TXDrtGrl

Seriously, how did this come about? I know that I jumped the fire for Beltane with my friends/family here in Dallas, drove to Austin, gave a paper at a professional conference, reconnected with all my Belize buddies, and well, generally had a good close of the month. But where did it go? I feel like things have slowed down for the first time in a long time, probably because I have let them do so. Ahh, learning how to relax, and not make your life stressful. Because honestly, we bring it on ourselves.

That has been my biggest committment to myself, is to chill out. I get so wound up about so many things. Not necessary, not helpful, and not sane.

But work is good, the thesis is coming along, I will have to refocus on that now that I am getting all kinds of edits back from my advisor. I took a little brain break, prepared for the Society for American Archaeology conference. It was a good idea, I feel refreshed, inspired, and motivated again.

So I have been reading this fascinating travel book “Baghdad without a map” that has sat gathering dust on my bookshelf for years. Written in the early 90s by Tony Horwitz, it is a glimpse into what the Middle East was before the gulf war, the Iraq war, and the complete shut down of the region. Not that it was a vactioners paradise, but it appears that it was slightly more accessible than today. Horwitz towards the beginning quotes Lawrence of Arabia, and I think he chooses a beautiful and powerful quote to set the scene.

“All men dream; but not equally, those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”

This is from Seven Pillers of Wisdom.