Poem of the Day

I find this poem written by Langston Hughes in 1945 to be very patriotic and brave, especially since it was written about 10 years before the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing. Although obviously about race, I don't think that Mr. Hughes would be offended if this poem were applied to any type of discrimination.  What I particularly like about the poem is the line "They'll see how beautiful I am, And be ashamed", not because the 'person' feels shame but because beauty and truth are ever present, and their intrinsic value cannot be diminished just because their worth is not recognized by the "eye of the beholder".   I for one, do not want to feel shame because I did not value another human soul due to their choices or circumstance of birth.    For all of us, I hope and pray for a gentler more peaceful 2013.
I, Too, Sing America
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America.

Autumnal Equinox

Happy Autumnal Equinox Everyone!

 

"The Autumnal Equinox - The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night." The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator." (from The Old Farmer's Almanac)

I love all the seasons, but I really love fall.   I bought my first Honey Crisp apple yesterday, a sure sign of fall.   The trees are changing colors everywhere, including my patio, and I can start to feel a little crisp edge to the weather.   I love the idea of celebrating and giving thanks for a summer full of activities and bountiful harvests.   I love the anticipation of winter.   The excitement of guessing when the first snow will fall.   The comfort of knowing that one has a warm house to snuggle in to, to hibernate with your hot chocolate and cozy blankets while outside the world is muffled in white.

Plus I like my winter clothes better than my summer clothes.  

Remember my 'Summer Bucket List' and how I would report back on the Autumnal Equinox with a review of what had been successfully achieved and what had not?

Well today's the day of reckoning...

 

 

 

Go somewhere I have never been - done

 

Denmark and Sweden

17th-century Frederiksborg Castle - Denmark

Do something brave - done (kinda)

 

Can I count going to a new country by myself?  I wouldn't let myself count it, since doing that doesn't really scare me, so no bravery required.   But I don't have anything else.

 

Do something outside every day - done

I did go outside every day.   I know this may sound ridiculous, but when you work from home it is surprisingly easy to stay inside all day long.

Plant flowers - done

 

I planted red geraniums and one massive Bleeding Heart plant (thanks Mom).

 

Here are some flowers I saw on my trip, aren't they pretty?

 

Saturday Market in Apeldoorn

Take a road trip - done

 

 

 

Eat Popsicles - done

Keep heels smooth and lovely - done

Drink a lot of water - done

Hike a new trail - done

 

 

Donner nature trail.

 

 

 

And Donut Falls in Utah, but I haven't downloaded my pictures yet. You will just have to take my word for it. :)

 

Volunteer some time - fail

 

I did a few things for church, but nothing like I intended.  Frowny face for me.

Spend more time at Red Butte Garden - fail

 

I went once, and that was just to a concert.

 

Go to a concert - done

 

The Shins as Red Butte Garden

 

Keane at the Gallivan Center

Big Band Concert at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen

 

See a play or musical - done

 

9 to 5:  The Musical

 

Wicked

Go to a sporting event - done

 

Real Salt Lake Soccer

Spend more time with friends - done

 

Go on a picnic - done

 

Swim - fail

No excuse either, since there is a pool just a building away from me.

Make a craft - fail

 

I bought the materials to make a wreath and never made it.

Save money for trips - done

 

California - June

 

Denmark and Sweden - August

 

Disneyland - October

Start Christmas shopping - done

 

About 1/2 done

Register to be an organ donor - done

 

Organ donor AND Bone Marrow donor lists

Do something educational - done

 

Traveling to different countries and touring historical buildings and museums seems to fulfill this task in my opinion.  But I also read quite a few classic pieces of literature (loving Thomas Hardy these days), watched several documentaries, attended a few guest lectures.

 

Kronborg Castle, the setting of Hamlet and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

Try a new restaurant - done

 

Several in Europe

 

and a few in SLC- most recently Vivace, where the food is divine.

Go to the Scottish Festival…eat some Haggis - done and fail

 

Went to the festival, they were out of Haggis.

 

 

 

Organize closets - done

 

My biggest job was organizing my pantry.   It still looks great.   The other closets probably need to be organized again.

Try a few new recipes - done

 

If you look at my Pinterest 'Food' board you will see most of the new recipes I have tried.   I think I have tried about 85 % of the recipes I have pinned.

Go to the Farmers Market more often - fail done

 

I went a total of zero times.  Wait...I am changing my answer.  I went to the outdoor market in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) twice, to the market in Copenhagen (Denmark) once, and to the market in Malmo (Sweden) once.

4 times...not bad.  

Watch a lot of the Olympics (but don't stay up all night obsessively checking every channel for coverage like I did last time) - done

 

I watched as much as I could.   I was in Europe during the entire time of the games, so I could only watch at night and then for only an hour tops.

Be a little more spontaneous...but not too much - done ?

2012

In years past I have posted about how I feel about New Year's resolutions...so I won't bore you with rehashing all of that. I will just say this...goal setting is good, I believe in goals; I set them for myself all the time. But I believe that they should be achievable...and by that I don't mean that they should be as easy as saying "I resolve to put on clothes every day", you definitely should have to work to meet your goals, but you also need to be reasonable. And lastly, a goal should be something that you can believe in, something that has meaning to you.

Sometimes I make check list goals, for instance a few years ago I resolved to read a certain number of books in the year. Each time I read a book I made another check on the list.

Sometimes I make nebulous goals, like last year when I resolved to be more 'present' in every situation.

This year I will mix it up and do both.

12 goals for 2012

1. Meditate more.

2. Listen to more music.

3. Read more books from the library instead of buying them online or from bookstores.

4. Watch 12 movies from the AFI top 100 movies list.

5. Worry less about what people think, and more about being true to myself.

6. Use more lotion on my hands. (I noticed that my hands were looking old and tired last week, I think some lotion might help)

7. Criticize less.

8. Organize all of my pictures.

9. Purge more stuff, watch less 'Hoarders'.

10. Eat less sugar, Eat more celery.

11. Drink less soda.

12. Find peace.

Note: I am well on my way to achieving 2, 3, and 10. I started reading War Horse from the library yesterday. I listened to my Joshua Tree album on my new record player yesterday. And I ate some lovely celery filled with peanut butter yesterday.

More on words

I often read a Blog by a guy who writes for the online magazine foreignpolicy.com. He referenced an interesting New York Times article in a recent post which I found to be fascinating. But it his Blog post that goes along perfectly with my previous post about words.

Anyway, I thought I would share his blog and the New York Times article here in case you were interested.

From Stephen M. Walt's blog -

"There's a fascinating piece in today's New York Times, summarizing the findings of a recent Science article on the origins of human language. Based on a mathematical analysis of phonetic diversity (i.e., the number of separate sounds in different languages), biologist Quentin Atkinson of the University of Auckland has determined that human language originated in southern Africa around 50,000 years ago (some scientists believe its origins may be even earlier).

You've got to hand it to our species: 50,000 years isn't that long a time. Think of all the good and bad ideas that we've produced in 50 millennia: Shakespeare, the "divine right of kings," both slavery and abolitionism, relativity, the Bhagavad Gita, fascism, a mind-boggling array of religious dogma, liberalism, Marxism, the movies of Fred Astaire, Mad magazine, Japanese manga, rap, hip-hop, and bebop. The list is infinite … and now there's the blogosphere."

New York Times Article

More food for thought.

The Examined Life, Part Deux...The Power of Words

Here is my disclaimer before you read any further. I am by no means perfect, and do not want to portray myself as such and I hesitate to write things like this for fear of coming across as a hypocrite. But if you will read this with the knowledge that these are things I think about in terms of myself and not necessarily anyone else, then my hope is that you will read these words and understand the spirit in which they are meant and maybe it will spark a debate within your own mind.

I believe in the power of words. I believe in their power to hurt, degrade, dehumanize and to diminish. I also believe in their power to uplift, enlighten, comfort and strengthen. I believe this as strongly as I believe anything. And as such I believe that one’s words about oneself should be carefully considered. I have fallen into the trap of self deprecating speech to fit in or to be “real” before, and I usually leave those situations feeling mightily disappointed in my choices. This means that I hardly ever say things like “I am too stupid to do that”, or “I am not pretty”, or “Look at how fat I am?” However, I may say something like “I do not know”, or “This blemish makes me feel uncomfortable”, or “I am not as fit as I want to be”. Those are just statements of fact and not judgments. The truth is that whether it is from watching what I say about myself or from true self esteem; I think I am smart, cute, and fully capable. So why should I pretend anything less. And I wish with all my heart that all people felt the same way, but most especially women. I don’t know what it is…cultural mores, the media, or just centuries of ingrained gender inequality issues…but women seem to be the worst at tearing themselves and each other down.

And while we are talking about words, let us take a moment to think about images. Let us all make a pact to not buy in to the media engendered bias about what the perfect woman looks like. It is all smoke and mirrors anyway. But it is a magic trick that has thoroughly permeated every ounce of our existence, so much so that we live quiet lives filled with dissatisfaction, obsessing about body image and never quite feeling worthy or valid. If we don’t stop the insanity for ourselves, I guarantee no one else is going to do it for us.

I want to share a few links that speak to this subject, if you have the time I highly recommend checking them out, especially the article posted on CJane today. And I challenge everyone to examine themselves and their speech patterns and to consider making the choice to only speak positively about oneself, in fact let us take it one step further and vow to choose to say 5 positive things about ourselves every day.

I will start…

1. I have shiny, soft hair
2. I keep a tidy house
3. I exercised today which makes me feel healthy and strong
4. I did not lose my cool at work today when working with unkind co-workers.
5. I was kind to the birds today and fed them some bird seed.

CJane link (April 6, 2011 post)

Miss Representation link

“Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

Cogito ergo sum

"The Death of Socrates" ~ by Jacques-Loius David 1787

Socrates in his defense to the charges of undermining the state religion of Athens (as reported in Plato’s Apology) states that the ‘Unexamined life is not worth living’.

I have thought about this statement often throughout the years and my conclusion is that life is worth living whether it be examined or not, but that in living an unexamined life you fail to reach your full potential as a human being. I believe that this is MUCH easier said than done though. For instance, if you view your life as one big narrative, is your story told in your own thoughts or through the thoughts of others? That is to say, do YOU guide your narrative or do you let others?

I think we spend a lifetime trying to find out who we are and where we fit in this grand scheme of things. Wouldn’t it be easier for us if we could tune out what the ‘world’ has to say and instead focus on what is important? And by world I mean anyone – including family, who may not be contributing to your mental health and feelings of self worth. I know that this may be shocking to say, but I have seen it time and time again…a well meaning loved one states what they think you should or should not be doing, or what you should or should not be wearing, or what you should or should not be eating while at the same time causing you to question your value as a human being. “If I did this the way they want me to, would they love me more?” “If I don’t, will they love me less?” Of course I do not mean to say that advice from a loved one is not valuable, but that is the point of the examined life...input can be examined and found worthy or examined and discarded. I believe that if you live an examined life you will find yourself less likely to try and examine the lives of others. And I have sneaking suspicions that if I were to truly try to live an ‘examined’ life; I would be able to achieve success in many different areas of my life – whether it is spiritual, intellectual, or otherwise. Above all else, Socrates sought genuine knowledge – genuine self knowledge may not always be pleasant but knowledge in its purist form is reason enough for the quest.



So having said all that, I will resolve in 2011 to try and live an examined life. I am not sure exactly how I am going to do that yet, so any suggestions are welcome. But I think that just the fact of stating that you want to live an examined life is a good first step. And for a second step, I resolve to try to be ‘present’ in every situation. This one is going to be hard for me because I am a worrier. But I think the people in your life deserve nothing less than that you are fully present when you are spending time with them…so that means listening, caring, trying not to be pre-occupied, and spending genuine time with those that you love.