KateThoughts

Can you spare a minute of your time?

I'm on another pet-job, and not spending much time online, but this is a good thing... 

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.

Harvard Medical School recommends Tai Chi...again.

Harvard University Medical School has just published a report on “The Health Benefits of Tai Chi” that calls Tai Chi “medication in motion.” Since Tai Chi is a subset of Qigong, all of this information applies to Qigong as well. It cites research for “No Pain, Big Gains” including improvements in muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and aerobic conditioning. Under the category “Tai Chi for Medical Conditions” it recommends Tai Chi as complementary therapy for arthritis, low bone density, breast cancer, heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, Parkinson’s disease, sleep problems, and stroke.

This article is written in plain English, not medical jargon.

And I can testify that these claims are true. I've been taking classes and practicing for about 5 years. We do the Yang form; my teacher trained under Grandmaster William C.C. Chen in New York, USA, and others. I was lucky enough to attend a weekend workshop with him in 2007 in Phoenix.

I love this class. I would say that my biggest gains from this would be in flexibility and balance, but I also see gains in lower body strength and Much less fear of falling. I have chronic spinal issues, and though it has not been 'officially' diagnosed, I suspect that arthritis is creeping into my hip joints. A few times through the form in the morning helps tremendously in getting past that morning stiffness. Also, my regular breathing is deeper and slower, and I am able to relax much more completely. Just the body awareness alone is worth the exercise. And I even walk a little differently now: more confidently and relaxed.

There are many ways to learn. The article referenced here even mentions books and video, but I would strongly recommend a real live teacher. If that is not available to you, then I suggest something like Lee Holden's DVD on QiGong for Seniors. We have this loaded into our home DVD player and also my laptop for when we travel.

I'm going to put a couple of YouTube links in this post, but there are nuances that you just won't catch all by yourself. And most of the videos I've found are showing people in positions that might be inappropriate for some individuals, or just slightly too low or stretched; and of course, they cannot take into consideration any of your physical issues in the way that a live teacher can. And in one of my favorite videos the teacher, Tiffany Chen, is performing a mirror-image version of the words she is speaking. You might want to watch this one with the sound off!

This video is of Grandmaster William Chen leading a repetition of the first few moves. (mirror image again)

There are literally tons of tai chi videos available on YouTube; some are good, some not, and in most cases, I just don't have the experience to comment. I have had only two teachers so far, and practiced only one style: Grandmaster W.C.C. Chen's version of the Yang form. Have fun if you go exploring.

 

A couple of links having to do with aging...

...nice to see some research and development going on...

Two NPR stories:

What Does it FEEL like ...   and    Aging at Home...

The first one, obviously, is about a suit that helps researchers actually FEEL some of the effects, and the second one is about changing technology.

AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHH! follow/notfollow/whichfollow

I LOVE to find comments on my blog posts. I am TRULY delighted when conversations begin, and when commenting leads to virtual relationships and shared things: ideas, laughs, dreams, troubles, and trials.

My current angst (if I may give it such a grand name) is with the widgets and links that cause/allow following. First, I find that there are many ways: Google Reader, Blogger widgets, and all of those things with 'feed' in their titles like Feedburner and Feedblitz, etc.

the rest of this may be more than you care to know, but it clarifies things for me...

I've recently learned that where you sign up determines what gets linked; not necessarily the info you insert into available fields.

Here's what I think I now know:
If the URL of a blog or photo-stream or 'whatever' that you want to read on a regular basis has a little orange square w/two white curves and a white dot in it, you can follow it. But HOW you choose to do so determines what stuff of yours gets linked to the blogs you would then be following.

I blog on TypePad. I've been following several blogs. I use Google Reader, and I found THAT (if memory serves) on a Mozilla homepage. Doesn't matter, it's easy to find: just Google it.   : )
(I would make this link 'hot' for you, but, since I am signed in to Google, I only get my own version of the reader.)
Near the top of the GR, just under the heading is an 'Add' field marked by a blue rectangle with  white cross or plus sign. I just click there, then copy & paste the URL of the blog or feed or photo-stream I want to 'follow'. It works like a little charm. And is how I have been following my favorite bloggers, including you.

If you use Blogger.com and follow your friends thru the Blogger site, you will find yourself on the Blogger dashboard in a place called Reading List. In the bottom right of that field is a hot link that says, "view in Google Reader". Yes, the very SAME Google Reader.

That is the place to go, I think, to 'follow' those folks who won't load a Follow Button or who, like me, have very old defunct blogs (0n Blogger), but now post on other services. Like me.

So, very briefly, I put up a follow widget on my TypePad blog. Google 'sneaked' in somehow, and linked that widget to my old - no longer active Blogger blog of the same name: Katethoughts. and a few of you have tried to use it. You've ended up in 2008, hearing a voice that once was mine and still bears a strong resemblance to my current voice. I'm just a couple of years down the road from there. One of you even ended up on Omnicrone Speaks. How surprised you must have been. That sort of stuff is a category on this blog, but I don't post specifically to it very often.

And those of you (four) who can now see my avatar among their newest followers are being shunted to a blog that will never have a new post. Feel free to read there if you wish. I left it there because you can never really delete anything on the 'www', and because my big E ego thinks all that rambling might have value - if only to me. 

I'm going to copy this post over there on Blogger if I can figure out how to do so, and I will post the link to my current blog - THIS one. I guess that means there will be ONE new post.  : >)

I hope I haven't made you too crazy; I hope you find me; I hope you keep reading and commenting. There just won't be a widget or a little place to see your Avatar on this blog. When/if I figure out something else, I'll let you know. 

ttfn

no more button just now...

No following just now. I haven't found a way to get around the fact that the 'follow' widget links to an old blog, not to this one. It will go back up, perhaps, when I figure that out.

Meanwhile, for those with an opinion:

During the brief time that I had the widget up, I used it to "follow" four others. Once done, I saw those blogs in my Google Reader feed, in the same place where I was these blogs before the widget. They just had a little sub-heading.
If a 'reader' is how you see those you follow, look in that place for a box that says something like 'add a subscription'. There is one in the GR and it allows me to copy & paste a URL into the box and begin a different version of following.

Until resolution or abandonment of that issue, I'll be reading you there.

Off to Tai Chi and then a walk with a friend. Adios.

Following~Followers .... OH NO!

Those two words are funny looking to me right now.

OK, I have given up and given in. Hence the new 'Follow' button up there in the sidebar. After doing that, I promptly went to my Google Reader and clicked on a few of the blogs I read regularly, and clicked to "Follow" about 4 of them.

And one who wanted the button in the first place has already tried to 'Follow', and it didn't work, AND none of the ones I signed up to follow show up in the stats. Joel tried to - I was sitting right beside her - and it looked as though it worked on her computer...but, no...not on mine.

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out tomorrow. Perhaps the blogging services just need to 'sleep on it'.

LOL  

I went investigating: All of this follow stuff is linking to a VERY OLD blog that I began on Blogger.com.

That never occurred to me. Sheesh. Groan. Sigh. ...exhale.

well...I've been thinking about going back to blogger since I can be there for free. But what a PIA!!!
So you four I'm trying to follow...if you end up on a Blogger blog called KateThoughts, it's still me, just WAY out of date.

stay tuned for new developments.

HAVE to share this video!!!

When I went to Facebook to see if my last post actually went over there I found this video posted by my cousin. You'll see why I had to share it. It is not new, but you'll enjoy it even if you've seen it.

Caleb called it "entitled yuppie jerk, meet airbag".

Catching Up with 'fates', 'what-ifs', 'as-it-is', etc....and why I've been gone...

I've been off this site a few days playing with my guitar - and I mean that in every fun way possible. Such wonderful play. For those who don't know yet, I am learning/re-learning to play bass; this time an acoustic one that also accepts an amplifier...for my future concerts, I suppose!   : )

I call it a chass, though, (pronounced chase, to rhyme) because I had a cello foot added to it. The bass is BIG and it was tricky to hold in front of my buddha belly, and because my wrists are happier this way, too. And because it's quirky and different.

Here it is in all its glory:

You can see the foot in its retracted position.

I've just fallen in love with it. Years ago - almost 30! - I played an electric bass with a local (and very bad) bluegrass band who mostly played for fun at each others' parties. That was usually a two-note oompa kind of thing. Took very little skill and was much fun, too, though not the same fun I'm having now.

This time, I'm really learning, starting (and continuing) with scales and various exercises and working with a great teacher once a week. Most of his students are 6-string players, as is he, so I'm learning bass parts to things from their repertoires in preparation for a' recital' at a local tavern. I use the term recital very loosely here.

And I learned "When I'm 64" by the Beatles". I had to work quickly on that; I have only one more year before I'm too old to sing it - or have to change the number. How about 'When I'm 94'?! Just now, I'm polishing up Blackbird also by the Beatles.

***********************

But, back to the point of this post.

The oldest post in this particular stream is "...What-ifs". In that one I began to touch on some of the ideas I'm exploring and implementing in my life right now. Some of the comments on that post inspired the next one: "Continuing ..." and really dealt with semantics and perhaps a tiny bit of expansion of the ideas expressed before. More comments and some great support on that post then prompted "IF the fates...", and in a comment there Ruth asked about my background and a bit of the story of how I came to think like this.

First, let me say that conversation like this is the true beauty and glory of blogging and why I may never stop it. Yes, there is some ego stroking involved; but even more than that, the comments make me think and require that I be as clear as possible.

I gave Ruth some very brief answers in an email, but I will expand here a little more.

But I want to acknowledge my reticence about all of this, especially the discussing of it in this more or less public format. You'll understand that when I tell you that I grew up in a middle class family in Texas, the oldest child of a divorced woman in an era when that was rare. We were fundamental evangelical Christians before those terms were widely applied to us, and I was completely immersed in the Church; to the extent that I taught Sunday School and participated in one 'foreign' mission just after high school. That mission was to Liverpool, England and was the beginning of my questioning. A year after that, I went to a Christian college. Interestingly enough I began to explore freedom there. Another whole story, and not for right now.  

To this day, most of my biological family still hold those beliefs and are very active in their participation. Some are quite likely to consider that I have fallen away from the church and are likely to consider that I am some major sinner. But then, by their lights, we are all sinners and only have a possibility of being anything else by virtue of Jesus's sacrifice.  (I could riff off on that topic, too, but won't do so here and now.)

My family is wonderful. They are loving and generous. They just think I'm wrong. They hope I will 'come back' to the fold.
It threw a few of them for a loop when I realized I was gay, and married my wife over 16 years ago. But they are nothing, if not civil. They treat us well, love us as they can, and never turn a cold shoulder. I am very proud of my heritage. I just don't agree with them. In my family this kind of difference of opinion seems to close conversation rather than opening one.

Most of them, I think, do not know of this blog. I do know that in the past, my sister has read this. She never comments on it, and only once sent an email to me about some particular post, and that was to reach out and reassure me during a period of the glooms in my life.
I would not willingly hurt them, though I know that I have done so in the past, and that some may feel hurt by what they think about my current religious condition.

Wow, that was a much longer ramble than I intended, but I will leave it. Susan, if you're reading...well, I love you. Comment or email if you will.

Over the next forty years I explored several traditional religions, was an active Episcopalian for a number of years, was introduced to New Age thought, rejected it, came back, learned a lot about myself through various therapies including a 12-step program and several psychologists. I'm still learning. I knew, and know, a lot about what I 'should' be and do, and for decades I KNEW that I was not worthy of ...much of anything. I have always felt a very strong pull toward god, and would have joined a convent if I could have. These days I would still join one, if it weren't Christian. A contemplative life would suit me very well. (Though, I suppose that The Singing Nun has already been done.)

The thoughts and ideas that work for me now are the ones that I have found to be consistent across all of the religions/spiritual ideas that I have explored: those ideas that I am a piece of God; that I can co-create my life and its conditions by my thoughts, intentions, and energy; that I am not separate from - or different from - god, or you, or the air, or that rock over there. And most especially, right now, the idea that my thoughts, words, and actions do in fact manifest in my life constantly and consistently when I align my vibrational energy to that Stream of energy we often call God. (But could as easily and accurately call Source, Divine Mind, Cosmic Consciousness or ...whatever.)

Right now, the voice speaking to me most clearly is that of Abraham, a group of non-physical beings who speak through a woman named Esther Hicks.

There is a daily quote that appears in the top left sidebar that comes from their website and they are all over the place. Many people post their material; Esther is the one in the black pantsuit. The material is Law of Attraction. It is NOT 'The Secret'. The material from the book/DVD known as The Secret turned me off completely for several reasons. Though Esther and Jerry Hicks were part of the original film, they withdrew when circumstances of the agreements changed. If you are interested in that, you can hear Esther and Jerry comment here. I think that this may be some of the deleted scenes to which they refer. There are many postings to YouTube, including those who want to judge this material as being 'of the devil'...whatever that may mean.

Some people call what happens with Esther 'channeling'. She does not. Nor do I have an opinion about that. I don't care what it is. For me, what it is is Truth. It gives me goosebumps and makes me joyful in ways that my family church did not. It is eliminating my need to judge others, and beginning to relieve many stresses in my life. It's working for me. That is all that really matters to me. I feel closer to god - all the time. And I don't really care whether it resonates for you or not. I believe that each individual is quite capable of choosing their own spiritual path and that none of them are wrong. Most importantly to me, this current path is allowing me to deal with self-esteem issues that have endured for decades. I feel now that I am actually worthy of a complete and close relationship with that energy commonly called God. I don't know her/his/its name (though I'd still like to know). I don't use the God word usually because so many make assumptions about what I mean. And I no longer consider myself a Christian. I'm just me. One with all things.

You know...this has gone on much longer than I intended, and in looking for these links for you, I find I want to take a break and listen to Abraham some more. They are right here ....

see you later.

eeeekkk..... will I leave the Facebook button checked?...........what a coward I have remained...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MILLIE!!

Good Morning, Millie.

I’m part of the traditional Ronni conspiracy to send you lots of greetings on this glorious day.
Up here in the mountains it’s just past sunrise; the light is gorgeous.
I hope the day is lovely where you are.
May it be chock full of love and family and friends.

 

This is my favorite birthday greeting. I hope you enjoy it. Turn your speakers UP!

I must write, mustn't I?

Riffing off of my own (mild) guilt about the frequency of my posts, and inspired by Friko's terrific post, I show up here today.

It is only to say, though, that I am still not really here... 

Ruth, I am thrilled by your comments and questions and absolutely intend to answer them, it's just that...

I'VE GOT THE MUSIC IN ME!!!!

I've been learning and playing an acoustic bass guitar over the last few months and now I can actually play a few things. I'm so excited about it, I can hardly stand myself.  And I can't stop right now, even for you. I have a great teacher named Tradd who comes weekly. I've discovered TONS of terrifically helpful videos on YouTube from musicians who play as I do, or even professionally, and who post fingerings and lessons and great stuff I can play with.  (...'with which I can play' does not fit my image of the usual bass player. )

So, for my faithful readers (no, you won't see the 'Follow' widget here), please bear with me a little longer. I'll be back.

Continuing the "Fates" conversation.

Ursula, the words that work for me may not be the ones that work for you. Even English words won't mean the same for women who are native speakers of two different languages. Then when you add on the variances of dialect, or education, or colloquialisms you sink in a murky pool of who knows what.

In my mind 'accept' or 'acceptance' can have an element of judgment such as is implied here:
"2 : to give admittance or approval to <accept her as one of the group>"

or it carries a negative emotion for me as in this:
"a : to endure without protest or reaction <accept poor living conditions> b : to regard as proper, normal, or inevitable <the idea is widely accepted>"

On the other hand, to allow seems to connote more freedom:

1.

to give permission to or for; permit: to allow a student to be absent; No swimming allowed.

2.

to let have; give as one's share; grant as one's right: to allow a person $100 for expenses.

3.

to permit by neglect, oversight, or the like: to allow a door to remain open.

4.

to admit; acknowledge; concede: to allow a claim.

5.

to take into consideration, as by adding or subtracting; set apart: to allow an hour for changing trains.

(I was happy to note that I understand these words in ways that match up with the dictionary.) : )

The other place, Ursula, where I take a different route is that I believe that no circumstance in the world 'out there' needs changing.
(I feel as if I am sticking my neck out here, but ...
writing it may help it all come clearer for me, too.)

I think that all these circumstances that so many of us think need changing, would completely disappear if we took all of our attention away from them. That's how I understand the bottom line of my present spiritual position. The ONLY things that I can change are the circumstances of my own life in my own space, relationships, economics, etc.

And the best way to change a circumstance in my life that I do not want is to turn my attention away from that, and create what I DO want by consciously intending/creating that picture and then allowing it to come to me - because Source has already said Yes. I just need to get in the right river. In the flow ... 

no more....more rumination needed...or maybe just some Rumi.   :)

IF the Fates Allow...

Do the fates allow? Are there Fates? hmmm...    

I think not.

(This post is growing out of inspiration from Ursula in her comment on my previous post.
Thanks, Ursula; this kind of conversation is one of the main reasons I blog. )

Now then: for me, No Fates.
I've always had a problem with trying to understand or believe in a god that could say to her/his/? children, "No. He can have that, but you can't." Or "suffering" makes you holy".

What I've come to understand and believe now is that there is Source -(One) (God) (Cosmic Mind)- whatever name it has/uses - we use - it is all the same. And that One has manifested all over this planet as the things we see: humans, animals, rocks, weather, everything pretty much that we might associate with a loving spiritual entity.

And my circumstances in this life on this planet is directly related to my personal allowing of that Source to operate in, as, and through me. 

This belief is changing the way I look at everything. Most especially at myself.
It's not scary this time.
When I'm in the flow of the energy of Source, I am joyful. The lessons come in learning to stay in that flow; how to notice when I'm not in it; and the steps to take to return to it as soon as possible.

These theories also buck a lot of my religious background, the beliefs of people close to me - indeed, a great deal of the population! So I tussle with myself from time to time - sometimes hour to hour : )

This is all you get today. Deep - must sit with it/in it... later friends

As it is...?

Life as it is.
That's just the way things go.
That's how it is.
We've always done it that way.

Oh,yeah?

well...

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.
You can't fix the problem with the same thinking that caused the problem.

There are tons of examples for ignoring what is in favor of what one wants.
Like the basketball players who visualize making baskets to improve their shooting. 

I imagine it a bit like skeet shooting in sloooww motion.
Life is the target moving thru the air..the what is.
I don't aim at what is. I must aim out in front of that.
I must imagine where the target will be when my bullet gets there.
And once I've pulled the trigger, I'm done. Nothing else to do but wait.

OK>>>that's a really bad analogy, but all you're getting today. MUCH more fun things to do... I just want to say that LIFE - as it is -  ain't all that much, and focusing on what (you think) IS, won't get you to where you COULD be. ever.

A rambling game of "What If"

When I fell into retirement eight years ago (age 58), I didn’t know that it was happening. I thought I was taking some time off to finish some schooling and then begin a new career. The time from then to now has been a bit of a ramble: fits and starts, exploration and insploration, all of it interesting, some of it hard, all of it …transformative.

If, or when, I thought about retirement at all, it was first a desire to escape the corporate madness and then to go more slooowwwwwly.

Now I find there are not enough hours in the day for all I’m drawn to do. Sometimes I follow where my impulses lead me; sometimes I stick to the game plan. And now I’m coming to like both, judge neither, and be wherever I am in the moment.

This morning, I was wandering some blogs I read regularly and came across this post at Synch-ro-ni-zing that made me think. Ruth often does. She doesn’t know me yet, because I’ve been lurking there and haven’t commented yet. She mentioned another blog post that I fully intended to go read…but when I found a comment from the writer in question I was compelled to click over to her post immediately. Lovely You writes at The Good In You. So now I’m lurking in the background of two blogs fairly new to me and find that I am now compelled to work on some thoughts I’ve been having for awhile now…

First: Thanks Ruth and Lovely You for today’s inspiration; for the crystal clarity of your written words; and for the beauty of those parts you allow us to see.

So, on to the game of What If.

My journey has brought me to this place today where I consider that All Is Well. I consider that the thought might be actually and literally true.
The trail to that conclusion goes something like this:

·        What if there really is only one god? An energy that pervades and is all, and is in me, too? (and in you, and in that rock, and in weather, etc…)?

·        What if God is good – only good? And those things that look bad to me are only indications of a separation from that energy – and not really real, since god is everything and All is Well?

·        What if the circumstances a/o events in the world that seem not good, are only illusions manifested as contrast so that I can learn from them about how to stay connected to the only one good god?

·        What if it is true that thoughts and words and focus have energy of their own?

·        What if those things to which I give my attention get bigger or more intense?

·        What if I can change my personal world by where, how, and upon what I focus my attention and my intention?

·        What if the collective we can change the entire physical world by where, how, and upon what we focus our attention and our intention?

And here are a few observations about the world ‘as it is’.
We are being fed a completely disproportionate amount of bad news thru various media: TV news and pharmaceutical and insurance ads, preachers, peers, etc. Where are the stories of the everyday lives and loves of US?  We are being led strongly into fear by these same groups who want to sell us things, or save us; who want us to feel powerless to change anything without relying on them or their products.
In my little world, my own experimentation has proven to me that I can affect the quality of my life by shifting my focus to the positive; and by seeing all people and things and circumstances as they really exist in the mind of god - as perfect.

By creating and holding this vision, I do transform myself and my environment. It seems a clear and compelling vision that can, and does, really impact the whole planet.  And to see the world ‘as it is’ in the news, for example, is to add to the energy that maintains the suffering we think is real.

For example: (and I wouldn’t, in other circumstance than this blog, even bring up this subject)
The Gulf oil spill. I am not able to go there and walk the beaches and actually make physical changes in what is happening there. Nor do I have the energy to stay here and collect hair or hay and send it for the reclamation efforts.
For me to then hold it in my mind, and brood on it, or see it as disaster, or feel grief, or lament out loud about the whys and wherefores only serves to feed more energy into the thing itself. To listen to the countless hours of such lamenting on ‘news’ programs does the same thing.

I think it is my purpose to see a bigger picture: to see a planet that has taken care of itself for millennia, and will survive and thrive. I think I must watch my words and my mind and heart to transform all of them to positive loving things that uplift. To be sad or angry about things I am totally unable to affect is to add energy to them and does not transform;

There is a phrase in one of the comments, “My heart is now likely to break, from fullness though, not from sadness.”; and I would suggest that just changing from ‘likely to break’ to ‘overflowing with’ might transform the hearts involved, including mine.

I’m new (in some ways) to thoughts like these. I’m sure they will evolve as I continue to explore. And the evidence in my own life suggests that I’m on the right track – at least for me – at least for now.

I found this poem in the sidebar of Ruth’s blog:
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry  

Old Age is NOT a disease!

Old Age is that state to which wise happy people aspire with great enthusiasm.

How wonderful to use my body until the very end, wearing it out with gardening, making music, dancing, Tai chi, and all the other things I love - and yes, cocktails, smoking; that stuff, too - while on my way to the next stage of my evolution.
Out of the physical body and into that energetic body that will learn and experience in entirely new ways.
Sure am glad I stopped smoking! Food...now who would I be without it?!

(So, you're contemplating Heaven? Great - Anticipate wings, harps, halos, and such!)

Old Age is not a diagnosis, with subsequent treatment prescribed. Let your internal wisdom prevail.
It is not a disease, so no recovery period is needed.

It may, if you're lucky, kill you in its time. If some disease doesn't get you first!

Painful knees or bad hips or lower back pain or dementia, etc. are NOT symptoms of Old Age.
These things are the consequences of genetics and life choices.
(and for MY money, it's mostly the consequence of one's choices!)

Consequences, not symptoms. Since it is now too late to change the decisions you made even yesterday, make peace with the consequences - then - make better decisions starting now. (or not - just stop complaining)

When we consistently complain about things - anything - several things happen:

• soon nobody wants to listen to us anymore
  
• we miss out on the beauty in the sunrise, the flowers, the fact that we can walk to the bathroom...whatever...
• we attract more of what we DON"T want by constantly focusing our attention on those things.
• we forget how to laugh
• we're likely to get pretty lonesome...

Otherwise.

Old Folks, take note. Give some thought to modeling the behavior that says, "I'm happy!"
Then, by god, BE happy.
Be happy with the choices you made, the consequences those choices brought, the fact that you're still breathing, dancing, gardening...or imagining/remembering...Be happy that you are old. While you still are, of course. After you croak, you can be happy for other reasons.

Younger folks, take note: If you hate the thought of aging consider these things, among others:

• It's not the age, it's the attitude.
• Trust your body
• Any chance the media is lying?
  
• If all the old people you know are complainers, ask them if they'd do it again and what they'd change.
• If they won't stop complaining, get new old folks!

Ouch; scratch me, and my Ego still bleeds

I LOVE aging.
I love the piles of adventures and experience;
I love learning (at last) more about what my body will and will not put up with; when to push it and when to coddle it; when it complains out of laziness or is speaking of what it really needs.

I love listening: to my body, to my heart, and to rain and crickets and vocal harmony, and to the tears of a friend.

I love love love learning about (and in) relationship: with my wife, with friends, teachers, strangers…whomever. All of them are buddhas; likely or unlikely, I learn from them all. That was not always the case.

I love being able to translate these things and the life lessons they brought, into the chart that has become my spiritual and ethical center.

 

AND my capital E ego can still cringe at times. Even bleed a little. What makes it different now is the perspective that aging brings. What would have been a huge cause for major drama and lament only a few years ago, is now just a little scratch. It doesn’t need a bandage anymore. It just reminds me that I am still in a human body and still dancing with that ego. And I can smile and think, how wonderful that I am still learning. And that, now – usually sooner rather than later - I can tell when my dance partner is that Ego and when it is a better part of me.

 

I would not trade my years for anything at all.

For all you Crackpots out there...I mean 'cracked pots'...I mean... well...

You’ve seen this before, I suspect. But it is a lovely story

 

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do ha lf of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. 
'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.' The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?'

'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.'
For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.' 

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.
You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.
 
Remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

The Cutest Thing You've Seen in a While...

Kitties in a box

As for the practice...

It's as if I never mentioned the idea in the first place.

Oh, I can tell you several reasons, but there are really no excuses beyond profound laziness. Now, how on earth do I make that concept 'downstream'?

Meanwhile, I'm a little more than halfway thru this long pet job and contemplating never doing it again. 

So, off to the showers before a Rolfing session; later a guitar lesson, then Tai Chi and a meditation practice. sounds good. see you later.

My New Computer is on the way!!!

I am getting very revved up to see this thing. Joel found it for me, and then had to talk me into it. Do you suppose she's a bit tired of hearing my grumblings over these last two?  

Anyway, any day now and I can hardly wait. She found it on QVC, of all places! An HP (had one in the past and liked it) laptop, 17" monitor, and tons of bells and whistles, including a remote control if I want to give Slide shows or something!!!

Hoping for delivery today, but more likely Friday!  YEA!

More on my love/hate relationship with computers...

Today I'm typing from a friend's computer while on a short pet-sitting job. She uses AOL to get to the 'net', and I don't like it!
So I'll learn patience and flexibility. Cool...

This job is just for two days or I would have brought my own - but then, that's not such a great deal either. It's approaching the time to purchase another one, but I confess that it rankles just a bit.
And the rankling rankles! This 'going with the flow' stuff is tricky to navigate.

I was just reminded (Thanks, Marcia) about the interesting people one can meet thru blogging and other social networks by my recent discovery of this terrific blog: Well Aged with Some Marbling.
Marcia is funny and insightful and writes well. You might enjoy it, too.
But in using AOL, with which I am very unfamiliar, in trying to link with her and respond to her - I found myself really missing the Tabs available in other browsers. I'm sure there is a way to open Firefox or something, but I hesitate to mess too much with someone else's computer.

I've also been exploring the channeled works of Abraham, a collection of 'beings in non-human form' who manifest in this plane though a woman named Esther. Excerpts are now appearing up top in the left sidebar on this blog.
I must say, I have no strong feeling one way or the other about 'channeling'. I used to poo-poo it; there was probably a time when I would have considered it charlatanism or down-right evil. What moves me in the words of Abraham are my feelings of complete rightness in what I'm hearing. You'll have to decide for yourself, both whether to look or not - to allow or not.

I have found that I can not ignore what I'm hearing. For a very long time I've held the belief (with many others) that our thoughts and words have energy of their own, and I work consistently to make my thoughts & language intentional. Abraham teaches that, too. Basically, they teach the Law of Attraction - though when that came to me in the form of The Secret, I could not run fast enough in another direction. Funny, this mind of mine.  Because here I am now, caught hook line and sinker and enjoying the ride immensely. I'll be speaking of it more in the future, I'm sure.

So, back to computers and rankling... I'm torn between just buying one, and the frustration of knowing that it, too, will succumbto obsolescence and short-term memory problems some time in a future nearer than I think appropriate.  ...sigh...  According to Abraham, if I stay in the flow and focus on what I want, the right computer will appear at the right time, at the right price, and will be perfect in every way.

As in all things - UP UNTIL NOW - my skeptical mind is OK with the theory, but the faith is has been harder to come by. Practice, practice, practice...

Which calls Jim to mind. My T'ai Chi teacher and friend. though I have been taking his classes for several years now, and even leading the class now & then when he must be away, I have yet to create a consistent daily practice - of T'ai Chi or any other discipline. To Jim, that's laziness. And to me, too, really. I don't want to hear that, though. (I'm thinking of you, too, Laura.)   :)

On Wednesday, I start a new pet-sitting job that will last 6 weeks. Forty-two days seems like a good length of time for starting a new habit, refocusing my mind, and creating a daily practice. I'm making a commitment to myself to do that, and I'll tell you here how it's going from time to time.

It will include T'ai Chi, my bass, and a daily workshop as described by Abraham. It may or may not include meditation.
So, what might be different this time? We'll see...

TTFN...

Fidelity and the Human Brain, or Open your Minds, People!

I love being in the flow of ideas; or just in the flow (but that's another post); life is so much simpler here.

For a long time I've felt that the average philandering male has gotten the short end of stick. Just think of how we have vilified so many otherwise good men; I don't need to name them here (even to get more Google pings).

(BTW: the word philander has two definitions, both of which are followed by the phrase: 'Used of a man'. I haven't been able to find a similar word 'used for a woman'. Well, there ARE some, but they are of the four-letter variety.)

It really came to a huge head for me over the big golfer-hero media frenzy. The amount of muck-racking that went on, and still goes on, was startling and embarrassing. Yes, I knew it was to be expected. We've become a culture that feeds on scandal. It was interesting to me that maintaining a boundary about NOT hearing all the BS was so difficult. And why is scandal such a big deal?  --also another post.

Recently, I've had several conversations about this. And now here is an article, by neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Louann Brizendine, M.D., that more or less proves my point.  Dr. Brizendine wrote The Female Brain, and has recently released her book, The Male Brain. Here is a transcript of an interview in Elle magazine with the doctor. The interview is very interesting, though I almost didn't read past the author's seeming skepticism.

So what do I think?

If fidelity is important to you, you better cover it in the contract. Yes, I mean the marriage contract, or your wedding/commitment vows.

Fidelity is NOT automatically included anymore because so many write their own, and many don't 'get it' that what they write is, indeed, a contract. And I assert that the couple standing in front of the officiant MAY not be totally engrossed in what is actually being said in the more traditional services. In fact, the more traditional, the less likely the actual words will be heard. 

Let's wake up. As a culture, we've developed a huge double-standard that makes (used to make) men just sowers of wild oats, while making women sluts or whores or worse. Let's learn to understand ourselves better. And we'll still let men get away with it unless we (the media) feel some kind of need to 'take them down' or improve our ratings.

So - talk about it. Discuss the if-then. What will be the consequences of philandering behavior? For either partner? Say out loud, "I expect total and complete fidelity 100% of the time, and if I don't get it, this will be the result."
I don't subscribe for a second to the theory that men can't help it. Of course, they can and millions of faithful men have proven that.

I do not mean, in any way, to excuse extramarital (or extra-relational) philandering. I DO think we need to grow up - as a culture, and to learn more about how we're wired and why we do the things we do. And what aspects of living together are really important.

And frankly, I believe that some of the casual sex engaged in by married/committed women MAY be different (and possibly more harmful) because they might have underlying motives such as a need to get even, or to punish, or to raise their own self-esteem. That is not even about sex, but about something else, entirely.

And lastly, if we were to grow up culturally, the harmless sexual behaviors of consenting adults might go back to being a private matter rather than fodder for a ratings-hungry media. Imagine the time that would be freed up for important matters. Consider this article by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Saul Friedman.  

AND, I think that much of this can apply to same-sex couples as well, with obvious, and not so obvious differences. A lot of it is just truly understanding what we promise when we decide to 'commit' ourselves to another person. And then knowing where one's own integrity lies when it comes to the promises we've made. Yes, promises can be broken; it happens everyday. It's important to me to be sure that I never do so accidentally, or because 'I just couldn't help it'.

The Lady and the Reaper

This one cracks me up on SO many levels!

Enjoy

Thanks for sharing, Ronni.

Vibrational Frequencies ~ Up... and Down?

"In order to help someone who's in a very different vibrational frequency, you've got to adjust your vibrational frequency so that they can hear you. And if we were standing in your physical shoes, we would not adjust our vibrational frequency down—ever. We would not introduce more resistance in our vibration for any reason whatsoever, because disconnecting yourself from resources does not give them more to eat."  - Abraham

This is the text of today's quote from the channeled work of Jerry & Esther Hicks.

Here is a totally new reason (as if I needed more) for keeping my nose out of other folks' business.
I guess it's really not new; I've known this.
But it is SO easy to get my little inner preacher preaching!

I do SO love sharing my infinite wisdom. :)
I hope you're laughing; I am right now, but I often forget.
                                                                    Then I get to hear cosmic laughter!

What it implies is that for me, individually, to get/stay connected to my Source IS the path to more sustenance for others. Cool, huh?     or...Model it; don't preach it.
ONE MORE TIME - I can ONLY change myself. 

'Why' may be the most useLESS question ever asked

Declan Galbraith is a very good singer/songwriter, maybe a great one someday.
And it is certainly true that this is musically beautiful.

But in my opinion, the Why question may sound pertinent but only adds to the confusion and problems that we experience. The question implies an answer, for one thing. And even when there IS one, no answer to this question provides a change in the condition. Constantly screaming/asking/meditating/singing on a why question for any situation simply focuses one's mind on the problem.

Contrast this song (above) with Bette Midler's From a Distance.

Just consider the differences in these verses:

In my dream children sing a song of love for every boy and girl
The sky is blue and fields are green and laughter is the language of the world
Then I wake and all I see is a world full of people in need

Tell me why (why, why, does the tiger run)
Tell me why (why why do we shoot the gun)
Tell me why (why, why do we never learn)
Can someone tell us why we let the forest burn?

(Why, why do we say we care)
Tell me why (why, why do we stand and stare)
Tell me why (why, why do the dolphins cry)
Can some one tell us why we let the ocean die?
                              

    Then this.....

From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.

From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves,
it's the heart of every man.

It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves.
This is the song of every man.
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance.
                                       

The differences I hear in these lyrics are HUGE. And reflect what I hear in the people around me everyday. We, the editorial we (I pray), simply do not (maybe can not) hear our own negativity. We fell in love with The Secret; we joined Oprah's group to discuss Eckhart Tolle, and for what? I don't know; I can't see any differences anywhere.

I'm running out of people to talk to. I'm hyper-sensitive these days to language and connotation and intent. The world seems to be on such a completely irreversible course straight to extinction. And I can't help but see that (extinction) as the perfectly natural and appropriate consequence of the decisions we have made.

Decisions about how we keep score and what we value are critical to every aspect of our lives. And yet, we seem not to get that connection between those things and the conditions we see around us everyday. We bemoan our educational system without realizing that it suffers because we prefer to reward football players and actors much more than teachers. Many of us suffer and even die because we value drug companies and specialists more than nature and life-style changes. We invest billions in drug companies and gurus to keep us living longer on a planet that we KNOW is dying from overpopulation and disregard. We created a political system that enforces and guarantees a gulf between We the People and those who claim to represent us. And then we watch them argue for power among themselves while they claim to serve.

Here's a 'why' question for you: Why would any rational conscious person on this planet want to live one single second longer than absolutely necessary?

I don't get it. I don't get why there are still starving people in African deserts. Or anywhere else for that matter. We don't have to step back to any great distance to know that many people throw away more food than some villages ever see. We KNOW, if we look, that today's bag of rice is feeding the great-great grandchildren of the same people we sent a bag of rice to yesterday.

Duh!?

My friend, Nancy, and I speak a similar language. She thinks I need to get out more...out of town, that is. This is a  touristy little berg in the boonies of southern New Mexico, full of realtors and retirees and is extremely conservative and fundamental. I suspect she may be right; my horizons here are WAY too narrow.

Perhaps I'm just dancing with my dark side. It's true that my thinking can be a bit compulsive. 

In any case, I've been working on this draft for 3 days and that is more than enough time to spend of something I can effect only in my own heart. Nancy & I are planning a day trip to the Bosque; just we and about a gazillion feathered friends. Undoubtedly, they can blow away these current winds of ...whatever this is...this absence of god...this futility that I feel.

Thankfully, none of those things I decry are real.
It's just me & my mind wallowing in the trough of disconnection. It's a temporary aberration.

I'll be back. 

The Ongoing Saga of the Battle Between Ego & Spirit

There may be more rambling than saga here, but... it's a blog after all - not a thesis.
(I looked thesis up, and it is that, actually: 3. A hypothetical proposition, especially one put forth without proof.)   :)

As some of you may know, raising my consciousness/awareness is a value I hold. It's one that often conflicts with other things going on in my (moderately compulsive) brain.

Increasing my awareness about the food I consume is one of the ways I advance this ideal of mine. Lately, that has been fueled by Michael Pollan and his books. And also by the film Food, Inc. and stuff I'm reading around the web, such as articles by my friend Laura. Moving my body a bit is another way. This manifests as continuing lessons in T'ai Chi but has not yet presented as a regular daily practice.

So, what's the battle?

Well, I was watching a trainer speaking to a group of women the other day (TV). He was teaching them this mantra: "Exercise is not negotiable," and suggesting (strongly) some very drastic (to me) changes in their eating habits. He seemed to want them to believe that they truly had NO choice. Basically, his message was exercise and eat right or DIE. And his absolute, in the 'not negotiable' sentence raised all my hackles and fired up my ego and compelled me to yell at the screen: "Oh, yeah! Of course, it is negotiable, you idiot."
I can choose dying.

And there is the dilemma.

I think that it may be a responsibility of mine to get off this planet as soon as the trip takes me to that point. It's not about suicide; it's about too many people. It's not about me; it's about the planet. It's not about health, per se, it's about consequences.

It's balancing my food addiction and my real love of all things food, with my increasing spirituality and consciousness. I suspect that it's mostly denial, as in that river in which so many of us are floundering.

My addiction is quite active. If I am not eating (or maybe while I'm eating), I'm planning the next food opportunity: recipe search, shopping, prepping, cooking, serving, and back to eating again. I love cooking for other people. And while all my choices for guests consider their own food issues or goals or tastes, I'm drawn, still, to all those old comfort-foods that continue to work for me.
(What fun I am already having preparing the Super Bowl Party food! I could care less about the game.)

So, I have a long way to go here.

I'm sure I will continue to evolve. I think I could not really stop evolving, even if I tried. And I'm fairly sure that spirit/god understands the 'thing' I have with food even though I clearly do not, as  yet.

Balance is the only way I can think of these matters at the moment. And I don't pretend for a moment that I am actually IN balance. (Work-in-progress...hold that thought.)

Some of what feeds the confusion or inability (or unwillingness) to move in one direction or the other is what I see when I look around me at stuff on TV; at some of the people I know; at national and world politics; at the way we teach each other and our kids to value score-keeping over consciousness.

Gotta go play with someone else's computer... I'll be back to this.

Tools for internet safety.

I’m not writing to warn you about anything.
Besides, everyone I know is pretty savvy. (not that we can’t all learn
something)

We all have friends or family who are NOT savvy, though, and this info could be
really helpful.

I came across this article from a site I use daily(refdesk). The site that posted the article is Lifehacker, one of my two favorite sources for checking all those ‘warnings’ that do come around to me.
There is also a link in the article to a different article with info on choosing and remembering strong passwords.
My other favorite is Snopes. Snopes is great for email scams, etc.

I also use an anti-virus program called AVG that has proven to be excellent. We’ve used it for several years, now. There is a free version with a link you’ll find on the homepage under ‘Popular Links’. 

We pay for a more powerful one that costs about $40/yr.

But either is good. We used the free one for about 4 years.

Key thought on virus protection:
Use whatever program you’re comfortable with, but keep it up to date.

That’s all, folks. Jut passing on a little info. Have a great
day, unless you have other
plans. 

Smiles & Blessings,
Kate

Rumi speaks to me...again

I opened The Essential Rumi to this poem last night. Does it speak to you, too?

Who Says Words with My Mouth?

All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that,
and I intend to end up there.

This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I'm like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?

Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.

This poetry, I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it.
when I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.

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.)

Spiritual Moments

I found this video posted on Ronni Bennett's site this morning. It reminded me to look around me a little differently for the various small blessings that cross my path every day. I thought you might enjoy it, too.

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802 about banks:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Guess who controls the issuance of our currency.

This thought is also embodied in the philosophy and economics of the Social Credit System that has been proposed many times over many decades.

I think it is time to rethink... again.

Hypatia: Greek Philosopher & Mathematician AND a Woman

Thanks, Cindy, for sharing these links and introducing me to Hypatia. I really hope we'll be able to see the movie.

The first video here is an overview of her life.

This one is a trailer for a new film starring Rachael Weisz as Hypatia. Makers are looking for a US sponsor for the film; I surely hope they find one!

Last Day on the Hillside

Another windy day. Brrrrr
Happy to be going home

I'll be sleeping at home tonight. ; D

"Funniest Staff Meeting"

"Funniest staff meeting."

Just a warning: You may want to read it in private. Enjoy!

"The boss of a Madison Avenue advertising agency called a spontaneous staff meeting in the middle of a particularly stressful week. When everyone gathered, the boss, who understood the benefits of having fun, told the burnt out staff the purpose of the meeting was to have a quick contest. The theme: Viagra advertising slogans.

The only rule was they had to use past ad slogans, originally written for other products that captured the essence of Viagra. Slight variations were acceptable. A few minutes later, they turned in their suggestions and created a Top 10 List. With all the laughter and camaraderie, the rest of the week went very well for everyone! The top 10 were:

10.  Viagra: Whaazzzz up!
  9.  Viagra: The quicker pecker picker upper.
  8.  Viagra: Like a rock!
  7.  Viagra: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
  6.  Viagra: Be all that you can be.
  5.  Viagra: Reach out and touch someone.
  4.  Viagra: Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
  3.  Viagra: Home of the whopper!
  2.  Viagra, We bring good things to Life!

And the unanimous number one slogan:

  1:   This is your peepee.   This is your peepee on drugs."

I found this all over the Web, but I did not find anyone claiming to be the author. Here is the link I liked the best.

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.

Update on Joel and things ES

Today is Monday, September 21st. There are only 4 earthship days remaining. YEA!!!!

Joel is back home after a really tough couple of weeks. Since the last post (mentioning ER and recovery), she went to the ER a second time last Thursday and ended up spending a couple of nights in the hospital.

There was a period of time in the ER when we were being told she had pneumonia, but thankfully it was really only bronchitis. She did have the flu, too. So what knocked her down was a combination punch of UTI, flu (NOT H1N1), and bronchitis.

This time, she really IS much better. I brought her home yesterday afternoon. She was stronger, though still weak, and more interested in a little food than she has been for about 10 days. I'm still at the ES for a few days, so friends have offered to help out. She'll finish a course of antibiotics and take some breathing treatments for a couple of days. It's really nice to see her looking good again.

What she REALLY needs right now is an Animal Control officer. She called about 9:30 last night to tell me that a skunk had come in thru one of the pet doors and was hanging out in the mud room. Given her health, the lateness of the hour, and my absence from the scene, she decided to call the cats in (thru a regular door), secure pet doors so the skunk couldn't get into the house - and go to bed. We're hoping that all the drama is over this morning, but if not we'll let the Hall boys handle it. (We LOVE our Ruidoso Pest Control folks!)

But really! What else can happen right now? 

Thanks everyone, for your help, prayers, and Jess - the banana pudding is GREAT!

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?

A Thought on Aging

The thought of the day from my homepage: "Refdesk" is

"It is always self-defeating to pretend to the style of a generation younger than your own; it simply erases your own experience in history." - Renata Adler

Joel crashed & burned!

...Though evidence of recovery is showing up. Yea. I mean, really, she's going to be fine.

I know a few of you see this or Facebook even when we're not keeping up well by email; hence this post. 

Joel saw the doc about a week ago for a minor UTI, and had just started treatment for that, when a nasty flu bug bit her in the butt and took her out. Big Time!

She has been flat on her back since Saturday (including several hours in the ER on Sunday). That was triggered by pain from the UTI, but the dehydration they found and the weakness prompted the flu test. So really, that was all for the good.

She saw her own doc on Monday who put her on more meds, and now she has turned a corner. Even she is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  Poor baby.
All things considered, she is MUCH better this morning, though still weak and recovering. I don't think anyone local needs to show up at the door yet, but she's ready to check email now & then.

Shaula, thanks TONS for helping while I handled things at the ES in Capitan!!!  :)

   

Testing post-by-email

I'm at windstream emailing a post to see how this feature of Typepad works Also attaching a photo.

Wow!
That was almost instantaneous!!! The photo was handled automatically, too.
I call this one 'shadow shot'; from left to right: folding camp chair, me, Schatz.

getting it wrong/right?!

Oh, my gravy!

Did you know that if you get enough people doing/saying something wrong, it will ultimately become right?

Check this out: read the "usage note"

short-lived

 (shôrtlvd, -lvd)

adj.

Living or lasting only a short time; ephemeral.

---

[short + (long)-lived.]

Usage Note: The pronunciation (-lvd) is etymologically correct since the compound is derived from the noun life, rather than from the verb live. But the pronunciation (-lvd) is by now so common that it cannot be considered an error. In the most recent survey 43 percent of the Usage Panel preferred (-lvd), 39 percent preferred (-lvd), and 18 percent found both pronunciations equally acceptable.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

This - now so common that it cannot be considered an error - is the phrase that chaps my butt.

What? Something wrong becomes common, through laziness or ignorance or carelessness, and then - because it is commonly wrong - the wrong thing is suddenly made right. Wow.

So, why aren't all of us over-eaters suddenly made thin?

Perhaps the reverse is true, also. The old 'use it or lose it' thing...? Could that be what is happening to ethics in politics and punditry? Maybe there are so few examples of ethical behavior in these arenas, that ethics are no longer something for which to strive. Hmmm...

Now, as I was growing up, EVERYBODY told me to be a good girl: Mom, church, teachers, relatives...everyone. I've spent quite a bit of energy through the years examining the guidelines of each; keeping some ideals; making new ones; eliminating others, until I've come to understand what being a good girl means to me.

The very bottom line is that I must add to the love and not to the fear in this world.
That effects how & whether I talk, what I watch on TV, how I relate to family & friends, & who I hang with.

It's beginning to effect what I eat and how I fashion the hours in my day. (thankfully; but no dramatic results to report)

It seems to me that there should be a way to make this all work for the betterment of the planet.

Labor Day: not laboring, just thinking

After doing a few online chores and being VERY grateful that the rain is saving me (once again) from the pig-pen chore, I went bouncing around a few of the blogs I read.

Looks like I may need a new list.

Yes, many Americans are having a tough time. Some stories can be quite disheartening, and some of them are not so far from home.

But, tell me, please, what does all this complaining accomplish?

At this blog - KateThoughts - we hold a more positive point of view, and a much broader one. It's all about perspective. Everything is always about perspective.
Perspective and attraction. And no, I'm not fond of The Secret. But I do thoroughly believe that my thoughts, words, and actions have energy & power. Where I place my focus gets BIGGER. If I consistently focus on pain, it hurts MORE, not less. And if I spend my energy complaining of the economy, it will continue to cause struggle for me.

So, 'woe is me/us' posts don't stay on my screen very long. The one thing they accomplish for me is to switch me over into grateful thoughts, almost instantly. 

It seems very important to me - especially in times like these - that we look for the things about which we can be grateful. And about the ways we can lift up those around us who might enjoy a little 'light'. Not everyone we know will want to step out of the complaining/whining stuff. Many don't even know there can be an option. 

So, on this Labor Day, I am grateful for:

• Retirement (thanks Mom & DM)
• Tremendous opportunities to be helpful financially & energetically
• Horizons - and the pet job that brings me to the countryside
• Summer rain showers
• Computers and telephones
• and Awareness:
  that there is so much to be grateful for
  that thoughts have energy
  that tough times can bring insight & inspiration
  that how I 'take' things is a choice I make - repeatedly

So have a nice day,
unless you have other plans, of course.

:)

It's been awhile...

Happy Sunday Afternoon...to be followed shortly by wishes for ...Happy Labor Day. (tho I hope you don't have to labor over anything tomorrow...)

I'm out at the Earthship Adventure. I was planning to add some photos to my FB page, but that application seems to be having trouble...for a couple of days. Here's a cool site that gives a little overview of Earthship construction and operation. THIS one is not exactly like those in the link, but is VERY similar. Not all 'systems' are operational yet.

All I really want to do is sleep and whine. It's too hot for the former, and just too horrible to contemplate the latter, so I'll post some of the photos I was going to put on FB.

Exterior -

                                   

and now I'm having problems with this..............Aaarrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhh!!! Check the link above; it shows great stuff about earthships and has some videos also.  I'm going outside to throw rocks.

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.

Perpetuum Jazzile

 - an acapella jazz choir... Wait until you get a load of this...!
This is how I first heard it.


Then someone sent this full version:



Now, here's the Toto original:



Which one do you like?

It'll do your heart good...

and here is where they tell us how it came about... Inspiring couple, great sense of humor:

Fabulous Catcerto! from YouTube, of course...

Wow, can you believe it?!

Alan Watts on Life & Music

Laura posted this today and I am compelled to save it here.
THIS IS IMPORTANT! and I'm not kidding.