That 4-Letter Word

First of all, time is very precious now. I have had lots of times I wanted to blog and very, very little opportunities. So this'll be short. Because, of course, I'm at work. Yep, I'm there all the time. I was there today (Sunday). I rarely leave before 7 pm, sometimes much later. No complaints - really - just I have a lot to learn, I love the work, and that's how it's going to be for a while. I'm cool with it. But I miss a few things - like yoga, and clean socks. Anyway, we have a new kitten. We named him Yeezus, which is the title of Kanye West's new album. We call him Yeezie, and he is very, very cute. Of course, I mean the two sweetest, cutest things on earth are kittens and puppies. Here he is as a scarf, worn by the international model Dani. He's so docile, he just falls asleep on your shoulder. And Crabby loves him. They wrestle and play, then she'll pause, mid-bite to lick his ear. It's a hoot.

So during my first week at work, I got to accompany the patients on an outing to the Blanton Museum at UT, which as it turns out, is terrific http://www.blantonmuseum.org/. The art therapist there had an exercise for us all - we each drew a card, had an assignment for about 20 minutes, then as a group we toured around as each of us explained our assignment's outcome. I took a couple pics of how mine turned out. And - did I mention I was lucky to get this job? My luck continues. Wait til you see the card I drew.

And the work that I chose was this massive thing, takes up an entire wall of the gallery, it's called Passage. It's gorgeous. But it's not what it appears to be from a distance. Here's what it looks like as you go up the gallery stairs and first look at it.

Some kind of weird Wright-brothers thing, right? That's what I thought. That strange modern art thing. Tsk tsk. Then I got closer and ... oh my goodness ... it's not what I thought. It's completely different. It's not some utilitarian, transportation thing. Well actually it is that, and more. So much more.

Yes, it's made of the most tiny, delicate soft butterflies. And to me, this just screams of love. The opposites. The soft and the hard, the utility and the ridiculous beauty, the big and the miniscule, and of course the deception. Love is not what you think at first. In fact, it's entirely different the closer you get.

It was a truly fun day at the museum. Can't wait to go back, actually. But I'm not sure when I'll find time, because, see, I'm carrying on this mad love affair. It consumes me. It's huge, and yet it can be so small and fragile. Just the tiniest moment with a patient. The tissue I hand someone after she's told me intimate details about her life, something she's locked inside for years. What a privilege.