Y
Poem For The Theme
Mary Oliver sums up the “make it count” feelings. I love the “each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth” line.
When Death Comes
Mary Oliver
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
36: Make It Count
I was stuck for a theme/resolution for this year until the very morning of my birthday Sunday, when I woke up and thought, “If I’m lucky, I’m about halfway through the time I have here. I’d better make it count.”
So there’s the theme for 2016: Make it count. As I told Doc that morning, “I want to do more than just sell things to people and plan what to buy next.” I want to join my sister-in-law the next time she volunteers at the food bank. I want to pull my head out of my phone and look around. I want to resist the temptation to dial it in at work. I want pay attention to my actions and thoughts and make sure they’re putting me where I want to be. And I think I want to get that tattoo I talked about last year.
So here we go! Let’s make it count.
Champagne Weekend
A new year and my birthday happened over the weekend and we partied it up.