Bemused, Boggled, and Bedazzled

Once upon a time . . . okay, it was just last November . . . I took it into my head to have my salt and pepper grey hair highlighted with blue. And not just any blue, but electric blue. So I went to Cliff, my hairdresser, and he applied enough chemicals to do the job. Various folks have been asking me to post a picture of the finished product, and in fact, the day of the great transformation I came home and had my husband/photographer/ webmaster do a head shot for me. It started out rather blue-violet, but after a couple of weeks, most of the violet was gone and I was left with a good strong blue. Worked for me. At any rate, I have enjoyed this thoroughly, and will probably do it again just before I go to Santa Fe in March 2009. So for all those who have been waiting for this, here it is.

Smile, my little chickadees!

If you are expecting me to really answer that question, I am very sorry to disappoint you.  I don’t have a clue what the new year will bring.  I never have.  Oh, I have some things on my calendar – I know where I will be teaching and when – but as for the shape of my year, I really don’t know.  It’s a mystery.  And in some ways, I like it like that!  Without a little mystery, life would be a sterile, boring, all-too-predictable thing.

This is the time of year when people set goals, make resolutions, plan their attack on the year to come.  And these are worthy things to do.  I will be doing some of that myself over the weekend.  (Never one to rush into things, I delayed the planning process to a time when I know I can carve out some uninterrupted hours.)

My point (and I do have one) this morning is that amidst all the planning and resolutions and goal setting, we need to remember to be open to mystery and magic,  serendipity and surprise, blessings and beauty.  We need to keep our hearts, minds and senses open and available to receive what the world would have us experience.  There’s nothing new to this idea – artists, writers, explorers of all sorts have been doing it for millenia.  But as we become more and more bombarded by the “shoulds, musts, have tos, gottas”, it becomes harder to choose simplicity and wonder.

I don’t claim to have all the answers.  I’m not sure I have ANY answers.  What I do have is a wish for you – that among all the rushing and planning and doing, you will find some mystery and wonder to delight your eyes and heart in the coming year.

Blessings to you, my little chickadees!