Marianne Williamson (or Nelson Mandela??)

"...Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-- Marianne Williamson

The Philosophress Blogs!

Check her out here -- I'll put links to more blogs on the left over the weekend....

Back from the Land Beyond?

Yes, I'm still alive, and much has changed. The Philosophress has come and gone (sadness!) I recall a conversation we had around Christmas time -- something to the effect of "We can't be in California together, because there's just too many bad habits and there's something in the house she's allergic to," and what do we do 5 months later?

We started the week off by spending a couple days on Catalina Island, SoCal's answer to Cinqueterre. I, of course, being the swarthy man that I am, promptly burned my pasty-white skin, which meant that our outdoor activities the rest of the time (kayaking) required a bucket hat, long sleeve collared shirt, and a life vest draped over my legs. H-o-t-t.

The Philosophress has been doing a sweet amount of traveling, with trips to Mexico, China, and Puerto Rico from March - July of this year. I have resolved within myself that I need to get in on that action, so I've revved up the job search again. Leave something in the comments section if you want to review my personal website and give me pointers, and thanks to all of you who've already chimed in.

It's interesting -- I came across some of my self-made business cards from 2004 (before the whole "moving to CA" debacle and when I was trying to find a job in Indy), and the tagline below my name reads

"Integrating written communication and technological acumen to enhance your organization's online and print publications"


It makes my full-time positions the last couple years a bit ironic in retrospect.

So anyway, I've decided that I've had enough fun in CA, so this week I've applied for two university writing/publication positions, and I plan on hitting up Habitat for Humanity, who has several interesting positions available at the ATL HQ (special thanks to Pheidipides for pointing these out).

As I said to The Philosophress earlier, it would be *so* nice to set my vision, set a goal (job in ATL by the summer or early fall), and be able to find the right combination of actions that bring this to fruition.

We (heart) Natural Disasters!

Well I should post some good news here in case any of you are wondering about the health and well-being of The Philosophress and her exploits in China. From her perspective, there is all good news, as she was in Beijing at the time of the earthquake. She called me this morning (nighttime her time), so I didn't even have time to look at news before my fears were allayed.

She sounded rather normal and unharried, so I take that to mean that the catastrophe did not and will not have a demonstrative effect on the remainder of her trip. She is heading to Hong Kong on Tuesday and flies back to Cali on Friday. She said they were driving in a bus and noticed people standing outside a building. At first they assumed people were waiting in line to purchase Olympic tickets, but then realized that *all* the buildings had people standing outside...

I am especially appreciative of the Duke emergency system -- I received a call from a campus employee notifying me that they had contacted the group and verified everyone's safety, finishing by sending me an updated itinerary for the remainder of the trip (to my untrained eyes, nothing has changed, with the possible exception of inter-city departure times). In all, a very peaceful, professional, and reassuring experience in spite of the dreadful and chaotic atmosphere elsewhere in the country.

I feel very blessed to have her living adventure without being in the "eye of the storm" (to borrow from earlier experiences!) It humanizes the situation for me, and I find my heart more invested in following the relief and rescue efforts than I would be if I didn't know someone a few hundred miles from the epicenter.

~~~

On the humorous side, what on EARTH is it with us and natural disasters while traveling?! The Philosophress' superpowers must be especially potent lately, bending the tectonic plates to her will. This is our reinterpretation of the Butterfly Effect: The Philosophress thinks about me halfway across the world, her heart goes pitter-patter, and look what happens...



(I of course do not mean to make light of the tragedy of this situation

Not Intentional, but a good reminder

So this morning, I noticed that Tony Dungy's autobiography was sitting in my bathroom, only partially read. My parents bought it for me as a Christmas present, and while I've heard many people speak highly of it, I haven't gotten around to finishing it.

The book's title is Quiet Strength.

As I think about living life authentically (and everything The Philosophress needs me to be), "quiet strength" probably wouldn't be near the top of the list of things I should focus on.

Just a morning reminder that what works for some won't necessarily work for me.