On Par … and a Few Other Things

Photo Styling by Susan Lumoto of DailyArtMuse.com

On par.  Up to par.  Is par.  At par.  Above par.  Below par.  Par.  Par was my “word of choice” for 2011.   I gave myself permission to be.  Just to be.  There were a few months there where I actually forgot what my word was, so I had to come back here to my Jan 2011 post to look it up!  That strikes me as funny, definitely a below par sense of memory there!

 But the word was in there, in my unconscious, doing its thing anyway.  Perhaps it’s a little like the riddle over what comes first, the chicken or the egg, because I’m pretty sure that I chose that word because the riddle of its meaning was already present in my life.  Now was just the time to delve into it a bit more deeply.

So, did having a word affect my approach to 2011?  Did it make a difference?  I think it did.  Not in any magical way, but just taking the time at the beginning of the year to think about what was important to me put an intention out there.

 Par is a good word in and of itself, but it is also an acronym for Playful, Authentic and Responsible.  Choosing the word “playful” gave me permission to play in a deeper, less self-conscious way.  Paying attention to being authentic meant that I looked more closely at my behavior as I peeked behind my masks.  And I definitely noticed myself stepping back and being less driven about doing things in my normal “must be perfect” way.  In fact, a lot of things I didn’t do at all!

The problem came with the word “responsible”, for that word raised lots of questions.  Responsible to whom?  And for what?  And why?  And what really mattered, anyway?  That’s the part of par that I’m still trying to figure out.  Which brings me to my word for 2012: embrace.

For me that word means moving past observing and noticing things, which I’m pretty good at, into wrapping my arms around them and engaging with them.  I looked up the definition and found words like seize, embody, accept willingly, receive gladly or eagerly, to clasp.  Hmmm.  Sounds a bit dramatic for that part of me that tends to step back and watch a while before making a commitment to action.   But here I go.

I looked through my picture files for something that embodied the word embrace.  The closest that I came was the feeling of love with which the Pippsywoggin, Winnie Viola, holds close to her bosom her cup of warm tea.  Switch that beverage to coffee and I can feel it!

Who knows, I  may even get so I LIKE the sharing of hugs at my spiritual community’s weekly gathering …

It’s All in Your Imagination

Jeff Rouse of OurStoryMn.com

Chances are that if you’re reading this blog, you’re a person who identifies with the word  ”creative”.  And if so, you’ve surely had someone say to you, “It’s all in your imagination!”, as if that’s a BAD thing.  Gets old, doesn’t it?

It seems to me that the mythical place of imagination is where ideas are generated, where creativity is nurtured, where visions begin to take form and where yesterday’s magic becomes tomorrow’s routine.  The ideas that are brewed in this “land of imagination” become the events and productions and goods of tomorrow. Without imagination we’d still be copying books by hand, harnessing horses to buggies and spending a good portion of each day growing and gathering and spinning and mending.

And, to be honest, I don’t believe that would be ALL bad.   I think we are in risk of losing touch with our connection to the Land and to Source.  I am a believer in the concept of simplicity and love and face time with self and neighbor.  But I do love it that with the click of a key I can talk via email or phone with my friend Iris in Israel or Dayle in California, those wonderful grandkids in Wisconsin … or, when we’re both busy, busy, busy, my partner husband, Dan (Hi, Dan), who is at work in his office downstairs.  Imagination at work has allowed us in the 21st century to stay connected with our friends and family in ways that our immigrant grandparents never, ever experienced.

Despite my ambivalence about the results of imagination, for me, imagination is Sacred.  It is more than coming up with a beautiful sculpture or a clever rhyme.  Imagination IS the rhyme. Imagination is both sender and receiver.    The rhyme isn’t clever until our receptive energy interacts with the written word.  Sort of like how air isn’t breath until a living being takes it in and interacts with it.  For me, Imagination is the Sacred Mystery of life itself.  The spark.  The energy.  The wave and the flow and the pulse that makes us – and keeps us – alive.

So, in honor of imagination, I’d like to tell you about a remarkable Imagineer who is sparking connections here in the MidWest.  Jeff Rouse, pictured, has started a business called Our Story Minnesota.  You can see his work and that of his partner, Denise, plus their platoon of volunteers, at OurStoryMn.com .

Dan and I were fortunate to be able to spend an evening with the Our Story Minnesota people a few weeks ago when I was interviewed on their Women of Sweet Swine County program.   Yup.  Sweet Swine County, their version of down-home midwest tongue-in-cheek fun and play with a healthy dose of marketing and info sharing thrown in for good measure.

The segment that we taped isn’t yet on-line, but do go check out past offerings.  As you smile, or laugh, or grin in recognition of one of the corny jokes or clever phrasings, your receptive energy becomes part of the creative circle without which there would be less energy and less joy and less reason for any of us to get out of bed every morning.

http://www.OurStoryMn.com

What’s Next?

PAR 1

I feel blessed this AM.  Do we ever get too old to love winning a prize?  To love the unexpected gift?  To feel opened up by the generosity of another?  I don’t think so, at least I hope that I never become jaded to the sheer joy of receiving the creative offerings from fellow travelers along this journey of ours.

A few weeks ago I posted my word for the year on Susan Lumoto’s fascinating blog Daily Art Muse . Her idea was to give a forum within which people could share their word for the year, then she would pick 3 people’s words to feature in a photo styling presentation which she would then gift to them.  I love the topic, so I posted, and I won!

Here is an image that she created for me.  I love it.  Makes me smile.  Makes me laugh.  Makes me want to run along the beach, gather stones, and just see if there is a little alphabet soup factory there somewhere among the waves which throws up food for the elves.

One of Susan’s business offerings is that she’ll create personalized/customized  images such as these for people.   Sound like fun?  Check it out: Daily Art Muse

Up to PAR

PAR.  That’s my word for 2011.

A few years ago I received the idea of choosing a word for the year from Amy Crawley (who was inspired by Christine Kane ).  I love words, so the idea of following one word through the whole year seemed perfect.  I’ve already forgotten the word that I used the first year, but last year I chose “circle” and the word for 2010 was “tone”.

I chose the word PAR because it’s an acronym for the words playful, authentic and responsible, all key words for me this year.  Then I thought more about it, looked up the word par, and decided that the meaning of par was pretty important to me, too.

Par, according to the on-line Free Dictionary, means “an amount or level considered to be average;  a standard: performing up to par”.  At first I resisted the idea of that, that thing about performing at an “average” standard.  I thought about my immediate, almost violent reaction to the word, and decided I needed a little self-therapy about that one!!!!  How does one get to be 63, and not go crazy, or become paralyzed from the pressure of it all, if all things that matter must be above average?

I’m breathing a small sign of relief just thinking about thinking ….. and that’s as far as I can let myself go right now!

Mind Mapping

Calendar says October.

But the Morning Glory
that creeps its way
over the garden arbor

just says “Good Morning”.

Doesn’t seem to know
that any day now
there’ll be a frost.

Or maybe it knows

and chooses to bloom anyway?

Life and Death

It’s a common expression, that one where we roll our eyes, look exasperated, and say, “It’s not a matter of life and death!”.  But I’ll try never to use that expression again.  Life IS a matter of life, then death.  That’s not morbid.  It’s just how it is.  And none of us know what the next moment will bring.  Ever.

But, and here’s the big BUT, because of the fact that we do die, we have an opportunity to choose to live fully in the moment.  Now.  We can’t really just put things off until tomorrow, because … well, you know the rest.

And do I live this way?  No, have to confess that I do not.  Well, sometimes, but not routinely.

This past Mother’s Day weekend I had a long phone conversation with my Wisconsin daughter, Jenelle, about living truthfully, facing loss and change, and being in the moment.  She shared with me a song that her friend Allegra wrote called Carpe Diem , and we talked a bit about letting go.  It was one of those philosophical conversations that was intense and meaningful, and one that I chalked up as a contribution to a really good day.  And then I spent the afternoon pulling weeds in the flower bed and making plans for a sculpture for the art festival.  Ordinary stuff.  Good stuff.

But circumstances didn’t let this topic sit idle for long, as just after our conversation, Jenelle found out that her neighbor’s 18 year old son (and the brother of our grandson’s best friend) was killed in a car accident. Life.  Death.  Everyday days.  Sleeping.  Dreaming.  Loving.  Celebrating.  Letting go.  Grief.  Joy.  Laughter.  Tears.  Dancing.  Crying.  Wailing.  Hugging.  Wondering.  Doing.  Choosing.  Accepting. Denying.  Feeling.  Being.

Since we really don’t know at the time which of our actions or conversations or non-actions are the ones that matter, perhaps the wise way is to live as if they all matter.  And I suspect that they do.  But, since we can’t do everything that we imagine, or be everywhere that we’d like to be, how DO we choose our path?  And choose we must or we risk becoming paralyzed and doomed to watching our life diminish before our eyes.

One book that has been helpful to me in living in peace with the necessities of choosing and doing and being  is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Luis.  The four agreements are:

1. Do your best at all times

2. Tell the truth impeccably

3. Don’t take it personally

4. Don’t make assumptions

I don’t do these things perfectly, either.  But I rest more comfortably with this imperfection when I read Don Luis’s wise words about doing our best at all times.  He says that our best is not a black and white thing that can be judged from outside of ourselves.  It changes given the circumstances.  It isn’t a rigid thing.  What’s important is to be honest with ourselves in the moment, and act based on conscious choice.  I can’t find my copy of the book right now, but feels to me that there might be words in there about forgiveness and love and letting go as well.

Have to get on with my day.  Have lots of things I want, and need, to do.  But first I think I’ll go back and read Allegra’s blog and words to her song again until I get it.  Really get it.