Thursday, November 16, 2017

A birthday wish ... for the rest of my life

What do you want for your birthday?
"Many people shy away from community out of a fear that it may become suffocating, confining, even vicious," Sanders adds; "and of course it may, if it grows rigid or exclusive. A healthy community is dynamic, stirred up the energies of those who already belong, open to new members and fresh influences, kept in motion by the constant bartering of gifts. It is fashionable just now to speak of this open quality as 'tolerance,' but that word sounds too grudging to me -- as though, to avoid strife, we must grit our teeth and ignore whatever is strange to us. The community I desire is not grudging; it is exuberant, joyful, grounded in affection, pleasure, and mutual aid...Taking part in the common life means dwelling in a web of relationships , the many threads tugging at you while also holding you upright." - Scott Russell Sanders




That would be my answer. 

In spite of or because of the unexpected, abrupt, and traumatic episodes associated with chronic-illness, the journey is beyond imagination and simultaneously fueled by our imaginations. At times the only way through a particularly troublesome, painful, disjointed experience is rest, quiet, isolation. Terri Windling writes: "One of the strange things about a long-term medical condition is the abruptness with which it can overturn your life. Most of the time it simmers quietly in the background, folded into the rhythm of the days, time-consuming and annoying perhaps, but also familiar, under control. That control is entirely illusory, however, for bodies are complicated things and don't always act in the prescribed ways that medical textbooks say they should. And when they don't, there isn't always a clear and demonstrable reason why. One day you're just like everyone else: doing your work, paying your bills, making plans as though the future is ordered and predictable; and the next day you're flat on your back. Again. Feeling like Charlie Brown the umpteenth time Lucy pulls the damn football away..."

But there are other times when being with others is the juice of life that makes for the balance. I am awake and seated at the counter of the newly transformed Spider Web Kitchen on my 70th birthday morning. I have drunk two cups of peppermint tea with honey, and nibbled my way through treats left by a certain spider (who snoozes under the covers at the moment). The roar of commuter traffic is well underway. Out from the woods we have exchanged the quiet of forest and mold for the openness of prairie and highway noise. A cup of that for a dose of this ... you know the reciprocal element.

I wish for myself and my community the web of threads that both keeps us connected and supported while allowing room to wander off to our corners to tuck in for solitary times of restoration. The kitchen clock ticks, I hear it between the sound of rubber on wet pavement. My birthday has begun. Hot damn ... let the music of the day sing on~~

Thank you for reading my blog and being part of our web!!
xo Mokihana

P.S. And other practical wishes for my birthday?

- red rubber boots (being supplied by Tita Wise)
- a big bag of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (anyone a Costco shopper?)
- Brown Butter & Coconut cookies from the Flower House Cafe in Bayview
- birthday apple pie (Yes, I'd love it Jude!)
- beach walks 
- moon gatherings on the Prairie Front
- fragrance free visitations for tea and company

And pics added to ...










8 comments:

  1. If I were there, I'd shower and remember to not put on my China Rain oil, I'd stop at Costco for Arm & Hammer, and come later in the day so we could walk on the beach in the moonlight with others connected to your wonderful web. Instead, I sit listening to the traffic here in Alameda, doing the limbo between past, present and future. For you a haiku:

    The winds and rains come
    Reminding us of a shift
    That forever stays.

    Happy Birthday, Yvonne! xxoo elaine

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    1. Thank you SO MUCH Elaine. That limbo and the haiku... oh my, the love!!!!

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  2. Happy Soul’s Day, Mokihana!
    Thank you for writing and sharing yours and Pete’s journey during these elder years.
    May you continue to stay whole and free.
    With love, Sheila

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    1. So nice to see you here, Sheila. What a loving wish of a gift you leaved. Thank you!!! Mokihana

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  3. Mary's going to Costco tomorrow. We're bringing cashews and Baking soda. Today I might be going by Flowershop cafe?

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    1. Thank you both so much!!! The bounty, ask and you receive.

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  4. Oh I forgot. Yipee it's your birthday. And this is the big 70!!!! Wonderful! Considering the alternative. We are all blessed to have you in our lives.

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  5. Mahalo nui loa to everyone who made my birth DAY such a special one beginning with my Pete sweets and then with your visits, conversations, birthday pie, greetings, cards, phone calls and emails. You have all contributed to such a warmth of love in my dear heart!!!!!!

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