Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching until it comes to that certainty which it aspires to, but does not necessarily have at once. Privacy, then. A place apart--to pace, to chew pencils, to scribble and erase and scribble again. (23) Upstream by Mary Oliver
I am ashamed to say that I allowed the political upheaval of 2017 to violate my privacy. The shock of the last presidential election, the arrogance and offensive speech of our political leadership, and the announcement of breaking news was designed to invade our personal space on a daily basis. The goal may have been to shake up the establishment, but I believe that the outcome unhinged us as a nation to our very core. Our actions and words may have upended our deepest values and core beliefs such that we were even unaware of the impact.
For me personally, I tuned in to the political drama far too frequently: television news, radio news, news alerts on my cellphone, newsletters sent to my email. I vet my news sources well and trust their factual basis -- no Facebook or Twitter for me. However, I allowed them to infiltrate my personal well being, and I have had to learn to temper my political raging, to control the news I ingest rather than allow it to control me.
As such, my primary resolution for 2018 is to live with intentionality. I hope to:
- cultivate gratitude and relish in relationships;
- care for my body with healthy food and steady activity and exercise;
- make room for rest and nature and vacations;
- read books with depth and breadth and imagination; and
- garden and cook and create with purpose.
In regards to A Measured Word, I want to write on a daily basis with thoughts and meditations on a single word as well as a poem or quote or photo. I may struggle to meet the goal, but I need the creative outlet and solitude to collect my own thoughts and live with intentionality. In our political climate, it seems that we need to reorient our compasses -- to think for ourselves with common sense, truth, and our principles as guides rather than allow social media to think for us.
To act based on what we know is right rather than what we heard someone else say takes effort, but I can't wait to get to work. What could be more exciting than to have 365 days of a brand new year ahead? Hand me the blank slate -- I am ready to write!
Some Days
by Philip Terman
Some days you have to turn off the
news
and listen to the bird or truck
or the neighbor screaming out her life.
You have to close all the books and open
all the windows so that whatever swirls
inside can leave and whatever flutters
against the glass can enter. Some days
you have to unplug the phone and step
out to the porch and rock all afternoon
and allow the sun to tell you what to do.
The whole day has to lie ahead of you
like railroad tracks that drift off into gravel.
Some days you have to walk down the wooden
staircase through the evening fog to the river,
where the peach roses are closing,
sit on the grassy bank and wait for the two geese.
or the neighbor screaming out her life.
You have to close all the books and open
all the windows so that whatever swirls
inside can leave and whatever flutters
against the glass can enter. Some days
you have to unplug the phone and step
out to the porch and rock all afternoon
and allow the sun to tell you what to do.
The whole day has to lie ahead of you
like railroad tracks that drift off into gravel.
Some days you have to walk down the wooden
staircase through the evening fog to the river,
where the peach roses are closing,
sit on the grassy bank and wait for the two geese.
