July 31--Be A Dreamer

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. 
--Oprah Winfrey

    My younger son said to me recently, "I'm getting to do all the things I moved to Colorado to do." That includes snowboarding, golfing, tubing, paddle-boarding, attending concerts, and hanging with friends. He lives right downtown within walking distance of his two jobs. He's lovin' it!

    Today closes July and our theme of adventure. But don't let that stop you from exploring and expanding!

        Leta

July 30--Enjoy Life Now

Drink and dance and laugh and lie, 

Love, the reeling midnight through,

For tomorrow we shall die!

(But, alas, we never do.)

--Dorothy Parker

    We humans just assume we'll be here forever. If you've been here for very long, you know that's not true. The assumption is helpful, though, because we can't live a full, rich life if we are constantly focused on dying. At age 66, I'm anxious to get more bucket-list things done, because I'm much closer to my transition now than I was at 26. Note the Fisher quote from July 25: "When shall we live if not now?"

    Happy cavorting!

        Leta

Doris Laughton sculpture,
Fort Collins, Colorado

July 29--Better Listening

A journey is a person in itself, no two are alike.  --John Steinbeck

    For my purposes today, I will use the quote like this:

                        A conversation is a person in itself, no two are alike.

    These words come from Richard Rohr's "Daily Meditation" of July 26, offering the wisdom of Sikh activist Valarie Kaur:   

Kaur understands the complicated nature of listening to those we see as our religious, cultural, and political “opponents” and the emotional toll it takes:

It turns out it is extremely difficult to draw close to someone you find absolutely abhorrent. How do we listen to someone when their beliefs are disgusting? Or enraging? Or terrifying? ... An invisible wall forms between us and them, a chasm that seems impossible to cross. We don’t even know why we should try to cross it. ... In these moments, we can choose to remember that the goal of listening is not to feel empathy for our opponents, or validate their ideas, or even change their mind in the moment. Our goal is to understand them. ...

When listening gets hard, I focus on taking the next breath. I pay attention to sensations in my body: heat, clenching, and constriction. I feel the ground beneath my feet. Am I safe? If so, I stay and slow my breath again, quiet my mind, and release the pressure that pushes me to defend my position. I try to wonder about this person’s story and the possible wound in them. I think of an earnest question and try to stay curious long enough to be changed by what I hear. Maybe, just maybe, my opponent will begin to wonder about me in return, ask me questions, and listen to my story. Maybe their views will start to break apart and new horizons will open in the process. . . . Then again, maybe not. It doesn’t matter as long as the primary goal of listening is to deepen my own understanding. Listening does not grant the other side legitimacy. It grants them humanity—and preserves our own.

    I bolded the last two sentences, as a reminder to myself mostly. We are all humans, despite our "us vs. them" culture. 

        Leta

Tote bag for sale at
The Lyric, Fort Collins, CO

July 28--Freedom for ALL!!! (Part 2)

Night is the other half of life, and the better half.  --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    I love to sleep--I consider napping a hobby--so I'm especially fond of nighttime for that reason. 

    In this post, I'm going to work loosely with "half." Note the sign below quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere." Amen! Now I shall use this idea in this way:

Taking away anyone's freedom is a threat to freedom everywhere.

    The example here is the Walgreen's clerk who refused to sell condoms to a customer because of the clerk's religious beliefs. (Many similar examples exist these days.) Walgreen's supports this behavior with company policy. This clerk and the conservative "half" like him believe their religious freedom is perfectly valid but others should not have the same right. And they believe men should have full autonomy over their own bodies, but women should not. There is likewise the very mistaken belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation. It is not--it was founded specifically with freedom of religion. 

    You simply cannot take away people's rights without threatening the rights of everyone in the long term. You might note the example of Nazi Germany. 

        Leta

In a neighbor's yard

July 27--FREEDOM FOR ALL!!!

Not all those who wander are lost.  --J. R. R. Tolkien

    I'm having a tough time coming up with something to write. I am so frustrated with the anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-birth-control crusades that are happening. Click on the photo below of George Carlin from his 1996 show (yes, 26 years ago) that sums up my irritation:

    Are we headed for the repeal of women's right to vote?!?!?! 

        Leta

July 26--Another Experiment

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better. 
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

    There have been times in life wherein I have felt that everyone else got "life's instruction book," and I missed the handout. Truth be told, there is no such thing. We have only those who have been here longer to guide us, and that may or may not be a good thing! One of my oft-repeated phrases is "Sometimes a bad example can be a good thing--at least I know what NOT to do." 

    I believe our fear-based perfection-demanding society discourages experimentation, and that is not good for the individual or the whole. We would have no light bulbs, telephones, computers, toilets, dishwashers or a bazillion other things if it weren't for experimenters. Our innate essence and purpose here is to create, and how can we do that without experimenting? 

    My husband is replacing our deck. He's an engineer and math nerd, so he is totally digging this project. He built the previous one, but this new one is a different size, and he will be using composite decking boards for this version. It's all experimental. I have no doubt it will turn out great. 

    Happy experimenting!

        Leta

The experiment so far...

July 25--Homeward Bound

When shall we live if not now?  --M. F. K. Fisher

No one need starve. There is enough land and enough food. No one need die of thirst. There is enough water. No one need live without mercy. There is no end to grace. And we are all instruments of grace. The more we give it, the more we share it, the more we use it, the more God makes. There is no scarcity of love. There is plenty. And always more.  --Rachel and Rosemarie Freeney Harding

    There is a desire, and the fulfillment of that desire, and the space in between those two things. I'm in that space at the moment, and my controlling mind wants details relative to how that desire shall be fulfilled. It is a time of angst for me. Here's the desire, using my best ability to keep it simple and stay out of the "hows": I'd like to have a place in the Fort Collins area where I could reside one or two weeks a month so that I can be as close as possible to the grandbaby. I have no desire to purchase a property as real estate in the area is ridiculously expensive, and I do not want to put my name on another mortgage in this lifetime. Having a pet complicates things, because when my husband and I are both using the space, we would have Barney with us. The angst comes in with a) this will obviously cost a good chunk of money (rent); b) is this even a reasonable desire? c) the baby will only be a baby for a short time, and I don't want to miss that; d) I'm very healthy, but who knows how long I'll be on the planet--I've waited a long time to be Grammie, and I want to make the most of it. 

    When shall we live if not now? I've recruited my son, an excellent manifester, to help with this. He wants us involved with the baby a lot, but it just won't work to stay in their home for extended time. He has a friend who is creating a studio apartment above his detached garage, and it will be ready mid-August. The friend has offered us a trial of the above idea, complete with an OK for the dog, and then we'll see where things may develop from there. The place will also be used for the visits of the friend's mother, and possibly airbnb at other times. All schedules are flexible.

    This is potentially a very simple, timely and easy fulfillment of my desire. This is encouraging me to drop any and all angst and KNOW that my "team" in the Universe is going gang-busters to fulfill this desire, one that is totally based in love. 

    Stay tuned,

        Leta, heading back to Wichita today...

Early morning CO rainbow, photo by my daughter-in-law
(Is that a good omen or what!?!!)