Much ado about whims and fancies.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bookishness

If you guys have loved ones in your life, you can probably relate to this--

Sometimes I get so used to saying and/or hearing the phrase "I love you" that it's easy to respond quickly, without thinking. But today, when A responded, I had an existential moment where I was overwhelmed with the fact that, with no pressuring or attention paid to decorum, A loves me! No thanks to me, this other, independent human being actually chose to love me...



In this book I just finished reading, "The Widower's Tale" by Julia Glass, there's a quote, "The third child she wished for was the opposite of a ghost, someone waiting to be. That's what Poppy was, here and now--the opposite of a ghost. She had brought me to a place of becoming, away from a place of having been." For some reason those words made sense of what I was feeling in my existential moment. I realized that A's the same for me that Poppy was for Percy--he brings me to a place of becoming; not only a moving forward, but also a fleshing out and a making real. A is helping me reach my full potential of being.

I tell ya, life's most memorable moments come around some interesting corners, don't they?



Which is a thought similarly expressed in this new book I just started reading, "Let the Great World Spin: A Novel" by Colum McCann. I'm not even halfway into it and I can't stop recommending it. Read a review and decide for yourselves if it's worth picking up. Though I'm telling you right now--it's awesome. It's provocative and emotive and intense. This story's got a grip on me that I can't seem to shake. Yes, it's one of those reads.

Anywho, I apologize in advance if it's a while before I blog again. When I'm in the midst of reading a great book, it's like I'm in the throes of a new love affair--I can't think about anything else, I don't want to do anything else, I'm obessively thinking about when I can read just a few pages more, or I'm daydreaming about what might happen next in the story, etc, etc...

It's a sickness, people, and I'm diving headfirst into it. Meet you when I come back up for air :)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Forth From the Fourth

2011 just started and the Wares are already off and running!


The new year brought  many lifestyle changes--A began a new rotation, which means Bishop now stays at home all day and gets a mid-afternoon walk from a dog-handler; and I just started exercising every day, as I'm making a mad-dash to get in shape before a marathon relay in a few weeks. Good God, eh? I've gotta make a point to remember my 2011 Wish List--"Wear a permanent smile...Play more...Pause and breathe..."

...which won't be so hard if I stick with reading a daily quote/meditation. Take today's for example:

"In order that your suffering may be remedied,
you should not rely on the adjustment of your surroundings
or on your position in life,
but depend upon the remedy that deals only with
the adjustment of the Sun within...
Suffering may be removed only by
bringing light into your room,
by having light,
by having knowledge in the closet of your heart."
--Swami Rama Tirtha


Isn't that just beautiful? I love the part about "the Sun within" and about bringing light into one's room, the closet of one's heart. Talk about words that make you feel glowy! I've really enjoyed carrying an uplifting snippet with me throughout the day :) Do you guys have any quotes/mantras to share?

Speaking of glowy things, I have so many pretty, but unused journals. I probably have a dozen, no joke. One I attempted to write in daily, but eventually quit (like always). A couple of them I turned into favorite quotes/doodling journals, but alas, they turned into stop-and-go projects, as well. But I think I may have found a purpose for a journal that might actually stick! A gratitude journal, in which I write one thing I'm grateful for every day. What do you think? Lovely in theory, right? I'll let you know how it translates into practice ;) Yet another wish for 2011 and we're a only four days in! Can you say overzealous???

Pray tell me, how is the new year treating YOU?