The Answer Is Yes
Can I respond to life's joys and griefs and challenges with this word?
Rehoboth Beach, DE shortly after sunrise
I wouldn’t describe myself as a “naysayer,” but my instinctive response to life isn’t always a “yes” either. However, I realize, more and more the older I get, that an open-hearted acceptance of whatever happens to us is the best way to go through the world (and by that I do not mean continuous enjoyment; some things we go through are a sad slog for sure). In improv comedy, a cardinal rule is to keep the “bit” going by ALWAYS responding to your partner with “yes…and (fill in the blank)” —in other words, building on whatever situation you’ve been handed. And what is life but one big improv, right? (the correct answer is “yes.”:-)
BEACH REFLECTION:
So many changes, these past four decades of shore summers. Some pain for sure, but also so much joy, watching our five children (and now Aiden and Peter too) growing up at the water’s edge. I wrote a reflection on a long-gone, fondly remembered, Rehoboth donut shop for Delaware Beach Life magazine—there are many kinds of sweetness…
2007 was a tough year in my life. My mom had died a few months before, and my bipolar diagnosis was not yet a year old. I was still really struggling, and music was my solace. One soundtrack I had on repeat was from the wonderful, Oscar-winning movie Once. Based on their true-life love story, musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova both broke and mended my heart.
VIDEO: Once movie trailer:
As sometimes happens in life, Glen and Marketa did not stay together as a couple, and I lost track of them. Imagine my joy to hear their new album recently featured on NPR, and to share this life-affirming song, testifying to their forever friendship…
VIDEO: “The Answer Is Yes”
WONDROUS WEBSITE:
The interwebs may be filled with junk, but there are also many treasures glinting in the rubble. Here’s a gem I’ve found; each posting nourishes my soul…
RAVENOUS BUTTERFLIES (gorgeous artwork paired with memorable quotes):
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
Rumi
Art: Mary Cassatt – Red poppies, 1880
BLOG PREVIEW: Mosey on over to Working Title tomorrow, and be reassured! We’re not aimless wanderers, we’re “flaneurs” (doesn’t EVERYTHING sound better in French?)
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“UU’s,” like the late great Christopher Reeve, or no, we can ALL be superheroes, using our incredible powers to do good. Here’s to making this a better world, my friends!!