Just in case you might be a little worn out from too much holiday cheer in the form of parties, family gatherings, and pressures to be ebullient and glowing and fascinating and endlessly outgoing (New Years is still to come!), then I have a few thoughts for you.   In my new essay published in the online magazine, Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism: Process Thinking for a More Hospitable World, I offer you hope.  My inspiration comes from Susan Cain’s remarkable work on temperament, along with process theology and my own painful recollections of growing up shy.  Remember, its never too late to be who you really are .  . .

Help!  I’m an Introvert in an Extrovert World

“Introversion—along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness—is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.  Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women in a man’s world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are.”

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking

SOMETIMES I WONDER what it would be like to be an extrovert—yes, to be comfortable in crowds, to speak extemporaneously with easy charisma.  To be the life of the party!  To not only type an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence that you hope conveys enthusiasm and ultra-sincerity, but to live those exclamation marks!  To live double exclamation marks!!  (If the very sight of all these exclamation marks exhausts you—maybe even repels you—you are probably an introvert like me.)  To read more click here . . . . .

Happy New Year!

Patricia

Sometimes my music background just won’t sit still and be quiet.  I find myself writing more and more about the power of music these days.

For all of you classical music lovers, I have written a new essay just for you. It’s called Beauty Can Save Us: Mozart and Whitehead.    I talk about Mozart’s last symphony and what it tells us about hope and possibility in a world of tragedy and suffering.  I also talk about how Mozart is a metaphor for Whitehead’s idea of Beauty and God. Two big revolutionaries in one small essay. ( I had to drink several pots of tea while writing!)

But if you’re more in the mood for the Beatles, I hope you’ll enjoy my essay Lennon and McCartney: Magic and Metaphysics.    Or if Jazz is more your thing, check out  Dave Brubeck: Theology in 5/4 time.

Returning to classical music, I also give you The Whole Planet in a Single Note: Lang Lang, my favorite pianist who has a unique vision for saving the world through music and children. Yes, Beauty can save us.

Be sure to check out all the new essays  on Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism: Process Thinking for a More Hospitable World.  A new topic daily, like food for the soul.  Jay McDaniel has created a revolutionary on-line magazine with a many themes and variations.

May your holiday be filled with music–classical, sacred, rock, jazz–whatever your cup of tea!

Patricia

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