L'aura del Campo

Fairy of Joy on Naw-Ruz

NAW-RUZ

SPRING: 1 Bahá 163 (March 21)

Weather where I am: 34 and dreary!

Weather where my friend Gary M. is: 30 and dreary.

I am thinking of Gary after speaking with him briefly this morning. He's as sunny as ever, in spite of the weather. Sure brightened my day.

Then I come on-line and have this wonderful c-note in my mailbox:

"Invalid Item" 

Sent to me by AL, of course! Doesn't she just have the most wicked sense of humor?

So, I'm just overwhelmed by these witty Swedes on this First Day of the New Year, 163 of the Bahá'í Era!

Not to forget my cousin Betty in Salamanca. We spoke of our Swedish heritage last night.

I'm not finished yet with Moberg's book about Swedish immigrants, but I will be soon.

Maybe then, the Swedes will let me be . I doubt that.

SENSED

White snow on yellow forsythia; torn stumps and branches; sparrows on a tree leafed out covered with a dusting of snow; starlings twittering; light grey sky; frosted purple hyacinths; Ethiopian coffee.

GOALS FOR YEAR 163:

Writing:

2 'poetic sketches' per day or 700 per year. Had this goal last year and reached 813. Kept track every 10th, 20th and 30th of the month to assess where I was without obsessing on a daily basis. Works for me.

1 sketch edited each and every day and posted in my blog or 350 for the year. I realized last year that I needed to do more editing. Have done quite a bit. It's easier for me here at WDC so I have great hopes for this one.

Entering at least 1,500 sketches on-line. This would be only half of what I've written to date, but would be a worthy goal. Most of what I've written is stashed in notebooks. Fortunately, 99% are numbered.

Continue writing in my Journal every day (or at least 6 of 7). I missed a few days this past year, but not many! Wrote page 911 yesterday.

Reach page 1,000 in my Journal by Summer solstice. Quite doable if I continue to write one page a day. And that would probably be over 250,000 words.

Blog most every day or 300 entries per year. I was going to make it 350, but frankly I'm worn out and my life is boring. If I take one day off a week, it'll still reach 300 and I'll have to start a new blog.

Continue to read blogs most every day and to read my favorites at least once a week. First of all, I owe it to return the favor of those who read me and maybe, just MAYBE, some of their brilliant writing will rub off!

Improve the layout, style, content of my blog.

To connect with my family and friends on a regular basis. I used to send out 'poems' most every week, now I don't. Since some folks won't visit my blog, I'll just have to send out stuff again. A weekly or bi-weekly scheduled should work.

To connect with family and friends by sending out personal notes. Much better than an e-mail-for-all. I have a long list of people who have meant a lot to me. Yet, I forget to drop them a note. A way of doing this would be to make a check list.

To connect with more people. Add at least 50 to 100 new e-mail addys to my list. I take e-mail addresses down and then forget to enter them in my Yahoo account. Gotta get more organized!

Promote my blog and my poetry. Tea at Three has been one example this past year.

Perform my poetry. Did this all the time in Tulsa. Need to FIND someplace here where I could.

Read more poetry and more in general. I get ideas from reading.

Review on a daily basis. 400 this coming year. This also will improve my writing. Help me to help others. Reach out to new voices. Create a larger sense of community. But it is a lot of work.

TEACH! This means finding a way I can connect with an organization to offfer classes. I need this to hone my teaching skills. I also learn incredible stuff this way. And I really enjoy it.

Tutor. As above, but this would be more one-on-one and means I need to be disciplined and willing to believe in myself and promote myself.

Publish. Submit at least 100 poems somewhere. Not giving up until the goal is reached of seeing 50 in print. Lofty? Nope, just practical. I have no illusions that I'm a great writer. Just know that to get published needs a bit of good luck and a lot of perspiration. And if I'm going to perspire, then 50 is as good as 5 and to do that, at least 100 must be submitted and possibly rejected numerous times. That's how it works.

Self-publish a chapbook (or two) by May. I've done two in the past. The time is overdue for another. To accomplish this I will need to have some resolve and focus. That's why I put a May-day 'cut-my-fingers-off' date.

Publish at LuLu.com. Why? So I learn how to ! Also means family, friends and others can order and I make a buck or five which is more than I did last year. It also lets others know that I am SERIOUS about my work.

Career:

Find the money to apply to 5 schools; fill out the forms; send them in! Oops. Calling myself to account here. No action, no success.

Be ready to move, to move on. This may mean selling the car or getting it back on the road. Finding a source of income. Giving up some old dreams to embrace new ones. Both physically and emotionally, this may prove tougher than it seems.

Ask for support. This is a self esteem issue. No one gets anywhere without help from others. It means I must ask, be willing to accept rejection, be willing to accept support.

Of course, no goals make any sense unless they are underpinned by spiritual goals. I must set those too, but will not be posting them here.

O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MINDS TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR! The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the rose-garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to attain thy goal.

~ Bahá'u'lláh, Persian Hidden Words #1

Sketched after talking to my friend this morning (revised this evening):

Greeting the New Day

And the New Year greets us,
snow covered,
sparrows sitting on new leafed branches,
brown and white on grey and green.
It's
in the little things
that make this day so different from the old,
so much the same.
The clocks still chime the hours of our breathing;
the people walk on by,
oblivious,
that you beam on,
as sunny as a Summer's morn,
hidden behind a thousand miles of clouds and grey,
still shining, giving warmth,
on this New Day,
as big flakes fall to blanket Spring. [163.1]

After the vesper hour:

Weather where I am: 34 and cloud covered.

Weather in San José, Costa Rica: 77 degrees.

San José has been 5 degrees above normal all month. Can't tell whether the rains have come early or whether it is dry, hot and dusty. It can get a bit dusty in a normal year.