I woke, on Saturday morning, to noises coming from the other side of the house.
Plumbing noises.
The kind you don’t want to hear.
I rolled over and tried to ignore those noises. Then I realized that I needed to pee.
Turns out the noises weren’t just coming from the other side of the house. They issued forth from “my” bathroom, too.
Ominous, non-flushing kinds of noises.
So much for sleeping! Investigation was definitely in order.
The Legendary Husband, being less of a mystery novel fan than I, had no clues, despite the high tech portal to the universe in front of his face.
Button pushing was in order.
Rumors of a water main break nearby. No details about when it might be – you know – fixed.
Local tv “news” obsessed with weather and traffic. (On a sunny Saturday morning!) Reports on restaurants having inspection challenges. Something about early MardiGras nearby.
I was aggravated.
No. I take that back. I was pissed.
And, then, the elephant in the news room appeared.
Video of the needless death of Tyree Nichols at the hands of police officers.
Video I haven’t yet watched.
Not because I’m not devastated, but because I am. And I’m overloaded with that these days.
The Atlanta area protests are thus far non-violent. Blessedly.
And, the world is bigger than Atlanta.
The world is also bigger than my local plumbing problems, which are pretty privileged problems when viewed through a global lens.
That’s when the perspective shift happened!
With more than a bit of help from Joan Baez. (It works for me!)
A rendition of The President Sang Amazing Grace let my tears be more for the world than for myself.
And, a few minutes later, God is God.
Sound scary? I get it. And it’s not the only message for this moment, but it’s one that just might be helpful!
After that, I was ready to move on to a bit of coaching for a new artist.
Phoebe’s eye meds. Read that, an occasion for t-r-e-a-t-s. (Newfs really do have big vocabularies!)
And back to the new generation of Grandmother Moon in progress. My own Divine Feminine image. Portable!
A combination of process and perspective which help me go on.
I’m pretty sure the more of us there are on board, the better the grace works for everybody!
ps… why the Joan Baez vibe/obsession??? Assumed it was nostalgia for peace & justice summer camp days in the midst of our current context. Turns out, there’s more! Like the art! And something singer/activist Patti Smith said when presenting Joan with an Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience award… “If the 16th century had Joan of Arc, we have Joan Baez.” May we have ears to hear!
pps… searching for some new tools for your medicine basket? I can help! Step one: ask the calendar elves to find you 45 minutes to chat. My gift. Red thread and a cuppa could be handy!