Today's word

tramontane - 1) situated on the north side of the Alps; transalpine.  2) lying on or coming from the other side of a mountain range
 
I'd never heard this word before, but it - especially the second definition - makes perfect sense.

Don't reinvent the pothole

It feels like a good time to remind myself of things I know, that I've worked through both on my own and in therapy, before I head down an angsty road that I just don't need to traverse any more . . .

Playing second fiddle

How about if we just have a mutual understanding that on Thursday nights you're just not really interested in anything besides your shows, and I should just ignore any suggestion to the contrary . . .

Wish I could unsee that

It's hard to find out that someone you love is engaged in unhealthy behavior.

New words, finally!

It has been too long, but today I get two.  The first was probably in my background somewhere, but had faded from my working vocabulary:


fey - 1. marked by a foreboding of death or calamity  2a.  marked by an otherworldly air or attitude b. crazy 3a. excessively refined : precious b. quaintly unconventional : campy
 
numinous - 1. supernatural; mysterious  2. filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : holy  3. appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : spiritual

Great George Will piece

Here it is in full, and here is an excerpt from the piece Conformity for diversity's sake:

Here . . . is how progressivism limits freedom by abolishing the public-private distinction: First, a human right . . . is deemed so personal that government should have no jurisdiction over it. Next, this right breeds another right, to the support or approval of others. Finally, those who disapprove of it must be coerced . . .  Thus do rights shrink to privileges reserved for those with government-approved opinions.

Those on the left are quick to rail against censorship, even when it's really just free-market response, but they are also quick to invoke true censorship - government imposed restriction of free speech - when those with whom they disagree express their position.  


Not all disagreement is equivalent to bullying, nor is it akin to yelling, "Fire!" in a crowded theater.  Sometimes it is the free and loving expression of concern.


One person's right to do as they wish does not trump another's right to so much as express an opinion about it. The idea that it should is taking rapid hold, though, and soon individuals and institutions who promote unpopular societal positions will find themselves increasingly persecuted.  

A therapy lesson revisited

One thing I learned in my latest round of therapy is that it's really important what thoughts we give free rein to.  We encounter all sorts of situations that are challenging in many ways, and some ways of thinking about those challenges are helpful while others can be a hindrance, or even downright destructive.

I'm feeling a bit paralyzed over my resume and job search.  I am not, really; I'm just acting like I am.  No, yesterday there was no time, but that doesn't mean there never is.  Likewise other things that I know help me be the person I'm supposed to be.

Writing this was a better choice than other things I could have done with this couple of minutes.  So is this: thank you, Lord, for your many gifts, most especially the loved ones who are visiting us this week!  And thank you for sustaining all of us during very challenging times.  Help me to think always of your love and your constant presence with us, the strength you give us which is immeasurably greater than our own!  Help me put aside my pride to lean on you; help me to overcome my feeling of not knowing how to lean on you; help me to just give myself over to you even  as I acknowledge that I don't know how.  And help the people I love do the same.