Choose kindness… and suddenly you are diverting another conflict.
Yesterday, Annapolis set the stage for a day of peace talks. Country leaders came together to “try” to find some sort of resolution for their conflict. It is a big step down a very long road of centuries of differences. There is no overnight solution, but it IS a step in an optimistic direction.
And what are WE doing, this very moment, to promote peace? I am not even talking about global peace, but about keeping peace in our lives. Are we keeping peaceful thoughts or are we wishing our sandwich were a gun so we can shoot the server who took so long bringing it to our table? Of course, we have all experienced rage and anger, but how can we consciously, from a grassroots level, facilitate a peaceful world if we are enmeshed in violent video games and movies or tuned-in to robotic talking heads reporting on daily violent events from our own backyard to the other side of the world? Conflict is prevalent. It is humanity’s shadow-side manifest. And world peace is a beautiful concept, but it starts at home. It is true: as long as we inhabit this earth, there will always be a penchant for the “dark side”. Are we strong enough to honor this by allowing it to show us the way toward our own lightness of being? Or do we allow ourselves to get swept away in the flow of it’s current? I don’t know, and time will certainly tell, but I do believe we have a choice. So, in the meantime, try asking yourself “Would I rather be right… or kind?” It’s a small step, but it’s a step in an optimistic direction.
Sat Nam and Peace.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Hang Your Hat
Fly… and suddenly you realize the whole world is at your doorstep.
Home. They say it’s where the heart is, where you hang your hat… but John Cage sums it up neatly: “We carry our homes within us which enables us to fly.”
When I think about Thanksgiving, I immediately associate it with “home”, a warm hearth with family all around. There is a gratifying sense of abundance and satiation. I know this sounds idealistic and it probably is, because along with this sense of cozy satisfaction can come the stresses of the day; planning, cleaning, cooking, more cleaning and striving for family peace while buttons are being pushed all around.
Some of us travel for this holiday, visiting family, or vacationing. Some are doing business in a far-away land, some of us are fighting a war, or merely displaced due to circumstances beyond our control.
No matter what Thanksgiving holds for us or where we spend it, may we stay close to our hearts, our truth, our divine light and give thanks in knowing that we are really and truly home wherever we may be.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Home. They say it’s where the heart is, where you hang your hat… but John Cage sums it up neatly: “We carry our homes within us which enables us to fly.”
When I think about Thanksgiving, I immediately associate it with “home”, a warm hearth with family all around. There is a gratifying sense of abundance and satiation. I know this sounds idealistic and it probably is, because along with this sense of cozy satisfaction can come the stresses of the day; planning, cleaning, cooking, more cleaning and striving for family peace while buttons are being pushed all around.
Some of us travel for this holiday, visiting family, or vacationing. Some are doing business in a far-away land, some of us are fighting a war, or merely displaced due to circumstances beyond our control.
No matter what Thanksgiving holds for us or where we spend it, may we stay close to our hearts, our truth, our divine light and give thanks in knowing that we are really and truly home wherever we may be.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A Search Engine With Heart
** Make charitable contributions by using goodsearch.com.**
GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, it's powered by Yahoo!.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter the charity of your choice. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime!!!
Peace.
GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, it's powered by Yahoo!.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter the charity of your choice. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime!!!
Peace.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
** NEWS FLASH **
** LADY GURU GOES WEST!! **
LULULEMON ATHLETICA, an international yoga apparel store, has just approved the purchase order for 70 boxes of Lady Guru Encouragement Cards!!! Each box is included in a specially prepared gift basket that will be provided to customers upon opening day of the new Lululemon location in at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, Nevada!! The managers at the new store loved the cards so much, it looks like they might be ordering more to use as corporate gifts, as well!
Godspeed, Lady Guru - you GO girl!!
http://www.lululemon.com/lasvegas/fashionshowmall
LULULEMON ATHLETICA, an international yoga apparel store, has just approved the purchase order for 70 boxes of Lady Guru Encouragement Cards!!! Each box is included in a specially prepared gift basket that will be provided to customers upon opening day of the new Lululemon location in at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, Nevada!! The managers at the new store loved the cards so much, it looks like they might be ordering more to use as corporate gifts, as well!
Godspeed, Lady Guru - you GO girl!!
http://www.lululemon.com/lasvegas/fashionshowmall
What You See, Is What… well, What YOU See
Step back… and suddenly you are stepping in.
There is a saying, “We don’t see others as THEY are, we see them as WE are.” We can only see each other through our own eyes, since, of course, these are the only eyes we have. But, behind these eyes are our own histories, shaped by beliefs cultivated through familial and cultural ideals. We only know what we, ourselves, have experienced, and so our perspective is skewed through the filters of our own comprehension.
How could we possibly know the true story of another? How could we possibly think we are correct when deciding if another person is happy, miserable, stupid, uncomfortable, in a bad relationship, in a good relationship… and, these are just a scant few, the list goes on. The plethora of judgments we can make in any given day’s time would be far too vast to list. Carl Jung said: “ Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakens.” It’s not to say the world doesn’t need it’s dreamers, on the contrary, but we need to check what we are dreaming about! If we can be present enough when a judgment arises - as it bubbles up from the deepest place inside ourselves – we can understand that it is ours alone. We created it, we own it and it really has nothing to do with the person to which it is directed.
If we can learn to witness the world with an open heart, rather than judge it with merely open eyes, then perhaps we can learn to focus on what is true; that we are all inherently the same, doing the best we can – and that it is not up to us to judge what that is.
Peace.
There is a saying, “We don’t see others as THEY are, we see them as WE are.” We can only see each other through our own eyes, since, of course, these are the only eyes we have. But, behind these eyes are our own histories, shaped by beliefs cultivated through familial and cultural ideals. We only know what we, ourselves, have experienced, and so our perspective is skewed through the filters of our own comprehension.
How could we possibly know the true story of another? How could we possibly think we are correct when deciding if another person is happy, miserable, stupid, uncomfortable, in a bad relationship, in a good relationship… and, these are just a scant few, the list goes on. The plethora of judgments we can make in any given day’s time would be far too vast to list. Carl Jung said: “ Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakens.” It’s not to say the world doesn’t need it’s dreamers, on the contrary, but we need to check what we are dreaming about! If we can be present enough when a judgment arises - as it bubbles up from the deepest place inside ourselves – we can understand that it is ours alone. We created it, we own it and it really has nothing to do with the person to which it is directed.
If we can learn to witness the world with an open heart, rather than judge it with merely open eyes, then perhaps we can learn to focus on what is true; that we are all inherently the same, doing the best we can – and that it is not up to us to judge what that is.
Peace.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
On Time
Live now… and suddenly you are experiencing every moment.
The last date in October has been marked off. It is November 1, and another calendar page is turned, another month begins, another demarcation in the passage of time - time, this idea of linear movement that brings us from one point to another in history.
My daily work is driven by deadlines, (external AND self-imposed) like most of us. I am always staggered when I think of how much of my life goes by without having even been in it – always working to get somewhere, create something, finish something, plan something, remember something… just so I can move on to the NEXT something. I am writing…now…I am thinking of my next word, I am typing, I am watching these words take form from my thoughts…all so I can finish and post. But, I see I am also taking a moment to stretch, pet the cat, look up a word, grab another cup of coffee, glance out the window to see who’s rushing down the walk to work. Wow! There’s so much going on! I notice the light change in the room as the sun rises, the quietness of the morning wearing off as the traffic builds.
But, I digress…
At “times” this concept of “time” feels like a hindrance to me, filled with limitations and boundaries I struggle against. This tool of measurement to create order out of chaos only seems to create even more chaos. So, in light of this may I suggest, as we rush into the holiday season - take that moment when our hands are on the steering wheel, on the keyboard, writing the shopping list, washing the dishes, brushing your child’s hair – and just simply “notice” it.
As I close this post, I want thank you all for being with me as I write, even though I will have moved on the NEXT something by the time you are reading this…!
The last date in October has been marked off. It is November 1, and another calendar page is turned, another month begins, another demarcation in the passage of time - time, this idea of linear movement that brings us from one point to another in history.
My daily work is driven by deadlines, (external AND self-imposed) like most of us. I am always staggered when I think of how much of my life goes by without having even been in it – always working to get somewhere, create something, finish something, plan something, remember something… just so I can move on to the NEXT something. I am writing…now…I am thinking of my next word, I am typing, I am watching these words take form from my thoughts…all so I can finish and post. But, I see I am also taking a moment to stretch, pet the cat, look up a word, grab another cup of coffee, glance out the window to see who’s rushing down the walk to work. Wow! There’s so much going on! I notice the light change in the room as the sun rises, the quietness of the morning wearing off as the traffic builds.
But, I digress…
At “times” this concept of “time” feels like a hindrance to me, filled with limitations and boundaries I struggle against. This tool of measurement to create order out of chaos only seems to create even more chaos. So, in light of this may I suggest, as we rush into the holiday season - take that moment when our hands are on the steering wheel, on the keyboard, writing the shopping list, washing the dishes, brushing your child’s hair – and just simply “notice” it.
As I close this post, I want thank you all for being with me as I write, even though I will have moved on the NEXT something by the time you are reading this…!
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