Get out the noisemakers

Happy New Year’s Eve! Tonight I’m going to ring out the old and bring in the new, as the saying goes, by observing a tradition that my friend Laurie and I started a number of years back.

Every year for New Year’s we write a letter to ourselves. This letter looks back on some of the accomplishments of the previous year and where things stand as it is being written. The letter also spells out some hopes for the coming year, some idea of where I’d like to be heading. Notice that I did not say that the letter contains New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like resolutions, as I believe each moment is a chance to start fresh. I also believe that I do not need to wait for January first to resolve to make improvements. I’ve personally found that making specific New Year’s resolutions puts too much pressure on whatever goal it is I’m trying to reach, thereby dooming it to failure. So I don’t resolve, but I do look forward.

Often Laurie and I will share these letters with each other, but I otherwise don’t broadcast my New Year’s letter. It’s for me and very close friends. I’ve been doing this for a few years now, so every New Year’s Eve I also reread the previous letters I’ve written myself. It’s a great joy to find out how far I’ve come.

Although I’ve had a rough year—I’m still unemployed, suffering from the economic troubles that are engulfing the country right now—I’ve also had a pretty good one. I started dancing, I started this blog, and I did a lot of other writing. I just know that next year’s going to be even better. I hope this evening finds you somewhere having fun with friends or enjoy the company of your own wonderful self. See you next year!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

217. What New Year’s Eve traditions do you observe? Share your traditions with others. Also, consider giving the letter-writing tradition a try.

I’m listening

I walk a lot, and thankfully now the snow has gone, so it’s become a little easier. There’s many things I enjoy about walking, including the chance to hear odd snippets of conversation from the other pedestrians. I’m going to share some of these with you today.

Walking home from dancing last Friday, two guys walked right past me, and as we were waiting for the light to change so we could cross, one said to the other: “Come on, everyone gets drunk at least once in their life and punches a cop.” I started laughing at that, and the same guy said to me: Aren’t I right?” I told him I had never had that experience, and felt deprived, but would try to make up for it. As they walked on, he told his friend that when you were in your twenties you were supposed to be wild and crazy. It made me laugh, especially as I spent most of my twenties studying for exams.

Walking downtown, I heard another man say to his friends: “See, Seattle is great. Aren’t you glad you didn’t ride the bus all the way to Vancouver?” His friends agreed that, yes, they had been glad to get off the bus, whereupon the man said: “Vancouver is a little nicer, I’ll grant you, but not nine hours on a bus nicer.”  I think that should be our tourism slogan—”almost as good as Vancouver, but a lot closer.” I haven’t been to Vancouver yet, so I can’t rate the validity of this man’s claim, but I thought it was an interesting thing to say.

Today as I stood waiting for the bus I heard another little interchange. These guys were talking about musicians, and one man told the other that Elvis would definitely be able to take Prince in a fist fight, while the other man felt that Prince would be able to beat Elvis up. Neither offered any good reason for their contention. I simply wondered how they’d gotten to that point. Why would anyone consider the fighting strength of these two disparate musicians? How could this conversation have gotten started?

The sidewalks are full of this sort of street theater, and all of it is free for the taking. It’s one of the reasons I love to walk so much, and one of the reasons it’s so much more fun to walk outside than on a gym treadmill. And shouldn’t exercise be fun?

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

216. Go for a walk and keep your ears open. If you hear something entertaining, share it with a friend later.

Cracking spines in pursuit of pleasure

Invariably, a word geek like me always turns the discussion back to books. I’ve read quite a number of lovely ones lately, and these gems have reminded me of other great reads I’d like to share.

I just read a book called Dreaming of Gwen Stefani by Evan Mandery. This was one of those novels I hadn’t heard of on  my own. I picked it up at the library just because it looked interesting. I was not disappointed. If you’re not familiar with Gwen Stefani, she’s the very attractive lead singer of a band called No Doubt. This book is about one man’s obsession with meeting her. Although he works at a hot dog stand, the instant he first sees one of her videos, he knows that he and Gwen are soul mates. I loved this book. It was well-written, and truly unusual. I also love the odd diversions the book takes into science. This is a somewhat odd thing for me to like, because I’m not much interested in science, but this work contained the kind of science that fascinates even a liberal arts major like me.

This book reminded me of another work I loved that you may not yet have discovered. Comedian Steve Martin is also a playwright and novelist, and I love his writing. He wrote the book Shopgirl, on which the movie was based. That’s a great book, but even better is The Pleasure of My Company which features another strange and wonderful narrator like the narrator in the Gwen Stefani book.

Friends turn me onto other books, and I’ve recently finished reading Wicked and Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. I didn’t think I’d like these books. I love the movie The Wizard of Oz, but had never been a fan of the original books, so stories set in Oz could not attract me simply by their subject matter. That said, I loved these books. They explore the hidden back story of many of the major characters in The Wizard of Oz. I’m hooked, and I’m on the waiting list for the new one. I hope this author keeps writing. If he does, I’ll keep reading. I’m always looking for new books to cuddle up with. Perhaps you’ll discover some of these fun reads for yourself.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

215. If these books intrigue you, seek them out and read them. What books do you love? Tell people about them (or post a comment to this blog) so that others can read your finds, too.

Thanks for the shoveling

It’s fun to see Seattle through the lens of snow. It’s uncommon, and it makes certain things stand out more than they usually would. I love the short trees that have bright red berries all over their branches. I might not have noticed this without the color contrast of the snow against the berries. I also love the merchants and private citizens who have been kind enough to clear their sidewalks so that those of us on foot have an easier time of it. I’ve thanked a number of them out on my travels this week. Soon all the snow will be gone, and all the sidewalks will be clear, but I will remember these small niceties, and be thankful.

See you tomorrow!

Snow going

It’s been over a week, and Seattle is still suffering from the snow storm blues. It’s not that the weather has been so extreme here; it’s just that Seattle is ill-equipped to deal with it. I am reminded of the storms I used to endure in all the snowy climates I’ve lived in, and I know this is only temporary, so I’m doing all right. I’m even finding some silver linings. This little weather interlude has really made me appreciate the bus system even more than I already do. Many of the routes I take have been cancelled most of the week, and I’ve been forced to walk everywhere on the slippery sidewalks. The busses are a luxury in comparison. I also truly appreciate the Metro drivers who are still slogging along on the difficult roads. I can’t wait for our lovely rain to come back!

See you tomorrow!

Happy happy joy joy

Happy Holidays to you, wherever you are, and whatever you celebrate. I’ve been tromping around a lot in the last few days, walking through the snow everywhere. I’m enjoying the walks, but I don’t have much choice in it, either. The bus system is having trouble getting around, too. Right now there’s a Metro bus jackknifed onto the sidewalk in front of my apartment. It doesn’t look like anyone got hurt, so it’s just more inconvenience.

Weather is supposed to get better here soon, but until then it’s hard to move around. The posting may be erratic for a few days. I’m planning to spend this holiday evening relaxing, and this weekend I’ll spend some quality time cat sitting one of my favorite felines.

Once again, happy holidays!

Calves of steel

I don’t know where Seattle ranks on the list of the nation’s healthiest cities, but I’m discovering that it’s been good for me, especially in the last year. The city has been sunk in a crazy panic brought on by a little bit of snow and ice, and so lots of the bus routes have been suspended until further notice as Metro waits for conditions to improve. This means that I’ve had to walk even more than usual, and I just walked up eight steep blocks to where I’m sitting. Surprisingly, it just wasn’t that difficult. My calves are used to the inclines because Seattle is laid out like a giant Stairmaster. I thought that was pretty cool.

I also just got a bathroom scale at a white elephant party. I could have traded it away, but I’ve actually been wanting one. The universe makes deliveries at parties, and I was happy to receive the gift. I’d been wanting the scale because I’ve lost some weight since I started going dancing back in February, but since I didn’t have a scale, I had no idea how much I’d lost since my last weigh-in at the doctor’s office. The magic number was thirty-three. I’ve lost thirty-three pounds since I started dancing, all without changing my eating habits or doing anything but having a joyful good time. How cool is that? I need to lose more, but I’m sure that’ll come as I keep dancing.

I think Seattle has been so healthy for me because I love it here. When you love the place you live, it’s even easier to bloom where you’re planted. I’ve also become really focused on using joy as a guidance system, and when I choose my course based on joy, I tend to steer towards healthier things. That’s a lot different than the way I used to do things—I used to use guilt as the strongest bearing in my compass. Guilt just steered me onto the rocks of despair, and once you’re on those rocks, it’s hard to get off. Now that I’ve broken free of that, I’m glad that I’ve landed in Seattle, and joy is likely to keep me here for a good long time.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

214. How does the place you live in contribute to or detract from your health? Also, take a moment to evaluate whether you are steering by joy or guilt. Is this working for you? Why or why not?

Square and happy

It’s a good thing I took some time to rest yesterday, because my schedule is pretty full today. I’m excited, though, because there’s a big holiday square dance going on, full of many other dancers I’ve never met. My group is planning to dance among them. It should be a really good time, whirling around in the Seattle Center and celebrating the season. I hope you all are going to have some fun today, too.

See you tomorrow!

Many paths to joy

Today is Saturday, and I’ve got the best plan ever. I’m not going to leave the house. (I posted this blog early so I could manage that!) I was really excited when I realized I’d managed to have a day where I had nothing at all scheduled, so I scheduled it for myself. I’m going to clean up anything that needs cleaning, I’m going to cook up a nice pot of soup and enjoy the savory aromas, and I’m going to do art. I’m also going to wallow in the quiet, because there’s so much noise everywhere I go. Silence is a special treat, and I’m looking forward to it.

See you tomorrow!

I spy a waltz

Wednesday I went line dancing, and tonight I’m going out for regular country dancing, which will include all sorts of dances. There’s always a certain contingent of the crowd that doesn’t dance. They are there to watch.

It’s an interesting dynamic, and one I participate in myself. I don’t know how to do every line dance, although I know quite a few now. Sometimes I sit out a dance or two to catch my breath, or because I didn’t grab a partner quickly enough. I like to watch the dancing, too. I learn things from watching the other dancers, and I appreciate the grace and skill of many of the people on the floor. When I go dancing, I always feel like there’s a free floor show for me to enjoy whenever I want to stop long enough to watch it.

As a dancer, I also enjoy the watchers. Sometimes one of them will stop me as I’m leaving the club and tell me that they enjoy watching me dance. That’s so sweet, and it makes me feel great, because I’ve worked hard to learn what I’ve learned so far. Besides, it means I’m spreading the joy. I know I’m having a great time when I’m dancing, and if someone else enjoys watching it, I’m just multiplying the benefits. That has to be good.

I also love to pull new people out onto the floor. That’s one of the reasons I’m enjoying leading. As a good leader, you can dance with people who haven’t gotten much practice and get them out there enjoying themselves. Some of them hang back, telling me that they really don’t know much. I always tell them that they aren’t going to get better by just watching, although, as I said, you can pick up some tips. Some of these people are also intimidated by the dancers who seem to know what they are doing. I tell them that everyone learned by doing it. Once I manage to coax them out there, they all seem to have fun, and a lot of them get hooked. I love to watch, and I love to dance. I love being able to introduce some of the spectators to the joys of dancing. Let the music begin!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

213. Is there something you love to watch that you’re not certain you can do? Give it a try. You just might surprise yourself. Remember that no one is an expert right away.