Tomorrow is Today's Dream

As we arrive at the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks reminders of what happened that day and what it has meant to our overall psyche and our individual worlds, will be everywhere.

I was on an airplane that morning.  I suppose if there's anywhere I can think of where I'd rather NOT be that day (other than in Manhattan, or at the Pentagon) it would be on an airplane, flying in the Northeast.  I had been visiting my family in upstate NY to celebrate my mom's 72nd birthday and was on a flight from Buffalo to get home to Austin.  We never made it.

Anyway, what happened that day means something different to each of us. When I got back from lunch today it was on my mind so I did a little video "test" on YouTube with my iPhone.



It haven't done a video blog since the end of last year! Crazy. I generally enjoy doing them but I haven't felt as though I've had the right equipment to do one so I haven't even thought of it in quite a while. Early experiments were time-consuming, clunky, and ultimately the video quality was poor or the audio was mis-aligned; there were any number of challenges.

But this was clean and easy. I just did the video on my iPhone, saved it to the Camera Roll, chose to "Share It", and told it to load it to YouTube. Although it's certainly nothing profound and was very impromptu/spur-of-the-moment I'm actually fairly happy with the audio and video quality of the results.

One thing to do differently next time - the video would rather be landscape than vertical. It did a good job of letter-boxing what was there but that'll mean holding the camera sideways instead of longways. I'd also be interested to see the end result coming out of the version of iMovie that's on my phone.

All things considered - more experimenting is on the way.

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend, not that I have anything all that special planned but because I seem to enjoy every weekend here. The weather is supposed to be as gorgeous tomorrow as it is today, and Sunday looks to be mostly wonderful as well. I do spinning class on Saturday mornings, I've got wrestling tomorrow mid-day, I need to do laundry, shopping, and a few other things....

I've gotten somewhat "Spiritual" in recent years.  I suppose a more accurate sentence would be that my Spiritual Self has become much more active and aware, but either way the end results are the same.  With all of this talk about transition and how it fits into the context of an overall life one of the things that often gets forgotten (or at least, minimal attention) is our spirituality. 

As my mom was coming to terms with the changes in my life she shared that a specific passage from Khalil Gibran's "The Prophet" very much spoke to her and helped her to move past her sadness.  Since then I, too, have found profound wisdom and comfort in many of the passages there. 

One of my favorites is "On Reason and Passion".  I've shared it here before but it's worth repeating because it's still relevant....

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.

Good, good stuff.

I've been a remarkably good mood this week.  I'm not quite sure why and I'm certainly not complaining but it's true.  I can think of a number of contributing factors but the end result is a continuing stream of good energy and enjoyment. 

I have an admission to make.  I went to Costco yesterday and the good news is that I didn't succomb to whatever it is that they pump into the air there that makes you spend a hundred dollars or more and not even realize it.  What I did buy, though, was a recipe book.  It's a book titled "Charleston Classic Desserts: Recipes from Favorite Restaurants" and although I know I'll end up kicking myself for it it was less than $10 and the photos were absolutely scrumptious.  So I bought it.  And I'll even share with you when I actually use one of the recipes from it.  I can only hope the end result looks (and tastes) like the photos.

I need to enjoy these quiet weekends while I can.  I've gotten spoiled this summer - I can't remember such an extended stretch of relaxation in many-a-year.  And next weekend looks to be quiet, too.  But in the 6 weeks between mid-September thru the end of October I've got trips to Denver, Cape Cod, and Phoenix on tap.

Beyond that?  Who knows.  I don't plan that far in advance.  I'm too busy enjoying today for today. 

Before I end for today I'll share one of my most significant memories of the week after 9/11 ten years ago. My plane was grounded in Baltimore and I made my way to Alexandria, VA where I spent the week before they started allowing air travel again with some dear friends.  One of those friends, Nancy, has since passed away but she was an incredibly talented artist and she wanted to do a portrait of me.  So, she spent several hours taking simple photographs and making sketches for a picture she never ended up doing. And we whiled away the time by talking....

Since I hadn't expected a detour on my way home I didn't have anything nice to wear so she let me borrow something - we spent the afternoon looking for something she felt was suitably elegant - as well as a strand of her pearls.  She wanted the look to be natural so there was no makeup involved.  To this day - those simple raw photos she took that day remain tremendously special to me.  Partly it's because they capture a moment of time in my life that I'll never forget.  And partly because they reminds me of her.

September 2001

I have come a long way since then.....

In The Prophet Kalil Gibran writes a passage titled On Time:

You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.
You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.
Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.
Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,
And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.