#46.

Kairos and Selah.

For 2 years now, these words have been significant to me. They have been words that I have doodled on notes, in my quotebook, or just used as a mantra while meditating, running, practicing yoga, or simply praying out of desperation.

Kairos, coincidentally, is Greek. My friend Kate actually told me about it and I researched it more. Kairos and chronos are two words used for 'time'. Chronos is used more in the chronological or quantitative sense. Kairos is used to note a "supreme moment" or an opportune time. An indeterminate time in which something special happens. In some biblical translations used in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic practices, the Deacon proclaims to the Priest before the Devine Liturgy, "Kairos tou poiesai to Kyrio" ("It is time [kairos] for the Lord to act"). In Aristotle's scheme of rhetoric, he considers it be be the time and space context in which proof will be determined. To me, all of these definitions put the emotions neatly into a sentence for Webster. The emotion of it is that feeling you have when something you have been praying for falls into place, or maybe that stress has been lifted, or your plan didn't work out but ultimately the problem was completely resolved (just not the way you would do it, which was probably the hard way anyway but your superego would never let you admit that of course).

As a person who lives for spontaneity, I love this. I love those moments. I love the little things (in case you didn't know from reading this blog. Or just glancing at the title.). I celebrate them! Annnnnd at the same time, like anyone else I can get anxious about the future and get wrapped up in worrying about the time these moments will occur. Because according to my plan, now would be a perfect time. Or.....now is the most inconvenient time.

Selah is the perfect balance between my enthusiasm and my anticipation. Selah is Hebrew and it means a variety of things depending on how it is used. In the Psalms, it is included in the songs written "To the choir master." It is a musical annotation, like a coda means to go back to the beginning, 'selah' signifies the direction to stop and listen or to pause. Sometimes it is used as a praise, like "amen" at the end of a prayer or to acknowledge some revelation one agrees with.

So, for me, in those moments of jubilee that kairos has occurred, I am reminded to selah. When I rejoice at some little thing, I want to pause and share it and keep it in my memory. Or maybe I just simply want to thank God, or the universe, or the cosmos, or whatever it is that you relate to. In the anxious anticipation of kairos, I especially need to be reminded of selah! Right now, I do not need to worry. I do not need to be anxious. Right now, I just need to be in the moment. I need to be in kairos. Or else I will miss it. And it could be given to someone else who is attentive to the present to appreciate it. After all, smile lines are much more of a blessing to have when I'm 60 than frown wrinkles :)

"I have come to an understanding about my “thorn in the flesh,” as Paul called it. And selah is it’s antithesis, it’s antidote."

Francesco Salviati, an Italian Mannerist painter, depicted kairos in his 16th century fresco.

 

#45.

Making people laugh.

I introduced my roommate here in Greece to People of Walmart tonight. I could hear her laughing as she continued to scroll down the site as I was on the other side of the apartment!

If you haven't checked out the site, click the link above. And then watch this song:

#44.

It rained nearly all day today in Athens so I've been reading, napping, and eating in my apartment all day. Because rain tends to bring out the contemplative nature of a person sometimes, I was thinking about the last few nights I had at home before I left the U.S. I had trouble getting to sleep at a decent time and also tended to pack a little bit each night starting around 2am. Which coincidentally, was when the show "Ghost Whisperer" comes on. I don't know if I believe in what mediums do but for some reason, that show always makes me cry by the end. It may be just how Jennifer Love-Hewitts helps spirits cross over or how they died or how people just cope with a loved one's passing but holy crap, I reach for the box of Kleenex every time!

#43.

Plane food.

Food in general, really. Everything I have had in Greece so far has been amazing! From tzatziki to souvlaki to chicken pies to frappe.....my goodness! DELICIOUS. But seriously, food on international flights makes me excited. I stop the movie I'm watching, get all set up with the tray down and hair pulled back into a ponytail and say "thank you" at least twice to the attendants. Lucky for me, I had 3 flights to get me to Greece and got 2 meal and a snack...I was one happy camper :)

#42.

John and Maria from Aegina.

I have been living in Greece for about 5 days and I'm loving it! I'm taking a course here, mainly for fun - I'm not gonna lie-, about the Greek gods and goddess and generally about the surrounding cities and Athens.

The first few days, I leisurely soaked up sun on the island of Aegina. I stayed at a bed and breakfast that was family owned. John and Maria are the names of the cousins who own it. John mainly works at the desk while Maria works as a Mom kind of character and dishes out kisses and hugs and helps you find just the right thing in the store attached to the bed and breakfast. It was so hard saying goodbye to them! I didn't get a picture with them which makes me sad but I was so glad I got to meet them. It was really only a few days and it's cheesy but they felt like family :)

#41.

Imax movies.

So I went to Niagara Falls for the first time yesterday, on my way to fly out of Toronto. Before we got to the falls, my Dad was absolutely bent on watching the Niagara Falls Imax movie.

Ya know how you get the funny urges to laugh at funerals? Something kinda out of place happened like that to me. I could not hold back from hysterically CRYING for the last bit of the movie, in the middle of the Imax theatre filled with jr high school tours. Seriously?! Crying. Like uncontrollable sobs. And I was laughing at myself because of the absurdity of my current state....which puzzlingly made me cry even harder!

Let me explain....this girl in the movie fell out of her boat and for a full 5 minutes (not exaggerating) was caught in the current and could not be saved. Oh, but there was a good attempt from people on shore to save her....but at this point, I was so stressed watching it that I had my hands over my eyes like a little kid. Well, good news is that the girl didn't go over the edge. But her brother and father who also fell out of the boat did. Womp womp.

The point is that there is just something about Imax movies that make a person react more outrageously. I mean, they announce before the movie even begins that people who experience motion sickness should probably take precaution and pop some Dramamine. Strong reactions? Outrageous reaction? Significantly more comical? Yup. Not afraid to admit it happened. It was really funny once I got out of the theatre!

#40.

Argentine Tango + something new.

Back in my  4th post, I mentioned the Argentine tango. I started studying the dance about 2 years ago.....frustratingly. I didn't understand it at all. It was the most difficult ballroom dance I have ever learned. I lost patience with my partner quickly but he remained determined and actually kept his patience. And of course now he is an instructor at a ballroom school. Which is really inspiring to me.

This year I actually studied the cultural anthropology surrounding the Argentine tango and it made a huge difference in the way I danced. If you're curious, Julie Taylor wrote a fantastic ethnography called "Paper Tangos" on this topic.

The last few months, I have been going to the free practica abierta (open practices) at a tango school in my city. I love the atmosphere and how the room is dimly lit. And how wine and cheese and crackers are set on a table nearby for breaks between sets (usually 3 songs danced in a row with one partner). I mean, c'mon, does it get any classier than that?! Oh, and the wine is always from Buenos Aires. These people are the real deal!

So the last time I was dancing there, I was dancing with one of the instructors (who so happens to be one of my favorite dance partners of all time though he is shorter than me). Quick side-note to paint a picture of this accented man: he has curly, long, gray hair that achieves afro status but he keeps it loosely tied. And he always wears the gentlest, cheery smile. After giving me about a dozen gentle, not forceful or demanding, corrections on my technique I finally tried something new.

But before I tell you what this new thing, for me anyway, is I have to rewind and explain a little something.  You see, I have this problem with leading. And I'm the follow. Follows can't lead. Many, many reasons for this but I digress. There's something unique to this tango that is not done in the rumba, waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, cha-cha, and certainly not the jive or lindy hop; what is commonly done in the Argentine tango is that partners will close their eyes while they dance together. THEY CLOSE THEIR EYES!

So I just let go of my thoughts and worries about how to move and anticipating the lead's desires and just closed. my. eyes.

........Completely relaxed. Oh my word, what a difference! It was a feeling I had never experienced before! Not to sound cheesy but the best way I can describe it is that the way my body moved no longer felt forced or predicted. It felt effortless. It felt like dancing on a cloud. And I no longer felt controlled. I felt worthy of being admired :)

So ladies, if you don't know how you should be treated by a man, ballroom dance will teach you a lot! Do it. No matter how dumb, clumsy, or ridiculous you think you will look. And men.....for the love of God, learn the Argentine tango. It's not overtly romantic (like the waltz), or sexy (like the rumba), but it is enthralling, enticing, and fascinating when you know the feeling of loneliness and exile that the tango was born out of. That is what makes closing your eyes exhilarating and tranquil at the same time.

#39.

Sally Mann.

Her photography is controversial. Look her up if you care to find out why. But I love so many things about this picture.

.....the pearls....the centered shot....the contrast...the light bouncing off the skin tones...the near gender neutrality of it....the innocence...and also the attitude of the pose....and the little girl on the right that, at first glance, looks like she is picking her nose....

#38.

Wading in creeks.

Simply a delightful, surreal little thing to do! With the sun shining, the sound of the babbling water over rocks, watching little minnows dart away, and seeing the light catch on the water......I can't help but smile :)

Fun company is always a pleasure as well, even if they move faster and seem to be 50 feet ahead the whole time, yelling "C'mon! Hurry up!" :)

#37.

Dancing alone in my room.

Naked.

Yeah, I said it. Try it. Just dance around your room. Do it with a friend. Do it alone. Nude is just an option. But I dare you to just say 'yes' and go for it :)

A good playlist to rock out to:
"Heard It On the Radio" by the Bird and the Bee
"Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry
"Something That I Want" by Grace Potter
"What the Hell" by Avril Lavigne
"That Man" by Caro Emerald
"Because I'm Awesome" by the Dollyrots
"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield

#36.

Tiramisu.

'Nuff said.

#35.

Grimm's fairytales.

I bought a beautifully bound complete collection of Grimm's fairytales (after enjoying with every fiber of my being making plays out of them with 6th graders for a TYA [theatre for young audiences] piece) and have been reading one fairytale each night when I crawl into bed. I haven't come across this one yet but just read an article online about it and how it should be adapted into a movie. The summary made my day!

The Juniper Tree

The Gist of the Tale: There’s a ton of wicked stepmothers in Fairy Tales but, for my money, the one in The Juniper Tree takes the cake.  The story begins with a happily married rich man and his wife wishing for a child.  They have a beautiful juniper tree in their front yard, where wife goes to whenever she needs to pray. One day, she cuts herself and a drop of blood lands at the base of the tree.  The next day she discovers that she’s pregnant, and she asks the tree to give her a child with ‘skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood’ (no, it’s not what you’re thinking).  Her wish comes true but she dies in childbirth.  As she dies, she cradles her newborn son in her arms and tells her husband to bury her beneath the Juniper Tree.

The story then jumps to ten years later.  The rich man has married an evil woman (he, of course, is utterly oblivious to that fact) with a pretty, young child of her own named Marjory.  Marjory and her stepbrother get on wonderfully, but the stepmother hates the boy and wants him dead. Why? Well, she is a wicked stepmother, as I have already said.

One day, while Marjory is out in the backyard, the stepmother decides to put an end to the boy.  What she does is shocking, absurd, and hilarious all at the same time.  She pulls out an old chest and tells the boy to look inside of it.  He does so and as soon as his head is in the chest, she slams the lid down on him, effectively decapitating him.  She then realizes that her husband will be a mite pissed, so she comes up with a ludicrous ruse to save herself.

She takes the boy’s body out of the chest, places it in a chair and loosely ties his head back on with a white ribbon.  When Marjory comes back inside and tells her mother that her stepbrother won’t talk to her, the nutjob tells her daughter to just ‘give him a good whack in the head.'

Marjory does so and, you guessed it, the boy’s head falls off.  Marjory becomes convinced that she killed her stepbrother and her mom tells her that (I’m not making this up) they will have to chop him up into little pieces and serve him for dinner so that the father will never find out.  I fail to see any of the logic in this plan, but that’s what they end up doing nonetheless.

The father comes home and, yes, they all do eat the boy.  The father even remarks that it’s the most delicious meal he’s ever had.  After the meal, Marjory, ravaged by guilt, buries the boy’s bones beneath the Juniper Tree.  Later that night, a beautiful bird rises from the bottom of the tree and is soon revealed to be the boy reincarnated.  He travels the land singing a song with the following deranged lyrics to whoever will listen:

My stepmother killed me, my father devoured me but it was Marjory who buried my bones beneath the Juniper Tree.

You can’t make this shit up.  Every person who hears the song, rather than screaming their head off and running for the hills, declares it the most beautiful song they’ve ever heard and gives the boy a gift.  He winds up with a beautiful necklace, a pair of red shoes and a giant millstone.  After collecting these items he returns to his home, drops the necklace on his father, the shoes on Marjory and the millstone on his stepmother’s head.  Sweet revenge.  He then turns back into a boy and they all live happily ever after.

How to Adapt it: Wow, right? What the hell is going on in this story? Most Fairy Tales have a pretty clear message, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out just what the message is in this one.  Don’t chop your kid’s head off, perhaps? Or, watch out for singing birds? I’m at a complete loss and as a result I think this story should be adapted as a satire of Fairy Tales.  You’ve got all the elements in place: wicked stepmother, love between siblings, bizarre magical intervention and gruesome murders.  They should go all out with this story and don't shy away from any of its weirdness.  The scene where the stepmother kills the boy sounds like the perfect set-up for a screwball comedy.  And I think we need to see at least one person be freaked the hell out by a singing bird.

Who Should Do It:

Before Peter Jackson got all heavy-handed and long-winded with the endlessly boring Lord of the Rings films, he made a masterpiece called Dead Alive.  It was a brilliant screwball comedy disguised as the goriest film ever made.  He should take the same approach with this story.  Now, I’m no fan of Glee, but I am a fan of Jane Lynch and would love to see her sink her teeth into the role of that demented stepmother.

#34.

My best friend: Kate.

This list has been in the creative process since our first year of college so it just needed to be typed up and posted on this blog (that part took a little longer than I planned haha).

We have taken numerous road trips together, flew to London and Nicaragua, and  have just been the most compatible travel buddies! Over the years of our friendship, we have realized a few things. Like what it takes to be best friends. Here is our list.... 

"You know you are mejor amigas when...."

....you frequently do cliche best friend things together. Like sitting for hours outside a cafe, sipping coffee and sharing scones, or sugar bread.
....you don't let one another text while taking a sedative.
....you compare how gross your boogers are after a day of kicking up dirt in an intense recess soccer game. (At the ripe age of 20 because you're actually the adults on recess duty.)
....you can pop each others back zits.
....you can shower together.
....you can rub sunscreen on one another and not think before you wipe the excess into your own face.
....you can share a bathroom while one of you does your business and the other brushes their teeth.
....you can insert and remove a tampon in front of one another.
....you say yes to spending more than your paycheck on a spa day because your friend will otherwise have an emotional breakdown.
....you skinny dip together, risking the fact that you could get caught.
....you actually haul ass up to their place after they haven't responded to your texts, calls, and don't show up at the gym because they are still asleep. And like a good friend, you snuggle for approximately 1 minute before tearing the covers off and dragging their butt to the gym. Where they were supposed to be a half hour ago. :) (I'm the guilty sleeping beauty.)
....you always go for more tiramisu.
....you make sure not to leave one another in important places, like airports for instance, despite what the pre-flight drinks at the airport bar tell you.
....you don't stop dancing until they kick you out.
....you sit and cry with them. And keep passing the chocolate, before you keep passing the Kleenex.
....you agree with them when someone has done them wrong (for the first 2 mins until you lovingly say that they could have reacted a little less harsh).
.....you still pass notes and send cards for no reason other than to say "you're hot," "I love you," "we rock together!".
....you just get each other. Bottom line. This is the friend that has seen you at your worst and your best and has grown alongside of you. You're stuck together. You follow them wherever life takes them.....because, as the best friend you can say that the view from behind looks great :) (it's totally in the best friend contract to compliment them any and every time they're lookin' smokin')

Totally posed but totally cute!

At a layover in San Salvador. I would prefer flying with Kate any day! We've got the system down pat.

Note: this is early in the morning and notice how Kate looks all put together and I seemingly look quite cheerful. I did not have coffee and had something funny NOT just been said, my face would look completely different. We balance each other out sometimes, haha.

Sharing while looking all "no big deal" as the paparazzi gets our picture.

Road trip #742. Or something like that. We made sure we both didn't loose our cool on this one. But maybe took our frustration and annoyance out on chocolate chip cookies :)

First year. Fortunately for us, we got a 4.0 in fashion sense after this year. Or at least, we like to think so.

One of our first bus trips together.

This is us "studying".

First road trip together in the back of a 15 passenger van! (Studies show that being in a 15 passenger van decreases maturity levels by at least 25% in 18 year olds. Believe it.)

Our first concert!

Being mejor amigas does not mean that you take great pictures all the time. I particularly love this picture but Kate might kill me when she sees that I posted it :) Love you babygirl! haha

Oh, yeah that goes for this one too. In the middle of a museum in London.

Me: I love this picture!!

Kate: Yeah if my hair wasn't horrible, I'd love it too.  

Me: Well, I'm making it my profile picture so get over it :)

#33.

Sleeping outside on balconies.

So I have this thing I like to do. If I'm staying in a place that has a balcony, I will most likely spend one night on it falling asleep under the stars. Growing up, my house had a deck area that was pretty high up and my family kept a hammock there. I would love to fall asleep on the hammock, listening to the sounds of the night and waking up with the sunrise! In high school, I took a trip to Spain and while I was in Benidorm my roommate and I couldn't resist sleeping out on the balcony of our hotel room looking out on the city and far off in the distance hearing the sounds of the Mediterranean. I've also slept on a roof in Jamaica and I'm leaving for Greece in less than 2 weeks. I can't wait to spend one more night on my balcony of my place before I officially move out :( And I am just giddy with excitement to somehow enjoy a night under the stars in Greece! I don't know how it's going to happen yet or if I will have a hotel room with a balcony but I'm going to make it happen :)