750 Words A Day

I happened upon a very interesting website the first week of August.  It's called "750 Words" and is apparently inspired by the three written pages a day that Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, recommends for people wanting to unblock and rev up their creative energy. 

 I decided to challenge myself by writing 750 words a day using the format at http://www.750words.com/.  As of today, I am proud to report that I've written 750 words a day for 55 out of the last 56 days, and I credit this extremely easy-to-use website with supporting me in this effort. 

For someone who has not had great success in keeping up any kind of journaling practice for most of her life, this is huge.  If you are at all curious, go to http://www.750words.com/ and check it out.  It's fun to read about whether you decide to try it or not.

Write on!

Faith and Hope

More than once, I've found myself in discussions about whether there is a difference between faith and hope.  Not everyone looks at these words in the same way; I'm not sure I always look at them in the same way.

One year ago (September 25, 2010 to be exact), I started writing this blog.  I hoped that I would be able to keep it up, but I don't think I had faith that it would actually happen.  The more I blog entries I wrote, the more my faith in my ability to keep blogging increased. 

As my birthday approaches, I am thinking about my blogging future.  I now have a lot more faith in myself as a blogger.  I have faith that I will continue blogging into my sixty-first year.  What I hope is that I will blog even more regularly.  I hope that the content of my entries will be more relevant and substantive.  I hope I can figure out how to reach more people with my blog.

As I write this, I'm starting to think about how the words faith and hope might apply to other areas of my life.  When I set goals and intentions for the coming year, where do faith and hope come into the process?  I am reminded of a familiar passage:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  (Hebrews 11:1)

Friday Flashback: My Grandparents' Piano

This photo was taken at Mom's birthplace, the Wolf Creek Inn in southern Oregon.  The page resting on the piano says:

This piano belonged to John and "Dinky" Dougall who owned the Wolf Creek Inn from 1922 to 1934.  The piano, built in 1887 (the year the Wolf Creek Inn was built), was originally designed as a player piano and was purchased by the Dougalls in 1923...

When the Dougalls sold the Inn in 1934, the piano was shipped to Mr. Dougall's sister in Astoria, Oregon, where it was used for piano lessons.  The Dougalls' daughter Jane acquired the piano in the 1950's and had it shipped to Corvallis, Oregon, where it was used to instruct her children.

In 1999, the piano was offered to the Wolf Creek Inn.  It has now come home after these many years to once again delight a new generation.

I remember one of the first things I learned on this piano was how to find "middle C."  It's too bad the cover is pulled over the keyboard in this photo.  The ivory keys, chipped here and there, would bring back even more memories of piano lessons, piano practice, sheet music, and recitals.

It was great fun having a piano in our home in Corvallis, especially at holiday time.  Now it sits at the Wolf Creek Inn like it never left.

Autumn Equinox

If I could create another holiday on the calendar, I probably would pick the Autumn Equinox.  Not being absolutely sure what the word "equinox" means, I looked it up.  The approximate scientific explanation is that it is a point at which the sun shines most directly over the equator, making night and day almost equal in length.

A simpler way for me to say it is "the first day of autumn."  It's the official beginning of the season when the days become shorter than the nights, and the weather becomes a little cooler (in the northern hemisphere anyway).  It is the best time of the year as far as I'm concerned. 

Here's what I wrote in this blog on October 21, 2010:

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."  (George Eliot)

Autumn is my favorite season, and October is my favorite month.  Not just because it's my birthday month, but because the air is cooler and crisper, and the colorful leaves seem to demand my attention.  I don't know if it's the football season or upcoming holiday festivities, but there is a sense of anticipation unlike any other time of year.

While growing up, Autumn always meant the beginning of a new school year, with new classes and new clothes and months of possibility stretching ahead of me.  As an adult, Autumn still feels like a beginning to me, with my October 8 birthday marking the start of another year on this planet, another chance in this life to see what I can make of it.

This year, the Washington Post says, "the autumnal equinox occurs Friday at 5:04 a.m. (EDT), signaling the official start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere."  I believe that is 2:04 a.m. (PDT) - only minutes away.

Ah, the anticipation of delicious autumn!

This Change Is Good

Hot weather is something I tend to endure rather than enjoy.

Just last week, I felt I was doing everything in slow motion.  Even my thinking processes seemed sluggish in the 90+ degree temperatures.  Each night, I aired out my apartment, praying for cool breezes. 

As I write this evening, it is 57.5 degrees.  The pavement is wet from today's rain.  The air smells fresh.  I used my oven tonight without fearing my apartment would grow too warm. 

This change is good.

Ten Years Ago

"Grief is the most patient and persistent of all of life’s companions.  It is an ancient, universal power that links all human beings together."  (Molly Fumia)

Today, the tragic events of September 11, 2001 - in New York, in Arlington, in Pennsylvania - are being recalled, stirring up thoughts and feelings about our nation’s loss.  While it was a loss for all Americans, it was also a very personal loss for many whose loved ones perished that day.   For me, as speeches and events focus on 9/11, I remember two other days that same week:

September 9, 2001.  It was a Sunday, and it was Grandparents’ Day, and it was my niece Natalie’s 24^th birthday.  Lifelong challenges with deafness, epilepsy, and developmental disabilities led to my niece living in a group home.  Mom and I visited her that Sunday.  We went to church, where the entire congregation sang “Happy Birthday.”  Natalie could not hear, but she knew exactly what was going on and smiled delightedly at the attention.  After church, we went to have her lunch favorite – tacos.  Natalie and I gave Mom her Grandparents’ Day card and a jar of honey, too.  When we took Natalie back to her group home, I remember signing “I love you” as I said good-bye.

September 13, 2001.  It was a Thursday, and it was the Unity World Day of Prayer.  I returned home after an early-morning prayer service and received a phone call.  Natalie's mother, my sister Peggy, said she had been called to the group home, but they wouldn't say why.  Mom and I arranged to meet her there.  When we arrived, we learned that Natalie had died in the night.  The remainder of the week was spent in making final arrangements for this beloved family member whose unexpected passing magnified our heartache following 9/11.

With all her challenges, Natalie lived a life of unconditional love and acceptance.  Everyone was her friend.  She is missed every day and lives in our hearts always.

"The presence of that absence is everywhere."  (Edna St. Vincent Millay)

One More Month

I started this blog to keep some kind of record of my 60th year on this planet.  When I started, I had no idea how my year would unfold or exactly what I would write about.  Twelve months stretched in front of me with a wealth of minutes, hours, and days leading toward my 60th birthday.

Today I have exactly one month left.  It's almost as though I can feel a clock ticking, counting the remaining time until October 8.  It feels a little scary and a little disappointing to know I have not done everything I wanted to do in the past 11 months.  When I read my Twelve Month Plan, though, I can see a record of what has been accomplished in whole or in part.  That feels a little comforting and a little exciting at the same time.  And, I still have 30 more days!

One of the most remarkable things for me is that I actually created a blog and followed through by writing in it several times a month (89 posts to date).  I also discovered there are lots of people blogging, more than I ever imagined, and that they are using their blogs in  many different ways.  This in turn has prompted me to do some reading in other people's blogs, and I have learned things I probably would not have discovered otherwise.

Now, I am starting to think about my blogging future.  Stay tuned.

When Things Go Wrong . . .

I am enjoying the classes at http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ this year.  The September handout for the One Little Word class contains this thought-provoking passage credited to Anne Lamott:

“Carolyn Myss, the medical intuitive who writes and lectures about why people don’t heal, flew to Russia a few years ago to give some lectures. Everything that could go wrong did -- flights were cancelled or overbooked, connections missed, her reserved room at the hotel given to someone else. She kept trying to be a good sport, but finally, two mornings later, on the train to her conference on healing, she began to whine at the man sitting beside her about how infuriating her journey had been thus far.  It turned out that this man worked for the Dalai Lama. And he said, gently, that they believe when a lot of things are going wrong all at once, it is to protect something big and lovely that is trying to get itself born-and that this something needs for you to be distracted so that it can be born as perfectly as possible."

(I also found this story in Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott at http://www.salon.com/life/lamo/1997/12/18lamo.html)