God carelessly painted the gloaming sky yesterday. Smudges and smears of clouds, rose and peach background mixed with navy blue greys. God as artist: Who he paints for, and did he care what we thought, and how did he know when he was done with that sky?
Ah. Anthropomorphism. Inescapable.
It is the turning of the year once more. There will be no intentions tonight. I cannot keep to one or many, so I am taking a rest from that. Three deaths in quick succession this month remind me of Ralph Waldo Emerson's pungent observation:
"Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prussic acid, strychnine, are weak dilutions: the surest poison is time."
So let's see where this leaves me.
1. Survive the coming storms at work, and come out on the other side with an acceptable solution.
2. Knit from stash. One get-out-of-stash-jail-free card, the purchasing of yarn and casting on of a project this year for a coup de coeur. Seems reasonable to allow at least one of those to happen. Otherwise, this intention would only meet the definition of scolding.
3. Lump these uglies together: finish organization, get down to a happy weight, ramp up the exercise and yoga, continue to minimize high glycemic carbs. Okay, more scolding, but with a purpose.
4. Restart origami crane project.
5. Cultivate curiosity. I have realized that this is a driving force in everything I do. I seek. I learn. I explore. I perfect. I leave behind. All is in the name of satisfying that insatiable itch of curiosity. It is a reason to live large and well.
Really? That is all. But it is a whole lot in five items. I plan to do other things that won't make it to the intention list: cook more recipes from my cookbooks that include vegetable proteins, do a bit more in the garden this year, take a XC skating technique lesson.
The theme here is to enjoy life more, and make sure there is more healthy life to enjoy. That is easy to remember, and worth putting energy into making it happen."
I should have just stuck with the themes. The origami cranes sit waiting for brothers and sisters to join them. My stash remains out of control. The uglies are ongoing, and modestly successful.
The successes are notable, and I am proud. I rowed the 100,000 meter challenge again AND finished. I survived the work restructuring. The solution is acceptable until it is not. At that point, I will fight the good fight, then figure out what is left standing on the battlefield. I have cultivated curiosity, and intend much more of that this year. That is not an intention in disguise. It is a way of living that seems to be working well. I will stick with that theme (far wiser than I realized a year ago) of enjoying life more, and staying healthy.
My amaryllis is on its second stalk, and at peak. I am reminded of light and hope in its cheery bloom, of heart and love in the color, and of joy in the unexpected pleasures of an impulse purchase at Whole Foods in November.
