Schefflera

#1 - SCHEFFLERA - I've had a plant for about 25 years that I was given in elementary school and I didn't know what kind it was until today.

 #2 - I sent two emails today I've been meaning to write for a month. They were both to people I don't know well, but that I respect/enjoy. The first were to a couple that used to play on my soccer team. They moved away as one of them is going to school, but said they hoped to come back. The second was to a guy who might be interested in the speed dating at the library event.

 #3 -There are so many things in life that I don't necessarily want to do, but I am always glad I did. Today for example the simple act of getting out of bed, and then also biking to work.  Because I did both of these things I was able to enjoy the beautiful gentle breeze and the air that feels fresh.  One of my sayings is "too much of a good thing is still too much."  It applies almost universally - food, sleep, jogging, socializing, solitude, reading, work, rest...it goes on and on, but the one thing I've come up with that I can't see how there can be too much of is Fresh Air.

#4 - I googled rare Jason Mraz songs and listened to one I haven't heard before - Galaxy.


 #5 - I thought it might be cool to take a picture of the strawberries from below. I didn't put much effort into it and the result isn't so good, but looking at it did make me laugh.

Life isn't Measured

*Just knowing - I took four photos of this flower today. The first two were ok, and when I looked at the third it was clearly the one I wanted to use. No decision required.

*My Dad very somberly said to me today, "Life isn't fair Tammy." I braced for the somber news that was about to come and then he continued very seriously, "A lot of people don't have a job and they give me a raise."

*At 7:17pm tonight the sunlight streaming in my bedroom window onto my orange walls emanated warmth.

*I had a dream last night that I kept thinking, "I need to write this down, I need to write this down." I thought I was having these thoughts after waking up (groggily) from the dream, but when I for sure woke up later I realized maybe I was actually having those thoughts in the dream. Maybe I was dreaming and trying to get myself to write down the dream. All I remember now is that I was at a place full of wood - wooden room, wooden table - cabin like I suppose. And someone (the person seated across the table) told me that I was at a place between earth and heaven. It was an intermediary place.

*Life isn't measured in years it's measured in the excitement of creative devotion you have in your soul and as long as you can express yourself in ways that make you realize something of who you are, you just celebrates that, you keep going. -Ashley Bryan on The Story

Half Saddle

#1 - The cashier at the coop today was really intentional with his eye contact.

#2 - It was more eye contact than I am used to in that situation, but I held it.

#3 - I wrote a friend a few days ago saying I was thinking of her and asking how she was doing.  She said most things "pretty much suck" and proceeded to tell me about them, at the end saying, "you asked."  I will take candor for a superficial answer any day.

#4 - Half Saddle in restorative yoga (I just want to be grateful for the restorative yoga class, but that is not specific enough,) so I'm adding a pose that is a great stretch for the knee and quadricep.

#5 - My friend gave me a bunch of shampoo she doesn't like.

Marriage and Booker

#1 - I door knocked with Minnesotans United for All Families again today. A woman who said strongly she would vote, "Yes!" (meaning wanting our constitution to state that marriage is only between one man and one woman) was willing to talk to me about it. After listening to her I said I just wanted to tell her quick why I was out there. I didn't want people to feel they needed to move to another state or country to be accepted for who they are.
"Oh of course not!" She agreed.

It began with a yes vote, but ended in an opening.

#2 - In the office they had a list of the 10 countries where same sex marriage is legal. Do you want to guess what those countries might be? (I will post them at the end of the blog post in case. Give it a try.)

#3 - The man I practiced our script with (in his 20's) who said he was door knocking because his Dad came out when he was in 5th grade and he wants his Dad to be able to get married.

#4 - Taking the bus that got me there 15 minutes late instead of 30 minutes early, I felt a little guilty doing it, but it prevented my morning from feeling rushed and worked out just fine.



#5 - There was an Onion article about my favorite mayor, Cory Booker of Newark, rescuing his neighbor from a fire. I looked it up and yep, it's true.

Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage

Where Ugly Lives

#1 - Being offered two tickets to Farvi conducts Rachmaninoff at orchestra hall.

#2 - I'm home a little bit sick today. I always feel bad cancelling things I've committed to because I'm sick and it makes me wonder how people can handle it that have a lot more influential lives than I do. Like what if I had a big concert that a bunch people had bought tickets to, or I was in government and had an important meeting with a foreign official or I was in the Olympics and my big event was that day. Anyway, I'm glad that though it can be disappointing to not do something I planned to, the impact of my sickness is pretty small.

#3 - The understanding I received (as opposed to pressure to work anyway) when I told let them know I was sick. I was told something like "feel better before the weekend."

#4 - Having R.W. Knudsen Morning Blend juice on hand. (One of my favorite, especially when I am sick.)

#5 - "The first time I was ever called ugly, I was thirteen. It was a rich friend of my brother Carlton's, over to shoot guns in the field.

'Why you crying, girl?' Constantine asked me in the kitchen.

I told her what the boy had called me, tears streaming down my face.

'Well? Is you?'

I blinked, paused my crying,'Is I what?'

'Now you look here Eugenia'...'Ugly live up on the inside. Ugly be a hurtful, mean person. Is you one of them peoples?' (73)"

The Help
Kathryn Stockett

Beauty from the Internet

Today's gratitudes are all going to relate to things I've come across on the internet.

#1 - Starting with Brene Brown's video I recommended a few posts back. I rewatched it last night because I wanted to write down some quotes. I went back today to decide which are good enough to end up in the front or back covers of my journal. Here is what I am selecting:

"Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage."

Brene Brown

"Shame drives two big tapes: never good enough and, if you can talk it out of that one, who do you think you are?"

Brene Brown

"Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change. "

Brene Brown

#2 - How Plastic Bottles Can Light Up the Darkness

First time I've been excited about a plastic bottle!



#3 - When I needed a laugh today I went to the video on the AV page on Bushwalla's website. It made me laugh when I first watched it yesterday, and it had the same effect today.

http://www.bushwalla.net/



#4 - “..They pointed the Hubble space telescope into a part of the sky that seemed utterly empty, a patch devoid of any planets, stars or galaxies…This was a somewhat risky move by the scientists, after all, observing time on this telescope is in very high demand and some questioned whether it would be wasted trying to look at nothing…Nevertheless, they opened the telescope and…when the telescope was finally closed and the images were processed, the light from over 3000 galaxies had covered the detector producing one of the most profound and humbling images in all of human history. Every single spot, smear and dot was an entire galaxy and each one containing, hundreds of billions of stars…” from Hubble Ultra Deep Field 3D


#5 - Another reassuring reminder that there is a whole lot going on in NOTHING.

MN United for All Familes

On November 6th MN will either become

#30

or

#1

If it becomes #30 that means it will have followed the 29 (or 30) other states that asked voters about constitutional amendments limiting marriage to same sex couples.

If it becomes #1, it will be the first state to reject such amendments.

Today I went on Minnesotans United for All Familes first door knocking. During the intro they explained that what has been learned for the losses in all these other states, is that it takes personal stories to make a difference and they asked us to take a bit of time to consider our personal story that we could share.

I didn't really have one and I started wondering why I was there.

Pretty quickly this was answered by the person I was paired to door knock with. "Anne" has been with her partner 20 years and they are raising three children together. Suddenly my lack of personal story was sitting right beside me.

As we did our door knocking practice/role play I came closer to my truth and story. I want to live in a state where people feel safe and supported to be fully themselves. I don't want to live in a state that asks people to hide who they are or feel ashamed of who they are or tells them they are worth less for who they are.

I figured Anne had a lot more power for persuasion with such personal experience, being able to say, "I want to get married." (She did get married in '95 in a church in MN, but not legally of course.) But this also makes her more vulnerable. I've done quite a bit of door knocking, and it still makes me nervous and especially on an issue this personal. And this is WHY I need to be there.

Neither of us had any unkind experiences, though a couple did disagree. Anyway, I'm grateful for this experience and Anne and all the other volunteers and the six rockin states that allow people to fully love who they love. (And seriously if Iowa our neighbor can be so cool, we can too.)