Monday, January 30, 2012

Kat's Cradle


I found myself today at the Fair Winds Marina - checking on a sailboat. A dry docked boat. Wandering about, I saw this boat

and wrote this:

How to Play


Offer your hands. Slip the length
of string over your hands, cradled
between the ring finger and little
finger and the thumb and index.

Reach the middle finger across from
each hand and capture the string
opposing, and then pull
away.

This is the cat’s cradle. And this is
Where the song ends, without more
hands. Without support.
So here is Kat’s Cradle – dry
docked. Many hands are needed
To sail. To set out on the sea
and discover the rest of your life.

Friday, January 06, 2012

Intentions

A few years ago, I met a man who had certain ambitions. He spoke of his intentions on a daily basis to me, his co-workers, his friends, waiters, strangers.

Although he lived in Illinois, he said he was going to work and live in Washington, DC. Although he'd been in a loveless marriage for more than a decade, he said he wanted to find an amicable way to leave his marriage and find true love. He has done both.

I have lacked focus and intention on my goals. Primarily, I've been ambivalent which makes dedication to a goal difficult. I've left my options open; open to work opportunities that may come along; open to dating men I've met without focusing on where the relationship may lead.

Intentions and determination and focus are not productive without action. So I am taking steps to fulfill my intentions.

1) In order to find a compatible romantic partner, I am using a dating site but not spending time with men who will not ultimately be my romantic partner. This does not mean I will neglect my friends.

2) I've pieced together work to support myself for the past three years, but now I want to intentionally find a full-time position with benefits in a good environment with smart, nice people.

When I was 22, I was on the way to Little Italy in Baltimore and drove past the brand new World Trade Center on Pratt Street. I looked up at the building and the as yet undeveloped Inner Harbor. "I want to work in that building," I said. My date laughed at me, but within three months, i had a job with a growing company in that building and I worked there for almost a decade. I think something like that could happen again.