Today is a brand new day. We stayed up all night to watch the inauguration. We soaked in the beautiful music played by classical music greats. We chuckled over the stumble over the oath. I teared up over the inaugural speech. We all watched history in the making today. I am so proud.
"America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations." -President Barack Obama
Today we celebrate our nation and the new page it has turned! Tomorrow, we get to work.
There's a bougainvillea growing in my backyard. As spring has revived it the new growth has become so prolific that I can barely get our door open! Carefully weaving our way through the thorn-studded new branches has become something of an obstacle course. ;-P This is our third (and final) spring/summer in this flat and although it grows rapidly and gets pruned back several times a year, I've never seen it quite so determined to grow up the side of the house. It even sent shoots right up through the gutter and now part of our roof is in full bloom!
While contemplating how to tame the beast so the property owner doesn't send someone to rip it out of the yard (she's already threatened to once because she doesn't want to pay someone to prune it twice a year, plant hating bitch) I found my mind wandering back to a conversation I had with a good friend the other day. We were talking about growth and how the places we live and the friends we keep influence our progress (or lack thereof) to a point. Both of us have left behind family and more familiar places for experiences in a world far different from the one we first met in. While thinking of mutual friends still back in that area we wondered, did we change because we left? or did we leave because we needed the change and knew we wouldn't find it if we stayed there?
We've all heard the saying "You've gotta bloom where you're planted!" and for most of my life I have tried to take that sentiment to heart and grow even when I feel like I'm stuck in a place not nurturing me in the way I need. But I think perhaps that phrase is not always accurate. Granted, at times we do need to strive to bloom where we find ourselves, however I can think of instances when I needed more than just encouragement to keep my chin up--I needed to be transplanted to a whole new garden!
So how do we know when to bloom where we're planted versus hoping for a transplant? What about people we know who are stagnant in the environment they find themselves in? When do they (and we) realise you've "...gotta go where you can grow!" as my friend said?
The answer I think comes when we remember that each one of us is a different plant.
Some of us are like hybrid tea roses that need delicately balanced environments in order to flourish or else we suffer from stunted growth and rarely bloom, failing to reach our full potential because we never had the nourishment we needed to do so.
Others are potted plants that live comfortably within the confines of their pot, slowly growing as they go indoors and outdoors, according to the seasons and what suits them best. They may not have the most spectacular growth, but they keep at a steady pace and generally mind their own business, soaking up food and water as they're given and every once in a while they get an upgrade to a bigger pot!
Me? I'm the crazy bougainvillea climbing the side of our flat, bright fuchsia flowers spilling all over the place! Planted in a less than ideal spot I tend to send out feeler shoots that weave their way near and far, looking for solid support. Once I find some I grab on and end up places I'd never dreamed, drinking in sunlight to spur on my growth. At times I get cut back for whatever reason and feel discouraged, but once I've had time to regroup I start all over again (often times stubbornly doing the same thing as before *snort*). Not one to stay in one place, I seem to maintain quite a broad existence as I constantly seek out the things I need to continue to grow--even if it means taking on the roof!
I meant to blog something else today, but while listening through the music I got cheap from Amazon.com I came across this song on the Jason Mraz's new CD "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things." It's not a CD I would have picked up at full price simply because I don't have any of his other music (although what I have heard of his music I've liked) so I decided to chance it and I'm so glad I did.
This song feels like a warm hug being offered to someone who feels like their world is spinning out of control and they need someone to steady them. Rumor is he wrote it for a friend going through a hard time (whose answering machine message you hear at the beginning, and then another one at the end.)
I love it so much it's going on my music player for those moments when I need to remember to breathe. It says all the things I try to tell everyone else when they feel like their entire world is unraveling. Details in the Fabric
Calm down, deep breaths And get yourself dressed Instead of running around And pulling on your threads And breaking yourself up
If it's a broken part, replace it If it's a broken arm, then brace it If it's a broken heart, then face it
And hold your own, know your name And go your own way. Hold your own, know your name And go your own way. And everything, will be fine.
Hang on, help is on the way And stay strong, I'm doing everything
Hold your own, know your name And go your own way. Hold your own, know your name And go your own way. And everything, Everything will be fine Everything...
Are the details in the fabric Are the things that make you panic Are your thoughts, results of static cling? All the things that make you blow Hell no reason, go on and scream If you're shocked, It's just the fault of faulty manufacturing Everything, will be fine Everything, in time Everything...
Hold your own, know your name And go your own way. Hold your own, (are the details in the fabric) Know your name (are the things that make you panic) And go your own way (are your thoughts, results of static cling?)
Hold your own, (are the details in the fabric) Know your name (are the things that make you panic) And go your own way (is it mother nature's sewing machine?)
Hold your own, (are the things that make you blow) Know your name (hell no reason, go on and scream) And go your own way. (if you're shocked, it's just the fault of faulty manufacturing)
Everything, will be fine Everything, in no time at all Hearts will hold...
I've heard many a song about war, but somehow had not heard this one until today. Blunt served in Kosovo as an officer in the British Army and while there wrote this song. I can't even begin to imagine the images that must flash through his mind every time he sings this song. The lyrics are gut wrenching enough, but watching him sing them just....wow.
No Bravery by James Blunt
There are children standing here, Arms outstretched into the sky, Tears drying on their face. He has been here. Brothers lie in shallow graves. Fathers lost without a trace. A nation blind to their disgrace, Since he's been here.
And I see no bravery, No bravery in your eyes anymore. Only sadness.
Houses burnt beyond repair. The smell of death is in the air. A woman weeping in despair says, He has been here. Tracer lighting up the sky. It's another family's time to die A child afraid to even cry out says, He has been here.
And I see no bravery, No bravery in your eyes anymore. Only sadness.
There are children standing here, Arms outstretched into the sky, But no one asks the question why, He has been here. Old men kneel and accept their fate. Wives and daughters cut and raped. A generation drenched in hate. Yes, he has been here.
And I see no bravery, No bravery in your eyes anymore. Only sadness.
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
The past few weeks this song has been playing in my head. Tonight it wouldn't quit, so I had to go hunt down the video. Whenever I hear this song I immediately think of being a child and hearing about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Even though I was quite young at the time, I sensed it was an important event happening in the world around me.
I remember lying in the back of my parents car one night maybe a year later, watching the streetlights zip by in the darkness as we were headed home. The haunting whistling of this song filled my ears as I wondered what a wind of change would look like.
I think we all saw it last week, blowing through the US. Beautiful, wasn't it?
May it continue to blow and bring down the walls that the last 8 years have built between us and the rest of the world.
"The world is closing in, did you ever think that we could be so close, like it brothers? The future’s in the air, I can feel it everywhere blowing with the wind of change.
Take me to the magic of the moment on a glory night, where the children of tomorrow dream away in the wind of change."
On Dentists--I have the most kickass dentist in the world. That's high praise coming from a major dental-phobe. I have more to say about him and the wonderful office he and his brother run, but for now, this will have to do. I've had 2 teeth pulled by him in the last week, both which were broken for various reasons. Most would opt to have them surgically removed since often trying to pull them causes the whole tooth to break, in which case they have to then go surgical and cut it out with some of the bone. But he was up for trying to get them out without all that and in the end they came out without breaking because the man has skills and is so damn patient!
Granted, I could feel some of the pulling today, fuck did that hurt! But it's not his fault they can't deaden the nerve there. The main nerve that gives sensation to the lip/chin area on that side of my jaw runs close to the root area of my back teeth, which can make numbing up a challenge, and since I already have problems with local anesthetic wearing off too fast or not working at all, that doesn't help matters. He did get it numbed better than anyone else ever has though, so kudos to the man!
I'm looking into ways to clone him (along with my Rheumatologist) so I can take them to the US with me 'cause I've never had such great care before. Usually I cry over having to go see the dentist, and now I'm going to end up crying over having to leave this dentist! What is the world coming to?
On week 2 of mushy foods--I miss my fresh, crunchy fruits and veggies, and I miss chewing food! LOL
On NaNoWriMo--Anyone else notice that a goal turns into a convenient whip in the hands of an obsessive perfectionist?? I am so guilty of that, and it's gotta stop. I've over the last few years been able to temper my inclinations towards things like that pretty well, but obviously I have more work to do in that area.
So I'm taking the wisdom on the topic that Jackie said in response to my last blog post and reminding myself that in the same way I've learned to give myself grace about other things, I need to be all zen-like about this as well. If I hit 50,000, WOO HOO!! If I don't, well, I still have more than when I began. One needs to enjoy the journey and release our attachment to the finish line, right? That doesn't mean we never reach any of our goals because we don't strive for them. Not at all. It just means remembering that the journey is just as important (if not more so) than meeting the goal we've set, and that as long as we've learned things and gained new experiences along the way, it's still a win, even if we don't reach our goal the first time around.
That said, I'm still going to try my damnedest to reach it! I wrote a shitload last night, so my count is a bit over 11,000 right now, but a lot of that is very "stream of consciousness" and random. I think it'll help give me topics on which to expound on at a later time this month, so it's all good!
Keep up the good work all my NaNo writers out there!!
I can't believe I actually pulled off making one political post a day for the last 31 days!! This has been really fun! So thanks to those who have read my rantings every day, I feel like I've learned a lot in this past month and hope you have too. I'll probably keep up my political ramblings into November since the election is on the 4th, and after that will get back to what I usually do, which is ramble on about anything that comes to mind. Be afraid, be very afraid... ;-P
My last post of the month will end the way my first one started--encouraging you to vote. VOTE people, please, vote. I may have my opinions about who needs to be the next POTUS and you don't have to agree with me, all I ask is that you make yourself informed of the issues, take a good hard look at the candidates before you and what an administration with them at the top of it will look like, and at what direction it will take this country in. Then vote your conscience. But when you do that, please think not only of the things that matter in your own life, but in the lives of those around you, both in the US and abroad. The choice you make in that voting booth DOES affect the entire world.
And that's a wrap folks! I leave you with this quote, have a think on it, eh?
"One voice can change a room. And if one voice can change a room then it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation. And if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world." -Barack Obama
A friend posted this on Facebook and I watched it and was actually speechless for a moment!
Good 'ole "Joe the Plumber" had a gem of an interview with Shepard Smith of Fox News. Apparently Joe thinks that a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel! When asked by Smith to back up exactly why he agreed with that statement, his response was something to he effect of '...I think everyone should go figure out what would make me say something like that!'
I need to remember that line the next time someone expects me to back up some claim I've made! *snort*
Have a look at the video, even better than Joe sticking his foot in his mouth as usual, is watching someone at Fox News actually defend Obama against those comments and seem rather unsettled with what he had just heard.
"Some things....well, it's just gets frightening sometimes."
Words from this poem have been itching the back of my mind for weeks now and just a few minutes ago when reading the last post I wrote, I remembered it in full. Here is the translation from the original:
Thank you Jason Linkins for noting a particularly moving part of Powell's interview on Meet the Press. Before you read the rest of this blog post, please follow the link to that post.
Thank you Colin Powell for saying what needed to be said, and what many of us have been trying to say for a long time.
Thank you Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, for being so passionate about serving your country, and for giving your life to fight in the Army while some of your fellow countrymen cannot bring themselves to see you as their brother.
And to Elsheba Khan, I am so sorry for the loss of your son's life as he proudly served a country where some of the "leaders" and your fellow citizens say "Arab", "Islam" and "Muslim" like they are dirty, hate filled words. Please know that there are many among you who believe you have as much right to your religious beliefs as the rest of us do, who mourn the loss of lives in Iraq no matter what race, religion, nationality, or "side" they are on, and who fight the racial/religious profiling and stereotyping of people within our borders.
To those who may be tempted to make some snarky comment about this post, say what you will, but let me just clarify something for you. I personally am proud of our men and women in uniform and support them wholeheartedly. It IS possible to support our troops and yet not support the war. My heart breaks for every family who have had their loved one deployed for months at a time, 2, 3, 4 times in a row, just as it breaks for those whose loved ones come home in a box, and those in Iraq who lose loved ones every day that the media forgets about. As a Democrat I do believe there is a time and a place for the use of our military, I just believe in this case the government got it wrong and a lot of people have paid the ultimate price for it.
I post things like this because unfortunately there are too many people in this country who seem to forget that our military is happy to enlist you, regardless of your race, religion, gender, and often even your sexual orientation. Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Wiccans, Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, and Pagans (as well as numerous other religions) serve side by side every day. Caucasians, Indians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and yes, even Arabs (as well as other ethnicities), give of their time in service to our country, and some their very lives. Immigrants are enlisted to fight in our armed forces when they don't yet have the right to even vote for their Commander in Chief!
Seems to me it's high time we learned to embrace each other, celebrate the things we have in common, enjoy our differences, put an end to discrimination, and treat one another as equals, no matter what faith, skin color, ethnic background, gender, or sexual orientation we have.
I can't get over the "woman's life" air-quotes bull shit from last night's debate. To me, it was a glaring example of what I feel a lot of people in this world lack, UNDERSTANDING and COMPASSION.
For the last two weeks this song has been playing through my mind every day. Every day. I remember when it came out vividly because I was still a "pro-life, anti-abortion Christian". However, I was deeply struggling with the things that I'd been taught were "absolutely wrong", like homosexuality, sex before marriage, and abortion. I listened to the lyrics in this song and they really, really got to me. For an instant I was that girl, being ambushed by protesters while trying to get to the clinic, agonising over the choice I was left to make by the "man" who helped me get into this situation. Then I thought about a woman that was raped and how she would feel, pregnant with the child of her attacker. Or a young girl barely past puberty, her womb violated and impregnated by her father, uncle, the guy next door.
In putting on their shoes and walking for a minute, it all became so clear. What right to we have to judge that which most of us will never have to go through? What right do we have to take away their rights to their bodies? If it were me, would I want people to make that choice for me? NO.
And there you have it, the shift....that moment when the earth shifts beneath you and you know without a doubt that your perspective has been forever altered and you can't go back to the way you were before.
I sincerely wish people would take a moment to step outside their comfort zone and put on the shoes of another in a situation much different than the one they live in. Then maybe, just maybe they could imagine what it's like.
Yesterday and today have been crazy as hell and I've got nothing to write tonight. Well, that's not entirely true, I have plenty I could write about, but to be honest, after reading news and updates and watching video of a person who is obviously full of hate, I'm just too damn weary of it all to get anything worthwhile out. I guess you could say my soul is vexed.
So I'm going to play my favorite music with hope it'll relax me enough to eventually sleep...and leave you with this video to ponder.
It's going to be alright...it has to be, because there are still a shit load of people out there who give a fuck and are not hate filled bigots.
While at a rally in California yesterday, Palin thought she'd share the quote by Madeline Albright she found on the side of her Starbuck's cup.
"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."
Except for that's not quite what Albright said. The correct quote is:
"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."
Freudian slip maybe?
As the crowd cheered in response to Palin's comment she then said, "Okay, now, thank you so much for receiving that well. I didn't know how that was gonna go over. And now, California, let's see what a comment like I just made, how that is turned into whatever it'll be turned into tomorrow with the newspaper."
Ahhh yes, playing that 'mainstream media are a bunch of bullies' card an awful lot aren't ya Sarah! And right on top of playing the gender card! That oughta get you triple points or something!
Damn you Starbucks for tripping her up! We know you put that quote there just so she'd misread it and misquote it at her rally that morning! Don't worry, we're on to you, we know you're gunning for Obama. ;-P
Next I suppose McCain will have to screen each coffee cup to ensure the quote has been blacked out before she gets a hold of it and we have yet another misquote on our hands. *shakes head*
Or, she could just say she meant to do that...you know, it was a joke, we just didn't catch on 'cause we're humorless or something.
It's okay Sarah, don't worry. I'll bring the marshmallows and you can bring the graham crackers and with all the women that'll be in hell with us there's sure to be chocolate around. We'll have ourselves a grand time around the ole hell fire!
"Do one thing every day that scares you." -Eleanor Roosevelt
That quote has been running through my mind for the past 20 minutes as I sit here staring at the empty text box on my screen. From the previous posts in this blog I'm sure anyone can tell I'm not the type that never has much to say, so the sudden loss of words has been a bit puzzling to say the least.
And then it hit me.
I have stage fright! Errr, or blog fright (if there is such a thing).
Usually I have no problem coming up with something to ramble about, but that's because not many people read my blog and most of the few that do I know personally, so having them read my writing is no big deal. But while trying to write this post it suddenly occurred to me that since I've decided to try the "post every day for a month" thing, once I'm added to the blogroll other people might stop by to have a read! Don't get me wrong, that's cool, I love to read other's blogs and have them respond to mine (I blog elsewhere on occasion with more readers), but somehow this is different.
I know it seems silly to have stage fright over such a thing, but since those kind of fears aren't rational to begin with, it is what it is. Standing on a stage about to give a speech is one of the only things that consistently leaves me speechless!
Surely it's just a passing thing, but 'til it goes I'll just have to do what they say to do when staring out at the mass of people before you:
Life is such an odd thing. The older I get the more I realise that time passes so fast and yet we still will it to go faster. When I was 9, my 10th birthday couldn't come fast enough because then I'd finally be allowed to get my ears pierced. Then I couldn't wait to be 13 because I'd be a "teen" then! I counted down the days until my 16th birthday, convinced that the closer I got to adulthood the better life would be, when that didn't materialise at 16 I figured by 18 I'd be all set for college and getting out of my parents house. At 18 that didn't happen as planned and I was ready to be 21 because I thought by then I'd have my path in life all sorted out!
On my 21st birthday I decided life was hell and I really wanted to go to sleep and never wake up, or at least fast forward through my life a good bit and come out once things sorted themselves out because surely at 23 things would be better! At 23 I forced myself to leave my parent's house to go visit family friends in Florida and stayed there for almost 6 months, trying desperately to get something moving in my life because I thought for sure I was doomed to be forever stuck there, then ended up actually going back there to live and thought I'd really fucked up then. I think 23 was one of the longest years of my life, but also the one I changed the most in, although 24 comes in a close second.
By my 25th birthday I was engaged, moved to a foreign country, and married! Talk about time moving fast! I thought my 25th year would find me in the US, starting college. You see, I have this anxiety over college. I didn't get to go when I was 18, and in hindsight that isn't such a bad thing because who I am now is quite far from who I was then, and at least I didn't take up 4 years getting a degree I'd never use. But it was okay, I figured I could still squeeze in a degree before I was 30, not too bad. Things never quite go to plan though, and now halfway through 26 I'm still in NZ, planning our next step in life. By the time I start school I'll be 27, so that degree won't come until I'm in my 30's and that does not make me very happy. I feel like suddenly life is rushing by at a breakneck speed and if I blink I'm going to miss the chance to do what I want to do. So I plan, fret, worry, obsess, plan some more, pace and I think I've about driven myself crazy. I feel like I'm constantly trying to play catch up with life.
Why do we do this? I know I'm not the only one to have this problem. When we're young we're in such a hurry to grow up that we spend our time pushing forward, trying not to think about how young we are, constantly fighting to be seen as older, wiser, more mature, anything to not be the kids we are. Then we find ourselves in our mid 20's and people are telling us we've got to get our career going, find a great person to "settle down" with, we get the grandkids question, and it seems as if everyone around us is pitching in to keep pushing us forward, always looking for the next thing, the next item on the checklist. Spouse? Check! 2.5 kids? Check! 9-5 office job? Check! Career path in place? Check! House and the debt that comes with it? Check! 2 cars? Check!
On and on we go, speeding through the list, becoming the people that society has convinced us we want to be until we hit our 40's and then all the sudden we dig our heels in and try to bring the ride to a screeching halt! How the fuck did we get close to half a century old? Where did our life go? We had dreams! Things we wanted to do, places we wanted to go, and now what of them? We have a house to pay off, kids in high school that we've gotta put through college, we barely recognise ourselves in the mirror, and that 9-5 job? We've always secretly hated it. Is it any wonder why so many people go through a "mid-life crisis" and try to scramble back and do all the things that they shoulda/coulda/wanted to do when they were in their 20's but they were too consumed with getting to the next goalpost to take the time to do it?
I've often wondered if the US is the only place that has the "mid-life crisis" problem, because your 20's often go a bit different in more British countries. Over here it's not uncommon to find people in their late 20's or early 30's in school still. Taking 6 months or a year off to travel after high school, after college, and even between jobs is not unusual either. My sister in law took 3-4 months off of work and toured parts of South America! She had the leave saved up, here you get 4 weeks leave per year, so that wasn't too hard to save up, and she's a year older than me, not married. Here Chris and I were considered a bit "young" getting married when we did, while in the US people figured I'd never get married since at 23 I had no prospects!
As much as I worry about spending the next 4, 6, 10 years in school pursuing some degree to get me closer to some career aspirations I have, more than anything else I fear being that person that has a mid-life crisis at 40 because I feel like I never gave myself permission to let go and LIVE while I didn't have the burden of a mortgage, kids to create a stable home life for, and a business to carry.
I am convinced that when we are 70 we look back and instead of thinking "I should have spent more time at work." we are instead wishing that we'd lived in the moment, taken more risks, spent more time with the people we loved instead of worrying about all the things that in the end don't matter so much. Several times I've had people in their 60's and 70's tell me to enjoy being young, take risks, live life to the fullest, and just go for things instead of obsessing over them because before I know it, the chance will have passed me by. But how? They never tell me HOW! Which brings me to my next blog topic---letting go.
What do you do when you realise an opinion you've held for a long time is not quite what you thought it was? One that you've taken inside you and made a part of your very identity? How do you learn to let it go? Why do I end up with such vexing conundrums?
For a while now I've been wrestling with something so deeply ingrained in me that even debating it within my own mind feels like blasphemy. Back and forth I go until I've practically driven myself mad. When I can't contain it inside any longer I finally end up talking it over with a trusted someone else. It's funny how even voicing doubt over a personal opinion feels like you're being unfaithful to yourself!
This is not the first deep issue I've wrestled with in this way. I can replay in my mind's eye the times where I've felt the earth shift from beneath me as something I've based my whole self on crumbles to pieces. They say ignorance is bliss and they (whomever they are) are so right. The more I know the more I realise I don't know. The more I see the more I want to close my eyes and yet know I can't. I know too much and yet not enough.
The rational side of me demands concrete answers to the issues I wrestle with. The intuitive part of me knows that those absolutes aren't there. It's like there's a whole group of people inside my mind sitting at a round table and they are all parts of me. One by one they climb up onto the table in an attempt to dominate my thoughts and drown the others out. But it doesn't work. Someone drags them down and another clamors to be heard above the throng.
In the end I'll get things as sorted out as I can. I know the choice I have to make, but all those other parts of me are still rebelling over it. They all want to be right, they all have their evidence, it's like there are fucking lobbyists in my mind! *snort*
"An honorable human relationship---that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word 'love'---is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.
It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.
It is important to do this because in so doing we do justice to our own complexity.
It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us."
In 2006 I fell in love and my life turned upside down, literally! I moved from the US to New Zealand to married a Kiwi who immigrated here from Hong Kong as a child almost 20 years ago. We have 1 home with 3 cultures going on between the 2 of us, keeps life interesting!
We are in the process of moving to the US at the moment. Just a few more weeks left in Kiwiland before we're off to try and stay sane in the States!
This blog is filled with my ramblings about life, love, politics, food, religion, photography, PCOS, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and whatever else is running through my mind at any given time...
