Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Peace Within is World Peace

This morning, I am thinking of my friend Mabel Katz, who I first met in Mexico, and may have blogged about before.  That said, I watched the video I've linked below and was reminded of so many things about being human and what we can do when we change our minds about our situations.  The Toltecs/Four Agreements folks talk about stopping the movie.  Mabel understands.  The movie is something we run or let others run for us every day, and it's not the truth.  The truth isn't what goes on outside ourselves, it's what goes on within ourselves.  Inner peace can be found when the movie is off and we can see the truth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piRRM_rJSQ4&feature=player_embedded

Monday, March 26, 2012

Time away

Vacations can be a time when we can relax, do or see something new or different, travel, or stay home.  They are times when we visit relatives or go to weddings.  They can be peaceful times or times of turmoil.  No matter what happens on vacation, it is still up to each of us to determine how we are going to react, and therefore how peaceful these times away may be.  I am adding a new picture to this blog that shows the boys swimming in the lake where I grew up on March 21.  It is a peaceful picture I have in my mind, the sun going down, the boys enjoying the water, the gently sound of small waves reaching the little beach by my feet.  It was a family visit with my mom who will be 93 this spring.  She 'doesn't feel death around' her, and she doesn't see any reason to die. She's in good mental and physical health and gets outside every day.  She made it clear that she loves us.  One of my better 'times away'.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Brave little bunny

There is a rabbit that visits my back yard in Carson City in the mornings.  He/she is sitting out there now.  I'm not sure why, or what's so appealing about the yard, but there you go.  He looks cold just sitting there, all bunched up with his front paws tucked under his belly.  The dogs are completely unaware.  The are resting peacefully on the couch.  Sometimes they notice and give chase, but at the moment our bunny is safe.  I suspect there are more than one living in the hill behind the house.  It makes me wonder what life must be like for them.  Do they have rich emotional lives?  Do they care about much?  How simple their lives must be.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Surprise Mornings

On the way to work this morning, I saw a rainbow over the Sierras to the northwest.  When I turned the corner, I saw sunlight streaming through a break in the clouds to the east.  I thought to myself, "god is out playing today."

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Weather

At one time, when I was spending a lot of time outdoors in the mountains in Maine and New Hampshire, I could predict really accurately how long it would take a storm to reach me.  One of my disappointments as I've gotten older has been that my circumstances have taken me from those places and activities to a situation where weather prediction isn't necessary.  I miss the energy of a good thunder/lightning storm, the sight of a rainstorm approaching across the lake, the roll of the clouds over the mountains bringing snow; signals that shelter should be sought, the hike abandoned - or at least retreat below tree line.  I have watched a thunderstorm from above the cloud line, I have seen snow fall up, I have felt rain blown onto the side of my leg.  I miss that.  Maybe I should spend more time outdoors.  :)

Friday, March 9, 2012

Take the First Step

The longest journey starts with a single step.  I don't know who first said that.  Probably someone from 'way back' like Aristotle or something.  It sounds like something he'd say... and it's true.  When we know how long the journey is, or when we don't that first step must be taken.  It did not occur to me that we might get stuck at the start, and it seemed slow at first, but that first step is now taken and we can move on.  Sometimes that first step takes a LOT of preparation.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Play all the Music

Every once in awhile, I try to play through all my music.  Sometimes I skip the holiday stuff.  The idea that I can actually have it all together in one place [iPod] used to just amaze me.  Now I rely on it.  When I think back to when I was young and had one album, the Rolling Stones first record sold in the US, that I would play over and over, and not with head phones... my whole family had to listen with me as there was one record player in the house.  Playing all the music then took a lot less time than now.  I can listen for days and not get through all my music.  I can do it privately, at work, in the car, while I'm dropping off to sleep, to wake me up in the morning.  Surf music and Italian pop, rap and country, folk music and hip-hop, with a little disco thrown in of course.  Its all music I picked myself.  Its all a reflection of something about me.  It all speaks to me.  All the music is me.  I am all the music.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Let the Games Begin

Some tasks have lots of lead-up.  Planning work that lays the path for the work, people to wrangle into cooperation and paperwork to be submitted and approved... then gone over again when some small detail changes.  Eventually everything comes together and the project just sort of magically begins to roll.  Items are where they need to be at the time, people perform as expected, things start taking shape, money [if involved] shows up just when it's needed.  Ahhh.  Enjoy.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Illness

Sometimes when you're sick, it's just your body saying "slow down already!" Maybe there has been a lot of stress, maybe you just had a massage and your body remembers what it's like to relax again, and it wants more, maybe you got so run down, your body couldn't fight off another stray sneeze. OK. Pay attention. What's the lesson? Our bodies give us clues all the time, and we ignore them. I am especially adept at that. :) Every cell in my body is engineered to be healthy and function correctly. Sometimes I feel bad that I get in the way of that.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Kathy's Dad

When I make toast, butter it and put a little jam on, I think of Kathy's dad.  He owned a little coffee shop/cafe/diner in New Haven.  I never went there.  One morning he made us breakfast at home and talked about buttering toast and about how much jam to use.  He said that when you have less, you taste it more.  At the time I was 18, had just met this man, and was quite occupied with other things going on.  I did not expect that this simple idea would become some sort of constant thread through my life.  This morning, when I made myself some toast, I thought of Kathy's dad.  It occurred to me that that has been happening without fail for 40 years, and that makes me very happy.