Wednesday, December 31, 2008

'The labyrinth blows, but I choose it'.*

Happy New Year!

After a few good rounds of the sun salutations, a good Yoga session always ends with the Savasana pose. Lying flat on your back, arms and legs outstretched, breathe deeply and feel blood flow into all of those unknown spaces in your body for just a few minutes. I call it 'naptime' pose, but really it is more than simple napping--it is wakeful resting to build awareness of and appreciation for your body's internal processes.

And in this moment of post holiday revelry and transition into a new year, I wish us all a good Savasana. It is moments like this to savour, to rest for a minute and to let ourselves catch up before we plow ahead into the day to day routine of another year.

No matter the journey behind us, we've still got much ahead. The labyrinth unyieldingly beckons.

The Mille Miglia was the most famous of all Italian road races and the thousand mile route varied from year to year, despite always starting in Brescia and including a run through Rome. Pointing the way for the drivers were little red signs, such as the one pictured above.

I wish all of us a good Savasana and a heaping helping of little red signs to point the way in 2009.

*quote from John Green's Looking for Alaska, a recommended favorite read from 2008.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Dreaming up Holiday Spirits



Snow is falling lightly and all is quiet in the city. My wife and child are sleeping peacefully.  

I treasure these moments, these people dearly and I wish for them this dream of dance.

As the rich overtones in the Pas de Deux bring exceptional warmth and clarity to the movement of dancers on stage, so too might the holiday spirits bring warmth and clarity to the preciousness of our interactions with friends and family.  As an old aquaintance suggests repeatedly: life is short!

God rest ye merry gentlemen and women!  And let your own dream of dance begin....

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Cut-Away View


The university thesis paper I never wrote but wanted to have written was a metaphorical examination of Ronald Reagan's political doings at that time--the Iran/Contra scandal and the beginnings of deregulation at the highest levels of the economy and government.  The metaphor symbolic of Reagan was to have been a very successful married man, carrying on multiple affairs, enjoying plenty of high-end consumption and rough trade relations. Thematic inspiration for my observations and final analysis was provided by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders and her song, Time the Avenger.

Tough for me to get the big ideas down on paper, let alone wrapping them around my flighty head in those halcyon days...and I was too damn busy making a mess of my own quasi-conjugal relations.

Neither the hard driving beat of Chrissie's song never left me, nor did my critical eye towards political and economic events.  But I did leave the enthusiasm for British cars behind then, and have since embraced their Italian brethren.

Pat Braden's book The Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible has been a great resource along the way. He begins his book with an eloquent and honest warning about the very real dangers of auto-
mobile repair and restoration--in short, that great bodily harm might occur to the unwary, the negligent or the incompetent.

Pat's Bible is the one I'll turn to when I'm explaining politics and economics to my daughter.  If these constructs are the engines of our society which propel us forward into the future, then it is to her benefit to remain aware and mindful of their power.  The political economy machine, just like a Ferrari 12 cylinder,  can be a unwieldy beast at the best of times. 

Or it can be a completely unforgiving Ponzi scheme at the worst of times.  Impassive acceptance is no longer appropriate--vigilance and accountability are.  Time the Avenger is still knocking, and not just on Ronnie's door anymore.  For the sake of all of us who haven't heard it [the knocking] yet, cue the 8 count drum solo, Chrissie!

More good food for thought here from Joseph Stiglitz in the current Vanity Fair.

Or here from Michael Lewis, author of Liar's Poker.

And here's one more interesting perspective.  Better to know than not know!

It is indeed right and salutary that we have the annual reminder of "Light amidst the Darkness" at this time.  I wish that you, dear reader, and I carry it forward together for ourselves and our children.  Peace.


Monday, December 8, 2008

Transparency

Raymond Carver has always been a favorite.  Here is "Happiness":

So early it's still almost dark out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.

When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.

They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these boys.

I think if they could, they would take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.

They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.

Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn't enter into this.

Happiness.  It comes on
unexpectedly.  And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

The truth is that happiness does come richly and unexpectedly.  And it does go beyond, really, any drivel I might post about it here. Thank you dear reader, thank you to my family, thank you Mr. Carver and thank you house of Bertone.