Blooms Day/Anniversary

Today is Blooms Day - June 16, the day in which Leopold Bloom's entire day in Dublin is imagined/narrated by James Joyce in his novel Ulysses.

The photo is of a plaque embedded in the sidewalk on Dawson Street in Dublin.  On this day in Dublin (and other places, although I don't see really why), folks walk and gather in the places mentioned in the book, perhaps eating and drinking and reading excerpts from the rambling book.

It's also my wedding anniversary!  Twenty-two years!  Marrying my husband was the best and smartest thing I have done in my whole life.  I think our marriage has been the kind of anchor for both of us that has grounded us but has not demanded we stay safely parked somewhere, fused together and fearful about growth or change.  We have striven for interdependence, not dependence.  We have not been afraid of growth and change, and our marriage has been a steady and safe place that has nurtured exploration, growth, fulfillment.  (He's been more steady; I had the most growing to do.)  Within our marriage, we have sought to give each other the space to become truly who we are and to do what we believe we are called to do, to grow into what God has called us to be - committed to one another and to our family, striving to live out our vocations with integrity, always trying to discern how to live out our faith in gratitude to God.  It's not always easy to be figure out how to be married and still "free to be you and me" as it says in the old song, to be "responsible to" without drifting in to the less-healthy "responsible for."  And we have not always been able to live into our hopes and dreams without some struggle and disappointment. We've each had to make sacrifices.  But I think we have for the most part succeeded, especially because neither of us has had to make all the sacrifices and because we know that we cannot demand sacrifice, only offer it.  We know the power we have over one another, and, out of love, we have declined to exercise that power.  For richer and for poorer, for better and for worse, and in sickness and in health....

I wrote about Blooms Day last year, about our arriving in Dublin on that day six years ago.  That post is here.  For a great article about how to celebrate Blooms Day without leaving your computer, check out this post at Slate.

This year it's also my younger son's first day back at home after his own trip to Ireland.  You can read about his adventures on his group's blog here.  (I highly recommend it - especially if you want to learn something about teenagers who actually participate in church stuff!)

So the day is bound up in all sorts of things - family, marriage, children, celebration, literature, travel, exotic adventure.   I like a good mixture of all of those things! I hope you are having a great day as well.