Awakenings of a Sort

It has been a rather enlightening past few days, and I am still sorting through a lot of the ideas this has stimulated in my mind.  A synopsis of some of the experiences, ideas, information I have had/received:

• On Thursday, late afternoon, after I finished my last "big voicing" lecture of the semester, I headed to the shoppe as my routine for Thursday.  It was so late in the afternoon, that I did not think I would be fortunate enough to find any of my friends there.  I was correct.  But, I did enjoy whiling away some time there.  I indulged in a house brand cigar I had never had previously and read more of my "Hidden Valley Road" book.  I had also brought with me a binder with copies of my introductory course documents (syllabi, etc) from my May course of last year, so I could work through (with pen) updates to the documents and especially date changes.   It was incredibly peaceful, sitting in a comfortable chair upstairs, by an open, sunny window... with it being ~60 degrees.  Although the cigar was NOT a pipe, and was not the shear beauty of a pipe... it was pleasant, and the work and reading I did felt centering and relaxing.  I felt wonderfully peaceful and relaxed as I sat, accomplished work, and read the captivating book.  It felt so "normal" of a way to feel.  It is how I often did feel much of the time, years ago..... most days.  
• I left roughly ~3 hours later to meet with my wife for a swim and we had a delightful time, and then went home to fix dinner.  The entirety of the evening also felt calming, centering, and very relaxing.  Just wonderful.
• Friday was a busy day, but I divided my time to having half of my work day be at the U and half be at home in my office.  The business, however, was NOT aggravating nor taxing.  It was just simply work, and work that I needed to get done.  Again, it was tranquil and not taxing.  
• On Friday evening we drove and met up with two of my sisters and their husbands and went to dinner together at a specialty pizza joint we all tend to appreciate.  We try to get together once every month or so just to socialize together... just the six of us.  The pizza was good, and special as always.  And, they had Two Hearted IPA on tap, which I was happy about.  
• Saturday was the "U Extravaganza" and it was a great experience too....my six researchers all did a very nice, professional job with their presentations, and it was enjoyable walking around seeing what kids from different professors and different departments have been up to.  I admit I felt a bit of "small talk" overload, as it is not my forte, but it did feel good there.  
• Then...... my wife and I went to Mass on Saturday night.  And, this is were I heard, within part of our priest's Homily, ideas that gelled with me and resonated very, deeply and strongly.  More of that in a moment.
  

Over the last several weeks/ couple of months, I have been mentioning here and feeling/experiencing a shear sense of a) exhaustion, b) a seemingly endless number of tasks that were impending or were even past due, c) a sense of being a hamster endlessly running on a wheel, and d) a rather pronounced feeling of anxiety and sometimes even dread upon awakening each morning.  

Additionally, I had been reading and hearing MORE reports about the....

(unfortunately, I was interrupted with work things..... so I will have to publish here as incomplete and take up more tomorrow)

PipeTobacco