Free at last

As my spiritual guide, the Dr. Martin Luther King, has so profoundly said: Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty, I'm free at last. Burst from the chains that have bound me, I look around at this marvel of creation and my heart swells with awe. Put another way, Spring is sprung, and the peepers are peeping, returning song birds are singing, the dogwood blossoms are open and ready for love. Today, the first Hummingbird arrived, just as the feeders went up, and the nectar is now officially flowing. The dogs of winter have been washed in the new water of mud and exuberance. The red buds have done it again, and the floods have been quelled for now. The wood-peckers are pounding away on the soft wood of rotten cavities, making way for eggs and the season of avian romance is coming close. Can the warblers be far behind?

The Art of Being Cared For...

I never really thought about it...until I realized that it was ME...I think it is an extremely difficult role for most anyone to adopt...the care receiver can be very gracious, to the point of being cloying...or even self effacing...,or worse...there is always the potential for the "let me do that for you" response...which is really just one more slightly manipulative position on the continuum of positions one can take...and inevitably, friction will arise, because there is no way to maintain equanimity over the long haul. My first AA sponsor was firm on this point, and the only way to achieve authenticity is to be as brutally transparent as possible. Define, correct, define, correct, define, correct...there is no definitive position, but trying for "infinitely close" is not a bad way to go...for now, I will try for accuracy, and settle for (hopefully), doing no harm.