Sharing Simcha -- Part IX

I took one last walk through the camp, reliving the moments, the friendships, the inspiration that the very ground bore witness to. My heart was stirred and my feet didn't want to leave, but deep inside I knew it was time to move on. I was ready.

And yet...

Regret and envy. The feelings that come forth now, looking back. Regret that there were moments I squandered when maybe I could have given more. Regret that there were still so many special people I hadn't gotten to know better. Envy of the youngsters just about to embark on their first Simcha experience with all the moments still theirs to grab. Envy of those who truly live up to their special reputation.

Next time I walk those hallowed grounds, iy"H, will be as an outsider. Someone else will have taken over my job, my bed, my rotation shift. I won't recognize three quarters of the staff and they will never know that I spent n years doing their job. It'll hit hard.

Don't know why I'm getting so maudlin about this. After all, I disinvited myself. See, they have this policy, "Ein me'arvin Simcha b'simcha." Which is what this whole post was going to be about. I guess the fact that my thoughts are still in camp is part of my answer to SD's dare (bet, whatever.) Though I wouldn't turn down any iced coffee, anyhow...

Around the Corner

Through the maze of life
if only we could see
What waits around the corner
an unknown mystery

"Mommy!" cries the child,
teary and alarmed
While just around the corner
she waits with open arms

Life is filled with fear
of what might lie ahead
But what's around the corner
might not warrant dread

Check your watch again
still no bus in sight
But just around the corner
it's waiting at a light

The path on which you walk
seems so grim and bleak
But just around the corner
lie answers that you seek

I wish that I could show you
what the future holds
But turning 'round the corner
is the only way to know

It may yet be a journey
or perhaps it's very near
But I'll walk you to that corner
to where the coast is clear!

Coming Next!

I haven't posted about tznius in a while, but being a Bas~Melech, it's always close to my heart. In fact, it's an issue that weighs heavily in the lives of Jewish girls and women everywhere, yet much of the literature on the subject is preachy, patronizing, or just irrelevant. Today I'm holding a book that promises to be different.

6 Diaries is based on the journals kept by a group of actual Jewish teenage girls as they participated in what seems to have been a kind of tzniyus support group. Its aim appears to be simply to express and share what tzniyus means to real people.

The paperback weighs in at a respectable yet manageable 200 pages. Cover design is quite clean and contemporary, though a little crowded on the spine and back. Nothing a teen should be embarrassed to be seen with (Oz vehadar, anyone?) though that doesn't guarantee anything ;-). The six teen narrators are denoted by little icons -- I wouldn't have minded a change in font as well, but I can appreciate the uniformity too. Nothing particularly distinctive about the font choices overall, but very readable and enough white space all around. Not something I take for granted in frum publications. Though the diary entries vary in length, all are rather brief, so I anticipate a smooth, easy read (like a blog! One of the many things I love about Miracle Ride, too). Overall a very nice-looking book.

What's that? You don't judge a book by its cover? You just don't have any appreciation for the graphic designers in this world, do you. Oh well, then, give me a couple of days to read and then come back for the full review. Stay tuned!

Breaking Free

When I tried to lean on you
you let me fall
When I tried to follow you
you led me wrong
When I tried to talk to you
you closed your ears
When I tried to be with you
you disappeared

Now you wonder where I've gone
Why don't you understand
that you've taught me that I have to
hold my own hand
Maybe when I finish learning
to stand on my own feet
I'll come back to you and try again
And you can lean on me