And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.

Happy Easter!

Be Yourself, for you are loved

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.

Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ

Weird

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/03/photos-kids-smoking-cigarettes-frieke-janssens

I guess art is art, but considering the deaths associated with smoking, the impressionability of youth concerning media, and the stalled funding for prevention these days, I am putting this kind of art right up there with fashion houses that paint their models black and blue to sell clothes - Relinquishing the greater social responsibility, missing the point and ignoring the better story.

New Digs

I promised some pictures of my new place on the blog. Come June, I'll be living by the water, in the city, and on my own.

I've very, very excited and very, very blessed.

And no, Good Will Hunting was not a factor in my decision to move to Southie. Okay, it was the primary factor. I look forward to finding my Chuckie and my Skylar.

Until then, I'll be by the bay.

Katie Makkai - Pretty

Harsh, but hang in there. It's worth it.

There is no neutral.

I'm back!

It was a lovely, once in a lifetime trip where we were busy and searching and enjoying every moment.

Today though, as I return to the real world, I wanted to post this:

http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2013-03-10-small-changes-you-can-make-at-home-to-help-avoid

I have a thought-provoking question to catch up on and plenty of pictures to share, but I thought that this list was worth sharing first, and is thought provoking enough all on its own.

During my plane rides, I read Sheryl Sandberg's new book Lean In, and I really reccommend it. That said, we are in the throws of gender and sex battles constantly within our culture, not just at the "top." Yes, I believe in the book's primary thesis - that more women in power will correlate to more human rights and opportunities for women at all levels, but things other than that will also help, and help NOW - fewer assaults on women, less objectification of women, and more equality for people regardless of gender and sexual orientation. There's a lot to do, and a lot going on, so I hope you read the thought piece above and think about how you can apply it to your life.

Vacation time!

I'm going on arguably one of the most unique vacations I will have taken in my life up to this point - to Las Vegas, Zion National Park and to the Grand Canyon with a college friend who I adore. A week of trapsing through places that my mind does not even remotely regard as normal.

A week of deep talks and long walks with a person who never fails to give me great perspective on life.

A week of not working.

That's important.

I am taking my first blog break of the year to devote time to appreciating my vacation time. I'll try to write in a journal while I'm there and bring some of that back to you. I'll try to live in the moment, authentically, and open to the experience of it all. I won't forget that this is a vacation to explore away from, but not escape from, a life I am truly blessed to have back home (and that I will actually miss just a bit!).

I hope you have a wonderful week, whether it's filled with the normalcy of things, some changes or even some surprises.

I'll miss you while I'm gone, but I'll be back and renewed!

Song Sunday

Super simple, but easily one of the most inspiring songs I've heard recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOZj1Xyx354

Let's live with integrity, with every breath in and every sacred breath out.


P.S. No, she didn't forget. My blog is wearing green:

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Two Things

A week ago I was reading and drinking coffee and eating yogurt and I knew I had to share.

It reminds me of Freud's life and death drives, it reminds me of thought-provoking question #2, and it reminds me of why we're all here.

Two Things

By Langston Hughes

Two things possess the power
Two things deserve the name
Two things can reawaken
Perpetually the flame.
Two things are full of wonder,
Two things cast off all shame.

One is known by the name as Death.
And the other has no name
Except the name each gives it -
In no single mouth the same.

Enjoy your Saturday and your every day!

It's Friday!

Time to boogie like a single lady.

Packing! Dancing! Getting ready for my trip out west!

Thought Provoking Question: 3 of 25

 I saw this question and had a sinking feeling, because I knew that to answer it truthfully, as the topic rubs in my face just a bit, I would have to dig deep.

This is because I do feel like right now in my life, I am keeping some feelings to myself that I would rather not have. Or, if I have them, I would like to be able to share them; one or the other.

I don't share them because that's not "appropriate," and I don't want to have them, because to have them and not share them is stifling. I do need some time, more time, to sort them out, to make sure that they are what they seem, but in the mean time, I keep them to myself and have questioned whether or not this makes me a liar - If the actions and behavior I engage in with others are simply not genuine, because the bases of these actions are potential pretenses.

I loop around, rationalizing sometimes, but mostly convincing myself that the balance is this - to not deny my emotions, while understanding that having an emotion does not mean I need to act out its epitome. I can be angry without being hurtful, I can be sad without making myself miserable, and I can be happy without relinquishing the responsibilities of life in utter celebration of the mood.

So I come back around to the question - am I lying with silence? And I answer, no, so long as my actions are not evasive, but in protection of my privacy, to which I have a right.

Can silence be a lie? I think this gets back to my response to the last question, about messages. I am going to say that in most cases, silence is discretion, often "appropriate" discretion, often allowable discretion, without the decider of silence being made to feel he or she is giving over to a lie.

But...in the case that your message, my message, is getting derailed by your or my silence, then yes, we're lying and we need to make a change.

An example of that - today this guy at the gas station made a comment to me. It could have been taken as a compliment, a pick up line, or harassment depending on how one looked at it. I laughed it off, but I was offended by it's sloppiness, it's disrespect, even if it was well-intended. There is no excuse for a grown man to be that casual with a woman he barely knows when plenty of men do behave with respect and show it routinely. So my laughter, well, it was better than acting in absolute favor of this man's comment, but it wasn't my voice, my message, of dignity and respect. It wasn't standing up for women the way I would want my daughter to stand up for herself. So I lied to myself there, a little bit, and I can learn to do better.

Coming right 'round again, this has been an interesting question to answer. With my own current life predicament as with my gas station example, the answer is the same. My actions should align with my values, my feelings, my thoughts, but my actions do not need to be defined by what is inside of me, so long as they do not contradict my core identity. I'm not lying when I am being silent if that silence is a silence of self-respect and character. I have time inside myself to figure things out, so that when I am ready, I can give voice to my fullest self.


If you want to consider these questions for yourself, remember that the full list is here:

http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/03/29/25-beautifully-illustrated-thought-provoking-questions/

As I watch the drops of rain

weave their weary paths and die,

I know that I am like the rain -

there before the grace of you go I.

Common sense?

Uncommon sense?

In either case, sense!

People have a right to be educated about how their own bodies work, including how their own bodies work during sex, and we can all know ourselves without relinquishing whatever moral, religious, or irreligious values we may or may not hold.

Education and strong values are synergistic. Promise.

And even if I didn't promise, there's the data.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/sex-ed-without-condoms-welcome-to-mississippi/273802/

O the cat lives

O and I.

Me subverting my displeasure for yet another snow day this Friday by snuggling with a friend and putting on a happy face.

O making no such promises.

Happy few-days-closer-to-spring Monday!

Baby it's snow outside

Thought Provoking Question: 2 of 25

Wow. Good question.

If I had the opportunity to get a message to a large group of people, my message would be, "You, each and every one of you, with wrinkles in your pants or a coffee stain on your shirt, or worries about your sexuality, or your bank account, or your son, or your propensity to lie or your multiple successes or failures behind you, you have a message."

We all are given life to live it, live it out as a message to one another, and I believe most honestly to live in true relationship to our Creator.

We all have lots of things to say, but we all have a life song within us as well, and when we live it out, we give others permission to do the same.

I know you don't always believe in yourself, or think you're beautiful, or smart, or worth it, because I sometimes feel those same things too.

But you are so worth it.

You have a message.

Just because it's uncomfortable doesn't mean it's not true

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.

Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see.

~ Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor


Happy International Women's Day!

Where is your voice being heard today? Do your take your freedom of speech, movement, or influence for granted because of where you live or what sex you were born? I say don't today; instead, today, and everyday, be vocal for others who need to be braver than we could ever dream just to live as free women.

Our perspectives matter. Our lives matter.

We are here.

We are going to stand with one another to make things better.

  

http://www.legalmomentum.org/

http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/

This day

What can we do together today? I want to invest this day in working with one another. To really collaborate instead of push my weight around. To listen. No, really. To listen to someone else with apprecaiation for both their moment to talk and the quality of the communication they are offering. I want to smile as a message, as opposed to a nervous reaction or a nicety.

We can only truly do great things when we do them together. So what are we going to do today?

Midweek perspective

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/offbeat/2013/03/05/ac-ridiculist-reporter-cat-laugh-attack.cnn.html

 

It's Wednesday, and that means that we are midweek, and March 5th, which means that we are a hop, skip and a jump away from spring, that amazing season where I trade in my hatred of coats for my hatred of pollen. It's a time of year before spring fever really breaks where I just feel restless, because new things are about to start, but not. really. yet.

 

So, I bring you, for such a time as this, a news story about an obese cat swimming, and then several minutes of Anderson Cooper laughing at a very high pitch.

First Lady's Let's Move! Fireside Hangout

This is fanastic! Well, okay, I haven't watched it yet, but after I run my 27th-30th miles of the year, you can bet your butt that I will be. :)

It's Monday. Instead of being grumpy:

Just Wait

Take it from John Popper and Nike - Just Wait...Just Do It.

If ever you are feeling like you're tired
And all your uphill struggles leave you headed downhill
If you realize your wildest dreams can hurt you
And your appetite for pain has drunken it's fill
I ask of you a very simple question
Did you think for one minute that you were alone
And is your suffering a privilege you share only
Or did you think that everybody else feels completely at home
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
If you think I've given up on you you're crazy
And if you think I don't love you well then you're just wrong
In time you might take to feeling better
Time is the beauty of the road being long
I know that now you feel no consolation
But maybe if I told you and informed you out loud
I say this without fear of hesitation
I can honestly tell you that you make me proud
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
If anything I might have said now has helped you
If anything I might have just said helped you just carry on
Your rise uphill may no longer seem a struggle
And you appetite for pain may all but be gone
I hope for you and cannot stop at hoping
Until that smile has once again returned to you face
There's no such thing as a failure who keeps trying
Coasting to the bottom is the only disgrace
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come

Outrageous

This is an interesting and useful article to consider, and perhaps for me to apply in my own life.

I tend to find it baffling that the people who comment on and philosophize so often on popular media figures 1) think they are entitled to judge people...period...but especially those they really don't know, 2) think that the fleeting thought they have about someone's words, dress or other behavior merit such strong feelings, and 3) think that their feelings, thoughts or attitudes are that smart, right, or worth espousing to the whole of the internet, their co-workers, their families, etc. etc.

On a serious note, the author is right - why aren't we outraged online and in real life by the truly outrageous - hunger, poverty, abuse?

I am going to claim my voice right here and now to say that I am indeed outraged that there is such an unequal distribution of wealth in the world. I am outraged that we don't respect the elderly more, that we don't take care of the sick with compassion, and that we don't vote for children's rights and well being. Those are the top four  things that outrage me today, and maybe by being truthful today about that, I'll be doing my part to question whether the lyrics of a pop song or the joke of a comedian are worth as much attention (or more) than really issues.

And if that doesn't work, I'll make fun of Canada. (My favorite line in the article - "Just to be clear, I have nothing against Canada. In fact, it's my third favorite country in North America.")

This just in...

...from the Bill Wilson House.

My friend's friend surprised me with a trip there when I was in Vermont.

I need lots of serenity, courage and wisdom this weekend. Lots of time to think.

Wish me luck with all the pondering, and I hope you have a great weekend!