Patricia Garry

We Are All So Busy!

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Life is amazing!  Here we are, beginning to come out of the Covid pandemic, where we’ve been at home most of the time, some family around, but mainly seeing people on zoom.  My work and volunteer meetings are on zoom (or one of the myriad similar apps), my meditation group is on zoom twice a week, and my dream group is on zoom.  We’ve really switched over rapidly, which has been good, and has kept us going.

And yet I’ve been totally busy through the whole time, and as life is now opening up so we can begin to go out to events and restaurants, and see people who haven’t been in sight for nearly a year, I feel busier than I ever have been in a long and busy life.  I like to be part of everything, and I have many interests, both right-brained and left-brained, both work and volunteer.  I always love to lead and love to follow, so there is much variety in my life, which makes me happy.  And yet….

I now find myself doing tasks that do not feel like my work, and not being able to pass them along to wherever they need to go.  I am agreeing to take on tasks that are needed on a given project, but are not what I want to be contributing to that particular project.  I am not helping groups at the level I could be, and that is not making me happy.   And I am not getting to my own priorities, though I’ve done lots of things to meet other folks priorities.  I am just becoming clear about this, and will shortly be letting the groups and projects I’m connected to know more about what those priorities are.

For instance, I have written an excellent fundraising letter, and have been so busy working on mailings and stuffing envelopes that I have not been able to send out the 10 to 12 letters a day to my friends that I want to send out.  Much of my healing and psychic work is not being pushed forward because I am helping the groups I belong to with various maintenance tasks.  And my writing has dwindled because I am not prioritizing it.  When I feel / believe that it is one of the reasons I am on the planet.

I know I am not the only person / woman with this problem.  And I know I have contributions I want / need to make.  It just has not felt like I am making those contributions, but am doing other groups’ work.  I used to know, and teach groups, that there may not be as many volunteers as you want, but there are always enough volunteers to get that job done.   Just find the way – it is there.

So, Patricia –  accept your own teaching, and know that it is okay to do the work you are called on to do, and those other folks will find their ways to get their jobs done as well.

 

Two Poems

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3 Haiku on Justice, Peace and Joy

Justice, peace and joy                        Justice, peace and joy              Justice, peace and joy

When these are found and present,    The basis for a good life.           Why are they so hard to find?

Breathe in Gratitude.                             Often missing today.                Let’s look in our hearts

 

Issues of Justice and Peace

Issues of justice and peace often get tangled, especially when justice means the Courthouse.

Where is peace and justice for children who have just been evicted?  Their chance for a prosperous and happy future becomes smoke when Mom can’t pay the rent.

Will the needed remedies – fixes to the law, money from the Feds, come quickly enough for those / our children’s futures?

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

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The House in the Cerulean Sea – By T J Klune, Published 2020

 

An exquisite book, set in a slightly futuristic world where work deadens and fear rules employment, and most folks don’t think – too scary, risks are too risky.  The world works just enough to keep most everyone miserable.

 

Linus Baker is a caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, run by Extremely Upper Management.  He lives one of those dead lives, and has made his caseworker decisions without regard to what happens after he decides.

 

Then he is sent to the far end of the country, with his cranky cat Calliope, to spend a month essentially judging whether to close down the particular and peculiar orphanage with 6 marvelously magical and gifted children with varied gifts, physical appearances, phobias and strengths.  Located on an island in the ocean, it is run by Arthur Parnassus and essentially managed by a winged sprite who is chief cook and main supporter. Helping with the cooking is Lucy, one of the students / children, actually 6-year-old Lucifer, son of you-know-who.

 

This is a beautiful heart-wrenching and affirming story of one man’s growth, taking charge of his own life, and a story of overthrowing the bureaucracy.  It is also a gay love story, not very gay (in terms of happy) until nearly the end.  And a story of being different in a world that is not fond of different.

 

The story is magical in and of itself – beauty is everywhere in this book.

 

Tape Harvard Professors

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To the Editor:

Re ?Tape Found Over Portraits of Black Harvard Professors? (news article, Nov. 20):

Instead of dignifying with inflated philosophical bloviation the grim nastiness of the anonymous vandal(s) who pasted strips of black tape on the portraits of African-American professors, Harvard Law students responded with wit and human warmth: They put along the frames of those same portraits hundreds of colored Post-it notes bearing messages of affection and gratitude.

These young men and women teach us all a valuable lesson.

CHARLES FRIED

Cambridge, Mass.

The writer is a professor at Harvard Law School.

The Black, White, Blue and Gray of It All – My Enquirer Op-Ed

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Yes, black folk in this country ? specifically black males ? have good reason to fear the police. This bad behavior – shoot first and think later ? is not new stuff. Nor is the more minor form of the disease / behavior ? stopping black folk for the crime of driving while black.

I raised my kids ? all boys ? in the then and still middle-class neighborhood of Bond Hill, mid-60s to mid-70s. On the west side of the ?hood, the transition was from white Catholics to majority African Americans. The east side of the ?hood, where we lived, was white, majority Jewish, mainly Catholic otherwise. We were neither Catholic, nor Jewish, nor much of anything at all. But we were white, in a transitioning community.

My three boys, out walking in the neighborhood with their friends, were seldom in the majority. So Brian and his friends, black and white, started being hassled by cops when they were no more than 6, 7, 8 years old. The other two, who were a bit older as were their friends, got even more hassling over a longer stretch of time. It seemed evident that no one really saw groups of boys who were white, but were hyper aware of groups of boys who were mostly black.

I kept for a while a catalog of all the comments police officers had made to me in my community when I called for police assistance. ?What do you expect, living in this neighborhood?? was quite common. Average time for police response was 35 minutes ? I documented every call. One call took over 4 hours for a response. When we moved to North Avondale ? a more upscale community in 1976 ? I only had to call the police once. Response was 4 minutes. Though the distance from the police district station was identical. But when my Brian cut through backyards to walk down North Crescent (now Fred Shuttlesworth) to Walnut Hills High School, he was jumped by a gang and his boom box was stolen. And the police officer said ?Don?t you know you?re not supposed to walk down this street?? ? meaning that Brian, as a white kid, should have walked down Clinton Springs over to Victory Parkway, not taken a shortcut.

So I?ve experienced racist police attitudes and behavior close up. And been amazed that officers are not trained to de-escalate situations, but almost seem trained to ramp them up into major confrontations. Rather than backing away from a man with a brick, they charge ahead. Rather than ignore a broken taillight ? or write up a warning, hand out a pamphlet about why taillights are important, or perhaps a coupon from a car dealer to reduce the price of fixing it – or just in a neighborly way point out that it?s not working ? they get scared of black skin, panic and we have another dead citizen.

Officers also never seem to think about the ?crime? they are stopping someone for. A broken taillight is not a death sentence. Nor is standing up for one?s rights, or carrying a lawful concealed weapon. Or even running away from a cop for non-payment of child support. Take the guy?s picture and find him later.

So, finally, a black guy who had had to face this kind of racism all his life ? no doubt including his time as a soldier in Afghanistan ? went way over the line, and killed 5 white cops. Which is absolutely, of course, wrong. But put yourself in any black guy?s place. See with his eyes. This has been his entire life ? fear of cops, cops bothering his family, putting his friends in jail for longer sentences than white guys get, being hassled for a little weed when it is legal in much of the country, not able to find a job. This acid has dripped over him every day of his life. So he blew up. We are incredibly lucky that more folks have not blown up this way.

Let?s change, back off, get calm, ask open ended questions, make small talk, forgive fines and tickets that are shoving black men, women and families into debt and debtors prisons, ask how we can help, be less punitive and puritanical.

Or how about that really old piece of advice ? Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. That might work, on all sides.

Book Reviews: The Olympians by Rick Riordan

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A friend of mine has an entire bookcase of paperback books by Rick Riordan. In 2005, he began churning out books for kids 6th grade through high school, using his encyclopedic knowledge of Greek mythology, and turning that into fast paced, often funny, often scary, always interesting books featuring kids who are children of the gods, magicians or otherwise off the beaten path of American youth.

I agree with Sheila – these might be kids books. Then again, they might not. I’m sure enjoying them in an addictive, devouring kind of way. I get particular joy out of the ways Riordan slips in bits of arcane knowledge that I know as well, having been hooked on mythology since 7 or 8 years old.

I’m only on the first series of books – The Olympians, which has 5 books in it. I’ve now read the first 3, and have the Cincinnati Public Library finding the other two for me from their trove of books around the city. Percy (Perseus) Jackson, 12 years old when the series begins with the first book The Lightning Thief, is just discovering that he is a half-blood, a demigod. That fact has caused most of the many problems he has faced in his young life.

Arriving at the more-or-less safe Camp Half-Blood, somewhere on Long Island, he makes friends and enemies with other demigods, not sure which Greek deity is his parent. The second book is the Sea of Monsters, and the third, which I just finished this evening, is The Titan’s Curse.

The arcane creatures – pegasi, an ophiotaurus – and fellow students (Percy discovers he has a brother who is a cyclops) are well-drawn characters, with actions right in line with their descriptions, and interactions that make perfect sense in a magical deity-filled world.

For fun, for pleasure, for well-plotted writing, and light summer reading (or stressed-out winter reading), you might give these a try.

A First Look at Donald vs Hillary – Kluska Workshop

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Cincinnati Astrologer Ed Kluska gave a workshop this afternoon: Trump vs. Hillary ? A First Look

These lines are my interpretation of Ed?s discussion: Given the overall planetary action, there will be plenty of surprises / shifts / confusion in these next few months ? the world will keep evolving and being weird, and not just in politics.

Astrologically, The Donald, a Gemini, is more complex than Hillary. And it is really hard to be more complex than a Scorpio, particularly a double Scorpio. Donald has his sun in Gemini, his moon in Sagittarius, and his rising sign in Leo. (Sun, moon and rising are the big three in astrology.) He knows how to use the media, needs lots of attention, has great verbal skills, connects easily and well with people ? creating and running The Apprentice was the perfect place for him.
He?s creative and curious, an extrovert, not very reflective, as excited as a little kid. He loves his kids, his home, his family. On the other side – he?s impulsive, volcanic in sudden urges, needs to be more careful about honesty, his timing is often off, and, with very little earth in his chart, he has likely not accomplished a lot of what he excitedly planned to do. (I can see such a news story coming up soon.) His mind can wander, he can be foggy.

Hillary is a Scorpio, a double ? her sun is in Scorpio and so is her rising sign. As Ed said, the perfect set up for a politician or a lawyer ? and she is both. Her moon is in Pisces. Both of them have Mars in Leo – gives them lots of strength, motivation, energy. Where Donald is outward, Hillary is inward. Where he is not reflective, does not think about what he does, she is always thinking, planning, seeking understanding. Where he speaks without thinking, she is deliberate, and doesn?t speak out until ready.

She is in many ways Donald?s opposite ? she has willpower, strength, tenacity, devotion, perseverance.

Neither party?s convention will be particularly explosive ? so I?m thinking Bernie will have found a way to make nice. Hillary will be full of confidence, she will like and appreciate the attention and the support, signs are all very good for her there.

And the Republicans are not likely going to suddenly support another candidate, or start a third party. Donald wants power and they will give it to him.

Between now and the election there are very few bumps in Hillary?s way ? some problems in February, not now. Donald, on the other hand, has a chart with challenges in it now through mid-September. And again right after the election.

Ed is not ready to look at the actual election until vice presidential choices are made and that data is gathered. Plus there are other details he wants to look at more closely.

I, on the other hand, called it months ago, and will say it again. Hillary is walking away with this one. And she will, now or later, get the love and support she needs. In return, she will give us all her energy and devotion ? and be an excellent Democratic president, caring for us, the people of her beloved country.

Garrison Is Retiring – Me, Too!

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It has been interesting to listen to Garrison Keillor, creator and long-time host of A Prairie Home Companion, since he announced last fall that he would be retiring this summer. He introduced the next host on one of his shows back then, Chris Thile, and let Chris do several shows. That mandolin really talks in Chris’ hands – Bach, no less. Mostly this spring and summer, Garrison has been hosting, but ends his summer run on July 2. Then evidently he’ll be doing the show from the Minnesota State Fair in September, and turning it absolutely over to Chris on October 15.

He has been superhot here lately – doing amazing and topical re-takes on old songs. The skits have been tops, the imitations of presidents and politicians absolutely hysterical. A great way to go out, riding on a cresting wave!

Since I am also retiring from a job I basically invented, as of December 31, 2016, I have been taking careful notes on Garrison’s approach. I mention my retirement, but not too often. I also mention what we have to do next year when we do a given program or event, to imprint the pattern I want to see carried out – though I won’t be around to make it happen. I am busy building up the audience, raising the funds to maintain and expand our efforts, looking for new financing methods for community development projects, making sure hot neighborhoods are noticed, and that community development is seen as a cool career. And especially getting back in touch with old friends and supporters, while creating new ones at the same time.

Garrison has set a great path before me, and I’m following it well – and having a terrific time!

My Jane Austen Craze

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It might have started with seeing Emma at the Cincinnati Shakespeare in March. I know I saw Pride and Prejudice there in the last couple of years. But I had never read any of Jane Austen – I always assumed it would be that turgid Victorian you-are-taking-too-much-time-to-tell-me-how-the-garden-looks prose. Of course, I wasn’t realizing it was written a hundred years before that. And that Jane doesn’t spend much time on gardens, etc.

But then Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible – A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice appeared in the book reviews and on the bookshelves – so I grabbed one and read it. Read it straight through most of a weekend. And then read it straight through again.

Since then, I’ve gotten the P.D. James murder mystery version – Death Comes to Pemberley, and the actual original Pride and Prejudice, which I had to wait several weeks for from the library. And I just spent part of this afternoon reading the juicy parts from Eligible again.

I’m also thinking about getting Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is also a movie. I personally find it very hard to believe I am thinking about that – but I am!

‘Watch out for those Caucasians!’

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I re-listened last night to the 2011 New Year’s Eve Prairie Home Companion from Hawaii, which was replayed on WVXU – since Prairie Home live is taking a little vacation after the holidays.

Garrison Keillor had a great time, making fun of The Big Island, and all the wild and fearsome stuff that goes on there – like snow in the mountains. And then he made a comment about immigration, that seemed so 2016. He was feigning sympathy with all the conservatives so afraid of immigrants, and of strangers coming to our shores. More specifically, Hawaii’s shores. And then he said ‘You have to be very careful of who you let into your home.’ Which Hawaiians lightly chuckled about, having had Captain Cook ‘discover’ them and end up running the show. Then he said, back on fearing immigrants – ‘Watch out for those Caucasians!’ The audience roared, a knowing and reflective roar.

It’s certainly something that any of us who are ‘other’ in America – which means basically anyone who is not an older white guy – can understand. And, of course, those guys are pointing at all of us for taking their jobs, changing their country, not playing by their tedious, sad and inhibiting rules.