responsibili-tea...

response.ability.

the ability to respond.

 

☀

As the Great Eastern Sun rises,

meet the day with a child-like spark.

Remember to feel and simply be present

to what is encountered throughout the day.

Then re-member that much of what

we encounter

is our own neuroses.

And laugh.

Work to become more aware of what blocks

the ability to be present and curious

so that the channel

to responses

of joy and enthusiasm remains

open...

 

But re-member there is no need to

take it all

so seriously...

☀

Driving in an unfamiliar area with my love yesterday
I gave up my ability to respond with
curiosity and enthusiasm for this
new and exciting experience
to my unconscious 'responsibility'
as the co-pilot who knows
where to go
and the need to be right.

Apologize for unnecessary gruffness.

Then like the setting sun,
let the day go.

As with the breath
and each new dawn,
practice it all some more.
Have some fun.
...and savor the moments of
la joie de vivre!

 

a fine mesh...

The key

to sprouting yummy seeds at home.

It's super easy...

They're like a garden in a jar,

in the middle of winter.

Watching them grow is fun for the

whole family!

good drainage doesn't have to be fancy...

after just a few days, voilà!

(this is the sandwich booster blend)

a short, helpful little tutorial

from Mumm's...

my seed source of choice.

Give it a try!

And if you are a sprouter,

do tell...

what are your fave(s)?

the S word

Most of us have seen it,

smelled it,

maybe tasted it,

played with it,

prayed for it,

even sat in it.

But did you ever make a corsage out of it to wear to your school prom?

The Inuit have dozens of names to capture the many nuances of...

Snow!

Call those soft, full flakes floating down

wings of white butterflies,
Call it piranha when it bites your cheeks,
…or kitten when it sleeps in the

crooks of window.
Call it forgiveness when it lies like balm over an area that's been clear cut,
Call it tickle when you stand, arms outstretched, and catch it on your tongue.
Call snow lace when it lines the

limbs of lilacs,
…or grandmother when it rests in the

porch swing.
Call it prayer in its stillness.
Call it mouse when it squeaks under your boot,
…or trickster if it appears on April 1st.

And,

In the evening when snow delivers you to the comfort of hearthfire,

call it friend.

(adapted from Judi K Beach's 'names for snow')

trinkyi         first snow of the year 

tlapat          still snow

don't just *do* something...

...sit there.

Do you have the patience to wait til your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving til right action arises by itself?
~ Lao-Tzu

The silence we value is not the mere outward silence of the lips. It is a deep quietness of heart and mind, a laying aside of the preoccupation with passing things -- yes, even with the workings of our own minds; a resolute fixing of the heart upon that which is
unchangeable and eternal.
- Caroline Stephen


Be in the truth of each moment - all that you are sensing in the body, thinking in the mind, feeling with the emotions. Don't suppress it and don't support it.
Be with what is.
- Paul Lowe


If you go into a forest with your mind only, you'll only notice the sounds and the mind will try to interpret them. You might think you're present; but you're not really, you're simply judging what you hear. But if you become aware of the silent dimension underneath the sounds and in between the sounds, then you become present because the moment you become aware of the silence,
you also have become silent.
~ Eckhart Tolle 

...and to all a good night

Finnish nisua with fresh ground cardamom
and Cape Breton pork pies...

If you work to make it true, It's a Wonderful Life
George may not have much money, but he's the richest man in town

I offer this beautiful version of Lucinda Williams' 'Blue' for anyone whom it is not, or anyone wishing to acknowledge that for many among us this is not,
the 'most wonderful time of the year'.

conviction of the heart

Yogi Bhajan brought Kundalini Yoga (Yoga of Awareness) to the West in the '60s. He went to an LA auditorium to speak to anyone interested in learning about it. No one showed up. He spoke anyway, to an empty auditorium, so strong was the conviction in his heart of what he must do.

I believe that what he was practicing was his own mastery, and so it didn't matter who was listening at the time... fifty years later, I sit here still trying to absorb the message.

"If you want to learn a thing, read that.
If you want to know a thing, write that.
If you want to master a thing, teach that."
~ Yogi Bhajan

Several years ago I took a 3 hour Kundalini class, and one powerful message I recall often when I am taking my body image too seriously is the teacher cooing 'loooooooove your belllly'. Still makes me smile!

Listen to and practice really receiving this blessing into your heart...
only then can it radiate out to others...

May the longtime sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on

Namaste.

full moon mood

Slow down, you're movin' too fast
You gotta make the mornin' last
Just kickin' down the cobblestones
Lookin' for fun and
Feelin' groovy

Hello lampost
Whatcha knowin?
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
Ain'tcha got no rhymes for me?
Doo Bee Doo Doo,
Feelin' groovy

Got no deeds to do
No promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me...
Life, I love you,
All is groovy

fruits o' roots

this morning I awoke to the sounds of nature out the open window,

such a pleasant and gentle way to greet the day!
first open window night of the season here in the northeast...
which led me to thinking about nature and our connection with it.
'it' is not separate from us.
we are among nature,
we interact with nature.
it's the noticing of this interaction that varies,
but I believe nature is always speaking to us
and is a very wise teacher.

take Roots for example.
for some reason I made pannakakku for the first time ever, and then came across a box of 'finn crisp' at a store recently,
so I was feeling more in touch with my own family heritage and
where I come from.
a friend pointed out that this little maple here was not growing in a good spot
and suggested we replant it somewhere more fitting.
like this little maple tree, perhaps as human beings we can all relate to the desire to receive guidance and encouragement to bloom in our optimal environment... with space,
to reach our branches to the sky and show our array of color...
and also to reach deep for our nourishment and centeredness...
and some of us, like the rhododendrons we also just planted,
take a while to allow their roots to branch out from their root ball,
but once they do, become quite hardy.


Poetry, A Natural Thing
~by Robert Duncan in The Opening of the Field

Neither our vices nor our virtues
further the poem. "They came up

and died
just like they do every year

on the rocks."

The poem
feeds upon thought, feeling, impulse,

to breed itself,
a spiritual urgency at the dark ladders leaping.

This beauty is an inner persistence


toward the source
striving against (within) down-rushet of the river...