January 2005

        Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote a wonderful poem, excerpted below, that is perfect for our January thoughts:
"Already I have shed the leaves of youth, Stripped by the wind of time down to the truth/Of winter branches...The pattern of my boughs, an open chart/Spread on the sky, to others may impart/Its leafless mysteries that once I prized, Before bare roots and branches equalized;/Tendrils that tap the rain or twigs the sun/Are all the same; shadow and substance one./Now that my vulnerable leaves are cast aside,/There's nothing left to shield, nothing to hide./Blow through me, Life, pared down at last to bone,/So fragile and so fearless have I grown!"


        As we focus on our "bare roots and branches" in the beginning of a new year, I would like to offer two thoughts: one, what we think about is what we get, and two, what we refuse to think about will never leave us until we deal with it.


        What we think about is what we get is the first rule of the universe. So whatever we may hope for, want, long for in this year before us will more surely come to us if we think about its reality in our lives rather than the obstacles that prevent it. In many ways our immediate environments are reflections of our self-talk. So talk to yourself about your dreams not your nightmares.


        What we refuse to think about will never leave us means that the personal issues we know are our own will manifest themselves again and again in our lives until we recognize and reconcile them. To paraphrase Carl Jung: problems we refuse to face within us will meet us in circumstances outside of us. When we let go of our vulnerable leaves, let fall our defenses, we become fearless with "nothing to hide." That is when we live life to the fullest.

Here are some movies worth the time:
The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett playing Katherine Hepburn, Hughes' contributions to the aviation industry, his personal prison vis-à-vis his daring flying and thinking, beautifully filmed, captivating for 3 hours-YBD.


Ray with Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles, his rise to fame overcoming his blindness and guilt over the death of his baby brother, superbly acted, great music from Ray Charles' recordings-YBD.


The Playboys with Albert Finney. (We saw this on cable.) A poignant story of obsessive love and true love, an independent woman played by beautiful Robin Wright set in a small community in Ireland circa mid-1950s, wonderful cinematography-PYE.

The book I am currently reading, Callings, Finding and Following an Authentic Life by Gregg Levoy, is full of insights, engagingly written.

YBD- Your Bounden Duty  PYE- Part of Your Education  (à la Archibald Edwards)