November 14, 2008
Things have been really tough lately but from time to time I become aware of moments of heaven, so I will try to capture them when I can. Here is this evening’s little piece of heaven:
warm house with the wood stove slowly glowing along
candles of course
pungent smells of garam marsala filling the air (cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cardamom, garlic, nutmeg, and so much more)
favorite tunes playing (U2 .. van Morrison… Erykah Badu…)
and waiting for my love to come home.
November 5, 2008
Yesterday our nation made history by electing its first African-American president. I’m enormously proud, and humbled, and worried, and excited. Other Americans feel this way too, and it’s been fun to see today’s editorial cartoons, hear songs, and take in how people have relied on sound and image to express what their words cannot.
Here are some great op-ed cartoons as compiled by the Boston Globe- And videos:
Student Views of November 4, 2008
Part of Obama’s magic is his own expressiveness. He is not afraid to inspire and manages to connect with people emotionally without seeming insincere. Those gifts, and his personal history, have hit the mark in a way we haven’t seen in this country in decades.
November 3, 2008
I’ve been spending time putting stuff out on the curb, freecycling, throwing things away. It’s going very slowly. Things are distracting, and each thing asks for at least one decision: stay or go. Sometimes a thing asks for a joint decision to be made by Englishman and myself. Sometimes a thing is to be kept, and then the next decision is “where”. Sometimes the thing needs to be disposed of in different ways. I am finding that I am not inclined to try to sell things. That means more decisions (how much? where to advertise?) and then further delay in the goal: decluttering.
So the process to making things on the scale that I would like includes a prolonged and very necessary first step: clearing the decks. Things that are clean and empty, and things that are beautiful- these inspire creativity. Things that are vexing or high maintenance or ugly drain energy and waste time. Big free spaces inspire movement and thought: just watch a dog on the beach in the cool weather. Zoe for example races back in forth, joyfully, in the free space. Blank canvas or paper have the same effect on people: energy moves, ideas flow.
Mind you, losing my job was not on the list of ways to declutter. But I do have brief moments, in between the long periods of being overwhelmed and anxious, where I see the clear canvas of my livelihood, ready to be filled with something new.
