And so there you have it.  One of my favorite go-to phrases when I've run out of information and things to add, or it just seems like we've reach the conclusion of the subject at hand.  "And so," I said, realizing there was not much more to say and we might not ever really understand, but need to agree that's that, "There you have it."

   Not sure why I go on this, this morning, but it seems appropriate.  Sometimes I just sit back and think, "Well, there you have it.  That's explains everything...and nothing."  Sometimes you just need to let it go, rest or go back to the back burner to percolate a bit more.  That's where I am right now.  Percolating.  

   Like last night.  I woke up after some weird dreams and had the muse whispering in my ear with what sounded like great inspirations.  "Wake up!  Write them down!   You'll forget them by morning if you don't."  So I did.  And now I have these little inspirational snippets to cobble into a poem or an essay or throw in the trash.  But it makes be feel better to know the old brain is still working, still ready to create.  So here I go.  Stand by.

And so, there you have it.




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As I was doing my Morning Pages this morning it occurred to me how many of the things I want to do and the things I should do overlap and blend together.   For quite some time I have been wanting to work on my office/slash studio to get it organized and useable.  Right now it is cluttered with boxes and supplies and papers and stuff to the point I can hardly get through it.  I usually just pull the door closed and tell myself I'll deal with it "tomorrow".  I want to get it organized.  I know it will feel good and be the usable space I want.  I know I should do it, yet it is so easy to just put it off.  

There are many activities and to-do's like this that wander, drift aimlessly, go in and out of my mind and thoughts.  I want to go on photo safaris.  I should get my papers organized and filed for taxes and records.  I want to write this blog.  I should work on getting my photos ready for the exhibits I should/want to enter this year.  I want/should (and need) to exercise more.  On and on the list goes.   It is a real mixed bag.  Almost every should is a want and almost every want is a should.  Those that aren't fall away it, get lost in the shuffle or just hang out there in neverland.  

It all boils down to priorities.  And priorities are what help with choices.  Like right now, I have chosen to write this blog before walking the dogs.  Those activities are both "want to's" and "should's."  I enjoy both, but sometimes I don't do them.   Priorities.  Choices.   It never ends.  Its a real mixed bag.

I'm old enough to remember when almost everything that could close, did close on Sunday.  Department stores, grocery stores, the cleaners, gas stations (not sure on this one, I was young), libraries, and more.  It was a day to window shop because the stores were closed.  We went for Sunday drives in the country.  Now where my dad and mom would take us out into the farmlands and countrysides northwest of Detroit are shoppings centers, housing communities, warehouses, car dealers and more.  And they are all open on Sunday.

I started thinking about this when I though I could get away with not blogging on Sunday because, well, it was Sunday.  "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" ya know.  Well, not so much any more.  But I digress.  Yes, I could shut down for the day.  But here I am, blogging away.  So maybe I need another reason.  An excuse.  Somehow not feeling like it is a cop out.  

And now that I've written this, this on Sunday, I guess I don't have to worry about taking Sunday off.  So there you have it.

I wonder what Socrates would have said?

What do you think?
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The answer to yesterday's question, who originally said, "The unexamined life is not worth living"?   It was Socrates.  Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher, of the Western ethical tradition of thought*.   Morals and ethics.  Philosophy.  Classical thought.  It all started somewhere.  And if I go to my cynical side, seems to have gone into retreat.  In fact,  I imagine Socrates and his fellow deep-thinkers might cringe at the world as it is today.  I know I do at times.

Anyway, I knew you needed to know who said that about examining life to make it worth living.  Someone has to be held responsible.  Too bad he is dead. Truly, I hope his school of thought is not lost.

Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the fields of ethics and epistemology. It is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method*    Epistemology.  Socratic irony.  This could be the start of something new...new, for the new year.


*Lifted from Wikipedia 

Being away. I have been away from home since the middle of December.  It's been almost three weeks since I packed up Miguelito and my things and came to Santa Barbara to housesit for my friends who have gone off to their place on the continent.  Isn't that what they used to say when folks travelled abroad to western Europe?  So I came to the Riviera of the west coast for retreat and recreate.  And now its almost over.

It was an odd time of year to be away from home.  Christmas and New Year's.  But for the past several years I really haven't celebrated that much.  Being single and all, it seemed the holidays happened all around me.  I'd put up a tree, decorate and stuff, but really, it seemed like a lot of hubbub for little return.

So I decide to just go off to myself and ignore the whole thing.  So here I am, at the end of the sojourn.  I've had much time to think, to muse, to ruminate and reflect.  It's been an interesting experience over all.  And I have had a few epiphanies and insights...some which I will share (if you're interested) as the year, and this blog, progresses.  

But in the meantime, I now have to turn my thoughts and muses back to my re-entry into day-to-day life at home.  Home is where the heart is. And my heart is in Riverside I guess.  It was easy to fall into a routine here such as taking George the bulldog our for his daily walk, coming back and then going a bit further with Miguelito.  Going for drives to explore along the coast.  Doing some touristy things like the zoo, the museums, State Street, the beaches, the mission and more.  It's felt oddly "right" to me.  Like I could go on like this for some time.

But alas, I cannot.  Time to get ready to return to "real life".  Sunday, Miguelito and I make the trek back home.  This will seem as if it were a dream of sorts.  Not ideal, but sufficiently pleasant to remind me that each day I can decide what of life's offerings I choose to experience.  And learning that what I yearn to be is just as important as anything that others want me to be.  And learning to say no and yes as appropriate.  

Life is good.  And it is what you make it.  This time away has reminded me of that.  So here's to the new year and a renewal of faith that Auntie Mame had it right when she said, "Life's a banquet.  And most poor suckers are starving to death."  To that I say, let me begin to partake again.