It's a time for remembering. This morning I read some of my journals from past years. I started writing a journal in 1966 when I was 19 and studying in Greece. I filled pages with the angst of not having a lover - something I did over and over again as relationships waxed and waned - but also with discoveries about myself. It was that year that I determined I wanted to spend my life educating for peace and justice. Guess what, I mostly have have had the privilege of doing that and I'm not done yet. My writing grows out of my need to communicate the need to love one another, see that of the Spirit in one another. I am full of stories about people who have done that.
So 2012 I will take more time to write, tell stories, educate toward a sustainable, human world. At 19 I thought we would have succeeded in that task long ago. It seemed attainable - just change the system. At 64 I know it doesn't work like that. It's a slow process. One heart and mind at a time.
I just finished our holiday letter - have yet to send it out to all those lovely people on my email list. You can see the letter and pictures by going to www.2quakers.net, our website, Terry and I, and clicking on the holiday letter and attachments. Pay particular attention to the "thinning" attachment. It's felt so good to eliminate tasks and responsibilities and free up more time for writing this year. And for reading old journals so that I can keep on keeping on educating for peace and justice.
And enjoy the poem about the meeting house our granddaughter Cassie wrote. She's only 11 but she's definitely a peace and justice educator already.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
What's New?
I haven't posted since this time last year. I will post something significant soon. All is well with those close to me - the world keeps changing and not always for the better.
My new quote on my email says it all:
And learn but in quietness and stillness to retire… and wait upon the Spirit; in whom thou shalt feel peace and joy, in the midst of thy troubles from the cruel and vexatious spirit of this world.
~Isaac Pennington, 1675
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
2010 Highlights for Liz & Terry & Photos
Dear Family and Friends,
Terry and I send our greetings to you in this season for celebrating love and light. We hope this note finds you warm and snug and enjoying the holiday.
We are fortunate to have had some very good times in 2010: a wonderful visit from our son Sam’s family at the very start of the year; one day in the spring when Terry and I drove out to the Texas Hill Country into the wildflowers, a summer of Grandma Camp and family vacation in Massachusetts and Vermont and some time all year to be creative, I with my writing and Terry’s with his web work. I am going to try to post some pictures here or you can find them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizyeats/.
SUMMER
just after swimming
on Vermont walks we found frogs in the stream most days
we picked a great many blueberries
Terry continues to work full time, thankfully for the same company as a computer consultant where he got some well earned recognition this year, but he is beginning to think longingly of retiring as soon as that is feasible, maybe three years from now. He continues to use his gifts and experience in web design in Quaker service for Friends Meeting of Austin and South Central Yearly Meeting. He just completed a new, really spiffy interface for the member’s portion of the FMA site. Sometimes he wishes he could disconnect from the world of technology and just sit in his chair reading philosophy, poetry, religion, and smarty pants thrillers, but then he realizes he likes writing computer software, just not all the things about working in the real world that surround it.
After years of trying to clear my commitments to spend more time writing, this year I began to spend some time most days spinning yarns on several different manuscripts. What will come of it all I don’t know, but it makes me happy. My service to FCNL and my monthly and yearly meeting continue. I enjoyed facilitating a second workshop on discernment at the FGC Gathering last summer. I got a new title for my volunteer position with Quakers Uniting in Publishing. I am now “administrative facilitator” which seems to fit what I do very well. I am still passionate about supporting written communication between Friends and hope to have energy to help promote Quaker publishing, print and electronic, for a long time to come.
Our older son, Arion, remains in Bangkok, Thailand, teaching kindergarten and traveling when he has a chance. We speak to him most Sunday mornings but we miss hugging him and wish we had the funds to bring him home for a visit.
Sam’s family grew this year with the addition of Stevie, a lively, friendly love bird who spends time out of his cage each day flying from one person to another, where he perches to groom himself and eat any paper he can find. Cassie (10) and Ari (7) are both great readers and with Brennon (5) they love creating stories, songs and plays. When I arrived this summer to help out with the children (while Pandora as she finished nursing school) all three children were collaborating on writing and videoing their own Star Wars saga, complete with creating characters by sewing orange worms with googly eyes and dressing them in paper costumes. At the end of the summer they performed their version of a Star Wars song that tells the whole story but they’re still in the midst of making the movie. The best news is that Pandora graduated nursing school and passed her boards. She will return to school to begin an MA this spring.
So many times this past year I found myself pondering how profoundly grateful I am for my life right now. My dream would be that everyone would feel the love and security of friends and family that I enjoy. I wish lots of you lived closer and I wish the world was not such an awful mess. I’ll continue to work for a more sustainable world with less violence for the rest of my life. More and more I realize that means breathing deeply and living life now while seeking to love and care for those that I touch.
We send you blessings for a wonderful 2011.
Terry and I send our greetings to you in this season for celebrating love and light. We hope this note finds you warm and snug and enjoying the holiday.
We are fortunate to have had some very good times in 2010: a wonderful visit from our son Sam’s family at the very start of the year; one day in the spring when Terry and I drove out to the Texas Hill Country into the wildflowers, a summer of Grandma Camp and family vacation in Massachusetts and Vermont and some time all year to be creative, I with my writing and Terry’s with his web work. I am going to try to post some pictures here or you can find them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizyeats/.
SUMMER
just after swimming
on Vermont walks we found frogs in the stream most days
we picked a great many blueberries
Terry continues to work full time, thankfully for the same company as a computer consultant where he got some well earned recognition this year, but he is beginning to think longingly of retiring as soon as that is feasible, maybe three years from now. He continues to use his gifts and experience in web design in Quaker service for Friends Meeting of Austin and South Central Yearly Meeting. He just completed a new, really spiffy interface for the member’s portion of the FMA site. Sometimes he wishes he could disconnect from the world of technology and just sit in his chair reading philosophy, poetry, religion, and smarty pants thrillers, but then he realizes he likes writing computer software, just not all the things about working in the real world that surround it.
After years of trying to clear my commitments to spend more time writing, this year I began to spend some time most days spinning yarns on several different manuscripts. What will come of it all I don’t know, but it makes me happy. My service to FCNL and my monthly and yearly meeting continue. I enjoyed facilitating a second workshop on discernment at the FGC Gathering last summer. I got a new title for my volunteer position with Quakers Uniting in Publishing. I am now “administrative facilitator” which seems to fit what I do very well. I am still passionate about supporting written communication between Friends and hope to have energy to help promote Quaker publishing, print and electronic, for a long time to come.
Our older son, Arion, remains in Bangkok, Thailand, teaching kindergarten and traveling when he has a chance. We speak to him most Sunday mornings but we miss hugging him and wish we had the funds to bring him home for a visit.
Sam’s family grew this year with the addition of Stevie, a lively, friendly love bird who spends time out of his cage each day flying from one person to another, where he perches to groom himself and eat any paper he can find. Cassie (10) and Ari (7) are both great readers and with Brennon (5) they love creating stories, songs and plays. When I arrived this summer to help out with the children (while Pandora as she finished nursing school) all three children were collaborating on writing and videoing their own Star Wars saga, complete with creating characters by sewing orange worms with googly eyes and dressing them in paper costumes. At the end of the summer they performed their version of a Star Wars song that tells the whole story but they’re still in the midst of making the movie. The best news is that Pandora graduated nursing school and passed her boards. She will return to school to begin an MA this spring.
So many times this past year I found myself pondering how profoundly grateful I am for my life right now. My dream would be that everyone would feel the love and security of friends and family that I enjoy. I wish lots of you lived closer and I wish the world was not such an awful mess. I’ll continue to work for a more sustainable world with less violence for the rest of my life. More and more I realize that means breathing deeply and living life now while seeking to love and care for those that I touch.
We send you blessings for a wonderful 2011.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The New Busy
I just noticed this line at the bottom of a friend's email:
"The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy."
I remember working 9 to 5. In fact I remember working much longer hours but I was lucky to be employed at jobs where I could really use my gifts and skills. The times when I worked 9 to 5 or more were a challenge, though, as they left very little time for family and friends outside the workplace. My spiritual life had to be fit in as well and I was often out of touch with the spirit.
There is so much wrong with our culture/society but that we can be convinced that working more than 8 hours a day is a positive, life fullfilling goal contradicts everything I know as truth. It leaves no time for relationship, for caring for others and oneself, for just doing nothing.
The best work year I ever had was one where I worked as a pre-school teacher. Everyone in the center worked 6 hours a day, the administrator, the curriculum head (who also taught) and all the teachers. We worked hard giving our full attention to whatever we were doing. Six hours with young children can be exhausting but we worked cooperatively, making sure each of us was not overburdened. We all got paid the same hourly rate and had the same benefits.
I can remember many more moments of joy from that year with little children than I can any other work year. There was time to really attend to the relationships at work and after work. I had energy each morning and a different but still centered energy before and after work. Even though I was a single parent and I struggled to arrive at work on time, especially on Wednesday when seconds could mean getting stuck behind the garbage truck,I succeeded in keeping my cool most days. It was a blessed year.
Later some of my years doing full time work in an office gave me the same sense of balance. I was free to set my own hours and often worked a 60 or 70 hour week but I made that choice.
I have lived a life of privilege. Should I feel guilty that I would rather go without "certain financial security" and "great accompishment" in order to live a balanced life?
More than 9 to 5 it is what is expected and demanded in most full time jobs. Even earning a basic living demands long hours. What happened to the 8 hour day?
My parents worked hard to organize unions to fight for the 8 hour work day. Where are our priorities? How can we let "the bosses" convince us that "The New Busy" is a good thing?
"The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy."
I remember working 9 to 5. In fact I remember working much longer hours but I was lucky to be employed at jobs where I could really use my gifts and skills. The times when I worked 9 to 5 or more were a challenge, though, as they left very little time for family and friends outside the workplace. My spiritual life had to be fit in as well and I was often out of touch with the spirit.
There is so much wrong with our culture/society but that we can be convinced that working more than 8 hours a day is a positive, life fullfilling goal contradicts everything I know as truth. It leaves no time for relationship, for caring for others and oneself, for just doing nothing.
The best work year I ever had was one where I worked as a pre-school teacher. Everyone in the center worked 6 hours a day, the administrator, the curriculum head (who also taught) and all the teachers. We worked hard giving our full attention to whatever we were doing. Six hours with young children can be exhausting but we worked cooperatively, making sure each of us was not overburdened. We all got paid the same hourly rate and had the same benefits.
I can remember many more moments of joy from that year with little children than I can any other work year. There was time to really attend to the relationships at work and after work. I had energy each morning and a different but still centered energy before and after work. Even though I was a single parent and I struggled to arrive at work on time, especially on Wednesday when seconds could mean getting stuck behind the garbage truck,I succeeded in keeping my cool most days. It was a blessed year.
Later some of my years doing full time work in an office gave me the same sense of balance. I was free to set my own hours and often worked a 60 or 70 hour week but I made that choice.
I have lived a life of privilege. Should I feel guilty that I would rather go without "certain financial security" and "great accompishment" in order to live a balanced life?
More than 9 to 5 it is what is expected and demanded in most full time jobs. Even earning a basic living demands long hours. What happened to the 8 hour day?
My parents worked hard to organize unions to fight for the 8 hour work day. Where are our priorities? How can we let "the bosses" convince us that "The New Busy" is a good thing?
Monday, May 24, 2010
Let Go, Let God
I'm busy inventing another self. I have been with my son's family in Massachusetts for a week now and for once I am totally enjoying my stay. The difference - they have a larger house where everyone has more options. Everyone is more relaxed. I still have to keep telling myself to relax. That's not easy for me. But as long as I let go and let God, I'm finding life within this family really fun.
I miss all my interactions in Austin but will be back for June. And I miss Terry but he will come later this week and we will go back together.
I just have to keep repeating "let go, let God", over and over. Why is that so hard? I guess I was raised to be productive but sometimes the skill of patience and quiet love work best. I'm learning, God. Maybe I will get it before I die. Or at least a balance between that and being driven by accomplishing lots everyday.
I miss all my interactions in Austin but will be back for June. And I miss Terry but he will come later this week and we will go back together.
I just have to keep repeating "let go, let God", over and over. Why is that so hard? I guess I was raised to be productive but sometimes the skill of patience and quiet love work best. I'm learning, God. Maybe I will get it before I die. Or at least a balance between that and being driven by accomplishing lots everyday.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Not such a bad day after all!
I've had quite a day, so far. I was getting out of my car on returning home after a wonderful conversation and lunch with my friend Jane, feeling on top of the world, when I dropped my new little laptop, case and all, on the parking lot, screen side down. The screen shattered. $430 and some change spent on Sunday for a refurbished machine that promised to solve work problems with which I have been struggling for over a year, gone in one little slip.
So what did I do. I cried, then I cursed the fact that I really was finding that laptop very useful and wondered if I was just like all the other privileged folks I find myself judging who suffer from technology attachment disorder. Then I realized I was going to use that machine for good work. Then I cried and called my husband, Terry, who even after four calls did not call me back. So I called my son who said he was so sorry, and then I cried and stamped and felt awful about ruining the lovely present my husband had just bought me, even though he wasn't answering his phone.
Finally, I remembered what my good friend Jane had said at lunch, that all problems have solutions and there was no point in wallowing in misery. So I called the repair folks, told the nice guy my sad story and asked what it would cost to put in a new screen and how soon they could do it.
Immediately, I felt better. So what if it may cost almost as much to replace the screen as the original price of the laptop and they may not have it ready when I travel on Monday. Those obstacles can be surmounted. I have the privilege of being wealthy enough to have it fixed, for which I am very grateful, and if it isn't ready in time it can be sent Fedex. I realized I was more upset about letting the solution to a problem I had been brewing about for years slip through my fingers, especially one which Terry felt so relieved to have helped solve.
Off I went to the computer store with my injured machine, congratulating myself that I hadn't totaled the car, that no one was ill or dying, and that I had not spent days kicking myself before I moved to bring light to a solvable problem. And on the way back I picked up my new, much better to see with, glasses and discovered a neighborhood cafe that does a delicious decaf/skim cappuccino and has wi-fi. I've been looking for such a place to work for some time now! All in all not such a bad day after all.
So what did I do. I cried, then I cursed the fact that I really was finding that laptop very useful and wondered if I was just like all the other privileged folks I find myself judging who suffer from technology attachment disorder. Then I realized I was going to use that machine for good work. Then I cried and called my husband, Terry, who even after four calls did not call me back. So I called my son who said he was so sorry, and then I cried and stamped and felt awful about ruining the lovely present my husband had just bought me, even though he wasn't answering his phone.
Finally, I remembered what my good friend Jane had said at lunch, that all problems have solutions and there was no point in wallowing in misery. So I called the repair folks, told the nice guy my sad story and asked what it would cost to put in a new screen and how soon they could do it.
Immediately, I felt better. So what if it may cost almost as much to replace the screen as the original price of the laptop and they may not have it ready when I travel on Monday. Those obstacles can be surmounted. I have the privilege of being wealthy enough to have it fixed, for which I am very grateful, and if it isn't ready in time it can be sent Fedex. I realized I was more upset about letting the solution to a problem I had been brewing about for years slip through my fingers, especially one which Terry felt so relieved to have helped solve.
Off I went to the computer store with my injured machine, congratulating myself that I hadn't totaled the car, that no one was ill or dying, and that I had not spent days kicking myself before I moved to bring light to a solvable problem. And on the way back I picked up my new, much better to see with, glasses and discovered a neighborhood cafe that does a delicious decaf/skim cappuccino and has wi-fi. I've been looking for such a place to work for some time now! All in all not such a bad day after all.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
mother's day surprise
Terry and I went to the computer store and got me a new, little laptoptoday. One with a much bigger screen, more memory and a nice keyboard. Much easier to travel with than my big machine and much more capable of doing all I need to do than my first little laptop.
Somehow machines have taken over my life. I want to think I'm more productive than I used to be but I spend too much time getting the machines to work.
So now I have a new machine. May it empower me to write more and worry about machine maintenance less.
Somehow machines have taken over my life. I want to think I'm more productive than I used to be but I spend too much time getting the machines to work.
So now I have a new machine. May it empower me to write more and worry about machine maintenance less.
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