Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott ("Think" 4/4/17) told a story about re-tweeting a rude comment about a public figure, the "only transgendered person she doesn't like."  Her son was furious at her for being so snarky, and he was cool and distant toward her for a while.

One of the things I love about Anne Lamott is her ability to take responsibility for her own judgments and actions. She doesn't hide from her mistakes; she owns them and admits it when she's wrong. She says things like "I was a shit,"  or "What I did was horrible," or "I'm so sorry."

That story alone made me buy the book, Hallelujah Anyway, subtitled "Rediscovering Mercy."   As she explains, the original meaning of the word, mercy, is heart-for--as in  having a heart for ourselves snd other people.

Lamott is Christian, but she is inclusive in her stories and language, extending the word "mercy" to mean "radical kindness" in any or no religious tradition.  By the time I finished the book, I wanted to run out and buy copies for every reader I know--Christians, Jews, Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists, I even considered buying copies and leaving them in shelters, under bridges where people sleep, and on bus stop benches.

Being radically kind, she says, means speaking the truth--to and about ourselves, as well as to the people who care to hear it. Being radically kind means growing up, getting smarter,  and more tolerant of the undesirable qualities in ourselves and other people.   Being radically kind means apologizing when we've wronged other people instead of blaming our meds, the weather, our moods, or anything else besides our own sometimes-thoughtless selves.

"We get to do that because we're human," she said.  "And we also get to clean it up."

I had a really good day in the quaint little town of Comfort, Texas.  On the way home, I was listening to jazz on the radio and feeling happy when suddenly (On Olmos Drive, the speed trap that requires drivers to hold it to 25) I saw lights flashing. Ugh Oh.  I was cruising at 39 in a 25 which means I'll have to pay over $200 for the effects of my happy heart.

I never get speeding tickets!  I'm probably the pokiest driver you know, but there you have it.  For the first time ever in my short list of ticket-getting, I took it in stride and kept listening to my jazz all the way across the dam and into my driveway.

I guess that speeding ticket is just an opportunity to practice a little heart-for-myself?