pineapple! PinEaPpLE!

When Ross The Intern met Steve Irwin years ago, he came up with a codeword for when an experience with a wild animal was getting to be too much.

this video is not only

delightful and hilarious (wish the quality was better though),

it's also a very practical guide on

how to contend with impending overwhelm by utilizing the

valuable fear management tool that is:

pineapple!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXbCY_yRWOc

The genuineness of Ross' responses in the moment

and the way Steve responds to him just touches my hopeful li'l heart.

It is important to believe someone when they say pineapple,

but it is helpful to also verify they really mean it

and get a sense of whether there is space

to go beyond that initial sense of fear.

HSP's have a tendency to be extra cautious, and speaking for myself,

at times I do appreciate gentle encouragement and support from others

to consider going beyond that first pineapple.

Sometimes I say pineapple as a protection,

an anticipation of pineapple.

Whatever stage of pineapple, taking that risk to go further can be like an unspoken agreement to borrow some of the confidence of an 'expert' for a short while

in order to reach the next plateau.

And by expert, it doesn't have to be the level of a Steve Irwin, sometimes it can even be a more experienced part of ourselves that knows we want to stretch a bit.

understanding those subtle layers of pineapple,

while respecting that 'pineapple, really'

does mean there is impending panic in that moment.

Enough, for now.

As someone who tends to take life much too seriously,

this video always lightens me right up

and it came to mind as I was processing a recent job experience.

Less than a week after I started it,

I felt like Ross when the animal was first presented,

and I immediately began looking for my Zone of Safety.

For four weeks it eluded me,

and when I tested the waters of trust in those above me

it was getting clear why my spirit was not going to find the

peace it needed to breathe fully.

having a tendency to undervalue my own contributions,

not being valued for what I was bringing to the table from the corporate structure

was looking like it would be a recurring theme

which would damage me emotionally in the longrun.

So I said pineapple.

And removed the tarantula from my shoulder.

They said 'pineapple already?'

(but we need at least a 2 week notice!)

I said pineapple, really, but I am interested in leaving on good terms,

so okay, I can do that.

I just won't breathe on the tarantula.

One day into the 2 weeks I got an extreme headcold

and had to call in sick the next day.

It was unquestionably the right and only thing to do.

That afternoon they called me to say that the day before would be my last day,

'so that they could get someone else in and trained'.

Because of that abruptness, it took a little while to see the favor they were doing me.

They saved me from 2 weeks of further ruminating over of my own sense of pineapple

and trying to explain the unexplainable.

especially to my self.

It can be challenging to accept that pineapple really is quite simply, pineapple really.

~

YOUR FIXED IDENTITY ~ Pema Chodron

In Buddhism we call the notion of a fixed identity “ego clinging.”

It’s how we try to put solid ground under our feet in an ever-shifting world.

Meditation practice starts to erode that fixed identity.

As you sit, you begin to see yourself with more clarity,

and you notice how attached you are to your opinions about yourself.

Often the first blow to the fixed identity is precipitated by a crisis.

When things fall apart in your life, you feel as if your whole world is crumbling.

But actually it’s your fixed identity that’s crumbling.

And as Chögyam Trungpa used to tell us, that’s cause for celebration. 

"The planet does not need more 'successful people'. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with success as our culture has set."

- H.H.The Dalai Lama

less is more

always in life
the moments that matter are where thought ends;
they appear in nonsense,
as lightning in sunlight,
as a burst of laughter over a cup of tea.
- christmas humphreys

buddhist compliment

yesterday, I had a chance encounter at a coffee shop with Boston Bill, and we ended up talking about the difficulties that come with attachment (one particular situation for him was obviously losing a limb, but we both related to the broad range of physical and non-physical attachments) to anything not functioning well...

it was not a heavy, deep conversation, but  in essence

lightness of our shared humanity over a cup of tea,

and I'd like you to meet this delightful fellow...

after our very uplifting and grounding chat (the refreshingly real kind with no elephants, like the kind you might/could have with a buddhist monk or a nun, no need to hide, you're already *seen* anyways), I was interested in learning more of the history of this traveler shining his light and living in possibility, and this article had a quote about how unexpectedly, not to mention at a personally uncomfortable time, the moment appeared when he simply had an opportunity to help someone else... which turned out to be transformative... reminded me how easy it is to be caught up in ourselves and our own situations that we miss these

small miracles waiting to happen...

'The other cyclists continued on their way, leaving the grumpy white-haired man with his bike, his shoes, his artificial leg and his fear of appearing helpless.'

a fuller story and powerful short documentary of this fated friendship is shared here...

Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
Think less.

Feel more.

See the miracles in your own life. They are there.

Let life happen through, rather than to you... 

et cetera, et cetera...

♥

and when you must think...

win win

i give it two (enthusiastic, heartfelt) thumbs up.

According to Matt Berninger, the band wrote this song after watching the film "Win Win" and becoming inspired by Tom McCarthy's themes of

"very normal and good people
trying to do their best
and the struggle to be good."

Lyrics:

I was drifting, crying
I was looking for an island
I was slipping under
I'll pull the devil down with me one way or another

I'm out of my mind; think you can wait?
I'm way off the line; think you can wait?

We've been running a sleepless run
Been away from the baby way too long
We've been holding a good night gone
We've been losing our exits one by one

I'm out of my mind; think you can wait?
I'm way off the line; think you can wait?

Did I?
(all I have is all)
Think you can wait?
Did I?
(all I have is all)
Think you can wait?

What I'm thinking is simple
I'll sell apples and ice water at the temple
I won't make trouble
I'll pull the devil down with me one way or another

We've been running a sleepless run
Been away from the baby way too long
We've been holding a good night gone
We've been losing our exits one by one

I'll try.
I'll try, but I couldn't be better.
(all I have is all)
I'll try, but I couldn't be better.
(all I have is all)
I'll try, but I couldn't be better.
(all I have is all)

...there has to be...

good smile at the end, tom.

☀

“Hope and optimism are different.

Optimism tends to be based on the notion

that there's enough evidence out there to

believe things are gonna be better,

much more rational, deeply secular,

whereas hope looks at the evidence and says,

'It doesn't look good at all. Doesn't look good at all. Gonna go beyond the evidence to create new possibilities based on visions that become contagious to allow people to engage in heroic actions always against the odds,

no guarantee whatsoever.'

That's hope.

I'm a prisoner of hope, though.

Gonna die a prisoner of hope.”
― Cornel West 

one of the richest sharings of gratitude, humanity,
and wisdom in this interview, imo.
it's funny too, they have a good rapport.

some gems from Brother West, who considers himself 'blessed to have been invited to the banquet of life'

(much more enjoyable to listen to him,

he has a great laugh and spirit):

Blessed assurance, making a leap of faith,

stepping out on nothing

and landing on something...

He who has never despaired has never lived.

I make despair and catastrophe constant companions,

but I just don't allow despair to have the last word...

Ancestral appreciation,

feeling the love at your back...

 Persevering is the best we do,

just gonna love my way through the darkness...

Ritual has a role to play,

it's nice to stop everyday life

and have moments of deep meaning...

great reminders about cash,

an instrument for some greater cause, not an end...

and the legacy of Martin Luther King,

who also spoke of a religion based on being

maladjusted to greed, concerned about fairness,

maladjusted to indifference,
concerned about compassion,

and maladjusted to fear.
Instead it's courageous and tries to be hopeful...

☀

ours is in the trying, the rest is not our business.

-T.S. Eliot

Never Eat Soggy Waffles

north
east
south
west

this cute little acronym speaks to me
in a directional and a food-related sense today...

I have heeded a tenacious call to study

holistic nutrition.

how not only the what, but

how.when.why.where, etc.

we nourish ourselves with
affects us overall
in body, spirit, mind, and
creativity.

the hitch in my giddyup has been simply coming to terms with the unknown nature of what to 'do' with such information once I invest in obtaining it; yet this is the next step in the natural progression of my journey toward healthifying my own relationship with how I

nourish my self on all levels.

i am and will allways be my first and a lifelong client.
food is a passion. and my connection to all things in nature, including my fellow human beings.
now I feel the time is showing itself to enter the marketplace, so to speak.
with open hands.
and a play-in-progress 'tude.

direct the mind, drive the hind...

drive the hind, and the mind will follow...

yee-haw!

(isn't she lovely? a dear friend sent this to me recently, it's an 8x10 that will soon be framed and displayed on the wall.)

Are you curious about exploring the role nutrition plays in your own life and health? Find the food industry a bit overwhelming and want some help sifting through the information to make well-informed, conscious choices? Do you deal with a particular condition or dis-ease that you would like to treat holistically, or in a way that works with a western medicine approach? Do you simply have the sense that you could be feeling better than you do, or that you could use some support in obtaining a greater state of vitality through individualized diet/lifestyle/cleansing suggestions?

I will be seeking people for case studies.
Would you like to be a volunteer client?

Through opening up about your health (your personal identity shared only as initials or a substitute name), I am excited to see what we can learn together, and hopefully you will walk away with a new lease on life.
Or at the very least the inspiration to whip up some hearty un-soggy waffles.

♥

Let medicine be thy food,

and food be thy medicine.

~Hippocrates

Music is a lady that I still love because she gives me the air that I breathe. We need all sorts of nourishment. And music satisfies and nourishes the hunger within ourselves for connection and harmony.
~Cat Stevens

Sometimes you struggle so hard to feed your family one way, you forget to feed them the other way, with spiritual nourishment. Everybody needs that.
~James Brown

you can't have something...

without nothing

.

without

space,

you couldn't have anything

solid

.

nothing

is what brings

something

into

*focus*

.

and

nothing is more

fertile

than

*emptiness*

.

~Alan Watts

And forevermore no discussion

about nothing will be complete without including

Seinfeld,

in my humble opinion,

a brilliant show about...

well, you can't have nothing

without something,

but what a hilarious way to

(en)lighten up about the

human experience of it all...

.

something and nothing

are inter-connected

 as Watts says,

in a marvelous system of

WIGGLES...

so go ahead,

dare to live

*your*

*unique*

shimmy-shake!

♥

Goodbody Every Evening

You don't have a soul.

You are a soul.

You have a body.

~C.S. Lewis

How to Stay in the Present Moment, Eckhart Tolle

1. Inhabit the body. Sense the aliveness that is in the body. This takes your attention away from thought. The practice of physical movements such as Tai Chi helps. Sensing the body becomes an anchor for staying present in the now.

2. Make it your practice to welcome this moment, no matter what form it takes. Say yes to whatever is “now”. There is only one moment, but different forms of it. The secret is not to resist these forms. Surrendering to the forms that arise takes you to the formless in yourself. You then sense a spaciousness around whatever happens in your life. People, events, situations, objects come and go. Being in the now moment liberates you from form, from the world. With that liberation comes enormous peace.

Nothing happens next.  Everything happens now.  ~Cheri Huber

What are the benefits of general awareness?

We avoid showing ourselves by using our musculature to create protective barriers around our vulnerabilities. By becoming aware, we have the choice to lower these barriers or to continue to live behind them. Maintaining the barriers expends a lot of energy that could be used for your life's purpose, for something other than retaining muscle tension or an emotional position. Rosen Method bodywork begins with the individual and his or her own growth, but it doesn't stop there. The individual's growth leads to action, and those actions cause a ripple effect in the world; the possibilities are unending.

~ Marion Rosen

The Edge of Awareness, Eugene Gendlin

Inward listening is a dialogue in which "I" and "what comes" both participate and change.

Inward listening lets go of self-engineering, but not of forward-moving bodily life-energy and active development. It is a dialogue with a sensed "edge" that comes physically in us, which we cannot direct or construct. In that dialogue I do not become less than in my usual ways of living. I become more than I was.

We value this edge because it is a porous borderzone through which new steps come that we could not have made. In this metaphor the word "edge" works oddly. This "edge" is the center of the body. It is also the center of speech and action. What you really meant by what you said — or, the motivation you really felt is that unclear but alive bodily sense.

Knock-knock.

(Who's there?)

Nobody.

(Nobody who?)

________