Christmas Message No. 1

Having a simpler, easier, calmer Christmas this year. Lots of goodies, giving and love all 'round. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Wellness and clarity to all--Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

The Carter Center

I really like what I read about this organization and its initiatives. I especially like the simple, low-tech solutions they provide for health care, health education, and near-eradication of some horrible but preventable diseases, mostly in Africa, such as Malaria, River Blindness and Guinea Worm, a particularly awful disease about which I knew nothing. Just reading about it is harrowing. The community-based system of delivery for medical aid is effective and long-lasting. Guinea Worm has dropped from 3.5 million cases in 1986 to a current level of only 5,000. And that's just the Health section of what the Carter Center does. They are actively working on Peace issues and actions around the world. Jimmy Carter is so cool. His Presidency seems to have been just a springboard for what he really wanted to do in life. And Roslyn has taken up the cause of mental health prejudice in this country, with the Carter Center providing resources for community and family education in this area. To find out more, go to http://www.cartercenter.org/homepage.html.

Seeking or Obsessing?

This is my first post to a blog, any blog really, let alone my own. Is this self-obsession or honest seeking? I hope it might be a forum for musings, links to other interesting sites and articles, and a record of my (our?) process as it unfolds.

It looked like a great outlet in "Julia & Julia," as well as narcissistic.

At the moment, it is an experiment to see how writing feels again. I always try to remember to start any session of writing by invoking Natalie Goldberg's advice to give yourself permission to "write the worst s*&t in the world (universe, history of human kind, etc.)." I am free to write the worst s#*t I possibly can.

(Since I didn't really read the Terms of Service, I don't know if I am free to spell it out, however.)

My new Friend Stephen Dotson posed a question on Facebook the other day: How do you know when you're getting a leading? How is it different than following a hunch or listening to intuition? I did not get a leading to create a blog. But I have a hunch it may help in directing me toward my next leading.

Maybe it'll just provide a soapbox for my middle-aged maternal passive-aggressive Quaker menopausal rantings.

Time will tell.

So then --

Out beyond the idea of rightdoing and wrongdoing,

there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

That's Rumi. I think I'll leave it at that for now.