11.28.2011

the dressing

this thanksgiving
my mom outdid herself 
yet again


chalk board place cards 
on little birch stumps
+
oyster stuffing and sage rubbed turkey


+
 the puuuuurfect table.....
topped off with my aunt carole 
who visited from fl 

+
mr c...of course :)


grateful me

11.23.2011

the mystery of it all


i sat down to write
....to attempt
in a fumbling, bumbling human m sort of way
to explain these soul shaking feelings
of ebb and flow
of joy and sorrow
of simplicity and complexity
of connectedness and isolation
of love and anger
of fear and acceptance
of confidence and insecurity
of strength and weakness
of yes and no
of optimism and pessimism
of stay or go



and then i read this and i thought
awwww, someone else feels it too.

i bow to the eloquence.....enjoy

and may we all be thankful for the many
ebbs and flows this thanksgiving
xoxo~ m


 

I once participated in a public debate with another scientist on issues surrounding science and religion. I was an atheist with sympathies for the sacred character of human experience and he was an atheist without such sympathies. At one point in the discussion I tried to convince him that inclinations to "spirituality" or a sense of "sacredness" (with or without an institutional religion) was a response to the essential mystery that came with being human. He paused for long moment and then replied.

"There is no mystery"

It took me a while to pick my jaw off the floor and find an appropriate response.

I had made it pretty clear that, being an atheist, I was not arguing for a "God" of the gaps. Neither was I arguing that limits to knowledge (if they exist) imply we should be worshiping before some choice of deity. Instead I was simply pointing to that fundamental weirdness, that "stranger-in-a-strange land" quality of being human. I was pointing to that mystery because I think its best part of the whole trip.



We just find ourselves here. With our individual birth we just "wake-up" and discover ourselves in the midst of an extraordinary world of beauty and sorrow. All around us we see exquisite and exquisitely subtle orders played out effortlessly. From the lazy descent of fall leaves to the slow unfolding of cloudscapes in empty blue skies, it is all just here and we are just here to see it.

Day after day we wake again to find the world still here, waiting for us as we play out our own small dramas with their small triumphs and terrible heartbreaks. And then, remarkably, astonishingly, just here just ends.

For me that is the mystery. No amount of explanation, be it a "Theory of Everything" or a religious theology, will reduce the power of its experience. The primitive quality of feeling, the presence of life and its luminosity, is the mystery and I am damn thankful for it.



It is the essential and unalterable question mark saturating the verb "to be" that makes science worth pursuing and gives art its potency. It sets our loves and loss into a context that has no context and somehow makes it all bearable.

I will feel that mystery again as my family converges from across the state and across the continent to gather at the Thanksgiving table. I will feel it, knowing how deeply I love them all and how bound I am to lose them all. I will feel the mystery and be thankful to it, to them and to the world entire.

What else, after all, is there to do?


images here





11.22.2011

attitude of gratitude



wishing you a love and laughter filled holiday
with those you most adore.
xoxo ~ mrs m

11.21.2011

true blood


all this vampire fever has me wondering,
are they real?

while i can't be proof positive about the blood sucking kind,
i am 100% sure the emotional kind exist.

how do i know this?
i work with one.


my co worker...
definately shooting for evil.

here's an average morning:
me, bright,smiley and appropriately shine-y (?): 
"good morning nameless colleague (nc), how was your evening?"

to which nc, not bothering to look in my direction
responds:
 "i hate it when you're in before me, it throws off my whole day"


or this exchange:

nc:  
"i don't really like what you posted on our social media site" 

me, trying my hardest to be super accomidating in the face of
such wonderful and positive energy:
 "grrrrreat, so i'm more than happy to put something up 
you would like.  suggestions?"

nc:
"no suggestions, just not what you put up."


i could go on....
 about how she got our boss fired.
prefers to sit in total darkness.
insists on some 007 computer cover
so no one can see what shes "working on"
mumbles to herself
sucks coffee, water, soup anything....through a straw
or how she doesn't like....well, anyone

but all that i can handle...really
it's the total pessimism, the total negativity,
the stone cold bitchiness i can't abide.

i have been troubled by this
i have taken this personally
i have tried to win her over

tonight, i am done with vampires
(with a small exception for bill and edward)
tonight i say


some people just like being miserable


i'm just glad i'm not one of them
~m

feelings found here 

11.17.2011

11.11.2011

morning joe




happy 11.11.11

it's a cool crisp friday in november
one of those aww-yeah kind o days.
so it's with a cup of joe in my hands
and some resolutions in mind 
that i sit down to change my world.

because today i am


enjoy all the moments 
this weekend brings your way.

m

11.10.2011

bad to the b


i'm pretty sure i was a bad girl in a previous life


not a bad girl wanna be
but an honest to god 


thrill seeking


dreadlock rockin


tattoo flashing


bad boy loving


party going


catch me if you can


 bad girl.

now a days
this is about as bad as it gets 


but i still like knowing she's in there
just looking for the right moment 


to reappear....

xxxx~ mrs m

all kinds of bad girls found
here 

11.07.2011

the business of a better world



with decreasing income and rising prices, with foreclosures and joblessness, environmental disasters and global warming.... it can be difficult to hold on to the optimism of a better world.


but this past week i had a rare glimpse into what a better world might actually look like. at a conference under the auspices of Business Social Responsibility: RedefiningLeadership, i witnessed 1000 + companies attempting and in many cases succeeding, in leveraging their enormous spheres of influence and powerful brands to bring about social change. the fact that i was skeptical of the likes of pepsi and GE, chevron and microsoft as they sat there describing clean water initiatives in africa and communication inroads in india, is a testimate to just how dire our situation has become. we have lost our faith in government and are desperately looking for a leader. the irony that such a leader might turn out to be one of the very beasts that got us here in the first place...wasn't lost.

so is there a magic pill?



or is this just a massive ploy by c-level execs to preemptively greenwash the future while hoping we forget about a past riddled by decades of unrestrained consumption and greed? it remains to be seen. but whatever the true motive, it has us talking and the change is positive.



so what does this better world look like? it looks like a world where companies don't just take from the people's and communities where they operate but give back as well. it looks like a world where corporations refuse to turn a blind eye on issues like modern day slavery, unsafe working conditions and fair wages but acknowledge the very success of their business is inherently tied to the people bringing their products to fruition. it looks like a world with clean air, green forests, fresh water and blue oceans and one in which corporations understand that their survival is tenuously tied to this place we call home not only today but also tomorrow.




it seems it is no longer enough to do good on our own time but return to work and think only of profit and shareholder value. it is necessary that we urge our corporations to be better leaders and stewards of responsibility. and in doing so, corporations aren't just throwing money away or frivolously focusing attention on issues not relevant to their business...in this age of hyper-transparency acts of social responsibility serve to protect brands, attract greater talent, retain innovative employees and improving supply chains operations. and what CEO doesn't like a win-win?

hugs ~ mrs m

images found here