Saturday, July 31, 2010

new year's resolutions





today i am 59. i have completed 59 years, and go
waltzing into the 60th.
i don't have words to describe just how weird this is.
i never, ever expected to live this long. or wanted to.

be that as it may, things change. and so have i.

i decided that it is more fitting to give rather
than receive on my birthday. for all of you, infusions of light,
that awaken the highest and best in us all, on all levels,
that we may all prosper and grow, daily.
the local folks also get chocolate cupcakes!

this being a new year, i have some intentions.

as i refine my "seeing", i take lots of increasingly fine photos.
i get a better camera. (in the works as we speak.)
i tell the truth. to myself.

i travel to places that i haven't seen before.
i deepen my existing relationships, and create some new ones.
i write MUCH better poetry. (can't get much worse-no wait, i'm not rod mckuen bad yet.)
i learn to play the harmonica.
i continue to celebrate each day by asking, "what good comes my way today?"
and then i find it.
of course, i continue with yoga, as my guiding light.
maybe, just maybe, i'll do a dropback.
oh yes- i WILL rock and roll!



and then there's this:


i can say, i'm in much better shape than junior:



and some days are like this:



no matter. i'll take them all.

14 comments:

  1. Happy B-day!!

    I love your post and your New Year resolutions!! they are great, and thing I will adopt some of them ;)

    Loving your growth as a photographer, you are getting better and better.
    I'm starting my course this Monday, let see how it goes.

    loveNlight
    Gabi

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  2. Happy Birthday Lorraine.

    I wish you robust good health, serenity, poetic inspiration and the fulfillment of your very worthy intentions. Intentions is such a softer word than resolutions.

    You have added inspiration to my days with your blog reflections, your artistic eye, your humor and your yoga.

    After a long hiatus, I am resuming yoga practice. I believe finding your blog has helped push me in that direction. Thank you for sharing your lovely self with us. May you have a special day today. May good things come your way all year long. Namaste.

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  3. gabi-thank you so much! please, help yourself to any intention you wish. i'm looking forward to hearing about your course. i'm still looking for one here. most are already filled up!

    tr-thank you for your kind words. i'm (of course!)delighted to hear that you're resuming yoga. we all come to things in our own time and pacing. may all your good wishes to me return to you 100 fold. and please, keep sending me poems-you've brought me to new writers. namaste

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  4. Happy Birthday. According to my calculations, you were 16 during what is now known as "The Summer of Love." Hey, that can't be too bad!

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  5. Happy Birthday, Raine thanks for the music, thanks for the photography, thanks for the poetry. Thanks for being here as we done get old.
    All the best to you in the coming year. Love you lots. Mike (hugs)

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  6. You done got old! Happy Birthday!

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  7. kirk-thanks. yep, i caught the tail end of the hippie stuff, and loved every minute of it. at least, i think i did. memory...fading...

    tag-it's been a pleasure. i am happy to get old in your company, and the rest of the band of bloggers. hugs all around!

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  8. I hope I have not already sent you this Mary Oliver poem, which brings tears to my eyes....


    The Gift

    I wanted to thank the mockingbird for the vigor of his song.
    Every day he sang from the rim of the field, while I picked
    Blue berries or just idled in the sun.
    Every day he came fluttering by to show me, and why not,
    the white blossoms in his wings.
    So one day I went there with a machine, and played some songs
    of Mahler.
    The mockingbird stopped singing, he came close and seemed
    to listen.
    Now when I go down to the field, a little Mahler spills
    through the sputters of his song.
    How happy I am, lounging in the light, listening as the music
    floats by.
    And I give thanks also for my mind, the thought of giving
    a gift.
    And mostly I'm grateful that I take this world so seriously.

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  9. From one poet (Wendell Berry) to another...

    How To Be a Poet

    by Wendell Berry

    (to remind myself)

    Make a place to sit down.
    Sit down. Be quiet.
    You must depend upon
    affection, reading, knowledge,
    skill—more of each
    than you have—inspiration,
    work, growing older, patience,
    for patience joins time
    to eternity. Any readers
    who like your poems,
    doubt their judgment.

    ii

    Breathe with unconditional breath
    the unconditioned air.
    Shun electric wire.
    Communicate slowly. Live
    a three-dimensioned life;
    stay away from screens.
    Stay away from anything
    that obscures the place it is in.
    There are no unsacred places;
    there are only sacred places
    and desecrated places.

    iii

    Accept what comes from silence.
    Make the best you can of it.
    Of the little words that come
    out of the silence, like prayers
    prayed back to the one who prays,
    make a poem that does not disturb
    the silence from which it came.

    Source: Poetry (January 2001).

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  10. What's the difference between a dropback and a URDHVA DHANURASANA?

    Happy Happy Birthday. Why would you want to be dead before 60? Don't you know the Chinese say life begins at 60? We get to reinvent ourselves.

    Love what you're planning for yourself this year. Look forward to seeing (and possibly hearing) the fruits of it..

    From the latest book I'm reading, "Life on earth is a head-scratcher for anyone who's paying attention." Anne Lamott in Imperfect Birds

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  11. tr-thank you for the gift of both poems. i hadn't seen the mary oliver one, and i love the wendell berry. think i may have to put that one in the "quote of the day" space for a bit.

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  12. kass- urdhva dhanurasana is done from the floor up-you lay on your back and push up into it. a dropback is done from a standing position, and you drop back into urdhva dhanurasana. i currently have insufficient strength, and oversufficient fear to do that!

    i didn't want to be dead before 60, i wanted to be dead before 40! i've reinvented myself so many times, i should have the patent on it. or at least write a book.

    i just finished reading "hard laughter" by anne lamott. what a marvelous writer!

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  13. okatb-gee, thanks-i think! i'm still younger than you *snicker*

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  14. It seems like just yesterday I was 59... well, maybe many yesterday!

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