Where are you?

Yesterday I received an email from my Uncle who, in light of the fact that I haven't written for about two months, made this the title of his message … it's a wonderful question on many different levels. I'm reading a new book by Keith Ferrazzi titled Never Eat Alone and in it I found a wonderful quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where–" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

A few weeks ago, I was looking forward to a meeting with an organizational leader who I thought might be able to help me define possibilities, provide a bit of guidance, and perhaps even serve as a mentor; however, nothing happened. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was disappointing. Since this event, I have done some soul searching and am now working to discern where I want to go on my own instead of trusting some "cat" to figure it out for me! I haven't identified any new answers yet, but like Dory in Finding Nemo, I'll just keep swimming!

By the way, the drawing with this post was done by English cartoonist Sir John Tenniel, who illustrated the 1865 edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

my cowardly lion

Thought I'd share an update on Leo ... if you didn't catch his initial story, click here. At first glance, our big and yellow friend doesn't seem to have figured out what to think about us ... almost as if he hasn't decided if he's going to hang around; but, hang around he does. Every morning, you can see his face peeking out of the box we put on the front porch to serve as his winter headquarters ... when we open the front door he crawls out and stretches lazily before coming to see what we are doing. He greets us with a rather sinister sounding hiss then dutifully follows us to the spot where he knows food will eventually materialize, which he will devour to the very last bite while constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure trouble hasn't found him.

Day after day, this has been the ritual and finally, I've started to see the cowardly lion in Big & Yellow (our alternate name for Leo when he is being particularly precocious). I've never been a huge fan of the OZ books, so I don't have any idea if my perception of this famous character matches what aficionados of the stories might think, but to me, the cowardly lion always put up a tough front by making lots of noise, though he was really just protecting himself from rejection while secretly yearning for friendship.

It occurs to me that if you develop a facade, which scares away those who would be your supporters or friends, you could literally end up out in the cold! Lately, I have been considering authenticity again, and am beginning to realize that while Leo's actions may seem like a front, the events of his little life have made him who he is, and it's my responsibility to recognize that his outward reaction is as authentic for him as is his need for companionship ... so ... after he hisses, I give him a plate of food and scratch him behind the ears to let him know I get it.