Black Clouds and Sunflowers

I've become fascinated with the idea that there is a difference between an artist and a craftsman. I'm mid-way through Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, in which he describes his life's work in restaurants. It's rather funnier than I anticipated, and riddled with brutally honest truth about the industry, especially in the Northeast. All this entertainment, and I'm still struck by the fact that he chose to make a distinction between an artist and a craftsman: When he assembles a team for his line, he would rather have a cook who can crank out dishes quickly and consistently and takes pride in this ability (craftsman) instead of a cook who becomes inspired to throw a sprig of rosemary in of his own accord (artist) and potentially ruin everything. I have always thought of cooking as a sort of art, but I had never put concentrated thought into the craftsmen who can recreate the chef's art with stunning precision and regularity. Having been immersed in r...

January is a bizarro month for me. Winter does that snowy thing, hot tea and a book are always more inviting than traipsing in the cold, and every year without fail, I get RESTLESS despite choosing to hole myself up. Late to the resolution party, but in time for Imbolc, I've made some goals for myself this year: 1. Graduate. Perhaps "duh". But I'm really looking forward to channeling my passion for anatomy, movement, and solving puzzles into what's turning out to be a great love for sports massage therapy. 2. Run 5 miles and pretend it doesn't suck. I've never particularly liked running, but I always feel awesome afterward. I kind of just want to see if I can train myself over the 3-mile self-imposed limit. 3. Climb a V5. Outside. And finish it - none of that "4 moves and I'm done" nonsense. 4. Buy a new car. All by myself. Cha-ching! 5. Travel. Chicago is a possibility this year, as is a road trip if that car works out well. Y...

Patterns are interesting things. On the one hand, they help us make sense of the world - patterns allow us to group things, to categorize them, to understand their relationship to others. On the other... they just get really OLD. I'm particularly tired of seeking human connections at this moment. In my life thus far, I've been subjected to lying, sometimes to my face, sometimes by accident. I've been cheated on. I've been betrayed. I've been pushed down, called names, made to feel worthless, shamed, guilted, manipulated into someone else's idea of who I should be. I've taken abuse - physical, emotional, psychological, verbal - because I thought it was the right thing to do at one time. I've done some things I'm not proud of, just to try and pick myself up and drag myself over to a mirror, in an effort to identify what these pieces of me are so I can make a project out of sewing them all back together. Patterns - slightly different each time, bu...

I. AM. SO. ANGRY. RIGHT. NOW. Contributions to anger: 1. money 2. automobiles 3. sunscreen 4. food 5. People who would rather live in a box, closed up and sealed, thinking they can keep to themselves without having any effect on anyone else whatsoever. 6. "THEM". The people our society trusts to have all the answers, to be guiding our communities onward and upward, the ones who are supposed to have our best interests in mind but clearly don't. Let's address the small stuff, shall we? I just quit a full-time, kinda cushy job because I am more interested in my life being put to productive use through integrity, giving people the best experience I am capable of giving, and teaching them to become students of life. Being in job limbo means that my spending dollars are going toward the necessities. The good news is that I have 2 jobs on deck; but I will be taking a financial hit by not having much, if any, expendable income. It angers me that integrity can have a...

" Of all the people I have ever known, those who have pursued their dreams and failed have lived a much more fulfilling life than those who have put their dreams on a shelf for fear of failure. " -Author Unknown The views while bouldering... really can't complain! Today there was much sunshine, much exercise, and much conversation. I'm enjoying these beautiful spring days in all the ways I can think of, accompanied by the people I enjoy spending time with, talking until we've exhausted the subjects and fall silent to listen to the rustling leaves and sounds of our breath. How many ways can we talk about risk? It sure drums up a lot; fear, doubt, anger, hope, adventure, failure, wisdom. Victory. Why do we take risks? Imagine for a moment that no one had taken any risk. Ever. *pause for effect* It's just not possible. It's not in our DNA to never take a risk. Some Neanderthal once upon a time went hunting so that he could provide food and p...

Tired. Exhausted. Run down. Drained. Worn out. OVER IT. I'm so tired of fighting. It's time to give up. It sounds like defeat. It's really not. Defeat is hopelessness in the face of adversity. Accepting defeat would be watching everything crumble and not lifting a finger. Me? I'm a fighter, I am a warrior; and here's where that backfires just a bit. You have to realize what you're fighting for. If it's misguided, undereducated, or perhaps blind, your fight is empty. The battles are all uphill, in the cold, in the rain, in the dark. They take forever; days, weeks, maybe lifetimes. To what end? What is your goal, what do you search for, what do you defend and why are you defending it? I've been fighting for what I thought of as survival. My combat has been with the things that people told me I was good at, with the desire to give people what they wanted from me when I didn't have it, and with maintaining equilibrium so everyone around me would ...

Here's a thought: mind-body medicine. Hmmm... There's something relieving about routine. So often it is suggested that we "shake it up", "do something spontaneous", or "go against the grain." While those are all worthwhile choices to be made, there is something to be said for having elements in ones daily life that are the same. Constant chaos is a force to be reckoned with, for sure, and having things to come back to, to ground yourself with, allows for the lovely moments of being still. Reading has been the name of the game for the past couple of weeks. One of the biggest things that stuck out for me recently was in an article I read somewhere, in which the author found that some of the most successful people in history have a common practice: they sit alone for at least 20 minutes every morning. This is something I have been attempting to cultivate for months now, with spotty success. Morning meditation, in my experience, has been bombarde...