Jumping

A dear friend called the other day. After saying hello, she asked, “Has the cancer returned?”

“No.” I could feel my forehead scrunching. The question took me by surprise. “Why do you ask?“

She told me that during my recent online advanced training — last month’s Preparing for the Return of the Habit — I had said something about life being short. It turns out this brief comment sparked a cascade of conversations, which led to the rumor that reached her.

To be honest, I don’t remember exactly what I said. It was probably related to my recent reflections on what I want to do with the time I have left on the planet. I was being more realistic than fatalistic: I definitely have more days behind me than ahead.

Most recently, I have been feeling such strong creative urges and inspirations that I have started making time and space for them. Perhaps I said something about that?

I saw the same mental gymnastics play out in another arena last month. I wrote a blog post asking other members of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America to contact the organization to prevent what I considered a detrimental change to the bylaws. I was pleasantly surprised by how colleagues took me up on my invitation.

I was, however, not so pleasantly surprised by the responses I received that assumed such malicious intent on the part of the Board of Directors, as if they were acting with impunity or trying to grab power. While this perspective is understandable in our current political climate, I did not imply anything or think anything was amiss.

I was simply doing my part as a community member to encourage transparency and protect the democratic underpinnings of the Guild. Given the overwhelming response, the change in bylaws did not go through. The process worked.

Today’s topic reminds me of a joke that seems timely and appropriate:

What are the most popular forms of exercise these days?

Jumping to conclusions, flying off the handle, stretching the truth, and carrying things too far.