Opportunity for Perspecitve

Yesterday, it seemed that everyone was talking about O'Brien-Leno conflict and the fact that it is Simon Cowell's last season on American Idol.

Today, those stories are shuffled, like they should be, to the background, while we focus on the tragedy in Haiti.  My thoughts and prayers are directed towards the Haitian people.

Potentially hundreds of thousands of people have died in an earthquake that has left the country devestated.

All it took was a few seconds for us to stop and put things in perspective.  For now.

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsnaumi killed nearly 300,000 people.  And we have already almost forgotten that it ever happened.

Maybe it speaks to our infrastructure, our support, or our money that a disaster of this proportion has not occured in the United States.  But maybe not.  Maybe it is just luck.

Not to discount any loss and pain that many people have experienced due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but it was a fraction of the suffering and loss of life experienced by these other national disaters.  But it happened on our own shores, so we keep talking about it.

Is it truly out of sight, out of mind?

How long will we remember the people in Haiti?

"So long as we live among men, let us cherish humanity."  ~Andre Gide

Because it's Monday

Or it was.

And Monday is as good as anytime to start something new.

I was going to post this earlier. But a incredibly grumpy pair of boys and an incredibly invigorating round of Wii Fit have delayed me until right now.

I've been thinking about how to incorporate quotes into my blog. Because I love them. I avidly collect them. Anytime I come across on that I love, I must write it down. Books I'm reading, billboards, plaques at museums, commercials, the internet. The source doesn't matter. I scribble them down either in the notebook I always carry around with me. Or an scraps of paper in my purse. On on the back of envelopes on my desk. They are tacked up in random spots around my house.

So, if I haven't made it clear...I LOVE quotes.

I thought about doing something on my sidebar, but when I would change the quote, the previous would just get lost in the internet void.

So, I've done some posts with quotes in them (Which also allowed me to give my opinion about the quote and the person who said it. Because I do like to give my opinion.) But those posts just get lost in the archives, so really, it was no better. And there are so many other things that I would rather write about than quotes. I just really want to share my favorite ones with you.

So, I'm going to do a weekly quote. On my sidebar. (First, because daily is too frequently, and monthly is way too spread out, and secondly, because it is just easier there.)

So, tell me what you think of my weekly quotes. Sometimes silly, sometimes serious, sometimes famous, sometimes obscure.

And if you know any good ones, send them my direction. I'm sure I can find a blank piece of wall to hang them up on.

Found in the Museum

"What in me is dark, illuminate.
What is low, raise and support."

-Engraved in the wall of University of Utah Museum of Natural History's geology hall

Letter to Our President

Today we witnessed the 44th president sworn in. President Barack Obama.

Regardless of how you voted, regardless of your personal political views, this is an historic moment. The first black president of the United States of America.

The inaugural speech was wonderful. There were moments I felt tears well up in my life.

Some of my favorite parts

"It is time to pick ourselves up, to dust ourselves off, and start rebuilding America."

"[The leaders of countries] will be remembered, not by what they destroy, but with what they build."

I have some things I would like to say to our new president...

Dear President Obama,

Congratulations on becoming president today. I know that this is a important moment, not just for you and your family, and not just for black Americans, but for all Americans.

I have listened to many of speeches that you have given over your road to the presidency. I want you to know that your words have given me reason to hope. For the first time in a long time, I feel reasons to be hopeful for the future.

I have two young children, and I worry about their future everyday. I think about how I will provide from them, next month and next year. I think about providing them opportunities. I wonder how to make sure they are safe, go to good school, have college accessible to them. Every parent hopes that things will be better for their children than they were for them. For the first time, I feel that this may be true.

I have watched friends and family lose homes and lose jobs. I have watched loved ones stress about medical bills and decide between essential bills and medication. I have watched schools, hospitals, and government fail people I know and love time after time. I have prayed for change. You have promised change.

Thank you for the hope.

Gift

The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we every give each other is our attention... A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.

- Rachel Naomi Remen (physician and author of Kitchen Table Wisdom)

Mark Twain

Before I go out of town and completely abandon both my family and this blog for an entire week, I thought I would leave some parting thought.

These thoughts come from the brilliant mind of Mark Twain, who always has a quote that fits my mood when I being particularly sarcastic.

So, ponder on these:

"Supposing is good, but finding out is better."

"The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain't so."

-Mark Twain

Indecision

I have to wonder how my Gmail knows me so well.

When I was reading my email, a quote came across the top:

"Indecision may or may not be my problem."
-Jimmy Buffett

This may be the best quote to describe myself. Or not. I'll keep looking.