{"id":10969,"date":"2015-08-31T12:58:25","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T19:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=10969"},"modified":"2015-09-01T21:47:22","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T04:47:22","slug":"another-year-ended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2015\/08\/31\/another-year-ended\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Year Ended"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mom-Dad-me-in-car\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s a spread from the Mom and Dad<\/em> book. That’s their first house, in New Jersey, and a snippet of how they liked to live. (Click for larger view.)
\n\"Mom-and-Dad-cover-115\"<\/a>For more about the book, click here.<\/a><\/h6>\n

Today commemorates, 71 years ago, my mother’s last day of pre-motherhood. She’s gone now, but I’m still here to celebrate the result of her labor.<\/p>\n

We’ll do that tomorrow, heading for a favorite get-away in Ojai. It’s part for the birthday, and part commemorating the finish of Anne’s long summer showing her work at the Laguna Beach Festival of Art.<\/p>\n

This morning, being a last day before my New Years<\/em>, I spent the first hours reading a book. That’s a book of my own writing, my own Pilgrim’s Progress<\/em>, kept as daily entries in a sketchbook. I’ve done that\u00a0for years\u2014though not as regularly\u00a0until this last period.<\/p>\n

I will say it’s been instructive, both the keeping of them, and the reviewing. If what Socrates said is true, \u201can unexamined life is not worth living,\u201d then mine is very worth living.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not to belabor all the reflections and insights, here are just a few notes from the process:<\/p>\n

That what happens is\u00a0not up to me . . . and it is up to me. \u00a0Both.<\/span><\/p>\n

That there’s always leading.<\/span><\/p>\n

That there’s a discontentment and a contentment\u00a0at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

That in the end it’s all about faith . . . and courage.<\/span><\/p>\n

That fears too often predominate.\u00a0That the story of the rich young ruler may be, fearfully, my own. (Again.)<\/span><\/p>\n

That one can only receive what he’s been given of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

But at the same time, God gives the Spirit without measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

That knowing what to do is a gift.<\/span><\/p>\n

That attitude<\/em> makes all the difference in things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though seeing much wrong in the world, it’s hard to know how\u00a0to address it from my tiny corner.<\/span><\/p>\n

To not think too highly of self . . . but be\u00a0ready to serve those of low estate. (That’s work one can always get, even when the other eludes.)<\/span><\/p>\n

That it matters\u00a0what we do, but as much, how we do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

That Anne is a faithful companion and help. And me, to her, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

That I can always\u00a0continue with the talents and pursuits already revealed, walk\u00a0into opportunities as they open, make quality<\/em> the higher goal for the art, and service<\/em> its purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s more, but that’s enough for today . . . and perhaps for the year to come.<\/p>\n

________________<\/p>\n

PS \u00a0Please, no birthday wishes. But “Happy New Year” will be fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That’s me and Mom, 72 years ago. And here are a few reflections on this “examined” life. Maybe for all of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10969"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11004,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969\/revisions\/11004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}