Really. Stick around.
(oh, that expression means turning the new page in a book?? too bad...)
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Monday, October 21, 2013
Bad Choices: Why We Make 'Em - Take 2
Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/opinion/sunday/why-we-make-bad-decisions.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=OP_WWM_20131021&_r=0
It's an article from yesterday's New York Times entitled, "We We Make Bad Decisions," by Noreena Hertz. She's a professor of Economics at University College London, and author of Eyes Wide Open: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World. Clearly, a book I must read....as I confront yet another decision that likely must be made rather rapidly. And another...and maybe even another. Hmm....
More anon...
(I hope).
It's an article from yesterday's New York Times entitled, "We We Make Bad Decisions," by Noreena Hertz. She's a professor of Economics at University College London, and author of Eyes Wide Open: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World. Clearly, a book I must read....as I confront yet another decision that likely must be made rather rapidly. And another...and maybe even another. Hmm....
More anon...
(I hope).
Friday, August 30, 2013
Living with It
Most decisions - the many that populate our every day - color and shape our every day, but rarely do they have lasting impact. For the most part, it's only the cumulative effect of all our choices that turn us into who we are.
But now and then, we face the kind of decisions that have long-term impact...the kind that we have to live with the decision and the consequences thereof.
You get the idea. Most decisions - good, bad, or indifferent - are timely and therefore brief.
But some hoist you in for the long haul. And those merit a different kind of consideration.
Not: What am I in the mood for right now? Not: What do I need right now? Not even: What do I think I will need later? Rather: What can I live with for a good long time?
Ironically, what a person can live with for a good long time is not always what sends him or her head over heels with enthusiasm in the short term.
The easy parable is food: You might be thrilled with the arrival of gummy bears (or gummy fish or gummy snakes) for your snack (I wouldn't be - I don't like them at all; give me chocolate instead, please). But if your ongoing diet consisted of the gummy and nothing else - no protein, no fat, no carbs, no nutrition - you would shrivel up and die (or not, because you'd simply reject the long-term option).
Several times in my life, people have told me how I so love whatever it is that I'm doing. I chose an undergraduate thesis topic (rabbinic responses to the Holocaust, if you must know) that made people say, oh you must love it, you must be so fascinated. It seems I don't tick that way - but it was a topic I could live with for a good long time (like, senior year) without tearing my hair out or perishing from boredom.
I spent a lot of time (hours, days, weeks, months, years) learning Torah in the women's equivalent of yeshiva. One woman from the home community, who might not have entirely favored my curriculum that was heavy-duty Talmud and other areas of Oral Law, seemed to justify my enterprise by telling me often how much I love learning. Namely, "well, you keep at it because you just love learning so much." Really? Did I? Do I? It seems I don't tick that way - but I knew I wanted to learn more, both for the knowledge and the process, and I could live with the enterprise for a good long time (like, 8...9...10 years, depending on how you count) without tearing my hair out or perishing from boredom.
Some decisions are made out of the desires of the moment. Maybe most are. Some decisions are made out of a lasting passion. Those whose passions match their ability to fulfill them or live up to them are fortunate indeed. But some decisions - at least when made by me - are made because they are sound for the long haul. They can be "lived with" - without making you hate the enterprise...or perish from boredom.
And then they can no longer be lived with, it is time to change. Hopefully, that is a possibility when push comes to shove.
Kyra Sedgwick spoke about her decision to leave (and close) The Closer after 7 seasons. In the clip below, she speaks about going out on top. That's part of it, surely. But in the interviews on The Closer DVDs, she also discusses how challenging it was to play the very intense Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson and the often very dark cases that she fought to close on the show. Her sense of what was best for herself, and her honesty about it - despite the high ratings - are moving and illustrative of what it means to make decisions according to what we can live with - for the long haul (even if I can't find a video that captured it just now).
But now and then, we face the kind of decisions that have long-term impact...the kind that we have to live with the decision and the consequences thereof.
- Unlike an iffy choice in a restaurant...(at worst, you've wasted money and food - which isn't good, but the lasting impact is hopefully brief)
- Unlike an erroneous decision to watch TV instead of studying for a test...(at worst, you bomb - which isn't good, since few treats the MCATs or LSATs cavalierly, the lasting impact is hopefully brief)
- Unlike a faulty opting in or out of a "plan" (for insurance, for your cell phone, for a club membership to your favorite store)...(at worst, you've spent money you didn't need to spend OR didn't save the money you could have saved later, the lasting impact is hopefully brief (I know - I'm missing out on a 2000 NIS (~$575) deal because I was cocky about one such insurance plan, and that money counts...but hopefully it won't make or break my life).
You get the idea. Most decisions - good, bad, or indifferent - are timely and therefore brief.
But some hoist you in for the long haul. And those merit a different kind of consideration.
Not: What am I in the mood for right now? Not: What do I need right now? Not even: What do I think I will need later? Rather: What can I live with for a good long time?
Ironically, what a person can live with for a good long time is not always what sends him or her head over heels with enthusiasm in the short term.
The easy parable is food: You might be thrilled with the arrival of gummy bears (or gummy fish or gummy snakes) for your snack (I wouldn't be - I don't like them at all; give me chocolate instead, please). But if your ongoing diet consisted of the gummy and nothing else - no protein, no fat, no carbs, no nutrition - you would shrivel up and die (or not, because you'd simply reject the long-term option).
Several times in my life, people have told me how I so love whatever it is that I'm doing. I chose an undergraduate thesis topic (rabbinic responses to the Holocaust, if you must know) that made people say, oh you must love it, you must be so fascinated. It seems I don't tick that way - but it was a topic I could live with for a good long time (like, senior year) without tearing my hair out or perishing from boredom.
I spent a lot of time (hours, days, weeks, months, years) learning Torah in the women's equivalent of yeshiva. One woman from the home community, who might not have entirely favored my curriculum that was heavy-duty Talmud and other areas of Oral Law, seemed to justify my enterprise by telling me often how much I love learning. Namely, "well, you keep at it because you just love learning so much." Really? Did I? Do I? It seems I don't tick that way - but I knew I wanted to learn more, both for the knowledge and the process, and I could live with the enterprise for a good long time (like, 8...9...10 years, depending on how you count) without tearing my hair out or perishing from boredom.
Some decisions are made out of the desires of the moment. Maybe most are. Some decisions are made out of a lasting passion. Those whose passions match their ability to fulfill them or live up to them are fortunate indeed. But some decisions - at least when made by me - are made because they are sound for the long haul. They can be "lived with" - without making you hate the enterprise...or perish from boredom.
And then they can no longer be lived with, it is time to change. Hopefully, that is a possibility when push comes to shove.
Kyra Sedgwick spoke about her decision to leave (and close) The Closer after 7 seasons. In the clip below, she speaks about going out on top. That's part of it, surely. But in the interviews on The Closer DVDs, she also discusses how challenging it was to play the very intense Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson and the often very dark cases that she fought to close on the show. Her sense of what was best for herself, and her honesty about it - despite the high ratings - are moving and illustrative of what it means to make decisions according to what we can live with - for the long haul (even if I can't find a video that captured it just now).
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Keeping Pace...(Or Not)
Well, I haven't been. Or rather, I've been keeping a different pace. Not sure it's slower - recent days have been hectic, and the long list of things that aren't getting done is getting longer, no matter how many things can be crossed off it each day.
Fundamentally, this is good. But bad for "Choices," the blog.
This is the first month since I began that I am writing on the last day of the month - and for the sake of making sure that no month passes with no post at all.
It's the challenge of receiving a letter (remember those?) or an email of real import that demands undivided attention and careful wording to ensure a respectful, considerate, caring response. Sometimes, those messages sit unanswered until the time to write back "properly" is more opportune.
There is much to blog about. Decisions, consequences, "choice theory," and more on how we make our choices. Some pitfalls, some whoppers, some rosy-colored hopes, and still a pervading sense that things are not quite as they should be. In some ways, it's exciting that that long list of things to do precluded attention to this writing. In other ways, it makes me wonder at my priorities after all. Namely, if my priority is this writing (and other writing as well), then why am I not actually doing it? Where's the productivity? - Even if that means virtual crumpled papers surrounding the no-longer-typewriter, and not the New York Times Best Seller list..
This month, the productivity has been elsewhere. Not in the creative efforts of my typing fingers here anyway, that much is clear.
To be straight with myself and with you - I'm not actually beating myself up over this. I regret that more time, effort, attention was not designated "blog time/effort/attention," but in shifting priorities, I'm glad about the things I was busy with instead.
Maybe some of those decisions will even make an appearance next month...August and Elul both always being a time of renewal and resolution for me.
Fundamentally, this is good. But bad for "Choices," the blog.
This is the first month since I began that I am writing on the last day of the month - and for the sake of making sure that no month passes with no post at all.
It's the challenge of receiving a letter (remember those?) or an email of real import that demands undivided attention and careful wording to ensure a respectful, considerate, caring response. Sometimes, those messages sit unanswered until the time to write back "properly" is more opportune.
There is much to blog about. Decisions, consequences, "choice theory," and more on how we make our choices. Some pitfalls, some whoppers, some rosy-colored hopes, and still a pervading sense that things are not quite as they should be. In some ways, it's exciting that that long list of things to do precluded attention to this writing. In other ways, it makes me wonder at my priorities after all. Namely, if my priority is this writing (and other writing as well), then why am I not actually doing it? Where's the productivity? - Even if that means virtual crumpled papers surrounding the no-longer-typewriter, and not the New York Times Best Seller list..
This month, the productivity has been elsewhere. Not in the creative efforts of my typing fingers here anyway, that much is clear.
To be straight with myself and with you - I'm not actually beating myself up over this. I regret that more time, effort, attention was not designated "blog time/effort/attention," but in shifting priorities, I'm glad about the things I was busy with instead.
Maybe some of those decisions will even make an appearance next month...August and Elul both always being a time of renewal and resolution for me.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Bad Choices: Why We Make 'Em
I'm going to defer to the authority...his examples are great - the kind that makes you shake your head and say, no, I would never think that, I'm better at math than that, until you realize you fall into the pitfalls too (yes, I know, some few super-math-and-logic-guys out there don't do it). The question is whether being cognizant of our proclivities for messed-up-reasoning can help us prevent ourselves from acting on it, even if we can't prevent our minds from jumping to silly conclusions.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dan Gilbert, with an early TED talk (2005) that is still worth it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dan Gilbert, with an early TED talk (2005) that is still worth it.
Friday, June 21, 2013
One Foot after Another
Sometimes, the hardest decisions to make are not the big ones that are surely around the bend.
Sometimes, the hardest decisions to make are the ones that facilitate patience until you round that bend.
It's not just that the "waiting is the hardest part" (thanks, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), but the unknown....not even sure what is around the bend, but knowing that it is there, and that you can make it, or shape it, or foster it, as you come to know what it is. One day...hour...minute at a time...one foot in front of another...and the decisions will surely come to roost, until you're ready to make them.
Sometimes, the hardest decisions to make are the ones that facilitate patience until you round that bend.
It's not just that the "waiting is the hardest part" (thanks, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), but the unknown....not even sure what is around the bend, but knowing that it is there, and that you can make it, or shape it, or foster it, as you come to know what it is. One day...hour...minute at a time...one foot in front of another...and the decisions will surely come to roost, until you're ready to make them.
 |
| http://www.savagechickens.com/2008/05/patience.html |
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Trying It On for Size Doesn't Always Fit
There's an old piece of advice: when in doubt, do without. This is a reasonable way to go in that it is able to save you money and shame. It's also a ridiculous way to go - as a matter of policy, I mean - because it risks leaving you out of all kinds of great experiences...and perhaps the paths that would turn into avenues of all kinds of opportunity.
If that sounds preachy, it's unintentional, and also irrelevant, since it's not really the focus of today's post.
Another reasonable piece of advice - when facing decisions - is to try the different options on for size. That is, "decide" in favor of one option. See how you feel about that. Then "decide" in favor of the other option. See how you feel about that. Does one of these two attempts (or however many options that you might have) feel better to you? More natural? More appealing? More lasting? If so - when so! - you have a fairly good idea of which choice is the one you want (whether you're correct in your assessment is a different matter).
The problem is that it doesn't always work.
Sometimes, you may feel certain (whether pro or con) regarding a particular option, but you know that you are not in a position to trust your certainty.
The obvious example of this is heroin. But there are times we dupe ourselves into poor decision-making, or even decision-avoidance without the excuse of substance abuse.
If you are over-joyed, or depressed, or grieving, or letting your hormones rule your actions, or simply too cluttered in your mind from general busy-ness, you are at risk of not being able to process your decision well. Trying it on for size may be simply insufficient. Sometimes, and it's a radical thought for me, we have to gamble that our heads know what is right for us...even when our heads are steering us differently. On this kind of (rare) occasion, we need to trust we know now what we will want then, when our decisions come to fruition, even though we don't want it now, and act accordingly. It's not a trial run, then; it's going through the motions, but for real. It's wearing the decision, and it's assuming you won't shed it down the road.
Choosing the one option over another when you don't feel vested in what you know to be the right move does more than put your strength of intellect before your strength of feeling. It counters the emotion that is dragging you to choose otherwise, and requires that you trust...not your gut, but your underlying self that you are doing right by you.
Friday, May 24, 2013
The Many Faces of Facebook
Once upon a time, as I'm sure many people know, the "facebook" was a hard-covered, bound, crimson-colored book with all of the "faces" of the Harvard freshman (ahem, first-year) class. I had no objection to the Freshman Facebook.
But when my then high school students pleaded with me to join Facebook in 2004, I declined. I had made myself accessible to them in any number of other ways. I felt no need to be on Facebook.
Then, a few years later, my friends and peers began joining Facebook. But showcasing my life in that mingled fashion to both my students and my friends did not appeal at all. I wasn't interested in my students knowing "my life," and I wasn't interested in my friends getting involved in my professional world.
Then, a few years later, I was no longer teaching much, and my friends had begun treating Facebook as an essential to life: "What? You're not on Facebook? How will you know about the event? I can't be bothered to be in touch with anyone who's not on Facebook."
Really? Well, that did not appeal either. I kept myself apprised of (most) events anyway. I kept in touch with (most) people anyway. A few kind folks clued me in to the Facebook notifications I was missing. And things were good.
Eventually, a former student gave me the credentials to access a spoof account she'd created. That is, it was a real account, but she only used it to show people pictures, as opposed to all the other nonsense (er, important communications) that populated her regular page (sorry, that's a slur on FB, not on my former student's interests, which are far from nonsense). With access to that account, I became "friends" with several other people over the course of a couple of years, each time for the purpose of seeing pictures on their respective pages.
But I wasn't interested in being "on Facebook" for real, or as myself. Though I was no longer bothered by the privacy issues, nor particularly bothered about being out of the Facebook loop, I was certain that it would be what a cousin recently dubbed a "time suck." I have encountered a lot of people from a lot of places over the years, and I know myself well enough to think it realistic to fear spending hours upon hours researching the lives of people I went to first grade with - despite not having been in touch with them since, and not having any interest in knowing them now.
So...with time comes foolishness (er, wisdom). Over several months, I found myself using my former student's mock account to pay attention to all kind of things that were "happening" on Facebook. Events, yes. But also debate. And connection. For the first time, I began to feel like I was missing out, and minding it.
Given this nature of this blog, it will not surprise you to hear that it took me several weeks...hmm, months?...to decide to put up a profile of my own (well, I converted the mock account, with my former student's blessing). I weighed a lot of pros and cons, and spent some time figuring out the privacy settings before releasing anything. But my former students, as you hear, are now my friends for real, so I'm not hiding from them - I just needed to learn the system. And indeed, reconnecting with a virtual community of people I really do know, just not recently, has been valuable. I've enjoyed the surprise of discovering old friends who now live close, so the "virtual connection" is not as personal as a face-to-face, but it has led to more than one real live liquid cup of coffee.
For all the benefit, I'm still ambivalent. The "time-suck" factor is real, but not as bad as I expected. I think it would be hard to choose to take myself down from there now that I'm up (though a friend who opened a profile the same night I did after years of avoidance took his down as a matter of self-preservation!). For now, I'm getting a feel for it, and playing around with how much (rather, little) I want to post. And enjoying the people...when I'm not dismayed by them. Bottom line: not a bad decision under the circumstances the propelled me there, at least for this time, and I trust that the degree of my Facebook use will shake down and normalize as I continue...
(Posting here over the past month has suffered for it though. Apologies.)
But when my then high school students pleaded with me to join Facebook in 2004, I declined. I had made myself accessible to them in any number of other ways. I felt no need to be on Facebook.
Then, a few years later, my friends and peers began joining Facebook. But showcasing my life in that mingled fashion to both my students and my friends did not appeal at all. I wasn't interested in my students knowing "my life," and I wasn't interested in my friends getting involved in my professional world.
Then, a few years later, I was no longer teaching much, and my friends had begun treating Facebook as an essential to life: "What? You're not on Facebook? How will you know about the event? I can't be bothered to be in touch with anyone who's not on Facebook."
Really? Well, that did not appeal either. I kept myself apprised of (most) events anyway. I kept in touch with (most) people anyway. A few kind folks clued me in to the Facebook notifications I was missing. And things were good.
Eventually, a former student gave me the credentials to access a spoof account she'd created. That is, it was a real account, but she only used it to show people pictures, as opposed to all the other nonsense (er, important communications) that populated her regular page (sorry, that's a slur on FB, not on my former student's interests, which are far from nonsense). With access to that account, I became "friends" with several other people over the course of a couple of years, each time for the purpose of seeing pictures on their respective pages.
But I wasn't interested in being "on Facebook" for real, or as myself. Though I was no longer bothered by the privacy issues, nor particularly bothered about being out of the Facebook loop, I was certain that it would be what a cousin recently dubbed a "time suck." I have encountered a lot of people from a lot of places over the years, and I know myself well enough to think it realistic to fear spending hours upon hours researching the lives of people I went to first grade with - despite not having been in touch with them since, and not having any interest in knowing them now.
So...with time comes foolishness (er, wisdom). Over several months, I found myself using my former student's mock account to pay attention to all kind of things that were "happening" on Facebook. Events, yes. But also debate. And connection. For the first time, I began to feel like I was missing out, and minding it.
Given this nature of this blog, it will not surprise you to hear that it took me several weeks...hmm, months?...to decide to put up a profile of my own (well, I converted the mock account, with my former student's blessing). I weighed a lot of pros and cons, and spent some time figuring out the privacy settings before releasing anything. But my former students, as you hear, are now my friends for real, so I'm not hiding from them - I just needed to learn the system. And indeed, reconnecting with a virtual community of people I really do know, just not recently, has been valuable. I've enjoyed the surprise of discovering old friends who now live close, so the "virtual connection" is not as personal as a face-to-face, but it has led to more than one real live liquid cup of coffee.
For all the benefit, I'm still ambivalent. The "time-suck" factor is real, but not as bad as I expected. I think it would be hard to choose to take myself down from there now that I'm up (though a friend who opened a profile the same night I did after years of avoidance took his down as a matter of self-preservation!). For now, I'm getting a feel for it, and playing around with how much (rather, little) I want to post. And enjoying the people...when I'm not dismayed by them. Bottom line: not a bad decision under the circumstances the propelled me there, at least for this time, and I trust that the degree of my Facebook use will shake down and normalize as I continue...
(Posting here over the past month has suffered for it though. Apologies.)
Monday, April 15, 2013
In the Merit of National Mourning
Today is Israel's memorial day, Yom HaZikaron, which leads in to Israel's independence day, Yom HaAtzmaut (commencing at sundown, within the next hour or so). It's a painful day because Israel is a small, close-knit country and her sixty-five years have been fraught with wars and acts of terror.
Watch here for Leo McGarry's voice of authority on how Israel memorializes her losses (hat tip to a friend's sister for reminding me of the clip):
Everyone knows someone, at least one someone, who has perished in battle or at the hands of terrorists. Or so I thought.
Today, a co-worker told me that she felt no connection to the day, that it doesn't touch her. She said it had even been suggested that she ignore the siren during which most people stand in silence in memory and respect for those who gave their lives for the sake of the State (or sometimes - terror victims - because they were Jews in a Jewish state). She stood in silence anyway (she's very respectful), but I was startled at her disconnect. I have to admit that even at my most apathetic, and some days these days, that's quite apathetic, I cannot relate.
I'm told that since the founding of the State of Israel, sixty-five years ago on May 14, 1948/5 Iyyar (this year celebrated on the 6th, but that's a different story), 25,578 soldiers have fallen in battle and 2,493 people were murdered in terror attacks. Many more have been injured, of course. I'm having a hard time with the fact that the correct verb is "have fallen," etc. I'd rather say "fell," but I'm sadly sure that these deaths continue. And yeah, I'm one of those people who knows at least one someone who was killed.
I don't have a television and I haven't been steeping myself in the mourning. But this country is built not only on sweat and tears. It is by virtue of those who gave their lives that the State of Israel exists. It is by virtue of those who dedicate themselves to protecting the State - may God protect them and keep them from harm - that a vibrant nation, with its many foibles, dwells in the Jewish homeland. Even when I'm not paying much attention, I can't lose sight of that.
To those who feel the disconnect, then, I would say: go watch the television count and the elegies and the bio-pics. Make a conscious choice to feel the loss. For without it, we could not be here today, nor on the cusp of celebrating tomorrow.
Watch here for Leo McGarry's voice of authority on how Israel memorializes her losses (hat tip to a friend's sister for reminding me of the clip):
Everyone knows someone, at least one someone, who has perished in battle or at the hands of terrorists. Or so I thought.
Today, a co-worker told me that she felt no connection to the day, that it doesn't touch her. She said it had even been suggested that she ignore the siren during which most people stand in silence in memory and respect for those who gave their lives for the sake of the State (or sometimes - terror victims - because they were Jews in a Jewish state). She stood in silence anyway (she's very respectful), but I was startled at her disconnect. I have to admit that even at my most apathetic, and some days these days, that's quite apathetic, I cannot relate.
I'm told that since the founding of the State of Israel, sixty-five years ago on May 14, 1948/5 Iyyar (this year celebrated on the 6th, but that's a different story), 25,578 soldiers have fallen in battle and 2,493 people were murdered in terror attacks. Many more have been injured, of course. I'm having a hard time with the fact that the correct verb is "have fallen," etc. I'd rather say "fell," but I'm sadly sure that these deaths continue. And yeah, I'm one of those people who knows at least one someone who was killed.
I don't have a television and I haven't been steeping myself in the mourning. But this country is built not only on sweat and tears. It is by virtue of those who gave their lives that the State of Israel exists. It is by virtue of those who dedicate themselves to protecting the State - may God protect them and keep them from harm - that a vibrant nation, with its many foibles, dwells in the Jewish homeland. Even when I'm not paying much attention, I can't lose sight of that.
To those who feel the disconnect, then, I would say: go watch the television count and the elegies and the bio-pics. Make a conscious choice to feel the loss. For without it, we could not be here today, nor on the cusp of celebrating tomorrow.
 |
| http://www.megapolis.org/igorp/0608_Lebanon/capt_sge_bfj21_020806184201_photo03_photo_default-415x512.jpg |
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Counting Up
Most of the time, we count up, of course. How many settings for the table? How many shirts for the trip? How many containers of milk to last the week? 1...2...3...4...5....
But when we look forward to a certain event, we generally count down the months or weeks or days or hours until that event comes to pass. 4 months until the wedding...3 weeks until summer vacation....2 days until the concert...3 hours until the long weekend...
Counting the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot - constituting the counting of days and weeks until the commemoration of the receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai - is an experience of counting up. One...two...three...seven days which are 1 week....33 days which are 4 weeks and 5 days...
Beyond the count, however, is the challenge: to count every evening for seven weeks, without missing a night, lest the sequence be incomplete, and in fact, not count.
Somehow, this challenge has always appealed to me. It's not easy. I remember the days when I didn't make it through the 7 weeks (and I pray that referring to those days as if they are past tense does not jinx my count this year!). But there's something about the requirement to keep track that is more than just a contest to make it through. It's a conscious choice - every single day. You need to pay attention. And it's by paying attention that we achieve a deeper awareness of anything we do. Surely this is true even when we count down, crossing off the time and moving past it, but certainly when we count up, where each day counts to help us get where we want to go.
But when we look forward to a certain event, we generally count down the months or weeks or days or hours until that event comes to pass. 4 months until the wedding...3 weeks until summer vacation....2 days until the concert...3 hours until the long weekend...
Counting the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot - constituting the counting of days and weeks until the commemoration of the receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai - is an experience of counting up. One...two...three...seven days which are 1 week....33 days which are 4 weeks and 5 days...
Beyond the count, however, is the challenge: to count every evening for seven weeks, without missing a night, lest the sequence be incomplete, and in fact, not count.
Somehow, this challenge has always appealed to me. It's not easy. I remember the days when I didn't make it through the 7 weeks (and I pray that referring to those days as if they are past tense does not jinx my count this year!). But there's something about the requirement to keep track that is more than just a contest to make it through. It's a conscious choice - every single day. You need to pay attention. And it's by paying attention that we achieve a deeper awareness of anything we do. Surely this is true even when we count down, crossing off the time and moving past it, but certainly when we count up, where each day counts to help us get where we want to go.
 |
| http://www.albertabarley.com/policy/updates/updates.html |
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