Taking some time today to just enjoy breathing and being. The last few weeks have been such a blur of activity. It seems I have been here and there and back again and participated in so many different aspects of our culture.
I have been witness to some of the most blatant mis-use of our country's legal system that I wanted to object to the Judge. I have watched as attorney's have vilified the innocent in order to make the guilty look pristine. Honestly, if this can happen in our court system, and work, what has our society come to? And I have left this to find myself in the heart of a family struggling with the death of one of the most wonderful, graceful women I have had the good fortune to meet. She was just like a character out of one of Jane Austne's novels, the perfect lady. She was always well groomed, kind and certainly well-mannered. Her loss is definitely a loss not just for her family, but for a culture that will not likely see her breed again anytime soon.
From here I ran back to a world of frenetic activity. Where the people around me scarcely had the time to notice if they were bumping into others on their way to whatever it was that would make or break their day. Focus, focus, focus. The world of the work-aholics, I suppose in fact this is pretty much my every day world. But catching it after what I had just experienced it came into focus in a new and more eye-catching way.
Next in my line up was a long, very long drive from the Midwest to the South of our great Nation. Along the way I watched as the landscape changed and the people also changed. The pace and the rhythm went from a constant must rush pulse, so a smooth and constant flow, to the sudden urban thrust along the major southern urban corridors and then back to a slow crawl as the heat created the glazed gaze from Tennessee into Georgia.
Then I was home. In the heart of my family. Here I found the warmth and tthe laughter and the constant sub-text of love and support. There is really nothing like coming home. Especially, when your boy is there. How I missed him!
Next stop, his new school. There on the ridge in Tennessee, were truth, honor and duty are the motto and the lifeline the boys will live by I met so many people who are trusting the faculty and staff to help guide the growth of their children. And I learned why I knew it was the right choice. It is such a wonderful centered place. It is a place of honor and spirituality. A place of dignity and certainly one that values learning as well.
Then on to our Nation's Capital - where I walked the Congressional hallways, met with Senatorial and Congressional staff, and learned a great deal about what is important to each type of politician. But what I learned the most is, I should not be so jaded. They really do care about what happens at home, to the people, to their communities. They really are listening and learning from what people bring to them. There is caring there and it is more than just getting re-elected. It is about helping make good things happen. And that was a very refreshing end to my journeys - especially considering their starting point.
So I have come full circle, and now am back at my desk - in the very focused world I live in - and what I have come away with is this:
Home, hearth, family - the things that guide you and make you who you are and who you want to be - these are important. To let the ugly things you meet up with in this life sway you from being true to these is not only wrong it is a betrayal of the self. See these things for what they are, but do not become them - even for a moment. Take the actions that are right based on your vision of right and wrong and embrace this wonderfully full and rich world on your terms.
It is well worth coming home to find out you have kept your soul in tact on the road well traveled.
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