Bliss of the Grid

I normally don't get window seats on airplanes because it is too much of a hassle to have to continually ask someone to move when I have to go to the bathroom. However, this trip I was lucky enough to sit in seat 1A on a Regional Jet which is both a window and an aisle seat. There were only six passengers on a plane built to hold almost 40 so it was a nice and relaxed atmosphere in which to fly home.

As we took off from Chattanooga, I looked down at the beautiful rolling hills and river spreading before me and thought about how serene and peaceful things were from up above. All the problems and roadblocks that seem so insurmountable from on the ground don't seem to matter while you're up in the air. Once we were sky born, I looked down and it was as if a sea of white foam was holding our aircraft aloft. Despite knowing scientifically that the white foam was really just condensed water, I was enchanted by its beauty.

The flight was quiet and uneventful and as we approached Chicago, I looked out the window and saw the majesty of the sun setting over a beautiful sky blue pink landscape. The clouds formed a bed into which the sun was slowly sinking. The glistening gold of the sun was picked up and reflected a million times over by the glistening white clouds.

As we descended through the clouds it was as if we were swaddled by white cotton and when we emerged on the other side, we were greeted by a glistening grid of lights spreading out as far as the eye could see. It was as if a net of diamonds had been spread below us to welcome us home. Our landing was smooth as silk and once on the tarmac, I looked out in wonder at the sizes and shapes of all the planes around us.

Although I fly at least once a month, there is still something magically blissful about being at the airport and wondering where all the planes have come from and where they're going. It helps me remember that there is a huge world out there to explore.

Bliss of Self Expression

Art, artistry, and self expression are not only the purview of the rich and famous, if you exam the world around you closely enough, you'll find examples of art, artistry, and blissful self expression all around you. Self expression can erupt like a volcano or can flow like water and be barely visible, unless you know where to look.

Self expression, art, and artistry all flow outrageously from figure skating sensation Johnny Wier. His costumes run the gamut from tastefully sensational to totally outrageous and he looks phenomenal wearing them all. The costume that drew the most comments, especially from straight males, was the pink corset outfit that he wore for the men's short program. It was decidedly feminine and not something most men would have the cojones to wear in public. However, Johnny wore it and he wore it well as he's comfortable with who he is.

Other folks would never dream of skating in front of millions wearing a controversial costume, I express my individuality with purple nail polish instead of the more traditional red or pink. A former coworker used to wear the most outrageous ties that truly expressed who he was and the mood he was in. He had ties with rainbows, ducks, deer, and a host of other non-standard images. Although I wasn't pleased with her outfit the other day, Cat chose to express who she was by wearing purple shorts, a blue shirt, and fishnet stockings to school. Other days she wears her pajamas because she's not feeling the need to dress up to impress anyone.

Every winter, a local artist, Fran Volz sculpts amazing snow sculptures in front of house for everyone to see. This year he had atlas holding up the world, a pair of hearts and a shark. It seemed as if every time I drove by his house there was a new ice sculpture and I loved seeing the incredible sculptures appear seemingly overnight.

Next time you're out on the street, observe your fellow pedestrians to see if you can catch the subtly creative self expression that permeates our world, if only we know where to look for it. It's there in the big red sunglasses, in the brightly colored gloves, in the green galoshes, in the smiles, in the haircuts, in any way that human beings declare: I am an individual.

Flowers de' Bliss

Walking out the door, I groaned at the six inches of snow that covered the ground and the three fresh inches that were currently encasing the car in snow. My cab was waiting and I didn't have time to scape the car for hubby who'd be coming out in about an hour and would have to scrape the accumulation off the windshield before he left for work.

As much as I love the snow capped beauty of Chicago and the icy lace that fills the trees, there were days (lots of them) where I wished all the snow would just melt and leave us with beautiful greenery all day long. Driving to the airport through the slush and the snow, my mood was about as dark as the sky around me and it got even worse when I checked in and found a line stretching all the way through the terminal for security. Priority Access brought me quicker entree to the terminal where I waited and waited some more while the plane was being serviced.

The trip to Chattanooga, as usual, was quick and after getting my rental car and exiting the airport, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time: warm air. The sun was shining bright and there were glimpses of green in the trees. Spring really did exist, it wasn't just some myth that we'd dreamed up to help get us through the cold dark days of winter.

The sunlight drew the dark mood out of me and I smiled as I climbed into the car and headed off to work. My smile got even bigger when I pulled up in front of the plant and saw pansies blooming. Those small flowers brightened my day like no expensive roses ever could as they were proof that spring did exist and that warmer days were ahead. The carp swimming in the Japanese pond proved further proof of warmth and I felt myself feeling that delightful feeling of bliss that anticipates the warmth and wonder of the world coming alive after the cold dark days of winter.

Accepting Bliss

I have to admit, I had a bit of a pity party yesterday as I wondered what my life was really worth. I have a demanding high stress job that pays the bills, but doesn't always leave me enough time to do what I want to do in my life. My confidence has also taken a bit of a hit lately as I've realized there are people who don't think I'm as wonderful as I think I am.

Okay, that sounded really really arrogant, but the people who really and truly know me know that deep inside I'm really a scared little girl begging for attention who doesn't always find herself worthy. My boss terms it a lack of confidence and teases me that the person who wrote a self help book doesn't know how to find her own confidence. My head knows I'm usually right, but my heart doesn't always believe it. And deep down inside, I feel like I'm a fraud and that sooner or later I'll be exposed.

Like most kids who were different (smarter, funnier, etc.) growing up, I was bullied and picked on for being who I was. The kids at the bus stop called me "Gory Lori" and that hurt a lot. There was also one little girl who threw rocks at me on the way home from school. I was never sure why they abused me and I never told my parents because instinctively I knew that telling would only make it worse. Telling would give them a reason to hate me more. Instead, I hid my pain and it's festered inside for a long long time and every time I think about standing out, that scared little girl inside comes out and I wonder if I'm opening myself up to more abuse.

I didn't fit in at college either because I was too intense for a lot of people to handle. I wanted so badly to have friends and to fit in that I was was open and warm and friendly when I first go to campus and that attitude made people think I was easy. Fortunately, a few very kind upper classmen took me under their wings and helped me make the transition from high school to college.

The funny thing is that people who knew me in high school and college thought I was a stuck up, uptight bitch. I've heard from more than one person that they thought about coming up and talking to me, but that I walked around with my nose in the air as if I was better than anyone else. That's not exactly how I remember high school. When I think about high school, I think about walking around trying very hard not to be noticed and abused.

I look back at the life I've lived over the past 40 some years and I'm amazed at how far that scared little girl has come. I've written three books, three screenplays, and countless articles and blog entries. I've traveled to Europe and Asia. I lived in Japan for three years, I've sustained a 21 year marriage, and I've raised two incredible children. Putting it on paper, it all sounds incredible, but deep inside that scared little girl still doesn't think she's worthy despite all those accomplishments.

All I know is that I have to change and accept who I am. It's always been easy for me to accept the negative as it validates the schoolyard taunts, but I need to find out how to accept the good stuff and when I can do that I'll be in a better place.

Packing for Bliss

Organizing stuff is not my strong suit as anyone who has ever seen my desk or my house would be able to tell you. I'm great at organizing parties and projects, but not so good at making sure I know where everything is and that I have everything I need. My lack of personal organization has bitten me more than once when I've been traveling and gotten somewhere only to realize that I didn't have deodorant, shampoo, or toothpaste. I travel often enough that I've been inconvenienced on more than one trip by not having everything I needed so I decided that it was high time I got organized.

I firmly believe that life and stuff should be modular so that you can pick up the one module that you need and pack it without having to pack all the junk you don't need. So with that in mind, I figured out that I needed to pack the following "modules" when I traveled:

Suitcase Stuff

• Work out gear


• My lunch box


• Toiletries


• Office Supplies (this gets transferred to my purse when I go into the office)


• Clothes

Purse Stuff

• Electronic gear


• Medical supplies


• Travel Documents


• Shopping bags

I came up with a list for each of these items and I make sure that everything on the list is in the kit before I put it goes into the suitcase. Each of my lists is highly personalized because my kits/ modules need to fit my life; however, I'll share some of the basics to help you build your own kits. Most of my kits go into my suitcase, but I always carry my medical supplies, my electronic gear, and my travel documents kits with me.

Work Out Gear

What I pack for workout gear varies depending upon the trip and how I think I'm most likely to exercise. For instance, this trip I'll be staying at a hotel with an outside pool and it's too cold to swim, so my swim suit will stay home. My exercise options will most likely be walking or doing yoga in my room, so this trip I'll take shorts, a t-shirt, and socks, my yoga mat, and sneakers. If I end up walking, I'll wear street clothes so I don't need to pack any sweat pants. I have a big enough yoga bag that the shorts, t-shirt, and socks can go right inside so everything is handy. My pedometer always is with me so I can track my steps each day.

My Lunch box

My lunch box is the most essential of my travel modules because it helps me make sure I can eat healthy on the road. My kit includes a tea cup, a knife, fork, spoon, cereal bowl, a small cutting board, tea, honey, and a few other small things. It all fits into a plastic shoebox that I got at Target that fits perfectly into my suitcase. By making sure I have the utensils that I need on hand to eat healthy, I have a better chance of success.

Toiletries

Although most hotels have soap and shampoo, I always like to take my own so that I'm sure I'll have shampoo that doesn't dry out my hair. I also use business trips as a chance to indulge in soaps and lotions that I don't normally use at home so my toiletries kit has some good soap and expensive lotion so that I feel pampered on the road. My toiletries stay in a thick plastic bag so that if something leaks it doesn't get all over everything else in my bag.

Office Supplies

Most people, especially those traveling for business, don't often think to travel office supplies as the assumption is that since you're going to an office they should have everything you need. However, after one two many trips getting stuck without a stapler, tape, scissors, or other essentials, I soon learned that I needed to make sure I had my own basic office supplies. My little black bag contains the basics, please note cards and stamps in case I have time to write notes home, highlighters, and a notebook and pen to make sure I can capture notes if I need to. My bag also contains a small spice jar filled with ink cartridges for my fountain pens, paper clips, staples and some small binder clips. Because TSA gets a little cranky if you try to bring scissors onto a plane, this one travels in my checked luggage until I reach my destination, then it goes in my purse. My little black bag of tricks also contains a change purse with a few dollars and change enough to get a soda or something from the vending machine in case no one has change.

Clothes

Typically the purpose of your trip are going to dictate what clothes you take, but I've found a few simple rules of thumb for traveling. If you're going to a location where the travel is business casual, don't pack sports coats or suits as they are bulky and unwieldy. In most environments that are business casual, a light sweater or polo shirt works. Also don't get into the trap of thinking that you need a pair of pants for every day. I'm going to Chattanooga for a week and I've packed underwear for the week, two parts of pants, a pair of jeans, and four tops. I'll go right to the plant from the airport, so I'll wear the clothes that I'm going into the office in on Monday to save packing another outfit. In terms of shoes, I typically pack one pair of flats and a pair of heels. You can look nice and put together without packing ten suitcases full of clothes.

Electronic Gear

We live in a digital age and all of our electronic accessories need to be powered up to operate. All too often, I've gotten somewhere and realized that I'd forgotten the charger for my computer or cell phone and then had to go running all over town to find one. I found a really cool floral cosmetics bag that I use for my electronics gear. It contains my computer charger, my phone charger, a USB cable to connect my phone to my computer, headphones, and a Webcam so I can communicate with the folks back home if need be.

Medical Supplies

I know the term medical supplies makes it sound as if I'm carrying a defibrillator around in my purse and that is so not the case. However, I've found that it's helpful to have the basics on hand. My medical kit, which is a fun little pencil kit that I picked up at Borders contains lotion; aspirin or other pain killers; echnicia and goldenseal tablets to help ward off infection; hand sanitizer, which doubles as a wound cleaner, band aids, zicam for the sinus infections I always get when I'm traveling, and sinus medicine. I used to carry a few more things in my medical supply kit, but these were the things I was always using.

Travel Documents

I hate standing behind people who are fumbling for their documents when you get to the airline check in so I wanted to make sure I never became one of those people. I also hate having to track down receipts when it came time to file my expense report so I purchased a cute little bag at World Market that holds my passport and has a pocket for me to stick all those pesky receipts in. Since it goes with my travel stuff, I know that the receipts in the bag are all travel receipts I need to file.

Shopping Bags

One of my goals is to reduce the number of paper or plastic bags that I use as they always end up getting thrown away, so I always make sure that I have a couple of reusable shopping bags tucked in my purse. They are making convenient ones these days that roll up to a small size and have their own packing case so they're easy to stick into my purse.

As I look over this list, it seems as if I'm packing everything but the kitchen sink and maybe I am; however, as my packing has evolved over the years, I've found that all of the above are truly necessary in order for me to function on the road without having to constantly run to the store to get something I forgot. Since I started, packing for bliss I'm a lot happier when I travel as I'm a lot less likely to have forgotten something.