Introduction:

Catherine Lazers Bauers has been published in over 100 newspapers, magazines and literary journals. One Day on Earth is a collection of memoirs, essays and poems spanning her entire career as a writer.

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by Catherine Lazers Bauer Have you noticed that you can’t flip through a newspaper or magazine without facing a quiz? You can rate your mental dexterity or answer queries that facilitate self-evaluation, or — far more likely — help explain the eccentricities of family and friends. Sets of questions appear under miscellaneous heading: How happy are you? Are you well adjusted? How’s your sense of humor? Should you own a pet? Can you handle money? Do you like yourself? Do you prefer cabbage or candy, and what does this mean? Everything gets analyzed to death: fairy tales, hair length, eye movements, color choices, choice of pets, nightmares and dreams. Everything is scrutinized and interpreted as representing something else…deep and dark and hidden. Sometimes I think psychologists are dedicated killjoys. Feelings, God bless them, are to enjoy, not to analyze. Watch a kid go bouncing down a yellow brick road, then tell me how the whimsical “why” around his heart gets twisted into the weary, worrisome, diagnostic “why” of adulthood. When we put emotions under a microscope in order to dissect every thought, itemize every action, and categorize every insight, we lose that joyful spontaneity that is the effervescence of life. It’s fun, at least once in a while, to simply lap up the icing, ignoring the color, calories, and consistency. Thoughts and feelings make me me, and you, you. Wouldn’t you hate to gauge on a scale from one to ten the intensity of your reaction to those meaningful moments that plop into your lap at unexpected times? For example:

Outfoxing a blowhard.

Teaching a kid to tie his shoes or tell the time.

Having a friend write a poem — just for you.

Trusting a hunch and finding it right.

Doing your best, surprising yourself. (Damn, that’s good!)

Finding what you’ve been searching for.

Living and loving the fantasy you’ve read to a child.

Experiencing the shock of reading something true.

Following that with insight into you.

Sharing a secret and entering a soul.

Realizing your unique experience is universal.

Having your kid fill the gas tank after using the car.

Enjoying communication with your dog.

Experiencing the mysterious communication of the eyes.

Listening to birdsong.

Watching a bird take flight.

Watching a living tree cut down.

Watch your world turn green.

Or brilliant yellow,

Or rust,

Or white and silent.

Seeing a slaughtered deer at the edge of the road.

Dancing to the music, singing in tune.

Solitude in your quiet room.

Falling, falling — then suddenly being given wings.

The first, last, and in-between times that someone said, “I love you.”

Laughter. A happy smile.

Tears.

Being Appreciated.

Being at the right place at the right time and knowing it. Being suddenly interrupted while working — as I was just now — by someone you love, who wants to know, “Hey, can you spare a minute?” The call was to “Come real quick and look at the sky.”