I will be eternally grateful for your great gift of taking in to the fullest extent what it is that I
have to offer, living it, and then reflecting it back in terms of the potential experience of others.
You have given words to a process that defies words. And you’re constantly in a position to help
me continue to hone that, deeper and deeper and more and more resonantly, who I am and what I offer,
which is truly invaluable. — Jon Hansen, 
What you’ve sent me is so darn perfect it hurts! It’s a sheer pleasure to work with someone
who writes as beautifully as you do — and in “my” voice. — Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D,
You have a real gift for words. You’re really, really good at it. — Sherry Essig,
You heard it here first
I am a geek.
About everything. Whether it’s food and cooking, gardening, working with clients, computers, spirituality, writing, cats, knitting/spinning/weaving, marketing, understanding people, business and management, teaching … I could go on; I’ll spare you.
A geek. Me. Yes.
And you know what? It’s fun. I don’t know why I thought it was something to overcome. I don’t know why I thought I had to not just hang out with, but become one of the non-geeky crowd. I don’t know why I thought being a geek meant being weird and lonely.
In meditation this morning I found myself in an enormous library. Books stretched from floor to ceiling, and the ceiling was high. Books of all sizes, shapes, colours, subjects – books that have been used, loved, read and reread. Big heavy tables, with wooden chairs and green-shaded lamps. Fountain pens and pads of good paper (the sort that doesn’t slurp up fountain-pen ink). Big squashy armchairs. Creaky wooden floors, and rolling ladders to get to the higher shelves.
But it wasn’t a typical hush-hush, dusty, dim library.
Skylights in the ceiling. Sunshine pouring in. Huge windows at the end of the room, windows as broad and tall as the bookshelves, wide open to the outside. Growing things, birdsong, and running water. Breezes teasing the books’ pages. Music, conversation, companionship and solitude, tears and laughter, joy and frustration.
Life. As a geek.
I think I just came back home.
Posted: June 27th, 2009 under Awareness.
Comments
Comment from
Grace
Time August 28, 2009 at 9:00 am
Kaye – Thank you for the lovely photo!
I’ve been to Spain (a very long time ago!), but I don’t recall going to the El Escorial.
What a delightful concept: shelving the books backwards to they can breathe. That’s truly charming. The practical side of me wonders if it’s to keep the spines from fading in the sunlight, but either way – how wonderful.
(Living in Southern California, where my books fade even without being in direct sunlight, leads me to think of things like that.)
Thank you!
Comment from Kaye Vivian
Time August 27, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Grace, your library dream reminded me instantly of El Escorial in Spain. Have you been there? Technically, it’s the Royal Library in the El Escorial Monastery in San Lorenzo, just NW of Madrid about 30-40 miles. It’s a wonderful day trip from Madrid, and if you haven’t done it, highly recommended! The entire monastery is stunning.
The library has a huge vaulted ceiling that rivals the Sistine Chapel in beauty, and the whole library is open to the air. All the books (and many date from the 16th century) are shelved with spines to the wall and pages toward the room so they can breathe. All the windows are on the opposite wall, and are wide open to nature. It’s an amazing place. Here’s a good photo of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliviamair/2619865490/
Note the sunlight on the floor…coming from the open windows.
Best wishes,
Kaye