Marvelous, Magical Meg

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am the epitome of your logical, scientific engineer.  I like my world nice and ordered.  I’m not very creative.  I can’t paint, I can’t draw, I can’t sew, I can’t craft.  I did play an instrument in high school…but because the order and metrics of musical notation were easy for me…not because I could ever, ever, ever have CREATED original music.  I’ve attempted to paint…I even went to one of those “art” classes where they step you through your own painting…and, No.  Just No.  (It was a painting class near Christmas…Jacquie took me to it and we were supposed to paint snowmen…I kept the resulting painting, but have had MORE than one person ask me how old my daughter was when she did it.)
My house has the same window dressings it had when I moved into it and although I DO have enough decorating acumen to tear down the hideous 80’s wallpaper and repaint the walls, 9 years after moving in…I still don’t have anything hanging on the walls.  I don’t even know where to start with such things.  (BUT on the other hand, I have some really kick-ass appliances in the house.  I don’t think a right-brainer could fully appreciate the beauty of my Dyson Animal DC41.)

And even though I am artistically stunted, I can compute the HELL out of some mass and energy balances.  I can assemble a gas grill.  I know the difference between a spur gear and a straight gear.  Mathematical equations and Chemical formula help to make the world make SENSE to me.  I can work on my own car.  I am comforted by the ability to categorize things into Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species.  I don’t GET the thought processes of the artsy-fartsy (I mean that with love).

But I recognize that the world would be a pretty static, grey and gloomy place if it were inhabited solely by a bunch of Poindexters like myself.  I know that my own life is richly enhanced by individuals whose way of thinking, whose way of BEING completely mystify me.  My best buddy, Annette, is one of those creative people.  And I would have missed out on some of the greatest moments of my life if I hadn’t allowed myself to throw caution (and physics) to the wind and embark on very non-analytical, illogic adventures with her.

Another much needed free-spirited, right-brained supplement to my well-regimented life is my friend Meg.  Meg is one of the most spontaneous people I know.  She plucked her little ole Alabama-dwelling family up and deposited them right smack in the middle of California.  Just. Like. That.  I would need a good six months in order to plan to VISIT California for a vacation.  She amazes me

I found this graphic out on the ‘net.  It’s apparently a Mercedes-Benz motivational poster.  Which confuses me a little…because as much as I’m sure MB values their graphic artists and designers for the beautiful exterior and accoutrements…surely they realize how much they owe their bread and butter to their suspension and power train engineers??

But I get the point…and the descriptions are very accurate:



I can't seem to get my blogger software to gee-haw with this damn graphic...so in case you can't read it: I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.

I am the right brain.  I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feet. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.



I’m just a little miffed at all the blah on the left side.  I KNOW I just said the same thing earlier about how I needed my artistic friends to brighten my life…I’m just sayin’ that I would think that Mercedes would be a little more tactful regarding the guys that keep their trains running on time.

Anyway, back to my lovely, creative friend Meg. She is forever doing something amazing. She has written, produced, acted in and filmed her own short films. I got to attend her screening party for her short film “You’re Too”…a very cute but insightful piece full of positive self-esteem messages about rising above the world’s expectations and criticisms and embracing yourself as “enough.” It screened at Women's International Film Festival, Broad Humor Film Festival (where it received the  best short film, low budget award), Austin Women's Film Festival, Dixie Film Festival (Athens, GA) , Miami International Film Festival, Cucalorus (Wilmington NC) and Reel Women in Los Angeles. She’s got another short film that I haven’t seen yet “I’m Not Here” that is currently screening at Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson, MS  and LA Femme in LA. I can’t wait for a chance to see it.

AND in the middle of getting her short films out there, she started a cupcake mission to save the world (no shit, you can go to Cupcake Mission and read all about it). This chick has more imagination (and ENERGY!) in her little finger than I’ll ever have in my entire carbon-based, bi-pedal, humanoid life form. The little creative shit. (Love you, Megs!)

Her current “project” is great. She’s put out a series of YouTube videos called “Om Sweet Home.” I think it is semi-quasi-sort-of auto-biographical. The protagonist, “Ruth” is half-Jewish, half-Catholic who grew up in an Evangelical environment…and is so completely confused regarding issues of faith…that she decides to just take a deep breath and….Om!...check out what yoga has to offer in the form of enlightenment. I’ve watched the first 4 “episodes” and cannot wait for the final installment that Meg swears is coming soon. Here’s the link to her work:

http://www.omsweethome.tv/

I, myself, have always been a Christian…and I remain so. I had my crisis of faith about 10 years ago when I didn’t know what KIND of Christian I was…I was raised Church of Christ, and that sucked (no offense to any out there, but that has got to be the most repressive denomination since the Puritans)…then I wandered into the Baptist denomination out of the sheer number of Baptist churches around me. In Alabama, you can’t sling a dead cat without hitting a Southern Baptist church. I’ve come to the conclusion that although I know myself to be a good Christian, I am a terrible Baptist. I’ve also come to accept that although I’m not in 100% alignment with some of the finer points of the Southern Baptist doctrine…the basic Christian tenets still ring true & I still try to add my little efforts towards the strength of The Church (as in The Church, which I believe “Baptists” are a subset of)…but that’s just me.
I’ve known Meg for 5 or 6 years, and in all of the time we’ve been friends I have known that she was still in search of her answers. I am NO help to her whatsoever…

Meg: So when did you have your “saving” moment?

Me: Um…during Thermodynamics my freshman year at Auburn.

Meg: ????

Me: Well you see, we were going over the Third Law of Thermodynamics which, as everyone knows, states that no practicable means can bring a physical system to an exactly zero absolute thermodynamic temperature. So, you see, there’s a “thing” that we understand...BUT even though it can’t be gotten to…it exists!! And! And! Here’s the epiphany part, Meg…this unattainable state doesn’t just exist in our universe….but we, as creatures of this universe UNDERSTAND IT!!

So, yeah…God’s gonna have to have a whole different approach to getting His message to Meg. In the meantime, her art and her talent can give the rest of us pause as to how we are affecting the peace and well-being of those around us.