a) the title of a book by Josef Skvorecky
b) a band
c) both of the above.
So glad you picked (c).
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. He's Irish, lead singer of the Frames, been around forever; she's Czech, early 20s, met him when he came through her hometown when she was about 12. They made a movie together a few years ago called Once that was a great movie; now they've put out a second album called Strict Joy, named after a poem by James Stephens:
"For, as he meditated misery
And cared it into song - Strict Care, Strict Joy!
Caring for his grief he cared his grief away:
And those sad songs, tho' woe be all the theme,
Do not make us grieve who read them now -
Because the poet makes grief beautiful."
It's a pretty mellow, quiet, lovely album overall. At first I thought I was not going to like it, but as I listened to it today.... yeah. Yeah! YEAH! Glen and Marketa dated for a while at one point; I wonder how many of these songs of love blossoming but being wrong were a result of that time.
"I know we're not where I promised you we'd be by now
But maybe it's a question of who'd want it anyhow
...
Have you had enough?
Had enough?
There's plenty more where that came from now"
- "The Rain"
"So go on now, you are forgiven
Let's put it down to life
The story of two lovers
Who danced both edges of the knife
...
Just be patient while I wait here
Our journey is out of sync
While you're out there running in the chaos
I need some time to think"
- "Fantasy Man'
"Forgive me lover
For I have sinned
For I have done you wrong
For I have hurt
Beyond repair
When tears occurred
No I didn't care
But this estranged organ in my chest
Still beats for you
It will not rest, so
Meet me in our secret placde
When the time has come
And rest your head in my lap
And I'll lead you out of your own trap
And I'll show you how much
You have missed through the
Time we weren't right."
- "I Have Loved You Wrong"
Call me crazy, but that seems pretty obvious.
I've been thinking about art and what kind of art I want to do. I'd usually say cooking, although I'm not much for presentation. Lately though I feel like I should really dive into writing. I got to watch the district competition for Toastmasters and the art of the word is key to making a great speech. Painting a visual image is no less a skill for being verbal. The fine poetry above is also lush in its expressions...
Ruminations.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Fall Con: TheologiCON
As I've written about a bunch, I hang out with teenagers way more than most people. I'm a youth advisor for the Tacoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation, I'm a member of our YES (Youth Empowerment Services) Leadership Team, and I'm the district Con Consultant, meaning I help the youth conferences ("Con") maintain consistency from time to time.
My experience of Con, therefore, is really not like other people's. Most of the time, from the moment I arrive, until clean-up, I'm pretty much on the go. I get to bed at 3 in the morning, I'm up again at 7, and in-between, my brain is still whirring with things I need to do. I rarely sit for longer than a meal, and I do not get to have the deep meaningful conversations that others do, because I don't get to hang out that long.
I am a kick-ass administrator. The upside of this is that I help Con run much more smoothly - and consistently more smoothly - than it used to in the past. The downside is that I am so good at thinking of the next step and the next task and the next chore that I have little peace.
It also means that I hold the space and help the details, but it really depends on the youth for the inspiration and good juju that makes Con magical. Con is magical, it is always magical. But it is also true that there is some percentage of youth who come to Con and who don't have the best time of it. Either they don't feel connected, or they see behaviors they don't like, or they feel uncomfortable with the culture. The audience is teenagers, largely; they are pretty amazing people, but they do make mistakes, and some of them don't respect the atmosphere as much as they should. It's always a see-saw back and forth between adults supporting Con and their fears that Con is not a healthy place for youth.
A year ago, a lot of changes were pushed through in a hurry and with little participation from the youth, especially the leadership. This August with the YES team, they got very hot under the collar about those changes, and pushed for change. In doing so, they prepared to make the culture something better than it has been. Their involvement was also new: they took on the culture role that previously was another challenge of an already-overworked con planning staff. There's only so many hats you can wear.
The result was a mind-blowing Con. The culture was fantastic. It was healthy. The making out was at a minimum. The community took care of itself; it faced hard choices and made hard decisions. It was radically inclusive, spiritually contagious. Normally I can look at Con and say, "this was good, this needs work...". This time around - all of it was really strong. The Spirit Corps does need some tweaks, but we tried something new and that's to be expected. All of the normal elements were really incredible.
I still ran around a lot, and still didn't get to sit down much. But it was very different. On Saturday night - at the talent show - I saw how strong the community was. I was tired: for the first time ever, I hadn't taken a nap on Saturday afternoon. I went off to bed, at 9:30. Admittedly, this was derailed by realizing that the mug books needed to be finished, so I actually got to bed at 11, but that's still a far cry from 3 a.m. And I could sleep. Other would take care of what was needed.
It was also true that I was awakened at 12:15 to deal with a situation, but even that showed that the community was working... instead of ignoring problems, youth were dealing with them. Two of my fellow sponsors also went to sleep early, confident in how everything was going.
Most gratifying, perhaps, has been the reaction of the adults who were there. They went home feeling healthy and happy about their experience and the time they spent with the youth. They felt included. They felt like Con is a good and great thing. One of our ministers actually said that it was the truest expression of UU values she had ever seen. YESSSSSSS!
Me? I feel wrapped in the cocoon. I see the benefit of staying in place for this period of time. These youth haven't known Con without me, and they see me as an ally. I see their gifts and the really active leadership of this particular group, and I'm honored that I can help. I don't get a chance to sit down because people continue to ask me questions and look for my help. The best part of this Con is that I felt like the community overall knew what to do and that other youth and other adults were going to reinforce the same answers I would give. The community and I shared a vision, and it was working, really, really well.
My experience of Con, therefore, is really not like other people's. Most of the time, from the moment I arrive, until clean-up, I'm pretty much on the go. I get to bed at 3 in the morning, I'm up again at 7, and in-between, my brain is still whirring with things I need to do. I rarely sit for longer than a meal, and I do not get to have the deep meaningful conversations that others do, because I don't get to hang out that long.
I am a kick-ass administrator. The upside of this is that I help Con run much more smoothly - and consistently more smoothly - than it used to in the past. The downside is that I am so good at thinking of the next step and the next task and the next chore that I have little peace.
It also means that I hold the space and help the details, but it really depends on the youth for the inspiration and good juju that makes Con magical. Con is magical, it is always magical. But it is also true that there is some percentage of youth who come to Con and who don't have the best time of it. Either they don't feel connected, or they see behaviors they don't like, or they feel uncomfortable with the culture. The audience is teenagers, largely; they are pretty amazing people, but they do make mistakes, and some of them don't respect the atmosphere as much as they should. It's always a see-saw back and forth between adults supporting Con and their fears that Con is not a healthy place for youth.
A year ago, a lot of changes were pushed through in a hurry and with little participation from the youth, especially the leadership. This August with the YES team, they got very hot under the collar about those changes, and pushed for change. In doing so, they prepared to make the culture something better than it has been. Their involvement was also new: they took on the culture role that previously was another challenge of an already-overworked con planning staff. There's only so many hats you can wear.
The result was a mind-blowing Con. The culture was fantastic. It was healthy. The making out was at a minimum. The community took care of itself; it faced hard choices and made hard decisions. It was radically inclusive, spiritually contagious. Normally I can look at Con and say, "this was good, this needs work...". This time around - all of it was really strong. The Spirit Corps does need some tweaks, but we tried something new and that's to be expected. All of the normal elements were really incredible.
I still ran around a lot, and still didn't get to sit down much. But it was very different. On Saturday night - at the talent show - I saw how strong the community was. I was tired: for the first time ever, I hadn't taken a nap on Saturday afternoon. I went off to bed, at 9:30. Admittedly, this was derailed by realizing that the mug books needed to be finished, so I actually got to bed at 11, but that's still a far cry from 3 a.m. And I could sleep. Other would take care of what was needed.
It was also true that I was awakened at 12:15 to deal with a situation, but even that showed that the community was working... instead of ignoring problems, youth were dealing with them. Two of my fellow sponsors also went to sleep early, confident in how everything was going.
Most gratifying, perhaps, has been the reaction of the adults who were there. They went home feeling healthy and happy about their experience and the time they spent with the youth. They felt included. They felt like Con is a good and great thing. One of our ministers actually said that it was the truest expression of UU values she had ever seen. YESSSSSSS!
Me? I feel wrapped in the cocoon. I see the benefit of staying in place for this period of time. These youth haven't known Con without me, and they see me as an ally. I see their gifts and the really active leadership of this particular group, and I'm honored that I can help. I don't get a chance to sit down because people continue to ask me questions and look for my help. The best part of this Con is that I felt like the community overall knew what to do and that other youth and other adults were going to reinforce the same answers I would give. The community and I shared a vision, and it was working, really, really well.
More Musical Divination
I find it a little wink from the universe when you flip on the radio and the song playing is your favorite song, or one that seems oddly appropriate. This summer at Goldmine, each time I left to run errands somewhere, the song "Waving Flag" would be on the radio. After Goldmine, I've flipped the radio on to hear, "I'm Yours" far more frequently than one would really think probable - and as a stats person, I use that word deliberately.
After this weekend, Monday a.m., driving off to work, the song playing snuck up on me a little bit; I wasn't paying that much attention, but then I realized it was a song I was quite surprised to hear on the radio: "A Sort of Homecoming", by U2. Back in high school, in winter, driving to basketball games, I'd make this the last song I'd listen to before getting out of the car to go in.
And you know its time to go
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distance
And you hunger for the time
Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath
Your own dream landscape
Oh, oh, oh
On borderland we run
Ill be there
Ill be there
Tonight
Every time I do a youth event, I start to feel burned out, challenged, blech, why am I doing this? How much longer will I do this? Should I start planning to turn this over? And then I go through the event and I feel so uplifted, so impressed, so in love with this community that I sigh and can't imagine why I'd ever want to leave. This past con was that way, only about 10 times more so than normal.
Tonight we'll build a bridge
Across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
Tonight
And your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distance
Oh don't sorrow, no don't weep
For tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home
It is a wonderful community, and I'm lucky to be part of it.
After this weekend, Monday a.m., driving off to work, the song playing snuck up on me a little bit; I wasn't paying that much attention, but then I realized it was a song I was quite surprised to hear on the radio: "A Sort of Homecoming", by U2. Back in high school, in winter, driving to basketball games, I'd make this the last song I'd listen to before getting out of the car to go in.
And you know its time to go
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distance
And you hunger for the time
Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath
Your own dream landscape
Oh, oh, oh
On borderland we run
Ill be there
Ill be there
Tonight
Every time I do a youth event, I start to feel burned out, challenged, blech, why am I doing this? How much longer will I do this? Should I start planning to turn this over? And then I go through the event and I feel so uplifted, so impressed, so in love with this community that I sigh and can't imagine why I'd ever want to leave. This past con was that way, only about 10 times more so than normal.
Tonight we'll build a bridge
Across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
Tonight
And your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distance
Oh don't sorrow, no don't weep
For tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home
It is a wonderful community, and I'm lucky to be part of it.
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