My Month of Groovy Geekery!! (what does being a geek mean to YOU?)

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.  Brown paper packages tied up with strings.  These are a few of my favorite things." - "My Favorite Things" from "the Sound of Music"

Favorite things are what light you up on a gloomy day.  Things that jazz you, get you excited about being a sentient being on this big, blue marble.

Favorite things get you goosey.  They can also make you a geek if they become heightened and taken into your soul.

No, not the "biting the heads of chickens" kind of geekery.  I'm talking about when people really delve into a topic so thoroughly they can taste it.  Things that make you a little bit of a freak.  I'm talking full absorption into a certain thing that ignites, inspires, and makes a day a journey into creativity and play, rather than a walk through the doldrums.  Things that actually redefine "favorite".  Things that become necessities.

Last week, I asked some Facebook friends to define geekery for me.  Some of the responses:

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  "Generally a geek is considered as someone that has excessive knowledge and enthusiasm towards a specialized subject / activity. "
• "Geek, real geek, to me, has always been people who think outside the norm in everything but sports (because they have their own lingo). Who's creativity in their chosen interest is unlimited."

  "Geek: one who has a deep and abiding passion and completist level of knowledge about some subject be it theatre, SFF, a particular tv show, knitting, etc..."
• "Geekiness is beyond fandom. It's total immersion in a subject matter, to the extent that you want to know as much about it as you can. You form passionate opinions about the topic. Your tribe becomes your fellow geeks."
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  •  "It means different things different people and each group feels they have it right. I have to agree with the nerdest definition. It means really loving something and pursuing it with passion. You can be a movie geek, computer geek, sports geek,etc"
•  "Everyone is a geek."

As you can see, the question elicited a lot of responses.  And, you know, they're all right, really.

What do I geek out about?  Oh, colorful, whimsical, beautiful things.  Like Disney, beagles, England, Monty Python, vintage clothing, tarot ... the list goes on for quite a while.

The list goes on for at least a month.  So that's what I'll do with that period of time: relish something I geek over each day for the entire month of February.  I challenge you to do something similar.  After all, it's a cold, short month.  Why not give it a little love?

Truth be told, I'm already two days in, with little Facebook posts about 80s pop music and videos, and "Downton Abbey".  I won't be doing a blog post for each thing because, frankly, I don't have the emotional bandwidth for it these days, especially with what I'm dealing with with Daddy.  But I CAN, at the very least, publicly acknowledge those things on Facebook I get grooved about in a sticky, gooey, "all in" sort of way. It's a form of gratitude work.  It's thanking God for giving me those connections with places, people and things that make my heart sing.  I think it's a healthy way to check in, especially near your birthday.  And especially when you're going to be celebrating a 52nd birthday, when you supposedly press a "reset button".  It's my way of claiming, "These things make me the me I wish to keep around for the next 52 years."

These are the things that stay.  These are the things that matter.

What I geek out about the most?  This guy.

The Maya and Mercury and Meeting of Minds.

In a scant two weeks' time, I'll be turning 52.  At first, I was like, "Meh, who cares?  What sort of birthday is 52?  It's not a big milestone ending in a zero or five, it's not a prime number, it's just ho-hum and what it is.  Bah for 52".

But then I went to Mexico.

Ben and I took a cruise back in November and one of our ports of call was Cozymel.  We had a day trip that included such tomfoolery as a tequila tasting (hosted by a gent who, for all intents and purposes, was a wacky Fred Armisen character) and a stop for lunch that offered unlimited burritos and fresh guacamole.  We also had the great fortune to visit the Instituto Nacional De Anthropologia E Historia and visit some Maya holy places. Our tour guide was amazing and took great pride in his heritage and history; embarrassingly, I learned more about Mexican culture in that short 4-hour day trip than I had in almost 52 years on this planet, embarrassing because last time I looked, Mexico is our southern neighbor.

But what stayed with me the most about that afternoon was the lesson on the Maya calendar - and the significance of the number 52.

You see, 52 is quite an auspicious number for the Maya.The calendar takes 52 years to cycle around.  So when you hit 52 years, the cycle begins again.  It is a time of rebirth, renewal, and hitting the "reset button".



Which brings me to me right now, with my Dad in hospice.  I know the end is coming closer for him and I know that a certain part of me will fall away once he does.  I had a horoscope reading with a dear friend last week; she pointed out that our rising signs are the same (Leo, a positive boon for actors), and that there are various conjunctions which signify a karmic connection. My friend said, "When you lose the parent your closest to, it's like a part of your soul gets ripped out."

In the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing some self-inquiry.  About what losing Daddy means.  About what "setting the reset button" means for me on many levels.

Ah, but if you've been paying attention, you'll also notice that Mercury plays a part.  Seems as though Mercury is in Aquarius, my Sun Sign, from January 4th through March 12th.  It brings great inspiration, of finding new awareness, of peeling back facades, of tapping into your own brand of genius.

It also speaks of new worlds that can be created by the meeting of minds.  Much is on my plate that could very well bloom into creative work that, with all due humility, could touch upon genius.  Mozart was credited as saying that genius is the product of love and passion and conviction in what you do, when you're willing to take the leap into the unknown.  Sounds like a good thing to try when one comes upon their 52nd birthday.

I feel a beautiful shift occurring at the soul level.  Some sadness is certain, but also a tremendous amount of love, exploration, gratitude, and alchemy.

My daily question: "What's the alchemy of the day? What is created anew?"

I'll be sharing my discoveries of the next month or so.  I feel blessed to have this venue to be able to fill you all in on my findings.