Trust the Force, Luke

I sometimes feel like I’m drowning in the “news” and talking to others, they share the same feeling. In this information overload culture we live in, with texting, email, 24 hour around the clock cable news,  email groups, networks, Facebook pages, blogs and more, have we reached a max tipping point where too much is just that-too much information!

And yet, here I sit, coffee in hand, reading my morning information from the  lit computer  screen on my desk, sorting through a stack of notes I’ve left for the week,  yesterday’s and today’s newspapers on the desk, the television news playing on the TV behind me, and BBC on NPR on the radio on my desk.  There are things I’m so interested in right now and I’m trying to sift through the word debris to find the exact right piece of information that will allow me to see the “truth” clearly, without all the commentators filtering their version of the truth to me.

Like many Americans, it feels imperative that I understand what should be done about so many things and like most Americans, I feel powerless to be part of any effective change. But we so desperately want to, don’t we? We want to be part of a solution for climate change, for economic stimulus, for the homeless, for the unsaved, for the saved, for immigration reform, for education and a myriad of other issues that confront us daily through that multitude of information sources. Our personal diet, our health, our way of life all depend on our being informed, doesn’t it?

And yet, I think perhaps not.  I am beginning to feel like Luke in the original Star Wars film when he flew in to drop the heroic bomb that brought down the Death Star. Perhaps I just need to “trust the force” a bit more. 🙂  And in this information overload era we live in, I find myself feeling more at peace in nature and in old fashioned personal interaction.

This past weekend was strong proof for me of the importance of those two things in my finding the right balance. I spent time on Friday night with dear old homeschool friends, not that they are old, just our years together! It was joyful. We laughed and remembered and  had a great time. On Saturday, I spent time rereading a favorite book-not to learn anything, but just to enjoy it.  I spent time with my dear husband, again just hanging out, being together in peacefulness laziness.  On Sunday,  I walked  a great nature trail near us, breathing in the hints of spring that were popping up around me and hearing and feeling the “force” all around me. It was a powerful reminder of life. Sunday afternoon and evening was spent with  grandchildren, grown children, good food  and the laughter and joy of family together.

And so, this morning in my quiet time, I will read the paper, and listen to the news and read my favorite blogs, but I will also find time today to take a walk, call a friend, give my husband a backrub, and cook a favorite food for dinner. I can’t solve the problems of the greater world all by myself or even make much difference in the greater scheme of it’s problems and sufferings. But here, in my own little corner of the world, I can be a force for the greater good of those I love and cherish.

I can make careful choices of how I control the information coming my way, choosing sometimes to not be informed..a novel idea! I can choose to not be an expert on everything, to not feel that I must find all the answers or even the right answer. I can choose to focus on something I deem very important. I can choose to be ignorant..and it’s okay. I can choose to ignore the experts, to not join Twitter (just because several friends suggested it) and to leave my cellphone on the kitchen counter when I go walking and know that the world will continue on and it will be okay.

Trust the force, Luke.

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Groundhog Day: Eternity

The synchronicity of life amuses me greatly at times. I was preparing yesterday morning for a drama class I was teaching that afternoon and while tweaking the theme for the day..(a class for 8-12 year olds), I came across this quote from Arlo Guthrie.

“Let your hearts pour into each other. The moments we spend together are not limited to time and space. They are literally forever with us. Make your moments worthy of eternity.”

And it was Groundhog Day yesterday, and here in cold and snowy Indiana, we’re all yearning for spring to peek around the corner.  Small talk, yesterday,  was about whether that dratted Groundhog would make us keep repeating cold and snowy days;..and then the juxtaposition of eternal moments, eternal winter, and JJ’s reference to the spirituality of that awesome movie-Groundhog Day, one of my all time favorites,  just made me smile. Truth delivered on a day when I needed a reminder of the importance of the daily deeds we do for those we love.

This morning, I woke up and made breakfast for my family as they each prepared to depart into the snow and the cold for work and school and living. I lovingly packed each of them a lunch, tailored to each of their preferences and I smiled as I worked. Outside the window, snow was falling fast and covering everything in sight with a simple pure whiteness and I thought of why I value my Christian faith roots. The redemption of each human being as they struggle to make sense of the world and the firm belief that redemption is a joint project..one we each engage in at the point we are ready to move forward into the promised land-whatever your promised land looks like.

For today, mine is this quiet and peaceful life we live, with those we love in a simple place where we can look back on the eternal memories we have created together and forward to creating more. Whether winter stays for six more weeks or not. 🙂

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My thoughts on the here and now of Barack Obama

In the busiest of weeks, with a zillion and one things to do at home and in my worklife; I, like millions of other Americans, found time to spend an awful lot of time glued to my TV screen, watching the events in Washington. Em and I oohed and aahed at every touching moment, the beautiful little girls in their JC coats of bright colors, Michele Obama-gorgeous and graceful, our new President, who managed to look dignified and presidential,  at the same time as he looked boyishly amazed that he, just he-a child of Kenya and Hawaii- was taking that oath and was going to lead the free world.

I could write hundreds of trite words about the day, the week, this time in history. But when I try, I can’t seem to put any of it into words that capture half of what I feel and so I have resisted the urge to even try. But..if this is my blog, my thoughts of what I deem important to me..then I must say something. I think that if I don’t, I shall wish someday that I had. And so I begin.

My over-riding thought impulse on the inaguration was of jubilant rejoicing and hey, why not! If a people deserve just a bit of joyful cheering, we do. It’s going to be a tough time, we’re worried, frightened of an unsure future,  uncertain of how to proceed, who to believe, what to do to make things better in every corner of our nation and then there’s the world…And so, like the old-fashioned Pep Rallies, of my highschool cheerleading days, we stand up and wave our flags, and hug our friends and gather together, either in millions in Washington, or in living rooms and community centers and we rally our forces to go forth and “save the world”, one deed at a time, one hope for each of us, that we can indeed do so. And at the top of our Pep Rally team, is our new President, a serious look on his young face, eyes that have begun to glimpse the enormity of his task and ours, and yet we still saw, on that momentous day, his boyish smile, a smile that dives deep into his heart and lights up his face and brings us in to share his enthusiasm, his joy.

I think that I take from that day, January 20, 2009, that we have chosen a leader that can lead us forward with hope and vision and a genuine desire to serve us-the people. I, like many Americans, believe,despite our despair at his actions, that President George Bush had hope and vision and a genuine desire to serve us..but that somewhere along the way, his idea of the people,  was too deeply rooted on the strong and powerful..and that his basic core did not line up with his spoken words. There was a disjointed dishonesty that permeated his administration and his presidency. Do I think he was evil incarnate, the devil come to plague and torture us, (well he actually did do that, didn’t he?) destroyer of all that we love and hold dear? No….that’s crazy. We all know that. He just wasn’t kind enough, smart enough, thoughtful enough. He just wasn’t enough to hold any of us accountable, especially the rich and powerful that he championed as the saviors of our country, the doers that would allow their wealth to “trickle down” to us “common people”.  Hasn’t worked so well, has it?

I believe that whatever our policy differences may be with President Obama..and all of us will have some..he is enough and more.  I, like millions of other Americans,  await our marching orders. For me and some of my friends and Em and some of hers, we meet on Sunday in Indianapolis at the Martin Luther King Center to gather with hundreds of people in central Indiana to begin the work that President Obama has called us to do. In teams, we will begin to craft a plan for our little corner of the world, what we as individuals, coming together with like minded thinkers and doers, can contribute to our place, our space here in Central Indiana. I don’t know what it might be, or will be, or whether it will succeed. But what’s the option? Sit and do nothing when our new President has said..I need you to be part of the solution. I can’t do it alone, but together we can succeed. We can refuse to submit to the assumption that Americans now must settle for less in a global world.

More later on what that might mean..less in a global world..and why that is probably a great idea! Not only for our physical selves but our mental and spiritual selves.

Any thoughts on what you can do for America right now? Or perhaps what you are already doing?  For our homeschool community especially, we’ve so often chosen to be proactive on a wide variety of issues. What now for us, what message do we send our children of respect and hard work. How can we defend a belief that demands we do unto others and work for the greater good, if we are heaping scorn on the bearer of that message?  What happened to render unto Caesar..thinking? Our country works, it still works well and Tuesday was an affirmation that it still does and we are still moving forward, even if we’ve almost lurched off the tracks.

Here stands a man, ready to right the train, ready to move us forward once more, inch by inch to a station where the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness is within the grasp of not only Americans, but all our fellow citizens of the world. I’m going to ride this train, like the freedom trains of the 60’s, and the Underground Railroad of the Civil War, I’m going to ride this train with friends and families and new friends and old, with everyone committed to the deep convictions of what our founding fathers held to be true, and what we have recommitted ourselves to.

Tuesday was a “religious” ceremony for me in which I recommitted myself to not only my faith that God is not as small as some believers have  tried to make Him, but that He is leading us still and in my humble opinion, has worked to bring this day forth,  a day of justice to heal our country. I believe that Barack Obama is the servant He has chosen and that each of us has serious work to do in the next few years. Choose your work, choose your way and hop on the Hope Train.  It’s going to be a great ride!

Okay, there..I was right..Wow, all the easy metaphors, all the trite words, but you know..it feels pretty darn powerful to me and it speaks for my little old lady heart this cold January day. Now go get to work! And then come tell us about it..I really want to know what each of us is doing to be part of the solution to the problems that face us as a nation. What are you going to do?

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Daily Rhythms of Learning

I’ve been fascinated lately with rhythms and patterns and watching seniors aging and how how alterations in their  daily rhythms and patterns make such a huge difference in their quality of life. It started me thinking about my personal rhythms and what brings me peace and joy each day or week. And then, being the lifelong learner advocate that I am..I began to think about the times when our family had good learning rhythms and times when it was chaos and ashes and how drastically that affected the “learning curve” in our educational experience.

Lots of thinking to do on this subject for me. But already have begun with some research to go along with my own observations. Since I’m back to working part time in assisted living senior facility, working with a whole new wonderful “bunch” of lovely seniors and teaching creative dramatics to two groups of students this semester-lots of lovely young students, ages 6-12;  I have lots of opportunity for interaction and observation on all that learning goin’ on!

Started looking for something good to read on the subject and came across this resource, remembered a great book I read in the 90’s on relational rhythms:

In The Dance of Life,  author  Edward Hall, ” deals with the most personal of all experiences: how people are tied together and yet isolated from each other by invisible threads of rhythm and hidden walls of time. Time is treated as a language, as an organizer of activities, a synthesizer and integrator, as well as a special message system revealing how people really feel about each other.”

But for my little home and life and work, I know right now without any further research that I have always been at my most prolific and purposeful when I follow those rhythms and patterns that fit me so personally.

I need to be in bed before 10 most days. I need to sleep on my right side with two pillows positioned just right. I need to be awake by six in the morning, I need to have 1/2 hour of coffee and news and quiet before I begin to work, but no more than that! I need to have an orderly house that isn’t kept religously but faithfully with defined spaces for specific tasks, etc. etc. etc.

And so when my rhythms are off in these basic areas, I don’t function at peak.   I began to think about homeschooling rhythms versus public school rhythm and seniors living in long term care facilities and their rhythms not being in their control any longer and what that would do for their health, and quality of life.  And so it goes…this learning thing we do, we unschoolers, homeschoolers, life long learners all. 🙂  Happy learning to all of you today and this year.

I know my learning plans include the above, and writing a new play, and rewriting an old one, and working on some free lance articles and learning how to make some great rich compost and how to grow heirloom hollyhocks and etc. etc. etc…Oh yes, and how to make perfect whole wheat baguettes, and how to add images to my blog, and so it goes, and so it goes. Life lived in rhythm and learning.

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Tolkiens Moral Friendship

Tn the Return of the King, Tolkien writes the following;

“Then he(Gollum) came back and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo’s knee-but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of you, an old starved pitiable thing”

Tolkien himself called it “the most tragic moment in the Tale”, because we know that circumstances and choices made by Gollum caused his tragic life, that the Ring was always a symbol for those dark forces that tempt us. It is the character, the deep and abiding friendship of Sam that serves as the polar opposite, the sacrifice and love for his friend that is their salvation in the end. Without Sam’s willingness to die for his friend, Frodo’s quest would have not endured.

The older I get, the more wisdom I see in Tolkien’s Tale. It spoke to my soul as a young woman of 17 when I first read it, but the truths are so strong as a “old” woman of 55. Looking back on my own life, and looking at the lives of my children, their friends, all that we are and will become is always based on that choice..to stand strong in the face of temptation, to make moral choices when it seems as though we cannot. The choices we make to choose to love our friends, love our family members, to honor them with every deed we choose will make all the difference in the path we walk.

I know this because I haven’t always done so..but when I have it has made all the difference in how I feel and who I am now.

The lesson of Tolkiens saga is clear: For ordinary people like you or me, happiness is achievable only in a social context with people we love, admire and respect. And love expresses itself only in loyalty and sharing, not in possession. Departing from that rule can only lead to misery.
For humans as well as hobbits, happiness requires fellowship with others who respect and admire us. It is by forgetting ourselves and our own selfish needs that we earn the good life and it is by giving that we receive. An old old truth come to life again in the skillful writing of JRR Tolkien

Amazing Power of Story

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