Sustainable Life

Warning - Melissa's Musings are intentionally stream of consciousness!

There are three things that spur me to write:  First, a crystalline thought, which seems to (finally) emerge from a long swirl through the depths of my psyche; second, Autumn (my intellectual season); third, travel.  Today I have two things that I want to write about, or is it three?  Five?  I don't think I have to tell you what spurs me to not write, n'est pas?  I need to go back, during this winter's rest, to record in full my amazing trip to Barcelona, where I did connect, in ways that have amplified my life, all for the good.  I also want to write about San Francisco and Napa, where I will travel to this Saturday for a full week of total immersion in bliss.

In between these two trips, a lot has happened to me that is great, and a lot of things have happened in the world which aren't so great, or so surprising, but both have caused me to think deeply about what is sustainable.  What is sustainable is a question I seem to be asking myself all the time, about my lifestyle, my relationships, my health, my career, my world, the contributions I make, the legacy I might leave.  As I'm writing this I'm thinking about the world economic crisis, the fact that the world now has 7 Billion people and will likely have 15 Billion by 2100, and about how different my view is about all of these things from that of my father.  He passed away 10 years ago last May, but he taught me to be a thinker and I still hear the echoes of his middle-aged awareness in my head as I encounter economic and politicial issues that are similar to those faced by his generation.

I dont' think things have changed much in the economic and political landscape.  In the August 29, 2011 edition of The New Yorker, Jill Lepore (Dickens in Eden) excerpts from a letter Charles Dickens wrote to actor and fan William Macready, the following commentary which seems startlingly contemporary: 

"Look at the exhausted Treausury; the paralzyed government; the unworthy representatives of a free people; the desperate contests between the North and the South [substitute the Left and the Right] the iron curb and brazen muzzle fastened upon every man who speaks his mind, even in that Republican Hall, to which Republican men are sent by a Repulbican people to speak Republican Truths--the stabbings, and shootings, and coarse and brutal threatenings exchanged between Senators under the very Senate's roof--the intrusion of the most pitiful, mean, malicious, creeping, crawling, sneaking party spirit into all transactions of life."

That was written in 1842. Really people, have we evolved at all?  Perhaps not from a political pespective, but I would argue that we have when one considers things from a social perspective.  By this I mean that unlike my father, who was a creature of his generation, I am thinking about all the people in the world, including those in the third world who are struggling to enter the global economy and whose potential is as important to many as is my own, or any other middle class American's.  His generation, and maybe even some of the modern-day relics of his generation, proclaimed their realism while explaining that one had to make one's own way in the world, grab as much as you will need, secure it for future generations and so on, uncaring of the costs to others.

It's not that I don't recognize the practicality.  At any given point in time there is is only so much food, or shelter, or clothing to go around; I've had to make do many a time in my life and will likely face reduced circumstances at some point after retirement.  What's changed is that I don't think really think there are limits, except perhaps to our rate of adoption for new technology and new paradigms.  I also don't think that innovation can happen in a stagnant society, which is one of the reasons why I believe that everyone's potential is important.

These are the among the thoughts I will take with me to California on this  year's Splendidly Wonderful Journey.  While I acknowledge the privelege I enjoy to make such a journey, I also go with the hope that I'll find some new inspiration and understanding about sustainability and how I can contribute, in some small measure, to ensuring there is enough to go around, for all the children I know, and their children, too. 

Murphy's Law and Mental Musings

A funny thing happened on the way to Spain . . .


The last blog was a testament to the incredible energy generated by my upcoming Splendidly Wonderful Journey. Of course, the week preceding the trip has demonstrated the universe's propensity to take me down a peg.  First, my travelling companion suffered a concerning back injury that has still not abated, though we leave in two days; and my carefully crafted plan to wrap work and transition gracefully with a free conscious to my universal journeyman pleasure cruise devolved as crises loomed like Peer Gynt's Boyg --a Boyg which I had to work through while ensuring work continuity, as well as defending my cub and doing my part to support the evolution of American education at a parent teacher conference.   Worst of all, I learned of the diagnosis of advanced stage cancer of a dear friend and colleague.


Over a glass of wine towards evening, another friend profoundly honored me.  Reaching out, she shared a little darkness, a little despair; a little humanity.  This was not a cry for help, per se, as my friend is an extremely competent human being - and who is as humble and understated as that tongue in cheek description.  It was, rather, a connection - what I refer to as "recognition and reciprocity".  Ironically, as I found myself responding "I have done that very same thing" (to cope with loneliness), I was uplifted as opposed to broken.  Recognition and reciprocity - life's lesson's abound with it.  Connection happens and is sustained when you are fortunate enough to have someone to take those lessons with you, sharing perspectives and learning all the more together.  It's what we all seek, though it's poignant at best when friends fall by the wayside or choose to pursue a course of study that you do not share an interest in, and the connection is broken.

This morning I awoke with a distinct memory of an excerpt from another friend's blog -- http://www.brettdouville.com/mt-archives/2005/11/index.html.  Brett blogged about Blindness by Jose Saramago, an author widely recognized as an observer of the human condition:

"It's that powerful to me; his novels are written in a style which lulls me into the rhythms of his particular story, jocularly told by an avuncular omniscient narrator, and just when I'm least on my guard, he'll sneak in some bit of wisdom, such as this piercing line from Blindness, delivered just after the narrator has led you to a room where two people are making love":

Even if this instant of supreme pleasure should last you a lifetime, you will never become united as one.

"That sentence snuck up on me, as I played the voyeur, following a character who was herself a voyeur, and delivered a statement of a fundamental loneliness inherent in the human condition in a way that I had never experienced before. Even at our most vulnerable, if our whole lives are spent extending a moment of connection, we will never fully break out and connect the darknesses inside our separate skins." 

I share Brett's appreciation of the impact of literature on the reader's pysche.  I also subscribe to the notion that the interior journey, and it's all-too-fleeting external manifestations, is a lifelong attempt to integrate, to self-actualize, to sustain the state of grace which occurs when we do connect the darkness, when we are, paradoxicaly, not alone.  I will have to call my colleague and read this to him while he is resting after chemo, as he is blind and thus has to work harder for the fleeting connection.  Saramago, in his Blindness, is reaching to me through a friend, through the shared experiences of sickness, sorrow and despair, even though he died a few years ago.

Chaos and confusion all day, connected conversation continued well into the evening, the changeable weather, the perspicacious wine, the timelessness of loving friendship, the clever craftiness of subconscious memory working behind the scenes to connect related bits and bytes; all told over, evidences the elemental energy that enlivens human experience.  I must pause here to acknowledge William Shakespeare, whose verses have inspired the world for so long:

THESEUS
More strange than true: I never may believe
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

HIPPOLYTA
But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigured so together,
More witnesseth than fancy's images
And grows to something of great constancy;
But, howsoever, strange and admirable.

I love Hippolyta at least as much as I adore alliteration.

In addition to the amazing and iconic sites I noted in my last blog, I will now remember to move slowly, with respect for my companion's back. I will have time to listen to the perspective of others, to notice the state of the human condition in a foreign part of the world, to hear the emotion streaming out from the street guitarist's strings; to appreciate the passion of flamenco, the simplicity of sangria, to know joy.  Maybe to learn a poem in Catalan.  I'll connect.

Splendidly Wonderful Journeys

Like many, I have come to view all of life as a splendid journey, even those paths that lead to painful lessons.  In a few weeks, I will embark upon my first journey overseas -- Barcelona, Girona, Mt. Canigou and Molitg-les-Bains.  The trip is all for pleasure, which for me must include learning -- stretching of mind, heart, spirit, soaking up life's lessons like a sponge.

Lessons frequently come to us from books, and I have read so much about Europe that I fancy myself familiar with it; I have passed many pleasurable hours imagining the incredible richness of a journey such as the one before me.  I will gaze out over the Mediterranean Sea, walk in cities whose foundations are Roman; whose walls bear mute witness to human endeavor - the medieval fortifications, the blossoming of the Modernist culture, the propensity to create in the face of famine, failure, fighting.  I will look upon both the sacred - a resting place of the Grail in Sagrada Familia, and the profane - a resting place of Vlad Tepes at L'Abbay St. Martin du Canigou in the Pyrenees,  mountains more ancient that the Blue Ridge, the Allegheny or the Rockies.

I am ready to be awed by the experience, completely childlike, brain and senses fully engaged.  Already I am musing to myself about the merits of reality vice reading a book about Catalonia, Gaudi, Dali, Picasso; wondering if the literature will pale beside my experience the way film sometimes relates to literature.  I will walk free, as only a visitor can, and as gracefully as a guest can contrive to, in places that provide records of the whole of known human history.  Surely this will be among the most enriching experiences of my life.  Recording this journey will be such a priveledge and a pleasure, sharing it seems somehow important.

For the next two weeks, I'll be packing my bags with a mind to representing the modern American woman in a favorable fashion; as well as paying homage to my European surroundings. Though my departure date is October 1, the wonder has already taken hold, the journey begun. I invite you to check in again before I depart to critique the packing list and experience some vicarious pleasure as I continue this splendidly wonderful journey!

Accupuncture - Real or Imagined?

My research into accuncture reveals that it has been around for over 2000 years, originating in China as a method to treat illness.  It is considered a form of traditional medicine, which the World Health Organization defines as "the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses."   They also note that "scientific evidence from tests done to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of traditional medicine products and practices is limited. While evidence shows that acupuncture, some herbal medicines and some manual therapies (e.g. massage) are effective for specific conditions, further study of products and practices is needed."  The WHO factsheet is located here:  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs134/en/. 

What is accupuncture?  In my own words, it's the practice of inserting needles into the body at specific points to effect the flow of qi (pronounced "chee") energy.  An accupuncturist might further describe those specific points in relation to "meridians" which stimulate specific areas and organs of the body, via the energy and/or blood pathways.  According to Wikipedia,  (see their full collection of accupuncture tidbits at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture), there is little to no allopathic, western language which directly correlates to these traditional, eastern treatments.

I find that interesting as a self-described student of the world.  Many of you are aware that when we translate literature from other languages, we have a limited capability to understand precisely what is being expressed, because there is no equivalent a priori notion in our culture.  This is one of the many reasons why people choose to learn foreign languages (to fully understand other cultures) and also why we adopt foreign words wholly into English.  Qi energy, spelled chi in English, is a classic example.  Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines chi (with an earliest recorded date in English of 1850) as "vital energy that is held to animate the body internally  . . ."   I don't understand how we can accept that our nervous system carries chemical and electrical messages throughout our bodies, and not accept that stimulating a point at a nerve ending could send a message via the connected pathways to specific organs.  But hey, that's just me and my active imagination!

Does it work?  In my experience, yes.  I receive accupuncture treatments to relieve pain associated with tendonitis in one of my hips and various other mild disorders;  to help balance and envigorate my energy and to relieve stress.  When I receive treatments, I become very aware of imbalance in my phycial well-being, much like a person will become aware of a sore muscle or a joint functioning improperly when stretching or practicing yoga.  This awareness is associated with the level of pain noted when the needle goes in.  Where things are functioning well, there is a light buzz of energy that is stimulated at the entry point; where things are stagnant, there is anything from a quick flash of soreness to a burning sensation.  Too much indulgence in food and drink (or even a recognized medical condition such as ulcer, allergic rhinitis, headache) can result in anything from sore spots associated with, say, the digestive tract to burning sensations upon stimulation of the liver meridian.  The pain subsides within a few moments and I am entirely focused on how I have been treating my body; something that a single parent with a full-time career and an active lifestyle typically ignores.  When I leave I will go equipped with the appropriate stores and nutritional guidance from Dr. Giselle Lai of Frederick Natural Medicine and Accupuncture - see  http://www.healingpowerofnature.com/ to attend to whatever is slightly out of whack.  Maintaining this practice for the past eight years, I have managed to avoid any chronically debilitating illnesses, many of which run in my family and have manifested for all of my siblings and parents by middle-age. 

Each time I experience accupuncture, I depart wishing I could have stayed longer, wishing I could receive the treatment every day, and lamenting the fast pace of modern life.  Besides that, I am wondering about western cultural traditions that have been lost or trampled over by the rise of materialism, pharmaceuticals, emergency room and antibiotic abuse, and dare I say it - the failure to fully appreciate the economic value of  women's roles as caregivers - namely nutritional meal preparation and home nursing.  (This feminist does not eschew her womanly nature, but that's another blog for another day.)

Perhaps accupuncturists, massage therapists, nutritional counselors and many other alternative medicine providers represent, in part, a conversion of the economy of unpaid maternal labor into a commodity?  While this notion is my own, I feel good about in my gut.  It gets my energy flowing; it has it's own power.  I probably am not the only individual to think of this, and wonder if there are any "real" studies.  In the end, it doesn't matter.  This is America, a place where things we care about enough to pay for are recongized as having value.

Blogging about Accupuncture

Ah, blogging - or writing about anything!  Unless one is an expert on the subject material, the subjectivity and potential banality of one's own experiences are daunting.  As such, I have decided to do a bit of research before amusing you with my observations and experiences.  More to follow!

Accupuncture and other Alternative Medicine

Each time I receive accupuncture therapy, which I've been doing for about the last seven years, I find it easier to assimilate into my lifestyle and to accept the healing which results.  I also find it less easy to understand how educated westerners can eschew it's benefits without ever having experienced a treatment or even researching the history and therapeutic applications.

Tomorrow I'll attempt to explain how natural medicine, accupuncture, yoga, martial arts and chiropractic healing have formed the cornerstone of my well-being.  An interesting journey for a woman who was raised as a conservative Christian in suburban Washington, DC.