Perfectly In Sync, at Least for One Day

Yesterday I tagged along on a field trip to the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale.  I expected to like the Café Dolly exhibit best, and while it was interesting, I was far more captivated by the photography exhibit.

The curators were interested in what the photographers were capturing in terms of the American experience.  So there are lots of photographs of gas stations at the middle of the century (more fascinating than it sounds!) and houses of all sorts.  There are some of the inner city scenes that are now iconic--people at drug store counters, back when there were soda fountains in drug stores, and people in holding cells.

There were pictures of road signs and billboards.  There were photos from WPA era times--a different set of iconic scenes from the Great Depression. 

It made me think of my desire to travel the U.S. South to take pictures of falling-down structures:  houses and barns and fences.  My friend and colleague who teaches the class said she'd always wanted to capture drive-in theatres before they're all gone.  I thought of all the structures along the coastline that are gone.  I'm especially sad that I never took pictures of an apartment building at Hollywood Beach that had a spiral staircase from the ground floor to the second floor.  Along the staircase, were concrete mermaids, about the size of half a forearm, one per every 7 steps or so.

That structure is gone to make way for a faux-Tuscan monstrosity of an upscale condo building.  Sigh.

My friend and I finished our field trip by going to the Starbucks at the hospital where we could sit in the outside courtyard.  We drank our holiday drinks and talked about ways to save students that we might not have thought of before.  And then we went back to campus to give it a try.

It was one of those days that made me feel wonderful, like my job is in alignment with my truest self.  I don't always feel that way, so I'm grateful for days like yesterday.

In the late afternoon, I was pleased to find myself in good company, in Jeannine Hall Gailey's gratitude post.  I want to mention it here, so that I don't forget.  So often I beat myself up for what I don't accomplish, and I forget to remember what I've done that's been working/successful/good.

Jeannine says, "Here are some bloggers I’ve been reading for a while that I’m thankful for (and you should take a peek at their blogs, too!) Obviously I love and value everyone on my blog roll or they wouldn’t be there, but these are the blogs I turn to when I’m discouraged, I need a lift, or I need to commiserate." 

And then she says this about me:  "a mix of writing, college administration, and spiritual living, Kristin in intelligent and thoughtful and often ponders things in a way that (I think) make me thing about stuff that’s really important."

Wow!  Thanks for that affirmation, Jeannine!

I've often said that I'd write even if I had no readers at all, because my writing is important to me in so many ways.  But I do love the affirmation that comes when I find out that my writing is important to others too.

Yes, yesterday was a day when I felt like my life was in sync with my values:  good art, good writing, good company, good teaching, trying to make the world a better place, in a variety of ways.  My gratitude post of yesterday continues!