(credit: scootergonscoot Twitter)
I think that there is no other time of year than around Halloween, that you see everyone’s creativity come out more vividly than ever. Fall is certainly a colorful time of year, isn’t it? I love it! Here’s hoping for a fun and wonderful and easy-going week for all of us!
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
i i i i i i
i i i ii
i I i i i
ii i i
i i iii i i i
About a week ago, I was reading magazines by my pool. Ralphie, our swimming-obsessed yellow Labrador was thrilled to have me out there with him. He jumped out of the pool to greet me, and he shook all of the water off of his 100-pound self, which landed all over my magazines. This has happened before. I know the drill, but this time, I had barely even begun to read my magazines. I almost considered it a loss, and tossed them unread, into the recycling bin, but something made me hold on to my Spirituality and Health magazine. I let it dry off, and I am so glad that I did. This weekend, I got to read (albeit on extremely wavy, wrinkly pages) an article by Kevin Anderson, who is a regular contributor to the magazine. And it turns out that this particular article is just what I needed to read, right at this very time in my life. Isn’t that how the Universe works?
Kevin Anderson explains the visual, which I rudimentarily created above. When you are in the middle of a sh*tstorm in your life (for lack of a better term), and everything seems chaotic and overwhelming, it is best to stay in the “I” of the storm. If the above visual represents one of life’s hurricanes which we all go through from time to time, we must be like birds. We must learn to stop fighting against the storm and to stay in the “I” of it, in order to be safe and to be centered. Kevin describes each version of the letter I/i’s this way:
i/i = “The small-i version of us is quite expert at generating fearful, stressed-out, depressing thoughts. The small-i self becomes part of the swirling storm in which we are caught when life feels like too much.”
I = “The large-I version of us is the eye of the storm. That self is capable of observing the storm swirling all about us both in the outer events of life and in our small self’s stressed-out approach to them. The large Self is the only version of us that knows how to return over and over to “I accept that this is here now.” But the large-I does not stop with noticing our judgments that life should be other than it is. It has the wisdom to act on whatever needs to be acted on from a centered, non-reactive place.”
Kevin then goes on to talk about birds who are migrating in the winter and inadvertently get caught up in big storms. Birds are wise and intuitive enough to stay in the eye of a hurricane, versus trying to desperately fly against it, or out of it. Even if the hurricane takes the birds a little off track from where they were originally planning to go, the birds know that they will eventually, safely reach landfall. He suggests that when our fear thoughts are swirling like a storm, we need to think of these thoughts as “a bell calling us to a brief meditation practice. When we notice fearful thoughts, we can breathe as if we have a direct connection to the highest virtues available.”
Just the reminder that the “I” part of us is always with us, and always available to us, in the steady, deepest center of each and every one of us, is such a comfort. The “I” part is the only part of us which is eternal, peaceful, non-judgmental, wise, and clear. The small-i versions of us are ego-based, and they are constantly changing with the winds of our outside circumstances, and the different people and the unique situations in our lives. The small-i versions of us are not eternal. They change with the winds. The bottom line of the article is the reminder to always stay with the “I” when you are feeling off track. Notice your small-i “freak outs” and gently move back to the “I” as often as needed. “I” will never steer you wrong.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
I hope that my husband doesn’t take this post personally. My poor husband threw his back out on Friday, and he was understandably quite cranky throughout the weekend. He’s typically a very busy, energetic person. His weekends usually contain a lot of yard work, pool cleaning, long biking excursions, fishing, boating, gym workouts, grilling etc. My husband is a “do-er” personality. Sadly, this weekend, his back muscles put all of that on hold, and he was not a happy camper. Luckily, my husband seems to getting a little bit better each day. Isn’t that the way with every trauma? Every day you just get a little teeny, tiny bit better. It certainly is a lesson in patience, though.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller
“One of the most healing things you can do is recognize where in your life you are your own poison.” – Steve Maraboli
“Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.” – Sai Baba
(credit: Rex Masters Twitter)
We had taken down some artwork when we switched around our bedrooms this past spring. There was a print that had been hanging in my daughter’s room, which I had always liked, but she considered it too childish for her evolving teenage tastes. The print had been done by an artist from the past, named H. Willebeek Lemair. Lemair was a Dutch artist who later changed her name to “Saida.” Her artwork mostly depicts women and children and has a fanciful, cartoonish quality.
The wonderful thing about the internet, is that it is like having an art gallery right in the palm of your hands. The picture inspired me to peruse the internet for other pieces of Lemair’s art, which lead me to artists who had similar styles of painting, to hers. I started printing out any pictures which I really liked, to paste into my calendar and into my inspirational notebooks. In the end, I had a little pile of about ten pictures that moved me. What turned out to be the biggest surprise of my little exercise, was the insight which I received when I looked through the pictures that I had printed out. I thought that I had printed the artwork, with no real rhyme or reason. They were just individual pictures that had visually moved me, more than any others which I had perused. Interestingly, it turns out that the majority of the paintings (created by a variety of artists), depicted young women reading books. All but one of the pictures, had at least one book as a focal point in the painting. Unbeknownst to the conscious part of me, there was a real, true “theme” to my collection.
I think that our passions and purposes, pop out of us, every which way they can. Our passions are hard to contain, even when we try to tamp them down or to change them. The deepest part of ourselves sends hints to us, all of the time, if we take the time to be “self sleuths.” I have read that if you are having trouble figuring out your deepest passions and motivations, try to remember what you most liked to do as a child. When we were children, we were less conditioned by our experiences and the world around us. Our passions played more innocently on the surface, when we were young kids. Follow what really grasps your attention during your daily activities, and ask yourself “why?” and then, take your time to explore the answer. Keep a dream journal. Our subconscious is quiet, but persistent. It begs to be noticed, if we look for the clues.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
This feels like the story of my life, lately. The mystery of why I came into the kitchen (well, I might as well get a snack, while I’m in here) . . . . why am I looking at my calendar? Am I sure that I even wrote on my calendar, whatever it is that I am searching for? . . . . Oh no! Something smells mildew-y. I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer! . . . . Where are my glasses and phone? Oh, they’re on top of my head and next to my ear (frightening true story) . . . Did I already take my vitamins? . . .
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
Are you passing on love, or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
Joe: Hey, we never found out what 22’s purpose was.
Counselor Jerry B: Excuse me?
Joe: You know, her spark. Her purpose. Was it music? Biology? Walking?
Counselor Jerry B: We don’t assign purposes. Where did you get that idea?
Joe: Because I have piano. It’s what I was born to do. That’s my spark.
Counselor Jerry B: A spark isn’t a soul’s purpose. Oh, you mentors and your passions. Your purposes. Your meanings of life. So basic.
Dorothea: [after Joe has a successful first performance] What’s wrong, Teach?
Joe: It’s just I’ve been waiting on this day for my entire life. I thought I’d feel different.
Dorothea: I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to this older fish, and says, “I’m trying to find this thing they call the ocean. “The ocean?” Says the older fish. “That’s what you’re in right now.” “This?” Says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean.” See you tomorrow.
Counselor Jerry A: So what do you think you’ll do? How are you going to spend your life?
Joe: I’m not sure. But I do know, I’m going to live every minute of it.
Hello friends and readers!! I missed you! I hope that you had a lovely weekend. I did. Yesterday, was not only Easter, but also my wonderful husband’s birthday, and today is my amazing eldest son’s birthday. (We are in one of those Family Birthday Clumps. Every family has them.) Today my eldest son is 25. I was 25 when I had my son. It’s surreal. This will be the only time in our lives when my son is half of my age. As I told him this morning, having and raising our first baby was so delightful, that we had three more, after him! I am so blessed with my beautiful family. Their birthdays bring that into acute focus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Last night we capped the weekend off with a viewing of a fabulous movie. If you haven’t yet seen Disney Pixar’s Soul, stop what you are doing, and watch it right now. The quotes above are from the movie. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen Soul until yesterday. It’s a marvelous movie. The theme of the movie is this: Your life isn’t about any one purpose, or any one moment. Your life is about living. Your life is about all of the moments. Your life is about the experience of every moment of living. Live your life in awe. That is all.
The movie was right up my alley. See you tomorrow, my soulmates!!!
I love nerds. I’m pretty sure that I am a nerd. I think that we nerds are just oblivious nonconformists. People think that intentional nonconformists don’t care about what people think, but that is not true. Intentional nonconformists are rebels with a cause. These instigating people are often looking to get a lot of attention, and a rise out of people. Often the rebels care about what people think, every bit as much as the strict, careful conformists do. Oblivious nonconformists are just their authentic selves. My eldest son once dated a very confident young lady (I think that she was a physics major), who would sometimes wear a t-shirt that said “NERD” in lovely, fancy lettering. I loved her for that . . . . Nerds rule. We all have a little wee bit of “nerd” in us. Find it and embrace it. You’ll have more fun. Hint: your nerdiness can usually be found in activities that you enjoy so much, that you would do it to the point of abandon, if you allowed yourself to be free. Whatever activity which you like to do, so much, whether it be reading, or dancing, or painting, or singing, or wood carving, or fish keeping, or collecting cow figurines, that you might forget to eat, or to sleep, or forget where you even are, in the midst of doing said activity. When you leave judgment out of the equation (who cares if you are “good” at your favorite activity or not – in other words, who cares what anybody thinks??) and you do whatever activity speaks to the most joyful part of yourself, and you do it to pure abandon, you are experiencing your inner nerdiness and geekdom. Doesn’t it feel great?? Again, nerds rule.
Are you passing on love, or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I was reflecting on one of those “coming into my age” moments. Last week, I was having a Zoom meeting with my mentee, who is in the 4th grade. She made a reference comparing me to her grandparents.
“Oh,” I said, trying to hide the horror and shock I was feeling, in my voice. “So, you think that I’m about the age of your grandparents?” I looked off to the side, trying to look casual and only mildly interested.
“Oh, no, no,” she said, not so convincingly.
But then I thought about it more. Her mother is in her twenties. I have a son who is 24 years old. If her grandmother also had her mother in her young twenties, there is even a chance that her grandparents are younger than I am. Things That Make You Go, Hmmmmm.
Happy Monday-Fun-day! It’s just too easy to online shop these days, isn’t it? Yesterday, I managed to break a bright red bottle of nail polish on the floor of our recently remodeled laundry room. It splattered everywhere. It looked like a horrific murder scene. My husband had to stop his grilling (a recently reacquainted past passion of his), in order to help me to clean it all up, in a big hurry. It’s moments like these when you realize that you have married the right person. He was really kind and good-natured about the whole fiasco and we got it cleaned up more easily than I had hoped. Partners in crime, for better or for worse.
I don’t think that I’ll be getting one of these for the Christmas tree. How about you??
I’m on my last day of my trip in the mountains and I finally had an incredibly good night’s sleep last night. Why does that always happen? Just when your body gets settled into it’s new environment and routine, it is time to leave. 🙁
I have to admit that this is a really good way to do a Monday, however. Have a great day and I great week, my dear friends and readers.
