The Space Shuttle Challenger and Taking Risks

It was on this day in 1986 that the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard. I remember sitting in my high school science class when the news broke. My teacher was so shook-up, he couldn’t continue with the lesson.

I’ve been a private pilot for 10 years and cruise the sky mere thousands of feet above the ground. I face risks every time I fly, but I can’t imagine not dancing with the clouds.

Sally Ride said, “All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.” Exploration can be dangerous, but so is sitting still. Whether we stretch our minds, visit different cultures, or for the lucky few, rocket into space, being adventuresome is what makes life vibrant and exciting. Isn’t that worth at least some risk?

Creative Every Day

Since signing up for CED 08, I’ve been more conscious of all the ways I’m creative in my life. Some are obvious, like the camouflage scarf I’m knitting for a solider, writing on my blog, creating jewelry from metal clay, etc.

But looking beyond the projects, I’m realizing how I wrap creativity around most of what I think about, see, hear and feel. I’m now honoring my creative mind and recognizing how real and unique it is — because it’s mine.

I think feeling creative every day is also opening my soul to see the raw creativity that’s in everyone. Creativity isn’t limited to artistic pursuits. It includes one’s sense of humor, problem-solving abilities, interpersonal skills, decision making and more.

I realize that CED is about creating artsy/crafty things, and I’m relishing all of the fun projects I’ll work on over the year. However, I’m already excited about how it’s opened my eye to the creativity that’s all around in its many forms. How inspiring!

What’s the Point of Holiday Cards?

The holidays are incredibly busy times, especially for people with children or large families. Tradition calls for mailing out cards to show that you’re thinking of the recipients and are sending your best wishes.

However, with today’s computer automation, many cards are simply the product of an assembly line without any personalization. Purchase pre-printed cards, generate mailing labels, affix stamps, send.

I catch myself feeling like these cards are more of an obligation than a real connection. Am I expecting too much? Would I rather get nothing? Am I ranking that sender’s love by how much time was put into the card?

An attitude shift is definitely in order. As I look at each card, I will remember what I value about my relationship with the sender — why I enjoy having that person or family in my life. I will be jolted into calling or e-mailing someone that I’ve lost touch with. I will ooh at pictures of kids and pets. I will read the copied letters with curiosity over the things I didn’t know.

I’m not sure how I will extend my holiday greetings this year. I may go green and call everyone on my list, or I may run my own card assembly line. I’ll try to add personal notes if I can. But no matter what, I’ll trust that they will all know that I’m thinking of them.

Free Will

Humans are blessed with free will. We can do absolutely anything that we want to, for good, bad or otherwise. So how come we so often waste this time we have living? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Timequake, I got thinking about what it would be like to relive ten years of my life precisely the same as the first time.

I look back at periods of my life — hours, days, weeks, even years — and I don’t think I’d want to relive them. They weren’t necessarily happy, satisfying, or productive moments. They didn’t make my life or the lives of my friends and family better. They didn’t have any effect on the world.

Now, not every minute of my life has to have meaning or add value. I couldn’t handle the pressure! However, I think it’s good to be mindful of my time — to remind myself that I have free will and can be doing anything I want to. Do I need to be up at 3 a.m. watching a That 70’s Show marathon? Not generally.

How do I really want to spend my time at any given moment? It’s a question I will actively ask myself more often.

Holiday Traditions

I sometimes lament about not having any holiday traditions. I hear stories about other people’s traditions — some that go back generations upon generations. I certainly don’t have any of those, but maybe I’m not looking at the right things. Maybe my traditions are simply, well, simple.

For instance, Brian and I have gotten together with two other couples every Christmas for a number of years. I can’t remember why or when it all started, but somehow it has turned into an annual event. Today, we hosted this year’s gathering and enjoyed a lovely few hours of warm companionship and socializing. Sometimes we play games. We always eat wonderful homey food. We always exchange gifts that only cost $5 per couple. With everyone’s complicated and busy lives, I don’t get to see these friends as often as I would like, but I can count on this little tradition every Christmas to reconnect. The event may fade away someday (although I hope not too soon!). However, I’m sure a new tradition will step up in its place.

Traditions don’t have to have started with the Mayflower or be an intricate or formal affair. We can start or end traditions anytime we like. They can be done alone, with a loved one, with a whole family or an entire community. If we pay attention, we’re sure to find numerous holiday traditions we didn’t even realize existed. What are some of your holiday traditions?

Honor the Ones You Live With

I can be somewhat self absorbed and fritter away hours on both meaningful and meaningless activities. My two dogs wait for me to notice them and eventually will try to catch my attention. Benson will jump up on me or Daisy will do her impatient sneeze gesture.

When Brian comes home from work or someplace, I don’t always acknowledge him either. I’m often so wrapped up in whatever I’m doing that I don’t want to interrupt “it” by giving Brian more than a quick hello (if even that). This hasn’t been a conscious activity, but it dawned on me how much you can honor a relationship by actively pausing, focusing and reconnecting.

When I was a growing up, I felt a need to tell my mom about all the nuances of my day as soon as I got home from school. My mom worked at a gift shop, but always took my afternoon calls. I know it must have been tedious for her to listen to my stories with their endless details. I’m sure she wasn’t always patient, but looking back, I don’t remember her trying to skirt the calls. She advised, consoled me and listened.

Adults, children (and pets too) need that time to reconnect when being away from each other. It sometimes only takes a few minutes, but look how this time expresses your love and caring.

With this revelation, Brian better not expect that I’ll run to the door with a fresh cocktail in hand when he comes home (as if!). And I’ll probably still struggle with my “I just need a few more minutes” obsessiveness with whatever I’m doing. But I hope my brain will get a mental shove, and I will now stop, get up and honor the ones I love with my attention.

Good Neighbors

Do you know your neighbors? I’m always surprised when my friends tell me that they don’t. My husband and I  live in a nice working class neighborhood in a fairly large metropolitan area. Within a square mile of our home, real estate prices range from $200,000 up to beau coup bucks (aka million dollar mansions). No matter how much the houses are worth, it’s tough to really know what the neighbors are like until you’re living among them.

Brian and I must have hit lucky sevens when we bought our house a few years ago, because we landed into a social  neighborhood and know almost everyone on the alleyway (plus quite a few on adjacent streets). By knowing people, I don’t mean nod your head hello before pulling into the garage. We really know these folks and consider many to be good friends. We get together to talk, hang out, watch sports, build bonfires, play with the kids and dogs, take walks … oh yeah, and drink a little too. Friday nights have turned into a regular informal get-together in someone’s garage. And don’t forget Sunday Viking’s games and many Twins’ games too.

What’s your neighborhood like?

Emerging Theme

I’ve spent a fair amount of time noodling around theme ideas for blue sky shining, both in my subconscious and on paper. Pundits wisely suggest that bloggers write about something they’re passionate about. Otherwise, it’s easy to let a blog atrophy. I have a lot of interests, so it’s been challenging to figure out how to bring them all together. Women’s issues and feminism, aviation, green living and sustainability, food and cooking, travel, technology and gadgets, and oh so much more. How can I choose??

And through this whole process, I have realized that I’m drawn to stories about people, places, and animals that make it so fun to be alive, to say “wow!” We’re bombarded with such ugliness most everywhere. Sometimes it feels like we’re not making any progress against the really big problems in the world. But we are in both small and grand ways. I think it’s worth looking around an unfamiliar corner, into a different doorway, under a misshapen rock — or even in one’s own familiar backyard. Who knows what we may find and how that someone or something can affect us.

Ultimately, blue sky shining is about celebrating the sunny side of life. Maybe we’ll smirk, chuckle, be inspired … or just feel happy.

Pets as Punching Bags and Life Lines

It’s difficult to see blue skies when reading about human cruelty to animals. The Star Tribune yesterday reported that a Morgan show horse named Rose was intentionally poisoned (she received a total blood infusion and will thankfully recover). Just a year ago, this family lost a horse when it choked itself to death after someone tied it to a tree during a rainstorm. A slew of cruel acts to dogs, cats, birds and other pets have made the paper over the past year. I’m sure many more remain unreported.

I’m the kind of person whose eyes tear during sappy dog food commercials. Remember the television spot that featured a golden retriever named Casey? We saw her learning to climb stairs as a puppy, then bounding up them as a middle-aged dog, and finally slowly making her way to “mom” as a senior. What a heart wrencher.

I also welled up when I read a positive story about animals in the same issue of the Strib. A training program in St. Paul pairs young delinquents with “unplaceable” dogs. The partnership between Home for Life and Boys Totem Town shows what remarkable changes can occur when people interact with animals. These boys learn empathy, compassion, patience, gentleness, hopefulness and more — lessons probably missing from their formative years. These animals get love and respect, and for some, a new life as trained therapy dogs. Now that’s blue skies.

Personality Handwriting Analysis

The Minnesota State Fair features a booth in the grandstand that evaluates your personality based on a handwriting analysis. Simply sign your name, and the operator will feed your slip into the “super computer” for analysis. As a bonus, you can also get your horoscope and lucko numbers. JUST $3.00 (starburst). The computer is right from the 1960s with its blinking lights and many buttons. Cheesy fun! My mother-in-law has gotten an analysis every year for decades. This year, she took me over to the booth. Here are my results (I’ll spare you the all caps type on dot-matrix paper) …

* * * YOUR PERSONALITY ANALYSIS BY TELEVAC * * *

You are generous and enjoy sharing with others.

Ambition is your driving force.

You have a deep well of inner strength.

You are observant and take in all that's happening around you.

You are better with a partner than by yourself.

You are ambitious and have many secret desires.

You feel that no other decision is as good as your own.

You are generous to a fault.

Your criticism often hurts.

The whole world interests you.

You set very high gaols for yourself.

You like having the last word and the last laugh.

Even though these are pretty generic, many fit me perfectly. Hmmm …

I had my hubby, Brian, sign his name for analysis too. He couldn’t come back to the fair, so I submitted it on his behalf. The results? Most not even close. Maybe the female submitter threw the computer off. Will have to check again next year!