{"id":4850,"date":"2014-05-22T14:35:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T18:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.katrinakenison.com\/?p=4850"},"modified":"2014-05-22T14:35:33","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T18:35:33","slug":"daring-dreaming-words-guide-inspire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/daring-dreaming-words-guide-inspire\/","title":{"rendered":"Daring, dreaming, doing — words to guide & inspire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tess\"I<\/span> do<\/em> have a dog story to tell here, but that will have to wait until I can do justice to Tess, the newest member of our family, a sweet border collie rescue girl who\u2019s as happy to have a home as we are to give her one. At the moment, there isn\u2019t much time for writing. We\u2019re all pretty consumed with getting to know each other, mastering the basics on both sides. There are hikes to take, new lessons to learn, trust to earn, routines to work out. More on Tess soon.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, both our sons have been home this month, all of us here together for the first time since Christmas. Over the next week, Jack will return to Atlanta and Henry will leave for his summer job directing musicals at a theatre in the Catskills. For now, though, I\u2019m grateful for\u00a0every family dinner, walks and talks, the fullness of our days, the peace of nights when everyone I love is safely gathered under one roof. Soon, the house will be quieter, the refrigerator easier to keep filled, my days at home my own again. Plenty of time then<\/em> for reflections and blog posts.<\/p>\n

Still, I can\u2019t resist sharing a few of the things we\u2019ve been watching and reading and discussing around here, while hanging out in the kitchen and in between basketball playoff games and Red Sox losses.<\/p>\n

Being in one\u2019s early twenties isn\u2019t easy \u2013 not quite launched into full-scale independent adulthood but no longer an adolescent; so much to figure out and no road map to point the way forward; so many choices while already a few doors are closing for good, the \u201cright\u201d path rarely if ever easy to discern.<\/p>\n

Pursue a dream at all costs or take the first job that offers a modicum of security? What\u2019s the real definition of success? What constitutes a good life? Is \u201cgood\u201d synonymous with meaningful? How does anyone summon the vision to dream, the courage to dare, the will to do, especially\u00a0when the doing isn’t part of the plan or involves some precipitous twists in the road? When, as a parent, should I speak up and when should I quietly reserve judgment and opinion? There are no ready\u00a0answers to any of our questions. But as the graduation photos appear on Facebook, as our young adults celebrate and question and struggle and figure out their own next steps, these voices offer some varied perspectives on the big picture.<\/p>\n

\"Unknown\"W<\/span>hether you\u2019re 18 or 28 or 68, Elizabeth Gilbert\u2019s brilliantly succinct new TED talk will point your way toward home, home being \u201cwhatever you love in this world more than you love yourself.\u201d As Liz\u2019s own experiences have taught\u00a0her, both abject failure and extraordinary success can blow even an experienced traveler pretty far off course. Here<\/strong><\/a>, seven thoughtful minutes about how we can protect ourselves from the random hurricanes of outcome by never forgetting where we \u201crightfully live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"18STONE-blogSmallInline\"\u201cDo what you love, the money will follow\u201d<\/em> — we\u2019ve all heard that one and longed for it to be true. In the New York Times<\/strong> last Sunday, a philosophy professor from St. Olaf boldly asks: \u201cIs do what you love<\/em> wisdom or malarkey?\u201d<\/strong> Read his provocative answer to that question here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

L<\/span>eo Babuta\u2019s wildly popular Zen Habits<\/strong><\/a> blog isn\u2019t exactly about Zen, but it is very much about cultivating awareness in our everyday lives. With little fanfare, and writing from his own personal experience, Leo explores the beauty of simplicity and the joy of living with less in order to experience more. Recently, he received a letter from a 15-year-old reader asking for career advice. She wrote, \u201cI\u2019m young, and I don\u2019t want to make a mistake and ruin my future.\u201d In response, Leo composed a brief guide for young people entitled \u201cWhat to Do With Your Life.\u201d<\/strong> His advice, lightly offered but deeply wise, is as good a response as I\u2019ve seen to the age-old question \u201cHow should I live?\u201d Read it here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Unknown-1\"L<\/span>ate one night a few weeks ago, Jack showed me a link on Facebook. \u201cIt\u2019s Nico,\u201d he said, \u201cmy old friend from camp.\u201d I have a vivid memory of Jack and Nico, age twelve or so, racing down a grassy hill after lunch on Parents\u2019 Day at Camp Encore Coda, the two of them running off to play ping-pong. Rather, Jack was running. And Nico was hopping along beside him on one leg. According to Jack, Nico also happened to be the best ping-pong player at camp, more athletic on his one leg than most kids are on two. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll say another word about this video, which is actually an ad for a sports drink, other than to say it\u2019s not really about a drink. It\u2019s about grace and courage and not ever giving up. \u00a0It’s about that \u201chome\u201d \u00a0Liz Gilbert describes so well — the place where we let go of outcomes and simply do what we do because of who we are born to be and what we are born to love. \u00a0Click here<\/strong><\/a> to have your heart enlarged.<\/p>\n

O<\/span>ur children grow up. They leave us. They create lives of their own, elsewhere. Except when they don\u2019t, because they can\u2019t. Karen Maezen Miller<\/strong> <\/a>will never forget the boy in the blue bandana. Neither will I. Neither will you. Click here<\/strong><\/a> to have your heart tugged.\u00a0\u00a0Hard.<\/p>\n

As my own sons head off to embark on their next chapters, the urge to offer some motherly advice is strong as ever. And yet I know there\u2019s really nothing I can say that will make a difference. Part of the journey is finding your own way. Still, if I could slip just one message into their backpacks as they head out the door, it would be these simple words written by a now-obscure woman known as Peace Pilgrim, who spent 28 years, from 1953 till 1981, traversing our country on foot on a personal pilgrimage for peace \u2013 walking, as she said, not to get someplace but for an idea.<\/p>\n

Live in the present. Do the things that need to be done. Do all the good you can each day. The future will unfold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A<\/span>nd finally, this. A friend who is not a parent sent me Mary Karr’s\u00a0poem. \u00a0Somehow he knew anyway what it must be like now\u00a0for me, a mother of grown sons. I read it through tears of recognition, reminded once again that I\u2019m not alone in these feelings after all, that we mothers share a bond deeper than language but sometimes, if only rarely, exquisitely captured by another\u2019s words on the page.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Entering the Kingdom<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the boy\u2019s bones lengthened,<\/p>\n

and his head and heart enlarged,<\/p>\n

his mother one day failed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to see herself in him.<\/p>\n

He was a man then, radiating<\/p>\n

the innate loneliness of men.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His expression was ever after<\/p>\n

beyond her. When near sleep<\/p>\n

his features eased towards childhood,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

it was brief.<\/p>\n

She could only squeeze<\/p>\n

his broad shoulder. What could<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

she teach him<\/p>\n

of loss, who now inflicted it<\/p>\n

by entering the kingdom<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

of his own will?<\/p>\n

— Mary Karr<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I do have a dog story to tell here, but that will have to wait until I can do justice to Tess, the newest member of our family, a sweet border collie rescue girl who\u2019s as happy to have a home as we are to give her one. At the moment, there isn\u2019t much time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,35,8,11,14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family-life","8":"category-letting-go","9":"category-parenting","10":"category-parenting-young-adults","11":"category-soul-work","12":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/600x600.png?fit=600%2C600","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}