Celebration Postponed

For so long I complained about the absence of sun. Well, for 2 days, OK. I do tend to exaggerate- when I’m not engaging in understatement. Now the sun is out in abundance. Sun, sun, sun. I know I should be celebrating. The beauty of this day….the warmth…..wonderful. Yeah, well, maybe I’ll get around to it. Hopefully before it’s over.

I’ve been reading about poor Tony Blair- all those loyal people he parachuted into the British Labour Party to serve him well and keep New Labour New are suddenly not so loyal. Where’s the gratitude? His courtiers are hoping to see him off in style next May, with a grand farewell tour to remind people of his wonderful record of leadership- although they’ll leave the Iraq part out of it. And the chancellor (British term for finance minister) Gordon Brown wants to get Tony Blair out of the way just as our finance minister, Paul Martin, wanted to get Jean Chretien out of the way. And what good did that do for Paul Martin? Yes, he did get to be Prime Minister, at long last. He must have aged ten years in his two years on the job. I mean, if you think about it- someone who wants it that bad is likely going to make a mess of it when he does get it.

How long ago was it? I had a conversation with a friend in which this friend said to me, out of the blue, “Self-consciousness has been our enemy.” That made me feel very self-conscious, and I ended up leaving after a discreet interval. Actually, I tell a lie- this friend didn’t say that. I just got self-conscious and wanted to leave. And it is an enemy.

I remember that now because I’m sort of inventorying my life and the sources of trouble in it. Sometimes if you don’t own up to what the sources of turmoil are, you will end up in a haze (or a maze) of generalized unease and unhappiness.

Identifying the sources of turmoil doesn't magically cause them to disappear, but it does allow one to confront them head-on.

So the time for celebration may be soon.