The Art of Being Human

A Course in Miracles says; In my defenselessness my safety lies.      I have that on a sticky note on my lap top because it’s comforting in a paradoxical kind of way.   School starts next Thursday, I am beside myself busy. When I come up for air I feel both sad and vulnerable.    This has been a very quiet and peaceful summer.    I’m sad to see that end. For the first time in my life I am taking steps to throttle back and create a more thoughtful and peaceful life. To say this goes against the grain is an understatement. I’ve always been one lamp shade away from a good time.   Quiet feels right though, needed as I settle into a new way of being. That’s the only way I can describe it.      I am different and am settling into a new way of being.   I am softer, gentler around the edges. I have matured into my femininity and it feels nice as long as I just go with it and don’t think about it.   Now, there’s a concept. T...

    I love bars. Some of my favorite times have been in bars. I loved having a Singapore Sling in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore . It was like visiting a piece of history. I experienced the same thing the time I had a gin and tonic in the bar at The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong . Those were places I read about in books and I was there. Then there was a bar full of the biggest men I have ever seen in my life in Edinburgh who made me laugh my ass off. I miss Fuzzy’s, a great dive bar in Atlanta where Francine Reed used to sing once in a while.   Check out her singing Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues . It does a soul good. I grade papers at the pub around the corner from me and I go to a bluegrass jam at the Redlight where everyone knows my name and is happy to see me.   Bars are good places for me.      I’ll admit that once or twice I ended up dancing in the streets after being in a bar down in Little Five Points but it involved a drummer and tequi...

   Jackson Browne and Glenn Frye of The Eagles fame said it best, “Take it easy, take it easy. Don’t let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy.”   Some people get messages from dreams. I get mine from old rock and roll. Who needs a burning bush when you’ve got Jackson Browne.     I know that take it easy means more than just hanging out but it’s a good start, don’t you think. Remember hanging out? Going with the flow and enjoying whatever pleasures the moment offers up.   There’s an art to hanging out. I like starting with a clean house, fresh flowers are good. It’s nice to have the fixings for a couple of good meals handy, and a list of music to listen to.   Good company is a plus. Everything else is optional. I wake up and go from there. There are no plans, no lists, and no agenda. When I hang out I let go of everything except the moment and the pleasures of life.   It’s a time to slow down and savor life.   Hanging out is not wast...

      Revel called on Sunday morning and said that he would come over later to pick up my copy of   The Omnivore’s  Dilemma .  Our definitions of later were different. Mine was after lunch, after I got dressed, after I had tea, after a couple of hours. His wasn’t even close to that.  His later was after a few minutes. That’s why he caught me still in my pajamas, not even nice pajamas. I was in the ratty cotton ones I wear with my pink cowboy boot tee shirt.  If he had arrived when I thought he was going to I would have been dressed. Maybe.     “At least you’re out of bed and dressed.” He knows me. I'll give him that much. My plan was to hand him the book and go back to what I was doing. His plan was to talk about tilling up a section of my yard for a fall garden and play chess.  So, I stepped outside to talk about the details when neighbor pulled up on his bike. It’s one thing to hang out in my pajamas with Rev...

Late one evening last March a friend called. Janet asked me how things were going and when I told her things were fabulous her response was typical Janet, “Yes, but....” I kept telling her how well things were going and she kept digging for something that I was upset about. She finally dropped a gossip bomb that affected me directly. I lost my temper, my cool and as for feeling fabulous? I wasn’t. I tracked down the rumor and even though it wasn’t true my panties were in a twist and my precious peace was shot all to hell. Now, Janet wasn’t doing what we all do to some extent, bonding through negativity. She wanted to connect and find a way to be supportive. I had certainly done my share of that. But, for whatever reason, I had enough. I felt like I drowning in negativity and couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to take a break from negativity and started a 90 Day No Negativity Challenge that I wrote about on Vibrantnation.com . What started out as little break ...