“Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” -Georgia O’Keefe
In our everyday rushing lives time has become such a valuable commodity. We rush to and from work spending more and more time there. Work takes up a lot of those irreplaceable minutes. So many of the things we do are rushed. Microwave food, drive thru meals, 30 minute workouts, etc. We are obsessed with time and we’ve completely forgotten how to invest it as a commodity into something as important and rewarding as friendship. I read the other day that people have fewer close friends than they did even 20 years ago. Why?
It does take time to be a friend. Attention to the details that take time that cannot be replaced by anything. There really is no replacement other than taking the time with a person to become a friend. Perhaps this is the difference between a friend and an acquaintance. One of them is willing to take the time and know and remember the details, and the other simply either hasn’t had the opportunity or doesn’t want to. Isn’t it worth it though? I cannot think of a better resource in my life than my friends when I need support or love or listening to. I love that I can make my friends feel better or be there for them when they need me. It’s all about time and spending the time to be a friend, listen, learn and really examine the smallness and detail. It takes time.
It's not all about work. It just can't be.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
place holder
I have a couple of really good blog posts at home, but well, I’m not at home. So, in lieu of something profound and interesting I’m going to post something I find amusing. On my work e-mail I have been getting a lot of spam and for whatever reason the program we use doesn’t have a very good filter. In fact I suspect the filter they have in place doesn’t even work just like the hyperlink button, “insert picture” and numbered list functions don’t work. ANYWAY… I get some funny spam. Most recently these are the “people” I have gotten spam from-
Kneeling C. Indignantly
Sudanese H. Tuneless
Takeoff A. Dispaired
Wrongheadedly A. Hosed
Freshet M. Dadaism
Maxflies T. Depravity
Personally my favorite is Wrongheadedly Hosed. O.K. That’s all. Thanks for reading my placemarker.
Kneeling C. Indignantly
Sudanese H. Tuneless
Takeoff A. Dispaired
Wrongheadedly A. Hosed
Freshet M. Dadaism
Maxflies T. Depravity
Personally my favorite is Wrongheadedly Hosed. O.K. That’s all. Thanks for reading my placemarker.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Independence Day thoughts
The celebration of Independence Day brings to mind parades, houses decorated with flags of all sizes, fireworks and barbeques. It is a day to remember the Founding Fathers of our great country and of all the men that followed in the beliefs that they risked life and limb to define and secure. These were all men that believed in the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence and then later solidified in the Constitution of the United States. It’s easy to call them patriots.
The beauty of the country we live in is that the men and women that question the government when they believe it isn’t following the foundation set by the Founding Fathers is that we can also call them patriots. They are doing their duty as citizens to create an open society where debate is welcomed and even required. This Fourth of July I am reminded of one great patriot that did just this. Frederick Douglass is that man, and despite the issue he was speaking about being much different than the one we face today the words he spoke on that Independence Day so long ago still ring true.
“Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.” ~Frederick Douglass - July 4, 1852
On this Independence Day I am ashamed of the barbarity the Bush Administration has propelled our country into with its paranoid ideology that is full of lies and deceit. We are the hypocrites of the world when we say we are trying to spread democracy into countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout Central America. Yet in our very own country our phones, internet and bank records are secretly being watched by the government, when anyone who dares challenge the “thinking” of the current administration are called unpatriotic or worse “traitor”, and when women and mothers who have lost loved ones in this war of lies are ridiculed for publicly mourning and speaking out against what changed their lives forever. Yes, we are hypocrites and barbarians in our comfort and apathy for not holding our government true to the foundation that the very basis if this country was founded upon.
I love the principles that my country was founded upon. I admire the men and women who have risked and sometimes given everything to defend it- even the hard to swallow patriots that dissent. Thank you, Mr. Douglass, all these years later.
The beauty of the country we live in is that the men and women that question the government when they believe it isn’t following the foundation set by the Founding Fathers is that we can also call them patriots. They are doing their duty as citizens to create an open society where debate is welcomed and even required. This Fourth of July I am reminded of one great patriot that did just this. Frederick Douglass is that man, and despite the issue he was speaking about being much different than the one we face today the words he spoke on that Independence Day so long ago still ring true.
“Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.” ~Frederick Douglass - July 4, 1852
On this Independence Day I am ashamed of the barbarity the Bush Administration has propelled our country into with its paranoid ideology that is full of lies and deceit. We are the hypocrites of the world when we say we are trying to spread democracy into countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout Central America. Yet in our very own country our phones, internet and bank records are secretly being watched by the government, when anyone who dares challenge the “thinking” of the current administration are called unpatriotic or worse “traitor”, and when women and mothers who have lost loved ones in this war of lies are ridiculed for publicly mourning and speaking out against what changed their lives forever. Yes, we are hypocrites and barbarians in our comfort and apathy for not holding our government true to the foundation that the very basis if this country was founded upon.
I love the principles that my country was founded upon. I admire the men and women who have risked and sometimes given everything to defend it- even the hard to swallow patriots that dissent. Thank you, Mr. Douglass, all these years later.
my garden
My fingernails are dirty. I have been working in one small bed of our garden. There is a gratification in knowing that I am doing the work and have a plan for each little section that our yard will eventually be divided into. I get much more satisfaction from this kind of domesticity than I do with knowing that my floors are sparkling or that all the laundry is done. It’s just a little work and a whole lot of stress relief.
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