Healing

Some relationships seem to be built out of brick. One could huff and puff. And nothing.

I imagine there are ways to compromise the foundation of any rock solid building. But are there ways to forge a foundation once it has been weakened?

A number of years ago, a huge flood swept through my home town. My grandmother's house was one of many that quickly saw water touch the ceiling (luckily she was not in her house at the time.) When the flood was over, the government came in and offered support. On top of that, they marked all the houses whose foundations had been cracked with a huge, red X. All the red X'ed houses were demolished within the year.

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It's a good thing that when one breaks a bone, the doctor doesn't mark it with a big, red X. Of course, the lack of a red X may lull limb abusers into a false sense of security! Will they realize that a healing limb cannot be taxed in the way it was designed to until it is fully healed? Will they understand that attempting to do so beforehand may hinder the healing process?

Perspective

When I was flying home for Thanksgiving, there was bad weather in Houston. "Bad weather in Houston" meant, I learned, "there may be too many people booked on this flight" due to a weight balancing issue.

I volunteered to take a later flight (for a $250 voucher). I would have arrived in San Antonio only 3 hours after my originally scheduled arrival!

Alas, my seat was not needed. In fact, it appears they didn't need to boot anyone off the flight. You could say that I was unlucky because I missed out on an opportunity for a $250 voucher. Or that I'm lucky because I arrived in San Antonio with no delay.

Perspective shows her worth once again.

Being present

Today while on my way to the Center for Reflective Community Practice at MIT, I ran across a huge student sign with a hand-painted picture of the Kool-Aid guy. I missed having a digital camera with me.

I wonder if we sometimes enjoy things less because we know we can capture it for later perusal. And, in the cases where we don't have the means to capture something for later with us at the moment, instead of hanging around and soaking it in as we might have before the means ever existed (for us), we lament "oh, I wish I could take a picture of that" as we hurry on by or stand there thinking about what we're missing out on.

When I see tourists viewing their surroundings through a video camera as they capture the experience for later, I can't help but feel their experience is altered because they are viewing their surroundings only through the small lens of a camera. What you experience when you walk into a museum is different than when you walk into a museum looking at a 2D version of it (unaware of what's above, below, or beside you...)

How differently do we behave when we feel what we are doing, seeing, thinking, or saying will be "reviewed" later & perhaps by other people?

Maybe it would be nice if people would take the mode they're in when "touring" and swap it with the mode they're in when driving, or waiting in line, or being served at restaurants.