Time

I'm settled for a bit. Sitting in a comfy chair at my parents', thinking that finally there is time to sit and be still. And write. I just finished a 5k walk in the rain and feel refreshed from the cool moist air. Everything looks a little extra lush and green against the grey back drop of sky and river. I don't mind, rain and grey holds its own beauty which is just less obvious than other days.

Two weeks into summer. Going so fast. Over the next few days I want to slow down, breathe, explore some yoga and meditation. Bring life back down to zero. I've been reading a book called Freedom by Osho. And it is challenging my thoughts so I want time to absorb the lessons and ideas.

While in San Francisco last week we visited the Museum of Modern Art ~ SFMoMA. Very inspired to have been up close and personal with some of the same art that is a jumping off point for my own classroom art projects. Paul Klee (pronounced Clay) is a favorite of mine and I have to say that viewing some of his original works from only two feet away gave me a connectedness I wasn't expecting. All I could think was these are his strokes. And I was a little blown away.

Another exhibit that really resonated with me was a wall of photos done in a series of vertical groupings of three pictures. Each grouping showed the same trio of women photographed over time ~ young adult, middle age, senor ~ teardrops fell of their own accord and I was at a loss to stop them ~ we are all in time's grip, it waits for no one and forgets no one. Some photos showed lives well lived and others that just managed to get by. It reminded me that this lifetime is very short, a vapor in the cosmic ripple. YET we are all knitted together, PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE. And when my heart experiences the world, it isn't just my own, it is the shared lives of all ~ even the people I will never know, looking back at me from a photo wall of time.

We need more, not less, art in our lives. And make the time to appreciate and reflect on the people brave enough in the world to give themselves over to a life of passions ~ the painter, the poet, the sage.

And I don't want to be afraid to be those things myself. Or share with you who I am, so that we can be that connectedness too. What else is there.