No Safe Distance

Welcome to the Grand Illusion or Life in a House of Mirrors

For those of you who love and sometimes hate me, this is going to be one of "those" posts. It's 2 a.m. and I can't shake reality right now much as I try to give it the slip. Maybe this would be a good time for you to get some tea...

If you've been hanging with me at Facebook, you've been seeing quite a bit of silliness lately. In fact, I have almost been wondering if I'm a little TOO loose over there. While the world is so full of challenge and heartache most of my status updates have to do with ice skating, what kind of tea I should drink, which videos are cracking me up and my addiction to hockey. I'm sure to the uninitiated, I can look a little shallow sometimes.

Can you handle a little paradox?

While I've been Facebooking a bunch of goofiness, a very different world has been unfolding at the very same time and I'm going to do my best to lay it out for you just as it is although I know it's going to be tough.  In the past, this would have had me crumpled on the floor sobbing but I've seen too much of it and have worked too hard to face it to let it break me anymore. I appear to be mastering the art of being punched in the gut without doubling over.

A Potpourri of Good Reads and Resources

Chicago weather has taken me from my writing in favor of shovelling but in the meantime, I have some great reads for you to check out:

This post by Luanne Udell on Silent Evidence offers much food for thought. Reminds me of Margaret Wheatley's comment that she can't worry about the future. The only question that interests her is "Is this the right work?" I join her in that. We can't attach to the outcome of our actions, only their integrity.  There is simply too much we cannot control, but the quality of our character is always within our power to determine.

I was recently talking with a client who was bemoaning his lack of camera time about his Artist's Way practices and suggested he trade his morning pages for morning shoots. This article on The Artist's Way and the Piano by Edward Weiss is reminiscent of that discussion and may get some of you creative folks thinking about ways to play with the theme.

This article at DailyGood has food for thought for those of you wondering is sustainable happiness is just a mythic ideal. "Authentic happiness is a way of being and a skill to be cultivated. When we first begin, the mind is vulnerable and untamed, like that of a monkey or a restless child. It takes practice to gain inner peace, inner strength, altruistic love, forbearance, and other qualities that lead to authentic happiness." What kind of practice? Meditation. Very nice article.

Very nice e-book by Leo Babauta on The Power of Less with tips on how to manage well in a tough economy. I keep coming back again and again to how these tips are about living well in general. The economy is forcing us to really evaluate our lives and clarify our values. It may not be fun or easy and certainly some people are suffering significantly but I can't help but think that hitting this giant reset button has some very positive aspects to it.  It takes discipline and a sincere desire (there's that word again) to change one's life in the face of an economic crisis but if you can bring a steadfast resolve to the table and really do what Leo is suggesting, the process could be transformative on levels far surpassing the economic.

Gorgeous post from the Daily Om, for all you list makers and woulda coulda shoulda folks out there. I have, more than once, tossed out ALL my to do lists (without even re-readng them first). It's terrifying at first but try it (don't make me double dog dare you). There is something to be said for standing naked in front of your life.  (Why do I still make lists if I sometimes shred them all? Writing helps me organize my thoughts, so the exercise helps. But when I start confusing my life with my list, it's time for the list to go.)

Erin, my Irish lass, you may like this blog: Restoring Mayberry. This post just charmed the heck out of me. Reminds me of Kaleigh.

A resource for parents in "alternative lifestyles", Mountain Meadow a great place for kids of LGBTQ parents, located in Philadelphia. There is a ton of info on the site about all the programs & their summer camp. 

On Watching Jonatha Brooke

There is no such thing as preparation

There is only participation.

Now I tune my guitar.

Now I dance to Stevie Wonder.

Now I dance to myself.

Now I am making tea.

Now I am lighting a candle.

Now I am in the singing.

Now I am here.

And here.

And here.