CatEcumen the Ecumenical Cat

McKenzie and Logan - sitting peacefully together for a change!

I have decided that, for at least this season in my life (duration uncertain), I am going to explore Judaism again. That doesn't mean that I've made any definitive, permanent repudiation of Christianity. I have always been a spiritual wanderer, never quite comfortable in any one tradition, always meandering on to the next challenge, the next adventure. So I'm going back to spend some more time getting to know the path that I had left behind about fifteen years ago. Many people have trouble understanding a spiritual journey that isn't about zealous commitment to a single unwavering truth; I have trouble staying within any frame of reference which demands that.

For those who follow the Tom Sonday blog but who may have stopped following because it was just too hard to read it, Tom Sonday has now moved on to whatever awaits after this life. May it be a place of well-deserved peace and joy.

I never met him but have been in touch with his daughter Jessica off and on for several years, primarily through LiveJournal.

This has been a tremendously difficult time for the family, and the road ahead for them, now that he has passed, is still going to be a painful one. Because I'm in a weird space of spiritual transition myself at this moment, I am not sure what to say, but for any of you who pray or who are willing to send good energy, please keep the Sonday family in your prayers and keep sending good thoughts their way.

In response to a friend's comment: when I post about the funny things the dogs and cats do, I'm sharing them because they're funny and I enjoy them. Even when I'm frustrated by something that is happening, I can still be amused and entertained by it, at the same time. I'm not really complaining, and I will try to stop sounding as if I am.

Just now, for example, I had to rescue my cup of coffee from an inquisitive kitten who wanted to taste it. I think that's funny, and I want to share it because I'm getting a giggle out of it, but I can understand why some readers might think I'm being negative, always whining about how tough things are and asking for advice on how to make it better which I then refuse to follow. Actually I'm enjoying the kitten and having a great time watching her.

I tend to forget that when I post what I think are funny pet pictures and accounts of what mischief they're getting into, most things that I post sound like I'm bemoaning my horrible life and asking for advice about how to fix these terrible things. Actually I'm enjoying my life and my pets very much, and getting a lot of joy out of watching them play even when they cause trouble, and I need to make it more clear from now on that I'm sharing the funny, not complaining about something bad.

How can I move on to do something else (no matter how many other things there are to be done), when my office chair is occupied by a sleeping dog, and the file in the center of my desk is serving as a bed for a sleeping kitten?

Time to relax and enjoy the moment!

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McKenzie dozing on the file I had planned to work on this morning


My dog is occupying my chair, how can I work?

Wikipedia definition of "woofer":

Woofer is the term commonly used for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from around 40 hertz up to about a kilohertz or higher. The name is from the onomatopoeic English word for a dog's bark, "woof" (in contrast to the name used for speakers designed to reproduce high-frequency sounds, tweeter).

A novelty site called Woofer requires a minimum of 1400 characters, and uses people's existing Twitter identities. It's an amusing concept, and I was playing with it today.

I am well-known as a long-winded person who will never use a few words when many will do, so I have been finding it an interesting experiment for me to use Twitter and text messaging. It has been teaching me at least a few basic lessons in the art of brevity.

So, are you a "woofer" who uses lots of words, or a "tweeter" who uses few? :-)

I watched the first two hours of the new ABC series "Defying Gravity" online, and I'm enjoying it so much that I might actually watch the next episode in real-time. Maybe. It took me a web search to identify how I recognized Christina Cox, and of course it was from "Blood Ties."

I'm also trying to figure out why I'm pushing myself toward disaster again by refusing to let go of my anger even when I know it is causing problems for everyone, including myself. It's like I'm somehow afraid to let go of it. The consequences of NOT letting the anger go (for me and for the others affected by it) are so much worse than those of letting it go, so what is this fear all about?

And for Take Your Dog to Twitter Tuesday ....

A thought prompted by something in a post by a friend: Why is it that whenever I hear, "I hurt," in my own head that statement immediately translates into the direct personal accusation "YOU have failed me"? And, while this is MY problem, does it also relate to the larger problem of privileged-group guilt?

Edited to add: I think that at least part of the problem is the same psychological process which manifests itself as "derailing" in the context of discussing racism. It happens in the interpersonal context too. I would describe it this way:

1. I hear YOU talking about what bothers YOU;
2. I hear this as being all about ME;
3. I feel attacked and react defensively and I try to take YOU down for attacking ME (which YOU never did).

So, everything that is said gets fed into that internal meat-grinder of thought and gets processed into more of the same "they say I'm BAD."

Oh my, I couldn't have made this one up if I tried:

ChillyHell

and an update .....