Yoga mat

It's spring break and I'm leaving tomorrow for Colorado. I'm doing a training in teaching yoga to senior citizens and people with disabilities. I'm going a day early to spend some time in Boulder and have tea at the Dushanbe tea house. As soon as I return I start training for a new job. I'm genuinely excited about all this, but there's also another part of me. Life feels so rife with practicality lately.

That other part of me had planned to go to Japan for spring break. I've always longed to see the cherry blossoms. I would be a little early for cherry blossoms if I went now, but plum blossoms would be fine too. I've always had a rebellious nature that is hard to quell. So what if it's not practical? What if, despite the demands of all this responsibility, I went anyway? What if I just......went? Our story begins......

Change

The hot seller in the store this holiday season was the Obama pez dispenser. It's made by an artist in Albuquerque named Steve White. There are actually two versions. The most popular one has stars and OBAMA written on the front in red, white, and blue, but I prefer this more subtle version. I like the way his sleeves are rolled up as if he's ready to go to work.

This piece inspired me to think about something I'd like to change in this new year. I'd like to stop seeing things in terms of age. Last summer I ran into an acquaintance when I was buying myself a spearmint plant on my 40th birthday. He exclaimed that I looked great, and I said something like "I may look great, but I feel creaky". He told me never to say that again. As it turned out I thought he was about fifty, but he had just turned seventy. I was amazed. He said that twenty years ago he made the decision to never again see things in terms of age. The next day, I heard an interview with Tao Porchon, a 90 year old yoga teacher who teaches every day of the week, and she too said that she never, ever, thought of things in terms of age.

So now, instead of saying things like, "Man, I'm tired, I guess that's what happens when you're 40", I'll just say "Man, I'm tired". Or "Wow, I'm realizing I can't do it all", instead of "Wow, I'm realizing I can't do it all. Well, I am 40". I also hate the "He looks great for his age" line. If someone looks great, don't they just look great? I hadn't realized how often I was adding the little age tag to my issues.

The Obama pez dispenser is the final piece in the "Confection, and a contemplation" series, because, well, it's time for a change.