Nature's bell--poem

Here is a poem I wrote at YMCA Leaders School in Aug2005. Quite an experience.

Nature’s Bell


Do you feel that stillness all around?
At night, after the rushing is done?

Darkness has fallen and the eyes are sleepy.
Come sit by the water,
And look out into the big bright universe.

Your heart leaps out into the sea of stars,
And rides one to a far off galaxy.
The moon’s light waves a bashful hello,
Peeking over the mountains,
Before gracefully sliding through its paces.

This is the symphony of nature—
Plays a different tune, I’m sure you can tell,
Marches to its own beat, a different bell,
One that might be tuned to the rhythm of the soul.

Oh, this is how it moves,
This is how we move,
When we let in the stillness that is knocking ever so quietly.
Come to tune.
Come to play.
But come ready to be amazed at what you might find.


Matt Crichton
8/24/05

fearing movie bombs...

1. I heard a lady on the subway keep saying "I will not fear," as she was listening to some music (I assume it was music anyway). I think that is a good meditation. But I was struck by the thought of how different our worlds must be...and that's one thing I like about Boston, or at least my perception of it--how diverse it is.

2. The front page of the Boston Herald had a picture that I thought I would only see in the movies--big explosions--and this is what is happening on the other side of the world?....how long until it starts happening "closer to home?" It is so draining to me to see images like this, and if you let it penetrate your senses, then you start to believe this is what life is really like..or something like that...well..see next post for something different..a little more inspiring.

memories of yoga....horns

Wow…I’m going through OLD notes I have and found this:
“Symphony of horns…shriners.” One of my ideas I wrote on my list was to create a symphony of (car?) horns…well I found them when I was at Baptiste Level2 teacher training in MT in May this year when we were having breakfast at a café, and saw a parade outside—complete with Shriners..those little cars. A nice way to end an intense week! This is a view of the lake and food bell.

Grad school dreams...

I've been considering/analyzing/stressing about what grad school program to pursue. I've done a lot of reflection, talked with some people one on one, but I thought..."well I should see what the blogging world thinks"...so here it is..any comments/suggestions/questions appreciated;)

I'm still looking at grad programs, and right now I'm studying for the gmat (business school admissions test).But what I want is to help my community be more effective, and I will do whatever grad program would help me do that most effectively. I work at the YMCA because, from what I've seen, if all the programs they had were executed effectively, they would be a very powerful force in the communities they serve.I get the sense that there is a lot of communication issues that an mba may not touch on.I also think that to have a good business sense/execution is important.So I guess an mba/msw program would be best?....well what are your thoughts about this?

Stillness watching pies?

I picked up two pies from the Pie in the Sky location (South Station)--pumkin and potato pie. They look yummy! There was no pick up location in our building:( I think $25 for each pie is a good enough price, for helping my community, and getting something I probably would get anyway. One downside: The pickup places need to get some plastic bags big enough for the boxes. I have a ways to carry these and it is going to be a pain to carry them home. But overall, I wish more people would buy these pies--although I have no idea if they sold as many as they wanted...

Carrying my pies back to the office, I walked through traffic, tall buildings (which I will probably never get "used" to), and many many people walking every which direction...well, I guess not EVERY direction--they weren't walking up the sides of the buildings--yet! I stopped every 5 minutes, just to observe the scene, and have my one minute of stillness within my day of movement. You should try it sometime. Stillness is important.

Shout out to save PLugged In

Yo--
This is a shoutout!!

If you care about the founding roots of community technology, check this out--an article about PluggedIn, and think about what you can do to help;...or what you can do to help community technology centers in your area (PLugged In was one of the FIRST!)

CTCNet has a good technology center locator.

Pessimism's raining bell

Today is a rainy day:(...but I tell people that you need rain to make things green...and one of the big differences I see between west coast and east coast is that on WC, it rains in a drizzly--slow--"rain all day" kind of way. On the EC, when it rains, it dumps the rain quickly, and then the sun comes back to play..usually.

Today's front page of the Metro newspaper has two articles about killing, and one big picture of building relationships. It's a start, but I think newspapers in general can and should report more good happening in the world, and figure out a way to make it "sexy" and readable. See this article (PDF file) from the Sun Magazine. Secrets Of PronoiaHow The World Is Conspiring To Shower You With Blessings (by: Rob Brezsny).

I found a post card-sized menu for the restaurant Aquitaine on the T today...there are no prices...hmmm..that's when I know it is an expensive place, and the items sound very French..."Lemon Sole Meuniere with pommes puree"...I like sole (the fish) in general..but wonder if I would like this..

So another reason I know the holidays are coming: I was walking on Washington street towards the Training, Inc office and heard the familiar Goodwill bell..shoot....I forgot..is it the Goodwill bell..oh yeah..it's the salvation army bell....

At work, I'm learning that communication is very important, and very delicate...especially at the beginning of the relationship...also the power of breaking bread (having lunch) with someone you want to work more effectively with.

Senior citizens

I was teaching a group of seniors how to scan pictures at Roxbury YMCA today. I asked them about technology 5,10,20 years ago. They had a lot to say. I asked one of them if she had the magical power to snap her fingers and take all the (compuer) technology away, would she. She said no very quickly...and then said keep the technology, add some ethics classes and "how to be human" classes.

I think seniors have a lot of experience that us young "whippersnappers" probably don't learn from..just to sit and listen, and ask good questions...
We must make it more intentional...the learning from each other...I think.

Who's fault...orion article...consumer season

1. I overheard two women talking...arguing with loud voices rather...about who's fault it is. Well, who really cares? My opinon is just get it done, whatever "it" is, the fastest, easiest way possible...I try not to argue with people.

2. Some of you may know that I work at the YMCA with computer labs. So you would think I would be all about giving kids access to computers at any age. Well, I read an article in Orion titled "Charlotte's Webpage" that I really agree with,..and it argues for keeping children connected to the "real" world.
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-5om/Monke_FT.html

3. It must be close to Christmas time...I walked through Downtown Crossing today, and saw the big tree being put up..among the masses of lunchtime people and ringing bells...what sights, sounds, and smells! A nearby window said "get ready"...ready for what? Ready to Spend, SPend, SPEND!! I thought...well, ..yeah..whatever..I'm not that into the consumer culture either\.

observations...thoughts...life

This blog will have random thoughts, ideas, observations as I move through this interesting journey called life. There are other blogs that I have. These are all topics I am interested in knowing more about. This main blog will probably have the most posts, but I will add some posts to other topics as well as time permits.

cat's eye problems

One of my housemate's cats has a problem with her eye.
Her name is Violet. See pictures...it can be red, and white cloud over her eye.
Karen--her owner--uses wipes on it, but I've lived there a little over a year and it has always been that way.
Is it the seasons, allergies, dust...Violet does like to try and sneak down into the basement..could that make it worse?
Karen does smoke in her room...could that make it worse?

Changing habits?

Why does it seem (to me) so hard for some people to change their habits?
I saw a flyer today:
"5 free workshops to help parents and guardians find the balance for promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity for the whole family. You care about your child's health and well-being. You can take steps to help your child make smart nutrition choices, increase physical activity, and reduce their time spent watching TV or in front of the computer."
----I agree with all this.

"Call today to sign up for free workshops.
Get ready to have fun and learn!
Attend 5 workshops.
Learn new tips and develop skills to promote smart food choices.
Receive great recipes the whole family will enjoy.
Meet other parents and guardians and get support from each other.
Win prizes.
Earn a certificate and 3 month membership."

----OK...is this REALLY enough to change day to day habits? From my experience, I'm skeptical. I would like to know about the follow up study of how many families maintained the "healthy habits" one year down the road.
It still seems to me that motivation is a big factor...in my world, the information is out there. All I have to do is go find it, implement it into my life, and there's the change..gee that seems easy..but I know it may not be that easy for everybody:)

unrest in latin america--inside the BOX

So I'm reading the current issue of Orion magazine. There is an article about revolution in Latin America--kicking out big corporations and corrupt governments. Why don't Americans do something similar? The article says a lot of "social experiments" are happening now...I sense this is the only way a better world will get created...'social experiments.'

There is a sentence in the article..
"...the people of Uruguay elected their first left-wing president and passed a plebiscite forever preventing the privatization of water."
Water...people are fighting over water...is that what the future holds for people in the US?
The first thing that crossed my mind was the issues of public vs. private education in the US. Here is a revised setence...that could be NYTimes headline:
"US passes plebiscite forever preventing the privitization of education."

This makes the fire inside me burn brighter to be outside the BOX that is the US...hmmmmmmmmm...peace corps calls a little more loudly...
Have you done peace corps..how was your experience/?