Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Lovely Autumn Day In New England


Every day there is less daylight than the day before.

Every 24 hours winter is closing in a little faster.

Yesterday the deluge pounded without mercy.

But, TODAY there was a reprieve from the inevitable.

I took advantage of it and my soul found warmth on the shores of Newport, RI.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Reacting

“You never know what may be going on in someone’s life.”

That’s what someone said to me when I was bitching about feeling dismissed by a friend.

I hate when I judge too quickly or leap to a conclusion without knowing the full story.

It’s an automatic defense but too often it’s unfounded.

May compassion be my first reaction to harsh words.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Sending Email

Just like the rest of corporate America, I have a work email address. It’s meant for communicating with work people about work stuff. I rarely use it for anything personal and this story is a lesson in why.

Apparently, there are a few people in the corporate email directory that have a name similar to mine because I get emails periodically that are meant for someone else.

I love when this happens.

Most of the time they are boring emails that have to do with some work related issue.

Today however, I got one that I think is worth sharing.

Someone within the company wrote:

“why since u gave me doctor grahams number today he finally called and told me im ovulating hella long hunh im still excited about it though lets just see now if i get pregnant”

Clearly this email wasn’t meant for me.

I giggled.

The lesson: double check your email address before clicking “send”.

Because, now I want to email her back and ask if she’s pregnant.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Good In Today

No alarm clock

No obligations

A friendly phone call

A brisk walk on the beach

Sunny with a few puffy clouds in the sky

Favorite music

Driving with the sun roof open

Colorful fall foliage

Visiting new towns

Iced Coffee

Chocolate

Being Alive!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

In Costume


Last night, I dressed in costume for the 2nd time in my life.

Yes, it’s weird that I have only done this twice but I’m starting to like it.

The dress I wore in my sisters wedding just 3 weeks ago lived again when I added a cape and transformed into a goth temptress of the macabre.

In little more than an hour, I became someone far removed from the real me. It was fun and it gave me license to try on another identity. When I arrived at the party and people who knew me didn’t recognize me, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

Of course it was all in good fun but while I was painting my fingernails in black, I was reminded of all the masks we wear in life.

We hide behind laughter and we hide behind silence. We hide in maturity and in immaturity. We hide in arrogance and sarcasm and sugary sweetness and all manner of things that we are good at.

The things that are a part of us, that make us who we are, become diminished when we use them as a layer of self-protection. There’s always something to hide behind that will conceal our true self.

Why so much hiding??

If I feel weak or inadequate or that someone may reject me, I might go silent. That way, if those things prove true, if someone does reject me, then I know it’s not the real me they rejected. It was the mime costume they didn’t like.

In the moments that we find ourselves hiding in self-protection, may we remember that being true to who we are, is far more beautiful than any costume we might create.