The winning ticket
I stopped playing the lottery because I would get so disappointed when I didn’t win. And I’m not willing to live in a world of diminishing expectations in order to survive. Now though I’m beginning to think that in striking out for the sublime in order to get further away from the banal, I’ve missed an entire universe of interest.
Take for example, today. I was driving Tin to Hebrew school and listening to gospel on WWOZ and as we were entering – Tin dancing some crazy dance – a gentleman opened the door for us and Tin shouted, Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! And I just smiled at the man. We had just been listening to a woman singing, “Jesus, I’m not asking you to move the mountain, but give me the strength to get over it” and her words were seared in my mind.
I remembered that I had not eaten breakfast and so after he was in class, I ran over to Whole Foods with “Eye on the Sparrow” playing and got a decaf coffee with almond milk and a spelt flour chocolate chip cookie – and damn if it was not the best breakfast I’ve had in ages. Who knew that sugar and caffeine could come together in that glorious way?!?
Last night, I had gone to a fundraiser for Project Lazarus, a transitional home for homeless people with HIV/AIDS. We went first to friends’ house for gumbo and appetizers and then over to Project Lazarus for champagne and dessert. It was a lovely evening and made more so by seeing all these people come together to support others less fortunate than themselves. Sometimes it seems as if the world is spinning round and round, with money fueling the engine, but the truth is that there are a lot of people doing a lot of good for those less fortunate and I don’t want to lose sight of this fact.
Today, as Tin watched the Wild Kratts, two brothers who go on discovery into the wild and become animated to penetrate these worlds, I read the New York Times and realized that sometimes the newspaper is isolating, and its information most often has no place in my life. The words sometimes add no meaning, the news offers no solace, and even the stories offer me no good catharthis. So I put down that paper and Tin and I went into his room and drew on his chalkboard. Mostly letters. He is learning to spell his big name, which is BIG.
I won the winning ticket and I forget that sometimes. And sometimes all it takes is some serious downtime to remember it.
