WAWDWOL

What Are We Doing With Our Lives?

What are we doing with our lives?

You’re not the only one asking.  Almost every day, we come across an article, a poem, a quote; or read about a book or a movie; or have a conversation with friends, or overhear a conversation between others, that has, at its core, the subject of wawdwol. 

Sometimes the topic is approached seriously, sometimes with humor, sometimes it’s just subtext within some other story.

When we find something we like, we often email it to a circle of wawdwolers.  Now, we’re going to share it here.  (We don’t have a “comments” functionality working yet, but feel free to email comments by clicking on “Contact us” at the bottom.)

April 8, 2009

Spring Thoughts

Here in Nice, wisteria is in full bloom everywhere: cascading over fences, climbing up walls, surprising your breath with a cloud of perfume as you turn a corner.  Trees with purple blossoms, trees with brilliant white blossoms, and low shrubs covered with hundreds of daffodil-yellow flowers make light brushstrokes of color on the hillsides.  The world is moving forward, and poet Stuart Kestenbaum captures it perfectly.

April Prayer

Just before the green begins there is the hint of green

a blush of color, and the red buds thicken

the ends of the maple's branches and everything

is poised before the start of a new world,

which is really the same world

just moving forward from bud

to flower to blossom to fruit

to harvest to sweet sleep, and the roots

await the next signal, every signal

every call a miracle and the switchboard

is lighting up and the operators are

standing by in the pledge drive we've

all been listening to: Go make the call.

"April Prayer" by Stuart Kestenbaum, from Prayers & Run-on Sentences. © Deerbrook Editions, 2007. (buy at Amazon | buy at SPDbooks) http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2009/04/05

Go to the library.  Take out a book of poetry.  Go lie on the grass under a flowering tree and read poems – to yourself, your lover, your kids.

April 7, 2009

Awesome!

Here are some wawds of wisdom from our good friend from California, John.  (John’s wife Bev provided the piece on “Underachieving” a little while back.)

“The economy sucks, so free sun is awesome. The economy sucks, so free air is awesome. The economy sucks, so free love from the kitties is awesome. The economy sucks, so Craig's List free listings are awesome. The economy sucks, so free thought is awesome. The economy sucks, so stop thinking about the economy and start thinking about all the awesome.”

Thanks for the posting, John.  And let us just say, phooning with a found Frisbee on a Santa Cruz beach is awesome!

March 24, 2009.

Spring and Poetry

We’ve neglected WAWDWOL, but we’re circling back to it.  The winter appears to finally be receding.  Days are longer, fragrant white flowers have bloomed on the bushes outside our door.  I find myself stopped again and again by poetry – and found a poetry project you can view, be inspired by, and contribute to (maybe even win a prize!).

It’s sponsored by the Academy of American Poets and its called Free Verse: Poetry in the Wild.  Here’s how it works (from the poets.org website):

Write lines on a sandy beach, assemble twigs on a hillside, or chalk the sidewalk. Take a photo before it disappears and post it in the Free Verse group page on Flickr, on the Academy's Page on Facebook, or email your photo to freeverse@poets.org. Include the source of your lines in the photo caption (please do not send your own poetry). The most imaginative photos will be featured on Poets.org. All photos submitted by April 15 will be eligible to win a copy of the new Poem in Your Pocket anthology and a commemorative piece of jewelry by designer Jeanine Payer.

You can find more info on the freeverse project here.  Just browsing the flickr page gets your creativity flowing.  Please let us know if you send something in.

I also found a poem by Barbara Crooker about spring, life, and what we’re doing with both.

 . . . I think
I've driven into spring, as the woods revive
with a loud shout, redbud trees, their gaudy
scarves flung over bark's bare limbs. Barely doing
sixty, I pass a tractor trailer called Glory Bound,
and aren't we just? Just yesterday,
I read Li Po: "There is no end of things
in the heart," but it seems like things
are always ending—vacation or childhood,
relationships, stores going out of business,
like the one that sold jeans that really fit—
And where do we fit in? How can we get up
in the morning, knowing what we do? But we do,
put one foot after the other, open the window,
make coffee, watch the steam curl up
and disappear.

Read the whole poem here.

Meanwhile, here is some inspirational poetry we found in Istanbul.

February 13, 2009.

Only Connect

It's easy to be scared right now.  Friends are losing jobs, the economic outlook is tenuous, and reading the news doesn't offer much in the way of hope.  How to feel better, how to do something, anything, that makes you feel as if you're moving forward?  Baby steps may be the best we can expect right now.  Here are some from Kimberly Palmer's US News and World Report article, 5 Ways To Be Happy in a Recession:

- Take care of yourself

- Become more charitable

- Spend more time and money on enjoyable activities

- Invest in relationships

- Focus on what you're grateful for

Read the article to understand where she's coming from.  "Spending more time and money on enjoyable activities" sounds impossible when you're worried about keeping your job, or, if you've lost your job, keeping your home.  But focus on the things you enjoy that don't cost money -- taking your dog for a walk, perhaps, or playing with your kids.  Finding free or low-cost classes, perhaps, at your local library or community center. Getting together with friends.  Just don't hole up alone -- reach out and talk to other people.  You feel better when you connect.

February 5, 2009.

Doing your part by “underachieving.”

Below is an excerpt from an email we received from a good friend of ours, expressing some of her personal answers to wawdwol.  Wawdwol answers can only come by taking action.  And they don’t have to be big to be important.  What we love about Bev is her unique, positive twist on the critical term “underachieving.”

When I first heard wawdwol, I thought it was all about what am I doing to help the earth, mankind, blah de blah. So, I sat down and thought for about 30 seconds, which for those of you who know me, is a long time.

What do I do with my life?  I go to estate sales all year long and I collect Christmas stuff, towels and blankets, pet items, and teddy bears.  I store the bears and Christmas stuff until December. Bears go to toys drives for children who don’t get presents. The Christmas ornaments, gift-wrap, etc. goes to “Pick of the Litter,” the local used store where all the proceeds go to the SPCA.  Christmas is a huge draw and they always need more new or nearly-new items (a term I love).  The towels and blankets go to various animal rescue groups all year long.  I also collect cat items, things like decks of cards with cats on them, water bowls, cat toys, bedding, figures, you name it I have found it with a cat on it.  All of that goes to a fundraiser for a group of people that rescue cats from the streets and from shelters that kill.

I also donate blood every 8 weeks; I am O positive which means I’m so common that they can always use my blood. Of course O negative is the universal donor and can be used by anyone; still, I get phone calls, e-mails, and snail mail from the blood banks asking me to come on down.

My donation of time, money and bodily fluids… is the ultimate recycling.  I take what you don’t want or need and get it in the hands of someone that does want or need it.  I get to meet a lot of great people.  For me it has always been about people. I have to give credit to all my elementary school teachers that named me “underachiever.”  A term I hate but can’t argue.  I think small.

What am I doing with my life: I try to leave a smile on the face of everyone I meet.  One day at the mall I saw a woman that was dressed head to toe in red. She was coming down the escalator.  It was clear that she had spent a lot of time getting ready for this outing.  She was an older woman, not someone that would get the attention of the average passerby.  I slowed down so that we meet and I said, “WOW! You look fantastic.”  She blushed and thanked me.  Then she strutted down the mall.  Made my day.

I look for the little things.  Another escalator story -- I saw an elderly woman hesitating at the top, so I went over and found out her eyesight wasn’t good and she was afraid she would miss-step and fall.  I took her hand and told her when to step forward.  When we got to the bottom I did the same to help her get off safely.  Her eyes were beaming and she said, “That was fun!”  I asked her if she’d like to do it again and she said, “You know, I would!”  So we went up and down again and I loved it!

Thanks Bev!  Have a good wawdwol story you’d like to share?  Tell us!

January 28, 2009.

“It's hard for me to imagine coming to an understanding of spirituality in a single moment.  . . . Perhaps the greatest problem with this word is the line it seems to imply between spirit and flesh, between some exalted, superior state and the experience of everyday life, when in fact they are all mixed up together. We define ourselves and our deepest values by the choices we make, day by day, hour by hour, over a lifetime.” -- Tobias Wolff, author, This Boys Life

Call Me Trim Tab

I think we’re often looking for those big moments in our lives – the big “Ahas!”  We want to be hit over the head with the answer, with enlightenment, with a giant flashing arrow that says: “Go this way!” 

But lately, I find myself particularly attracted to suggestions that small changes can have large effects;  that small steps are the way to get you where you want to go – and a way to enjoy, and recognize, the process as you go along.

An article I found on Oprah’s website (linked to by way of CNN’s website) talks about this approach, and also led me to learning more about Buckminster Fuller, and has inspired me to think about the value of aspiring to be a trim tab.

The writer, Martha Beck, points out that it’s pretty difficult to “find the right life” – you have to create it instead, step by step:

“It amazes me how often people use that phrase: "Find the right life." Would you walk into your kitchen hoping to find the right fried egg, the right cup of coffee, the right toast? Such things don't simply appear before you; they arrive because you rummage around, figure out what's available, and make what you want.”

But how do you begin?  The path of least resistance:

“Begin making choices based on what makes you feel freer and happier, rather than how you think an ideal life should look. It's the process of feeling our way toward happiness, not the realization of some Platonic ideal, that creates our best lives.”

And this is where the concept of trim tabs entered my world, thanks to this writer. You don’t have to make big changes to get you where you want to go.  I’m sure you’ve read lots of articles about New Year’s resolutions, and the fact that small changes, repeated regularly, work more often than big I’m-changing-everything-in my-life-right-now  approaches, which tend to flame out in a few weeks.

And those little changes, those little choices that you make each day, can affect not only your life, but the lives of those around you, and, by a ripple effect, the world itself.

Well, it seems that Buckminster Fuller had this same idea, and a perfect way to visualize it:

"Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary: the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.

It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.

So I said, call me Trim Tab."
     —R. Buckminster Fuller, Barry Farrell (Playboy Interview, Feb 1972)

(The Buckminster Fuller Institute)

Ms. Beck puts the notion of trim tabs in very concrete terms:

“Every life is a series of trim-tab decisions. Should you read tonight or watch TV? Choose what feels warmer. Self-help or thriller? Choose what feels warmer . . . Making consistent trim-tab choices toward happiness is what steers the mighty ship of your life.”

My trim tab decisions: surf the internet, or write? Sleep in or get up early to exercise?  Read the New York Times or study French pronouns? Trim tab decisions, every one. And that’s just one category, a self-focused one.  I could also make different “outward-facing” choices – to choose listening over speaking, patience over hurry, a calm response over anger or irritation.  If you think about making those types of trim tab decisions, daily, in your own life, and of other people making them in theirs, you can see how they might accumulate, over time, with enough power to turn our lives, our world, toward peace.

To reiterate Tobias Wolff: “We define ourselves and our deepest values by the choices we make, day by day, hour by hour, over a lifetime.”

January 24, 2009.

Wawdwol-ing by its own definition carries with it a feeling of responsibility.  There is the feeling that whatever you have chosen to “do” with your life, it should somehow serve the greater good; and that unless it does, perhaps you are being too selfish.  But here’s the thing: The other side of wawdwol-ing is figuring out what is right for you, what is it that you truly love to do.  And unless you are at peace with yourself, your real effectiveness in helping others is greatly diminished.  The idea is that if you are truly connected to your Self, you become more awake, more aware, and have a better chance of finding out what it is you really want to and love to “do.”  And then once you are there, once your heart is truly in your work, your own excitement and energy in action can inspire and energize others as well.

I came across an interesting article on The Huffington Post which more accurately describes this inward, Self-centered approach, and offers some answers to wawdwol, or at least offers a possible way to find an answer for wawdwolers.  It points to searching within oneself as a key component for finding that answer.  And not just asking the question of your Self, but then expecting an answer is also important, as is mentioned by one of the people commenting on the article.

Here’s another interesting way to look at it, offered by Margaret Young, a popular jazz singer and comedienne from the 1920’s:

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier.  The way it actually works is the reverse.  You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.”

January 20, 2009.

Today’s headlines from the local paper, The Nice Matin.

L’Amérique est de retour  (America is back)

Premier jour de l’ère Obama (First day of the Obama era)

Barack Obama est devenu, hier, le premier president noir des États-Unis après avoir prêté serment devant une immense foule enthousiaste à Washington

(Barack Obama became, yesterday, the first black president of the United States, after being sworn in before a huge enthusiastic crowd in Washington)

Warning: the viewpoints expressed in the following paragraphs might not reflect your own.  That’s okay.  Breathe.  Politics can be bad for your blood pressure. If you start to hyperventilate, switch over to Fox News to calm yourself down. But come back – we’re not doing politics here every day!

I sat down to watch the inauguration yesterday, expecting that I would start to get choked up when Obama took the oath of office.  Instead, I started crying as soon as I turned CNN on – just watching people coming onto the platform – and continued to cry pretty much non-stop until the parade. (Making me very glad we’d decided to watch it all at home, rather than at the Nice “tex-mex”restaurant with others from my French class.)

Okay, I cry fairly easily.  But I was surprised at what I felt emptying out of me.  As I watched, I was crying with relief: relief that this was actually happening (it seems like years since election night).  Relief that people who disappointed or enraged me on pretty much a daily basis, were leaving.  Relief at seeing what seemed to be my generation (or younger) reflected in a lot of faces.  Hope and awe in seeing the mix of ages, genders, and races that seems closer to reflecting what the United States looks like today.

It was akin to the feeling I had election night, when my tightly guarded kernel of hope broke into disbelief and then real joy. 

I wish Obama weren’t inheriting such a raft of troubles (the French phrase is: “Il a du pain sur la planche.” Literally, “he’s got some bread on his plate,” but akin to our “he’s got a full plate” of work to do).  I wish the world wasn’t in the state it’s in.  (I wish my IRA wasn’t in the shape it’s in.) But I have hope, for the first time in eight years, that decisions will be made in a thoughtful, intelligent way – and more in line with my values, my philosophy.  I have hope that progress will be made on the environment, on straightening out healthcare so everyone gets covered, on making alternative energy mainstream energy, on equal rights, on choice.  I have hope that facts, science, rationality, and merit will trump ideology – for the benefit of us all.  And that makes me very happy.

I don’t expect miracles, but I do think steps will be made in the right direction, and I am grateful, relieved, and hopeful.

I also tore off the last page of my calendar of Bush gaffes.  And as someone who really cares about the English language, that made me very, very happy.

What else makes me happy? The fact that Obama is asking people to pitch in, to volunteer, to work together.  It may not be new (remember Bush I’s “Thousand points of light”?), but he showed throughout his campaign that he knows how to inspire and motivate people on the grassroots level, bringing younger people into the mix, using the power of technology to connect us.  There’s lots of great information on the White House website, including full statements on Obama’s agenda, a listing of his appointments/nominations, and a place where you can send messages to the administration.  There’s also going to be a blog, and a weekly video address (scheduled for Saturdays).  Check it out.

(I just hope that when the First Dog finally arrives, he gets to make his own Christmas videos for the website, just as Barney did…)

January 11, 2009.

“Fully inhabiting the moment during that tiny dot of time after you’ve pressed ‘record’ is what makes it eternal. If, like Frank, you sing it like you’ll never sing it again. If, like Frank, you sing it like you never have before. “ -- Bono

This is an excerpt from a New York Times op-ed by Bono about Frank Sinatra, and in particular about Frank’s views on jazz and his various renditions of the song “My Way.” In this new year, it may be helpful to think of each day as a fresh chance to press the “record” button, and truly sing, truly live in the moment, “like you never have before.”

(Note from Jen: I am seizing this new day as a fresh chance to extract "as" from the bellies of the vox populi monster that is always trying to chew up the grammatically correct and spit out the incorrect and say that it’s okay because it's "my way." I say, in the new year, make an attempt to live as you perhaps never have before: press "record," speak distinctly and grammatically, and fully inhabit this tiny dot of time you've been given.

Or, as Frank sang: "To say the words...he truly feels, ...and not the words...of one who mangles the English language." Something like that, anyway.)

January 10, 2009.

“You are one big, freaking, smiling organism.”   -- Puppetji

Here’s an interesting take on World Peace from a friend we discovered through YouTube.   Click on the image, relax...enjoy...and smile!

January 4, 2009.

Below is a poetic "musing" by a good friend of ours.  Her thoughts and hopes for the new year express a zest for life that we find inspiring.  (This is from her newsletter, which you can sign up for on the website for her wonderful vintage clothing business.)

Regarding the New Year

My belly is full and warm.  I made a vegetable soup.
My kitten Bug is making little noises at my feet.
He wants cuddles.
JD is in the other room reading his book.
Love hangs quietly in the air between us.
The year begins.
It is not glamorous, nor extraordinary.  It is
just life today.  I treasure the simplicity and the
beauty of these moments.

We went on a hike and spoke of change.
We have dreams of change.  We want growth and
yet, we fear it.
It is normal to fear change.  What we know is a
safe zone, even if we have outgrown it.

And so, we stated that what we want for the
New Year is willingness.  We made a resolution
only to be willing.  I am willing to change.  I am
willing to grow.  I am willing to admit that I don't know
how.  I am willing to ask for help and direction.
I am willing to listen.
I am willing to be afraid.  I am willing to be uncomfortable.
I am willing to be innocent.  I am willing to be still. I
am willing to really see. I am willing to say yes.
I am willing to embrace more and more and
more...... love.  Slowly....  Slowly.
I am willing.
I am willing.
Whatever it is you want, whatever it is you feel you need.
Be willing.  Start with that and begin.

January 1, 2009.

...and birds singing...

I recently recalled an interesting book I read some time ago called The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff.  Here’s a section I thought might be good to share as we start the new year.

Christopher Robin has just asked Pooh a question:

“What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh?”

“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best---- and then he had to stop and think.  Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.

Hoff goes on to say:  The honey doesn’t taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn’t mean so much once it is reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given.  If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won’t have very much.  But if we add up the spaces between the rewards, we’ll come up with quite a bit.  And if we add up the rewards and the spaces, then we’ll have everything – every minute of the time that we spent.  What if we could enjoy it?

The Christmas presents once opened are Not So Much Fun as they were while we were in the process of examining, lifting, shaking, thinking about, and opening them.  Three hundred sixty-five days later, we try again and find that the same thing has happened.  Each time the goal is reached, it becomes Not So Much Fun, and we’re off to reach the next one, then the next.

That doesn’t mean that the goals we have don’t count.  They do, mostly because they cause us to go through the process, and it’s the process that makes us wise, happy, or whatever.  If we do things in the wrong sort of way, it makes us miserable, angry, confused, and things like that.  The goal has to be right for us, and it has to be beneficial, in order to ensure a beneficial process.  But aside from that, it’s really the process that’s important.  Enjoyment of the process is the secret…

What could we call that moment before we begin to eat the honey?  Some would call it anticipation, but we think it’s more than that.  We would call it awareness.  It’s when we become happy and realize it, if only for an instant.  By Enjoying the Process, we can stretch that awareness out so that it’s no longer only a moment, but covers the whole thing.  Then we can have a lot of fun.  Just like Pooh.

And then he thought that being with Christopher Robin was a very good thing to do, and having Piglet near was a very good thing to have; and so, when he had thought it all out he said, “What I like best in the whole world is Me and Piglet going to see You, and You saying ‘What about a little something?’ and Me saying, ‘Well, I shouldn’t mind a little something, should you Piglet,’ and it being a hummy sort of day outside, and birds singing.”

May you hear the birds singing, and enjoy a Happy “hummy” New Year.

December 31, 2008.

Goodbye 2008...

December 25, 2008.

Grinchy Greed vs. The Givers:  No Contest

Greed has been in the headlines now for months – Wall Street CEOs with exorbitant bonuses, billions of taxpayer dollars that seem to be going to people who already have too much, and now Mr. Madoff and his own ponzi-scheme delivering financial ruin right before the holidays.

I read the stories, all of them – and they sure didn’t put me in a holiday mood, or make me feel good about the human race.  But then, last night, I caught the tail-end of CNN Heroes: All-Star Tribute on television.  I only heard two out of the ten stories – the segment about  David Puckett, who has a prosthesis-making business in the U.S., and travels to Mexico to deliver and fit prostheses, for free, to poor Mexicans;  and the story of Anne Mahlum in Philadelphia who, on a whim, walked into a homeless shelter and asked people to go running with her – and now has an organization that provides running shoes and clothing, and running partners, to the homeless, helping them achieve goals that bring them closer to changing their lives.  You cannot watch these stories without being moved, without being inspired, without taking a hard look at your own life and wondering what you are doing with it.

I started making a mental list of the people I know who give – not just money, but time, effort, inspiration.  They’re not making headlines, but they are out there doing good work, giving instead of taking.  I bet you could put together your own list.  And I bet all of our lists together would dwarf the parade of the greedy that’s been sucking up all the headline space.

Here’s my initial list.

• Carrie, a friend who has been volunteering and giving since before I met her in college. She now has three grown kids, and her family has made what I think of as their own mini-UNICEF.  Hilary started an orphanage in Uganda (info here: http://hilarystrasburger.blogspot.com/  ). Justin works with at-risk teenagers in Harlem, and Taylor, the youngest, is studying education and working at an Early Childhood Center. Carrie herself has created a math curriculum for kids with learning disabilities, raises money for the library, tutors, and sings in the church choir. Oh, and her husband has a long-term involvement with Princeton in Africa, a program for Princeton students that “develops young leaders committed to Africa’s advancement by offering yearlong fellowship opportunities with a variety of organizations that work across the African continent.”
• Our next door neighbor in New York took a vacation to climb in Africa, and when he came back he started a not-for-profit organization with a mission focused on transforming communities suffering from inhumane poverty into places of opportunity and hope.  Kageno builds community centers that provide access to clean water, food, sanitation, health care, education, and income generation in Rwanda and Kenya.
• Bob is President of the Board of the Ellington Fund of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts (think Fame) in DC.  It is a wonderful public school which is one of the only success stories in the DC school system.  He also serves on the Board of the Mautner Project, the National Lesbian Health Organization.
• Jeff, another friend, helped found a charter school for underprivileged children in Hartford.
• Regina, a neighbor, is a dedicated book-drive coordinator for the local public library.
• Dan, another neighbor, helps run an after-school tutoring program in New York.
• Dale has worked tirelessly for decades as a caregiver and to help provide care and resources for other caregivers.
• Practically all of our already stretched-thin and overtaxed friends who are parents volunteer by coaching sports, running Boy, Cub, or Girl Scout troops, fundraising for their schools, sewing costumes for school plays, and other time-intensive activities that they might see as just part of the job of parenting, but deserve recognition.

And this list is really just off the top of my head (with a little internet research to give you the links when I could find them).

So make a list of the people you know who are making a difference in the world – your own list of the truly nice.  Then drop them a note of support.  Or send some money.  Or spread the word about their organizations so other people know about them and will send them money. 

We can all be doing more to help each other out, and in this time when we’re all feeling a bit scared, maybe powerless, it’s steps like these that show us that we have what it takes, right inside us.  We just have to take action. 

This musing is dedicated to the memory of one of the original non-profit founders, Clara Barton, who was born on December 25^th (brought to my attention by The Writer’s Almanac).

It's the birthday of Clara Barton, born in Oxford, Massachusetts, in 1821. She was working in Washington, D.C., when the Civil War broke out, and she began tending to wounded soldiers. She was afraid that soldiers would lose too much blood if they were brought to a hospital, so she started the practice of treating the wounded at the battlefield. Eventually, she went on to found the American Red Cross.

December 19, 2008.

A recent long-term study conducted in Scandinavia sought to discover which activities related to a healthy and happy later life. Three stood out: camping, dancing and singing. – Brian Eno

I came across this very short article by the well-known composer and musician Brian Eno.  It’s called Singing: The Key to a Long Life. I usually can’t pass up any article that claims to hold the key to a long life – because we’re all pretty fond of living, aren’t we?  Eno talks about the weekly singing group he started, and the benefits of singing – and it made me realize how little singing I do in my life now, how much a part of my life it once was, and how much I miss it. (more...)

December 17, 2008.

Today, we want to share with you some winter well-being tips we received from a Chinese Medicine practitioner we know and respect, Nan Lu of the Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation.  We especially like his thoughts on fear and change – a different perspective on approaching “the crisis” (here in France it is referred to, always, as la crise).

• According to the Chinese calendar, winter officially began on November 7^th, and so, the essence of kidney season is upon us.  I would like to share some thoughts with you that I hope will help you tap into this winter energy.
• Eat foods that sustain your kidney energy.  Some suggestions are:  goji berries, cinnamon, seafood, beans, walnuts, pine nuts, black sesame seeds, bone soup.  Black is the color associated with kidney energy:  be mindful that as you wear this color, you are supporting your kidney function.  [Ed. Note: New Yorkers must have very strong kidneys!]
• As you go through your daily life this season, take time to look at the trees.  Notice that the branches that once were full and green are now bare and black.  Remember what has happened here; the tree has let go of its outer, visible form.  Its life force has traveled deep down into its roots and will remain there, sustaining, nurturing and supporting its core essence all winter long.  The fruit of this abiding, contemplative work will manifest in the springtime with a lush, vibrant explosion of growth and color.  And so, remember that you also are like the tall oak.   Nature provides us with the winter season so that we can take the time to go within, to go deep down into our roots, and be mindful of the life within.
• Fear is kidney’s emotion, so this is a good time to take a look at your fears.  With the recent upheaval in the financial market, I see that many of my patients are consumed with fear; fear of the future, fear of not having enough, fear of not being enough.  The ancient Chinese believed that times of crisis are also times of opportunity; the more that is at stake, the greater the potential for amazing change.  Life is calling us to look at what really matters, to face our fears and make the necessary changes in our lifestyle, but most of all in our belief system, in our perspective, in our mindset.  Lasting change only comes from how we choose to see our life, one another and our world. 
• I hope that these suggestions will help you have a peaceful winter so that you emerge in the spring as a renewed person.  Remember that Nature is always supporting you —you have only to be open to receive. 

With my best wishes,

Nan Lu, OMD

December 12, 2008. 

Well Being.

Mental.  Physical.  Spiritual.

If we don’t have it, we’re looking for it. And the search for it is a primary activity of wawdwolers.

Today we found a short article describing 10 strategies that science has shown will make you happy.  And they don’t require money, so even in this economy,  we can each put them into practice.  Unfortunately, they don’t require chocolate either, but we think it’s an option.

Here’s the list:

1. Savor Everyday Moments

2. Avoid Comparisons

3. Put Money Low on the List

4. Have Meaningful Goals

5. Take Initiative at Work

6. Make Friends, Treasure Family

7. Smile Even When You Don’t Feel Like It

8. Say Thank You Like You Mean It

9. Get Out and Exercise

10. Give It Away, Give It Away Now!

The full article explains more about each point, and we found it at alternet.org, one of our favorite websites.

December 11, 2008.

R. Crumb’s Flesh and Blood Comics.

A friend handed us this eight-page, newspaper-sized comic by the well-known artist R. Crumb.  After some research, we found that it has been produced as part of the “point d’ironie” project by the founder of the clothing store agnés b., and was printed in October of 2008.  The printed work is supposedly available at agnés b. stores, but we don’t know if it’s still available. You’ll see by the excerpted drawing here that it is wawdwol to the core.  It is also, like all R. Crumb’s work, brilliant, disturbing, funny, satiric, despairing, weirdly uplifting and deeply human, all at the same time.  Click on the image to go to the website and view the entire comic (page-advance buttons are at the bottom right of the comic).

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