Creation

Spontaneous creation comes from our deepest being and is immaculately and originally ourselves. What we have to express is already with us, is us, so the work of creativity is not a matter of making the material come, but of unblocking the obstacles to its natural flow.  ~Stephen Nachmanovitch, from Free Play: The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts

I adore this book, maybe because I need it so much. If you are fascinated by the creative process, as I am, don’t miss the elegant prose of Nachmanovitch. Unblocking the obstacles to natural flow has certainly been the work of my life so far, and I don’t feel as though I’ve made much progress. The moments when I do feel the flow are the moments I am truly alive. And those moments sometimes appear in the unlikeliest times and places. How do you play? How do you unblock the obstacles to your creativity?

Libraries and Social Equity

…public libraries actually distribute income from the poorest to the more affluent strata of the community.  ~Frederick and Serena Weaver (from an article in Library Journal, 1979)

When I hit this quote in my library marketing textbook, I actually read it the other way around at first!  Apparently, Weaver and Weaver argue that because the poor rarely use the public library and because public libraries are supported from taxes, the working poor are paying for libraries that benefit the nonpoor.  Of course, if our tax system were more progressive, it would be the wealthy who were paying most.  But it does give me pause, since I think of my work with libraries as helping to foster social and economic equality.

The text goes on to suggest that in order to not transfer wealth from the poor to the rich, we might charge users for library service, perhaps charging more for services that upper classes use relatively more often.  Most libraries would be reluctant to do this, I think, because we are so dependent on political support from those upper classes.  Do we prostitute ourselves?

The text is Andreasen and Kotler, Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations, 6th ed., Prentice Hall, 2003.

Practicing Joy

We vow to bring joy to one person in the morning, and to ease the pain of one person in the afternoon. We know that the happiness of others is indeed our own happiness, and we vow to practice joy on the path of service. We know that every word, every look, every smile can bring happiness to another person. We know that if we practice wholeheartedly, then we ourselves may become an inexhaustible source of peace and joy for our clients, our customers, our coworkers, our family, and our friends.  ~Thich Nhat Hanh

How little we know about our effects on others.  No doubt we’ve all had experiences where someone thanked us later for something we didn’t even remember doing or saying. And times when a scowl or smile from another could profoundly affect our moods.

I like this idea of practicing joy on the path of service. Some people do it naturally, or at least it seems effortless. I’m especially thinking of my friend Silvia. And I like the idea that it adds to, rather than depleting, our energy–that “practicing wholeheartedly” keeps us available to others.

Only now am I beginning to understand that life is a series of choices, steps in a particular direction, and that every step (and every smile) matters.

Attention

Life is denied by the lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece.  ~Nadia Boulanger

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.  ~John Lennon

How many ways are there to talk about mindfulness? “Pay attention!” wrote Sophia, and I try. And then I don’t, and then I try again. And then I don’t.  First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is (Donovan).

Boulanger does not write that life is ignored by lack of attention, but denied. Big difference. And the opposite is? Embracing, perhaps. And all there is is this moment, now. I embrace this moment in which I write this post, my bare feet pleasantly cool, the smell of dinner wafting from the kitchen, my body loose from yoga.

Depression

Be melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself. ~Jalal Al-Din Rumi

There is no better advice for me today. I am bent on being dissatisfied, feeling sorry for myself, dwelling on what isn’t working. It’s time for yoga and meditation. For looking outside my own head. For dissolving, like melting snow.

Depression is so tempting! Familiar, safe, responsibility-free. Furthermore, it’s all about me! And yet a subtle shift in perspective can sometimes have the power to obliterate it. May I find the courage to act.

Beauty

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.  ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I am reading You’ll Be Okay: My Life with Jack Kerouac, by Edie Kerouac-Parker, and Above the River: The Complete Poems of James Wright.  I am also listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on my commute.  I can’t imagine a life without books, a life without poets, a life without magic.  And though sometimes those wordly cares Goethe speaks of do nearly obliterate the sense of the beautiful, I always know deep down which is more important.  What do you do to retain and nourish that sense of the beautiful?

Overlooking Yahoola Valley

i wake to a perfect patience of mountains.  ~e. e. cummings

Sound travels up, my husband says.
I hear the whinny of a horse I cannot see.
A wisp of fog lingers behind Chestnut Knob,
and the aluminum chair warms
to the underside of my arm.

They’ve taken a calf away.
The mother mourns,
as turkey vultures, leaving their roost,
begin slow circles, their shadows
kaleidoscoping all around me.

What is morning but another chance
to listen for echoes, to note
what keeps coming back to me:
that deep loss, that fear of letting go,
of letting this moment be
the simple thing it is?

Exploring

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~T. S. Eliot

I just love these lines from Eliot’s “Little Gidding” (No. 4 of “Four Quartets”).  They so perfectly express to me the cyclical nature of our understanding (spiraling, really, because we never exactly “arrive where we started”). It is said that you can’t put your toe in the same river twice. I would add that you can’t put the same toe in the river twice!

And what about the urge to explore?  Henry Miller said, “Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery, we shall learn nothing.”  St. Francis reminded us that “Who we are looking for is who is looking.” But perhaps Graham Greene said it best: “When we are not sure, we are alive.” I want to maintain the openness (Miller), the groundedness (St. Francis) and the curiosity (Greene) to keep exploring!

Aging

Give up philosophy because I’m an old man? It’s at the end of a race that you break into a burst of speed.  ~Diogenes

As my joints get creakier, my hair grayer, and my memory less reliable, I am most hopeful (and pretty confident) that Diogenes is right. Barring any serious health conditions, I expect to see more clearly (of course that’s figuratively, not literally!), understand more deeply, and be more centered as the years go on. Because it seems I learn something every day about how to be happier, I also expect to be more at peace as I age, with increasing capacity for gratitude and compassion. So I find myself today looking forward to growing in mind and spirit so that I can bear declining in body.  What’s your hope or fear for your “golden” years?

**Note:  This quote was taken from a new book by James Geary, Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists.  What an interesting character Diogenes must have been!  Geary writes: “Before arriving in Athens, where he eventually took up residence in a tub and lived with a pack of stray dogs, Diogenes was captured at sea and sold into slavery. During the auction at which he was up for sale he is said to have pointed his future owner out in the crowd and instructed his captors, ‘Sell me to that man. He needs a master.’ Diogenes got the buyer he wanted, and he went on to become the bad boy of ancient Greek philosophy.  He famously disdained conventional manners, morality, and metaphysics. The only worthwhile philosophy, he believed, was one that helped people live a good life in the here and now.”

Power

When one does not know how to convince, one oppresses; in all power relations among governors and governed, as ability declines, usurpation increases.  ~Madame de Stael

The question is, on a national/world and on a personal/workplace level: How do we assist those in power in gaining ability–or failing that, how do we make sure that those who gain power are skillful? My observation is that most of the powerful people who lack skill also lack humility, have little self-awareness of the need to develop.

So it seems our most important task must be advancing those who do have ability, somehow renewing the respect for learning and wisdom, supporting those who lead and reach, even if they should fail. We need leaders with vision and courage, not just a will to power. And we need to give them room to be human beings, tolerating the imperfections we all have. Which is worse: Clinton and a little sexual misconduct, or Bush and the slaughtering of thousands of innocents?

Merging

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.  ~Hakuin

Crabbing with My Grandmother (in the marshes of Glynn)

With rattling traps, chicken necks, and string
We descend the ramp to the floating dock
Aground now, on the bank of heavy, black mud.
Scrambling fiddlers brandish white claws.
A crane rises from the bend.
Something splashes at the edge of low tide.

Only the sun can find us,
So my grandmother ties a straw hat
Under her wrinkled chin
And I wear a skimpy bathing suit
And curse the oyster bed
For cutting my feet when I swim.

My grandmother laughs and forgets herself.

Acceptance

There are only two possible responses to every challenge–balanced acceptance or embittered resistance. Acceptance is freedom. Resistance is suffering.  ~Sylvia Boorstein, in Pay Attention, for Goodness’ Sake

I’m not sure I agree with any statement limiting possible responses to two.  However, the point is a good one: We can struggle or we can go with the flow. And in my experience, struggling usually makes things worse. I have wasted a lot of energy resisting. I don’t think this means we can’t work to make the world a better place; I just think that we must wholeheartedly accept what is and start there.

Boorstein’s choice of adjective is interesting–not just (blind) acceptance, but balanced acceptance. Both feet on the ground, a steady equanimity, makes this complete acceptance possible. And vice versa!