The Twisty Paths of Giving and Creativity

Holy Well-filling, Batman: I've had some dreams and others have too. Checking my email at work today I received a message from a friend of a friend who had dreamed about me over the weekend, asking if I'd like to take her place at a workshop led by Julia Cameron in Sedona, AZ…this coming weekend. I couldn't peel myself away from the commitments I have in order to accept such a generous and unexpected gift (and remember, it's on my horoscopian to-do list to let myself accept more gifts this year, so that weighed on me a bit) but the gesture alone has just transformed my outlook today. It's been too long since I've reminded myself of how lucky I am with my life and the people around me.

One of my dreams over the weekend concerned a former colleague who returned to the office bearing gifts, which I was able to accept in the spirit in which the dream-person offered--she was just being nice, and I was grateful for her kindness. (We'll just forget that part later in the dream when I remembered to my horror that gifts were not condoned by my company, and the growing suspicion that it was Former Colleague's plan all along to try to undermine my credibility…) Again, Fortune smiles at me in many mysterious ways.

All in all it was a fine, longish weekend. I took Friday off, and though I worked a little in the morning, that effort actually allowed me mentally to run a few errands workplace-niggling-free, including fruitless visits to two glass stores for creative fodder for the glass class. (I'm sure making the 6:00 a.m. gym class that day helped the positive outlook, particularly this one, which ended with me and a classmate in the parking lot talking about how good life is, even during the supposedly crappy parts).

On Saturday, I did manage to make more if slow progress on a couple of other projects, and picked up my first attempt at glass fusing, which came out pretty well.

nightlight slumped
Originally uploaded by suzipaw

After glass class, I stopped off at the local drug store to buy Elmers Glue and walked out with colorful new patio chair pads, inspiring me to clean up some of the outdoor spaces including liberating the lounge chairs from their garage hibernation, thereby ensuring that rain will be coming soon.

Movie recommendations: with finals looming, M chose to watch "Nancy Drew" over "No Country for Old Men," and we both actually very much enjoyed the wholesome "she does it herself" message, particularly with minimal hi-tech gadgetry supporting her sleuthing. We also watched "I Am Legend" last night, which mysteriously kept me up late last night, hovering between memories of New York and that summer in grade school I spent escaping the heat by watching "Omega Man" over and over and over again, in rotation with "The Posidon Adventure."

I'm off to San Francisco next week, and have already laid in plans for a South Indian meal with a friend on Monday night, which I'm sure will cushion the blow of coming home over the weekend only to return to the City the following week. Another thing to look forward to*: a friend stopped by last night to show off his fine new truck (M had been ogling a similar model just the evening before), purchased to haul his fine water craft hither and yon, and which hopefully will be hauling us along for the ride to Lake Sonoma during that weekend interstitial.

And now, I really should work on that love sonnet for A Prairie Home Companion…(how's yours coming along, Rebecca?)

*Did I mention a part of the Lamott-Gilbert discussion about living in the moment? Elizabeth Gilbert spoke about how difficult it still is for her to live in the moment, but was heartened by a writer whose name now escapes me who posited that happiness is rooted mostly in fond memories and looking forward to new adventures. So her advice, which I take to heart, is: take lots of pictures and make lots of plans.