(For you, Tamie, the oftenest requester of blogs...)
Break for lunch! We're on Hwy 18, about to hit I90, which we'll take most of the way. I have no appreciative companions, so it is up to the world wide web to hear those thoughts and questions that inevitably arise on road trips.
1. There is a super cute 10ish year old kid who is in the Playland here, helping his younger siblings. He took one's shoes off and said, "Yay! There you go! Go play! Yayyy!" just like a bonified parent.
2. Why, when a person switches the wind shield wipers to OFF, do they insist on wiping one last time? I said off, you know? Sometimes there's a reason for wanting them off right now, like a pebble or large bug being stuck in one or the windshield already being painfully dry.
3. So, in thinking about this idea of judging, what about this? When we judge an individual act, we're probably not taking into account a ton of useful information. But with time, we can look at patterns in our lives, a friend's life, or in society, and see their usefulness or un-. Then we're in a better place. So, patterns tell lots more than individual acts. But lots of individual acts are part of larger patterns.
4. I'm sure I've vented about this before, but can we go back to manually flushing toilets in public restrooms? We can be smart about it and use our feet to flush, but my anecdotal evidence, after using hundreds of these things, is that they flush when you don't want them to (splashing all over your bum), and don't flush when you want them to (requiring you to push a germy button anyway).
5. Is there any major religion or philosophy that doesn't espouse self-control (even self-denial at times) on the path to maturity and enlightenment?
6. DVD players for road trips are worth their weight in whatever precious metal turns your crank.
7. My husband has had this concept of Pocket People for nearly as long as I've known him. There are certain people you wish could also be in pocket form so that you could take them out and have them just be themselves for a few minutes. Say their classic phrases, make their personal facial expressions. All that. It is occuring to me that the cell phone is pretty much fitting that bill. Boy, do I wish we were millionaires right about now. We would so be on an airplane.
4 comments:
I am trying to think of something super smart to say in response that will make you want to post again right away.
Ditto what Tamie said. Such a sweet family. I love hearing your adventures.
Pooooooossssssttttt mooooorrrreeeee bloooogggggsssss.
Now, self-control/self-discipline/self-denial.
I keep thinking about this, ever since you wrote about it. The importance of self-discipline to all the major world religions/philosophies.
Well. Tonight Ariel and I were talking and she asked me, as she often does, if I play a musical instrument. I told her I used to play violin, and she told me that when she was little her Mom had her take piano lessons but she hated it. When Ariel and I were having this conversation, we were listening to some Debussy. Ariel pointed out that when she was a kid, if she'd understood that if she practiced she could play Debussy, she would've kept practicing. She said that it's because so much music that kids are taught to play is really ugly. And I think that's true.
So I think the thing is. If somehow the link can be swiftly and clearly made, between the self-discipline and the beauty that will result, it'll be a different thing than so much of the self-discipline espoused by many world religions, which it seems to me amounts to a form of self-violence. How to know the difference between the two is I think a really tricky thing. It's also something I ponder a great deal. I will say this, in closing. Writing practice is not always easy for me. Sometimes it's a huge pain in the ass. Sometimes I reeeaaaalllly don't want to do it. But it *never* feels like self-violence. Whereas, various forms of spiritual practice often do feel genuinely negative. I'm not sure why this is.
Yeah, I've tried many times to flush the germy toilet button with my foot... just doesn't work.
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