Welcome to My Blog
One of the college classes I took while completing my degree in Theater was a group voice lesson. Most of us were experienced musically, but there were a couple of students who were considered non-singers because of their inability to—sing! When it was their turn, they stood next to the piano, moving their mouths, but all that anyone heard was the accompanying music. “Sing badly!” the instructor told them, explaining how their fear of sounding bad, rendered them incapable of making any sound at all. The students took the suggestion and began to sing—badly of course, but at least they had a place to start. Whenever I sit down to write I have to remind myself to “sing badly,” because only then will I find the story is that I’m supposed to be telling....
Just Start Without Me
Last night I went to bed at 8:30 and woke up this morning at 7:00. I’m on vacation this week, so I’m “allowed” to sleep in, but tell ME that–my higher self that always orders me to work harder and never, ever waste time. When I finally got my sorry butt out of bed, I chastised myself for abusing the snooze option on my alarm clock. “How are you going to work solely within the dream career if you spend this vacation time sleeping?”I asked myself. Myself does not have an answer. Myself hates those rhetorical questions, anyway. God, I love naps, though I hardly ever get them. When I have time on a Saturday or Sunday, I don’t always allow myself to crawl back into bed, but when I do–Ahhhhh! I often hear myself...
Operating Without a License
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” I love this quote by Lewis Carroll because it addresses a fear so many of us have of making bad choices. I liken our spiritual path to a game of, “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” We stumble blindly along, listening for clues that will steer us towards the destination that feels right. I often find myself going down roads that I know are wrong, and yet I keep going. I like to assume that the Universe is trying to tell me something profound, and that I’m supposed to learn something from those diversions. That there is a reason for my being at a particular place in a specific time. I often wonder, why does one road close for some and open for others? I...
Watch Out, Dr. Doolittle
“When you roll up your newspaper to swat the dog,” my friend Judy said, “he thinks you don’t like him anymore.” “I DON’T like him anymore.” My dog, Oscar had peed again on the drapery panel. I was one step away from tying all of his belongs to the end of a stick and sending him on his way. Judy laughed. “He thinks he’s contributing to the beauty of the room when he pees inside the house.” “WHAT? That’s crazy!” “He doesn’t see it that way. In his mind, he says, Why did you hang those drapes there if you didn’t want me to pee on them? Who’s the crazy one here?” The last time that I took the drape down to launder it, I noticed Oscar was walking funny,...
Home Alone
My parents are planning another trip to Sweden in the fall. I told them I wouldn’t be able to go with unless they went in August–some of us have to work, hello! That’s when they told me I wasn’t invited. My parents crack me up. “No, really,” Dad said. “You’re not invited. It’s just going to be your mother and I.” Oh. OHHHHH! I didn’t know it was that kind of trip–where nine months later I have a new baby brother. Mom tells me that they want to visit her cousins Bernt and Ulla, who they haven’t seen in years. “We probably won’t even do much sightseeing.” I know my mother. She’s trying to make it sound like it won’t be much fun for me. It’s not working....
Fine Dining
I love to eat out in nice restaurants with friends. I enjoy the whole fine-dining experience, beginning with a glass of chardonnay followed by a salad of mixed greens. Now, I may be dating myself with the next statement, but I remember a time when a dining guest could enjoy a salad, even finish it before the entree arrived. Back-in-the-day, there was also a rule about not removing any plates until everyone at the table had finished eating. To remove one’s plate any sooner, would leave the still-eating guest feeling (a) conspicuous, like everyone was watching him/her eat, or (b) a sense of urgency to stop yapping and finish the meal, or (c) afraid that any lapse in fork to mouth activity might signal restaurant personnel to remove the...
Miracles
I feel like a little “magic” wouldn’t hurt right now. You know, a small miracle; something to get me through the day ’til five, the week ’til Friday, the months ’til summer. And then, as if on cue, I get one of those forwarded e-mails, the kind that say if, and only if, I send it to 15 people something wonderful will happen at 10:37 a.m. the next day. I always follow through with those, but nothing ever happens at 10:37 the next day, at least I don’t think…I’m always doing something else at the prescribed time, and forget about the miracle that’s being delivered. Then I kick myself when I realize that once again, my ship probably came in, and as usual–I missed it. I’m a little...
Easter Revelations
The one thing that I can absolutely count on every year is that the Easter Bunny will bring me chocolate. That’s right, I can make all kinds of declarative statements to the Universe about what I want and expect for my life (fame and fortune), but I tend to be disappointed with the results. The Easter Bunny; however, has never let me down, and for that I am grateful. I’ll tell you what I like most about the Easter Bunny. He doesn’t have any stipulations like Santa about what is good and good enough. That naughty and nice crap is so subjective; I mean you could be going along working hard with your nose firmly fixed to the grindstone, but do you think he recognizes any of that? Nothing is ever good enough for that guy and he demonstrates it by...
