Freedom Rains

Hi All,

It's been far too long since I last bored you with my thoughts from across the pond, so I thought I would take to the blogosphere once more to say hi.

Rather a LOT has happened since I last wrote... where to begin...

I directed a show, which went pretty well. I was very pleased with the work I did, and the cast were great - unfortunately we didn't get much in the way of press - and the press we did get seemed to go out of its way to ignore me. Not what you need when new in town... So I guess I'll have to keep on with the acting.

My paying job is going well, and the company is awesome! They just gave me 4 tickets to a soccer game for gratis! It is easy to win my heart...

Kira and I both just did a half marathon, called the Rock N Roll, in which a band plays every mile to spur you on. Unfortunately Kira had one that sang the lyrics "And I never saw you again/ because you died in a car crash" as she ran past at mile 9 - hardly inspiring. But in general it was an awesome day.

We also just had my family here, which was great. Really nice to spend some time with them and for them to see where we live. We did a little bit of touristy stuff, but also things that only locals know about - so I won't write about them here! If you want to find out you'll just have to come visit!

I feel like I am forgeting something... though obviously not the world cup, as that didn't happen. Though I did manage to set off the fire alarm in my building whilst cooking an English breakfast for the England Germany game. The culprits were the German Sausages - the fat was too quick on the counter for the smoke detector...

Wow, when you condense it like that it doesn't seem very much! But I've honestly been very busy with fun and exciting stuff! Of course the marathon took a lot of training for (beautiful training runs in Seattle around lakes and through an Arboretum) and the play took rehearsing for (with an excellent cast of professional actors who were a great laugh).

This line of thought links into a film we saw yesterday - Everybody's Fine with Robert De Niro. Great movie. Very affecting performances and a well-crafted story dealing with family and the ephemeral nature of our lives and the things we attach importance to.

Like dates. As yesterday was the anniversary of our arrival in Seattle. Why is that important? Why should that day be the important thing? Why couldn't the finish of the half marathon a few days before be the defining metaphor. The end to the journey? I guess because life doesn't stop.

Unlike a film, it doesn't have the comfortable points of resolution or the carefully plotted retrospective moments - where you pause and look back at exactly the right moment. Life is inexorable. Once you get caught in a flow it will push you onward and it is rare that you have the chance to switch streams.

So I am glad that I have had the chance; that this year broke me out of my flow and forced me to seek out a new one. For that reason it has been a great year - even if everything hasn't gone exactly as I planned, I got the chance to try out a new mode of being. That is something that rarely occurs in life.

As I find myself settling into a new flow, now that our patterns here are becoming settled, I want to challenge myself to fight against it. To look for ways to not just be carried along for the ride, but to challenge myself everyday with new thoughts and new actions.

As we approach the 4th of July, Freedom comes to the forefront of American minds (along with Beer), and I feel privileged to have experienced true freedom in the last year. So, as the precipitation falls in its various forms from the Seattle skies, I look to it with hope. If every life has to have a little rain we can at least hope that it falls high in the mountains of possibility, carving out new rivers for us to explore.