Arid

dictionary with letter A

Arid: (adj) A climate having little or no rain; too dry or barren to support vegetation.

Green grass is beautiful. No doubt about it.

Yet eventually it requires your intervention with a mower.

Mountains are stunning in their visage. Yet somehow or another, they compel you to climb them, which is annoying, to say the least. They can also become quite frigid when the calendar says tepid.

The ocean is gorgeous and powerful. But whether you like it or not, sometimes in its more stormy brawls, it intrudes on us “land-lubbers.”

On the other hand, the desert is nearly perfect. Because it lacks vegetation, does not require water and is ancient in its days, it really doesn’t request much from the surrounding mortals. Yet in its simplicity, it reminds us that:

  • we live on a planet
  • we are part of a cosmos
  • and if we don’t allow the moisture of experience and compassion into our lives, we, too, can dry out and become arid.

I know it may seem strange, but I do love the desert. However, you have to be careful because it is so hot and dry that you may become unaware of your need to hydrate.

So as long as you remember that the desert can live without water but you can’t, you can stroll around and enjoy the complexity of rock formations which have been beaten by the sands of time and the mood swings of Mother Nature.

The desert reminds me that the earth does meet the heavens–and we are all intended to live as one.

     

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    Appeal

    dictionary with letter A

    Appeal: to be attractive or interesting: activities that appeal to all.

    Attractive.

    For a moment, let us escape the normal interpretation of being beautiful or handsome. Attractive actually means “to attract.”

    Many years ago, I was at a convention and a beauty queen sat down next to me and we started a conversation. She was very relaxed because…well, honestly, I’m not very good-looking. I had no intentions of hitting on her because I was married. I seemed safe.

    As she related the story of her life and situation, her eyes filled with tears. At length she said, “Do you know what really pisses me off? I never really know if anybody likes me because all the men want to make love to me.”

    I was startled.

    Moments earlier, I was convinced that this young girl had everything. She was pretty, slender, poised and obviously a winner. But these physical attributes were so plentiful that she wasn’t really able to attract anything in her direction except male bees trying to invade her hive.

    It was disconcerting to her. It was unfulfilling.

    I walked away from that discussion with a strange sense of peace. Even though I will never attract anyone solely based upon my visage, I have decided to use my brain, talent and spirit to be the means by which I welcome others into my life.

    Attractive does mean “to attract”–and being attractive means that we have a certain amount of appeal.

    But wisdom is deciding what we should lead with.

    Because what we use to attract others always determines the type of individuals we snag.

     

     

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    Amorphous

    dictionary with letter A

    Amorphous: (adj.) without a clearly defined shape or form.

    That’s me.

    I found a word that describes my physicality.

    I have pretty big feet, strong legs, an ever-present belly, a plump chest and a head that is somewhere between a regal Roman senator and a troll.

    There you go.

    Now I have a word for it. But the trouble with such words is that if you use them in public and have to explain them, you come across really annoying.

    So I guess I’m just stuck calling myself by my name, and letting it be associated with my visage.

    We spend an awful lot of time worrying about body image, when all being accomplished, the most important thing we can do in life … is be interesting.

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