Spring Break

We will be leaving today for Missoula, Montana so we will be away until Wednesday...If anyone cares.

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

Destroy 'the ego', hound it, beat it, snub it, tell it where it gets off? Great fun, no doubt, but where is it? Must you not find it first? Isn't there a word about catching your goose before you can cook it? The great difficulty here is that there isn't one. - 'Posthumous Pieces' by Wei Wu Wei

STUFF

Yesterday I was reading from some of the blogs that I visit and I noticed that many of them are saying the same thing. I know I have said this before, but I find in so intriguing that so many women feel the same way about so many things. Of course I have book marked or added to my favorites the blogs that appeal to me or that I find some common ground. But it is like finding a new friend that likes all the same things that you do, or feels the same way you do about certain things.

I do wonder sometimes what it is that gets us to tell perfect strangers the details of our lives, are we so in need of kinship, or are we doing a little self promoting, do we need some type of recognition or are we just experimenting with a new way of reaching out??
I know I started out wanting to learn about new art forms. I wanted to discover how others were using silver clay, where to get more jewelry supplies. Then I came across a blog, then it had links that I had to try, and then one of those would have more links and so on and so on. I left a comment on one and then I got an email back, Wow, I thought. I got an answer to a question, learned something and made a new friend.

Anyway, I have to say that I love reading certain blogs and finding out what is going on there, checking out suggested websites and I love looking at all the different art forms. And I do love when someone leaves a comment, it really is fun!!

So, even though my blog is still in it’s infancy and goes in a million different directions I am having a great time with it all.

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

My own Art Fest

I was a little sad that I didn’t sign up for Art Fest this year, I really wanted to go but I was a little intimidated. But I think I will for sure sign up to go to Art and Soul in Portland this October.
But in the mean time I will have my own Art Fest this weekend. Make some jewelry; make a journal, some cards or whatever sounds fun. Invite some friends, neighbors and my daughter and some of her friends. My ‘art room’ is somewhat organized now so we could break it in!!

Also, I discovered a new cool music program on the internet, Pandora.com. You can put in what type of music you like and then it sets a station just for you with the music that you like. It is pretty cool. Don’t worry I still love my Itunes.

Kind Thoughts

Ok, so I didn’t hurt anyone yesterday. I talked myself down, went for a walk, had a glass or two of red wine had a long talk with a friend.
It all worked out, as usual….
Trying to practice kindness everyday seems like it would be so easy…but like I said yesterday sometimes there are people out there who make it hard. Yes, I know, those are the people that need my kindness the most. But I am not perfect by any means, in fact I can be pretty crabby sometimes. I have been really trying to keep only good thoughts and let the negative thoughts go. I acknowledge them, think about the reason and then say good bye… I said I was trying and I will continue to try and I will continue to slip and then remind myself. This is an ongoing process and hopefully I continue to get better. I need healing thoughts now more than ever and I just don’t want to slip back into negativity


On another note, I am on my way to have some chocolate cream pie..no crust. So basically chocolate pudding!! That should really make me happy….

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

We say, "In calmness there should be activity; ' in activity there should be calmness." Actually, they are the same thing; to say "calmness" or to say "activity" is just to express different interpretations of one fact. There is harmony in our activity, and where there is harmony there is calmness. - D.T. Suzuki

had a bad day

You know how you really want to be considered a kind and caring person? You try to be happy and push the negative thoughts from your mind, try not to become irritated with the people around you, send loving thoughts to those who are pushing you over the edge and you keep repeating to yourself “you get what you give”, “you get what you give”.

Then you realize one day that this is really really hard….and you just want to kick someone’s ass, or tell the guy in the next cubicle to quit eaves dropping. You want to cry when someone yells at you and hurts your feelings; you don’t feel like sending them kind thoughts. You want to get in your car and drive as far away as you can, maybe to the beach, or to the nearest wine bar, or actually both.

Yesterday and today that is how I have felt. I want to go home and get in bed and read a book and not talk to anyone. But, of course I know that this would just feed how I am feeling, so instead I will get out my baseball bat, crack a few heads and be on my merry way!!

Actually, I will go for a walk with my friend Jen, who has just gone through a real loss and I will walk and talk and hopefully in my attempt to help her out I will pull myself up as well.

I know that this is normal; I just have been really trying to think only the good thoughts. But Man is that hard sometimes!!!!!

Monday

When you change the way you look
at things
The things you look at change

From the Daily OM-

An Astounding Affirmation
Springtime
Spring comes when the earth, coaxed by lengthening days and warmer temperatures, begins to awaken from her winter slumber. She stretches open to receive the rain that gives drink to flower buds and seedlings. She takes a deep breath, and on her exhale the leaves on trees unfurl like tiny flags heralding her revival as baby animals tumble forth, trumpeting the good news to all who will listen. Rebirth and repopulation fill the void of winter with flurry and fury as what appeared to be gone forever comes into being once again. Even though it happens this way every year, we stand in awe, our insides trembling sweetly like the legs of a new foal as we too are reborn.

This is when we fall in love, again, speak without thinking, say yes to things we would normally refuse. It becomes more difficult to say no when the whole world around us appears to be an astounding affirmation of the resilience, richness, and plain, perfect beauty of life. We may find ourselves feeling several years younger and 10 pounds lighter without changing a thing. We may feel the urge to cleanse our bodies with a new pattern of eating, clearing our kitchens of cold-weather comfort foods and filling them instead with lighter fare and fresh fruits and vegetables. We may clear our closets of old clothes or cut our hair to express a new facet of who we are, and who we might become.

Springtime inspires us to believe that, along with the earth, we too might change, release the past, and give birth to new ideas, new relationships, and new perspectives. In honor of spring, we could make a list of the many possibilities we envision for the future and bury it in the earth, surrendering the fertile seeds of our imaginations to the nurturing soil. In tune with the season, we can then watch in wonder as the last of the snow dissolves into the rich brown earth, and stark winter gives way to green possibility.

Renaissance Unity Thought for the Day

Renaissance Unity

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Friday, March 23, 2007 – Love

“If doubt, despair, and denial threaten to dismantle your dreams today, let Love rear up in your defense.”
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Today's Affirmation

God's love holds me steady.
Today's Meditation

Dear God,

Today we allow Your everlasting love to hold us steady through any challenging situation we might encounter.
You have a divine purpose for each of our souls, and Your love supports Your direction within us.
We are one with that love right now.
Thank You, God.

thought for the day

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Wednesday, March 21, 2007 – Friendship

“A friend is someone who knows your song, and sings it to you when you’ve forgotten it yourself.”
~Alan Cohen

Today's Affirmation

I attract spiritual friendships that support my soul.
Today's Meditation

Dear God,

I am so grateful for my spiritual friendships!
True friends reflect back to me the quality of my heart when I am unable to see it within myself.
They encourage me to grow beyond my present life situation.
That is why I cultivate spiritual friendships, both present and new ones!
Thank You, God, for friends who love and support my soul!

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

Healing

Renaissance Unity

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Sunday, March 18, 2007 – What Does Healing Look Like?

“Have you been waiting for a healing that doesn’t seem to come? The specific issue might be a disease or some physical ailment. Or maybe the condition was of an emotional or spiritual nature. Regardless of the cause, most of us have yearned for healing. Perhaps you are expecting the experience to look a certain way – according to your perception of the need? Healing comes in the form that best serves each individual souls growth.”

“As we release our preconceived ideas about how healing should appear, we experience the perfection that already exists for us in God. Are you ready to be whole?”
~Ric Beattie & Karen Boland

Today's Affirmation

I open my self to the healing power and presence of Love.
Today's Meditation

Dear God,

Thank You for expanding my understanding about healing.
I move forward through each condition and circumstance trusting that all is in divine order.
I am complete and whole in every way.
Peace and joy fill my heart and mind.
Wherever this journey leads, I know that You are with me always.
In this moment, I am whole just as I am.

Monday, a new week. New thought . New day.

Is it a woman thing? The way we need to have some connection with each other. Trying to find that community, that feeling have belonging to a group of like minded people? All the books and psychologists say that it is vital for women to have a close group of friends, a group that they can get together with and talk, play etc.
I have different friends. Friends for my book club, friends who are into making art, old friends, and new friends. But I am not very good at making plans and actually setting a time to spend with them. I think when you work all day you just want to go home and stay there. But then you miss out on what you know you need.

As I search through the internet and read the different blogs I see how many women like the same types of things, are saying the same thing, doing the same thing. It is stunning really to be able to hear from women all over the world and see that we are basically all the same.

So, here we have one more venue for creating a community.

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

It is important to recognize the power of our emotions--and to take responsibility for them by creating a light and positive atmosphere around ourselves. This attitude of joy that we create helps alleviate states of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair. Our relationships with others thus naturally improve, and little by little the whole of society becomes more positive and balanced. - Tarthang Tulku

What you need.

Isn’t it interesting how one thing leads to another? For instance, I have been having some issues with health. So, I go to the acupuncturist and we work on certain things, then as we are working we find that the one issue is a symptom of another problem that we hadn’t even thought of yet.

I then went to get a massage and the massage therapist starts talking about adrenal exhaustion, which is just what we had been discussing at the acupuncturist.

Then I go home and turn on the TV to PBS and I see a lecture with Dr. Christine Northrup discussing exactly what I needed to hear, she was confirming what the acupuncturist had said. Then I went to the used bookstore to kill some time and there was Dr. Northrup’s book on sale for $10.00.

So, someone is trying to tell me something and I need to make sure that I am listening.

I love that!!

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

I have not explained that the world is eternal or not eternal. I have not explained that the world is finite or infinite. - Buddha

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation
Let us live gladly! Quite certainly we are free to do it. Perhaps it is our only freedom, but ours it is, and it is only phenomenally a freedom. 'Living free' is being 'as one is'. Can we not do it now? Indeed can we not-do-it? It is not even a 'doing': it is beyond doing and not-doing. It is being as-we-are. This is the only 'practice'. 'All Else is Bondage; Non-Volitional Living' - Wei Wu Wei

It stays light till 6:30 now, it stays light till 6:30 now, it stays light till 6:30 now

Out of our caves we come.

 

The Week Begins

I got in trouble for the title of my last post. My daughter thought it was really dumb, It was like a “12 year old”…So, how embarrassing for her.
I kind of like the song I took that from, but what do I know??

I will try to keep my self under control from now on.

Weather

52°F
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SW at 8 mph
Humidity: 76% Today

53° | 31°
Tue

It’s the Freakin’ Weekend Baby!!

We had our book club meeting last night at Arlos’s. The book was Into the Wild, by Kim Barnes, everyone really enjoyed the book. I still haven’t finished….I have 3 other books going. But I will finish this weekend.
I want someone to read, The Best Seats in the House, by Keith Morris. Then report back to me. Please!
I think I may have an extra copy. It is a book of short stories written very well and very good….Come one someone.

Daylight savings time…Need I say more??? I feel a Woo Hoo coming on

Have a great day today..

Thursday, March 8, 2007 – Essence

“The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds,
the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the
energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in
the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.
~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Today's Affirmation

The essence of my being is healing love.
Today's Meditation

Dear God,

You are revealing to me a greater understanding of Your essence.
Your infinite vibration heals my mind, body and soul.
I am one with that healing love.
Reveal to me more of that healing love, God, so that I may radiate that love to everyone in my life.
Thank You, God.

just stuff

I finished all the book marks I needed. You know it was harder than I thought. When you are making something for a particular reason instead of just for fun it seems like you are more critical of yourself. Plus I had to sit at the kitchen table because the “room” is a total disaster. I can not get organized. I just want to hire a professional organizer to come and do the whole thing. So I didn’t really have access to all the things I wanted to use.

Speaking of book marks…I am reading the Sidney Poitier autobiography and it is quite good. I am also reading “Into the Wilderness” by Kim Barnes., for my book club and I really like it too. I think I have about 3 more unfinished books on the table. I finished “The Painted Drum” a couple of Sundays ago, and it was really good too.

We have been trying to go for a walk or a snow shoe every night after work while it is still somewhat light and finally yesterday it was actually sunny and nice out. In fact when we walked past the neighbor’s house he was out sweeping his driveway and he yelled out “IT ‘S SUMMER”.
Even though we still have snow everywhere, we here in North Idaho will take summer any way we can!! I even saw a guy out in his yard BBQ’ing.

So, spring is really on it’s way, hopefully, and E is planning some type of Spring break trip that I am sure we will not be able to afford and she will be mad that “we never do anything fun”!! She and her friend have been on the internet planning all sorts of extravagant trips, so who knows what they will come up with. I am sure it will be interesting…

Sherman Alexie new book

Just in time for my birthday...The new Sherman Alexie novel, Flight, it will be available in April.
He is one of my most favorite authors. I can not wait....

Summer Please

Ok, in the last couple of weeks I have spent about two million dollars on books, music and jewelry making stuff.
But, it was all necessary, I needed each and every book and the music is just as important. I can not do my job without music and I have to work to pay for all my books. So, you see it all makes sense.

Besides if I can’t read or make stuff I will go completely insane especially with this weather. I can not stand one more day of winter. Seriously, it is March, enough is enough!! I just want to go to the beach or ride my bike or work in the garden….

I just have to endure about 6 more weeks of this, but I am not sure if I can. I wonder how much it costs to go to Arizona, California, or maybe Fiji????

So, all I can do is dream about summer and buy more books!!!

Meditation for the day

Tuesday, March 5, 2007 – Connectedness

“Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls,
families, and nations.”
~Paramahansa Yogananda

Today's Affirmation

I am connected heart-to-heart with others.
Today's Meditation

Dear God,

Right now, I take a moment to feel my oneness
with those around me. I close my eyes and visualize
a light connecting my heart to the hearts of those around me:
in my family,
at my workplace,
and wherever I might be going today.
I am created from Your wholeness, and in that
understanding I find great love and compassion for all.
Today, I reach out in kindness and I realize my connectedness.

Remember

“Self-worth comes from one thing -- thinking that you are worthy.” -wayne dyer

This weekend I organized and cleaned. Made some bookmarks, some charms and went the the Big Bead Show for Rings & Things. I bought beads, beads and more beads.
The lake is still frozen over in some spots, but the girls thought they should go swimming anyway!! Ha.

A Shift in Thought Pattern

Where the Mind Goes, The Chi Flows.

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation

Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation
There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting, that there is only one thing that can be done, which is to disidentify themselves with the ego, by realizing its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure being. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei

Meditation for the day

Thursday, March 1, 2007 – Power of Words

“Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself, or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
~Don Miguel Ruiz


Four Agreements

Today's Affirmation

I choose not to give or receive gossip about anyone, anywhere in my life.
Today's Meditation

Dear God,

Help me to surrender my judgment about others and myself.
I realize that You gave me the capacity and intent to give love,
and receive love with my words, thoughts and actions.
When I use my word to gossip, I am not being impeccable with my word.
Please help me to realize when I do this so that I can make a conscious choice to use my word to spread love.
Thank You in advance for making this prayer true for me in every aspect of my life.