Status Update

A friend posted a Facebook status by Anne Lamott which brought several things to mind.

Musing #1....

I LOVE Anne Lamott  Why don't I read more of her stuff?  Why don't I follow her writing advice in  Bird by Bird?  Then again, why do I even attempt to write? She's saying everything I want to say, and better.  It is validating to have someone of her caliber doing what I do:  writing about the every day stuff and posting to Facebook. But, her everyday stuff has larger implications, and her whining is to mine as a Bach Cantata is to Abba.

I sometimes feel guilty that I spend so much time focusing on First World Problems.  Yes, I am in Year 1 of a divorce.  Yes, I have ten years of stress behind me,  relational and financial.  Yes, I do not know what I want to be when I grow up.  Yes, I quit my job about 3 years too early, without knowing how I will be supporting myself 6 months hence. Yes, it appears that my traveling days are over, or at least in abeyance.  Yes, it will be difficult if not impossible to lose weight and get back to my CycleOregon shape.  Yes, it is unlikely I will ever be partnered again.

But who cares?  I have food, shelter, companionship, worthwhile work to do, music to make (and the ability to do so), things to create.  I have the potential to envision and craft a new life.  The elements currently present in my life are soul-affirming:  beauty around me, savory food within me, activities that stretch or console me.  And I am aware of that every moment.   As I type I am listening to wind chimes, watching the pinon dance, seeing E's white hair glowing in the sun, rejoicing that the birds have found the seed I scattered for them, getting ready to go listen to Christmas music in a beautiful old Catholic church in Cerrillos.

So, even though "the mind is a bad room-mate," I have other room-mates that bring much delight.

Musing #2

Facebook is usually banal, and the connections I make there are often trivial, but it is a window onto many worlds that I find interesting, invigorating, thought-provoking.  I know that my daily haiku-sometimes-mit-photo is none of those....it's more of a journal....but it's worth it to find out what other people are doing or thinking.  Living on my mountain, I am in touch with the weather and the local wildlife, but not much else.  Of course, I could just lurk and not post, but it seems if you don't post, your lurking misses out on certain posts, and people don't send things directly to you.  In other words, you are not part of the conversation. For example, Deb, who is not a friend but a person I admire who let me "friend" her, "liked" the Anne Lamott post, and her "like" appeared on my timeline because she has "liked" some of my haiku and, voila!  my mind is expanded.

Bonus:  Anne quotes a Rumi poem.  Don't we all like Rumi?  Don't we all want to think like Rumi?

Musing #3
I want to spend more of my time experiencing, and less of it ruminating.