Brain: Maria Damon

Henry Kissinger, Sigmund Freud, Thich Nhat Hanh.

Gertrude Stein: courage and independence of vision. Jean Genet: persistence, commitment to his beautiful visions under appalling circumstances. Thich Nhat Hanh: no ego, clarity of vision, intellectual acuity, can meet anyone on his/her own terms, works tirelessly for the liberation of all sentient beings from suffering. Dizzy Gillespie: humor, creativity, survival instinct. Ann Carson: creativity. Harriet Tubman: strategist, persistence. Walter Benjamin: commitment to his vision, his conviction that everything was interesting. bpNichol: beautiful language and spirit. I could go on and on.

Present Moment Wonderful Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh, Martyrology Book 6 by bpNichol, and The Thief’s Journal by Jean Genet.

Obama. His values are closer to mine than McCain’s are.

I said yes many times when I should have said no, got involved with some really scary people. I chose the wrong job out of grad school and got too depressed to undo the damage I’d done. I’ve made lots of bad judgments, mostly because I didn’t trust my intuition.

I answer questionnaires. I hang with friends, cook, do handwork (weave, cross-stitch), walk or ride my bike, vegetate, sleep, go out to eat.

Of course I would.

It’s between street smart or people smart. I’ve tried book smart; it’s OK, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Business smart just doesn’t seem that much fun.

Right now, Iggy Pop.

Global warming, inadequate health care to deal with new and old diseases, and the failing global economy.

Self-acceptance does, which is a kind of wisdom. But I think wisdom is sort of a stupid concept. It sounds smug and pious. But I do like myself better, and others tell me the same thing about themselves as they age. They like me better too(!)