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Desired Things
“Silver-white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things” – My Favorite Things, Rodgers and Hammerstein Favorite things. Desired things. A heart’s desire. In 1927, Max Ehrmann wrote Desiderata (Latin: “desired things”) as a poetic call to action. Contrary to the implication of the title, these things were not things at all in the physical sense. Rather, it listed ways of thinking and living, perhaps even acts of faith, that enabled contentment. As we wait for this winter to (please) melt into spring, I wanted to explore the wisdom of the eight stanzas and nearly twice as many independent directives of Desiderata. It begins with…
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Fill the Pot
After the first of the year, it seemed that all water cooler conversations sunk into frustrations about having fallen away from routines. In truth, the lament isn’t actually the absence of a routine. It’s that we traded a habit of self-care for something else. It’s free weights swapped for flannel pajamas, cardio for hot cocoa, and regular rest for movie marathons. Any time we say we are out of our routine, what we are really saying is that we have let go some element of self-care that we had previously committed to. Regrettably, resuming a routine of self-care is always more difficult than moving away from it. (How is that…
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Be Light
A long December and there’s reason to believe that this year will be better than the last. — Counting Crows, A Long December It’s been a crazy month. December almost always is. Like a blanket of fresh snow, we overlay a winter wonderland a top of our already filled to the brim, year-end lives. I have a love/hate relationship with this month. Everything is wrapped in red and green, trimmed in peppermint sticks, and served with warm chocolate. I cherish the extra warmth and good cheer; enjoy the special foods we prepare; and am awed by the solitude of winter in the Midwest. I struggle with unrealistic expectations of myself and others.…
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Thank You Please
People will never forget how you made them feel — Maya Angelou There is a universal moment after a gift or favor has been bestowed upon a child that humans collectively pause for a few seconds, waiting for a tiny, sing-song “thank you” they hope will follow. Parents especially hope for this. The thank-you or its absence can feel like a reflection on them. What kind of parent are they? Have they raised a well-mannered child? And it goes beyond parents. On some level, we all hope to hear an expression of gratitude for a courtesy granted; it speaks to the dynamics of our larger human community. As people, we…
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Leave Pride On The Side
Now and then, I’m afforded the opportunity to share in a vehicle donation community project. It is the cooperative endeavor of several hands to make refurbished transportation possible to a person or family in need. It is absolute goodness. It happened again this past week. As the recipient was passed the keys, he commented about times in life when we need to leave pride on the side and ask for help. I was struck by the visual of an item being left behind, cast aside its value exhausted. How often does pride, or its equally debilitating sibling fear, get in the way of our asking for help? Or admitting to…
