Speaking of Love and Expectation...

Another one of those amazing bits of history and insight has trickled through the internet to facebook and landed in my lap. Of course, that makes the history difficult to confirm, but apparently this is advice Thelonius Monk gave to soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, penned by Lacy:

It's all brilliant, but the last two lines really struck me:

"A genius is most like himself"

"They tried to get me to hate white people, but someone would always come along and spoil it."

This Making Room for More thing is about being true to yourself in your quest for life and love, discovering your own truths despite what others tell you to believe, and allowing for delightful surprises on your journey. It's about having faith in yourself on a deep nurturing level- strong and persistent enough to pull you through dark waters when it feels like everyone else has jumped ship.

I've always had a glimpse of what I wanted for my life, even when I was eleven years old calculating the years until I could leave home to explore the world. Of course, I didn't know what the world was back then, but I knew I wanted to see more of it and find more and more people to share the exploration with me. Through the darkest years (and there have been many), I saw this vision of my life like a beacon- a lighthouse- on a distant (sometime very VERY distant) shore. I didn't always trust myself though- I splashed around a lot trying to row the way everyone told me. I'd row their way then my way then back again and got swept up in waves of overwhelm, mistrust and uncertainty.  It's okay though, I'm here now, finally turning my boat to shore, finding my own strength and stride. I'm so glad the light never faded. I see it more clearly and am happy to build the muscles I need to get there.

This week is about seeing yourself and your world in a new light. Be your own genius and allow for the possibility that you and everyone else might be wrong in the most surprising and delightful ways. Let's row together for awhile.