When I think of fasting as ‘holding onto’ something, I’m reminded that I want to hold onto my commitment to hang my laundry to dry and thus use my dryer less. This morning it’s a challenge. After all, daylight saving time has just robbed me of a precious hour. How pathetic is that for an excuse? Very. Rachel Carlson would approve of my simple way.
I am participating in a Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast sponsored by the United Church of Christ. Along with the specific suggestion that pops up on my screen every morning, I am also told to share what I’m doing with someone else and invite them to join me. So here I am, doing just that.
When I think of fasting as ‘holding onto’ something, I’m reminded that I want to hold onto my commitment to hang my laundry to dry and thus use my dryer less. This morning it’s a challenge. After all, daylight saving time has just robbed me of a precious hour. How pathetic is that for an excuse? Very. Rachel Carlson would approve of my simple way.
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Here I am, once again sitting on the deck watching the snow fall, once again considering Joseph Campbell’s follow your bliss-- so fundamental to leading a consequential life. It pertains to our hobbies and jobs—teaching, writing, playing the drums or clarinet, golfing, skiing, painting, sculpting, creating cards, you name your own. Behind these tangible expressions of personal bliss, is the larger satisfaction that our life is meaningful and purposeful. In following our bliss we can tell ourselves, ‘Yes, life is worth living.’ “If you follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say follow your bliss and don’t be afraid and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” Joseph Campbell The Olympics have started, need I tell you? Last night the family was tuned to the opening ceremony; newspaper articles are already piling up. More will keep coming, more TV coverage, more reading. Now, please don’t get me wrong, there are piles of rewarding reasons to follow the Olympics; many of my friends and family will be doing so, and in past years I’ve been sitting right beside them. However, this year I’ve chosen not to watch and not to read about them, at least not very much. This decision has to do with my longing to live in silence, solitude and simplicity whenever and wherever I can. I go to the cottage to do just that, so why would I ever turn on the TV and get immersed in it all? On the other hand, I am aware that whenever I step out of the cultural mainstream, I take the risk of separating myself from the life and people I know. I don’t want to do that in any hurtful way, so I try to be conscious of what I do and don’t do, say and don’t say. For the most part I keep a low profile. In fact, I reveal more about my longing for the 3S's on this blog than I do in person. 1/29/14 Here’s today’s ponder as I sit on the deck knitting and watching the sea. I suppose I could say that I’m setting some kind of intention to experience silence, solitude and simplicity, but that’s not true, at least the intention part. I’m just letting it all flow over me. I’m not at yoga. At lunch the other day a friend, who has known me since high school, said that she considers me a very intentional person, that I set out to do something and I do it. She used the example of setting intention at the start of her yoga class. I understood what she was saying, but I wouldn’t use intention to describe how I go about doing what I do. To my way of thinking, intentionality implies a somewhat lock-step, mental plan for achieving specific, concrete goals; and that just isn’t the way I see my life from the inside. I’d say I operate from a spiritual flow more than an intentional time clock. What I accomplish is driven by my mission. Example: Each day at the cottage I hope/plan to complete a monthly chapter for the book I’m writing (today was May 2001). Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn’t. But it is the reason that I am writing the book that keeps me moving forward, chapter after chapter, even when I’d rather knit and watch the ocean. It is my mission to inspire, affirm and encourage others to find meaning in their lives that drives me. I suppose I could call that intention, but the idea of mission flows deeper into the arena of longing, which is a far cry from putting a check on to-do list. It’s a matter of semantics. But for sure, I wouldn’t be able to ponder this with extended periods of silence, solitude and simplicity. ‘Very grateful.” Yesterday I attended the memorial service for my friend Denny, a friend for 45 years who died at age 90. Evidently she happily faded away, which is what all of us would expect from her. I remember Denny telling me that when she was a little girl she noticed that she often felt sad. “So one day I decided to pretend to be happy. And you what? I started being happy and I’ve been happy ever since.” Yesterday I used mapmywalk to get an idea of the distance and pace of favorite walk along the beach. Here are the results: Distance: 3.61 mi Duration: 59:46 min Pace: 16:33 min/mi Calories burned: 236 Now that I have the general stats, I’ll keep the little ap off. I’m not interested bettering my time. How easy it would be for that to become the purpose of my walks. No, I simply want to see what’s out there on a given day. Sorry if I’m a little lax with my posts, but I’m busy reading Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed, which I must finish it in two days. It’s a speed read from the library--take it out for one week, no renewal, and, horror of all horrors, $.50 a day fine. I just hate to handover cash that way. All those library rules aside, what a story-- history, family, relationships and more, all so fascinatingly woven together. The book is definitely getting my vote in the 5th Annual Goodreads Choice Award for fiction. Of course I haven’t read its competition, but I doubt that matters. After all, Goodreads is simply about books and people who love to read. Today my plan was to visit the church of Santa Maria Novella, but along the way I made a few unexpected stops, which is particularly easy to do when traveling alone. You want to stop at the exhibit of the Parte Guelfa? Go right ahead. A merry-go-round ride? Sure. Join the crowds at Orsanmichele? Why not? Antipasto at Ciro’s? By all means. The Palazzo di Parte Guelfa, usually not open to the public, was completing a month-long exhibit of contemporary paintings and today was the last day. I entered with some trepidation because the reception room looked rather disorganized and the director appeared surprised to see me. But, once again Boston seemed to be the ticket. He had visited there twenty-five years ago! With that began a private tour of the headquarters of this important political party in 12th,13th and 14th century Italy: the public hall designed by Brunelleschi (1377-1446), with ceiling and side paneling by Vasari (1511-1574) a hundred or so years later: the secret door in the paneling leading to a little terrace over looking the piazza below: and finally the private rooms of the party, with a little medallion of the head of Christ sculpted by Donatello above the door. My advice: wherever you go, enter with or without trepidation; just be sure to enter.
Today it was two chairs along the side of the road; rather nice ones; I bet they will be gone by tomorrow. The toilet seat isn’t there any more. I’ll never know what happened to it, but why should I care? Just some unnecessary curiosity to clutter my mind. In our neighbor, there seems to be an unwritten rule that if a roadside item isn’t claimed after a day or two, the owner takes it away--most likely to the dump or into their garage until they figure out what to do with it next. It isn’t always simple to get rid of stuff but there is a rather lovely rhythm to this roadside giveaway. Okay, where does this one fit into Fulghum’s kindergarten list? To be specific, where does a toilet seat left by the side of the road in our suburban country town fit in? Occasionally people put things (usually furniture) on the sidewalk in front of their homes. Whether it has a ‘For Free’ sign taped on or not, we know it is there for the taking. Is a toilet seat furniture? Maybe that’s not the point. In fact, what is my point? I guess I was just surprised to see someone’s toilet seat among the flowers. It sure didn’t contribute to the aesthetics. But aesthetics aside, there’s a lot of beauty in this offering, beauty in recycling. Let’s hope that it is just the right fit for someone who is remodeling their bathroom; giving and receiving, from one remodeling project to another. It’s about kindergarten sharing, and if nothing else, it’s about flushing. |
Contact me: bobbifisher.mac@mac.com
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