One Dreamed of Oranges...

Since the first time I read it...
this poem has always been my favorite:
====================

Two went to sleep

almost every night
one dreamed of mud
one dreamed of Asia
visiting a zeppelin
visiting Nijinsky
Two went to sleep
one dreamed of ribs
one dreamed of senators
Two went to sleep
two travellers
The long marriage
in the dark
The sleep was old
the travellers were old
one dreamed of oranges
one dreamed of Carthage
Two friends asleep
years locked in travel
Good night my darling
as the dreams waved goodbye
one travelled lightly
one walked through water
visiting a chess game
visiting a booth
always returning
to wait out the day
One carried matches
one climbed a beehive
one sold an earphone
one shot a German

Two went to sleep
every sleep went together
wandering away
from an operating table
one dreamed of grass
one dreamed of spokes
one bargained nicely
one was a snowman
one counted medicine
one tasted pencils
one was a child
one was a traitor
visiting heavy industry
visiting the family
Two went to sleep
none could foretell
one went with baskets
one took a ledger
one night happy
one night in terror
Love could not bind them
Fear could not either
they went unconnected
they never knew where
always returning
to wait out the day
parting with kissing
parting with yawns
visiting Death till
they wore out their welcome
visiting Death till
the right disguise worked

~Leonard Cohen (1934- )

Weekend Away...

One perfect truth… I love to travel. It doesn’t have to be far away, it just has to be somewhere different than where I am. I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in my new favorite town of Asheville, NC.

:::sidenote:::
Many of the places I visit quickly become my new favorite place. Since I have the ability to love many places at once, it does not detract from any of my previously named favorites.

I have family that lives in Ashville, North Carolina, and for the last several years, I have been promising them that I would visit. Since there was a random March snowstorm last Monday, I decided to take a road trip to the mountains in hopes of finding snow. Asheville has a small ski slope nearby, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for last minute snowboarding and visiting.

I knew that Asheville was a unique place, but I never imagined how much I would love it. It is a city full of local artisans and musicians, amazing food, and fantastic people. The culture strives to be eco-friendly and celebrates many different interests and walks of life. While I shopped downtown, I was able to search through specialty yarn shops, organic food stores and handmade jewelry. Artists were selling their original artwork and musicians set up on street corners to entertain. Even the restaurants were spectacular! I ordered things like spinach and mushroom raviolis and veggie quesadillas… both of which were the best I have ever eaten. All of this was compounded by the fact that we were surrounded by the Great Smokey Mountains on every side. It was the perfect place to decompress.

My next great adventure will take me home to California. 37 days and counting…

Catching up...

I read an article on MSN today about Feral Children. It got me thinking:

http://health.msn.com/kids-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100234082&gt1=31045

The program that I work for serves college students from underprivileged and disadvantaged backgrounds. My typical day is spent helping my students juggle the demands of life that constantly threaten to overwhelm them. Although they often come to me in order to deal with academic shortfalls, we also work on things like social, emotional, and financial issues as well. Regardless of who walks through the door, I learn something new about people every single day. The interesting part is, I never cease to be amazed. I honestly believe that is the part of this job that keeps me coming back.

One of my current students is a sweet, outgoing girl that also serves as a student leader on campus. Although I knew that she struggled academically at times, I never imagined what was behind it. When her tutor raised questions about her lack of writing skills, I sat down with her to discuss some options for getting additional help. Even though I expected some sort of an explanation, I never imagined the story I would get.

Her story in its entirety is very strange and complicated. The basics include the fact that she was adopted at age three due to significant neglect. When social services found her, she had none of the skills you would expect from a healthy toddler. I can’t even begin to explain the depth to which her mental, social, and emotional skills were stunted. She had to learn everything from speaking, to walking and eating with utensils. With such a late start in her development, she missed many of the major milestones the human brain needs in order to develop higher processing.

Listening to her story, it was like nothing I could have ever imagined. How could a child with so few resources come so far? Even though her academic skills lag behind, she is an amazing person that works really hard to have a positive attitude and constantly improve. On top of that, she also makes an effort to include everyone, she is eternally optimistic, and she has a real love in caring for elderly people. In this case I’m left wondering… how does such a wonderful person emerge from such a dismal beginning? I know there are a million complicated factors involved, but in many ways, it gives me a lot of hope. It reminds me that we all have the power to drive our own direction, no matter where our journey starts. In a world that seems endlessly full of negligence and heartache… things can improve. If we surround ourselves with good things, positive people and healthy relationships, even the darkest past can be overcome.

What's in a name?

Is it wrong that I have already changed the name of my blog five different times? When I first set this up, I was under the impression that I had to pick a name and stick to it. If I was stuck with a title, then it wasn't a decision that could be taken lightly. As usual, I overanalyzed it and rewrote it a hundred different times before I decided on something I could live with. Then I moved on to editing the layout and realized that I can change the title at any time. It's funny... but I sometimes forget that the internet was made for people like me that eternally love to edit and rework. Everything is in a constant state of change... and that suits me just fine.