new life

This evening, while eating pigs-in-a-blanket (and some of the other creations I made with that quickie pizza dough I stirred up) with my family, I experienced a sudden feeling of happiness with my "new" life as an unemployed mother. The dishes have been staying washed for weeks, I'm chipping away at chores that have needed doing, I'm enjoying days at the park with homeschool friends and yard time and meals with dear neighbors. Though Henry would disagree some of the time, I think I'm generally a nice person to be with right now.

And then there was this little note from Thich Nhat Hanh (via Oprah's magazine) to me tucked away in his book (which I'm giving away) Living Buddha, Living Christ.

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar."

Oh yeah, my Buddhist mentor. Oh yeah.

There's a lot about my dearly-departed job that I'm missing: hanging around exceptional elders, the art of "getting things done," the many opportunities I had for singing-with, laughing-with, listening-to others, my weekly meditation given at Wednesday afternoon worship.

There's also a piece I'm not missing: working with others to figure out how to make ourselves look great while (IMHO) diverting some of our best energy away from the task of intentional, sustainable, compassionate living.

I worked for a lovely institution and I wish it and its dears well. Oh yes I do.

As I sort through my library (which I've been carrying like a giant bag of sorrows in both trunks of our cars for about a month and a half), these are some of the titles I'm keeping:

The Spiritual Life and Practical Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill
(That woman lived a great life).
Prayer, Fear, and Our Powers by Flora Slosson Wuellner
A Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser

...and lots of others. I am glad to release some of them, though, because I'm weighed down by too many books. Let go, let go, let go.

Here are some of the things I'm cherishing.