Mom is Just a Nickname

Every once in awhile, the Universe seems to reach out and smack me with a concept. I figure I’m really supposed to learn this point because it will show up every where for awhile. This week it has been the concept of “One River, Many Wells” which is also the name of a book by Matthew Fox, as you can see if you follow the link. I’ve only scratched the surface of this book, but I’ve been intrigued since I read the title. The concept is that there is one shared Truth, but many different ways to arrive at that Truth. (The book describes “Truth” as “Divine” instead. I have altered it for my purposes here.)

The idea so completely encompasses my understanding of the religious world that it struck me. Ever since I began learning about ancient cultures and their creation myths, ever since I began to learn more about the many active religions in the world, the idea that any one system had the ONE and ONLY path to Truth seemed impossible to me. There were similarities to be found in all of the ones I’ve read, and the differences were matters of cultural diversity.

So, it was not a new idea to me, Matthew Fox simply stated it far more clearly than I’d ever heard or tried to express. To think of a single flowing Truth or Divinity that we all tap into in our own unique ways…that’s powerful to me.

Then, I was reading a different book: “How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights” by Ariel Gore. In a section called “Embrace Your Genius”, she writes,

You have a unique and delicious genius to share. You see this vibrant and vulnerable planet in your own strange way. You draw connections that make you wonder if you’ve lost your mind. Your fears are specific, and alien to me. We’re human kin, you and me and Murakami –when we dig deep enough into our own individual wells, we reach the same universal stream– but the places we’re digging from, they’re different.

It’s not enough to me that we draw from this deep and shared river of Truth, Creativity or Divinity, though. I believe that we not only receive from it, but we, each of us, feed it. Just as many tiny streams feed into the large and sprawling river, so we too have our own unique things to give to the greater Truth. It is not enough to see that there are many paths, we have to acknowledge that each individual path helps make the common Spirit stronger. The sharing of each Personal Truth only makes the Greater Wisdom all the more potent.

We’re somewhere around halfway through J’s summer break from school.  The kids are bored with each other, and I’m bored of refereeing their constant spats.  I need some inspiration for cheap and easy things to do with them at home!  Getting anywhere in town is expensive these days and I’m trying to cut back to only the most basic trips from home.  Combining trips is a lovely idea, but I can only combine so many activities in one day before I’m a worn out mess!

Our fish tank is providing some entertainment at least.  We all three spend a lot of time staring into the tank, studying it, trying to see what the animals are up to now.  Yesterday was an exciting day because we discovered two tiny snails.  We have three large mysterio snails, but these little guys are different.  They must have hitched a ride on some of the new plants we just got!  I know that snails can sometimes take over a tank, but I’ve also read that they can be good for it, so for now, we’ll leave them and let them eat the foul stuff in there.

It was even bigger excitement when we realized that we have some fry in the tank!  The only breeds of fish we have right now red wag platy (4 of them) and silver lyretail mollies (4 of them).  Both breeds are livebearers and we suspected that the two platy females were pregnant within a week of having them home.  I hope there is enough cover for the fry to survive, but if not, I guess we know there’s population control in the tank. (I know, that’s a horrible way to look at it!) We’ve thought about setting a nursery tank, but for now we don’t have the resources to do that.

I’m not sure if it’s the search for something to do or the realization that in about a month X will be starting preschool, but I’ve been weighted down with thoughts of what I’ll be doing once he’s in school.  Toph and I have always agreed that when the kids are both in school, I’d start working - at least part time.  This year is the year to turn my thoughts that way.  X will only be in school for the mornings, which doesn’t give me much time to work a job, but it would give me time to write or do school work.  So, I’m weighing up my options: either I pursue writing far more seriously or I get myself into a school program in order to get a degree.  It begs the questions of what degree I’d get and what kind of writing I want to do.  So, I have a lot on my mind these days.

For now, I guess I’ll succumb to the madness of life with my children.  I’ve had requests to play with bouncy balls in the foyer (oi! I’m ready to hide the darn things!) and we need to go to the library today.  I’ll have to get some pictures of my seedlings and some of the projects me and the kids have done lately.

Here’s hoping your summers are passing more peacefully than mine!

This is the story of a woman and her Bunko-playing circle of close friends. Together, they face challenges like debillitating illness, divorce, infertility, and a husband being sent to Iraq with the National Guard. There are heart to heart discussions, shopping, and arguments. On the surface, it seems like it’d be a great Chick Lit book: fun to read, but easy to put down. There were a few things that made it a book that was hard for me to digest, though.

First of all, I think I must live in a different social hemisphere than the characters in this book do. I could not relate to designer shoes, buying Starbucks all the time, outdoing each other for themed decorations for their Bunko Nights, or the many luxuries they all seemed to have. The situations they face are real enough, but their reactions to those situations don’t seem mature or realistic. The friend I related to the most was Autumn, the easy-going mother of eight children. She seemed the one nod to those of us in the real world who scrimp and save, who don’t have the cash to decorate lavishly for a gathering of close friends, who wear what we have even if it’s not right in style that season and who have accepted that kids and nice furniture don’t get along. Honestly, if a friend of mine had walked into my house and had been as picky as the fastidious Madison was about sitting on Autumn’s furniture, I would have doubted the bonds of our friendship. Love me, love my mess!
Another thing which put me off was that I found the religious references in the book were done with a heavy hand. I see how the many Bible citations and discussions of faith fit into the story, but I sometimes felt more like the author was using the book to proselytize than to tell a story.

I might recommend this book to my Christian friends, particularly those who have wrestled with the question of their faith. I did find some inciteful insightful passages about the nature of belief and faith as I was reading - I have already shared one with a friend, actually! But unless you are looking for Christian lit, I wouldn’t pick this up. The meat of the story is faith-based, not Bunko based, or even character based….in my opinion.

This Book Review has been brought to you by Blog Stop Book Tours. Click on the link to find more information about the book, the author and other bloggers who have reviewed this book!

I’m eating Dora the Explorer vanilla yogurt. That’s better than the banana kind I’ll be eating before too long. I got them for X, hoping that the colorful cartoon character would convince him to eat some. No such luck. Now I’m stuck eating it. (I prefer my plain yogurt, nice and tangy and not laden with sugar.)

Eating his yogurt now is about more than just not letting the food go to waste. I need the yogurt containers! They are by far the easiest container to convert into pots for my seedlings! I’ve got loads of seedlings and I’m trying to transplant them over to pots now, to give their roots more space.

I’ve got yogurt cups, a cut up two liter soda bottle, a frosting container, a margarine container, cut up water bottles…the list goes on. Anything I’ve been able to scrounge that is the right size and I can poke holes in will do. I’m so desperate I’ve eaven asked Toph to keep watch for things at work. Steal the co-workers’ trash so I can recycle it into pots for my baby plants!!!

How did this happen? How did I forget to plan ahead and save yogurt cups ahead of time?

So, do you have any water bottles, yogurt cups, or ANYTHING I can use?!?!

I’m excited this morning by how my plants are thriving. I’ve got “flats” of seedlings that are getting taller by the day! I’ve got a mint cutting that had looked dead but is now putting off new leaves! My rosemary cutting is still green and bright and seems to be doing well. I just got a new cutting of a plant called ‘wandering Jew’ and I got it potted last night. Even the one potted herb I have, feverfew, is doing well!

It’s such a small thing to be happy about, but it’s thrilling to see my plants doing well.

.^.*ScAtTeR*.^.

Re-reading my last posts about “what do you believe?” keeps making my brain go on to the next question, “Why do you believe what you believe?” I already explained some of my reasons for why, but I think it’s an important question for anyone to consider, even if you don’t share the reasons with anyone. I’m more frustrated by people who don’t ever ask that question of themselves than I am by just about anything else. I think not asking “WHY?” can lead too easily to a ‘herd mentality’ (where everyone goes with the flow and stays safe in the herd).

.^.*sCaTtEr*.^.

We’re setting up a fish tank. So far we just have water in with the filters running, but I still enjoy looking and listening to it. My kids and cats are entranced by it too. It’ll be fun to watch everyone enjoying it even more once we get plants and fish into it.

.^.*ScAtTeR*.^.

I couldn’t concentrate on one topic for this post. My brain is hopping from one idea to another today, so you got a scatterbrained post! Enjoy!