extraordinary: at the intersection of
remarkable and so, so ordinary
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Greetings!
Like so many, I know exactly where I was on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when I watched in horror as that second plane flew into the South Tower. And like so many, I'm stunned that it has already and only been 20 years since that extraordinarily devastating day.
But for me, there was a glimmer of hope in the evening that was also part of that day. That's true of many of our life's experiences: the good is often tied up, inextricably, with the bad. Someone we love dies, and we feel both relief that they're no longer suffering and grief that they are gone. We have a job we enjoy and yet long for even more challenges and opportunities. We appreciate the wisdom of getting older and wish for the carefree ease of our youth. We feel simultaneously remarkable and so, so ordinary.
Wherever you were 20 years ago yesterday, it behooves us to remember that that was just one day in a sea of many, many days. 7,305 days, to be exact. Think of all the joy and heartbreak you've lived through in these 20 years. Think of all the before and after moments; the disappointments and the successes. These monumental days burn brightly in our memories, but they are not where most of our living is done. Don't let the bigness of them derail you from noticing the small, seemingly mundane times. Those end up actually being the moments that make up your life.
Be well, stay in touch and remember, you are extraordinary!
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The ever-tipping scales of balance |
From a post I wrote Sept 11, 2020:
These two massive experiences, one I share with millions of people and memorialize together annually, and one I share with just one other person, shape this day every year for me. As with so much in life, the blessings and the challenges come almost in pairs. The scales of balance are continuously tipping, first this way and then that.
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The day before my world turned upside down |
The “before” time is the time that is often a blur, that has nothing special to differentiate it from the day before or the day after…until the day after is the “after” time to something you never expected. The before time is the mundane, the insignificant and actually where your life is lived. |
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Two great books I read this week:
Barbara Becker's Heartwood The Art of Living with the End in Mind. If you've ever sat with someone as they transition from this life to whatever is next, you know how deeply spiritual that moment is, regardless your faith or lack thereof. This book is so important in a culture that seems to pretend death isn't the end for all of us. Ms Becker uses death as the framework for how to live life.
Martha Beck's The Way of Integrity. Integrity is my absolute corest of core values. I strive to always be in a place of integrity, so I was intrigued by this title (plus, I think Martha Beck is a genius). Lo and behold, she uses Dante's Divine Comedy (another genius!) as the framework for her point. She says, "Of all the strategies and skills I've ever learned, the ones that actually work are those that help people see where they've abandoned their own deep sense of truth and followed some other set of directives." Amen.
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Def Jam slam poet Suheir Hammad's take on Sept 11 |
Ms Hammad's powerful poem, "First Writing Since."
Take the time to watch. If you're not moved by this, you're not considering the whole, unbelievably complex picture. And quite frankly, you're living in your white privilege. It's long since time we all set that down as we attempt to do our parts to lift up others and bring about more equity to all.
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What do you do when the Universe gives you an answer? |
A little parable to close out the newsletter. |
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A PSD retreat taker's take on the PSD retreat 😄
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I'm putting together 1 or 2 more ***PSD weekend retreats yet this fall. If you're interested, let me know what dates work for you, and I'll add you to the waitlist:
October 8-10
October 15-17
November 5-7
November 12-14
If you think you don't have enough time, you're anxious about not being ready or you're certain you don't have enough insight into what you want next, that's the PERFECT time to do this work. It's not about knowing everything, or even knowing anything about what's next for you. It's about being brave and taking the leap.
***All weekend times are:
Friday: 7-9pm
Saturday: 8am-1pm; 7-9pm
Sunday: 8am-1pm
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Enjoying extraordinary?
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Thanks for reading!
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