Well, today I had a lovely breakfast with a friend from long ago. It was delightful to catch up. I don't think I'd seen Lorinda since we had dinner at their house shortly after Colin was born. He was born in 1993. Yikes! Really? Allow me to recommend having breakfast with an old friend. It was a pleasure.
After breakfast I had a list of errands to face. These days I'm chauffeured around by my mom or dad. Still not allowed to drive, you see, and they are SO graciously helping me accomplish my do-list before departure next Tuesday.
But guess what the first errand of the day was. According to my own instructions, it was "Buy a new bathing suit." Noooooooooo!
Buying a new bathing suit is not a task that faint hearted women should face. Men are TOTALLY different. I know this because I have 4 of them in my life and they couldn't care less what they swim in. They swim in the shorts they have on, their boxers, torn and faded board shorts from a hundred years ago, or, most favorite of all, nothing. Left to their own devices, they would definitely swim in nothing. Dorks.
(Maybe I'm just jealous.)
Here's the thing: I bought a new suit today and it was pretty much a painless event. I was SHOCKED.
Was it painless because I just look so great in a swimsuit? Oh, no. Nothing could be further from the truth. I look, pretty much, DREADFUL in a bathing suit. Especially today. Due to having 2 types of skin cancer cells removed from my face a couple of years ago, I've kept my body out of the sun so my legs are white, white, white. And soft. Yes. I'd love to be able to blame it on having exercise severely restricted for the past four weeks since surgery but, really, they were soft going in. My doctor told me very sternly that my abdominal muscles were on vacation for 6 weeks after the event but the real truth is that they've ALWAYS been on vacation. So, there you go. Whatever! I'll try to be better. Tomorrow, maybe. Or some time. Right now I still have 2 weeks of vacation time left.
Anyway, I took 5 suits into the changing room, narrowed it down to 2 and then bought one. It was a close call between the final 2 but I decided that the one wasn't $40 cuter than the other. Best stick to the less expensive one. And I don't really know why it was painless today. I just looked at myself and said, "Yea, fine. This is cute. Great. Done!"
Here's what I think... I'm 48 and I know a thing or two. I know I'm not the sum total of my parts or the presentation of same. I know life is good and precious and terribly, terribly fragile. I know that I sat with a girlfriend today and we talked about things that matter to us. My spirit and soul were filled by our conversation. Our meeting came in a string of days of beautiful visits with other precious women in my life; women who hold me in their hearts and allow me to be myself there.
My conclusion is this... Meaningful connections restore proper perspective. With heart all full, I understand what it really means to feel fabulous.
Bless you, ladies. You know who you are.
Showing posts with label a woman's sense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a woman's sense. Show all posts
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Monday, February 08, 2010
I Should Like to Wake Them
I had a funny thought today...
"I'm so tired of men."
This is funny because I adore a lot of wonderful men who fill my life with grace and strength.
But my shelves--my word!--my shelves are heavy, heavy with male thoughts.
Where are all the feminine voices?
Some are here already, present and accounted for, singing out their lovely songs...
Dillard, Day, Lamott, Oliver, Kidd.
And, of course, you, Ms. Madeleine.
But, oh, there must be so many others.
Wake up, dear ones, wake up!
We need you all so very much.
"I'm so tired of men."
This is funny because I adore a lot of wonderful men who fill my life with grace and strength.
But my shelves--my word!--my shelves are heavy, heavy with male thoughts.
Where are all the feminine voices?
Some are here already, present and accounted for, singing out their lovely songs...
Dillard, Day, Lamott, Oliver, Kidd.
And, of course, you, Ms. Madeleine.
But, oh, there must be so many others.
Wake up, dear ones, wake up!
We need you all so very much.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Strength and Beauty (or Learning from My Little Girl)
Last night the boys were out and Byron and I were home with Heather and her best buddy, Sianna. After dinner, I picked up my book and joined Byron on the front porch by the gas burning heater in the glow of the lanterns. It was peaceful to sit there reading.
But through the window I could see the girls, 9& 10, dancing in the living room.
As previously mentioned, we just saw the new Narnia film. The girls had the soundtrack playing and they were dressed in long skirts with their hair flowing out from beneath wreath crowns on their heads.
Through the glass, I could see that their dancing was not like the party kind of dancing that we had done the night before at a friend's 50 birthday celebration. There we had giggled together, a mom and her 4 kids, dancing to the band with a bunch of other moms and teens and even a few of the men (!)
No, Heather and Sianna were dancing with imaginary swords in their hands, looking graceful and lovely and strong.
I was so taken with the scene, but I didn't want to disturb it so I didn't get up and let them see me watching closely. I simply let them do their Narnian dance in their princess clothes with the somber faces and their regal steps.
It's interesting, in Prince Caspian (the book) Susan does not go to battle. In the film, she does. I read that they felt this vision of women fit better with Lewis' view of women after he came to know and love Joy Davidman Gresham. The book was written before his relationship with Joy and scholars feel that his view of women grew and changed through the friendship and brief marriage with her.
All I know is that I was moved to see these little girls dressed so finely and fight-dancing with such beauty and strength. I wanted to get up and cheer them on, to tell them not to lose this feeling that they can be fully feminine and fully bold and brave and strong.
But I didn't want to shatter the scene. They didn't need a pep talk. They seemed to already know what they needed to know.
I went back to my reading, encouraged by the little girls and their big vision of themselves.
But through the window I could see the girls, 9& 10, dancing in the living room.
As previously mentioned, we just saw the new Narnia film. The girls had the soundtrack playing and they were dressed in long skirts with their hair flowing out from beneath wreath crowns on their heads.
Through the glass, I could see that their dancing was not like the party kind of dancing that we had done the night before at a friend's 50 birthday celebration. There we had giggled together, a mom and her 4 kids, dancing to the band with a bunch of other moms and teens and even a few of the men (!)
No, Heather and Sianna were dancing with imaginary swords in their hands, looking graceful and lovely and strong.
I was so taken with the scene, but I didn't want to disturb it so I didn't get up and let them see me watching closely. I simply let them do their Narnian dance in their princess clothes with the somber faces and their regal steps.
It's interesting, in Prince Caspian (the book) Susan does not go to battle. In the film, she does. I read that they felt this vision of women fit better with Lewis' view of women after he came to know and love Joy Davidman Gresham. The book was written before his relationship with Joy and scholars feel that his view of women grew and changed through the friendship and brief marriage with her.
All I know is that I was moved to see these little girls dressed so finely and fight-dancing with such beauty and strength. I wanted to get up and cheer them on, to tell them not to lose this feeling that they can be fully feminine and fully bold and brave and strong.
But I didn't want to shatter the scene. They didn't need a pep talk. They seemed to already know what they needed to know.
I went back to my reading, encouraged by the little girls and their big vision of themselves.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Beautiful Water
She stood, legs slightly apart to steady herself, and leaned over the plastic bucket. Holding the pail (which was less than a quarter full) with one hand, she cupped water in her free hand and moved it swiftly and smoothly over its inside and outside walls.
There were several more basins and buckets at her feet that also needed to be cleaned. The water was poured to the next container and the careful process was repeated. In the few minutes that I sat waiting for Byron in the car, I watched this Tanzanian woman do her work quickly and thoroughly. What most impressed me was the small volume of water used.
This is a hallmark of how African women work. Neat homes, clean dishes and fresh clothes are all maintained with minimum amounts of water and no waste.
Is this because African women are more concerned about the global crisis of fresh water than I am? Not necessarily. It's often just the plain truth of water supply that makes these women such good stewards of every drop. Many of them carry their water, some for miles. Others share a common faucet in their neighborhood. Still others have, like I do, water piped into their homes. But the number of women who enjoy this luxury is far below the number of those who collect their water in other ways.
The lovely lady washing so carefully caught my eye because she reminded me that I'm trying to use less water as I live. Watching her, I thought about how much more water I would have used to do the same job. I thought about how many liters go down the drain at our house every day.
I'm trying to be a better steward for this precious resource. When I rinse dishes, I fill one of the cooking pots I used and rinse each plate in this little bucket. I throw the water, now full of dinner scraps, on our plants outside. These are small things I'm trying to do. I'm already famous for my quick showers. A few friends have called me "Lisa Lightning Shower." But I just want to be more aware and more responsible.
Water is so beautiful. I love to dive into it and feel the coolness all over me. I hope I'm learning to take better care of it.
There were several more basins and buckets at her feet that also needed to be cleaned. The water was poured to the next container and the careful process was repeated. In the few minutes that I sat waiting for Byron in the car, I watched this Tanzanian woman do her work quickly and thoroughly. What most impressed me was the small volume of water used.
This is a hallmark of how African women work. Neat homes, clean dishes and fresh clothes are all maintained with minimum amounts of water and no waste.
Is this because African women are more concerned about the global crisis of fresh water than I am? Not necessarily. It's often just the plain truth of water supply that makes these women such good stewards of every drop. Many of them carry their water, some for miles. Others share a common faucet in their neighborhood. Still others have, like I do, water piped into their homes. But the number of women who enjoy this luxury is far below the number of those who collect their water in other ways.
The lovely lady washing so carefully caught my eye because she reminded me that I'm trying to use less water as I live. Watching her, I thought about how much more water I would have used to do the same job. I thought about how many liters go down the drain at our house every day.
I'm trying to be a better steward for this precious resource. When I rinse dishes, I fill one of the cooking pots I used and rinse each plate in this little bucket. I throw the water, now full of dinner scraps, on our plants outside. These are small things I'm trying to do. I'm already famous for my quick showers. A few friends have called me "Lisa Lightning Shower." But I just want to be more aware and more responsible.
Water is so beautiful. I love to dive into it and feel the coolness all over me. I hope I'm learning to take better care of it.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Chocolate News
Yesterday the BBC news site featured an article on how dark chocolate may be helpful to those who suffer from chronic fatigue. From the article there were links to multiple articles on the benefits of dark chocolate. The other articles spoke of how chocolate is useful for lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of blood clots, has "health benefits", may reduce heart disease, and how it is probably just good for you in general.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have to just say that any woman could have told us these simple truths. Even Heather, at the tender age of eight, can explain the benefits of a chunk. No scientist had to tell her this. She knows it instinctively, the way that a baby knows a mother's arms are a good place to be.
So thanks for confirming what we already knew, dear BBC. The women of the world appreciate the vote of confidence in our keen scientific discernment.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have to just say that any woman could have told us these simple truths. Even Heather, at the tender age of eight, can explain the benefits of a chunk. No scientist had to tell her this. She knows it instinctively, the way that a baby knows a mother's arms are a good place to be.
So thanks for confirming what we already knew, dear BBC. The women of the world appreciate the vote of confidence in our keen scientific discernment.
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