No more "Next Year"

The new Jewish month is upon us shortly. Adar rishon, or the first month of Adar, is a leap month, added into the calendar to keep it balanced out. I prepare differently for the month ahead than is typical. In fact, I typically let one month slide into the next with very little acknowledgement. But I will be spending three weeks of the coming month (actually within February and Adar) abroad, in Israel.

First of all, it’s the first time I’ll be in the country since Passover 2006. Every holiday since then, I’ve sung “b’shana haba’ah b’yerushaliyim” next year in Jerusalem. Here it is, returning to the country of prayers and there isn’t a holiday in sight. Not even a new month. How did I manage that?

Thinking about the odds, I looked back at the luach, the hebrew calendar and noticed there was *something* on it. Oh. I’ll be spending “purim katan” in Israel. You’ve never heard of it because it isn’t observed in any substantial way anymore. I mean if you’re searching, we are told not to fast on that day. And we are told not to eulogize, either. I know this because it marks the burial of my bubbe, my maternal grandmother.

Now, when my grieving mother was told this, she was already in avelut, in mourning, for her father who we had lost not six weeks before. That graveside funeral had so many words of love, honor, blessing, both impromptu and organized, that I’m certain they carried our family home and through the week of mourning, shiva. My bubbe hadn’t travelled with us that cool December day, but we recounted the memories to her as we visited her throughout shiva.

I also want to make it clear that my mother was not told this by some forceful rabbi, but by her paternal uncle, who served as our family Rabbi when we were assembling for these kinds of gatherings. He let her know that she could practice however she saw fit. But, if we’re speaking honestly here, my mother was emotionally raw from talking about the dead. She had been exhausted by the long drawn out process of saying goodbye to both of her parents.

My mother welcomed the invitation not to prepare another eulogy. It was another blessing for her. I called my great uncle Itzy, rabbi, and I asked what the halacha was. To check what the rules really were. He said, if a eulogy is given, it has been said if they are words of torah that is OK. I replied, so if i write a d’var torah, if i bring text and teach in her memory, that is OK? It was.

I hadn’t spoken about my grandfather at his funeral service, the voices were so prominent there, and i was still so heartbroken from having seen him in hospice in his final days, where he was but a shell of the man who outpaced me my whole life.

I don’t remember what teaching I brought in my grandmother’s memory. I have it in a journal somewhere - but whatever text I used, whomever I quoted or celebrated, when I ended with my bubbe’s advice, the words she’d said to me when we parted for as long as I can remember, she’d rest her cane somewhere so she had both hands free and say “Sheridan, be sure to grow this way (she’d widen her arms vertically) and not this way (horizontally)!” Since she continued saying this long after I turned 12 and stopped growing, I can only assume she meant towards the heavens, with Godly and goodly intentions, to strive for higher heights and not be dormant and unmoved. May we understand her blessing to me as a hope for all of us, to grow in the right ways.

As we returned to the limo, thawing out from the icy winter morning, my mother said to me, “I didn’t know she used to say that to you.” I had given her a new memory. Shared with her a private moment, let my mother see that sometimes my bubbe wasn’t a hardened heart, but had a sense of humor and bemusement.

Our relationships with the people we love the most are also always the most difficult. It is easy to turn off or turn away. And when the rabbis say “don’t eulogize” the were hoping to lessen the pain, to not ruin the joy. But in celebrating the people we love, we can create more joy.

I wonder if we should explore what our tradition should say about ‘minor’ holidays today, and how they impact our relationship with traditional Jewish protocol. I wonder if it doesn’t harden the heart to spend years claiming, ‘next year in Jerusalem’ only to find yourself there on a quiet sabbath. But then I realize, Jerusalem is like my grandmother, always sending you off with a smile, a sweet treat, the call to return. Don’t wait until next year. Celebrate the people and places you love right now.

Bring on the Warmth

I’m grateful for warmth!

This past Sunday night, I decided to hike over the 4 avenues to a friend’s apartment sometime after 9pm. The offer was extended with love, but I very hesitantly agreed to the walk, because it was quite cold and quiet around the NYC neighborhood in which I live. Layering up, I grabbed my red sweatshirt off the top of my hamper. First of all, it’s from the clothing swap we did in the fall. In ‘getting’ this great sweatshirt, I ‘gave up’ shoes and clothing galore, the majority of which went to a great local charity called Housing Works. Second of all, I’d put it there not because it was dirty, as much as because I didn’t want to hang it up. So it was a pleasant surprise when this red hoodie was wonderfully warm, thanks to the radiator it had been resting near. And, on my cross town trek, I thought about the other things that had made me warm throughout the day: Brunch with Aimee at the Mud Stop where the mint tea and mimosas included for my $13 fistful were deliciously warming. As was the conversation, and the welcome face she had when I lost my sense of direction and showed up 20 minutes late!
Then, I reflected on volunteer day for Limmud NY as all the final details come together for a conference I’ve been working on for countless hours. Full of wonderfully talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated people, many of them first time volunteers, and witnessing everything being put in order - magnificent! (Though, for talent's sake, you can see mine isn't in art - my Check in sign was mediocre at best!)
Back in reality, I’d already made it two avenues, and was still pretty warm. Ok, I’m a California girl. Maybe I was losing a bit of feeling in my extremities, but bearable. I realized it was likely a result of “warm soup belly” which I enjoyed at my favorite Union Square haunt along with more wonderful conversation with a friend who had also attended volunteer day. Finally, it occurred to me, I couldn’t believe I was even thinking about being cold, when we’d run across so many “pantsless” subway riders that evening in union square. The smile across my face returns now, and just erupted then, thinking about “those crazy kids” and folks who act like kids ... who participated in the near-naked public displays thanks ImprovEverywhere - you’ve got gumption, which is especially impressive on such a freezing day. Of course there was also getting a chance to finally check my weekend mail when I got home. (Hey, I've been off accomplishing it all, I've been quite busy!) In my mailbox, I found the most extraordinary thank you card from a most extraordinary friend. I'm coming to believe that one person's gratitude only helps cultivate gratitude in others. Appreciation is never underrated.

When I arrived at my destination, and we caught up about the last few weeks, work, writing, volunteering, planning details of my upcoming vacation, it occurred to me how lucky I am that it just takes a few steps from my apartment to an amazingly wonderful city filled with good friends, good food, and so many fun opportunities. I have cultivated a family of friends who remind me quite often what I have to be grateful for. But mostly, on that walk home, it was the red sweatshirt.

My Attitude of Gratitude: Cultivated in 2010

I’m not the kind of woman who seeks mentors. I have found a rare few in my life, a professor who I worked for in college and graduate school, a colleague or two. But typically, I’m a fiercely independent person. That’s why, in reflecting on what I’m so grateful for this past year, I’m surprised to say that the first thing that pops into my head after health, is one Sissy Block. A wonderful friend, I am feeling particularly grateful to her because she made me a generous offer this year. She suggested we become “writing partners” - she is the person with whom I meet weekly or bi-monthly to sit beside as we write our respective creative projects. Both are books. Very different, very fictionalized, but both very personal. Having someone beside you while you pour your guts onto a page (or computer screen) is unbelievably validating. What sometimes felt self indulgent now feels powerful, significant, important, occasionally even urgent.

Our “writing dates,” as I call them, alternate neighborhoods for convenience and optimal wifi (though it’s not on the whole time we write! Focus is key). Most days we get over the loud study group or bad date nearby. In fact, if it’s a bad date I usually use it for material for the book I’m working on. Showing up for a writing date is like a planned coffee with a best friend. If you’ve ever had the type of friend who you could pick up with whether it had been one week or one year, that’s the feeling I get when I walk into a room to write with Sissy. She and I don’t need to catch up, the book and I do, and because Sissy’s there, I can pick up exactly where I left off.

When I’m sick, but we meet anyway, I find that I actually do my best writing. My most insecure thoughts, my most off-limit topics, suddenly become easier to deal with than my stomach ache … and I just write - no holds barred. Some really beautiful things come from those moments.

When we take a break from writing to catch up on our personal lives, after all, Sissy and I know each other from volunteering together and get along quite nicely on our own, Sissy reminds me to “write it” to “use it” because it’s here, it’s real. “It” has become better and better thanks to her encouragement. The gratitude we have for one another, for the forward momentum we create by being together in our creative efforts is palpable most days.

Sometimes we laugh out loud at our writing. We share exciting moments of character development. Her project is farther along than mine - and I know that she’ll come to me one day and say she doesn’t need to meet any more... but having her beside me as I’ve taken my first steps on this journey of writing my first novel makes me feel like I’ve taken strides where I would have taken baby steps, and for that I am forever grateful.

Sissy Block and I both have full time jobs working within Jewish academia. We are both active volunteers for Limmud NY. In fact, we met at Limmud NY. You never know where you will be when someone wonderful impacts your life. I’m just lucky we found one another!

My 30 before 30

Here’s the bottom line – I haven’t been blogging lately because I’ve been dedicated to writing a piece for publication. Ok, by piece I mean book, and between that, volunteering for four organizations (shoutouts to Limmud NY, Keren Or, Columbia Hillel Young Alumni Advisory Committee, and Kehilat Hadar), working full time, and maintaining some semblance of a social life I haven’t had time to toot my own over-achieving horn. Not because I haven’t had toot worthy experiences. I promise you, I’ve had them! I just haven’t had time to keep them on record.

So, I’m six months from thirty and inspired by my friend PrettyGreenGirl (Who now has a 30 while 30 list) to embrace the 30 before 30 … I’ve accomplished a lot lately, but I thought of some things I’ve never done, and here are mine:

1. Finish the first draft of my first book (Self imposed deadline: 30^th birthday)
2. Plan and take a trip to a continent I haven’t been to (Options: South America, Asia, or Africa) 1/26/11 Ok, many of my friends took me down memory lane and reminded me that Israel is in Asia, but I meant more proper, and I've been to Africa because, well, hello, Egypt is in Africa ... so I'm officially getting too old to remember where I was 11 years ago or I'm geographically challenged. Or, the fact I'm accomplishing this only by way of going to Israel in a few weeks means we'll have to compromise ... been to 'recently.' (which fits with #25)
   
3. See a natural wonder I haven’t yet seen
4. Photograph the perfect sunset
5. Find an extremely fulfilling opportunity to build community (see 4 organizations I volunteer for above … but I have a new one as of 11/10 too!)
6. Start writing down the etiquette lessons I preach to friends (Oh, and practice what I preach)
7. Make life more like the chocolate show
8. Find the perfect “at home” facial
9. Eat something that sparkles. 11/10/10 Work event included a dessert basket from Josh's place. Their mini rice crispy treats were not only delicious, but sparkled. That took no time at all!
   
10. Find the perfect pair of jeans
11. I have mad sewing skills – find time to use them on the bag of clothing that needs repair.
12. Ritualize dumpling night. 12/17/10 For the third "christmas" in a row, a meal where the dumplings are the star! I'll add more variations, but posted one recipe for spicy peanut chicken pot-stickers a while back. They are divine. This is a chanukah/december/christmas holiday tradition that will last forever.
    
13. Find a way to keep better track of the remote control
14. New Mantra: Farmers’ markets are great – other markets are supplements. No over-stuffing the fridge. Just because it looks good in the store doesn’t mean I have the time to cook it.
15. Try Bikram Yoga
16. ‘Discover’ a waterfall and spend the day picnicking and lounging beside it.
17. Have tea time at the Plaza (in general find an excuse to return to the oak room. What a good meal)
18. Walk the Brooklyn bridge (despite the cliché)
19. Have dinner at the four seasons –because my mother is still talking about her dinner there 35 years later.
20. Make a necklace with the beads collected from trips to DC’s store, Bedazzled.
21. Find NYC’s version of Teaism. Frequent it. Often.
22. Try five new foods!
23. Gamble more than $20 (preferably in AC or LV … go for it!)
24. Broadway : See Wicked on Broadway B. Decide to go to a show last minute (La Cage aux Folles, Life in the Theater)
25. Register for a class at Columbia University (ok, so it won’t be the first time, but it’ll be the first time in +5 years)
26. Check out “first Saturdays” at the Brooklyn Museum
    
27. Ice skate in Bryant park (I had hot chocolate there once, but had hurt my ankle and couldn't skate) 1/1/11 - My friend Andy has his own skates in the city and heads there at every chance he gets, so late at night after 'recovery brunch' and recovery nap we headed down there and he kept me distracted while we waited on the very long line... once I got on the ice I remembered how much I loved skating growing up... ahh, Parkwood... I just want to head out to my parent's place and pick up my skates and never get off the ice...
    
28. See a performance at Joe’s Pub
29. Stroll through the gardens at Wave Hill
30. Walk across the park for free Saturday at the Jewish Museum

Apocolyptic News ..

Whether or not you've been bitten by the Twitter bug, my take on this media tool is mixed. Lately, more than anything else, this steam serves to remind me why I wasn't watching the TV news in the first place. I joined this particular variant strain of social and educational media for the great discounts it gave me access to. Once registered, I found even more bits of value in it. Thanks to twitter I know what's going on in the world without skimming news websites for headlines. If it's important, a news agency will send it right to me, without clogging my inbox, then I can decide to read further or not. I need to keep current on a lot of newsworthy topics for work, so what a convenient way to do so.

Besides, how dreadful could the news get if it's condensed to 140 characters?

Pretty damn dreadful.

Since the start of 2010, I've learned about natural disasters hitting the globe: earthquakes, avalanches, a terrible heatwave, a tsunami. Just today in Haiti an earthquake that has warranted another tsunami warning. Beyond the planet doing as it does, it is always painful to see reports of people inflicting pain on one another. 2010 has already brought it hard. In the form of bombs (hitting military bases, tourist sites, transit, religious institutions, and private homes), shootings, road rage, theft, sexual abuse and kidnapping. I've read about war and the threat of it, and the death of soldiers that inherently comes with military incursions and just having bases in other countries. The word "terror" or "terrorist" keeps reappearing in the feed. Hostage situations. Huge layoffs, the remnants of a country's floundering economic infrastructure. That's a lot of demolition for one optimist to handle.

Plus there are the unexplained. A 30 year old dying of 'natural' causes. Government's inability to consider gay marriage equal to heterosexual marriage. The news items that hurt my heart.

Don't get me wrong, there are the human interest headlines too, and I subscribe to zagat and others that sprinkle happiness into this stream of dismal. Or I'll come across a piece that is community service or social justice oriented, or highlights eco-friendly practices. It makes me remember that something is right with this world. Somewhere things are in place.

Despite the occasional story of valor, heroism or worth, I can't just let go of the concern raised by the countless disasters that I learn of. At best, I am drawn toward prayer - for peace, for serenity, for an understanding that will help me return to that sense of gratitude I have every night I go to bed, and every day I wake up.

This spring I will have the opportunity to get to know a few journalists closely. I wonder what I should ask them about what it means for them to be in the trenches with the kinds of events that make me realize the world is a little bit crazy. I also can't help but question what is the value of much of this news? In what ways does knowing about all this dread; crimes, dysfunction, terror help me live a better life?

I can't help but wonder. And exhale. And realize that in order to accomplish it all, I may not need to know it all.

Writing for Life

I started a chapter of a book a while back, that I've been sitting with and nurturing, editing and refining. I feel a little like a kid with an open wound. Eww. I'll leave that image alone.

I've been working on outlining books and snippets and short stories for quite a while but this one is so personal it changes my mood with each read. I have no idea if it will affect others similarly. I'm thinking I should workshop it somewhere ... which leads me to wonder where I'll find the time in the new year.

So I'm assessing priorities and finding solutions. Space management, doing a better job of organizing my new apartment is an important mission for this month. So far it's going pretty smoothly, but it seems so mundane compared to creative time. I keep peeking over at my guitar and thinking it'd be more fun to pick that up than continue switching out summer clothes for sweaters.

Wondering who else has streamlined their lives lately and what recommendations you might have for neating up around the edges?

Flying High

I don't know if this is a common sentiment, but I am most grateful for the things I don't understand... like flying safely - or really, flying at all.

I love to travel. Which you'd expect from someone who prides themselves on seeing, doing, tasting and experiencing all that life has to offer. I think it's pretty hunky dory that in Judaism, there's a prayer for distance travel (no matter the means - the point is if you're going from the 'gates' of one city to another) and even more than all of that, I love that I'm privileged enough to be able to carry this prayer with me as part of my travel. It's called the prayer of (being on) the path. Tefilat Haderech. It thanks God for protecting and keeping us, and our wares safe.

In particular, I realized how important this prayer was when I recently flew to Ottawa, Canada for the wedding of two close friends (another story of blessings, which I will share soon). I packed items for the wedding celebration that included "poppers." You know, those new year's items that spew confetti. They're marked flammable and probably contain a small amount of some explosive or other...

Why it didn't occur to me this might not be good a good item to transport in my luggage until mid-flight is beyond me, but luckily my over-active imagination is all that got charged in transit. My wares, along with me, arrived safely and just in time for a wonderful, unforgettable wedding weekend.

So, knowing that I made it through customs and security just fine, my moment of zen is pictured above. I was flying in a small plane and sat in seat 12 a which overlooked the propellers and the landing gear. I didn't know I was holding my breath in our descent until I saw the landing gear come down.

I guess we don't always realize what takes our breath away or what keeps it away until it comes back. In yoga and reiki there is a lot of talk of acknowledging where we are holding. Of the importance breath. Of awareness. It has been a few months since I thought about all three of those things in one idea, but certainly seeing the sun in alignment with the plane wheel as we pulled into the (Toronto - stop over) airport helped bring me that clarity.

I will share more about Ottawa in an upcoming post, the great accommodations and more importantly the two weddings which kicked off November. Just wanted to share my moment of gratitude and the gorgeous shot I captured as we went from being in flight to being grounded, air to earth, safely, soundly and in one piece.