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Rock, Paper, Scissors

One December evening after a rehearsal, after I packed up my guitar and music into the car, I looked at the odometer, which read 24,008. I remarked, “I’m eight miles into January.” If you’ve ever leased a car, you’ll understand that this meant that, at the end of the second year of leasing my car, I was over my 1,000-miles-a-month budget. What a metaphor for this life!

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, in my family (and at school from the guidance counselor) I learned that if a woman did work outside the home, she most likely worked as a nurse, a teacher or a secretary; it didn’t matter as she was eventually supposed to marry and become a stay-at-home mother and a homemaker (and “Que sera, sera” sang Doris Day).

I became a secretary in 1969 (to this day I can’t stand watching “Mad Men” because I don’t want to relive that era in my life). I was married in 1972 when all the rules to the actual game of life changed (I absolutely hated playing the board game as a child!), and life only got more confusing than ever! But there’s been a lot of living and learning since then. And, as I navigate the crossroads of mid-life, I am grateful to learn about Eckhart Tolle’s concept of “living in the now” (The Power of Now). ~Christina Nordstrom

 

 

Lyrics

 

Rock, Paper, Scissors
            By Christina Nordstrom

I’m eight miles into January, ‘n “miles to go” till spring.
But here it is December – true to form, I’m rushing things.
Seems I’ve had some trouble lately staying in “the Now,”
for the budget’s beyond empty; where’m I going anyhow?

“Rock, paper, scissors” – it’s been a lifelong game.
I left to chance the things I loved, even my own name.
But a crossroad is before me, and I’m faced with wondering how
to get back on the high road that leads me into “Now.”

For everything, a time and place – in every place and time.
I’ve been stuck back in the 50s waiting for some verse to rhyme.
Though no one ever told me, I found out just the same,
that the rules had been rewritten for playing “Life” – the game.

“Rock, paper, scissors” – it’s been a lifelong game.
I left to chance the things I loved, even my own name.
But a crossroad is before me, and I’m faced with wondering how
to get back on the high road that leads me into “Now.”

Now standing at the junction of “The Truth That Lies Within”
and the rocky road of suffering, an “Illusion of the Mind,”
I choose the path to “Presence” and to “Peace that knows no end,”
‘n looking forward to the journey, with grateful thanks begin.

“Rock, paper, scissors” – it’s been a lifelong game.
I left to chance the things I loved, even my own name.
With the crossroad there before me, I’m finally learning how
to get back on the high road that leads me into “Now.”

 

Credits

released July 25, 2019
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Performed by Earth Harmony

Christina Nordstrom, lead vocals and guitar
Michelle Glidden, back-up vocals and guitar
Ric Bailey, 12-string guitar, bass guitar
Bruce Joy, banjo

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