Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day

Today I'm letting the great man speak for me. He does it so much more eloquently than I can.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where  he stands in times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others."
Martin Luther King Jr-- Strength to Love

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run than walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

"Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."


"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

And lastly one of my favorite quotes. A breathtakingly simple bit of optimism. "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."

Poetry Friday

I found today's poem in one of the oddest places. At my little sister's recommendation I was reading "Kiss Me Like a Stranger", Gene Wilder's autobiography. I loved the book, loved learning about this brilliant writer and actor. And when Wilder meets his current wife he mentions a poem she had tacked up at her home. I instantly loved the poem and had to write it down. I have a copy of this up in my studio. If I was ever looking for an inspiring poem, this is it.

After a While
By Veronica Shoffstall

After a while you learn
The subtle difference between
Holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't always mean security.

And you begin to learn
That kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman
Not the grief of a child

And you learn
To build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is
Too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way
Of falling down in mid flight

After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers

And you learn
That you really can endure
That you are really strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
With every good bye you learn.

Happy Father's Day - Better Late Than Never

This weekend flew by even with an extra day. I took Friday off (my last furlough day, Woohoo!!!) and Jeff and I headed out of town to hang out with some friends and play dodgeball. Every year (here is my write-up from last year) our friends Lon and Lisa host a dodgeball weekend over Father's Day. The boys get together and play while the girls sit around, talk, and laugh at the boys. Then we all eat tons of food and play video games. Yeah so it pretty much rocks!!! Thanks guys! We had a fantastic weekend filled with video games, anime, and friends. We actually stumbled into an anime convention at the hotel we happened to be staying at which just made the weekend that much more awesome. People in costumes everywhere. It made me want to do a convention again. Maybe Dragon Con with my brother and father this year. Hmmm.

I'll talk more about trench (and possibly post incriminating pictures) tomorrow. Today I have to do something overdue. I have to talk about my Dad. One of the hard parts about having this party every year is that I always miss Father's Day since we are out of town. My dad is always really cool about it. We went out to dinner with him last Wednesday but I wanted to do something else to honor him. I am blessed with having two amazing parents (and two great parent-in-laws as well). My parents taught us kids to be honest and hard-working and considerate. Both were the first in their families to go to college, and they passed on the value of education to me. My dad brought himself up from his steel worker roots, to go to college, then medical school. He's worked for the same hospital for the last 30 something years and has never missed a day due to weather. He's worked hard to get where he is, even though I tease him now about his semi-retired schedule.

My father on vacation in Turks and Caicos

But my dad's work ethic isn't my favorite thing about him. When I was growing up my dad was always reading or playing guitar or gardening or fishing.... He has more hobbies than I can count and in many ways I've grown up a lot like him. I owe him my love of learning new things. My mother is the one who instilled reading in me but it was my dad's constant interest in things that pushed me to pick up new hobbies. He and I are very similar in that way. We become fascinated with something, learn as much as we can about it, and then move on to something else.

My father was never shy about asking questions. He can instantly set people at ease with his easy-going nature. He's the kind of person who can talk with anyone and constantly has a joke for every situation (something I wish I'd inherited). I've developed my love of food and trying new foods from him. He's blessed me with a love of the outdoors and science. His fearlessness when trying things is something I'm still trying to learn myself. But I've been blessed with a great role model. Always smiling, always happy, always learning, always interested, his outlook on life is incredibly positive and I'm constantly striving to be more like him. So this is just to say I love you Dad and you inspire me.

My father, my little sister, and I after a wonderful day of scuba diving in Bull Shoals, Arkansas

Poetry Friday and Some Self-Reflection

Did you ever notice how the very thing you need often turns up right when you need it? Okay well that only sometimes works. Normally when I'm not expecting it. I didn't realize that I needed the poem I'm posting today until I read it. I've been reading through Louisa May Alcott's short stories when I'm on my lunch hour. I'm not sure why I chose her stuff but most of the stories have been enjoyable. The one I started yesterday was not. But included in the story was the poem below. And it stopped me in my tracks.

I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, sad heart, courageously,
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A noonday light and truth to thee.

by Ellen Sturgis Hooper

Other than the poor rhyme between Lie and ly, I instantly loved this poem. It is a wonderful reminder that work is its own reward. I often get discouraged with writing. I write a story and the moment I'm finished want to tear it up, claiming that it is no good. I put pressure on myself to write only good publishable stuff and my brain rebels. It shuts down and doesn't write anything. Then I feel bad because I'm not writing.

What gets me is that I used to write constantly. I would spend hours with a pen in my hand. I often wonder what happened. And yesterday I figured it out. What I'd forgotten is it was the simple act of writing that I loved. I've always loved the act of creating, even without the possibility of publishing. I've loved the idea of making up my own stories, of meeting my own characters. So last night I sat down and wrote. A story. And I enjoyed every moment of it. I'll never publish it, heck I'll never show it to anyone. But I wrote and had a good time with it.

Like the quote below from poet Marge Piercy, this poem is one that will sit on my writing desk, reminding me that I can write and create without any reward other than joy.

“The real writer is one who really writes. Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire. Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved.”-- Marge Piercy

Involvement

As you know I normally try to avoid politics on this blog. I'm just not a huge fan of them. I work too close to the capitol for my tastes and I know too much about the ways in which politics operates to enjoy them. So why did I spend a good chunk of my morning watching the inaguration?

Because I'm excited about our new president. I'm excited about his vision for this county and I'm excited that everyone else is excited. There were several million people in DC today, a turnout that is well beyond any presidential inaguration that we have seen. There were people who stood there in the freezing cold waiting to hear our president speak. Waiting to see him sworn in. And they are excited. There are tears and cheers when this president speaks. He has great charisma.

And more than anything, he makes people feel involved. Today we saw a president who said that we need to help him make changes. It was not just about what the high government officials can do but about what the people should be doing. He won the election because he got people involved. Even his "Yes We Can" theme features one very big word "WE". For a long time I have felt like government didn't really involve the people. It was representation without any real representation. But today I feel like I could actually make a difference. I feel like I have some control on what happens. I'm excited and inspired. And that doesn't happen with politics very often.