Pace

Today's Bingo: Pace. How fast can you go? (And not want to quit everything you're doing and move to a tropical island and because you're so burned out even hide your head in the sand there where no one can get to you and the only bother is that tree frog--Don't you love tree frogs--Mindfulness is never running past a tree frog...stop, listen, learn from their way of life...its all singin' and lovin'.) It's not about their pace; what's yours?

Generous

Today's Bingo: Generous. The woman walked into the coffee shop. She pulled out a twenty to pay for her coffee. The waitress only had singles and asked if she'd use her credit card. She did, but accidentally left without her twenty. She realized it later that day, and decided to let the universe decide who got the tip.

Cloud

Today's Bingo: Cloud. Could be tiny droplets of water. Could be frozen crystals. They float, and go where the winds take them. When you look in the sky, what do you see? Do you look long enough to let your imagination go to work?

(Comment on what the cloud looks like to you.)

Uneven

Today's Bingo: Uneven. The rolling ocean. Sandpaper. Frost heaves. (Did you know that asphalt actually rises up as winter ends in the north country and then settles again as temperatures regulate--and the pavement becomes smooth again?). Odd. Crazy. Unbalanced. Microscopically, even is nearly impossible. The lesson: enjoy the bumps.

Mushroom

Today's Bingo: Mushroom. On pizza. On top of steak. On top of raw greens with a warm dressing. They begin from something so small and find their way into the strangest of places. Some are dangerous. All of them are recyclers. The purpose of a mushroom is to digest leaves and other organic refuse. They can turn a leaf into soil in three or four weeks. Be a fungi with all the dead parts of your life.

Fix

Today's Bingo: Fix. A smoke. A drink. Someone who loves me back. A quick high. Anything, anything that will take away the ugly monsters running around in my head (they think they own the place). One thing leads to another, and fatigue becomes frustration and doubt. And then, you look up and see something priceless. Sky, moon, star, and you say, "Thank you!" "I need a fix," said the old man. "For what?" Asked his Grandson, "You're not broken."

Jubilee

Today's Bingo: Jubilee. A big party. In the old world, every fifty years they get rid of all the debt. Back to the party. Dance. Sing. Be completely thoughtless because this moment is so good. Yes. Thoughtless. Not without care, but without worry, fear, or anger. Be like a balloon fresh from a child's hand racing towards the clouds and enjoy every moment of the freedom.

Two

Today's Bingo: Two. Pairs. Twins. Couples. It is the sides of things: the yin yang, rivalry, and enemies. It takes two: To tango. To play chess. To hold hands. It is the number of parity (because 1 has to equal 1 to make two), and sharing (when you have two you can share one). Notice where you see two and pause and smile, especially when the 1 + 1 is you and someone you love.

Steady

Today's Bingo: Steady. A balance beam. A conversation where someone has lost their mind. A doctor performing surgery. Comforting a child after a bad dream. Pulling a souffle out of the oven. Walking the plank--wait, if you're walking the plank, you're shark food so dive off and enjoy. And when facing moments where steady matters, nothing else matters; but be easy on yourself because being that focused takes practice.

Empty

Today's Bingo: Empty. The fish escaped and so did the sun. Nothing would go where it was supposed to stay. We want. We need. Please don't let me be alone. You're not. You can't hold onto a moment, but you never have to miss it.

Sunrise

Today's Bingo: Sunrise. Day light savings time. The sunrise on normal time. It's not like the old days when you had to wake up early to see it. The sun. Bursting. New light. Giddy life turning towards what they need. Grateful hearts for a new morning where something beautiful is always waiting.

Read

Today's Bingo: Read. In a rocking chair, your mother reading your favorite story. The corner of the library where you'd hide during lunch (or sneak a kiss), and spend minutes lost in other worlds. Every letter, every word, an adventure, a mystery, a romance, just waiting for you to imagine and be completely absorbed.

Giraffe

Photo (and art) by Emily Van Nort

Today's Bingo: Giraffe. Noble creature. Gigantic lope. Relic of the dinosaurs gene pool. Happy children at the zoo. They like leaves. They can feed a village. Don't tell the children at the zoo they can feed a village (unless they're older and they like that stuff). What amazing creature have you considered today?

Grass

Today's Bingo: Grass. Alright nature, get to it. That's right, you. The one with all the growing power. You and your cycles. We get it: The chaos of time creates the conditions and when they are right, the grass will grow. Oh, so if I want it to speed up a bit I'm not in the moment. Oh, blame me for your lousy winter. Fine. I'll just sit here. That's right, you can't make me move. Hey, is that a robin? Wait, no fair--using my indignation to make me pause and cause a bingo. Doesn't that mean today's bingo is Robin? No. Okay. Still grass. I will sit and watch brown grass knowing dormancy is as good as green (even if I like green better). Was that another robin? Oh yeah, dormant, brown grass. Ommmmm!

Sideways

Today's Bingo: Sideways. The anger came sideways. You stood and listened, having done nothing to cause the pain that was leaking out of them all over your shoes; and you looked up at the perfect sky, cotton candy clouds on fire, and realized that all you had to do was move sideways too. You could just listen and let the rage dissolve into evening air and an endless sunset.

Glass

Today's Bingo: Glass. Beach glass. Eye glass. Juice glass. Melted sand to make it clear or added minerals or salts for color. It's blown and shaped so it's useful. A man walks into a soda fountain and says, "Milk shake please--Chocolate." His desire is held in glass shaped like a tall lily. Your glass always has something in it, even when it doesn't. The question: Do you value potential?

Restless

Today's Bingo: Restless. Now what? I have to get ahead. I have to be right. If I don't do something, I'm missing something. I can't sit still. I can't just be. If I slow down, I might miss something. I have to work. Wait, no I don't. No, yes I do. Clean out the closet, organize my socks, take up...WAIT. You are perfect as you are, where you are, and breathing, embracing this moment, is the best thing you can do.

Family

Today's Bingo: Family. A bed made, breakfast waiting, a hug like you've been gone forever (and it was only to work); you bring flowers because it's Tuesday; you swallow your anger realizing it's really about you (and you're angry at them because they care--isn't that the irony? they care, so they get your ire), you forgive all the old hurts and enjoy their story, as best you can, because they're telling it, and you love them.

Ball

Today's Bingo: Ball. You are the Belle. The Prince. You can dunk. Throw a fast ball 100 miles per hour. Drive like Tiger woods. Your imagination can take a magic night or a playful afternoon and transform a pumpkin of a day into a carriage that takes you to happy places. You can be the hero, and you will get the last dance.

Orange

Today's Bingo: Orange. The fruit, the juice, the setting sun. A carrot, a beet (that's right, they even have orange beets, and tomatoes and peppers too), or a sherbet treat. The flavor that makes a dreamsicle sublime, and a word for which there are very few rhymes.

Direction

Today's Bingo: Direction. "Honey, use the map." "I don't need a map, I know where I'm going." Really? Really? This is dialogue played out by too many couples, and by too many souls. Not knowing forces you to be in the moment (this is not an excuse for not using the map, however). Sure, we have hopes. We should have hopes. But they are like a wave crashing towards shore. There is a direction, but the possible endpoints are as long as the beach.

Frozen

Today's Bingo: Frozen. The Tundra. Iced trees, brittle and breaking. Red cheeks, cabin fever, and "I'm tired of shoveling," she said. "Will spring ever come?" And before it does, this brief curtain call by winter and her great events: snowball fights, snow angels, looking at the detail of one flake on a black glove, peeling off the layers, a mug of cocoa, and the warmth of a fire or a friend.