May 9, 2011 at 12:15 am | Posted in Barton's Blogs, Ramblings | Leave a comment
Tags: Barton Cutter, communication, daily living, disability, disability and love, disability and marriage, disability and relationships, disability self advocacy, recreation
Hello all! It’s been quite some time since Megan and I have added to our blog, and to those who have been waiting I apologize. 2011 has blossomed for us like a fiery bromeliad, radiant in color and pulsing with life-giving potential. Within this current of excitement and possibility, I have become increasingly alert and respondent to the ever-evolving cycles that are present in our lives, both individual and collective, as well as their need to be fully expressed.
Whether or not we’re aware of it, we are constantly engaging in multiple cycles at once, from the most basic of life cycles to those of our environment to how we choose to express ourselves. Many of these life patterns occur beneath our conscious awareness yet, our gift as human beings is our ability to recognize and discover deeper meaning to these processes as they unfold within and around us. At the same time, it can become extremely easy in our modern culture to either ignore or even interrupt these natural cycles.
For me, giving my own cycles, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual, greater attention has allowed me to process life’s natural ebb and flow more fully leading me to a richer experience of whatever may be happening at a given time. It has also made me more cognizant of the subtleties that can be found within each. Along with this attention to subtlety has come a more refined ability to see how and where I have not permitted these cycles to play out fully and lead to stilted or incomplete expressions of intent which, in turn, leave me agitated and groping for resolution.
Both Megan and I have spent much of this year working with what appears, at one level, to be great speed and decisiveness, yet this outward result has stemmed, to a great extent, from periods of inner stillness, following impulses, and gaining clarity from vital learning. At times we have coincided in our internal patterns, while at other interludes it has been important for one of us to follow our own intuitions within those rhythms and notice its undertones. The result, from my vantage point, has been an exquisite intermingling of our ability to move and respond to our vision for who we are as individuals and as a couple.
April 12, 2010 at 1:23 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: Barton Cutter, fun, humor, recreation, time together
Last weekend, Megan and I went swimming together for the first time in who knows how long. It felt absolutely wonderful, not only because we had the chance to do something we both love and enjoy each other’s company at the same time, but also because neither of us has had the chance to swim in a while. Heck, I don’t think I’ve been in a pool since before we were married!
I’ve always loved the water, as does Megan, and though we’ve talked on numerous occasions about finding the time to swim together, this is the first time it actually happened.
We arrived at the pool with the intention of both of us swimming laps. We decided that it was likely best that Megan swim first; that way, I wouldn’t be sitting on the side of the pool cold, wet, and itching to go. After about a half an hour, Megan finished her workout and it was my turn to dive in, well, ok…
it was more of a slow submergence with the help of a chair lift but the truth is that I would have been much happier diving in. Anyway, once I was in the pool it took us a while to find the right depth, which is usually around five feet for me, and for me to remind Megan what I needed to help me swim. But after this was sorted out, I was off in a splash.
I’ve always wondered how it must look from someone else’s prospective when I swim as, the way I go about it is to have whoever is assisting me drop me. From there, dogpaddle a bit, which must look like a drowning rat attempting to wrestle an angry sea creature and losing miserably. Then as I find the need to take a breath, I drop to the bottom and push off the floor with my feet with enough force to thrust my entire upper torso into the air, fill my lungs, and start the process over.
Now, I used to have this refined to the point that I could swim a mile and a half with this method but after five years or more, I found myself gasping after only one lap. I can’t wait to go again!
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Love Rolls On! Unlikely tales of marriage, love and disability 