So When at Times the Mob Is Swayed

yesterday i read a review of susan cain's book, quiet, in arnie kozak's blog and followed his link to her ted talk.  it was gratifying to hear that i'm not alone in my need for solitude nor in sensing that american society is geared toward extroverts.  while i admire those gregarious folk who seem to be always at ease in crowds, who never meet a stranger, and who vigorously endorse the "team" concept, i have no desire to be such a person.  i abhor the compulsion of our society to form groups for every task, though i recognize the need to reach consensus in our decision-making.

today i watched a clip about richard gere and buddhism on youtube and plan to listen to all of the "everyman" videos that explore gere's beliefs.  i also watched an interview of judy dench that appeared on danny coleman's blog and which you can also find on youtube.  in both of these videos, i was impressed by the quiet, gentle approach of both actors.  as dench said of her quaker faith, and as gere implies of his buddhist faith, "it informs everything i do."

these videos came at the perfect time for me.  i have been immersed in the busy-ness of life, with the needs of others tugging at me constantly, what with houseguests from the local orchestra, houseguests from our church, my father undergoing surgery with me the only family member in a position to attend to his needs, in addition to the normal responsibilities of daily life.  it was good to have my need to have private time for myself affirmed and to be reminded that one is not wrong to step off the merry-go-round from time to time to carve out space for one's self.

my prayer for each of us is that we are true to our selves, accepting our introversion or extroversion, being accepting of others, and allowing ourselves the freedom to dream our own dreams and think our own thoughts.  shalom.