A Midsummer Nights Dream

I had forgotten for a moment but guess what? Midsummer, also known as the summer solstice or the begining of summer, occurs between June 21st and the 23rd, depending on what your ethnic or religious roots are. How exciting that my "Pink Martini" Event is happening just then.

There are times in life when ritual and magic play a very important part. Whether Christian or Jewish, Moslum or Hindu there is a need to express the passage of seasons and the effect that they have on us. From time inmemorial we humans have been searching for answers to how, where and why. But in the end it always leads us back to the begining.

I have stopped asking questions about life. I have now begun to feel the meaning of this mystery, and it is just that. It is not the how as much as the how to. Not so much the where as how to get there. And definitely not the why because that is the reason for the for the first two.

The main reason for the Midsummer, Solstice, or Sukkot was and is a way to mark that time when the sun stands still in the heavens and bestows three days of timelessness. Three days of long and late light that warm us before the slow and deliberate darkness begins again. Three days to throw caution to the wind and revel in the joys and warmth of our new found beginnings. To dance and feast on the abundance of the season. But most of all, a time to gather and celebrate each other and to heal our winter wounds.

So wear your beads and feathers on the 23rd and dance with me in the celebration of life and have a "pink martini" or two ...

A Mosaic of Life

The 4th of July is almost upon us and with it comes many different feelings and memories both happy and sad. It is the birthday of our nation but is also the birthday of a longtime and best friend. For my partner and I it was the date that we choose to celebrate our anniversary. This year has been all about events and celebrations viewed alone with myself for the first time.

As this year has progressed day by day and event by event I have noticed one thing in particular. Life is as full or as empty as we perceive it to be. It is an intricate mosaic. A mosaic which, for better or worse, displays our very souls. Every persons mosaic is unique, unique as their finger prints. They do not merely consist of DNA but rather are woven of everything that we have ever seen, touched or tasted. Every experience that we had throughout our life passage. Much like the universe itself we are star dust and being of such we will shine or diminish accordingly.

My mosaic is quite colorful and full. It has been illuminated by such wonderful remembrances that if it could sing it would. Every tile was cast with the help of great friends and placed with loving care. It is a thing of beauty that when viewed for the first time seems too perfect. But a closer look reveals the cracks and lines that give it dimension. Perfection only exists in eye of the beholder and perfection is merely beauty at its best.

Therefore let us be aware of our lives, every minute, everyday. Let us revel in our existence as if it might be gone tomorrow, because it could. And let us add joy and happiness to each others mosaics so that they might help us in turn to complete our own.

The Jabberwocky

Last evening I was invited to a strange and wonderful event by a dear friend. A shadow puppet production of a Lewis Carroll poem "The Jabberwocky". It is a poem of nonsense verse that amazingly enough makes a lot of sense when spoken correctly for, much as life itself, many times things do not make sense if taken out of context but must rather be viewed from the right perspective

The production was put together by several talented local artists who managed to not only create the puppets and sets but then to execute this delight in a neighborhood automotive garage under the stary canopy of a perfect summers night.

As I watched the play and looked around me I was taken by the colorful variety of individuals and families gathered together for this common cause. Maybe, I thought, this is what life is really about. Not the hurried rush of computer generated images bombarding our minds and thoughts but rather a calm moment in the storm. An Oasis where we can gather as friends and neighbors and share the simple joy of innocent creation and happy conversation.

Happy Birthday!

Today was Jack's birthday. He would have been 61 this year but rather he will remain 60 forever now in my thoughts and memories. Who new that one year could be both so joyful and then in an instant so volatile.

The sadness of autumn has passed and with it my partner. Then the long and tenuous winter which seemed to linger too long gave way to an early but empty spring. Now perched on the cusp of summer I am finding my way into the beginnings of what might be a new direction.

It is said that there is a time and season for everything. Perhaps my time and season are finally at hand. I have said many times that worry and remorse are only good for those who enjoy reveling in them. I don't. Rather I would look to the summer sky and see in it hope of new days in the sun, to smell the aromas of summer feasts and delight in their tastes, and to touch and feel the warmth of friendships and revel in their consolations and encouragements. Memories of past embraces will of course never die nor should they but new experiences must be allowed to enter lest they and we cease to exist.

Today yet another spring storm has passed by and the song of our robin in the ash tree is telling me that it is time to open the doors and windows and let the fresh, and newly energised breath of the season into our house. The sun is piercing the dark clouds and a shaft of light is illuminating my paper lanterns on the deck. There seems to be a promise of an even more beautiful day tomorrow and, if I am really lucky, there just might be a rainbow too.

Rainy Days

It is raining and I am sitting on my deck under the awning enjoying the sounds of the rain and the silence it brings with it. The paper lanterns from the "Spring Gathering" are wet and glistening and the Azaleas have lost their bloom, but there is still the feeling of regeneration that comes with the spring and its turmoil.

It is also Memorial Day and some how rain and Memorial Day are synonymous to me. Over the years I remember looking forward to this long anticipated holiday weekend. A weekend that would free me from the chains of education otherwise know as grade school. Only to find that I was once again restrained but this time by nature and her elements.

Life I have found is not necessarily a venue for wishes and desires but rather more a primer for how to live it and a rehearsal for how we end it.

What would you do if everyday could be a day in the sun, if every holiday could be filled to the brim with joy and laughter, and if all your dreams could immediately come true? I have and I must tell you it all exists if you want it to. There is no one else that can conjure it for you. We are the stuff that dreams are made of and it is we who make those dreams.

So then, let me leave you with this. There is a saying that goes "be careful what you wish for because you might just get it". And, if I may, do wish and wish as hard as you can ...

Happy Memorial Day!

Try to remember

In a moment it will be Memorial Day again and with it will come rememberances both joyous and sad. A time to let both the victory's and the defeats of the last years linger on our tongues as either vintage wine or soured grape. But whether we choose to celebrate or regret it is still a time of contemplation and reflection.

Today as I spent a leisurely day with friends in the Pacific Northwest I found myself to be both happy and a little sad. Happy to be so lucky as to be able to enjoy the company of such good friends in such a hauntingly beautiful surround but sad that my time is limited. Maybe, I thought, it is not so much the time and place that is important but rather the intensity of the connection to these emotional ties that makes for the glorious moments that nuture our souls and give us the stuff to fuel our tomorrows.

Perhaps we should not be complacent in our memories but rather active in their regeneration and proliferation. Everyday is a new chance to reach out to both the past and to the future. For by reaching in both directions I have found that I achieve the balance to walk steady through the present day and am reassured that tomorrow will become even more practiced should I choose it to be so. Life is meant to be lived and loved, and savoured and I would not have it any other way.

Today and Tomorrow

I was sitting tonight with friends, and a few new acquaintances, after a long day of eager anticipation and many hours of self analyzation. It reminded me of a day many years ago when I sat similarly in a cafe in Rio de Janeiro. There are Avenues in Rio that act as hubs leading from the beach to home but they are also conduits that keep open the energies that I belive are essential to maintainging a healthy flow. It was at once again a spontaneous gathering of strangers and friends who, for a brief moment in time, connected in the seemingly endless turmoil that is life. This was one of those days that cannot be held to task. A day so light and enlightened that it must revel in it's own magnitude for it has given to me a new lease on what I choose to call my after life.

That moment in time, in Brazil, with that special person must live on and unless I am ready to quite neither will it. There is more to life than the daily "ebb and flow". There is also the accumulation as well as the culmination of all that is and has been good, and will, and should remain alive within us.

So a toast today to us and to they who have illuminated our lives. They who have painted on our canvas with such joy that even after they have gone will most definitely live on with us through our forevers.