My neices and nephews.

There was a ticker-tape parade today in Central Park given by the trees. Or, so it seemed. I had to dance.

Making Peace With Technology

So, I guess I have long been something of a naturalist. I grew up with the mountains, the desert. I have something of an obsession with leaves, especially in the fall. They inspire me, billowing giants of gold shimmying every which way. Some are stars, red stars, or dinosaur feet, brilliant flames, or leathery skin. I love them all. I love the ones that curl like smoke.

So, when computers started to creep more and more into our daily lives and make themselves very important, as a teenager there was something in me that inherently loathed the sense of dependence on a machine. I resisted. But it seems that resistance is futile. I have long since made peace with technology, I recognize the amazing good that it can be used for. In fact, I love it. I especially love the opportunities for creativity and also easier communication with family and loved ones. However realistic the "virtual experience" may be there is no substitute for live and in person. And can you honestly tell me this computer has a soul like the trees? Not a chance.

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Winged Victory of Samothrace

One of my longtime favorites.

Well, this is a milestone. I am starting a blog. I'm going to make my blog my record of what inspires me. Beauty in the simple, wonder in the seemingly commonplace. Our daily lives are laced with usually un-dramatic miracles, whether we recognize them or not. Today I cleaned my kitchen a little for the first time in a very long time. As I was scrubbing some spilled juice of some sort off of the floor of our refrigerator I felt a real sense of satisfaction at seeing the mess disappear. For the last week, everytime I have opened the door to the refrigerator I spent at least a second, and a few precious drops of energy a little bit bothered by the mess and worried about the germs that were probably growing exponentially. But I never wanted to take the time to clean it, knowing that it would be sticky, etc. When I finally did today, it felt so good to make it disappear and as I was scrubbing it occurred to me that a lot of other things in life that we want to change are like that. Somewhere inside we know that we should be better, with regards to some thing we do or another, but because it requires a little extra effort, or because it will be a little messy, we resist the change. But when we actually make the change we feel so much better, made stronger and more confident by the self-mastery we have exercised. Yeah, I know, common sense, nothing we haven't all heard before. But the experience made me believe it just a little bit more.