I just read Snowdragonne's thoughts on enjoying the night sky, and it made me think about the beauties of this earth that I enjoy so much but see so seldom these days.
One of the best hikes I've ever been on was the one where I decided to focus on my surroundings rather than my destination. I had a limited amount of time and I realized I wasn't going to reach the summit before I had to turn around, so I slowed way down and started looking around me instead of just ahead of me. I started noticing flowers, birds, and other beautiful things that I'd been missing before. I'd been so intent on not tripping as I hurried along that I focused entirely on the dirt trail rather than natural beauties I'd come to see in the first place.
That seems to be the story of my life lately: I get so busy doing things that I forget to savor the people and experiences that really matter.
Gotta work on that.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Quote of the Day - "Physics and Fashion"
"Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy." --Albert Einstein
Doubt this one will change my life, but it sure was good for a laugh.
Doubt this one will change my life, but it sure was good for a laugh.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Family Togetherness
A friend recently wrote on her blog that her once close-knit (if somewhat dysfunctional) extended family has started drifting apart. Her grandpa died a few months ago, and now that the generation that united them is passing away, the aunts and uncles have started drifting in different directions. They still care about each other; they just don't spend as much time together as they used to.
I haven't yet suffered such a loss, but my extended family is experiencing a similar phenomenon. My dad's side of the family used to gather once or twice a month for birthdays and every major holiday. Now all the cousins are grown up and going their separate ways, and it is hard to get even the local aunts and uncles together very often. It's kind of sad, but what is is and you just have to roll with it.
The river of life and generations flows on, and though I miss some of the old traditions, we've kept a few of them and we're creating new ones with our immediate families and our new little family. I'm curious to see what traditions stick or evolve with Baby and her future siblings. It's kind of fun to think we're creating a unique, hybrid family culture that will be even more than the sum of its parts.
I haven't yet suffered such a loss, but my extended family is experiencing a similar phenomenon. My dad's side of the family used to gather once or twice a month for birthdays and every major holiday. Now all the cousins are grown up and going their separate ways, and it is hard to get even the local aunts and uncles together very often. It's kind of sad, but what is is and you just have to roll with it.
The river of life and generations flows on, and though I miss some of the old traditions, we've kept a few of them and we're creating new ones with our immediate families and our new little family. I'm curious to see what traditions stick or evolve with Baby and her future siblings. It's kind of fun to think we're creating a unique, hybrid family culture that will be even more than the sum of its parts.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Quote of the Day - "Roommates"
"Love ebbs and flows, but it goes on being love. We are used to the fluctuations in our own feelings. I know, for example, that I don't love my husband exactly the same way every day. We go through periods of living more like roommates, bumping up against each other matter-of-factly in the ordinary course of living in the same house. I'm busy; he's busy. Love ebbs. Then something happens: I don't know what it is. Maybe I get a little extra sleep one night, maybe he does--maybe something nice comes in the mail. Maybe he says something that makes me laugh and look at him, really look at him, for the first time in days. Maybe absolutely nothing I can identify happens. But one day we decide on the spur of the moment to go out for ice cream together after dinner, or maybe I suddenly feel like giving him a hug, and it isn't just roommates anymore. Love flows back up around us again, warm and familiar." --Beppie Harrison
I came across this quote a few weeks ago. It paints an incredibly accurate portrait of my marriage (and probably yours, too, if you're married). Phillip and I are both a bit introverted, often content to spend hours working alone on our individual tasks and projects. We respect and love each other, but sometimes we do seem more like roommates than sweethearts.
Then all of a sudden a word, a gesture, a thought wakes my sleeping heart, and I feel so lucky to have this man in my life. I'm almost overwhelmed with gratitude for his good heart, for the fun we have together, for our ability to relate to each other.
I'm glad I have a roommate who does the dishes, a partner who shares my principles, and a sweetheart who makes my life so much sweeter than it would otherwise have been.
I came across this quote a few weeks ago. It paints an incredibly accurate portrait of my marriage (and probably yours, too, if you're married). Phillip and I are both a bit introverted, often content to spend hours working alone on our individual tasks and projects. We respect and love each other, but sometimes we do seem more like roommates than sweethearts.
Then all of a sudden a word, a gesture, a thought wakes my sleeping heart, and I feel so lucky to have this man in my life. I'm almost overwhelmed with gratitude for his good heart, for the fun we have together, for our ability to relate to each other.
I'm glad I have a roommate who does the dishes, a partner who shares my principles, and a sweetheart who makes my life so much sweeter than it would otherwise have been.
Barak & Mitt
P.S. For those of you who commented on the "Candidate in Pink" post, I just posted a reply. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner - we've been out of town for a few days.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Eavesdropping Encouraged
The blogosphere is a funny place. In everyday interaction eavesdropping is generally frowned upon, but on blogs it's practically encouraged. You're free to read about anyone's lives, loves, losses, and random musings, whether they know you or not.
What's more, you often get to know people more quickly and intimately than you could through normal conversation. In face to face interaction, you can't just walk up to a stranger and ask about their hopes and dreams. We don't generally feel comfortable revealing that kind of stuff to people we've never met. You have to wade through several layers of smalltalk about hometowns, college majors, hobbies, etc., before you find out what really makes them tick.
In the blogosphere, though, the first day you encounter a blog you can read for fifteen minutes and get a pretty clear idea about what the auther is like, what interests them, what they value. And if you like them, you're free to visit as often as you like and participate in their conversations. Jane Austen might be appalled at the social anarchy, but I love it.
What's more, you often get to know people more quickly and intimately than you could through normal conversation. In face to face interaction, you can't just walk up to a stranger and ask about their hopes and dreams. We don't generally feel comfortable revealing that kind of stuff to people we've never met. You have to wade through several layers of smalltalk about hometowns, college majors, hobbies, etc., before you find out what really makes them tick.
In the blogosphere, though, the first day you encounter a blog you can read for fifteen minutes and get a pretty clear idea about what the auther is like, what interests them, what they value. And if you like them, you're free to visit as often as you like and participate in their conversations. Jane Austen might be appalled at the social anarchy, but I love it.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The Candidate in Pink
I'll give you one guess who the title refers to. That's right: John Edwards.
Just kidding. The other day, I heard a radio piece on Hillary Clinton that I found rather interesting. They were discussing, of all things, her campaigning wardrobe. On the one hand, it's an utterly frivolous subject; on the other hand it raises some intriguing questions.
As a pre-candidacy senator, Clinton favored power pantsuits and no make-up. Now that she's courting America's favor, she's had a serious makeover and she's wearing skirts and dresses, some of them in shades of pink. The radio folk drew the conclusion that she's trying to appeal to American's traditional, subconscious ideas of womanhood, even if our conscious expectations of women are somewhat different these days.
I'm still trying to figure out what I think about that. Part of me is kind of amused at the disconnect between what we say a woman can be and what we really feel comfortable with. On the other hand, part of me is a little irked that a female candidate has to look and act like something she's not in order to court public opinion. But then, I suppose that's the nature of politics - they're all trying to become what we want, rather than convince us to want what they already are.
I probably won't vote for Hillary Clinton (pink dress notwithstanding, we don't see eye to eye on most things), but I'm still excited to live in a time when she can make a strong run for the presidency. In the past the question has always been, "Could a woman be president?" Now the question just seems to be what title they'll give Bill if she wins. I love that our country has reached a point when a woman, an African-American, and a Mormon all have a decent shot at the presidency, and no one seems particularly fazed about it. 'Bout time.
Just kidding. The other day, I heard a radio piece on Hillary Clinton that I found rather interesting. They were discussing, of all things, her campaigning wardrobe. On the one hand, it's an utterly frivolous subject; on the other hand it raises some intriguing questions.
As a pre-candidacy senator, Clinton favored power pantsuits and no make-up. Now that she's courting America's favor, she's had a serious makeover and she's wearing skirts and dresses, some of them in shades of pink. The radio folk drew the conclusion that she's trying to appeal to American's traditional, subconscious ideas of womanhood, even if our conscious expectations of women are somewhat different these days.
I'm still trying to figure out what I think about that. Part of me is kind of amused at the disconnect between what we say a woman can be and what we really feel comfortable with. On the other hand, part of me is a little irked that a female candidate has to look and act like something she's not in order to court public opinion. But then, I suppose that's the nature of politics - they're all trying to become what we want, rather than convince us to want what they already are.
I probably won't vote for Hillary Clinton (pink dress notwithstanding, we don't see eye to eye on most things), but I'm still excited to live in a time when she can make a strong run for the presidency. In the past the question has always been, "Could a woman be president?" Now the question just seems to be what title they'll give Bill if she wins. I love that our country has reached a point when a woman, an African-American, and a Mormon all have a decent shot at the presidency, and no one seems particularly fazed about it. 'Bout time.
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