#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

It’s my nature to question, to look at the opposite side. I believe that the best writing also does this … It tells us that where there is sorrow, there will be joy; where there is joy, there will be sorrow … The acknowledgement of the fully complex scope of being is why good art thrills … Acknowledging the fullness of things,” she insists, “is our human task.

~ Jane Hirshfield, in conversation with Krista Tippett, “On Being” podcast

I make an excellent choice on my run ––before my phone runs out of battery. Under the silver sky of December, I run by the river and the brook, no ice at all, it’s mild, and a bit drizzly. I listen to the Dec. 16 On Being podcast, Krista Tippett’s interview with the poet (one of my favorites) Jane Hirshfield. She has such a beautiful voice, and her poems are amazing. She reads the one I’ve led workshops on: “Bowls.” I feel wonderful running today; I go 5.5 miles, and I love a run when I feel great in the rhythm of it. Then, I take a short swim as well, and feel even more terrific. We are busy here; people in and out, upstairs, downstairs. The storage pod arrives in the driveway. I am not able to work much at all today; many distractions, and that’s okay. Where has the week gone? No one in the house slept well last night. My meditation practice this past month has really helped me in the middle of the night wakefulness––to breathe and deeply relax, to drop into a relaxed state so quickly. And then. . . eventually. . . there is sleep and morning of a new day. Last night I found myself running spontaneously through memories of New Years eves from childhood and teenage hood years; very specific memories, from overnights with my cousin Debbie while our parents partied, to years of babysitting, and then, my own partying. There is a strongly felt sense of this holiday being here in the sky and the trees and the raw atmosphere of this Decembery time.