You: Richer and Richer

In times such as these, this post's title might seem curious but I want you to deeply inspect your portfolio. Instead of dollars and cents (or gold and silver), examine the intangibles that either elicit the feeling that you've hit a home run and even the ones that make you feel you've struck out. I started with the repeats: the neighbor with whom warm greetings are exchanged several times weekly or hearing the latest from an ardent wildlife conservationist at the nearby market. Such interactions--and I'd wager that you have a slew of your own--are crown jewels to be polished but can be so easily undervalued. Another asset is the magic, the medicine that is comedy. When coffee shop banter fails to produce laughter, there are books and electronic media to deliver the goods. And if you're anything like me you require different types at different times, so like any investment perusal, patience is in order to find your personal blue chip. Having begun with what serves a purpose you advance to that which no longer does: the underperforming stock all gussied up as a stagnating relationship or the enduring bad habit. If it can be salvaged/revamped, go for it. If not, there's always the recycling bin so the energy can be invested elsewhere. Clearly these assets--interactions, comedy, and the stock destined to be edited out--are anything but intangible and bear real time fruit, so take stock, rather take heart that you're richer than you think.


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Read This Blog and Live to 100!

Let me begin with my apologies if you happened to get a cavity reading the previous entry. Love is clearly having its way with me but longevity is my current watchword. While recently running errands, I found it dizzying how often terms like antioxidants and younger were emboldened and capitalized. It seems the anti-aging craze gripping the world of retail could be hobbled, or rather coupled with one phrase: location, location, location. I'm referring to the Blue Zones (a designation coined by writer Dan Buettner), areas renown for playing host to large numbers of centenarians due to various environmental advantages and lifestyles. From the tropical Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica to the islands of Okinawa, Japan and Sardinia, Italy, a passport could be your ticket to staving off the ravages of time. And if the mention of any of these regions whets your whistle for travel or life abroad--and blue's not exactly your color--consider the "green zones." Touted as relatively affordable hubs for expatriates, Boquete (Panama), Le Marche (Italy), Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), Cascais (Portugal), and the Languedoc-Rousillon region of southern France collectively boast thousands of Americans as renters and homeowners.
So many of us have lives that will not allow for such a relocation or even extended stays at any of the aforementioned but I have a few ideas to slow the sands the time. Combine the travel suggestions--or just start by making a list of places you'd love to visit--then add the age-defying cosmetic of your choice, stir, eat something green, and most importantly, bookmark this hotspot; your "blue URL"... after all, location is key!


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A Cobweb Conspiracy

For anyone wondering about my brief hiatus, please blame it on my nascent meditation practice. It led me to reconsider my approach to a great many things and I actually "beat the heat" this year, or rather embraced it--sort of. Instead of withering in what still strikes me as a caldera carved by this clime's summer, I decided to get in on some of the smoldering. In other words, I snared a beau and he's quickly bypassing every firewall I've erected. And that's fine by me because those firewalls now appear to be more like cobwebs collecting dust and obscuring the loveliness of life. His seeming guilelessness initially set off alarm bells as though I was being goaded to eventual slaughter. The guillotine eventually met its fodder and it turned out to be the imagination I usually invest turning frogs into princes. Thus my internal software has undergone yet another upgrade and I find myself less and less taken aback to find that my prince is just a prince. Like so many things that go bump in the night, the conspiracy was of my making; walls and webs meant to protect me multiplied any time I met a suitor exhibiting the slightest hint of pretense. But they became an eyesore and when I happened upon a man that exudes forthrightness, I could see how the barriers fenced out trust as well. As gusts whisk them into obsolescence (and bring wondrous autumn within spitting distance), I wonder if change is in the air because Portugal is doing it too, blowing out its old energy policy with vast wind farms. Time will tell but for me, I bid a fond farewell to distrust and window dressing while I turn my attention to thoughts of apple-picking with my imperfectly perfect beau.


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Apples, Oranges and What's Good for the Goose

With a degree in fine arts and a string of corporate jobs that paid the bills while I nursed aspirations to one day return to drawing, I never saw this coming. Becoming a writer has been the Mother Goose of all career changes. Since its inception I planned to gauge the success of my stint on the publishing world's favor. But I'm not quite ready for that crucible and I happen to have a new measure.
After turning down--not all, but most--social invitations, I know I've arrived. With no designs on intentionally cultivating a hermitic persona, I must concede that, for me, reclusiveness yields literary results. I have other logs on the fire but not nearly as many as the uberdesigner Karl who quipped in his biographical documentary Lagerfeld Confidential: "for people like me, solitude is a victory."
Because the birdsong near my writing perch won't suffice, there is still the issue of sustenance and when I do come up for air, I require lots. Like the squirrel that will eat just about any throwaway but is primarily in the foraging game for seeds and nuts, my tastes vary. And when I say I've arrived, I simply mean that I finally understand--sans regret--I can't attend every engagement I'd like to. There are apples, there are oranges but there's also Mother Goose, spinning her yarns.


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A Campfire Debate

Imagine my surprise when This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/) plugged my former hot spots, Greenwoods and Lake of the Woods Camps. Listening to it, I didn't remember any adolescent angst. Instead I reminisced about the summer escape with friends and the omnipresent sounds of nature. Curtailing my stroll down memory lane, the podcast touched on something I'd overlooked in my relative youth: the controversial appropriation of Native American culture for the names of cabins and camp ceremonies. Consequently, the counselors voices were heard and the annual pow-wow went on hiatus only to return a year later by resoundingly popular demand. The adjoining camps, and many others, have concluded that their business models are predicated on the tradition.
With that debate on cultural sensitivity at its end (for now), I'm torn as I reconcile great memories with policies that ride roughshod over a people's heritage. I write, I make art, and I endeavor to do both with respect. And the feelings stirred by the podcast have made strange bedfellows of nostalgia and contention. Luckily, I'm developing some appreciation for paradox and looking a little deeper may well be worth the mixed feelings.



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The Sunniest Side of the Street

Reeling from the news that my great-uncle passed away this weekend, attending to my little tome initially felt out of reach. When today's virtual slide show commenced and my family's summer trips to balmy Kentucky came back to life, I was sure that the day would be one of fond recollection. And there was a clearness after each memory of the time spent with him; running from his playfully pushy goats is a personal favorite.
Feeling not yet ready for grief, the numbness seemed inhibitive to the writing process but actually turned out to be a precursor to it. As I pored through my journal, I found an entry that recounted my last tangle with my uncle's ornery pets. It also detailed how positively gone I was over what I considered to be quite the catch then: an alluringly vapid young man who was wont to begin (or end) all his sentences with references to the rapper Ice Cube.
Needless to say, humor ignited my inner printing press and I'm off to add to my book once I finish here. What did I (re)learn? Keeping some record of quality time is of paramount importance and the street that is under construction won't be indefinitely... depending on your municipality. And I could benefit from rolling with change, knowing that the thoroughfare on which I find myself is no dead end. At the risk of presumptuousness, the same is true for the trail you trod.
Uncle Thomas, you will be missed.


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Thanksgiving in July!

The coming weekend means different things to different people. There is both historical and personal significance. For me it means humidity and an aversion to which I am slowly... well, I'm working on it. But more importantly, the holiday also brings another round of welcome house guests and a bit of emotional alchemy. 4th of July, I dub thee (another) Thanksgiving, after the mother of all get-togethers. It's a moniker I bestow upon every holiday that I'm... well, working on.
What I'm working on is leaving the past in the past, from the winter storms that have created Christmas travel delays to a certain paramour-free Valentine's Day when my aunt and uncle insisted I join them. By reminding myself that each and every meeting of family, friends, and friends-who-are-family is a cause for celebration--especially one that might involve a day or two off from work--gratitude fills me. And ultimately, such holiday gatherings are relatively few in number and by virtue of their rarity they're special. And your loved ones are special, too. So enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving (in July)!


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Surrender and the Little Engine That Couldn't

My day's tale begins with the latter. In the children's book The Little Engine That Could, the eponymous choo-choo exclaimed in the face of adversity: "I think I can, I think I can!" Well, today I was quite sure that I couldn't. I certainly wanted to write--and nudge myself ever closer to completion of my first book--but I was convinced that the curve ball in my daily routine would lead to a strikeout. With work being done on the house and sounds too dissimilar from the usual avian fioritura (I do so love the birds; see yesterday's post), I declared the day a wash and closed my laptop.
In my meditation practice I'm learning to bear witness to every sound, even the ones I might label discordant, but for some reason affecting that perspective today seemed impossible. Perhaps the lesson lies in my approach: affecting or imposing a perspective is fruitless. There's discipline and there's fruitlessness. The former won out by late morning after I relaxed into the feeling of wordlessness yet resolved that at some point in the very near future I would make some addition to my manuscript. And by late afternoon, I did.
So in your respective endeavor, if you think you can, go with it! And if you think you can't, go with that, too. One of the following two possibilities should avail you. You'll find that you're as contrary as I seem to be so the tables (by tables, I mean mood) will turn and you'll be back on track. Failing that, your frustration with inertia will eventually rouse you and... well, that could be "interesting" for the persons closest to you. So keep an open mind, hope that it's contagious, and surrender!


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A Bowery Bit of Flair

While you can click just about anywhere on the web for some richly informative bleakness, today I just want to make you smile.To begin I simply must plug a piece on Australia and Papua New Guinea's bowerbirds (http://.ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/07/bowerbirds/laman-photography). The males construct ground-based nests, some of which stretch to considerable heights, depending on the courtier's industriousness. Some even mash plants with their beaks and paint the bower's interior with the pigment. If the towering domicile, doorstep offerings (anything from flower petals to discards), and male's fervent calls all pass muster, a nearby female may declare it a love connection. The Planet Earth series has captured the ornate mating dances of the male birds in this region, but these nesting images must be seen to be believed... and snickered at, so enjoy the photo gallery.
And for those of you coming down from a long day, there's the movie Office Space--I do have "flair" in the post's title, after all. If you've labored for a not-so-great boss, endured a bit of career immobility, and seen the film (under five times), the mere mention might elicit something approaching amusement.
So hopefully I've provided some comedic contrast to life as we know it. And if not, oh well; I tried... and with flair, no less!


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What's Lush in Your Life?

Okay, don't tell me. One of my reminders arrived courtesy of a vivid dream in which I was attending a raucous party at last week's US Social Forum. I loved the music but the volume obscured the conversation I was trying to have with a new friend and the tempest of my irritation instantly engulfed everything, flipping my surroundings like contact cards in an old Rolodex while I remained stationary. When the dust settled, I found myself in a quieter, still populous setting with similarly soft lighting, finally able to hear all about Seattle's latest environmental initiatives.
I awoke with a clear sense that I had thoroughly enjoyed that situation and was just about to switch to another as one might do with a remote control. I consulted a few dream interpretation references and my virtual party-hopping fell under Order, warning me of the potential pitfalls of imposing it with rigidity. Taking the admonition to heart--I can go a bit overboard with everything from my yoga regimen to my daily objectives--I also noted the silver lining. While I'm no efficiency guru by any estimation, I have a slight knack for organization. I'm currently writing a book and the process would never have taken flight without a clear visual framework for each vignette and chapter.
By the way, I count the rollicking dream as a gift but I also have Apple to thank. The new iOS4 operating system offers a function that allows the grouping of iPhone apps into folders. To say that I've taken to the new option would be a vast understatement and the Great Rearrangement went on until I succumbed to sleep; after the sandman my subconscious took over. Dream interpretation is often inexact, tricky business but evidence exists suggesting the influence of the avocation immediately preceding sleep, which certainly proved instructive for me. So if you need some pointers in divining your personal lushness, (just once... or twice) deviate from your pre-bedtime ritual and see what happens.


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My Turn as a Villainess?

My dear friends in town for the US Social Forum have departed for their respective stomping grounds and I'm tidying up in more ways than one. As I collect towels and linens, I consider truly actualizing the cavalcade of ideas that came to me last week. Dare I say it but if only inspiration slowly trickled my way, one impression at a time, instead of the biweekly deluge.
Two documentaries I've absolutely adored of late, The End of the Line (http://www.endoftheline.com/film) and Blue Gold: World Water Wars (http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/index.html), point to an interesting culprit: me. I do shop, after all, and notwithstanding lax governmental regulations, the corporate powers that be have derived some of their might from me.
In imparting the projected collapses of both the seafood industry and oceanic biodiversity due to overfishing, The End of the Line avoids preachiness and pessimism. And Blue Gold: World Water Wars makes a concerted effort to end on a positive note, leaving the viewer, well me, to wonder why I didn't know the name of my area's watershed. I follow the news of domestic droughts and potable water shortages in other nations but the film points to a necessary update of our relationship to all our resources.
So I thought I was fairly conscientious in my spending; even my comics are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper. But unlike my gregarious comrades whom I already miss, hubris is a deceptive house guest, leaving behind trinkets and I need to tighten up my game if I am to find them all. I gave up all meat one year ago yet family and friends continue to rely on me as a resource when we dine together so I am calling in reinforcements from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch for some on-the-go, planet friendly decision-making. For you iPhoners, you may want to download the app at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iphone.aspx (or iTunes) and for all other mobile phones, visit mobile.seafoodwatch.org. And while we're on the subject of eating locally and in season, there's also Locavore for iPhone (http://www.enjoymentland.com/locavore/).
Well, to bring this musing to a close, I'm adding "how long" (as in how long I let the faucet run, among other gleanings from the film) to the "what", "how much", and "where" of my shopping... at least until I set up shop in a self-sustaining homestead in which the procurement of virtually every resource involves my own labor. I have a feeling frugality won't be difficult then.

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