Yes We Can - No We Can't

I got to be on a conference call with President Obama yesterday - thanks Janice. It was a good day, even if many want to make it into a negative. I'm proud of my vote, proud of Representative Kilpatrick and proud of my President.

Spring Break and Health Care

Wow - I've taken a bit of a break, but it's Spring  Break time and it was definitely time for a break.  I figure I just traveled about 2500 miles over the last week and a half. 

It's an interesting time isn't it?  Our plants are budding, but not yet green;  there's snow on the ground in the mountains and 80's in the desert.  Spring is a time of change and now we have change in our country: Health Care - finally.

I was busy running around the west going to drum shows, driving, flying and having a wonderful visit with my mom and then on a 7 hour drive back to AZ I got the text from my "progressive, socialist, leftist" friend letting me know that the votes were in and the votes said YES to health care reform.

I'm really not sure why Republicans want to repeal this new bill: why would we want to deny health insurance to children?  Why would we want our senior citizens to pay more for their prescriptions?  Why keep allowing the insurance companies to deny insurance because they have a pre-existing condition?  I really don't understand the logic: why are Republicans for Social Security and Medicare, but against Health Insurance?  Hopefully this will all make sense as the reform rolls out over the next 6 months to 6 years.

So today was a beautiful Spring day, the first day after Spring Break, and a beautiful day for democracy; the day after the Health Care Reform bill signing - change is all around me.  I think I need a vacation to recover from my Spring Break, but I feel warm and happy knowing that Spring is on it's way and so is health care for millions.

Ever Catch Yourself?

Ever catch yourself watching the commercials even though you recorded the show on your DVR? I noticed the glee I feel when I fly through commercials - hah! take that . . . what? you're trying to manipulate me, sell me something? I don't think so! But then I catch myself watching a commercial when I don't have to; maybe it's out of habit - like now I can write on my blog or make a phone call, but more than a few times, I just sit there watching the stupid ad - "Arrgghh!" If I feel joy by skipping commercials at lightening speed, then I must also feel the despair of wasting prescious minutes watching nothing.
Ever catch yourself listening to gossip wishing you had bugged out five minutes earlier? How does knowing who my co-worker is having an affair with enrich the day? It doesn't? I'm out! I'm now fast forwarding like a commercial on my DVR through these conversations and slowing down on the good stuff.

Ever catch yourself listening to a song you can't stand? It gets played so often that your brain recognizes it and you start to tap your toe - then you remember, "No! I don't want to listen to Taylor Swift sing through her nose." I haven't figured out how to fast forward my radio, but the scan button works just great.

Ever wonder why you watch the local news? Listen to how many stories have no value to your life. They don't inform you of anything you can remotely use. If I buy the paper or go online I can skip the articles that have no informative value. If I watch the news, I have to watch what they want me to know . . .

OR - I could start recording the news with my nifty DVR gizmo and fast forward through the commericals AND the meaningless stories.  Ever catch yourself catching on?

A Better Way

BE ONE WITH THE CHAOS

My son and I have almost daily (bi, tri-daily) phone calls, emails and texts to keep up with the chaos of running a competitive performance group called Dark Sky Percussion.  Today after we discussed a second member quitting because they just "can't figure out how to  . . . blah, blah, blah."  I said to Seth, "They need to learn to be one with the chaos."  I thought as it came out - yup, that's what helps more than anything -

with lots of things.

BE ONE WITH THE CHAOS is my new mantra and I'm pretty sure I made it up.  I swear I didn't read it in my new self help book or hear it on Dr. Phil.  I think it makes it much easier to know what the next move should be; what is most important and what is not.  When I am one with the chaos, I am not in resistance to it.  I'm not surprised when something else comes along that I was not intending.  I don't invite chaos and I don't expect bad things to happen, I just know that life doesn't lay out exactly as I see it in my head, so why expect that?

If I can stay calm, I can deal with most chaos that comes along.  Directing a group of almost thirty 14-22 year olds who are spread across hundreds of miles and when they get together, well let's face it, they're drummers - so it is still chaos!  I really like the members who figure out how to not only cope with chaos but actually thrive and excell in the midst of it - those are my kinda peeps!

I could hear a bit of disdain in my son's voice today as he shared the list of excuses from the recent "quitter."  I gave her a new label: "One Who Cannot Deal With Chaos."  Now I actually feel bad for her: "Ah, poor girl, she can only thrive when everything is going just right."  Yikes - these are the people you wink at as you're saying "Good Luck!"