Impasses

Normally, when I haven't posted in awhile, I begin with a "Mea culpa" for ignoring my blogging for so long. After all, I DO have wonderful memories and even more wonderful pictures that I SHOULD be putting forth on a regular basis, right? Well... Woulda-Shoulda-Coulda...you know where THAT gets us!

So instead, I will say that more is on the way - for sure. More "Monday's Mimi Monologues" and more "Friday Flashbacks." More insight. More wisdom. (Well...) More laughs. It's coming. I promise.

Today I'm sharing something I stumbled onto while reading Oprah's daily e-mail. Yes, I know, she sends this to me PERSONALLY because Oprah and I are pals. The fact that we've never met and she technically doesn't know I'm alive is just a minor detail. Because Oprah does good stuff - for the world and for me. And here is today's Good Thing.

I love the writer, Anne Lamott. I particularly love her nonfiction writing. Nobody can bang a nail on the head like Miss Anne. So when I noticed on Oprah's personal e-mail to me today a piece written by Anne Lamott, I launched immediately into it.

Now I admit that when I first began the article I was a little lukewarm. "Hmmm...I thought. Looks like Annie is slipping a little." I mean, this same old talk of being who we aren't. Or not being who we are. Or something. Or - how we women should stop being such people pleasers. Who, me? Didn't I give that up eons ago?

Ok, that's when her piece hit me like a ton of bricks. Talk of finding yourself and the un-pretty process that sometimes accompanies it. What can you say about "the self that is revealed when dealing with your anger blows through all the calcification in your soul's pipes" - that's pretty heavy stuff, right? Here's where to find the complete article: http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200911-omag-purpose-anne-lamott.

So maybe we do have a little dormant anger laying around right beneath the surface, just out of reach. Is that why things seem a little out of whack sometimes? Is that why I look at someone else - someone who looks perfectly normal and I think, "Hmph! How does SHE do it when I am such a mess?" I don't know; but MAYBE a little self-examination is in order. You know; when I have time and all...

And the "Impasses" mentioned in the title of this post? I found Anne Lamott's article because of a little impasse that happens at our house.

Mr. H. likes the TV on. Pretty much all day. On the news channel (CNN or sports) - and it's LOUD. So he can hear it when he's puttering about and also perhaps (this is my personal theory) because he's developed a buzzing or ringing in his ears that's pretty much constant and No, don't ask...I have already been bugging him to get to the doctor. At any rate, I would imagine TV noise would lessen that annoyance somewhat - I don't know.

The "impasse" comes because I crave quiet. Constant loud noise raises my blood pressure, makes me anxious, feels like hammers pounding in my head, calipers pressing into my temples. So this impasse is probably pretty trifling in the grand scheme of things, but still.

So when I returned from a few hours of running around downtown and found the TV blaring, I retreated to the quieter, far reaches of the house where I closed my door and read a few e-mails. Yes, I have lots to do in the main part of the house but I'll get to it. Later.

After reading Anne Lamott's article, maybe I have a lot to do here, too. The "here" inside my own head.