holy rolling

So, what was my 12-year-old son doing delightedly AWOL from school yesterday? Taking an impulsive journey to Seattle to see the Dalai Lama on the last of the five-day Seeds of Compassion conference. This is the son who was celebrated in Psychology Today Magazine
last year for calling 911 after I took away his Gameboy, and, frankly, I felt that the peer pressure of some 60,000 people in the University of Washington arena listening to stories of compassion from the DL and Desmond Tutu, and others, might help advance his moral education. True, we shared the same sheepish expression when we had to chant repeatedly, "We are the seeds of compassi-onnnnn; we're ready to sow the seeds of compassion, right now!" But it was nonetheless -- I suspect -- a transformative event for him (though he may only realize that decades from now!) and felt so right, in the non-hokey moments, to be turning our attention for a day onto the subject of human evolution. Or its potential, at any rate. I also really like the fact that the DL said repeatedly over the week that his first teacher of compassion was -- you guessed it! His mom.

My kids got a double-dose of role models this week, as my husband and I dragged them to the Goldman awards on Monday. This was the first time in the 5 years we've gone to this amazing ceremony that we dared to bring them, and they actually did us proud, not spitting on anyone from the balcony, and even discussing the heroic achievements of the half-dozen recipients afterwards.

...And, because it's getting impossible for me to wind up a blog without mentioning global warming, I just have to add that as ambivalent I've felt at times, living in Marin County, with the Priuses in the driveway and hot-tubs in the back yards, I was so proud this morning to see my home featured on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle as potentially the first big US county to opt for independent power. By the end of next year, the county and several other co-conspirators, may break away from our very profitable electric utility,

PG&E, which may well be one of the greenest power firms in the US today, but is nowhere near where we need it to be in terms of breaking away from fossil fuels.

Off to watch the debates...hey, maybe the kids will join us! Kids?... Kids?????