Saturday, December 27, 2008

Today's thought

Actually, it's my horoscope:

Today's New Moon falls in your 11th House of Long-Term Goals, luring you to think about the distant future instead of the next few days. But instead of kicking back and slipping into a series of daydreams, it's best to take the bull by the horns and methodically build your ideal fantasy one concrete thought at a time. Planning is very useful now as long as you are willing to follow through with the work later on.

Since I'm on vacation until January 5th, now is an especially good time for me to do some planning. In between my mad social whirl, of course. I went to a long "hang out around some munchies" party on Christmas day, and yesterday I went on a hike with Wilderness Women in the morning and attended Kung Pau Kosher Comedy in the evening. Today I get to have acupuncture and do a little shopping and my laundry.

As for planning, I have some questions to resolve about my Times Mirror pension, which is being held by the Tribune, which has just declared bankruptcy. And eventually Jim's old flat will be ready for occupancy, and I'll have to finally decide whether to move downstairs. And then decide when to retire, and what to do with myself then, etc. That is to say, "build my ideal fantasy." Off to the drawing board.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

One Hundred Million Miracles

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child--our own two eyes. All is a miracle."

Thich Nhat Hanh, "Miracle of Mindfulness"

Which reminded me of Einstein's saying:

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Which brought me to the title of this posting, which is a song from the musical "Flower Drum Song" about all the wonders of daily life.

Which reminded me of the more temperate approach of the Jewish rabbis, who ask folks to find one hundred occasions every day to bless God for something.

Considering these thoughts might be a good test for depression: if you cannot at least imagine a frame of mind in which everything might be viewed as a miracle, you're depressed.

Things are going pretty well for me right now. The weather is clear and sunny, and I have warm clothing, a roof over my head, and friends. Yes, there are problems in the world, but, yes, there are also many, many miracles.