Kimestry

LA People do not go out when it rains. We think it will make us melt. We hibernate like bears until the water stops falling and then go to the store to stock up on food items whenever there is a break in the rain. In spite of this, I decided to go to a surprise party for a friend, in the rain, over the weekend. As I was putting on my little black dress, my friend Alma called me to see if we were still going to the party. After all, it was raining. After I assured her that I would be picking her up at the appointed hour and that we would'nt melt, I grabbed my umbrella and headed out to pick up our other friend Penelope. She got into my car sporting a shower cap, an umbrella, and knee high boots. She was ready. Once we scooped up Alma, we headed through several intersections, manned by traffic cops, as the wind and rain had caused the electricity to go out on several blocks. We pulled up to the valet and I was the only one not wearing knee-high boots, my nylon-clad feet immediately ...

Have you set your new year's intentions or have you already broken your resolutions? Here's a poem by Rumi that reminds us all of limitless possibility. Fly... Why does the soul not fly when it hears the call? Why does a fish, gasping on land, but near the water, not move back into the sea? What keeps us from joining the dance the dust particles do? Look at their subtle motions in sunlight. We are out of our cages with our wings spread, yet we do not lift off. We keep collecting rocks and broken bits of pottery like children pretending they are merchants. We should split the sack of this culture and stick our heads out. Look around. Leave your childhood. Reach your right hand up and take this book from this air. You do know right from left, don't you? A voice speaks to your clarity. Move into the moment of your death. Consider what you truly want. Now call out commands yourself. You are the king. Phrase your question, and expect the grace of an answer. ~Rumi

Now that we've made it through the holidays, many of us are looking toward the new year. Many of us will make resolutions for 2008; from losing weight, to saving money, to spending more time with family, we all have ideas about what we'd like to do better. I've decided I won't make any resolutions this year. In today's society, resolutions have become synonymous with failure. If you looked up the denotative or literal meaning for resolution in the dictionary it would probably say something like "a pledge". If we had a connotative dictionary, or a dictionary that said what we really mean when we use words, the definition would probably say something like "a pledge one makes that one plans to break." Seriously, even businesses count on the fact that most people don't keep resolutions. New gym memberships skyrocket in January with all gyms seeing increased profits. By February most of those new members stop coming to the gym. All those resoluti...