"I have worked as a doctor in many places and I have seen where to be poor is to be bereft of rights."

Japanese Maples. Need I say more?

November.  It was rainy.  I discovered gluten has been causing my migraines for the last thirteen years.   I explored the city.  I read.  I wrote five papers. 

Café: Bauhaus, Capitol Hill.  Didn’t enjoy it.  It was a beautiful day outside, but inside it was muggy, loud and just plain snobby.  Coffee didn’t do much for me either.  Sad.

Restaurant: Ballet, Capitol Hill.  Yeah, hi!  Hole in the wall Vietnamese food?  I’m game.  This is some of the best fo I’ve had.

Thing: The Arboretum.  I skiped school one Monday and Aurora and I headed to the Arboretum just in time to see the Japanese maples in all their glory.  It was a peacefull day full of romps through the magical forest, dreams of someday retiring to a bench with a view of beauty and feeling a little at home admiring the plants of Aotearoa in the Pacific Circle Garden. 

Books: Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Truss; Gluten Free Girl, Ahren; Imagining Ourselves; Sailing Alone Around the Room, Collins; Out of The Silent Planet, C. S. Lewis.

The End.

fivehundredwords: The 750th Time.

I am a woman.

I was born in affluence. 

I was born in a country where my voice not only matters, but is encouraged.  I was born in a place without restrictions.  I had the stunning realization a few years ago that with this freedom, I carry the burden of obligation to my gender. 

I am a living, breathing, beautiful, powerful woman who happens to have a pen in hand and a heart for women around the world whose lives are directly affected by lack of resources.  I can’t quite wrap my head around it all: women without access to clean water, medical attention, education, freedom?  Women around the world who die of things that most in my country wouldn’t think twice about like childbirth and TB?

You know how sometimes when you see the 700^th picture of a child in Africa, you become numb to the images?  I read the news for fun.  I read books about global issues like some read novels.  But I still waver.  I’m sad to say that sometimes I catch myself thinking, “yeah, I already know about that.”  But then something happens.  The next story I read, the next image I see sends me over the edge.  Suddenly I’m looking at a picture of a mother dying of AIDS holding her malnourished child who is about to be an orphan, and they are all that matter. 

Everything stops.

This woman is dying of a disease, that if she had access to very common treatments, she could live with.  Her child is dying from hunger…

I just    

there are not

how can  

no. 

tears.

But I must find my words again.  Not for me.  For them.  For us.  For women.  Elie Wiesel, in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech talks about how we are all connected.  “That while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.”   I can go on with my life.  Listen to my ipod on the bus on my way to Urban Outfitters and grab a coffee on the way.  But these things don’t determine my quality of life. 

What determines my quality of life is the quality of life of women around the world.  Am I using my resources wisely?  Am I using my words powerfully?  Am I taking every opportunity handed me?  Am I keeping myself connected to the greater source of life and strength at the core of all women? 

I’m never going to fully understand the plight of these women.  But I’m going to try.  I’m going to try to acquire understanding, to build relationships and bring awareness.  I will tell you their stories 749 times so that when you hear it for the 750^th time, your heart will break and you will start to grasp the gravity of the situation.  It’s then that we will be connected, and our outrage and strength will overpower the factors at work against us.  

I’m going to use my words for the benefit of my gender, bringing to light our struggles and great triumphs.

What will you use?

I Always Meet These Women on The Colbert Report.

I find Lara Logan to be incredibly clear and strong.  She left Stephen Colbert snarky-less.  For that, she gets my respect. 

 I will be the first to admit that I don't understand war.  I don't like it.  Recent decisions made by our President both confuse and sadden me.  However, I don't know enough about Afghanistan to explain why.   This woman makes the subject approachable. Her interview helped me realize that A) I need to be learning more about the situation and B) No matter how much I know, there will always be elements to wars like these that I will not and cannot understand.  

Some are starting to think that Obama is a false prophet.  I don't.  I think that he is a leader that has and will continue to inspire people to drive this country in a new direction.  He is one person just as you and I are individuals.  Not one of us can change the country by ourselves.  We need to band together with each other, with him, with our enemies and we need change the way we spend, the way eat, the way we fight, the way we give.  Until WE make that change not one stimulus package or troop withdrawal will matter. 

The burden to end the war is in the hands of our nations leaders and those on the ground in Afghanistan.  The burden to cause change, the burden to undo terror and bring hope—that is ours. 

Full Moon Dream Board: The Stories Within

Every twenty-eight days the moon is full. It is large and round and reflecting its little heart out. Every twenty-eight days I can't sleep, I write like mad and I seem to find some new vision I feel I must live. A few months ago I discovered the Full Moon Dream Board.

It's a chance to harness all that energy and creativity and focus on something beautiful. It's a time to dedicate the next month, the next cycle of the moon the earth and my own natural rhythms to something meaningful.

This month it's "The Stories Within". I came across a quote the other day by William Zinsser (whom I am in love with and plan on hanging a picture of him on my bedroom wall like I did Brad Pitt when I was 16). In his book On Writing Well, Zinsser says, "...any time you can tell a story in the form of a quest or pilgrimage you'll be ahead of the game." Brilliant. Beautiful. Zinsser, you are my hero.

This blog is part of my quest, my stories are my pilgrimage. This month I will write the words that have been wondering through the wilderness of my mind. And like the dancers and animals and ships hanging by strings, I will frame them and find joy in them. I will tell a great story.