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Worry
Approximately twelve times a year, I get to sit on an airplane. Setting aside the felt absence of my loved ones and the general inconveniences of travel, I love flying. The magnificent feat of air travel never fails to inspire me with a sense of wonder. I love having my head in the clouds, literally. I shared this with a friend recently to which she immediately responded, but don’t you worry about the plane crashing?? Actually, I don’t. But her comment made me think about the idea of worry…and worry as distinguished from fear. Worry is “to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; to fret”. It comes from Middle English weryen “to strangle, bite…
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Hallways
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. – Semisonic, Closing Time When faced with an exciting new beginning, we may be inclined to ignore some other beginning’s end. Excitement is more palatable than grief. Alternatively, when we are forced to face a sorrowful ending, we can’t always recognize that it is also a new beginning. This is the way of life. Seasons change. Children grow. Relationships evolve. We are in a constant state of flux transitioning from one phase to the next. Sometimes these transitions are obvious and remarkable–a snowfall, a driver’s license, an engagement ring. Other times, it’s more subtle–only clear in retrospect. For example, it’s difficult to discern the exact moment adolescence begins. There…
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You Be You, and I’ll Be Me
No matter how I am dressed, what I look like or what I am doing, I strive to always be me. – Steve SueWing, a community organizer, family man, marathoner, friend, and occasional drag queen Have you ever tried to be someone else? If you’ve spent any time in grade school, junior high, or high school; if you’ve ever worked in a large corporation or a small non-profit; if you’ve ever sung in a band, played on a team, or been in relationship, chances are you’ve attempted to deny some aspect of your nature. Countless stories of masquerade are born of the human desire for acceptance mingled with our ubiquitous self-doubt.…
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Partners
She was struck by the simple truth that sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people… -Nicholas Sparks Accountability partners are a relatively new invention. At least, that term for them is. The concept is not new. People have benefitted from the mutual commitment to assist one another in achieving their goals for as long as there have been people with goals. Nonetheless, the concept has come into vogue in the last couple decades. Business magazines, health journals, and religious publications all tout the benefits of having an accountability partner. There are even phone apps for the less socially inclined. It’s an interesting…
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The Perfect Age
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations. – Anais Nin At 46 years old, I have no way of knowing what percentage of my life has passed and what is yet before me. I like to believe I’ll live to be more than 100 years old. Some people say it’s crazy to want to live that long. “What happens when your body doesn’t work anymore?…
