Fight your way through that

I thought this was great. Saw it catching up on ragamuffinsoul.com and wanted to share. I see this applying to anything in life, not just the creative arts and communications.

I love Mr. Glass' comfirmation that "your taste is still good."

If you have a taste for something, a conviction about something, a gut passion or calling or instinct or hunch that something is important and you are meant to pursue it, don't let lack of experience or even talent stop you. Go for it with all your heart, because that's what hearts are for, after all.

Thanks for the inspiration, Ira and Los!

Scary, true and disturbing…my life’s challenge in a paragraph

Today I want to step away from the small picture (summertime, moving, working, and eating publically on my blog) to flesh out the bigger picture for just a second. I hope you don’t mind.

My blog (and life) mission statement, if you will, is Learning to express the joys of life, creation, and the journey taken with a loving Creator. Yours, mine, and especially, ours.

My blog title is Education. My blog mottos are a secular one, “Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one,” and spiritual one, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

What does that all actually mean though? And why do I post pictures of my cat?

Well, my biggest concern as a believer is that each piece of creation (people, animals, the earth, the energy that makes up the universe[s], and along with that, little me) is in one, some, or many ways away from the God who created us in love. What if, I think, I could do something to get myself and others to step toward our unconditionally loving God, and I chose not to? It’s not my business to judge people as “needing to be saved,” nor within my power to understand what exactly comes after death for any of us, even after much study, prayer, and trust in God. I trust God is here now, and is eternal, so my concern is not for the future, but for the constant present. In the constant present, it is my concern to share. To share the God I trust and believe in so that others (yes, including that scoundrel O the cat) can see a God that I believe is theirs too, so they might get to know God better on their own terms and in their own time, even if their journey is something I can’t understand or might not agree with. If I struggle daily to live as my authentic self (in union with my Creator), I believe I will be expressing my truth, that Jesus, who is my God, said and meant and made it so that “It is finished.” This truth transforms my life from an existence separate from God to journey beautifully tangled up in God’s love. That’s it. Scary to say, and even harder to live. But it’s the only life worth living, the only life that’s true for me.

Oh hi there, Boston

Last weekend S and I were treated to another visit from his friend (and I guess my friend now too!) from Japan. He and S originally met at S’s first job out of college at a contract pharmaceutical company in Greenville, North Carolina. S met M when he routinely would visit the “cack-a-lack” as we belovedly call NC from Japan in order to provide the company with technical assistance.

Once S moved up north again, M was eager to visit a new spot in the US and we were happy to be tour guides. See, as much as we explore the area on our own, it’s not often that we dish out the big bucks on a truly fancy meal or tourist experience, like the Prudential Center visit of last year or this year’s ride on the Boston Duck Boats. It’s so fun to have family or friends visit, because we like to show them a good time, and have seen more of Boston and the surrounding areas this way probably more than any other.

M visited on Friday evening, when we took him out to a chic meal of lobster, haddock and goat cheese pasta for me at a French restaurant overlooking Boston Common. M is on a mission to eat seafood whenever he visits, so I was glad there were items on the menu that did not disappoint. We then window shopped Newbury Street at night, talking about the various wedding dresses in some of the shop windows, and how M’s wife’s white wedding kimono - and wedding hair apparently - weighed a ton!

The next day we hopped on over to the Boston Museum of Science to get tickets for the duck boat tour, which has been something on M’s sightseeing list since last year. We really did have a good time – coming from Baltimore, S and I have built an appreciation for the history and culture of different neighborhoods sprinkled throughout a big city, and the tour broke that down for us quite nicely, explaining the influence of the Anglican and Puritan religions in the early years of settling the city. The water portion of the tour was just plain fun, and a good chance to see Boston-Cambridge from the Charles River.

Since the duck boats depart and arrive back at the Museum of Science anyway, we spent the rest of the day there, going through the exhibits one by one. We liked the pendulum exhibit, which demonstrated how the earth is rotating, the probability and math exhibit, which visualized mathematical properties through mobiles, tracks and rubber balls, and this hidden gem of a display with two live primates – whose species currently escapes me. S say’s they’re “tim-a-lanka limpurs,” but I remain unconvinced. They we teeny tiny, with old man faces, and long white plumes of fur sprouting off their faces like a mane – so fascinating to watch.

Thanks for visiting, M! We had such a great time meandering around the city, and we can’t wait to see you soon!

America merriment

Wasn't it nice to have a mid-week holiday for Independence Day this year?

S and I decided that, since we are indeed moving from our little South Shore town to the dreaded MetroWest (I bemoan oh so melodramatically), we'd stick really close to home this year, even closer than last year and the year before, to celebrate America's birthday. We headed to a brand spanking new community park in the middle of town, and may or may not have played on the play ground before enjoying a grownup picnic and a stroll around the park's walking trails.

It was lovely to bid our fair and first home here in New England adieu in this way. And no worries - even though we didn't plan to sit out for fireworks this year, there turned out to be a really pretty show visible from our bedroom window when we got home. Sweet serendipity for our last summer here.

This is a little how I feel today

Except, in my own scenario, I am both the mother and the child.

Time for a vacation soon. As much as I love work, I'm due for a battery recharge.

Yea, America!

Thanks be to America, and our Creator who sustains all peoples and nations.

I am so happy that The United States is so diverse, and that we are free to be creative, hard working, questioning, happy and ever striving citizens.

I hope you and yours have a great holiday with lots of awe and gratitude for the lovely land in which we live and are able to appreciate life. 

Next stop: Sandy Neck Beach

Over the weekend we made good on our promise to explore the lower Cape, visiting Sandy Neck Beach in Sandwich and West Barnstable, Mass.

It was an odd day, with raging thunderstorms periodically scouring the mainland, with the brilliant sunshine where we were on the Cape. Suffice it to say, our time on the beach was perfect, and our commute home was a little scary.

Sandy Neck could be more aptly named Rocky Neck, with stones ranging in size from a centimeter to a foot all over the beach. While the sand was soft and warm, these rocks were sharp and hot! Of course, once you reach the water of the Cape Cod bay, you're feet get a break in the cool waters, and the stones under the water take on more lusterous looks - their grays become deep greens and blues, and their browns deep reds and oranges. It's really very pretty.

On this trip, I was able to finally able to swim a bit, and sunbathing with S in the interim, it was ideal beach weather, in the 80's with a nice breeze.

Intend on reaching a lighthouse in the distance, S took my for a nice long walk along the beach where we spotted a wedding party gathering, a series of big, beautiful beach houses on the shore, and a handful of really cute kids, old couples, and puppies.

This weekend we're sticking close to Boston, but we've got plans to visit Woods Hole and the Fort Hill area at least one more time before the summer's out.