In the beginning

Last Tuesday I was sitting in my car, having a break from my very stressful, yet very rewarding job and I let a fantasy seep into my consciousness and linger. KPFK, my favorite radio station, was presenting Marc Allen's ideas about how to be a lazy, yet successful entrepreneur. My ears perked up as I continued to enjoy the sun shining on my too-sensitive skin and aching muscles. My fibromyalgia was gearing up while my mind was at peaceful rest drifting from one tasty idea about leisure time pursuits to another.

I thought about how I had spent my long weekend. I had taken Monday off and spent most of the last two days outside refinishing furniture I rescued from curb sides in Glendale and Sun Valley with the assistance and patience of my dear husband Greg. I remembered how satisfying I found working with wood despite my acceptance that my skills are rudimentary at best. I washed off mysterious layers of dust, dirt and dead bugs with a smile on my face as I began to see old yet lovable lines and dinged planes revealed. I planned, I painted, I paper machied. I was happy doing my small part to rob our local landfill of items that still had a little life left. I was happy working with my hands to make something beautiful and useful.

I decided to follow Mr. Allen's suggestion and allow myself to conduct a delicious experiment with the little slice of my life that isn't programmed. It's so fantastic, so unrealistic, so hard to explain the how and the why that I haven't really told anybody about it. I guess it's a secret at this point. One that I'll keep until I have rational words to describe what suluhisha peacework is.

However, I can cheerfully share with anyone caring enough to ask (or to read) what suluhisha means. The definition of this lovely Swahili word that resonated most with me during my brief web search for a name for this experiment is: a verb meaning to work peace, to bring about harmony. I can't think of a better name or a better way to spend the loose change of my life.