Sun Dried Thoughts

I love Shlomo Carlebach's vort that sometimes someone wants you to reach out to them, but when you do they run away. Most people let it go at that. The secret to consoling someone who craves comforting is to come back a second (third?) time. Reb Shlomo teased this idea out of Yirmiyahu's "nachamu," followed again by "nachamu." We live in unredeemed times, and we need to console and uplift each other; again, again.

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Three weeks ago in my father's basement I discovered Stew. His real name's Mark Stewart and he's a funny, smart singer. He made a play about his formative years. He's continued evolving ever since. As quoted in Roger Ebert's review of Spike Lee's movie adaptation of Stew's show: "Some of us spend our entire adult lives acting on the decisions of a teenager." He is a master of phraseology.

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A friend recently mentioned that she learned about research done on water molecules and positive words. I recall first hearing about this during a presentation at a school Shabbaton given by the spouse of a colleague. The presenter was a frum person, as is the person from whom my friend discovered this idea. I googled around and found this site with pictures of the molecules (like the ones the speaker at my school event showed). I also discovered that speaker's new website about mindfulness, meditation, healing, etc. I recall a workshop one day in my school when I, along with 12 colleagues, chose a great one on yoga. The presenter of that work's bio is here.


I admire meditation. mindfulness, and all that stuff - from a distance. Sometimes I see it as a good thing that I view matters from all angles. I see the good in this and that, everything is complex. One of the most beautiful things I ever heard said at a funeral was when M.G. said that she always needed to ramify when asked about things she liked. Favorite movie? It depended on what category of movie. Same with music and everything else. But when she was asked who her favorite person was, the answer was easy. Her mom. That's cool. Commitment to something. Sometimes I see it as a negative - a lack of commitment - that I like many different things but stay on the periphery. My mentors and friends are similar to me, complicated mixtures.

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What does being a good Jew mean to you? How do you define religious? Spiritual? Do you like to use these words or prefer not to use them? Alternative words you prefer? These are things I'm thinking about this second (later I may forget I posted this).

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Do you know what I've noticed lately? Glad you asked. I've noticed that it's very common for people to tell you the truth and then try to backpedal on it. It's like the Seinfeld/David observation about the phrase "that having been said" - People use those words to first say what they don't mean and follow it up with what they really want to say, as in "I don't want to hurt your feelings. That having been said - pow!"