Thoughts about the week.

 

Do Peace Today

“Peace is not something you wish for, it is something you make, something you are, something you do, and something you give away.”

Robert Fulghum

          I’m on the way home now but the time on Emerald Isle stays with me. In my mind’s eye, I see the wind-sculpted trees, the beach, the sun, diffused behind clouds. I smell the sea air and feel the wind buffeting my hair. It is a happy, peaceful image. The fact that I did not burn with a passion for writing while there is not weighing on me or causing me to fret. I think there’s simply an internal process working its way to consciousness, and what I really needed was to be with the other people who were there. Delightful people, courageous people, unafraid to tell their own stories and no longer be apologetic about them.

          It was interesting to compare ourselves to the quilting guild that was there for most of the week. The writers' group sat long together in the dining hall because that was when we could talk out loud. We spoke philosophically about life circumstances, our hopes and wishes for America and the world, and we shared our stories with each other in the hope of making life’s challenges easier to bear. The quilters, on the other hand, were busy bees—they sewed all day, broke for meals, and went right back to sewing in the evenings. They charged the food service line like voracious locusts, all while talking loudly, laughing, and making jokes with one another. For Derby Day on Saturday, they made goofy hats and paraded into the dining hall wearing them like Jimmy Buffett’s parrot-head parade. The one that won their competition had a stuffed horse bobbing around on top. They were not focused on world issues, or anything but having fun and making cool quilts.

          Late in the week we were joined by a 10-member yoga group. The only place we intersected with them was the dining hall where they wandered in late, always late, and ambled around looking dazed; (my grandmother called it, “addlepated”) like they were having trouble staying on the earth side of the mystic veil. They circled the food bar a couple of times as though they did not recognize the substances therein, and then filled bowls with yogurt, fruit, and granola. They spoke to each other softly and to us not at all. I couldn’t tell if days of constant yoga left them so deeply at peace, they had trouble focusing, or if they were simply spaced out.

          At any rate, it was a beautiful week, full of camaraderie and conviction. I loved every minute of it. I’ll be sending along some of the pieces of writing I did in our evening sessions once they are cleaned up. Hope your week has been joyful, too. Happy belated Mother’s Day to all women.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane