KateThoughts

Hearts and Hockey Players

Haven't been here for awhile. Lots of stuff – and nothing going on.  thought I'd say so, so you stop wondering...if you are.

Things are blue around here. My best friend of the heart is moving to Florida in 4 days. I’ve been in her house here for 12 days, taking care of her dog and packing stuff. Practicing not thinking about it. I can do the denial part because Joel and I will be traveling to see her in mid-October. So I’ve put off the tears, mostly, except now & then…now.
And with Skype, we can still have our weekly coffee klatches. It just will be different. Oh, well…

On the 10^th, my friend, Michael Schwass died. He is/was an amazing person who took a major life-changing event and turned it into inspiration, hope, incentive, courage, and even joy for hundreds – maybe thousands – of others. You can read one of the obituaries here. But there is no real reason to do so…they don’t really give you any sense of the man.
(adding a link to the obit from the Chicago Sun-Times)

I met him through my friend Laura, who has been one of his best friends for umpteen years, and was a my business, then life coach and now a friend of the heart. My sense of Michael grew out of Laura’s writings about her relationship with Michael, and with the prep work they were both doing around his ultimate death.
You see, Michael was a quadraplegic. He lived longer than most with that condition because of his drive, his huge heart, and his determination that paraplegia would be something from which he learned and taught, not some curse that just happened. Laura explored much of that, and wrote about it as part of her own preparation for his leaving this physical plane, and also because she is so totally committed to living consciously – which, of course, includes dying consciously. This is one little thing she wrote recently about all of this:

“[I am] VERY aware of what a gift it is to only ONLY be sad.
Nothing was left unsaid or undone.
That is an extraordinary feeling and a gift I will cherish the rest of my days.”

(if you’re interested, here is a link to a post Laura wrote a few days ago; and this is a link to a whole bunch of posts about Michael and consciousness – including one called “Giggling at the Cemetery”)

So much of my present work around consciousness was nurtured by her writings and by reading about and, finally, meeting Michael.

And to all of this, I’ll say that Joel and I are looking at some possible changes of the ‘big’ sort. While we are in Florida, we will explore the possibilities of moving there or acquiring a ‘vacation’ home of some sort. Maybe just something we can rent frequently or … I have no idea what we will see, decide, think… much of this bumps up against some of my ‘issues’ if you will. J It’s funny, really, and more stressful than I imagined.

Joel is about to be 70. We’re going to the beach for her birthday.

And I am claiming our former guest room as my sanctuary. In the midst of rearranging, decluttering, and deciding how to turn this tiny space into a cloister.

Life’s a ride, isn’t it?!
…speaking of which, this last weekend has been a motorcycle festival – the noise was phenomenal!

So, blog friends, I am both here and absent. And way behind on most of your writings, too. I’ll catch up one day.

Blessings to you all from a very full heart.

Creative People: Geniuses or Mad Women/Men?

I recently read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I recommend it, and I will keep it on the shelf forever. But that is a not the subject for today.

In the last few months I've discovered several bloggers new to me, and found that a surprising number of you are writers, poets, illustrators, gardeners, cooks, and other kinds of creative folk. You have become real blessings to me and often inspire laughter or tears, or provocative thought, and always wonder that we came together in this www. I've come to think differently, sometimes, about what I write here simply because you're out there. (in that regard I have some work to do in the 'get-over-myself' category.)  : )

First, thank you very much. I am somewhat different, and think and create more broadly because of you.

Secondly, I want to share this video with you. It is Elizabeth Gilbert speaking before a group at the TED Talks seminars.

I hope you enjoy it, as I did.
Smiles and blessings to each of you - now and always.

So, Thanksgiving is over...

...what are you thankful for today?

(can't testify to the "vote", nor could I find the creator of this series of photos. I got it first as a PPS presentation thru email (thanks, Rene), and found it in many forms all over the web. I chose to save this one.)

My Chibees

I borrowed that term Chibees from friend and fellow student Marc. He's center front; flanked on the left by sifu Jim, and yours truly.

Back row from left is Sidney, Connie, Gary, Vicki, Annette, Mary, and Tony. Missing that day were Barbara, Len, Clara, and Cleis. I'll catch them on film one of these days.

This particular photo was taken by Marc.

Current cuties

Here are the two little cuties that are brightening my days away from home.

The gray one is Phazie (Phaedra) and Bobby is the other one.  

And here is just one of many gorgeous skyscapes from this location.

This one is of our first (tiny) snowfall - Oct. 3rd. You'll have to click it (for the larger image to even see it!) This one was taken near HMHC.

Thought about the ES experience.

I'll be really glad when Thursday rolls around and the ship commitment is over, but it has not been all bad. In fact, the stuff I have not enjoyed has taught me more, AND allowed me to appreciate the stuff I do enjoy; like today's sunshine, the gorgeous skies (in all kinds of weather), and the quiet. And I learned that quiet is relative and often generated internally...

amazing, huh?

Poertry (by K. Rhoades) from Erin

Erin, thanks for finding this. What sparked Erin to remember this was my story of a drumming experience at White Sands many years ago. I suspect that all of the women present for that spontaneous and inspired piece of creative heaven remember it clearly, as I do. This poem captures the emotions I felt then and thoughts I've had about it since.

I Walked into a Moment of Greatness

“I walked into a moment of greatness. There was a wave of pure emotion running through the air like a pulse recording the beat of souls. I stood against a wall, the house was in darkness, light on the stage.

The last act of Meistersinger had begun. I listened. All of me heard. If that straight line of terrific tensity which stretched continuously between myself and the music, growing more and more sensitive each moment, could have existed indefinitely until the line became inseparable with the state about it what would have happened?

Everything had merged there was no possibility of any retention of the separateness of a human self from the space of sound into which that sentient self had projected. An extension of feeling and a diffusion of music with it creating a condition of oneness. A passing of each into the other.

Sound, Giving, Will, Feeling, an insistent entity reached. Was there any part of me that did not respond? I was not a woman. I became merely a part of the attunement of the moment as did all the others. The strangers standing so near that I could have touched them and I think we were touching. We had dropped our little selves we were not but something greater than ourselves was breathing. What gave it the impetus to breathe? And if it could have endured, if a climax could have been reached and held for the fraction of a second - would not that instant have become infinite? Would it have been death? Or escape into a quickening of life?”

Katharine Rhoades April 1915.

Ms. Rhoades was an artist as well as a writer. I found this excerpt about her work interesting.

”The terms in which critics evaluated Rhoades' work at the 1915 exhibition place her paintings within a loosely defined expressionism, which prioritized emotion, intuition, and spirituality. Charles Caffin in the New York American insisted that Rhoades' reliance was on intuition, rather than observation: "Miss Rhoades seems to have a capacity of psychically sensing her subject" (19). Agnes Meyer, a journalist, photographer and fellow member of the Stieglitz circle reviewed Rhoades' work at the time of the 1915, commenting on the artist's individual vision:

“her whole impulse to paint seems to spring from a close communion with and a desire to impart the underlying significance of the world as she sees it . . . There seems at first to be a strange and foreign quality in her portraits but a sympathetic study reveals the fact that she has seen further or at least differently than we (Meyer 8).”

Meyer again points to Rhoades' ability to visually articulate a metaphysical consciousness and stresses her status as a seer, psychic, or medium through which highly developed states of consciousness are expressed.”

The article in which this excerpt appears was found online.

Some VERY good, well written articles...

...written by Marian Van Eyk McCain of Elderwoman Space. These were all nominated on a very interesting web site called Ooffoo. I hope you'll follow the links and read a few.  I hope you'll decide to vote for one, too. My personal favorite is Simple Blessings.

Note: I found a little bit of trouble with one or two of the articles loading from the links. If you experience that and still want to read them, just use the Ooffee search feature and hunt by title.

 

Digging for Victory - Again

 

The Yin and the Yang of it

 

Turning Green: The Rise of the ‘Cultural Creatives’

 

Micro-Yoga for the Busy Woman

 

Simple Blessings

 

Healing the Split

 

Here’s where you go to vote:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=qlFU4Im4elMRBk5DWu4gtw%3d%3d

Here is a link to Marian's list on Ooffoo. All of these are nominated except Slow Travel, but that one is worth the read, too. 

Thanks, Marian; good luck!

 

Christmas 2008

This has been a very interesting season. For now, I'm going to tell you about the last couple of days and how I spent my Christmas time.

Almost first thing, after starting the coffee, was my morning walk. The coolest thing has developed: Mango goes with me! He really likes the walk, and becomes impatient (so it seems) if I take too long to get to it - or if I don't get to it at all.
Here is that cutie pie:
Our walk is only a half mile circuit, but it has some BIG hills. I guess that Mango covers about 3 times the distance that I do.

Christmas Eve morning was gorgeous. We were out early enough to see the morning sun hit The Mountain.

So. yeah, you can't really see anything for the trees, but it was great. And contrasted sharply with this morning. We had sunshine for our walk, but the western sky (where The Mountain sits) was gray & cold & promising interesting weather for later on... I tried a picture, but it showed even less that this last one did. 

We always see deer, usually in the yard as they were this morning:
This shot shows a buck at the end of the driveway, and more of his herd across the street in the meadow.

Carmel met us in our neighbor's drive way, but won't take the walk with us. We've finally got some great shots of him:
Here's a closeup of Mango, too.

I love the way the light hits his fur in this one.  Be sure to click on it to see it larger.

Aren't our boys beautiful?!

OK...that was Christmas morning until about 7:30 or 8:00.
Now it's time to get down to the food.
Carol & Nancy came over for breakfast. Nancy brought a terrific casserole of grits, cheese, green chili, and eggs. I made my famous (Rachel Ray) bacon: thick sliced with brown sugar and red chili flakes. We had some outstanding sour dough bread that Carol brought, and a Finnish Breakfast braided bread that Nancy & I found in a Great Harvest bakery in Albuquerque on Monday. If there is one of those any where near you, check it out. They grind their own grain and the baked goods are wonderful.

Here we are enjoying the feast: Nancy, Carol & Joel in that order left to right. That's me, behind the camera.

And now, I'm enjoying playing with the blog and thinking of stuff. And enjoying some quiet. Everyone's gone right now; some to the Casino, Nancy to her family across town.
I'm heading to the bath tub to enjoy a soak & a good book. Later on, we'll meet at the baby casino (The Travel Center) for a family-style turkey dinner...unless it just seems like a better idea to order pizza or eat left-overs.

For my money, this day has been about perfect so far.
I'd love to be seeing my brother & sister, but I'll see them soon; and on holidays they tend to be followed by lots of other people and quite a bit of noise.

There is one really special thing that happened this year I want to tell you about. You may not really understand, but it won't matter; I got it.
In a recent conversation with my friend Shaula my Mom's quillows came up. Mom made some years ago; mine had a cat on it. Shaula saw it years ago - oh, maybe 15 or more. She loved it and commissioned Mom to make some for her & her girls which Mom did...all five of them. And Shaula & her girls still have them & love them. Shaula found out that mine was gone. (Why it's gone is another story for another time.)
In any case, Shaula came over on Christmas Eve with a gift for me - we usually only exchange cookies or such.

Shaula had packed up her own quillow and brought it to me.
I have one of my Mom's quillows again! Oh, the bawling that went on...we had Joel & Carol crying too. It was so sweet and so touching. Thanks, Shaula.

And for those who don't know, a quillow is a cross between a quilt & a pillow. They're usually about lap rug size, as these Mom made are. The quilt has a special pocket into which the quilt folds, so that it can sit out on your couch and look just like a beautiful pillow. Here's my 'new' one:

I wanted a good shot of it unfolded, but Mango got involved and is now certain that the quillow is his. We will have to talk.

And for a final treat, I believe it has begun to snow.

Love & Joy to you & yours

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled
with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep
and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger) Shawnee Nation 1768-1813

Thanks, Nancy   ; >D

Keep the Rishi Rolling

You've all heard about Michael Schwass before, here and in the HMHC newsletter. Now, his good friend, Laura, is creating a network, and sometimes a program with prizes, to make it fun and easy to help out with a donation.

You may imagine that you know what it takes to keep a quadraplegic in cornflakes and gasoline, but unless you've experienced it you truly don't know. There are some amazing stories here that will open your eyes; about living with quadraplegia, and also about conscious living & dying.

This is far from a “give us money” plea (Michael doesn’t even qualify for Social Security Disability - damn him for being too productive!) - Laura is offering quite a bit of value to people who can help.

Here’s what she’s asking for and offering:

• Donate right now at Laura's Tip Jar to make an immediate donation. This is a link to PayPal; it will appear that you're donating to Laura at No Safe Distance, but All proceeds go directly to Michael.


• Buy something from her beautiful All Is Well Collection of fine art prints and cards at the NoSafeDistance Gallery. All proceeds go to Michael.
  
  
• Purchase a copy of All is Well, a book of Laura’s contemplative photography. She originally created it for Michael as a birthday gift, and all the proceeds from it will go to him.


• Sign up for her newsletter (top right corner of No Safe Distance) for exclusive offers and additional savings to give you back even more from any purchases you make. She’s also asking that if you already subscribe, that you forward it to others to help get the word out. -and for some of the best life lessons you will ever learn


• You can also make a donation, and you’ll get the joy of giving! Laura will cover any processing costs, so that 100% of your donation goes to Michael.


• Purchase Michael’s autobiography, Don’t Blame the Game.


• Help spread the word… Digg, Stumble, Blog, or email your friends. Even if you can’t do anything financially, maybe someone you pass this on to can.


• Purchase something from Laura's Gallery at Zazzle.


• Join the Rishi Network: just contact Laura and she'll get you details and a button for your own blog. Email her at Laura *AT* nosafedistance *DOT* com (you know how to type it)

Why donate?
...So your heart will feel warm...to attract great Karma...to touch another life...because you can...

Why you should NOT donate:

• because Michael is my friend or Laura's.
• because you feel sorry for him (there's no "feeling sorry for" in hockey!).
• because you feel guilty

Don't play because you feel obligated to support some kind of charity at this time of year when we are asked to give thanks for having so much (and we still do, even in these tough times.)

Play because he's a rock star and a whole lot more accessible than Lance Armstrong.

I've borrowed heavily from Laura and two other members of the new Rishi Network. Thank you, Laura, Erin, and Lyman. Blog on...in beauty and fullness...

"A Good Day" with Brother David Steindl-Rast

Thanks, Laura.  :)