Is there a difference between meandering and wandering? Without looking it up in a dictionary I am finding myself defining them in my own terms. Wandering seems to be stumbling about without purpose, seeking and lost. Meandering, as I have been experiencing it since last April, has become an exploration of sorts, not from a place of being lost, but from a place of new adventure. Those are my definitions anyway as I am struggling this week to not feel lost. Some change has come over my days in that I am no longer feeling “meanderest” but astray and wandering about blindly. I am hoping this is a temporary condition and am combatting the aura with writing, reading, walking and mundane tasks that need to get accomplished like taxes and bills. There is an unsettled rest about my week, as I am recovering from an intense two weeks of teacher training in the Shakespeare & Company Month-Long Intensive here is Massachusetts.
Les Girls…
I am back in Lenox, MA after spending a glorious three weeks in Seattle with my girls for the holidays. I must say that as much as I love being back on the East Coast, the strings of my heart are pulled west by three special women. It is hard being away from them. There is nothing quite like having your own kids. They know me inside and out, they love me unconditionally, they get all my stupid jokes, know the same movie quotes, have similar tastes and we adore being together.
Susanna, Alicia & Audrey
Why can’t a man be more like Robert?
I flew back into Seattle for the holidays with an email from an acting friend burning a hole in my inbox. He sent me a list of wonderful, wacky things we could do if I had time to hang out. I can’t tell you how unusual this is! To have a man ask me to do anything other than go out for food and drink is unique and so refreshing. No, this wasn’t a “date” but I do wish more men were like Robert to have this creativity in their dealings with me. And he even gave me choices! I have lived in the Seattle area for 17 years and yet only a few of the places on his list had I been to previously. Extraordinary! Continue reading
A Pictorial Toast to 2012
As this year ends, my heart is bursting with thanks for the amazing journey I have enjoyed and shared with you all. There has been an incredible 7500 views (from 79 different countries) of my 87 blog posts. I have fallen in love, with my country and Canada, the mountains, the sea, the National Parks, so many people who are now irreplaceable friends, country music, dancing, writing, sharing Shakespeare with youth, acting with open honest people, a canyon, a pond, mountain tops, fringe boots and above all myself. I go into 2013 a braver, more empowered, confident, sassy, flirty, fabulous female. Here are just a few photo memories to relive but there are so many, many more that I could include of the amazing world that has embraced me this past year. May our 2013 bring more love, more encounters, more adventure, compassion and peace. Happy New Year my friends!
Yosemite NP, California in April 2012…the beginning. Continue reading
Dashing through the Northwest
I was told this week by an intuitive friend and well-respected acting coach that I have a no-nonsense, direct personality, EXCEPT in areas of the heart. He went on to add that when relationships are involved my no-nonsense approach to life gets cloudy. I have been pondering this ever since, and I think he is right. My romantic relationships seem to derail my normal common sense. Continue reading
The Caucasian Riggs Circle
I have been rehearsing a play, called the Caucasian Chalk Circle, at the Austin Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA. This is a recovery/therapeutic center that helps individuals struggling to live productive lives in our society. Patients live in an open community and share their difficult life experiences, and work together for solutions. Two times a year Kevin Coleman (see Meet Kevin) is hired to direct a play with them and he asked me to get involved when one of the patients needed to drop out. Continue reading
Filling up my senses…
It looks like a Christmas picture postcard outside my window. Just the perfect amount of snow to make it beautiful, but not treacherous to drive. I am still in the Berkshires, having survived my first Thanksgiving without being surrounded by family. I went to an “orphan’s Thanksgiving” at my director’s house. He and his wife open their home every year to people like me that are away from their loved ones. It was glorious. I cooked with girlfriends and we took our favorite dishes and joined with about 20 people to feast and watch movies. It was just what I needed; relaxing, homey, a dog, a fireplace, and friends falling asleep on the couch. We were all exhausted after the long hours of working at the Fall Festival (see “Shakespeare on their tongues…” ), so to have permission to kick back and do nothing was pretty grand. Continue reading
Shakespeare on their tongues…
I am awash in a dream. I have spent this weekend with a gaggle of high school kids hooting, hissing, yelling, pounding fists in the air, leaping up, cheering and shouting at the top of their lungs. Sounds like I am at a basketball game, right? No, this is all happening here at Shakespeare & Company during the Fall Festival. Ten high schools from the area have descended and each perform one of 37 Shakespearian plays that they have been creating with directors in a residency program that started 9 weeks ago. Continue reading
Back to Benedict Pond
I got up at 6am on Sunday to get to my pond. After such a tremendous response from being Freshly Pressed on the WordPress homepage, I was motivated to get back to my bliss and continue my love affair with the natural wonders at Benedict Pond. I was very rewarded by my early rising. I stopped at Stockbridge Coffee on my way and as it shows in the picture, I was delighted to have something warm to join me in the very chilly morning air. Continue reading
On Benedict Pond
If Thoreau could have a pond, so can I.
I have been going out to the Bear State Forest about 25 minutes from Lenox and it has become my refuge. It is beautiful, solitary, and I’m watching the seasonal changes happen before my eyes. I have only had time to go once a week on my one day off, so it is my church, my sanity, my communion with nature and myself. I need it and crave it. Continue reading
meanderest 