Stoicism

We are not disturbed not by events but by the views that we take of them. ~Epictetus

Calm Soul

Calm soul of all things
make it mine to feel
amid the city's jar
that there abides a peace
of thine I did not make
and cannot mar.


Calm Soul of All Things ~Matthew Arnold, 1822-1888

Winging Home

The only thing that feels better than leaving on a trip is returning home.


Peace...

Sing it baby!

"We're all bozos on the bus until we find a way to express ourselves."
~Steven Tyler (American Idol, 2012)

Peace...

Mama Mia

Sometimes nothing is better than eating dinner while watching jeopardy with your mother.

That's how I spent my night -- and you?

Peace...

THIS is Art

Brilliant.

And does it make me smile.

OK. Go!

Peace...

Snow

Yesterday, we were promised 3-5 inches of snow. Today, that hope fled south with the storm system. Instead, warmish wind and partly cloudy skies, made the day feel like April, but still, I yearned for the patter of icy flakes on my face, the hush of the world wrapped in white. Peace...

Blue Sky

The sky bloomed brilliant blue, the air smelled of turned earth, the bird calls sounded of possibility. Peace...

A Good Day's Work

A good day's work satisfies like nothing else.

Peace...

Honesty

Sometimes being honest hurts more than the consequences of a lie.

But at least when I am honest I can sleep.

Peace...

The Inbox Never Empties

And that is okay. Today, my inbox screamed 'empty me'. So much to do. And then, when I finally had two hours carved out, I received an email from an editor at the New York Times to pontificate on a subject near and dear to my heart ==> how to curb prescription drug abuse.

So the inbox remains full, but sometimes flexibility means more than getting stuff done. Peace...

Bleeding Heart

Today, on this day of love, my front garden shows the barest disruption of earth where the Dicentra spectabilis will erupt in a few weeks.

Happy day of love. Peace...

Diamond Dust

The day spent reading my manuscript, polishing it even finer, readying it for agent consumtion... I should have diamond dust embedded on my fingers.

Namaste...

Stories

I spent the afternoon reading stories from my textbook, all homework, and feel moved by the beautiful words wrought by Joyce Carol Oates, Denis Johnston, ZZ Packer... all stories to aspire to, stories to remember. Peace...

saturday

it took forever to get here this week.

tgis.

peace...

Donut Lady

Today while in the salon, a small lady with unruly silver hair pushed her walker into the back room with the shampoo sinks. The hairdresser helped her into the seat, washed her hair, and then they both disappeared to another room.

Twenty minutes later, I saw her, head tightly rolled into yellow, green, and pink rollers. She sat under a hair-dryer, the kind with the bowl you sit under, eating a cream-filled donut and reading a magazine. Her right foot tapped to some music only she heard. She so enjoyed her donut.

Peace...

Cusp of a cold

There is that time between health and not where you feel heady and acy and not quite yourself.

Today was one of those days.

But I got through it.

Peace...

Floating

The danger of conference calls is the temptation to multi-task. This morning, while listening to disembodied voices echo in my room, I checked emails. I had to put my phone on mute when one email, from an agent, requested the full of a manuscript.

The rest of the day I hovered an inch off the ground!

Peace...

Ho Hum

Sometimes, nothing exceptional happens. Today was such a day, and that's okay. Because the flip side is something awful happens, and that did not happen, either. Peace...

Riding Home

A woman on the metro rested her head against the seat, eyes closed, a smile playing on her face. The sun slanted low on the horizon, and the shadows of buildings and trees passing by dappled her face. I wondered what she was thinking, wondered how she achieved that grace.


Peace...

Winding Down

There is a melancholy to Sunday evening: the end of time together as a family, of the luxury of unscheduled time. Peace...

Smell of Snow

This morning, walking the Homewood campus devoid of students, the trees pocking a solid grey sky, the air smelled of snow. I have wanted snow, a good dusting to cover the world, to walk with fat flakes melting on my cheeks. It was 50 degrees, so I figured the smell drifted on wind hundreds of miles away, from some place where the air shivered.

Later, waking from a nap, the air full of swirling white. We hiked the woods, tasted icy delciousness on our tongues, warmed up later under fleece.

Mother Nature is a fickle being.


Peace...

Shaking Stuff Up

Today, after a meeting, rather than return to my office I sat in the student center with a cup of Earl Grey and read several scientific articles. The low hum of conversation, the light streaming through the window, the warmth of the tea all made my head buzz with new ideas.

Sometimes it helps to shake up routine, change route--surprises happen.

Namaste...

While in Savasana

Eyelids heavy
on my face,
my back and arms
and legs melted
into the floor
like butter.

The thin wail,
an ambulance rises
over the flute
swirling in the dark,
through the gentle sighs
of whales: water,
light of air receding,
the heavy feeling
of sinking.

This is what flickered
across my mind; this
is what I remember.


***

I love the half-sleep state of savasana, the way your body and mind go limp. The wail of the siren juxtaposed against the music of flute and whale call sounded poignant, perfect accompaniment to a movie scene. I thought of someone sinking in water. This, of course, made me think of a story.


Namaste...

Smile

When your child smiles while in the midst of music, it makes you smile, too.

Last night my son performed in his jazz band, and watching his head bop to the beat and enjoy himself provided the highlight of my day.

Peace...