The Middle Place made me think about the various contradictions we hold in our hands at any given time. Our lives can be defined, I think, by the tensions between these contradictions, and by the ways that we address their competing needs and implications.
Tonight, I am holding a difficult set in my palm.
Young – Old
Lost – Trapped
Daughter – Mother
Wired – Tired
Disney’s film Earth opens on April 22nd (Earth Day). And if you buy a ticket during the opening week, Disney will plant a tree in the Brazilian rain forest (considered one of the most endangered on Earth because only 7% of it remains).
My father, wise sage that he is, commented that the Obama inauguration was in equal parts about the man and about the crowd. What his inspirational effect was, and the way he brought record numbers of people out in the cold to witness history. The way people respond to Obama is as much a part of his story as is the actual man.
I feel the same way about the wave of Susan Boyle blog posts, emails, and news commentary sweeping across the media right now. Clearly, Susan Boyle herself is an amazing story. But what strikes me, equally as much, is the way everyone – from the most soft-hearted friend to the most cynical journalist – is impressed, touched, moved to tears by that You Tube video.
It is a good reminder, in a moment so dark in so many ways, of the deep longing we all feel to be surprised by joy. In a time when so many surprises are bleak, when so much bad news seems to come out of the sky, when people let us down more than they inspire us, we all ache for the stunned, standing-ovation kind of amazement that Susan Boyle brought that British audience. I find it heartening to be reminded of this deep streak of optimism in people, of our joint ability and desire to be wowed.
Trust life, and it will teach you, in joy and sorrow, all you need to know. – James Baldwin
I will try my best to give thanks for gifts strangely, painfully, beautifully wrapped. – Rebecca Wells
Heavy-hearted today.
Christina and I decided today that one way to bifurcate the world is into people who go to water parks and people who don’t. This happened because our huge plans to spend all day tomorrow at an indoor water park in Danvers went off the rails when we realized the place was already booked solid.
But it made me think of other binary distinctions in life. Places where people fall into one camp or another, with little venn overlap. If you have other thoughts, please add in comments!