Living in Plan B

Perhaps the meaning of wisdom
is reaching that stage in life
where you can stay calm
when the first plan goes out the window
replaced by some unexpected catastrophe or crisis.

Priorities turn on a dime.
Being able to let go of the first set of plans
and to pick up the new reins
and to move forward
into the unexpected future...
ultimately the challenge we all face.

The second part of wisdom
is finding community
who likewise change gears
pick up loose ends
brainstorm and watch your back
while engaging the shifting realities.

There is nothing more powerful
than being part of a team,
be it family, coworkers, church or friends,
who rally together
work together
and offer mutual support
while moving on through
the alphabet of plans.

The Third Place

http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/roldenburg

Last night I watched the director's commentary
to "You've Got Mail."
Throughout the commentary
and the special additions on the DVD
Nora Ephron demonstrated her love
of the "small town" nature of New York City
and of the importance of third places.

The idea of the third place
comes from the work of Ray Oldenburg,
who states that we have our first and second places
of home and work,
but that cultures thrive best when people
have a third place to go and to claim.

Nora Ephron shared her belief that coffee shops
had become important third places for city people.

Traditionally, third places have been pubs, cafes, churches,
anywhere that people can relax and interact and
form real social connections.
I believe at one point she identified third places
as places "where people can fall in love."

I've been thinking about my third places
and their importance in my life.

My church, particularly my Sunday School class.
My neighborhood Mexican restaurant,
where they know my name
and my drink order.

People need third places
to keep us engaged with the outside world,
to provide us with interaction with people
outside our work and outside our family.

I like the idea.

The link at the top of this blog leads to further information on Ray Oldenburg and his ideas.

Christmas Peace

Snow Chickens

The chicken coop was just a lump in the snow this morning.

But inside was a tropical paradise with happy chickens and green grass.

Food and water in abundance.

But we still want out.

Snow Day...and it is still snowing!

That lump in the foreground, above and below, is the chicken coop, complete with two chickens.

Today in Plumbing

It turns out that the sewer connections in Asheville
have a dirty little secret.
The pipes connecting to the house are metal.
The pipes between those metal pipes
and the sewer
are made of some sort of laminated tar paper.
It is really a miracle they lasted 60 years or so.
But now the time has come
to pay the big bucks
and dig the big holes
and replace the pipes
so that water will continue to leave the house
and not pool in the basement.

2012

I have been thinking about the short and long of the Mayan calendar.
The calendar ends in December of 2012,
so people are cashing in with books and movies
about the end of the world
at that time.

Working with hospice patients,
I'm familiar with the energy
that comes with this way of thinking.

If I have two years (or less) to live
what do I need to get done?
What do I need to say to people?
What do I need to learn, to forgive, to resolve?

It is a good and healthy thing
to live with short term deadlines.

Motivates us to get moving,
to do the things that we keep putting off
for uncounted tomorrows.

But I'm also intrigued with the LONG
of the Mayan calendar.

In our culture it is unheard of
to plan ten years ahead,
much less 5000 years.

If I make a new calendar
not for this month or this year
or this decade or this hundred years...
but for the next 5000 years,
what sort of planning does THAT entail?

The Mayans were truly remarkable
with their calendars short
and their calendars long.
They were people comfortable with
both the short view from harvest to harvest
and the long reach into the vast unknown.