Tuesday is my day off. I do things like play tennis, go to a movie, perhaps take a walk in a park, maybe go to a museum. Stuff like that. Most of the time I'm doing stuff for Vision. Take today, for example. I'm shopping for cloth to create wall hangings in the sanctuary to soften the sound in the room. The movement of sound waves within an enclosed space is an interesting science. It is beneficial to have experts who can advise about these things. I love what they do. Me? I'm just trying to make it look pleasing to the eye.
When I'm out shopping, I look for things that can add to the beauty of our Vision space. I look for things that make life more convenient, and I purchase things that make the space more functional. So, even when I'm off, I'm on.
Some career paths are like that. Some, when we punch out for the day, we can forget all about the company and do whatever we desire. What's your day off like?
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
All These Feelings
I am all too familiar with the cascade of emotions after the horrific events of Sunday morning. The grief, the sadness, the overwhelming feeling of despair. Everything about it is all too familiar. The lone shooter, innocent victims, inconsolable families and friends, and the easy availability of semi-automatic weapons. And we are still doing the same thing - nothing. I thought something would change, my God, something would have to change after a lone, deranged killer shot up an elementary school, killing children. Children! I thought, "Well, that's it. Americans won't stand for this. They will rein in the NRA and some sensible gun laws will follow." But, no. Not even then. What the hell. And here I am, with all these feelings.
When I first heard about the carnage in Orlando, I was sickened, horrified. I felt that wave of unrelenting sadness that washes over us when we hear about yet another mass shooting. Where do you go with that kind of grief? How do relieve that level of pain? I went to my spiritual center, then I went to my Spiritual Center, Vision. How comforting it is to be among like-minded individuals who hold each other aloft. It is a safe space into which we can pour our grief and share our heartbreak. I went to the LGBT Center the next day, where hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil. It is another safe space to pour out one's pain and be held close. We walk through this together. All these feelings. I've heard that joy shared is multiplied and sorrows shared are lessened, I'm not sure about that, but it felt good to be among others who shared my pain.
So, now I'm pissed. And the same questions come up. Where do I go with these feelings? How do I relieve this level of outrage? I feel so helpless to change things, and I think that's where the anger comes from. How can we stand by day after day, week after week, month after month and watch as the tally of mass shootings steadily rise? I know it is a complex issue, I know there is no "one-size-fits-all" answer. I recall the quote by H.L. Mencken, "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." But I also know that to do nothing is an answer we can no longer afford. At Vision, we are reminded that faith without works is dead. We are to pray and move our feet. We know that we are the arms and legs, feet and hands of Spirit in action. And that's the key, action. Spirit can only do for us what it can do through us, so we must move. What that means to you, you must decide. Pray first, then, I'm not telling anyone what to do, but do a little something to make a difference. If that means an email to a politician, a phone call to representative, a letter to Capitol Hill, whatever it is, it will make a difference. It helps us with all these feelings. I know it is a complex issue and I know we have to start somewhere, make one decision, address it one phase at a time, do one thing that can lessen the chance of this happening ever again. We simply cannot do nothing and keep reliving all these feelings.
When I first heard about the carnage in Orlando, I was sickened, horrified. I felt that wave of unrelenting sadness that washes over us when we hear about yet another mass shooting. Where do you go with that kind of grief? How do relieve that level of pain? I went to my spiritual center, then I went to my Spiritual Center, Vision. How comforting it is to be among like-minded individuals who hold each other aloft. It is a safe space into which we can pour our grief and share our heartbreak. I went to the LGBT Center the next day, where hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil. It is another safe space to pour out one's pain and be held close. We walk through this together. All these feelings. I've heard that joy shared is multiplied and sorrows shared are lessened, I'm not sure about that, but it felt good to be among others who shared my pain.
So, now I'm pissed. And the same questions come up. Where do I go with these feelings? How do I relieve this level of outrage? I feel so helpless to change things, and I think that's where the anger comes from. How can we stand by day after day, week after week, month after month and watch as the tally of mass shootings steadily rise? I know it is a complex issue, I know there is no "one-size-fits-all" answer. I recall the quote by H.L. Mencken, "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." But I also know that to do nothing is an answer we can no longer afford. At Vision, we are reminded that faith without works is dead. We are to pray and move our feet. We know that we are the arms and legs, feet and hands of Spirit in action. And that's the key, action. Spirit can only do for us what it can do through us, so we must move. What that means to you, you must decide. Pray first, then, I'm not telling anyone what to do, but do a little something to make a difference. If that means an email to a politician, a phone call to representative, a letter to Capitol Hill, whatever it is, it will make a difference. It helps us with all these feelings. I know it is a complex issue and I know we have to start somewhere, make one decision, address it one phase at a time, do one thing that can lessen the chance of this happening ever again. We simply cannot do nothing and keep reliving all these feelings.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Welcome to 2016
Some things change, some things remain the same. Nah, scrap that. All things change. Well, all things at the physical level change. Take my weight. It changes. I eat more and exercise less and I store potential energy as fat. No big surprise there. Eat less, move more and I take off some weight. It's just that simple. No tricks, no diets, no fad eating routines, just simple calorie consuming and calorie burning. How does that turn into a multi-billion dollar a year industry? I think some people, maybe many people, want a quick fix, a magic pill, a secret code to instantly lose weight. How many New Year's resolutions have you made, year after year, that involved taking off that extra weight you've been carrying around on you? On January 1st, there we are, all geared up and ready to starve ourselves into our new sleek, slim, sexy, attractive bodies. I just need to loose 40 pounds by the end of the month and I'll be happy...Well, okay then, can we make it more unrealistic? And here's what happens...by the second or third week of January, when we have fallen off the diet bandwagon more than once, we give up. Someone said that she wants to open a gym and call it Resolutions, and for the first month it operates as a gym and then for the rest of the year, it's a bar. Hilarious, and it's funny because it's reality.
Anne Lamott once told her therapist that she was starting a diet at the 1st of the year and her therapist replied, "Oh, good, how much weight do you intend to gain?" That's the way it usually goes, right? Lose weight, fall away, gain it back and then some. So, what's the point, you ask? Why bother?
That's why resolutions don't usually work. When we fall off the plan more than once, twice, three times, instead of starting again in the next new moment, we chuck the whole idea. We doom ourselves to the inevitability of our past habits instead of lovingly continuing to correct and create the new habit.
So, no more resolutions, just self love and acceptance. When I intend to drop a few pounds I'll eat less, exercise more. If I keep the goal in mind, out in front of me, I can continue to make little baby steps toward it. Do what's in front of me to do, and keep the big, hairy, audacious goal in mind. In 12 months, who knows?
Anne Lamott once told her therapist that she was starting a diet at the 1st of the year and her therapist replied, "Oh, good, how much weight do you intend to gain?" That's the way it usually goes, right? Lose weight, fall away, gain it back and then some. So, what's the point, you ask? Why bother?
That's why resolutions don't usually work. When we fall off the plan more than once, twice, three times, instead of starting again in the next new moment, we chuck the whole idea. We doom ourselves to the inevitability of our past habits instead of lovingly continuing to correct and create the new habit.
So, no more resolutions, just self love and acceptance. When I intend to drop a few pounds I'll eat less, exercise more. If I keep the goal in mind, out in front of me, I can continue to make little baby steps toward it. Do what's in front of me to do, and keep the big, hairy, audacious goal in mind. In 12 months, who knows?
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