A Farewell to National Poetry Month
April 30, 2011
Thoreau Thursdays (2): Quiet Desperation
April 28, 2011
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden
At the beginning of Walden, Thoreau looks about him and sees people who “appear to be doing penance in a thousand remarkable ways,” employed “laying up treasures which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves break through and steal.” And when you think about it, this is still the prevailing convention — measuring success by the achievements of job, car(s), home, electronic paraphernalia, furnishings worthy of Martha Stewart, vacations, etc. One trades a lot of hours to support a lifestyle like this, and unfortunately, many of those hours are boring and dispiriting (think of the spirit-deaths you suffer in meetings, doing record-keeping, paying bills, for example). And yet, how few of us would advise our children to pursue a less conventional life instead. I wonder why.
For me, figuring out how to live in a meaningful way is hard, but not desperate or boring. I’m still figuring it out. Each small choice along the way adds to or detracts from life’s richness. My decision to work parttime instead of full time is one example. Now that my daughter is an adult and parenting demands have lightened, I certainly could choose to go back to work full time. But I haven’t. Parttime work gives my life more balance, and I’m willing to trade added financial security in retirement for the extra personal time now.
There may be other changes I can make, though, to live better at this stage in my life. Imagine the possibilities!
“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours . . .”
— William Wordsworth
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it, blame yourself for you are not poet enough to call forth its riches.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
Tulip in My Coffee Cup and in Gardens Everywhere
April 27, 2011
We’ve had one warm sunny day this month when the temperature reached a high of over 60 degrees F. In March we had just two 60+ degree days. But the tulips are finally beginning to bloom — welcome color this gray Spring.