C.B. Potts's Blog, page 43

Sunday Morning

I had a dream that troubled me, and got out of bed.  The house was dark, the snow still falling, the wind wild and ferocious. I walked around and looked out all of the windows into the night and thought, if these streetlights were not on, this would be a dark, dark stretch of nowhere.

And then along came an Amish buggy: the lantern casts a jiggly orange light, up and down and forward. That horse was moving at a pretty good clip. It passed our house in no time flat, up the hill toward home. Usu...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

It has snowed, snowed enough to warrant the shovel, snowed enough to force your eyes to narrow when you gaze out the window, snowed enough to remind us that everything can change in the blink of an eye. Yesterday, the world looked one way. Today, it looks another.

The cats don't care.  They're rocketing around the house at a million miles an hour, feet flying, jaws open, joyous pursuit.  I'd like to have half of their energy!

Serendipity

I asked the universe for an oracle or guide for today, and look what was waiting for me in my email box

From the quote of the day people:

I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain't that the truth."
           -- Quincy Jones, Victory of the Spirit

You're confusing product with process. Most people, when they criticize, whether they like it or hate it, they're talking about product. That's not art, that's the result of art. Art, to whatever degree we c...

Good Morning, My Freaky Darlings!

Wednesday morning: we're halfway through the girls' week of vacation. Nadia, I think, has had enough vacation already.  She's already played two different card games with me, painted a Scooby Doo figurine, done a puzzle, started some type of business which involved presenting Tim and I each with itemized bills - we each owe her $40.50, of which $224.40 is the tip - and right now is sending toy helicopter pilots on flights guaranteed to cause nightmares in even the most stalwart souls.

Today is...

3474: Onward Upward Forward

Rise and shine bright and early: I'm giving this book chapter a final, final, final tweak before sending it over to the client. Now's the time to work when the kids are on vacation. Dawn and dusk are productive times; everything else gets eaten up by parenting.  Sandwich making and refereeing arguments.

Ah, the glamorous life of the writer.

It's dark, dark, dark outside  now. If I look out my bedroom window, I can see the streetlights further down in the center. In the other direction, nothing....

Wise Words for the Day

Let go of the crap that diminishes you.  You never know how much time we have left.

I have to remember these things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday Morning

The Crone Chronicles: An Introduction

We begin, as these things must, with Anne Sexton.

“I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and...

Tuesday Morning

In Japan, it is the afternoon.  In Japan, they've had an earthquake; offshore, I guess no threat of tsunami. I remember when it seemed that earthquakes were rare. Now it seems we hear of them every day.

Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. - Henry Van Dyke

There was a delicious lull last night where all of us here were happily embroiled in something; the house had a contented beehive hum about it. I mended the side of o...

Monday Morning: Here We Go

There are people who listen to rocks and sometimes those people are overwhelmed when listening to people. Sometimes we collect the rocks and the people who listen and the people who want to listen and can't quite hear it yet.

I was thinking about overwhelm this morning; being overwhelmed, being overwhelming. Inviting overwhelm.  Overwhelm as a chronic condition. Overwhelm as a social pathogen; a celebrated chronic condition.  Of course you're busy; everyone is.

There is no time to react. We're ...

Reframing

Wow. I had a really whiny post to write, and then I thought, well, what if I tell this story like it was all good news? And guess what? It turns out that I've matured enough to realize I have limitations, and some amount of security so I can honor them, which is healthier for me and everyone around me.

Which is a much better framing.

Reframing, reframing - I'm not sure if it's an emerging buzzword or I'm late to the party - but I'm seeing reframing crop up just about everywhere, no matter what ...