Gifts, Hopes, and Fine Men

Tonight I am sitting by my new fireplace and taking in the view of Seattle out my living room window. Really, I am thinking to myself? I get to enjoy this every day? How did I get such a gift?

The leaves are falling off the trees, and my winter view of the Space Needle is here. I love my summer view (where the Needle peeks out from behind the foliage), but I think I am going to enjoy the direct gaze for the next several months. I always sensed its presence, but it is good to be face to face with it, too.

Which brings me to the ruminations of my heart tonight….

I have learned this week, that I have an amazing presence of men in my life. They listen to my voice, value my mind and heart, and are curious about the way I see the world. They challenge me, and let me call them out, too. They share their questions and their hopes; they have the character to share their convictions and their wounds. There is a respect and a mutuality in our way of being together that I have come to take for granted.

But, this week, I came face to face with it, once more, which has caused me to pause and consider the richness of their gifts in my life. I sense tears wanting to accompany my words, because something about the grace of each of you touches me at a deep, visceral level. I would not be able to write what I do or hope for what I do without the community of men that surrounds me. For each of you, I am grateful.

Urgent West Wing Party

Sunday night my commune called an urgent meeting. We needed late night Chinese food, Mr. Sketch markers, paper scotch taped to the walls, and flow charts to plan our lives. Apparently, Jeremy says that in West Wing they call such urgent meetings (with boxes of Chow Mein late into the night) where people band together to solve global crisis and change the world.

We were all experiencing- sort of a collective conscious moment- that we needed to talk about our passions and life dreams and our daily steps to take them seriously. The meeting ran 4 hours and it was one of the most efficient meetings I have been at. We all came away with assignments, based on our creative brainstorming with one another. I am currently focusing on:

1. My book project and making it happen.
2. Caring for my body better, which means attending to healthy meals and 7-8 hours of sleep at night.

We broke it down into specific steps. For instance, if I am up past midnight, I have to give account for why. If I have a rush of creative energy at 2 am, I can justify being up late writing. If I am tempted to scrub my toilet at 2 am, then I need to be asleep.

We have a meeting on Sunday to check in with our assignments. I will report back.

P.S Just a quick note on my use of "androgyny" in the last posting. I was using it in the Virginia Woolf sense, not the literal sense. I don't think I look too much like a man. If you want to know more about the Virginia Woolf sense, feel free to ask. It makes a good conversation.

Football and High-Tea

I am feeling very inspired to do things that I love to do. I think you should do the same. What if you put 3 activities on your calendar next week that fit in the "I would love to do but I never do them category?"

To kick things off, I am going to a a high school football game tomorrow night, just for the heck of it. Ben, Cabe, and have decided to support Ballard High, a team picked at random. We all have a great deal of excitement going into this game.

Then, I am going to start planning my princess high-tea party, because I just found a great princess dress at the thrift store down the street. Jane runs the store and she picked out all kinds of lovely items for me. This dress is a green, strapless, Jessica McClintock, and it goes well with my elbow-high, ivory lace gloves that I keep stored in my sock drawer for such a time as this.

Between football and high-tea, I think my activities are quite androgenous.