beautification

My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece. Claude Monet

the idea of beautification can easily be multi-faceted, but the definition in my head as i scribe is in this vein. a very littered or trash-filled park or neighborhood can undergo a beautification process to get cleaned up and be much more pleasing to the eye. there can be a unifying process that happens in which many different parts be tweaked to make a more cohesive whole.

i daresay that has become the intention of our project in denver this week. we have a small sample of indidivuals from the southern, northern, and western parts of the state, along with more people from our central capitol, together sharing a learning process as well as an empowering process and hopefully becoming a stronger and more connected core.

i am learning so very much this week in many facets. i see there is so much i don't yet know, i am largely increasing my awareness of my fellow coloradans, i am humbled by my gap in understanding peoples' strengths and weaknesses, and i can uncomfortably but quietly see how much growing up i still need to do.

the differences between so many of us seem vast, yet the shared experience of diagnosos and surmounting that barrier is striking and vivid. each persons presence is a witness to the sheer audacity of our human spirit. and it definitely dwarfs the idiosynchratic differences that use to be the only quality i could see in others.

i am proud to be involved in this one-on-one exercise i am today. i am not sure of all the reasons i have landed in one of the leadership positions i have, but i cannot balk. yesterday, there were at least 3 crises with participants that pulled me awsy from my personal agenda, and i was reminded of my capability to deal with crises. and the rest of the class was none the wiser. this hopefully is a sign of my growing up. and becoming a part of a bigger whole.

today's sound choice may be quirky, but somehow apropos in my mind. this is not my favorite musical at all, and yet it seems the lyrics seems to speak directly to my intention here. michael crawford and sarah brightman with "music of the night" from phantom of the opera.