Looking forward to taking a week off to vegetate properly ...

feeling pretty well used up of late, and I think it's beginning to show.

The work continues to go well, and the weight of having become a minor public figure is growing more comfortable, while still providing a measure of surprise when I find myself singled out for attention.

Received an email from a university professor asking permission to use a couple of quotes from my commentary.  They were both comments that I feel are insightful and original, and it felt good to know that I will be cited in her soon-to-be-published book.  Though those thoughts and words have an "of course" feeling about them, that causes one to wonder just why they resonate so -- but I can see them register in the faces of audiences when spoken.

They rise up for me when I'm speaking about the fact that advancing years has brought at least two noticeable differences in everyday living.  When it happened I'm not certain, but I've found myself in a place where I've outlived my rage without losing my passion.  Though my rage surely served me well at an earlier time.  I suspect that without it I'd never have been able to face up to the ravages of life as a woman of color.  It kept my back straight and my gaze steady at those times when I had little else to call on.

The other is that -- over the past few years I've slid seamlessly into a place where I've become comfortable with conflicting truths.  Aging into this final decade brings with it the realization that it's all true -- for someone, and that we need places that accommodate our complexity, and where our truths can co-exist.

... and I do believe that this Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park is fast-becoming that place, and that my participation in its development is contributing to that outcome.

I do hope this is true.