Everything is coming to a head. It has been quite rushed around here- at least more than usual. We are preparing for the big trip. That means getting our health in order- finish up with all the doctors and getting all of our gear. We have our pre-flight checklist ready- although not for an airplane but for our RV, La Orca, as Gary called it. And we are also planning a party- a kind of thank you, good-bye and see you soon. I also hope to see everyone while on the road. We will have enough e toys to fill a spaceship. I am setting up a newsletter to be able to show you pics and videos and also get your feedback on places and see and things to do. You know, all those wonderful little hideaways packed in the middle of nowhere. The heart of America. Come and follow us on our journey!
I am not a big poetry fan, but I was quite touched when I heard a poem spoke recited aloud by my friend, Alice. It was by Mary Oliver and since then I have heard a lot of people are big fans of hers. Count me as one, too. This is a favorite-
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
The one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Inspiration for the upcoming week:
The essence of it is to let yourself see how much clinging to how you want your life to be is nothing more than a process of self-torture. Drop it, and allow yourself to fall openly and unguardedly in love with your life as it is and everything in it.
quote from the book, Heal Thy Self.
“Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs. Albert Einstein
I walk the hallway in my apartment building everyday, sometimes more than once. I walk alone. No one else now walks with me. No friend, caregiver, husband, etc. They don't need to since I am okay walking on my own, but they don't want to. The hallways are bare tan walls that are brightly lit and the same colored grey doors are every few feet apart. The only difference is the number above the door. It is boring to all but me. It is my meditation, my labryinth, my kinhin. I walk and breathe the hallway. To the normal eye, there is nothing but walls, doors, and lights. But everyday I experience something different. As I pass by with my quad cane, I can hear high pitched infant cries, angry voices, and tv commerials. Food smells linger behind me as I pass. The hallway looks the same each day but I experience something new and fresh when I walk.
Our lives are like the hallway- very routine, dull, and familar. Within that we sometimes forget the richness that is beneath the surface. With mindfulness we can connect to that bliss beneath the surface that we have buried quite deep over the years.
When you walk down the hallway, listen, look, and feel for what is there.
It may surprise you.
and please remember to consider :
The everyday practice is simply to develop a
complete acceptance and openness to all
situations and emotions.
And to all people -- experiencing everything
totally without reservations and blockages,
so that one never withdraws or centralizes
onto oneself.
- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Wow! It seems like a long time since I have been writing lately. So much is going on it is hard to know where to start. Let's start with the vow I took as a Buddhist which starts, "Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them...." Guess I took that quite literally when I resolved to help my friend, Joseph, who is in kidney failure. I shamelessly asked everyone and put up notices on the internet chat rooms, craigslist, buddhist forums, etc. Well, it worked. I got about five people to step up to the plate. Two were rejected. One looks like a go and another two are being processed. Well, if life were just that easy, eh?
My second project, my new website-www.wholeheartedway.com. This site will promote my financial coaching. It also will be a wonderful place to go for free or inexpensive resources that could make people's lives a little easier. Who couldn't use that?
I have also partnered with my friend, Annette, to make a grandious website for people suffering from illness and/or disabilities. It also would be a wonderful resource for people to get and receive services and stuff. It is slow going since it is only the two of us, but we are committed to www.shatteredbutwhole.com.
Meanwhile I want to spruce up my blog here with pics and audio and such. I am just not that web savvy to do it so I will have to get together with my IT professional, AKA my husband, and work on that.
In between times when I am slacking, I like to make jewelry. Funny, I don't wear a lot of jewelry but it has been fun and challenging making stuff for friends and family. Saves money on presents, too.
It is very quiet around here, and I miss the chaos of children and/or a dog. Gee, did I just say- miss the chaos?
In the silence I am now getting in touch with just how much a type A I really am!
Our first nite in our new van RV was rocky. We were right by the beach Sunday nite as the wind climbed to 60 miles and hour and the rain pelted down on the roof. Didn't sleep much but it still was a hoot.
Anxious to see where we head next. Have plans to spiff it up a bit too.
Got any ideas for a name for our van RV? It is white with sage green interior. Ideas so far are- salsa verde, put it in park, love shack, chillin the most, carpe dieum, and rolling avocado.
Went to the gait lab yesterday, I am hoping for enough information to tell me if I am strong enough to get out of a knee brace and/or the AFO brace. Any less bracing would sound good to me. It is quite a hassle to get dressed with all of these gizmos.
Shambhala day was great and it was good to see old friends. As I talk to people there, I sense a great poverty consciousness that bothers me. I keep wanting to do a financial seminar there. Maybe if my health gets better, and they have the time, I could do a one day workshop.