A Potpourri of a Post
Potpourri=
a mixture or collection of seemingly unrelated items,
an unusual assortment.
Yep.
That pretty much
Speaks to my week.
I’m here.
I’m there.
I’m all
Over
The
Place.
But I was
THERE
When I was
There.
And I was
HERE
When I was
Here.
That’s good news,
Right?
I felt solid in my
There-ness,
In my
Here-ness,
Feeling present
In the wide range,
Of the week’s
Offerings.
Here are a variety of things
I have been pondering,
Considering,
Wondering
About
This
Week.
~~~
That damn moment—
We can’t control the moment.
Have you noticed?
Reality wins.
She is relentless.
But we can partner with it.
We can cooperate with the moment.
We can practice relaxing
Rather than resisting,
Letting it come
Letting it go.
Breathing helps.
Softening helps.
Relaxing into it
Helps,
Like on the yoga mat.
Here is a short mediation/reminder, Right Here, Right Now:
~~~
Shifting gears…
I started playing the guitar when I was eight years old. I wanted to be a cowboy—it seemed to be the answer to all my problems. (I didn’t know the word lesbian. Cowboy seemed like the appropriate doorway.)
My first guitar! I will never forget Mr. Gallucci, my teacher, handing it down to me, arriving over my head and into my arms, sent from Heaven. On its dark, fake-wood body was a stencil of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. I was transfixed, fully hooked. I took lessons every Wednesday afternoon through grade school and high school.
I played quietly, always in my room, door closed, never for another person (never!), hunched over my guitar, both feeling and hearing the music and in my own way, being the music. It got me through so much of the pain of those early years of exclusion.
When I went to college, I left my beautiful Gibson gut string behind me. And that was pretty much that. Throughout my adult life, I would play compulsively for three months, skip the next three years, and continue that obsessive, inconsistent cycle throughout the decades.
But now I have been playing! Consistently and with such pleasure, I’ve been taking wonderful and engaging classical lessons. I adore my teacher, a funny and wise and skillful man, much more talkative than Mr. Galucci.
Which brings me to folk music: as a child of the 60’s I was committed. I believed in its spirit, its counter-culture messages.
Peter, Paul and Mary, oh, Peter, Paul and MARY. The first concert I ever saw in the Catholic Youth Center gym—was it 1965?. From that moment onward I was secretly convinced Mary Travers and I would live happily ever after. She was my first committed and monogamous crush. We were together in this way for many years.
Of course, I loved Simon and Garfunkel, on and on. Judy Collins, who once picked my scarf off the floor at a meeting we were both sharing, and offered it back to me, saying, “This is yours, dear.” How prophetic.
And of course, there was always Joan Baez. She never took Mary’s place in my heart, but oh! Her music.
Confession. I have been listening compulsively to this song throughout the week. Most of my most delicious music listening is in my vehicle. My beloved Subaru. (Did you just think, of course? On the Subaru part?)
It’s slightly embarrassing to publicly disclose again my compulsive nature of music listening. When a song is working, (touching me, stopping me, opening me), it’s all I want to hear. Why listen to anything else? And, I’m an addict. So of course I would want more.
I offer this song to your heart. Listen to it. Listen to her guitar. It is, in my heart, wonderous.
~~~
Dear Friends,
Wishing us
Peace
And
Ease
No matter
The
Externals.
Wishing us
Quiet
And
Comfort
No matter
The chaos.
Wishing us
The willingness
And
The
Strength
To keep
Practicing,
Being
Right
Here
Right now,
No matter
What
Life
Is
Offering,
May we
Be right here
And
Right
Now.
May all beings benefit from our time together.
Stay blessed,
Aruni