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Moment of Zen: Reading

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TGIF

I’m not sure what I’ll do today. I have the day off to make up for some extra time I worked. I also have Monday off because I have to work tomorrow. I know I need to go to the bank and the grocery store, but those are just errands. What I’d really like to do today is go for a hike. The weather is cool and the leaves are changing. It should be really beautiful where I like to go hiking. I don’t know if I’ll get the motivation to actually go. I prefer to hike in the early morning shortly after daylight. I guess we’ll just have to see how motivated I am. I’ve been awake since 4 am; not because of Isabella, but a strange dream and I couldn’t go back to sleep. So, this morning, I’ll do one of two things: go for a hike or go back to bed.

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Lifting Up Others

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."

— Booker T. Washington 

I wish more people would remember this. Too many people only want to tear people down to make themselves feel better. They know that if they can keep people they deem unworthy down, they can stay in power. Republicans are currently doing everything they can to discredit people who cherish equality. They use their political positions to take away the rights of others, especially the right to vote and representation in the government. 

Alabama has been gerrymandering the districts of the legislature and Congress to make sure they remain in power. Thankfully, the federal courts, backed by the Supreme Court, has ordered Alabama to create a second minority majority district. Growing up in Alabama, I lived in the 2nd Congressional district and have also lived in the 7th Congressional district, which has traditionally been the only minority majority district in the state. I am very happy that the courts seem to be ordering that the 2nd Congressional district be redrawn to also be a minority majority district. While I hope to never live in Alabama again, especially in either the 2nd or 7th Congressional districts, I am glad that they are very likely to both be represented by Democrats.

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Rough Day 🤕

I had a terrible migraine yesterday. It had woken me several times in the night, but I went into work anyway. I had my regular class to teach, but as soon as my class was over, I went home. I spent the rest of the day in as much darkness and quiet as possible. I’m not sure what brought on this migraine, but it could have been partly because of how tired I’ve been from the past few weeks. I’m feeling better this morning, though I still have a minor headache. I have a ton of work to do today, so I’m going to work. Usually, if I can keep busy enough, I can hold off the worst of the pain. It’s when I have nothing to do, or dealing with annoying people, that the pain gets out of hand.

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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792 - 1822

 

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

 

In antiquity, Ozymandias (Ὀσυμανδύας) was a Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. Shelley began writing his poem in 1817, soon after the announcement of the British Museum's acquisition of a large fragment of a statue of Ramesses II from the thirteenth century BC, leading some scholars to believe that Shelley was inspired by this. The 7.25-ton fragment of the statue's head and torso had been removed in 1816 from the mortuary temple of Ramesses at Thebes by Italian adventurer Giovanni Battista Belzoni. It was expected to arrive in London in 1818, but did not arrive until 1821. Shelley wrote the poem in friendly competition with his friend and fellow poet Horace Smith (1779–1849), who also wrote a sonnet on the same topic with the same title. Smith's poem was published in The Examiner a few weeks after Shelley's sonnet. Both poems explore the fate of history and the ravages of time: even the greatest men and the empires they forge are impermanent, their legacies fated to decay into oblivion.

 

Ozymandias 

Horace Smith, 1779-1849

 

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,

Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws

The only shadow that the Desart knows:-

'I am great OZYMANDIAS,' saith the stone,

'The King of Kings; this mighty City shows

'The wonders of my hand.'- The City's gone,-

Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose

The site of this forgotten Babylon.

 

We wonder,-and some Hunter may express

Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness

Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,

He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess

What powerful but unrecorded race

Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

A central theme of "Ozymandias" is the inevitable decline of leaders of empires and their pretensions to greatness. The name "Ozymandias" represents a rendering in Greek of a part of Ramesses' throne name, User-maat-re Setep-en-re. The sonnet paraphrases the inscription on the base of the statue, given by Diodorus Siculus in his Bibliotheca historica as "King of Kings am I, Ozymandias. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works."

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Back to Normal?

This week should somewhat return to normal at work. I still have a lot to catch up on with how busy I’ve been the last few weeks, but for the most part, I should be back to my regularly scheduled program. I hope that’s the case anyway. I’ll be at the museum by myself today, so with no one to interrupt me, I’m hoping I can get a lot done.

I have been so tired lately, even Isabella has noticed and has let me sleep later than normal. Granted, she never lets me sleep past 5:30 am, but that’s better than usual.

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As Long as Their Heart’s in the Right Place

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

—Matthew 7:12

 

In 2022, Harvard Business Review published an article by Irina Cozma, “It’s Time to Stop Following ‘The Golden Rule’” In it she writes, “It’s time to adopt a “New Golden Rule:” Treat others as they would like to be treated. It’s a small change, but one that can make a huge difference. All it takes to put this new mindset into practice is understanding, curiosity, and compromise.” In a way, she has a point. She says, “In our modern workplace, with all our different preferences, cultural backgrounds, professional disciplines, ages, genders, sexual orientations, etc., treating others as you would like to be treated isn’t always the best option. Although it can be helpful to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, doing so can actually lead to making assumptions based on your own perspective — not theirs.”

 

My issue with this is if we are truly following the Golden Rule, then we are not making assumptions about other people. Matthew 7:1 says clearly, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” When we make assumptions about people, we are making a judgment. If we truly follow Christ’s teachings, we will not judge or make assumptions about other people, but instead, we will treat them as we want to be treated. We do not want people to make assumptions about us; therefore, we are commanded to not make assumptions about them. People outside the South may hear my Southern accent and automatically assume three things: 1) I’m dumb, 2) I’m racist, 3) I’m a Republican. None of which is true. In the South, people would hear my voice and automatically assume I was gay, but while that was true, I didn’t always feel comfortable with that assumption. And if you’re wondering, people in the North don’t hear my “gay voice;” they only hear the Southern accent.

 

I was thinking about this last night and this morning after I saw a clip on Instagram from the comedian Karen Mills (@karenmillscomedy). I love Karen. She is so funny, without being raunchy, which has its place sometimes, but Karen is just clean fun. She just discusses everyday life in the South. Most of it, I can absolutely identify with, which makes her so funny. Karen also does some motivational speaking. She is a cancer survivor and had a near-fatal car accident. She often uses humor to help people who are facing hardships. Occasionally, she can also be very serious. This clip from a Ted Talk is one of those times, and she says everything else in this post that I would say, just better than I would say it:

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Karen Mills (@karenmillscomedy)

The key thing she says is, “No one will be left out of heaven because they didn’t hate enough.” But she also gives a key caveat: “Let people be who they are as long as their heart’s in the right place.”  

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Moment of Zen: Autumn Leaves 🍁 🍂

Welcome to the first day of Autumn!

My favorite season!

(Not Isabella)

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Cooking

I love to cook. It’s one of my stress relievers. However, if I had Pietro Boselli cooking in my kitchen, especially dressed in this (or with even less clothing or hell, even fully clothed), I’d be content to never cook again for as long as Pietro wants to do the cooking.

 

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A post shared by Pietro Boselli (@pietroboselli)

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Another Busy Day

This morning is going to be a bit rough. I have to teach a class while being observed by a group of alumni. (It’s Alumni Weekend.) And before and after the class, I have to give tours of the museum to two other classes. Then, this afternoon will be spent putting the last touches on getting the museum ready for the onslaught of visit for this weekend’s Alumni Weekend. We always come close to having more visitors on Alumni Weekend than throughout the rest of the year. Tomorrow will be filled with various events that begin as soon as the museum opens at 8 am and will end around 8 pm. Saturday will be spent welcoming alumni to the museum and probably a few impromptu tours. Now, excuse me while I study over my lecture notes. I don’t want to be stumbling over my words while I have observers in my class.

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A Rainbow In Someone’s Cloud

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.” 

— Maya Angelou

 

Maya Angelou said, "I've had so many rainbows in my clouds. I had a lot of clouds, but I had so many rainbows." Within every cloud, there is a silver lining. From every patch of rain, somewhere there is a rainbow to be found. Have you ever had days, weeks, or months in your life when it seems as though the clouds won’t pass and the rain just won’t stop falling? It’s safe to say that at one point or another most of us have experienced this kind of difficult season. Perhaps you lost a lover or friend, or you experienced the pain of death, or maybe life just threw one too many curveballs at once, and you just felt sad for a while. Sometimes that sadness can be overwhelming and take over for long periods of time or may never go away. No matter how it happens, we can all appreciate that life’s moments are not always filled with sunshine.

 

With this knowledge in mind, there is a simple and powerful perspective that we can all choose to embrace; that each person you come across is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Whether it’s internally or externally, every person you meet is dealing with something that is challenging for them. Angelou wrote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

 

While we certainly can’t save people from their pain, we all have the power to influence one another in positive ways.  We each have the power to give to one another in a way that is meaningful and impactful. To be the rainbow in someone’s cloud means to cultivate loving kindness as a daily practice in your life. It means looking into your heart, practicing empathy, and using that empathy to connect to the people around you. We all have the opportunity to be someone’s rainbow. Probably the greatest part of adopting this practice is that our efforts don’t need to be overwhelming. Something as simple as a smile can greatly help someone who is going through a difficult time. 

 

Maya Angelou said she always carried these "rainbows" with her to her speaking and teaching engagements, whether in a large venue or an intimate classroom. "I bring everyone who has ever been kind to me with me," she said. "Black, white, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American, gay, straight, everybody. I said, 'Come on with me. I'm going on the stage. Come with me. I need you now.'" Whether her "rainbows" were living or had long since passed, Dr. Angelou said she always felt and drew strength from their support. "I don't ever feel I have no help," she said. "I had rainbows in my clouds."

 

She also encouraged people to apply the "rainbow in the clouds" philosophy to their own lives. "The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God -- if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think."

 

To choose to live from a place of loving-kindness is one of the greatest gifts you can give to the world and to yourself. Not only will you impact others in a positive way but you also give yourself a purpose outside of your own needs, which brings fulfillment and ultimately happiness for you too. When we are kind to others, we learn that we matter, that we are powerful, and that what we do on a daily basis really does have an impact on the world around us.

 

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud today and practice more kindness in your life.

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The Journey

The Journey  

By Mary Oliver

 

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice --

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voice behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do --

determined to save

the only life that you could save.

 

 

About the Poem

 

“The Journey” by Mary Oliver is a poem that focuses on the need to leave behind what is bad and wrong and harmful and start out on a new path. It has become a popular poem for those seeking guidance and strength in their lives. Oliver is best known for her poems on nature. So, “The Journey” is different from most of her poems in that it is more involved with the life of a person who is struggling to find meaning in a relationship and with themselves. The references to the natural world are few and distant - this poem is about the necessity for change, leaving one dark situation and finding another that is more positive. This person who, one day, finally knew what they had to do, is someone who is coming in from the cold, into the light from the dark, re-joining the world of the whole, finding their own voice, no longer a broken individual.

 

The journey tells of a person who has waited a long time for this day to arrive when they are about to start on a journey out of the dark past and into a brighter future. Despite those voices from any number of people trying to drag them back, giving their “bad advice” as loudly as they could, the poet had made up their mind out of necessity. Note the use of the house which is a symbol of the self, how it was made to tremble, that is, how close this person came to completely collapsing. It's not a home but an empty person. And the voices are powerful because they represent negative energy, old patterns that this person had to break out of. 

 

In a repeat of the opening line, the speaker clearly declares determinedly that "you know what you had to do." There is no looking back, no stopping, no chance of holding onto that past life. However, the wind is still at you, trying to destroy and undermine you. The person set off in the day but now it is night and chaos still might rule. This is the chaotic energy of the past still attempting to stop the new progress and end this journey voices are not enough to cause a halt. The poem tells us that we cannot cling to the past, we cannot afford to dwell on what has gone. 

 

In the final dozen lines of the poem, the transition is nearly complete, ready for the next phase. Stars are visible once again, but the cloud cover is not strong enough to diminish their light. Stars, what the old navigators used, now you can use. The voice that had been drowned out by those negative false calls for help is renewed. And it is strong, and it is yours alone.

 

The emphasis is on coming back into the world following what has been a challenging, chaotic, and terrifying experience. To be able to listen again to that inner voice of wisdom and truth, a sort of companion throughout the ordeal. At the last moment, in the nick of time, before it was too late, the speaker (the person, 'you') began the journey and overcame the obstacles both real and imagined.

 

 

About the Poet

 

Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild. It is characterized by a sincere wonderment at the impact of natural imagery conveyed in unadorned language. In 2007, she was declared to be the country's best-selling poet.

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Ugh! It’s Monday

I really did not want to get out of bed this morning. Isabella woke me a little after 4 am, and I got up to feed her. Then, I promptly went back to bed. I slept until my alarm went off at 5 am at which time I hit the snooze button. When the alarm went off again, I begrudgingly got out of bed. 

After being in the classroom all day for the past two weeks, I have to get caught up on my regular work and the ton of emails waiting on me. Other than two tours that I will do this morning, I am free to catch up. 

Not much will get done tomorrow. I teach my regular class, then I’ll be out of the office the rest of the day because I have to have some dental work done. My dentist is a very nice man, but I hate going.

God Will Give Us Rest

And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

—Exodus 33:14 

It’s been a long two weeks of constant work. I spent yesterday trying to get caught up and preparing for my class this week, and I will spend some of today doing the same. When I think about rest, Matthew 11:28 usually comes to mind: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Sometimes, we do need to look to God to give us the rest we need.

 

Work, especially if it’s work we love, gives us a sense of purpose and well-being. Genesis 2:15 tells us that God created us for work, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” However, it is not healthy to work all the time. There are times when we can become consumed with work, leading to increased stress, and straining our relationships. This is how I have felt these last couple of weeks.

 

God calls us to take a break from work. He gives us a day of rest each week. God set apart the seventh day as a holy day, to help us enter God’s rest and experience restoration, though Christians now take the first day of the week for rest. Some of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were so concerned about keeping the Sabbath, they prevented any form of work from taking place, even healing those who were suffering. Jesus corrected this misunderstand of the Sabbath on several occasions (Mark 3:1-6; Luke 13:10-17; John 9:14). Mark 2:27 teaches people that “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

 

The Sabbath is a gift of God’s grace, that helps us to experience life more fully by setting apart time to reflect on God as the center of our life. God is the one who provides for us. He is the one who heals and restores us. He is the one who saves us from our sin and invites us to share in His rest by placing our faith in the finished work of our savior, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:9 says, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”

 

When we rest in God, we deepen our relationship with Him. We increase our dependence on God for both His material and spiritual provision. Glorifying God should be the central aspect of both our work and our rest. God promises that if we turn to Him for rest, He will restore our souls. The beginning of 23^rd Psalm in verses 1-3 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Sometimes, we need God to remind us to rest.

P.S. Even Isabella could tell I was tired and needed rest, she let me sleep until 5:30 this morning.

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Moment of Zen: Golf

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Working from Home

Thank goodness it’s Friday. For the first time in weeks, I am getting back on my regular schedule and working from home today. I’ll have to work at the museum the next two Fridays, but then I should be back to my regular schedule of working from home one day a week. At least today, I can get the rest I need after being so busy these last two weeks and can work at my own pace. Besides, I also have some comp time that I’ll take today.

This evening, I’ll unwind by having dinner with a friend. We are going to a restaurant that was damaged during the floods but is now up and running again. Not only do we want to support the restaurant, we’ve also both been craving some fried pickles as an appetizer. I’ll probably also get a French Dip sandwich for dinner. I’m also looking forward to one of their chocolate martinis or one of their other alcoholic beverages.

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Exhausted

After a week and a half of teaching classes almost all day each day, I am exhausted. I taught three history classes yesterday  morning and four English classes in the afternoon. I got about a 20 minute break for lunch. Last night, I’d have done almost anything for a foot massage. I’d been on my feet nearly the whole time. I always feel that I need to be standing to teach, and there is part of the lesson when I have to walk around guiding the students through the assignment they are given. I have my regular class this morning and one last make-up session for the series of classes I’ve been teaching. After today, the majority of my teaching for a few weeks will only be my regular class. Thank goodness, I am working from home tomorrow.

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Miscellaneous

First off, I had an appointment with my neurologist at the Headache Clinic yesterday. She’s moving away and is leaving the clinic, and I’d been trying to get in to see her before she leaves. She’s not sure who will replace her, but she said they found a doctor they want to hire who was very nice. However, she said she doesn’t know if they can convince him to take the job. She said they’ve more than once thought they found a great candidate only for them to be snatched up by someone else. We also talked about me restarting Botox treatments, so I will get to see her one more time before she leaves. Hopefully, the combination of the Qulipta that I’m currently taking and the Botox will help. The Botox helped before but when I developed trigeminal neuralgia (TN), it wasn’t as effective. Now that the TN is largely in remission, we are hoping the Botox will help again.

Second, today is my last day of marathon classes. I have classes every hour from 9 am to 4 pm. Since last Tuesday, I have taught more than two dozen classes. Those classes include my regular semester long class that meets on Tuesday and Thursday but also numerous English classes each day. The English class is the same class over and over, but I still have to prepare lectures for my regular class. Today, I’m addition to four English classes, I also have three history classes. It’s been an exhausting week and a half.

Finally, actually I don’t have a third thing. Everything else seems to be going fairly well. I haven’t had the time to keep up with emails and messages, but hopefully I can do that Friday while I’m working from home.

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De Profundis

De Profundis

By Dorothy Parker

 

Oh, is it, then, Utopian

To hope that I may meet a man

Who’ll not relate, in accents suave,

The tales of girls he used to have?

 

The poem today is short and sweet. (I don’t know that Dorothy Parker was ever “sweet” in her prose. It’s just an expression.). Dorothy Parker always goes straight to the point, and usually in a humorous way. A founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, Dorothy Parker’s work was known for its scathing wit and intellectual commentary. She may have used humor, but there is often a lot of truth in what she says. In this poem, she basically is saying: In a perfect world, I would meet a man who won’t tell me about his past lovers. We probably have all known people who constantly compare people to others in their past. We may have even had a boyfriend who constantly told us about his ex-lovers. While it’s good to know about someone’s past, we don’t need to hear them compare us to those whom they have known in the past.

De Profundis is Latin: “from the depths.” De profundis often refers to Psalm 130, traditionally known as the De Profundis (“Out of the depths”), from its opening words in Latin. There are several works in literature titled “De Profundis,” several of which include more serious poetry. These include:

 

• De Profundis (letter), an 1897 work written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment, in the form of a letter to Lord Alfred Douglas
• “De Profundis,” a poem by Federico García Lorca, set to music in the first movement of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14
• "De Profundis," a 1998 poem by Regina Derieva
• “De Profundis,” a poem by J. Slauerhoff in the 1928 collection Eldorado
• “De Profundis,” a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle written in 1892
• “AMERICA ’62: De Profundis,” a 2007 prose piece by Panos Ioannides
• Suspiria de Profundis, a collection of essays by Thomas De Quincey

Appropriately, the watermark at the bottom of the photo above reads, “GAYS WITH STORIES.”