BloggedyBlogBlog

This past Thursday, I packed a couple bags, told Jack to be good, and headed for my car. After removing a McDonald's bag that was full of trash and literally stuck to my windshield, I put my bags and myself into the car and headed for Wisconsin. My dad has been going on retreat to a Benedictine Monastery just outside of Madison for almost as long as I've been alive. It's one of his most favorite places, and where he goes when he needs some spiritual clarity and refreshment. In need of both, I jumped at the invitation to visit while he was there. He was lucky enough to spend the whole week, but I wasn't able to get away until Thursday morning. The drive up there is only about 2 hours from Chicago, but I hit a few snags along the way. The first of which was running into a major traffic jam. On the one-way street next to my apartment. Luckily, the two cars behind me didn't have all day either and backed up to turn around. I followed suit and was on my way. Then I

I wasn't sure I wanted to write an entry on the topic I'm about to write one on. While any blog post tends to have some degree of intimacy involved for the writer, this one feels exceptionally so. It has to do with some recent personal health news and the challenges that news will bring to my life. Let me preface the rest of this entry by stating that I am not someone who is on board with posting the intimate details of bodily functions - or dysfunctions - on social media sites. I have seen status updates on Facebook that involve the poster's bowel movements in great detail. I have also seen updates on recent gynecological visits or numerous bodily disasters of the poster's children. I believe those posts belong in the "Overshare" category. I can't imagine any of their friends signing onto Facebook thinking, "I wonder what kind of poo So-and-So's kid had today. Thank goodness for Facebook or I might spend all day wondering about it." So,

I am not used to being busy. I spent four years mostly sick to death of my own company. I'm in Chicago less than four months and I can barely even think about making extra plans with friends. It's weird. It's not entirely unwelcome...but it's weird. Here's what makes it even weirder: I only work three days of every week. Yet I'm busy enough that when I think, "Gee, I should call so-and-so up and see about getting together," I have to actually pull up my Google calendar to see what month that will fit in. That's a small exaggeration. But only a small one. Sometimes it's only a matter of a week or two before I could fit in drinks. But I do actually have to open the calendar to check. Part of the issue is that I do have free time, but it's on Mondays and Fridays when all normal people are working. Then there are the auditions that I try to schedule as frequently as possible. Hey, after so many years not doing any acting (aside from pretendin

I heard a phrase this morning in church that has stuck with me all day. The pastor was talking about being caught between the World of Now and the World of Not Yet. She was using this idea in reference to the current social climate around homosexuality, and it certainly is fitting. But I immediately thought of all the ways in which this phrase could be meaningful to someone. I couldn't wait to write about it. My main thought was how hopeful this phrase makes me feel. As though it's a promise that what is doesn't have to be what will come. Yes, there are people dealing with hard jobs. There are people who battle illness. There are tough relationships and family stress. There are financial struggles. There is loneliness and addiction. But this phrase says to me, "Hang on. The Not Yet is coming. It'll be better. This is just the World of Now." To me, Not Yet might include healing, new opportunities, new friendships, fresh perspectives. It requires some faith -