Rainy days, summer days

Via Edwardmonkton.com

I've moved into YET another space. It is actually rather nice, has a window in the room with great natural light. The house has a back porch and more importantly a functional washer-dryer. Laundry is important for the soul. It is furnished and I have only had to buy minimal stuff such as linen and an incense-holder and lots and lots of chocolate-flavored cereal. The rain has been almost constant these last few days. The more I move, the faster I have learned to feel settled in. The frills fall away and I am slowly stripping to the bare essentials of what I need although there is a still long way to go in that process.

I am tired of all the moving though and I was listening to Krista Tippett's latest interview with Pico Iyer in which he talks about movement and stillness and much more. I was on the train back home today after a long adventurous day and he spoke about home and stillness as something we carry within. Also "The more we try to keep up with the moment, the further we fall behind. We are living at the speed of light." I found it to be rich and thought-provoking and also a sort of lighthouse as I try and navigate through life these days. I hope you get a chance to read it and perhaps complement it with this piece via Brain Pickings and then consider looking up Alain de Botton. I digress.

The move to Chicago is for a fellowship which has a dual structure, in which I am in a cohort of fellows working at different organizations and I work at an organization. The cohort component started today while work should hopefully start this week. I was definitely angsty and anxious about the workshop because as I put it to my group: my inner spirit animal is probably a Socially Awkward Penguin (an internet meme that will enrich your life). It was a really good day though. All of this work is education-focused and I got a crash course of sorts about education in the US. I really enjoyed meeting folks from different schools and cities (including someone from Minneapolis). The ice-breakers were mostly fun although on being asked to share my 'final walk out song from a baseball game' I had to confess I was completely stumped. I can't decide if I should try and figure some music or continue as I am and occasionally be a sore thumb. One of our sessions was cut short by a (false) fire alarm, which was the worst-sounding alarm I've ever heard - it was a cross between a cat whose tail was caught in a door and a banshee wailing. We trooped down 11 floors and watched the firemen give a thumbs up and all clear sign. In the evening, en route to a happy hour, we heard another siren wail, which apparently was the tornado warning (although emergency texts warned me of flash floods). This too was rather creepy sounding and I'm not sure what's going on. It rained and rained and rained and my umbrella has lost the bottom part (the handle?). I was honestly really anxious about getting home because I was worried about getting trapped a downpour/flood-like scenario and having no way to get back home. I was very glad for wearing shoes which seem to be water-resistant. I'm still figuring my way around the city. I'm back home, I made a big life decision and I learned that state liquor laws are the reason why BYOB signs at restaurants are so common in Chicago. Every day is an adventure.