Progress, Not Perfection

It is hard to believe that I must have been in one of the warmest places in the US this week. I drove home from the Eagle gallery last Friday night without the temperature light on and then it rained, which means it stayed above freezing overnight. No natural gas shortages here.

Contrary to the magazine articles I've quoted about economic conditions in Idaho, the Idaho Department of Labor released this on 1/7/2011:

"Idaho Jobless Rate Rises for Fifth Straight Month, Exceeds National Rate

Idaho’s forecasted seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged upward for the fifth straight month in December, leaving a record 71,900 workers without jobs.

A tenth of a percentage point increase to 9.5 percent ran counter to a four-tenths drop in the national rate to 9.4 percent and broke a nine-year-two-month streak where Idaho’s rate was lower than the national rate. December’s rate matches the recession-high set last February and is just one-tenth of a percentage point below the record in December 1982 through February 1983.

December's forecasted rate and preliminary rates for the rest of 2010 will be subjected to review over the next two months as additional economic information becomes available and is analyzed and adjusted to more accurately reflect the economic circumstances of 2010. Based on current data, Idaho's unemployment rate for 2010 averaged a record 9.2 percent, breaking the previous record of 9 percent in 1982 set in the midst of a double-dip recession. New hiring by employers statewide in 2010 was at its lowest level since businesses began reporting in 1997 – 141,100."

I do not believe the national numbers, they are based on a government "survey" and I figure government spins the numbers how they want. I don't know how anyone could count the number of people that have given up finding work or the number of people underemployed.

According to an Oregon columnist, Idaho is called "the flying grit state." There is a regular problem of flying rocks and broken windshields in Idaho. Oh, that is why last Fall there was a free windshield repair truck on every corner.

I am glad to be back to reading after a week of reading deprivation for the Artist's Way. I did not refrain from reading, I practiced reading awareness, since I really have to read job postings and apply and I can't do that without reading. I did stay off of reading Internet news and opinion for a week, I did not buy last Sunday's paper, and I did not read before bed. All of these were surprisingly difficult, but honestly, all I did was watch more TV. If you really want to practice deprivation that makes you aware of how you use something to distract yourself from yourself, try shopping or TV deprivation, those were real eye-openers for me.

Now that I can read again, the next topic in Wisdom of the Ages is Highest Self, with a poem by Rabindranath Tagore,

I came out alone on my way to my tryst.
But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?
I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.
He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger;
he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.
He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame;
but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.

This is from Tagore's book of poems, Gitanjali. Tagore won the Nobel prize for literature in 1913 and was a contemporary of Gandhi. In 1883, at the age of 22, he married a 10 year old. (Just a little bit of background on some of these spiritual poets and their work goes a bit sour.) I think this poem is about the battle between your spiritual self and your ego-centered self. In this poem, the ego-centered self seems to be inescapable. Tagore's text following this poem is a bit confusing and all over the place, but he talks about the borders of physical existence, and I like this, towards the end of the essay following this poem,

"As progress is never made at a constant level, he should remain undisturbed by the ebb and flow of his spiritual life. During the period of ebb, he must hold to the progress he has already made, and during the flow he must move forward swiftly."

It's progress, not perfection.

With watercolors, it is important to know when to give up on a painting and when to keep working. I gave up on the Crouch barn, the background got too dark and there is no lightening a too dark watercolor. I quickly moved on to something else, since it has been a discouraging week full of rejection and painting makes me feel optimistic.