What's Most Important is Invisible

Yesterday I found myself drawn into part of Michael Jackson's memorial service. I didn't expect to find myself engaged in watching it, but I was captured first by Brooke Shield's eulogy. She talked about the commonality she and Michael had as a result of being performers at a very young age. She talked about how they shared the experience of needing to be mature, focused, and constantly perform well. During the moments they spent together as friends (apparently they also dated for a short time) they most enjoyed laughing, being silly and not be so adult for a brief respite from their life as a performer.

Then Brooke shared a quote from the children's book "The Little Prince". I know I've read that book before although I don't recall being enthralled by it. The quote she shared was quite profound: "Eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart. What's most important is invisible."

It All Depends on Your Perspective

I happened to take my 4-year old granddaughter, Madison, to Barnes & Noble yesterday to look at books. I have had a special fondness for children's books since my college children's literature class. I'm amazed at the lessons children's books can teach us. This book is no exception.

So, what did you see when you first looked at this book cover? A duck? Or, a rabbit? Myself? I saw a rabbit, of course, because that's what it is! Once you open up this book, you are immediately drawn into a friendly debate over which animal it is. There are two perspectives, one on the left-hand side of the book and one on the right-hand side of the book. Each perspective - the "duck perspective" and the "rabbit perspective" have data to support their viewpoint.

After all, the duck is starting to eat a piece of bread (located on the left-hand margin of the left page). The rabbit is starting to eat a carrot (located on the right-hand margin of the right page). The duck is clearly shown moving through the swamp grass, while the rabbit is clearly shown sitting in the grass of the field. The duck is making quacking sounds, while the rabbit is twitching its nose and sniffing the air. The duck is quite obviously flying, while the rabbit is quite obviously hopping.

Each side has enough data to support a fairly convincing argument. When I first started reading the book, I initially saw the carrot and overlooked the piece of bread. Once I saw the piece of bread, it did open up the possibility in my mind that it could be a duck. Naturally I continued looking for more data to support my original contention.

How often do we do this? We can be so attached to our view of things, our view of what is true, that it can actually obscure our vision of what else is true. In doing this, we might be living in a world of rabbits and missing all the ducks that are to be found as well.

Out of curiosity, which one did you see? I still think it is a rabbit! Madison thought it was a duck. You decide.

Where have I been? Stopping to hear the music and smell the flowers.

My last post was on February 26th. Since that time many wonderful events have taken place. Our first grandson, Maddox, was born on February 10th (just a couple of weeks prior to that post). That began a series of very special occasions. I wrote a blog posting in my head many times. However, my heart was elsewhere. These pictures are really all that is needed to tell the story, but here are a few details.

Ella's 3 year birthday was celebrated on March 2nd.

Our daughter Lisa's best friend Lindsay's grandma died ("Grandma Helen" was the kind of grandma everyone should be blessed to have).

One of my best friend's father died unexpectedly from a heart attack (on a beautiful Sunday morning after going to church and out to breakfast).

I ran the hilly Springfield 1/2 Marathon.

• Finish time 2:00:42
• 2/22 in age division
• 442/986 total runners
• 128/488 females

Ella welcomed a new little baby sister, Nora Grace, on April 6th.

I ran the Champaign 1/2 Marathon.

• Finish time 2:01:03
• 3/72 in age division
• 1467/3755 total runners
• 546/2095 females

Madison's 4 year birthday was celebrated on April 15th

I ran the Boston Marathon (the competition is a little stiffer in Boston) on April 20th. Howard was, as usual, a wonderful support person AND he ran the Boston 5-K the day before the marathon. He also has a really cool Boston Marathon medal and shirt.

• Finish time 4;36:17
• 220/294 in age division
• 20,254 overall place
• 8000 out of all females

April 26th - we attended the dedication for Nora Grace Gummerman at her church. Big sister, Ella, joined Nora, Mommy and Daddy on stage for the dedication.

I ran the Indianapolis 1/2 Marathon on May 2nd.

• Finish time 1:58:41
• 28/723 in age division
• 7890/30,273 total runners
• 2121/15,890 females

The week of May 3rd-May 12th was spent enjoying Kristin & Adam's week-long visit from Vermont. Highlights included a road trip to Lisa & Gary's house in Chatham (to see Ella and new baby Nora), going to the Children's Discovery Museum with Madison, a train ride to Springfield to the Lincoln Museum, enjoying "eyeball ice cream" with the girls, attending a performance of Urinetown (Kristin was in this show in Vermont), and surviving the "family photo" experience. Adam captured some beautiful shots, both posed and candid, of our large family.

On May 17th Maddox Paul Schweizer was baptized at St. John's Lutheran Church. (Big sister, Madison, held the candle and did not burn down the church or catch anything on fire.)

As I reflect upon the events of the last three months, I am even more aware of the importance of stopping to smell the flowers, to enjoy the most precious things in my life. During these last three months there were two deaths and two births. There were two birthdays to celebrate. The most precious moments of our lives are happening right now - we just need to slow down enough to notice them.

If I happen to not post for another three months, I know certain things will happen. I will laugh and play with Madison and Ella. We'll share stories, sidewalk chalk, playing at water parks and eating eyeball ice cream. I will hold little Maddox (14 lbs at 3 months) and enjoy his smiles and giggles. I will hold beautiful little Nora (now 6 weeks old) and enjoy both her sweet nature and her amazing alertness. I'll swim, ride and run a little. I might even race a little. But most of all, I'll enjoy the beautiful music of life that my family makes.

Stop and Hear the Music

My husband forwarded the following article to me a few days ago. He verified its authenticity on "Snopes", as he often receives e-mails that are not true. This is a true story that was featured in the Washington Post in 2007. The message is powerful.

"A man sat at a Metro subway station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any other recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the finest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Three days earlier, Bell had played to a full house at Boston's Symphony Hall, where fairly good seats went for $100. But on this day, he collected just $32.17 for his efforts, contributed by a mere 27 of the 1,070 passing travelers. Only seven people stopped to listen, and just one of them recognized the performer.

This is a true story. Washington Post writer, Gene Weingarten, enlisted the help of violin virtuoso, Joshua Bell, in conducting this social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. Joshua Bell played incognito in the L'Enfant Plaza station of the subway line in Washington, DC. on the morning of January 12, 2007.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate or inconvenient hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in the unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experiment could be: If we do not have the moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world play the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?"

The Washington Post won a Pulitzer in the feature writing category for this April 2007 article. You can read the full aricle by going to this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Or view the video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

Are you going to take the time to read the article or listen to the music?

Lessons From a Newborn Baby

All 10 lbs and 3 oz of baby boy arrived on February 10th around 6:30 AM. Since his arrival, I've been thinking about what Maddox is already teaching me and what I would like to teach him. Here are my thoughts so far.

Lessons from Maddox:

• Life is precious
• We all need to feel loved and secure
• Anything is possible if we pick ourselves up after we fall down (a baby keeps trying, after repeated failures, to take those first steps)
• The world is full of wonderful new things if we take the time to notice them
• A smile (even if it's just gas) can brighten someone's day
• Being healthy is not something to take for granted
• The best things in life are worth waiting for
• Laughter and play are important even when you're a grownup

Lessons I hope to teach Maddox:

• Reading opens up your mind and your heart and also opens up a whole world to you
• You can change the world by even the small things that you do - smiling at someone, singing a song, reading a book, saying thank you....
• It's important to stay true to yourself, to live an authentic life
• People may forget what you said or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel
• Being active is important for you and those who love you, take care of your body
• Be willing to challenge yourself physically and mentally
• Imagination is where dreams begin
• Be bold
• Treat others the way you would like to be treated
• Learning continues over your entire lifetime, be willing to be both a teacher and a student

Punxsutawney Phil and "Bouncing Baby Groundhog"

This morning when I headed out for my 5.5 mile run, the temperature was 1 degree with a windchill of -17 degrees. I hold this cute furry creature responsible!

Monday, February 2nd was Groundhog's Day. Punxsutawney Phil reportedly saw his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter. I didn't realize that there is a Punxsutawney Groundhog club. Groundhog.org is the official site of the Punxsutawney groundhog club. I found the following fun facts about groundhogs:

Fun Facts About Groundhogs
The average groundhog is 20 inches long and normally weighs from 12 to 15 pounds.

Punxsutawney Phil weighs about 20 pounds and is 22 inches long.

Groundhogs are covered with coarse grayish hairs (fur) tipped with brown or sometimes dull red. They have short ears, a short tail, short legs, and are surprisingly quick. Their jaws are exceptionally strong.

A groundhog's diet consists of lots of greens, fruits, and vegetables and very little water. Most of their liquids come from dewy leaves.

A groundhog can whistle when it is alarmed. Groundhogs also whistle in the spring when they begin courting.

Insects do not bother groundhogs and germs pretty much leave them alone. They are resistant to the plagues that periodically wipe out large numbers of wild animals. One reason for this is their cleanliness.

Groundhogs are one of the few animals that really hibernate. Hibernation is not just a deep sleep. It is actually a deep coma, where the body temperature drops to a few degrees above freezing, the heart barely beats, the blood scarcely flows, and breathing nearly stops.

Young Groundhogs are usually born in mid-April or May, and by July they are able to go out on their own. The size of the litter is 4 to 9. A baby groundhog is called a kit or a cub.

A groundhog's life span is normally 6 to 8 years. Phil receives a drink of a magical punch every summer during the annual Groundhog Picnic, which gives him 7 more years of life. I'd like to find out more about this magical punch! I will also need to find out where the annual Groundhog Picnic is held.

You might wonder why I am especially interested in Groundhog's Day this year. Our daughter, Lauren, is expecting a baby any day. The official due date is February 7th. For Lauren, and the rest of us, the due date is not arriving fast enough.

Therefore, I've concluded that this baby looked out on Feb. 2nd, saw his shadow, and decided not to come out until spring arrives six weeks from now. We might have a "bouncing baby groundhog" rather than a bouncing baby boy.

Man on Wire

"Movie and a Winter Trainer Ride" has begun again. From time to time, I will blog about a movie I've watched while on the trainer. This past Sunday I chose the movie "Man on Wire". It is an Academy Award-nominated 2008 documentary film based on Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center.

One of the first parts of the movie that struck me was when Philippe first developed his dream of the high-wire walk between the Twin Towers. The Twin Towers weren't even built yet. He saw a picture of the project in a magazine while waiting at a dentist office. He tore the picture out of the magazine and left the office. That was the beginning of his dream. His dream was based on something that wasn't even reality yet. That didn't matter to Philippe. His passion was enough to sustain his dream until it was possible to take place in reality.

The documentary was fascinating to watch in terms of how he planned everything. Rather than have wind be a reason not to walk, he planned for that possible obstacle. Philippe had members of his team bounce up and down while pulling on his practice wire to simulate windy conditions.

When Philippe actually began the walk across the wire, one of his team members (who was interviewed in the documentary) stated that he expected Philippe to take time to be sure everything was as it should be. Instead, Philippe knew as soon as he stepped on the wire that he would be successful. He was confident. He didn't let fear or self doubts get in his way.

I guess we're all on a wire in one way or another. In case you are looking for another source of inspiration for overcoming obstacles, here is a video that my good friend AJ posted on her blog. After viewing this, it is hard to have a good excuse for not trying regardless of how insurmountable the obstacle might seem.

http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html