River State Park - a beautiful day, neighbors down the street had come out for the weekend to the cabin, just the makings of a great day! We arrived at the beginning of the trail which was taking us to a ridge 3700 feet up a mountain and it was right by the horse stables which take people on riding tours of the park. There was a guide and two visitors mounted on their horses in front of us ready to begin their ascent. This one horse cantered by me and she had the most beautiful big blue eyes - and as she passed me, I felt her look right at me - her blue eyes locking with my blue eyes - I had a moment of clarity that we're all part of an amazing experience of life. There's so much magic, wonder, and awe around us if we allow ourselves the moment to see it. Most people would look at the horse and be done, I took a moment to appreciate the pure beauty and grace of her. We're all connected, be we animals, humans, trees, ants, and yes - even snakes. The magic is in understanding and appreciating the interdependency, the emotional fulfillment , and the happiness - pure happiness, that can be gained from making a moment to connect, truly connect, with the world right around you.

Bitter, nah, jaded perhaps, but always amazed and awed.

What we have become

I'm really angry and worried about what our nation is becoming. The recent frenzy of craziness regarding the 14th Amendment and the mosque in NYC has brought out the absolute worst examples of "leadership" and public citizenry that I can recall. Do we really as a nation believe that we are not a nation of immigrants and religious tolerance? Do we really believe that our Founding Fathers would have had such issues with a religious center? I cannot believe that elected officials and political pundits will use the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to their own benefits in whatever way it suits them. They will justify homophobia, control a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body, the sanctity of marriage, the right to bear assault arms to "hunt".....what won't they do?

If I remember correctly, the United States was founded as a new experiment ensuring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - that all men are created equal with certain inalienable rights - to its citizenry. That's what has made us strong and unique. But democracy is an experiment and 1,000 years from now, as we look back and study the empires of Rome and Greece today, will history books look as this small blip of 200 and some odd years of the United States with amazement at its rise and fall or as the spark that brought forth and spread the light of freedom of expression, religion, and the rights of the individual. I can say today that I am afraid of the answer.

Nature vs Nurture - not the argument you think

I read a review of a study to be published regarding personality traits being set as early as first grade. In this study which followed individuals from first grade to adulthood, it was discovered that however you were in first grade you basically are going to be like throughout life. It was funny to read that, just last week my mother was commenting to me about what a happy kid I was - and how I was still like that....I guess that study would work out well for me :) But what about others - how horrible if your mother were to say to you - you whined then and you're still whining...or you were such a drama queen and you still are (I have several friends whose mothers I'd like to check this fact out with!)

This then led to me to think how much easier life would be if we all had to wear signs or better yet, our driver's license had a little box indicating what are character traits were in first grade - teacher's pet? pant wetter? get over that chalk-eating problem? Better than Myers-Brigg, this would immediately share insight as to the possible friendship, dating material, or collegiality in the workplace for each of us. How much easier could it be than to go to a job interview and have someone ask, "so you didn't play well with your brother, how will that affect your group project work today?", or "tell me about your violent behavior toward Raggedy Ann?" Well, umm....I was in first grade, I didn't know better," ain't gonna cut the mustard anymore.

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