I’ve spent the past week binge watching the Apple TV series, Ted Lasso. Sometimes I was laughing and crying during a single episode of this amazing comedy series. All in all I simply enjoyed the heck out of this irreverent series so full of heart and soul. I was truly amazed that a series centered around a professional soccer sports team could engage my interest so fully. But it felt like it was full of
New Answers to Old Questions
about life, love, meaning, sexual identity, mental health, and more.
I had heard about Apple’s Ted Lasso series, though just little bits and pieces about how it was funny and uplifting. So I decided to watch an episode or two. That’s all it took. I was hooked by it’s humor, quirky characters and implausible story line.
Sometimes I found myself laughing out loud until I thought I might pee in my pants and sobbing with sadness during a single episode. And now after watching the full series, like one character in particular, whose main vocabulary was the ‘f’ word spoken with various tones of meaning I find myself fighting the urge to use that same word to express what I’m thinking about. You know, “That’s f-in amazing!” or “F……..”
But I resist the urge to do so because there are better ways to express myself than using the same over-used word again and again. (I can remember when I was young hearing a high school classmate saying “F…” out loud in the classroom shocked me. But now, with everyone using it over and over it’s lost much of it’s meaning and shock value. Come on people, where’s your imagination? There are so many interesting and expressive words out there you can use instead of that.)
The Full Catastrophe
If you haven’t yet watched the Ted Lasso series, I think that it is well worth your time, especially if you’re looking for new answers to old questions. Along with the comedy and soccer there is much wisdom about how difficult life can be. And also about how joyful and beautiful it can be. At one point the series’ main character, Ted Lasso, says to his therapist, “Life is just so damn hard.” I couldn’t agree more. At the same time life is also all kinds of wonderful, awesome and beautiful. As I’ve often quoted Jon Kabot-Zinn, “Life is a full catastrophe.”
Catastrophe here does not mean disaster. Rather, it means the poignant enormity of our life experience. It includes crisis and disaster, the unthinkable and the unacceptable, but it also includes all the little things that go wrong and that add up. The phrase reminds us that life is always in flux, that everything we think is permanent is actually only temporary and constantly changing. This includes our ideas, our opinions, our relationships, our jobs, our possessions, our creations, our bodies, everything.”
― Full Catastrophe Living
One Step at a Time
Finding a way to live a joy filled life despite all its challenges is a life journey for me. I am learning that simple things make a big difference for my peace of mind and ability to experience joy. Spending time in nature, doing what I love (photography), spending time in silence, and exercising my body are all crucial to my day-to-day well-being.
The main things are to commit to some simple behaviors—meditating, exercising, getting enough sleep—and to practice altruism.… And nurture your social connections.
― Full Catastrophe Living
Whatever you are experiencing now in your life, the seasons and nature remind us that everything changes all the time.
Now is a Lush Time of Year
We have entered that season of late spring where everything appears lush and healthy. Bright greens dominate the landscape. And the tail end of the lilacs along with freshly opening peonies, iris, allium, and other flowers are on display. I am loving the mild weather we’ve been having and even all the rain. It is such a blessing to have this lush gorgeous season while others not far from here are facing severe storms and tornadoes. I count my blessings every day to live in this beautiful part of the country. Every spring and summer I think that it’s worth the winters to experience all this beauty when the seasons turn warm again.
A leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.
― The Overstory
What are you grateful for this week?
May you walk in beauty.
Note: I made today’s photos at Noerenberg Gardens Monday shortly after the rain stopped.
Purple Martins are busy on and around this big purple martin “condo.” I could hear the baby birds cheeping for food from quite a distance away from the birdhouse.
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