It’s countdown time people ~ 46, 45, 44, that’s right, the word is about to be enfleshed, out in a manager, no room in the inn. Ring any bells? On our darkest day a light appears in the form of a baby, which we typically celebrate with family, friends, honey-baked ham, liturgies, blow-up snowmen on the front lawn, amazon deliveries, and pre-lite Christmas trees. It the most magical time of the year…
On occasion I fall into a slump with my writing, it happens, especially around the holidays. It seems odd to me that my mood and the written word act as if they are married. They fight, concede, avoid, and attempt to control each other, but when they’re on the same page, it’s magic (sorry, sometimes a word is just to good to be true).
On occasion I fall into a slump with my writing, it happens, especially around the holidays. It seems odd to me that my mood and the written word act as if they are married. They fight, concede, avoid, and attempt to control each other, but when they’re on the same page, it’s magic (sorry, sometimes a word is just to good to be true).
I think most people are called to marriage because we need at least one other person to be like a mirror for us, to reflect our best self—and our worst self—in a way that we can receive. Richard Rohr
It annoys me to no end when my partner in crime, the word who is busy becoming flesh, refuses to pick up the slack. He actually gives me the silent treatment, sending my attention off to social media sites, where I can languish for days. The holy grail of which is twitter and what’s currently trending? It’s pathetic and yet he refuses to utter a single adage.
Love difficult people. You’re one of them. Bob Goff
So here I sit with my computer in my lap bemoaning the silence. Where are the words? They’re tangled in my mood, as if seaweed, and the chance of escaping with all the vowels is slim. I see them languishing on the shore, spent, barely clinging to life. Love without the e is a wheeled non-amphibious armored carrier in the Croatian army. I don’t know why but that makes total sense to me?
During these difficult times I admit to a passionate affair with coffee. You know what I’m talking about. That warm amber mien, rich, inviting, and full of flavor. Coffee is a language in itself says Jackie Chan. I have never wavered in my devotion to a slow brew.
During these difficult times I admit to a passionate affair with coffee. You know what I’m talking about. That warm amber mien, rich, inviting, and full of flavor. Coffee is a language in itself says Jackie Chan. I have never wavered in my devotion to a slow brew.
In fact tea drinkers are a little suspect in my book. What else can one conclude when your primary ritual involves leafs, lemon, and sugar cubes? That’s right. You end up in a lot of hot water. Let’s just agree what happen’s across the pond, stays across the pond.
If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsover. David Letterman
Without viable words I turn to coffee jingles for inspiration. Cliche I known, try not to judge me, 46 days and counting. This is when I literally stumbled on this coffee commercial for Folgers. OMG. If only Peter were my son Tony (who lives in Australia)? Go ahead grab some Kleenex, watch it again, I’ll wait.
I don’t know why but it made me rethink my relationship with the word? If my sole purpose is to love I concede to spending an enormous amount of time off task, sipping coffee, squawking about life. Plenty of room for improvement here folks.
The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and their destination. John Schaar
Maybe the best part of waking up is not Folgers in your cup, but the guy who makes the coffee in the morning, the one who is forging a destination, a direct path to me, and yes, that includes refills. Where words fail, coffee seems to speak.
As I sip my blessed cup of joe I’m forced to accept silence is better than meaningless words. Wayne Dyer says everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness. I obligingly shut off the television now inundated with Christmas commercials. We’re calling this progress.
“What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
I admit, I’m easily distracted, 46 days people, and we have to allow for shipping! If you consider all the tasks required to bring forth holiday traditions (that I myself created), makes me want to skip right to the new year.
So here’s my five cents worth. I think Lucy poses an important question to Charlie Brown. What do you fear? She totally nails it. We need inclusion, invitation, and meaningful work. Could this life, this tiny speck of time stuffed between eternities, be our only chance to act from a place of love? For love to be realized it must be manifest, made real, demonstrated. Right? Two thousand years ago God came for a short visit, in pursuit of love, and for some reason this blessed homecoming surprises me year after year. With that in mind, if not real estate, what is it you want?
What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names–
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.
Linda Pastan
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names–
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.
Linda Pastan
I’m Living in the Gap, drop by anytime, we’ll make some coffee.
Anecdotes:
- Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Do Lipton employees take coffee breaks? Just sayin.
- We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup. Jerry Seinfeld
- Let’s get real – 46 Days – Oprah’s favorite things – 2018
Living in the Gap 
Ahh, Christmas time. It is the most wonderful time of the year. And you have managed to get me in the holiday spirit. This well written, creative entry has really set the stage. I can hear the laughter and sense the joy. I can’t wait.I do think your partner in crime has sent you things to write about. But it is more than mere words…Thoughts, feelings, emotions…The loss for actual words led you to ideas, and the Folgers ad. It is timelessly beautiful (I can almost smell the open can) and it is evening more touching from your family perspective.Really liked the Charlie Brown vid, and enjoyed the deft insertion of what we want (if not real estate? HA!)And from the recesses of my soul, “What do I fear?” A deep question which shall go unanswered.And of course, Nathanial Hawthorne, author of the Scarlet Letter, in the anecdote section. Nice!And to tie back to your blog, I quote Hawthorne: “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”The obligatory music, because that’s the way I roll…My second favorite Christmas song. Of course linking to my favorite Christmas song would not provoke thought or evoke a question.When I listen to this song closely, a tear comes to my eye. Give it a chance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjggWxGYLdoLove to you and yours.
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Merry Christmas Mike! What a treat to find this comment today! It’s been a crazy month, lots of distractions, trips, celebrations, and very little quiet time to write. Your thoughts brought a huge smile to my face, someone gets me, and the crazy jumbled way I write. I’m easing into the Christmas spirit, gifts are starting to stack up, decorations have found their place, it’s beginning to feel like Christmas at the Oreglia house. I’m looking forward to a long break from work. Time to rejuvenate. Spend some time at the lake.Hope the Severance’s are enjoying the magic of the season. I’m sure you have many traditions to participate and celebrate with your family. I’m looking forward to the evening when almost all of my children will be gathered at my table! Oh Holy night… PS love your song choice 💞
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