oh lasts

last outdoor chapel. last German presentation (now there is a cause for celebration). last formal. last leadership meeting. last week of classes. the list goes on...

The reality of the end is in my face. Part of me wants to squeeze my eyes shut and ignore its presence, but it's so close that it might as well be breathing down my neck.

The end has invaded my space. It isn't going away until new beginnings come to take its place.

I have finals and papers and work.

But all I want to do is lay in the grass on the quad and enjoy the warm sunshine, watching folks fly kites, ride bikes and play frisbee.

And that's just what I am going to do...

...and that's O.K.

Because what are lasts good for if not the opportunity to say, "Who needs schoolwork"?

sacred relationships

"The mission of this international lay movement [the Catholic Worker movement] is to acknowledge that our greatest calling as human beings is to fling open the doors of our hearts and to recognize we are all interrelated. Anything we do impacts the whole, and in affecting the whole, we are impacted deep within. In this way, relationship holds the power of the sacred."
-Pg. 95

"How we treat others is the single most important factor in determining our spiritual life. Our relationships help us grow into our wholeness, into an undivided experience of self and other. Those we love mirror back to us disowned parts of ourselves by naming what is lacking in our lives. Our internal voice is strengthened as we cultivate our ear through listening to others."
-Pg. 99

"[Dorothy Day's] vision was one of sacramental living, in which the giving of ourselves to others does not diminish, but enlarges and fulfills."

"To experience this enlarged reality is to awaken to Life. If we are of God, then everything we do matters. We have a responsibility to manifest the divine- in matters great and small, when people are watching and when they're not. To wash the dishes can be a sacrament if we do it in the spirit of attention and love. Any of the tasks of our everyday lives can be done with thanksgiving and praise. To live in this way is to become pained when we hurt or are careless with others."
-Pg. 96

from Faith and Feminism: A Holy Alliance, by Helen LaKelly Hunt

footloose and fancy free

Loose, footloose
Kick off your Sunday shoes
Please, Louise
Pull me offa my knees
Jack, get back
C'mon before we crack
Lose your blues
Everybody cut footloose

The theme song of the movie Footloose is the soundtrack to the majority of my memories of childhood with my sisters.

My parents had a CD of Kenny Loggins' greatest hits and somehow that ended up being the one CD we would listen to repeatedly when we played together (I have no idea why it had such appeal to us). We regularly had our Barbie dolls put on concerts, with the music of course being some variation on a Kenny Loggins song that we could have them lip sync.

But best of all were the dance performances we ourselves put on to the greatest hits CD. Footloose was our favorite song to perform- mainly because we took the lyrics very literally.

We would put on all number of different dress-up costumes, but the most important aspect of it all was our church shoes. Dancing around, the highlight of the song came during the last verse, when it was finally time to literally "kick off our Sunday shoes." :-) This didn't please my parents, as our dress shoes inevitably ended up scuffing the walls as we kicked them off with all the gusto we could manage. But my it was fun.

I spent this weekend in Seattle, visiting with one of my younger sisters (and fellow Footloose dancer). There is such joy in being with someone who knows you so completely.

I'm so grateful to have someone willing to dance to Kenny Loggins with me:-)(and share an ice cream covered cookie).

a day in la guardia is no fun at all

A list (of sorts) from a weekend in NYC

1. Enjoyed exploring Greenwich Village, a part of Manhattan that I hadn't previously spent much time in. Discovered that it being off the street grid makes navigation a bit more challenging.

2. Magnolia Bakery cupcakes just a few steps from the guesthouse where we stayed. Yum.

3. A long, reminiscent walk around Sunset Park accompanied by excellent conversation with my roommate for the weekend.

4. A peaceful moment standing in front of the Hudson River pier and feeling the cold wind whip around me.

5. A late night game of Apples to Apples with new friends.

6. Good conversations about what it means to want to do this for the rest of our lives and what we are passionate about.

7. Rainstorms that bring flight delays. Flight delays that bring extended waits in La Guardia, which has now proven itself as one of my least favorite airports to be stuck in. (But it made me glad to reach Atlanta)

8. Three interviews down. Approximately three weeks of waiting for notification to go:-)

Two and a half days of classes and work this week, then I'm off to spend Easter with my sister in Seattle. These back-to-back three and four day weekends are going to spoil me!