Love, and be loved

Sometimes this world makes me weep
I tell my kids to be friendly,
To be generous
To be kind
To love
And to be confident that they are loved
Without judgement
Without fear
Without condemnation
To love, and be loved.

If there are to be tears,
Let them be tears of joy
In ecstasy
or in the quiet of the night
But let there not be
Shame or violence.
Just love, and be loved.

Is that too simplistic?

Yes.

It really is that simple.

Love, and be loved.

Breakthrough

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way
--Edward de Bono

There is a man in Paris who is stuck in a concrete wall. Is he emerging from encasement or being held back? Is he escaping or calmly moving forward to his next destination? Is he being boxed in or breaking free?

I feel somewhat like this man these days, as I wait to learn what my next assignment at work will be. Our department has a necessarily convoluted approach to job placements. Being a rotational department, with people going out on postings to our embassies or returning from overseas over the summer, or simply moving on to a new challenge at headquarters, means a significant portion of our workforce is on the move every year, like a swarm of bees or a murmuration of starlings. Having reviewed a list of available positions posted in April, and having had numerous conversations with potential managers and colleagues, to strategize and theorize about what the best approach and best fit will be, we have submitted our top 5 preferences and we now await the judgement of an assignment committee whose members presumably have our best interests at heart. It is not an efficient process -- 12 weeks to run from start to finish in this current round. There are still weeks to go. And so we wait, floating and hovering, pushed this way and that by gusts of wind, not yet ready to land and still unaware of our journey or destination.

What am I looking for? I don't mind being busy, but I refuse to do crazy. I want to keep my head above water so I can be present at home and still leave time for writing, reading, listening, meditating, gardening, making wine, exercising (I must get back to exercising) -- while working with good people.

The smell of the fresh air after rain that wafts through my window, the washed-out grey of the clouds that still blanket the sky: I want to remain aware of these, without dulling my senses with the senseless beating and endless churn of forever trying to move forward while being held back. I am where I want to be. I have already broken through concrete and I have no interest in building myself back into it.