tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9863837554213657332024-03-05T18:38:42.304-08:00Quit Taking It PersonallyQuit Taking It Personally (QTIP) is an idea I started when this blog began more than 10 years ago. It is a now a "must" thing for me to practice and learn as a trans woman. So rather than extended pieces on others' Twitter feeds and Facebook pages, I put the few ideas I have, worth a few bits, (literally) here. - KGEKatharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-41307818710373463062017-12-27T09:10:00.000-08:002017-12-27T09:10:09.153-08:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #141412; font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Riot of blackbirds</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141412; font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">as the evening leans closer</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141412; font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">like foliage, they are, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141412; font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">screaming like black bunting</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141412; font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">at the tops of trees</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141412; font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">(insert copious white snow)</span>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-22690186910010609662017-04-25T07:02:00.000-07:002017-04-25T07:02:43.772-07:00BreviaAnd then he found himself in the<br />
middle of a Schubert song,<br />
and the woman was buxom and strong,<br />
but not to be pleased with a<br />
<br />
green ribbon as a gift;<br />
and she heeded the huntsman's call,<br />
leaving the jüngling appalled,<br />
and an unfathomable rift;<br />
<br />
and his end in the brook's course,<br />
turning assuredly as the melody,<br />
its current his pitiless hearse;<br />
yet his song haunts us as a reverie.<br />
<br />
June 25, 2002. Revised April 25, 2017.<br />
<br />Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-44736498750287410012017-03-12T12:13:00.000-07:002017-03-12T12:29:42.478-07:00Evidence seen and unseen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Come on crocus, you can do it. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Forgotten seeds<br />
<br />
dormant faith<br />
<br />
overlooked belief<br />
<br />
force and grace taken for granted<br />
<br />
it just grows.<br />
<br />
<br />Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-46118247625755472342014-05-23T06:39:00.000-07:002014-05-23T06:39:02.974-07:00Flowers (inner and outer)
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Once I would have walked a mile to see and smell <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIoDJdlswHfj62B1XYw_uqdUIG8xlI8ugHeT4tq7u8ayMX6M9JykxdLx3lKGYfnGvMV5c9sIuJwHJ7knAca44aiGGgmjVp2qE7Y7gsdiQk1se4nywfcIE5OyEFbAHKGo3kfhhTRWtRviR/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIoDJdlswHfj62B1XYw_uqdUIG8xlI8ugHeT4tq7u8ayMX6M9JykxdLx3lKGYfnGvMV5c9sIuJwHJ7knAca44aiGGgmjVp2qE7Y7gsdiQk1se4nywfcIE5OyEFbAHKGo3kfhhTRWtRviR/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
lilac
blooms.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it was the
first flower I recall knowing by name, after seeing a woman carry branches of
them in a vase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>From this I took
pleasure in learning and remembering the names of flowers and plants,
signs such as their color, shape and seasonal occurrence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I sought out zinnias, making special
trips to neighborhoods where dwellers had planted them in multiple colors and
varieties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchZGjAg9n6YUs1g09Nj3-qe_D_V2yMnVrSqESFjrXaAF6-CoUJPx5sUTwPSVCgCIBzw2oKI3MB9jWVF1_jXrjxjBn3eqGXsHxs0dA3pRvD-nnv_rStRMdqYvZbOH_dhbBupeEYEWJLR88/s1600/photo(103).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchZGjAg9n6YUs1g09Nj3-qe_D_V2yMnVrSqESFjrXaAF6-CoUJPx5sUTwPSVCgCIBzw2oKI3MB9jWVF1_jXrjxjBn3eqGXsHxs0dA3pRvD-nnv_rStRMdqYvZbOH_dhbBupeEYEWJLR88/s1600/photo(103).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or irises, from a different
spectral range and genealogy, the taste of memory of late May,<br />
<br />
<br />
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to rhodoendrons
and peonies breaking open spring’s progression into summer,<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNICTpUdYnifBbaYFHshqISDBdFXDtHlbDHB36I03YS61bvJ_YiCpjK-qnQGD6IBw1LucKKEmDmfmqX6mwusukS2rnUrelx83ABxs8ia8ZeljVZtfrSSPBm92PavWdyC1Xm6kQn7qyF-wV/s1600/photo+1%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNICTpUdYnifBbaYFHshqISDBdFXDtHlbDHB36I03YS61bvJ_YiCpjK-qnQGD6IBw1LucKKEmDmfmqX6mwusukS2rnUrelx83ABxs8ia8ZeljVZtfrSSPBm92PavWdyC1Xm6kQn7qyF-wV/s1600/photo+1%25281%2529.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
a cycle begun
inside me with the magnolia’s early spring explosion<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeg3i2wV_r93vN3HlpmENNOyWHzVmCA2dZ1QOnziuMnoTYtYXZ72uG-hdojEIa2ecxHdwoalvhmD3PhDvgAoQHCqtfnDVjx5P18rbK561J16ZgxzuPsH1dxkTrnKWpM8U5sjGYA1uwksUS/s1600/photo(104).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeg3i2wV_r93vN3HlpmENNOyWHzVmCA2dZ1QOnziuMnoTYtYXZ72uG-hdojEIa2ecxHdwoalvhmD3PhDvgAoQHCqtfnDVjx5P18rbK561J16ZgxzuPsH1dxkTrnKWpM8U5sjGYA1uwksUS/s1600/photo(104).JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
or flowery fireworks:<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUakF-LVO9OJoUix5LKLK34G7J_4ycif1THgczw1S68XPpU_UzvX75OmUV2-ee7pvoUCoW2gfSZawEZfgXp3Tf11AbnXhedKZVE-Zfq8YUC6O9XqqYQHeWVzsI29Knm5UDuu2YEsspedGD/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUakF-LVO9OJoUix5LKLK34G7J_4ycif1THgczw1S68XPpU_UzvX75OmUV2-ee7pvoUCoW2gfSZawEZfgXp3Tf11AbnXhedKZVE-Zfq8YUC6O9XqqYQHeWVzsI29Knm5UDuu2YEsspedGD/s1600/photo+5.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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As Whitman asks “have you felt so proud to get at the
meaning of poems,” so I took pride in knowing these by name(although probably so much more remote from their meaning,) rejoicing in their
flowering and colors, and maybe above all these reminders to notice both the moment and the passage of
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These blossom instantaneously (we
would need Edgerton’s invention to see) and fade at the end of their time of
the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within me, a flowering; beyond
me, an impermenance.</div>
Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-59654473574672856072014-04-26T08:28:00.000-07:002014-04-26T08:28:37.568-07:00Instructions (inspired by First Sip)A <a href="http://www.wordsoverpixels.com/yes-i-ve-made-mistakes-life-didn-t-come-with-instr/bdfc1babcd1696e40c6934f53f073db9.html" target="_blank">poster</a> I saw once upon a time and which has made the rounds online, such that it would be difficult to identify the creator and the original source,) has frequently offered consolation for me whenever I've returned upon it: "Yes, I've made mistakes. Life didn't come with instructions." <br />
<br />
I've heard others refer to it this way: "I didn't get the playbook," implying other people did, assuming they were on a team or the team. Yes, the outlier's feeling, the one who doesn't get it, the misfit, things I know and forget and relearn. <br />
<br />
What also comes to mind is Blake's dictum from <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/235/253.html" target="_blank">the Marriage of Heaven and Hell</a>, "the tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction." I would call myself a tyger, agent of creative wrath, or wise.<br />
<br />
How often was I told "It's very easy if you follow directions?" Rather than following directions, I considered myself stupid for both not following directions and for not doing something "very easy."<br />
<br />
Then at other once times, I might have learned from others with experience. "Nothing is easy," my first landlord told me, after I'd fatheadly commented that what he was working on looked like "it wouldn't be easy." Or, the groundskeeper at one of the educational institutions with which I've been associated, gleefully asserting: "First we put it together, then we read the fucking instructions." <br />
<br />
Lacking such confidence or persistence and then willful ignorance as a substitute, and yet there may have been a time when I was willing to let of regret and do the next necessary thing in front of me.<br />
<br />
So imagine my delight when at last I discovered there are <a href="http://afirstsip.blogspot.com/2014/04/instructions.html" target="_blank">instructions</a>. Thank you, Mary! Thank you, Claudia! <br />
<br />
For me, these words convey presence, appreciation, gratitude, and sharing all of it, whether through speech (also silence and being with another/others) and art which "hinges on having experienced something so moving that I want others to
know about it."(June Wyler, quoted in <em>Conversations with Artists</em> by Selden Rodman.)<br />
<br />
(For those who prefer a simpler version, there's the Zen master to himself: "Oh, master?" "Yes, master." "Be calm." "Yes, master." (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Comics-Ioanna-Salajan/dp/0804811202" target="_blank">Source</a>))<br />
<br />Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-27996169057616158302014-01-02T15:37:00.002-08:002014-01-02T15:37:26.903-08:00"crack in everything""I was hoping to find a crack in the pavement where my ailanthus of a poem could take root." Nicholson Baker, <i>The Anthologist</i><br />
<br />
The author was talking about finding an appropriate poetry anthology and about a big tree. My experience is something on a smaller scale:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdAFl8aAtNWQpbKgSo_xBOZtbYDvojYH3-6UMUy1KLRnr-a0jgzn3owkU6muZCQYEVZG5qtLWbl6atoopytMo4PsfIM9fHwyj_EP7Ak-oOAVZgh-WWxE7YnQD5FSrMEu8BKD-IWRDT-7H_/s1600/sunflower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdAFl8aAtNWQpbKgSo_xBOZtbYDvojYH3-6UMUy1KLRnr-a0jgzn3owkU6muZCQYEVZG5qtLWbl6atoopytMo4PsfIM9fHwyj_EP7Ak-oOAVZgh-WWxE7YnQD5FSrMEu8BKD-IWRDT-7H_/s1600/sunflower.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
This picture is from my backyard this past summer. I didn't plant it, though it came from a seed, perhaps windblown or from an avian messenger? I'm still fascinated with the plucky plants that went to victory through the asphalt, or in some instances winding out of the compost pile. It also reminds me of Leonard Cohen's oft-quoted: "There is a crack in everything <br />
That's how the light gets in."<br />
<br />
Far from perfect and the picture may convey some sense of the messiness around it. But the sunflower didn't wait.<br />
<br />
<br />Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-66930562364404121702014-01-01T12:16:00.001-08:002014-01-01T12:16:46.636-08:00LearnSome friends welcome the new year with <a href="http://www.adesignsovast.com/2014/01/new-year-2/" target="_blank">reflections on learning</a> or commitment to a new <a href="http://andreamaurer.com/2014/01/01/2014/" target="_blank">word</a> or new <a href="http://christagallopoulos.com/kind/" target="_blank">wish</a>, a blessing even. <br />
<br />
I could take any of these routes. Fear of commitment (and being accountable to a commitment,) or making an imperfect choice and regretting it (like in the popular parlance FOMO = fear of missing out,) holds me back, rather than standing in something - today.<br />
<br />
To take things further, what have I learned in the past year? I won't say what the character in Thomas Pynchon's V says, however, if I haven't learned, there's<br />
<br />
no shame in relearning what I thought I had learned, should have learned. Letting the voice subside that tells me how stupid I am for not knowing, as if it were the answer to another test I would fail or get wrong, because there is only one right answer, of course. (Lindsey talks about this relearning in her <a href="http://www.adesignsovast.com/2014/01/new-year-2/" target="_blank">New Year's post</a> and elsewhere on her blog and somehow I've learned this acceptance and humility from her, as well as gratitude for another day to be present and learn, whether there's a re attached to it, parenthetical or not. <br />
<br />
So maybe the word is learn, and for me, accept both the limits of knowledge and the necessity to act and make mistakes, that even being wrong may land on a relatively low rung of the spectrum of catastrophe.Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-47943982937220840662012-12-08T05:27:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:07:02.093-08:00#Reverb12 - the gift<b><span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">December 6</span></b> - <span class="style1"><b>What was your favourite gift given and/or received in 2012?</b> (Thanks again, <a href="http://www.besottment.com/besottment/reverb-2012.html">Hope</a>, for the prompt.)</span><br /><br />The biggest gift? Cats.<br /><br />One I thought was found dead in the street. Cassie and I were rushing out the door to catch a flight to Washington, DC, to meet her sisters and clean out her late mother's apartment. We saw whom we thought was Pegasus, dead and bleeding from the mouth. We wrapped the dead cat up and put him in a cooler and let our friends know what happened. All weekend we thought we'd lost Pegasus and dreaded our return. When we got home Monday morning, all four of our cats appeared, including Pegasus. It was miraculous. So who was the cat that we found two days before? We'll never know. I brought the dead cat to the veterinary and asked them to give the animal a proper burial. However, I will never forget the gift of realizing that Pegasus, whom we thought was dead, is alive.<br /><br />One night in September, Cassie informed me that our friend Michel had appeared in tears with a cat cage bearing Sabrina, his late father's cat. Another black cat, a longhair (we have had all shorthairs,) who had been abandoned since Michel's father's passing. He couldn't keep her as Ralph, their dachsund, wouldn't have it. Sabrina was clearly traumatized and spent most of the first two weeks with us in the cellar, though occasionally we would catch "Sabrina sightings," as she ventured upstairs for food. She had one eye which looked like it had cataracts but the vet later determined to be scar tissue (he also cleaned her teeth.) Gradually, she became more and more acclimatized and now Sabrina is our only lap cat. I haven't had one like this in years. She still mostly keeps to her living room sofa, but every day makes some sort of friendly appearance and explores a little more each day it seems.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFmEKK6hPyI72P2wI__EbKL_5Zhof1_bhg2NDxlFduKtAzMrIfDJi7EfPsAVf8uSpgefiKNEhsIzjPbXhbFk73kGIRNHVJU3JqfkecjerrM-QnrxGuHMfdP8915CWcqwPUplLYRoJMBUx/s1600/2012-10-26+19.27.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFmEKK6hPyI72P2wI__EbKL_5Zhof1_bhg2NDxlFduKtAzMrIfDJi7EfPsAVf8uSpgefiKNEhsIzjPbXhbFk73kGIRNHVJU3JqfkecjerrM-QnrxGuHMfdP8915CWcqwPUplLYRoJMBUx/s320/2012-10-26+19.27.50.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><br />This week it looked like we might lose Tibbs, who is Cassie's favorite. He is something of a fighter, somewhat aggressive and with a heart. He sleeps under the bushes along the driveway and yowls at us when one of us pulls up in a car. He likes to get into cars too. I thought I would be writing his obituary as he is diagnosed with feline leukemia and has been low energy with an undetermined infection, however, he is spending the night at the veterinary hospital and we are optimistic about his feeling better in the days ahead. Another gift. Nevertheless, I believe we have enough cats. ;)<br /><br />Pegasus and Tibbs know what they want:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRz5IsrYbPI-kHsKsMhR_OJ_kjRiDdKS6OZKEKeS9wpoG9jvXZHUpMfRtr53jER1raMkLReU12BICAUIBnjn7Gdp3sVcwkqaydmn53qjQZGWCYhgPM9M_-vr-KvSUCF0Nvn82fG7-FFFY/s1600/297042_10151181089067754_312400390_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRz5IsrYbPI-kHsKsMhR_OJ_kjRiDdKS6OZKEKeS9wpoG9jvXZHUpMfRtr53jER1raMkLReU12BICAUIBnjn7Gdp3sVcwkqaydmn53qjQZGWCYhgPM9M_-vr-KvSUCF0Nvn82fG7-FFFY/s320/297042_10151181089067754_312400390_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Aldous Huxley famously wrote, describing his advice to an aspiring novelist: "“My young friend,” I said, “if you want to be a psychological novelist and write about human beings, the best thing you can do is to keep a pair of cats.” And with that I left him. I hope, for his own sake, that he took my advice. For it was good advice — the fruit of much experience and many meditations." However, what he goes on to say is the psychology cats reveal is not always so pleasurable; in fact, he describes many "sermons of cats" as "depressing." I suppose I've given up the novelistic aspirations, if I ever had any, though I do enjoy the privilege of these spiritual beings' care and company.<br /><br /><br />Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-4219713790215719762012-12-06T15:30:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:07:02.110-08:00#Reverb12 - Not to Forget<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">December 5</span></b> - <span class="style1"><b>Five things you do not want to forget from 2012? (Prompt from <a href="http://www.besottment.com/">Hope</a>)</b></span><br /><span class="style1"><b><br /></b></span><span class="style1">1. My joyful surprise at Cassie's successful surgery, happened just as the doctor said it would. A skilled surgeon would know how and why, though for me something incomprehensible accomplishes the healing and I want to remain forever grateful.</span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1">2. Hannah singing the national anthem, rising to the occasion a couple of days after she was hospitalized with an infection. Driving her to the event she was having difficulty finding the right key, and then she calmly, unflamboyantly settled into it.</span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1">3. An abundant garden where one had not grown recently, flowers and vegetables, surprise upon surprise day following day. Though I've loved fresh tomatoes ever since I can remember, the real gift was the eggplant, which reportedly are hard to grow. A reminder of the abundance of life and water and soil and sunlight and growth.</span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1">4. Meeting Helen in person. We'd begun a correspondence through the <a href="http://welovegratitude.com/">We Love Gratitude</a> website. I admire her faith, perseverance, humor and colorful way of describing people and events. </span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1">5. The <a href="http://quittakingitpersonal.blogspot.com/search/label/Inspiring%20Women">Inspiring Women</a> project, even as it feels unfinished ... </span>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-31554938954221229032012-12-05T17:42:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:07:02.123-08:00#Reverb12 #4 MusicThanks again to <a href="http://www.besottment.com/besottment/reverb-2012.html">Hope</a> for the prompt, <span class="style1"><b>Did you discover a favourite song or musical artist in 2012?</b></span><br /><br /><span class="style1">James Blackshaw. I like the solo guitar style made prominent by John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Robbie Basho and others I'm probably not familiar with, and Blackshaw's work seems like a worthy extension of that idiom. </span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1">Here is a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0OqukhkgI0&feature=share&list=PL555D3E927DF61460">video</a> of Blackshaw playing on the street. I'm not sure of the date, it was probably filmed in the past few years, the sounds of the street complement the guitar playing. I also like when he dryly says "Cut" at the finish.</span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ0-9ULzh5w&feature=share&list=PL555D3E927DF61460">The Broken Hourglass</a> is another performance that resonates with me, I listen to it a lot and love the emphasis and dynamics. It's a big sound and at the same time there's a lot happening. </span><br /><br /><span class="style1">There's also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVhC3yf9sE4&feature=share&list=PL555D3E927DF61460">the Cloud of Unknowing</a>. Blackshaw has an album of the same name though I like this live version a little more, it has a staccato quality in some places not heard in the other.</span><br /><br /><span class="style1">Hard to choose since there's so much of his work that I like, but here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rDlS2CHMwA&feature=share&list=PL555D3E927DF61460">Boo, Forever</a>. I don't know what the instrument is that accompanies him in the final minutes. </span><br /><br /><span class="style1">Why? Something about his playing changes something in my being, I'm not sure what it is. </span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1"><br /></span>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-33496681954449118232012-12-03T17:29:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:07:02.130-08:00Reverb12: There's no forgetting?This one's not so much in response to a prompt, although I thought of <a href="http://www.besottment.com/besottment/reverb-2012.html">Hope's</a> "storm" theme for today.<br /><br />Looking back on the past year, not only did I not write much, I forgot my own advice in this blog's title.<br /><br />I depend on an uncountable number of people each day, particularly in my job. Plans that I made and expected colleagues to help with did not come about, for reasons that became clear to me later on, but at the time paranoia and resentment clouded my thinking. I was unwilling to give others the benefit of the doubt and not "take it personally." Furniture and appliances were not delivered, no one would explain, and I became hostile and non-communicative.<br /><br />The ice may have melted when I was in the process of writing an accusatory email and then I realized that it said more about it me than its intended recipient. Where were my priorities that I would take the time to send a "nastygram" instead of focusing on what needed to be done?<br /><br />So as the moments arise, each out of each, I want to take things more lightly, that maybe what I think must be said in the moment doesn't need to be. It can wait. Or it won't matter. Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-29376318701011003612012-12-02T14:43:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:07:02.138-08:00Home<strong><span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">December 2</span></strong> - <strong>What was the most memorable gathering you attended (or held) in 2012?</strong><span class="style1"><strong></strong></span><br /><span class="style1"><strong><br /> </strong></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XIpP9fpPOnvaaZ0ghyH16NyPaEWWxpWiiktYeWmjO7znnbkMEUBk54-kOYPzzosQtXwGh8s2zTDz89h6wS5yDbQ5LzHK8cBjungJO9WPkbHRo9rXWOqUZTLEZg1iV7kIu12epcAq4k3Q/s1600/2012-08-12+11.51.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XIpP9fpPOnvaaZ0ghyH16NyPaEWWxpWiiktYeWmjO7znnbkMEUBk54-kOYPzzosQtXwGh8s2zTDz89h6wS5yDbQ5LzHK8cBjungJO9WPkbHRo9rXWOqUZTLEZg1iV7kIu12epcAq4k3Q/s320/2012-08-12+11.51.15.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span class="style1">Taking the prompt again from <a href="http://www.besottment.com/besottment/reverb-2012.html">Hope</a> again, I think of the past 4th of July. Cassie and I hosted our family, which this year included Andrew, my brother, Chloe, his partner, and Leon, Alan and Simon, three children all six and under. I don't see my brother often. It was Cassie's stroke of genius to buy a plastic wading pool for the kids. Especially meaningful was that the year before we were out of the house because of construction, with no certainty when the house would be fixed or when we would return. This year, we enjoyed bright sunlight, several outdoor gatherings and a flourishing garden which yielded many vegetables and flowers. Oliver, our neighbor, remarked that nothing had ever grown in that soil that he could recall. The 4th has special meaning for Cassie as it was her late father's favorite holiday. It was a summer to remember, especially with the yield from the garden. Home is especially grounding for Cassie, so to speak. </span><br /><span class="style1"><br /></span><span class="style1"><br /></span>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-46342971490997642062012-12-01T13:23:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:07:02.145-08:00Reverb12: New thing? <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.besottment.com/besottment/2012/11/reverb-2012-getting-started.html">December 1- Did you try anything new in 2012?</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When I reflect on 2012, not finishing what I’ve started comes to mind, for example on this blog, which has been untouched for nearly a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I took an online course for the first time, if what I remember is accurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The theme was self-confidence and it occurred over four weeks. </span>I took every opportunity I could to participate in the chats, read, do the exercises, work with a buddy, with the end result a personal mission, vision, core values, and goals,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a gift which I have not opened since the course ended. And I hesitate to start anything new. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yet I am delighted to see others posting to Reverb12 and feel something awakening in me, though I'm not sure what it is. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-88649327340940151202012-03-26T17:16:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.152-08:00Inspiring Women: Rachel Simpson: Affirmations<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">I love Rachel’s <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/">Daily Pep Talk from a Best Friend</a> and look forward to it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Rachel describes the site as “<span style="">daily affirmations that don't suck.”<span style=""> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Mostly these consist of positive, encouraging and motivating messages.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here’s <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/19350071988/go-for-it">one</a> to counteract stress and focus on a goal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Another reminds us that each of us can express <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/19287531508/youre-creative">creativity</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then there’s one that urges you to <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/19070048125/youre-in-charge-of-this">trust yourself</a> and remember where you’re the expert and need not heed criticism or instruction.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Rachel also shares affirmations through images and art.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/19901525189/let-the-beauty-we-love-be-what-we-do-via">Here</a> and <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/18999983756/i-have-decided-to-be-happy-because-it-is-good">here</a> and <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/18693357273/youre-awesome-be-nice-to-yourself-its-hard">here</a> are some of my favorites.<span style=""> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">When someone shares an accomplishment, Rachel gives a <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/19959876770/shout-out-corinne-is-a-fighter">shout out</a>, another aspect of affirmation that may inspire others in their own pursuits and reflective of the author’s generosity and kindness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">A great thing to do is subscribe to Rachel’s <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-effing-awesome-a-pepcast/id480224111">pepcast</a> via iTunes and let her uplifting words enter into you through an auditory experience.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here’s a shining <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/18067353801/you-know-what-you-are-from-youre-effing-awesome">example</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The site also has a <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/random">“Random”</a> link for those who like surprises. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here’s <a href="http://dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.com/post/126505650/youve-got-no-time-for-other-peoples-bullshit">one</a> I got to just now.<span style=""> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I look forward to seeing Rachel’s newest creations in my feed reader and always get a lift.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thank you Rachel!</span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-70977084959249450812012-03-25T13:06:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.160-08:00Inspiring Women: Maria Droujkova: Mathemagician<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; 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mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} span.contentpanespan {mso-style-name:contentpanespan; mso-style-unhide:no;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">I met <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/mariadroujkova">Maria</a> two years ago at <a href="http://www.scienceonline2010.com/">ScienceOnline2010</a>. I’m not a mathematician myself (although my father is,) and I’ve never taken any advanced math courses, but more on that another time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At the time I was a librarian for a scientific research institute and attracted to the event because of its emphasis on (and having learned about it through) social media. Anyhow, Maria and I <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>struck up a conversation and I learned about her work which you can get glimpses of on her <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com/">website</a> and <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/">blog</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Since my inclination is finding information, I answered some questions she posted to Twitter, and Maria eventually invited me to join her <a href="http://groups.diigo.com/group/math-links">math social bookmarking group</a>.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Maria describes the purpose of Natural Math from her teaching and learning practice and philosophy:<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="contentpanespan"><span style="">“We need to participate and engage babies and kids in math-rich, meaningful human endeavors that are useful, beautiful and fun. From the earliest time, kids should see themselves as co-creators of mathematics. The richness of the mathematical culture has to become available <i>and</i> accessible in a wide variety of communities, in many beautiful and meaningful forms.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="contentpanespan"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Toward these ends, Maria created “communities of practice,” through <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/functions-3-4/">math clubs</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/naturalmathdotcom?feature=g-all-a">videos</a>, the <a href="http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/">Math Future Wiki</a> (which hosts frequent online events with innovators in math study and teaching.)<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And consider Maria’s ideas on <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/curriculum-as-a-platform/">curriculum</a> as well as her inspired crowdfunding endeavor to create math objects for young children, <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/tag/moebius-noodles/">Moebius Noodles</a>.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">A recent <a href="http://www.underthemicroscope.com/stories/the-myth-of-the-fast-math-track">story</a> Maria co-wrote with Sarah Berenson emphasizes her concerns with encouraging girls to pursue math and science in school and beyond, focusing on the Girls on Track summer camp resulting from a partnership between several North Carolina colleges and schools and entering into its second decade. “<span style="">Inspired by the girls, we are working on an integrated model connecting the academic track point of view with personal and community significance of mathematics,” the authors report.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Recently, Maria directed her energies towards <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/tag/games/">math learning games</a> and in recent presentations <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10gG23rJdWKwdDh4sWgj9uYptx4XSiFKmYbeAk0YUT94/edit">here</a> and <a href="http://www.wiziq.com/Action/LCSignUp.aspx?method=RegisterforClass&tId=ioUrEwcdPaJjTBfurn5HLwCMt%2fTs1xhVgJYmjxoJQe7q6x2hduFRfR1hXz5bjtN5d%2f7z3KMtHG5oNEBU0ZFvrmFvXlGvGusc084mQGHwOGX2O8hM0ubZ2MgzJkHgIIQTK6UQsCBVEAI%3d&sparams=KSbi0dN5jh5%2fk0nx%2fg97zhmGYXhtiBYXl99AoQD1ORQ7vFW4eLi7KeMrpvGoYG8O7yAFMbnf%2fV1mKPZkXNIuD6bRIYfsMxXNq%2f9Yf%2f97PHGYzPnL5iD5loBb965lVjWJ0ODC6bzDD6C2uln77sWlI6d6dCwcE0PKkkRBeL9wfqE%3d&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=420&width=410">here</a> discusses “helping everybody - millions of kids, parents, teachers - design or remix their own games,” through communities of practice, social networks, and taxonomies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">For her advocacy of math and children’s natural learning and creativity, her effective use of technology and social media, and her entrepreneurial spirit, it is no wonder that one of her fellow travellers called Maria “the Maven of Math World online,” and I heartily agree.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-10767359475706289632012-03-25T10:34:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.168-08:00Inspiring Women: Joanne Manaster: Science Love<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; 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color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/sciencegoddess">Science Goddess</a>, Joanne Manaster, is a tireless science advocate, educator and <a href="http://www.joannelovesscience.com/">blogger</a>.<span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">From <a href="http://www.joannelovesscience.com/about_joanne_manaster.html">her story</a>, I learned not only of her youthful modeling career, but how she changed course in her vocation, according to what she knows she likes to do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Joanne wished to become a doctor when she was a child, but found she preferred working in the laboratory.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In the pursuit of a PhD, she realized she favored teaching over research and that’s what she does today in the classroom and online.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">Let Joanne tell you about her change in perspective, it’s really quite insightful and moving: “</span><span style="font-size:11pt;">I began by wanting to view the heavens with a telescope and then ended up looking into the body with microscopes. I started my life by focusing mainly on science and preferring NOT to be seen, to experiencing a world whose main emphasis is image and being larger than life, to withdrawing back into a studious scientific bent and now putting myself once again out in the world, trying to integrate all that I am in my goal of sharing science.”<span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Especially, Joanne says, her goal is to encourage young men and women to take in interest in science and not be put off by negative sterotyping.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To that end, Joanne goes a long way to communicate the beauty in wonder and the wonder in beauty of the scientific phenomena she encounters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">I’m especially impressed with Joanne’s <a href="http://www.joannelovesscience.com/science_books.html">video book reviews</a> and the range of books she spotlights.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One she did with her daughter Amanda on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8-pd2TaKbw&list=UUS8Ov3CjYJ6Otiy2p_TwNOA&index=5&feature=plcp">YA novel Math Girls</a> is particularly enjoyable, focusing on an intriguing combination of math problems and teen romance with the emphasis: "Math isn't hard. Love is."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Or see Joanne’s collection of highlights from video posts on chemistry, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdP30MYtNZ0&list=UUS8Ov3CjYJ6Otiy2p_TwNOA&index=2&feature=plcp">Joanne Loves Chemistry</a> to get a further sense of her spectrum of interests.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">I’m also fond of Joanne’s discussions of the science of beauty, particularly the chemistry of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD50493B0E8969F55&feature=plcp">make up</a>, revealing the use and advantage of science in everyday products.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Some are odd, such as Joanne’s experiment of how many <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfWHTeanyQc&list=UUS8Ov3CjYJ6Otiy2p_TwNOA&index=34&feature=plcp">cats</a> can fit in a kitchen sink.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Another more reflective example is Joanne’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v9uuaxikjk&list=UUS8Ov3CjYJ6Otiy2p_TwNOA&index=35&feature=plcp">profile of Jacques Cousteau</a> and how his work influenced her scientific interests.<span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">These are just a few examples, however, and I have seen anything else like what Joanne does.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Go see for yourself.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-44151799726048653382012-03-20T18:44:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.178-08:00Inspiring Women: Jasmine Lamb: Leader<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; 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mso-style-priority:9; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:"Heading 3"; mso-ansi-font-size:13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:13.5pt; font-family:Times; mso-ascii-font-family:Times; mso-hansi-font-family:Times; font-weight:bold;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Jasmine’s <a href="http://www.allislistening.com">blog</a> is silent at the moment and she still speaks volumes. <em><span style="font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style: italic"></span></em></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Right now I’ll focus on Jasmine’s complex story of leadership. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What immediately comes to mind is her five-part series on her trip to Vermont, a place </span></em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin"><a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/08/oh-my-water-logged-love-my-home-my-heart-vermont/">she calls her heart</a><em><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style: italic">, following Hurricane Irene.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></em></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Jasmine went north with her friend and <a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/10/lead-me-baby/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">the story begins</span></a> with a volunteer coordinator asking for folks with trade skills.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her friend answers “We do,” for both of them, to which Jasmine reacts in disbelief, but her friend persuades her, subtly and not-so-subtly to go along. </span></em></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">“</span></em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">It turns out my friend is a born leader. She was able in that moment to see that what was really needed was a few people with organizing skills who were comfortable leading a group of people to safely and effectively accomplish a task. She knew we had these skills in spades.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Jasmine then goes on to elucidate some interesting discoveries:</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">“<strong><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">Leaders are not born (except my above mentioned friend), they are empowered.</span></strong> And they are not just empowered by an outer source of authority, but equally from an inner source of authority. …</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Do not look at barriers. Only focus on resources. </span></strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">I was so hung up on my idea of myself as someone who is bad with a hammer and clumsy with a saw I couldn’t see the vast reservoir of resources I had to offer…</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Everyone is a leader.</span></strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin"> From that moment forward I not only looked for what resources I could offer to the situation, but I also immediately looked to everyone else as resources as well.”</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Eventually Jasmine and her friend assume coordination of the local project from a weary, grateful farmer, and she reports on what they accomplish: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“By afternoon volunteer crews had made substantial progress on the whole street, and by progress I mean amazing leaders had taken the responsibility to do things like hand five gallon buckets full of mud up through a hole in a basement for hours and hours on end as part of a large bucket brigade lined up through the basement and up through to behind the house.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Anyone who came to me that morning and showed the slightest sense of initiative I immediately put in charge of something. One woman came to me and asked,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Would it be okay if I went and got a belt for Fred (the elderly man whose house we were working in who’d lost everything and then the day before his belt had broken)?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I answered, “Not only is it okay, but you certainly don’t have to ask my permission, and when you get back from getting him a belt I am going to put you in charge of the whole street.””</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“She didn’t know she could lead until that moment when she already was.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By doing. The upshot is “claiming your wisdom, power, and purpose in every moment.”</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Jasmine goes on to</span></em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin"><a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/11/jasmine-you-have-ovaries/"> meet the governor</a><em><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">, by asking to speak with him after the governor expresses bewilderment at the condition of the town and the apparent lack of management.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After the encounter, she reflects: “</span></em></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Maybe it wasn’t the Governor’s job to get the young out-of-state Vermonters to come home and help, maybe it was mine.”</span><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic"></span></em></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">And after travelling back to Massachusetts after two days, Jasmine, <a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/11/my-heart-careening-over-slippery-dark-back-roads/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">reflecting on her experience</span></a>, realizes what she is called to do, what the governor was saying to her: “</span></em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Less than an hour ago Governor Shumlin had said to me, <a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/11/jasmine-you-have-ovaries/">“I need you” </a>and fun as it was to flirt with the idea he needed <em><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">me</span></em>, what he meant was:</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">“Vermont needs all the help it can get and this town in particular. You showed up and now your leadership is needed. I don’t want to date you. I want to dare you to offer your skills to t<a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/08/oh-my-water-logged-love-my-home-my-heart-vermont/">his community.</a>”</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">So she returns.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Confronted with similar chaos, Jasmine relates, in a moving and complex piece titled <a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/11/i-just-stood-there-being-an-opportunity-my-vermont-irene-story-part-4/">I Just Stood There Being an Opportunity</a>:</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">“Looking for opportunity means realizing everyone is a resource however obstinate, recalcitrant, inefficient, inept, inert, traumatized, limited, or lame they seem to be. Help c<a href="http://www.kellydiels.com/2009/04/19/eff-will-power/">hannel their energy</a> in the right direction and—<em><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Voila!</span></em> We move forward, work gets done, needs get met.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">By the end of the day new connections were being made, awkward grace was establishing itself, and community leaders and the town selectman were beginning to work together.”</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Physically exhausted by her efforts, however, Jasmine soon finds herself not as caretaker but in the position of being taken care of by newfound companions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The words she quotes from </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Pema Chödrön have particular resonance: ““Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By helping others we help ourselves, through what we can give each other.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">Recovering from this draining experience, Jasmine <a href="http://allislistening.com/2011/11/on-being-a-big-hearted-insane-woman/">speaks</a> in the next segment of grand plans to start a relief organization to take care of Vermont and more, until she is reminded by a text from a friend to take care of herself first with the word “differentiation.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She summarizes the complexity of her lessons incisively: </span></p> <h3><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">“</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">We need leaders in this world, but equally <span style="color:black">we need teamwork and we need friends. We need to take care of ourselves if we want to be effective at all in anyway what-so-ever. </span></span></h3> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; mso-outline-level:3"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">We get into trouble if we think we can leave it all to the invisible <i>THEM, </i>but we also get in trouble if we think we have to do it all ourselves.”</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; mso-outline-level:3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">It’s one of my favorite stories that documents the power of assuming leadership and responsibility balanced with the realization that helping others helps us and we can’t help anybody if we don’t take care of ourselves also.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; mso-outline-level:3"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p> <p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-51245665773712512202012-03-19T16:59:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.190-08:00Inspiring Women: Christine: Resilience<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} p {mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style><a href="http://coffeesandcommutes.com/">Christine</a> is not blogging at the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I’m spent by the time I carve out a moment to write, and that means I’m not writing the things I want to be writing. That means it becomes a chore. When it becomes a chore, it creates guilt.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The last thing I need in my life is guilt. I’ve worked too hard to find some emotional and mental stability.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So we can find on her <a href="http://www.facebook.com/coffeesandcommutes">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/CoffeesCommutes">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://coffeesandcommutes.com/more-writing/">other blogs</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I miss her frequent blog posts, nevertheless. <p style="font-family: arial;">Because I appreciate Christine’s honesty about writing and living, exemplified in <a href="http://coffeesandcommutes.com/2011/11/get-out-of-my-own-way/">this post</a> where she writes: “<span style="">I realized that the hard work I’ve done to pull myself out of the trenches of depression and anxiety has been important and valuable, but hasn’t yet fully addressed the root of my struggles—my sense of self-worth and my ability to love and honour myself.”<span style=""> <br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="">In another, <a href="http://coffeesandcommutes.com/2011/06/creative-empty/">on creativity</a>, she says “Creativity means filling others with emotion, making a difference through beauty or skill, <em>inspiring</em>.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then she goes on to write openly, “My life has become an array of contradictions. I’m happy, but I’m numb. I’m energetic, but I’m weary. I’m productive, but I’m still hopelessly lost. I’m doing, but I’m not being. I’m full of life, but running on creative empty.”</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">I consider Christine inspiring because she is willing to acknowledge her difficulties and persist towards equilibrium and self-expression.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Look at the compassionate and open-hearted <a href="http://coffeesandcommutes.com/2011/03/life-is-not-a-race/">letter</a> she writes to her younger self:<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;">“<span style="">Take the time to really consider your goals. Don’t worry about the expectations of others. They aren’t the ones who will be living your life. I cannot emphasize this enough. Stop, think and revisit your deepest thoughts often. Reflect on who you think you are and who you want to be. What brings <em>you</em> joy and helps you to feel fulfilled? Use this to help you decide what you want to do with your life. A day will come when you learn that a career should be about passion and happiness, rather than expectation and success. It should complement the rest of your your life, not be your life. Otherwise, you might regret some of the choices you make.”</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="">And the hard realized truths she <a href="http://coffeesandcommutes.com/2011/10/one-year/">shares</a>: “And so, if you ask me what I’ve learned this year—after all the reading and introspection, this hard, soul work—I’ve learned that this is just it. Today. <em>This moment</em>. Life is best lived now, not in the past or the future. If you can understand that, I mean really, really grasp it, then everything else either falls into place, or it falls away. All of it.”</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><br /></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Keeping an eye on my reader, Christine, until next time. </span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-17691026961339329962012-03-18T17:08:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.200-08:00Inspiring Women: Sally McGraw: Style and Body Appreciation<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">Sally’s <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/misson-statement">mission statement</a> for <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/">Already Pretty</a> reads in part: “<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">My primary mission is to show that body knowledge gained through explorations of personal style can foster self-love and self-respect.<b>”</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=""> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Like <a href="http://artfullyawear.blogspot.com/2011/04/wolf-kahn.html">Ariel</a> who finds “color…where there appears to be none”, Sally <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2011/12/how-to-find-inspiration-everywhere.html">seeks inspiration</a> “everywhere,” particularly from fellow fashion bloggers towards whom she is unfailingly generous, as the representation in her weekly <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/category/lovely-links">Lovely Links</a> post demonstrates.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">And Sally’s <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/category/lovely-links">style</a>, clothes and colors and textures, is impeccable, helped by the clear photography and frequently lovely open air <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2012/03/dressed-for-a-walk-in-the-woods.html">settings</a> she chooses.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Whether it’s focusing on a particular piece of clothing as in this essay on <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2012/01/reader-request-making-blazers-fun.html">blazers</a>, or advising readers where to buy or consign clothes (she places particular emphasis on <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2012/02/yet-more-reasons-to-thrift.html">thrift stores</a>,) Sally offers an endless stream of tutorials and novelty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p><br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Sally’s blog combines great style advice and examples with serious consideration of women's body image.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She writes also that through dressing beautifully she began to appreciate her own body.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2012/03/the-living-continuum-to-which-you-belong.html">post</a> includes a generous quote that expresses Sally’s body experience masterfully.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2011/03/body-gratitude.html">Body Gratitude</a> is an excellent example of Sally’s aims, where she lists ten qualities she appreciates about her physical appearance and capabilities, following a few identifiable disatisfactions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">In <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2011/10/you-can-do-it.html">response</a> to a feminist documentary that makes her question her focus on clothes and style and body, Sally frames her work: “</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The point is not to feel beautiful. The point is to feel powerful, capable, invincible. The point is not to feel pretty. The point is that you’re already pretty, and once you’ve accepted that, you free up an enormous amount of mental space for other things. And, in the vast majority of cases, those other things have nothing to do with shoes or moisturizer or nipped-in waistlines. Tools. They’re just tools. Weapons, even. They help you build and craft the external you, so that the internal you can do her work unimpeded.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2009/04/self-love-as-bravery.html">read</a> the encouragement she gives other women not only to appreciate themselves but to say so out loud: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Wouldn’t you love to hear more women talking about their amazing legs, fabulous shoulders, and flawless skin? Wouldn’t you feel empowered by overhearing a pack of ladies lauding their superior strength and sensual curves and undeniable grace? … I constantly ask women to cast off their self-focused negativity and accept their own beauty. But it would be equally beneficial to encourage women who have ALREADY accepted themselves as gorgeous beings to say so. Aloud. Declarations of self-admiration and bodily-love are <i>brave and inspirational acts</i>, not indicators of conceit. And we who struggle should acknowledge them as such.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Sally’s writings on <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2010/03/why-bother.html">self-care</a> and <a href="http://www.alreadypretty.com/2011/08/body-image-at-the-gym.html">fitness</a> are equally noteworthy explorations of how her practices sustain her healthy self-image, showing what works for her and ultimately brings her joy that it may help her readers towards something that works for each.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-63466892202143670992012-03-17T14:13:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.209-08:00Inspiring Women: Tara Sophia Mohr: Big Poems<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><a href="http://www.taramohr.com/">Tara Sophia Mohr’s</a> poems put me in the company of two huge insights.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >At one point, she communicates the richness and vastness of life and at the same time its essential inexplicable and inextinguishable qualities:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >“</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >You will be asked: Did you know it,<br />this place, this journey?<br /><br />What there is to know can’t be written.<br />Something between the crispness of air<br />and the glint in her eye<br />and the texture of the orange peel.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >(<a href="http://www.taramohr.com/2011/02/in-the-end/">In the End</a>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >and here: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >“I never believed in death, for I never saw it.<br /><br />I saw only that this became that.<br />The petals fell away, and the thing became a stem,<br />and the floor became scattered in pink.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br />Containers break. Eras end.<br />Thing-ness only a stopping ground,<br />a pause at the train station, followed by moving on.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br />You were never yourself, and I was never I.<br />Everything cresting and falling,<br />giving way, again, to the ocean.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >(<a href="http://www.taramohr.com/2011/05/i-never-believed-in-death/">I Never Believed in Death</a>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >At the same time, in the face of something truly spectacular and mindful of personal insignificance, Tara urges this expansion of one’s living through power and action:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >“</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >When you know you are a just a disco party<br />of cells that came together for a time,<br />you’ll live like the blazing sphere you are,<br />and dance with the spheres around you.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >(<a href="http://www.taramohr.com/2011/05/i-never-believed-in-death/">I Never Believed in Death</a>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >And with the understanding of life’s abundance, comes both appreciation and aim:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >“Don’t be greedy with the universe, she said to me.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >But she didn’t say it in the mean way.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >She didn’t say don’t dream big, don’t want things, don’t think you</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >deserve.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >She meant: look at your life and trust it.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >Notice how you have forever been given what you need.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >(<a href="http://taramohr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Real-Life-Tara-Mohr.pdf">The Real Life</a>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" >Or in this one, a generous response provoked by belonging given by awareness of nature:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >“I walked backwards, against time</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >and that’s where I caught the moon</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >singing at me.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >I steeped downwards, into my seat</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >and that’s where I caught freedom</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >waiting for me like a lilac.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >I ended thought, and I ended story.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >I stopped designing, and arguing, and</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >sculpting a happy life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >Instead I chopped vegetables,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >and made a calm lake in me</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >where the water was clear and sourced and still.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >And when the ones I loved came to it,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >I had something to give them, and</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >it offered them a soft road out of pain.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >(<a href="http://www.taramohr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/YourOtherNames_EXCERPT.pdf">The Quiet Power</a>)<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" color: rgb(138, 122, 103);font-size:11pt;" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >And especially in this invitation, which displays mindfulness of life’s fleeting nature and a sense of urgent calm:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >“This is your time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >Your time to say what you have kept silent.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >Your time to ask your big questions without apology.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >Your time to shine like a blazing comet,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >whether they like it or not.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >Your time to believe what your heart tells you:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >that this world could be very different.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >Your time to live by your rhythms,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >and teach them to the world.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >(“This is Your Time,” in <a href="http://www.taramohr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/YourOtherNames_EXCERPT.pdf">Your Other Names excerpt</a>, p.3)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" color: rgb(138, 122, 103);font-size:11pt;" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi- ;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;color:#8A7A67;" >These are relatively short poems, but inside them is infinity, communicating what’s big and inspiring me to becoming bigger, enabling me to hold seemingly disparate thoughts at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Brilliant.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:11.0pt;" ></span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-57559527464754294472012-03-16T17:23:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.220-08:00Inspiring Women: Tammy Lee Bradley: Blissful Creative<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; 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color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style>On my wall is a calendar full of <a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/tammyleebradley/calendars/6239476-florida-life-by-tammy-lee-bradley">photographs</a> titled Florida Life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It includes expansive views such as seascapes, beach houses surrounded by azure sky and untamed greenery, and startlingly precise shots of sea urchins and pebbles on the sand.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The photographer is Tammy Lee Bradley who describes herself on her <a href="http://bloggingbradleys.blogspot.com/">blog</a> as “wandering through life in search of moments of Bliss & Folly.” <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There, as well as a diary of her creative journey and moments of joy and discovery from being a wife, mother and “creative cheerleader,” as Tammy also writes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Generosity towards and collaboration with like-minded artists is characteristic of her as the founder of <a href="http://mortalmuses.com/">Mortal Muses</a> and her participation in <a href="http://shuttersisters.com/display/Search?moduleId=1893244&searchQuery=tammy+lee+bradley">Shutter Sisters</a> and <a href="http://www.papercoterie.com/storytellers/">Paper Coterie</a>. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tammy has converted her <a href="http://followgram.me/papercoterie">photos</a> from Instagram into web tableaux via Followgram, as well as her whimsical iPad <a href="http://followgram.me/blissandfolly">doodles</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Hard to choose favorites, but here’s <a href="http://followgram.me/papercoterie/121758833257121520_1250928">one</a> for perspective, light, elegance and interesting color scheme; <a href="http://followgram.me/papercoterie/132640281505728380_1250928">beach bliss</a> looks like a watercolor; a colorful creative <a href="http://followgram.me/papercoterie/148537306419987940_1250928">project</a> with her son; the fearful symmetry of the <a href="http://followgram.me/papercoterie/134101875309840155_1250928">ferris wheel</a>; and the new member of their family <a href="followgram.me/papercoterie/130280811232396669_1250928">here</a> and <a href="http://followgram.me/papercoterie/131016059150829345_1250928">here</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tammy has great instincts, timing, an eye for beauty, and an open heart.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m happy to have met you online, Tam.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-1545128779253602462012-03-15T15:22:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.256-08:00Inspiring Women: Andrea Olson: Possibilities<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; 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mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} h2 {mso-style-priority:9; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-link:"Heading 2 Char"; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-outline-level:2; font-size:18.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; font-weight:bold;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Heading2Char {mso-style-name:"Heading 2 Char"; mso-style-priority:9; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:"Heading 2"; mso-ansi-font-size:18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-ascii-font-family:Times; mso-hansi-font-family:Times; font-weight:bold;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">On my bulletin board is a <a href="http://amultitudeofthings.com/amultitudeofthings-poster">poster</a> with phrases in black and blue letters, words I use to remind me of what to be grateful of right now and what is possible for me, words like “This life is a gift,” “embrace the possibilities,” “choose the path of joy,” “trust yourself- you know what you know,” “it’s OK to love a multitude of things & Want to Do Them All.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="http://amultitudeofthings.com/about/">Andrea</a> made it and her work is an invitation to possibility thinking and practice.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">From the multitudes Andrea creates and includes on her web site, these are inspiring me today.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">Reflecting on a recent <a href="http://amultitudeofthings.com/returning-home">journey</a>, Andrea writes, “Travel replenishes the well of possibility,” and comments that she spent most of her trip noticing: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >“<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span>How the vibrant colors of the landscape were so different from those at home. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Daily meals can be transformed into rituals of beauty and community by using fine china and candles. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span>Lives and livelihoods do not necessarily need to be separated – just ask the many craftspeople and shopkeepers who live above their places of business. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >The power of place can turn an ordinary experience into an extraordinary one – for example, taking in a symphony in centuries old ruin on top of hill. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Work-life balance seems to be a priority as many shops close early enough to allow workers time at home with their families (and some even continue the tradition of closing at mid-day for a few hours to allow a healthy mid-day break).”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >And that these phenomena prompt her to consider possibilities in her own life, and she urges the reader: “Take a trip. Look at your life as if you were seeing it for the first time, through the eyes of a tourist. What would you observe?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latinfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Cultivating curiosity and writing things down is another practice Andrea praises as a way to discover your multitudes. Recording a conversation with her mother during which Andrea described all of the activities she is engaged in and her mother’s response was “Wouldn’t it be better to find a job? Just one job?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Andrea’s answer is: </span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latinfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >“</span></strong><em><b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latinfont-family:Cambria;font-size:11.0pt;" >When you embrace that you like a lot of different things – and have a multitude of interests – you get to place of knowing. Knowing who you really are. Knowing that you are OK just the way you are. Knowing that you may not be able to do everything all at once but that you just might get to do some of it.”</span></b></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Possibility thinking gives Andrea the <a href="http://amultitudeofthings.com/it-is-ok-to-quit/">freedom to change</a>: “<strong><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latinfont-family:Cambria;" >Quitting something because you got what you came for is different than quitting because you are afraid – afraid that you can’t do it, that you don’t have the skills or the knowledge, or that you are otherwise lacking.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When something in our life no longer serves the same purpose, it is all right to move on.</span></strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latinfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></strong></p> And possibility thinking enables one to <a href="http://amultitudeofthings.com/martha-beck-opposite-is-true-too/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">challenge</span></a> negative thoughts with contrary thoughts: “<span style="font-family: Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >We have allowed words to be the “truth” about ourselves when the real truth lies elsewhere – namely, in our experience.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It reminds me of William Blake in the <a href="http://bit.ly/xPAQ9t">Marriage of Heaven and Hell</a>,"without contraries there is no progression ..." and "Contraries are positives. A negation is not a contrary." (in <a href="http://bit.ly/xp2Qpv">Milton</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s possible to hold competing thoughts and it is possible not to believe either one of them, not to be caught on the pendulum.</span><p> Andrea rocks.Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-8385106811121881342012-03-14T19:30:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.264-08:00Inspiring Women: Stacey Curnow: Midwife<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; 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font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m grateful for <a href="http://www.staceycurnow/blog">Stacey</a> especially for her 30 Days to Inner Peace which I tried earlier this year and it has motivated me to meditate and exercise every day, practices which I have seldom missed since receiving Stacey’s kind and encouraging daily prompts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In these Stacey wrote honestly about her own struggles and showing self-care and redirecting her efforts, which helped me treat myself with kindness and eventually gain some consistency that was previously lacking.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Stacey’s own stories exemplify her teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her <a href="http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/2012/02/feel-like-giving-up-read-this-first/">perseverance</a> with getting accepted into a program for midwifery (it took her four tries) is a compelling story that she translates into steps for setting goals and following through, including a clear goals; steps for action broken down into small, actionable steps; not being dissuaded by misunderstanding or negative feedback from others; and getting support from sympathetic people in one’s life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And she’s willing to take risks, <a href="http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/2011/02/four-simple-steps-to-manifest-your-dreams/">once</a> leaving a clinic where she worked as a midwife to volunteer in Mexico with Doctors Without Borders to improve her Spanish and eventually devote herself to serving the Latina population in the U.S., finding a “dream job” that also allowed her to spend time with her family. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Recently, Stacey saw that she’d grown “less-than-satisfied” with her then-current job and took another <a href="http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/2011/04/are-you-ready-to-take-the-risk-to-blossom/">leap</a>, resigning to devote all her time to Midwife for Your Life coaching and workshops.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In a <a href="http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/2011/04/my-heart-wrenching-decision-to-quit-and-how-i-made-peace-with-it/">related piece</a> she describes her dialog with her “Inner Critic,” portraying as one of several potential sources of guidance.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Similarly, Stacey shares this simple <a href="http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/2011/12/how-to-create-miracles-in-your-everyday-life/">exercise</a> on cultivating intuition awareness.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">These are great stories.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Stacey’s helped a lot of women give birth through her first midwifery practice and who knows how many she will help give birth to their dreams through her second midwifery practice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-60993326053725804962012-03-13T13:28:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.271-08:00Inspiring Women: Roxanne Krystalli: Open Hearted Traveller<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; 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margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">Roxanne says in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR8irFx9jco">video response</a> to the question “who are you,” that she is “foreign everywhere and mispronounces everything.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her honesty and self-effacement and joy are apparent throughout all that she shares.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She was born in Greece, went to school in America, <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/p/about_2542.html">describes herself</a> professionally as “<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">a conflict management professional who specializes in the effects of war and conflict on women</span></span>,” and in the same space as someone who is a “fervent believer in the power of storytelling.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Roxanne’s travels and work have taken her to Egypt, Jerusalem, Latin America and the Balkans, among other locales.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>On her site <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/">Stories of Conflict and Love</a> and in her photo journal she documents these journeys, portraying not only “conflict and grief” but also human “resilience.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Roxanne’s two posts on non-violent conflict <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/2011/11/reflections-on-non-violent-conflict.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/2011/11/violence-backfires.html">here</a> demonstrate both scholarship and lived experience.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The first cites reports showing the relative success of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">strategically organized </i>non-violent movements compared with violent confrontations.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The second looks at violence itself and how it may backfire for both those in power and those who resist.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>While she expresses sympathy for protestors in her native land she does not agree with violent expression and points to a source where 198 alternatives to violent conflict are identified.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Roxanne has a wonderful eye for beauty in the landscapes she travels.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>See her post on <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/2011/12/celebrating-light.html">light</a> in Jerusalem during Hanukkah.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>From a walk in Greece, she <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/2012/02/recession-in-graffiti-walking-in-greece.html">shows us</a> spiritual messages interspersed with violent and defiant graffiti.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Or check out this <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/p/journey-in-images.html">variety</a> from the fish on the bicycle in Cuba to the tree reflected in the soup bowl to the children playing in the street. Remarking of herself, Roxanne says she “preaches mindfulness” but frequently dwells in memory or worries about the future and that behind the camera “time stops, ” and that “<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">photography makes me more mindful because it reminds me to really look... to search for beauty (or for surprise, incongruence, contradiction and conflict).” </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>See also a tender <a href="http://www.storiesofconflictandlove.com/2012/02/staring-at-hearts-of-lilies.html">post</a> on waiting for someone special, the zenith of which is “<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I stare at the lily till all I see is a blushing world,” and the extraordinary pictures that follow.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Elsewhere, in her <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR8irFx9jco">video introduction</a>, Roxanne says, “the power of kindness to ourselves and others is one of the currencies I must believe in.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She exemplifies it through her work, her travel, her writing, her art and her joy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-986383755421365733.post-77238383679770198462012-03-12T03:39:00.000-07:002014-01-01T11:07:02.279-08:00Inspiring Women: Amy Oscar: Angel<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Courier New"; panose-1:2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; 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text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level4 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level5 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level6 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level7 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level8 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level9 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"><a href="http://amyoscar.com/">Amy</a> tells a story how she ran out of gas on a bridge on Long Island years ago and was helped by a truck driver.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He refused payment or a gift, and even though she copied the phone number and the name of the company from the truck, she couldn’t locate him, the number was disconnected and the company claimed not to have a driver in that area.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was her first “angel experience,” and she writes about it in her <a href="http://amyoscar.com/book-sea-of-miracles/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Sea of Miracles</i></a>, of which encounters with angels are just one aspect of experience of “The Universe, The Divine, All That Is.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">I suspect Amy may be an angel too.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">She says in another angel-themed <a href="http://www.kindovermatter.com/2012/01/grace-in-parking-lot-with-amy-oscar.html">story</a>: “</span><b><i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></i></b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-style:italicfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Every encounter is an opportunity for Grace. Open your mind; open your eyes, your ears and your heart to what comes</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >.”<b> </b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Similarly, Amy writes in a solstice-themed passage “</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"><a href="http://amyoscar.com/inspiration-fridays/the-return-of-the-light/"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";" >the light you seek is within</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >.</span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></b></p> <p><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >Like <a href="http://quittakingitpersonal.blogspot.com/2012/03/inspiring-women-marjory-mejia-flow.html">Marjory</a>, she says give us your gift<b>: “</b></span><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latinfont-family:Cambria;font-size:11.0pt;" >The real you knows:</span></p> <ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style=" mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >you are encoded with a genius only you can deliver, a puzzle piece that we need to complete the picture of the world. This genius is calling you onward, upward – home; to a destiny that will fill you with purpose, fullness and joy.</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style=" mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >you are meant to engage with life – to drop into the mine of the self and, using your own particular tools, figure out how to carry your gold to the surface… to be shared with others.”</span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" >And offers the opportunity as exemplified in her generosity towards other writers in the </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"><a href="http://amyoscar.com/wisdom-awakening/"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";" >Spring Awakening</span></a></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > series and in her weekly <a href="http://amyoscar.com/soulchat-transcripts/">#SoulCall</a> on Twitter.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" > </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">And two of the tools Amy offers for creating a vision for one’s life are the <a href="http://amyoscar.com/spiritual-direction/more-of-this-please/">More of This</a> list and her <a href="http://amyoscar.com/spiritual-practice/rules-for-a-good-life/">Rules for a Good Life</a>, with emphasis on silence in #9 and prayer and angels in #10.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">Amy has a deep sense of the miraculous and the limitless possibilities of life and encourages others towards a like pursuit and awareness and appreciation.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></p>Katharine E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18407974232231123258noreply@blogger.com1