St. Patties Day 2009

A little fun for one of my favorite holidays:

Ode To a Kilt
A Scotsman clad in his many patterned kilt left the bar one evening fair,
one could tell by the way he walked that he had drunk more than his fair share.
He wandered round and round till he could no longer keep his feet,
then he stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street.

About this time two young and lovely girls just happened to pass by,
One said to the other with a twinkle in her eye,
"see yon sleeping Scotsman so strong and handsome built,
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath their kilt?"

They crept up on that sleeping Scot as quiet as quiet could be,
then they lifted up this bonnie kilt about an inch so they could see.
And there behold for them to view beneath his Scottish skirt
twas nothing more than god had graced him with upon his birth.

They marveled for a moment then one said "we must be gone,
lets leave a little present for our friend before we move along."
As a gift they left a blue silk ribbon tied up in a bow,
around the bonnie sight the Scottish skirt to them did show.

Now the Scotsman woke to nature's call and stumbled toward the trees,
behind the bush he lifts his kilt and gawks at what he sees,
Then in a startled voice he says to what's before his eyes.
"Och laddie I don't know where you've been but I see you won first prize!"

What's your favorite folk song or drinking song?

Re-Learning

the angel on my current set of Story-Beads - thanks Caroline for letting me steal it! Love you!

One of the things that came out of the retreat that I did last month was this feeling that I have forgotten everything I know, as far as spirituality and spiritual practices go. I have not been following any of the usual practices that I find comfort in: journaling has been stale, collage work never seems to find space, even setting intentions and having goals and focuses has felt like too much work.

It's very exciting for me to come to a place where I have to relearn everything I know. I mean, I get to rediscover all the excellent things I know and see how my growth over the last few months of hibernation has changed and deepened all that's come before! I get a little race of excitement through my body whenever I think of it.

• I get to re-articulate to myself and others why I love the practice of Story-Beads.
• I get to navigate through all I know about story and discover again why it's important to the world and to myself.
• I get to reintroduce myself to myself and others.
• I get to reorganize what is important to me, and to my business and calling, and uncover new ways to see that information and get it out to people.
• I get to come back to the practices that I know and love, that comfort me and sustain me.

how cool is that? I'm really jazzed at the prospect but I'm taking it slow. Heck, I still haven't picked up my journal and begun writing, inspite of repeated affirmations that "I am a writer."
(that affirmation would be the symbol of the key on my current set of Story-Beads.) I know I will, and I thrill at the prospect of it (and I am not usually one to experience "thrill" I can tell you!)

What have you forgotten that you could enjoy relearning?

Tweet? Honk!

Where do people weigh in on Twitter?

Sure, it has the possibility of being a cool marketing tool, and yes, I've written before about liking the idea of catching little slices of people's everyday pies, but.

But.

I won't even go into how abysmally some Republicans are using the site, nor do I need to mention that it really does take away from being present in the current moment (like, oh, I don't know - the President's speech last week! John Stewart at the Daily Show said it best: "There's a reason they don't allow cell phones in 7th grade math!")

Author Christina Baldwin, in her CD series Lifelines, talks about the danger we face in moving away from story and into a soundbite culture. There's too much room for spin and not nearly enough care taken in listening and understanding the whole, complex story that is the bigger reality. It's something to keep in mind as we read other people's "tweets."

What's the story, morning glory?

Over-Wintering

I should have known something was up last year when I suddenly decided to reread Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, followed by the traditional The Stand by Stephen King. A strange combo, I know, but I read them together when I was 18, and then at 30, when I reread Mists, I felt I had to reread The Stand as well. So, at 36, they both got reread together...again.

I have taken something different away from each of the readings as I grow up and (especially in the case of Mists) move through the phases of my life from "maiden," to new mother, to a woman done having kids and watching in satisfaction (and occasional trepidation) as they grow up.

Now it's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I reread that every couple of years, too. I'm slowly working my way through The Return of the King for the 4th time (I last finished that book on September 10th, 2001 - and I wonder why that series has become a bit of a momento mori for me. Hmmm...)

Life always gives me hints, even if I don't always pick up on them right away. Rereading all these pivotal classics is a hint I've only just picked up on. Articulating what that hint is about is not so easy, but it's closely related to why I haven't been blogging very much lately - I am on an internal hiatus.

Yup. Something is coming and in the meanwhile, I have platformed. I'm in a holding pattern. I wrote about it at Jennifer Louden's newest project, the Comfort Cafe. Here's what I came up with:

"My intention for the month of February is to listen for hints of Spring - my Spring.

We've just had "mid-winter thaw" here in New York - our annual warming that occurs in February, usually right after the freezing cold temperatures that inevitably eclipse my actual birthday (the 5th.) I spent the day in nature on Wednesday and found a lovely hollow where the trees are falling in and everything was quiet and resting. It was just what I needed.

Lately I have been coming to accept that I don't want to do very much these days. It’s not depression; I've been there and know that feeling well. This ain't it. I just don't really want to work or talk to people. I've very happy with my solitude and my naps and my reading and the occasional load of laundry thrown in (along with childcare for the 10 year old and the 6 and a half year old!)



I feel the pressure of a Type A world and Tony Robbins/The Secret type friends who push the idea that if you don't have your intentions in high focus you'll never be a success (OK oversimplifying a generally OK idea set but I hope you'll understand why.) I'm in between focuses and dreams. A lot came true over the last two years and now I just gotta BE and sort out which dreams come true are worth keeping and which ones need a bit of tweaking.
I'm over-wintering, like the trees in the gulley where I was. Eventually Spring will come again but for now its nice to be tree-like and stay on the lookout for signs of Spring while doing nothing much."



I am in between.

LOTR will be finished soon. I've been getting out to Caumsett (my sacred place) more often. I've begun learning my new camera's ins and outs (as evidenced by the self portraits above! So cool!). Story-Beads is hanging in there. Maybe soon Spring will come and I'll know where I'm supposed to be going. And maybe I'll just go take a nap and wait it out until then.

What have your emotional winters looked like and how have you over-wintered without struggling against them?

Story-Beads in Abundance

An abundance of Story-Beads!! Havi Brooks and her duck amiga Selma over at Fluent Self have commisioned a signature set of Story-Beads to launch her latest venture. This is what 80 sets of Story-Beads looks like just before blessing and packaging and shipping.

I wish everyone could reach through the "internets" and grab a handful because they feel...substancial and heavy and smooth and good.


Helper mouse and the DeStuckification duck are itching to head out and start their new life with all of Havi's clients. I'm just psyched to be touching the lives of what are sure to be a bunch of very cool people.

Do you own a business (or know someone who has a business) that would be a good match for a signature set of Story-Beads - a set not like any other in the world that reflects what's important to you and your clients, using symbols and beads that tell your story? Drop me a line... I'm sure Havi and Selma would attest to how much fun designing the sets are - and as for using them, I'll keep everyone up to date on their furthering story.

Who doesn't love a bit of a shameless plug?

A New Archetype

the-MATRIX--Wallpaper, originally uploaded by brandonj74.

Is it just me or do other people see the emergence of a new archetype - black men as the wise mentor. You know, the guy in the know, the one who has not only intelligence but actual life experience, not to mention a very cool look.

Just look at recent movies: The Matrix, for one. Morpheus is the guy in the know, the one who finds Neo and saves them all by helping "The One" realize himself. In Star Wars Samuel L. Jackson played a similar role. Not your genre? How about Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty? Morgan Freeman can be my God any day of the week; I adore him in the character!

Yesterday, we swore in President Barack Obama! (Yay!!) Maybe I'm stretching the point but looking for possible connections and themes is a huge part of story-telling. Movies and politics inform the larger story of who we are and who we see ourselves as being as Americans. As a viewer, I trusted myself in Morpheus' hands and took guidance and comfort from Morgan Freeman's God. In real life, I feel that way about Obama.

I think archetypes are cool. I'm just sayin'...

What have you done today to take part in your democracy?

Hint: my daughter's business is in trouble and you could help out by signing this petition to fine tune a bill that threatens many small businesses and toymakers!

Christmas Tree Tales

Today the tree comes down and the ornaments get stowed away, not to be seen again until next Christmas, like old friends you only see once a year. From the chaos of that one box of ornaments comes a lifetime of stories, each one a reminder of a certain year, a certain time, a certain person.

I put away the one armed soldier into the box next to the little sheppardess and I am suddenly in the 4th grade again, reliving the story that grew around these two ornaments being in love. They will always be in love because of the intensity of that 4th grade girl and her story.

The lighthouse was supposed to be a gift to my father, the last one I bought him before he went into the home. He loved lighthouses. Now "his lighthouse" hangs on my tree, reminding me of how much he loved Christmas in spite of his grumpy complaints about longing for peace and quiet.

Every handmade ornament from my mother (one from every year of growing up and then some,) every yearly ornament to my little ones is another story. From Lima Bean's telephone from his early years of cell phone obsession or Morgan's first (and most expensive ornament) made from her very first sneaker - after she kicked the other one off somewhere in Sears, never to be seen again, only three days after getting them. Each ornament comes out and each story is told, sometimes out loud and sometimes only in my heart.

What objects hold your stories safe?