tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64457782085034515592024-02-06T22:43:11.164-05:00stepping gingerlyCanynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-49646031302297058102021-04-18T21:52:00.003-04:002021-04-18T21:52:49.657-04:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3IoC4gBROjTBQtBP9lQjilXY6gj4QrNUPZqihrkYmZHuatFyQTZHzkqqBv3TwjsEyyUiOYzjPRd7JAbneyRC4x2-SDCwiKqM3lmbctZ_k-jSP_9nqt2Kww7V_f9kLgjb0l0NbqW1I6A/s2048/70450A60-FFF8-4DFE-9A39-4017EEFDFAFE.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3IoC4gBROjTBQtBP9lQjilXY6gj4QrNUPZqihrkYmZHuatFyQTZHzkqqBv3TwjsEyyUiOYzjPRd7JAbneyRC4x2-SDCwiKqM3lmbctZ_k-jSP_9nqt2Kww7V_f9kLgjb0l0NbqW1I6A/s320/70450A60-FFF8-4DFE-9A39-4017EEFDFAFE.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px;">The main problem with which many of us suffer (as human beings) is that we are rarely happy with what we have and frequently believe that we would be happier if we had this or could do that, or whatever. I think it must be an evolutionarily derived trait, naturally selected with a million years of genetic reinforcement, to help us in our need to survive as a specie. If humans were innately happy, what more would they have to do? Early humans had needs, of course, and were constantly having to figure out how to eat and stay warm. “If only I had a better shelter from the rain I could be happy.” Now, here we are, spoiled little fat things, most of us living a ridiculously easy life compared to an early hominid, and yet we still have the drives that helped these simple people to evade extinction and we have no idea what to do with them. So, one thing we do is long for material wealth and power and prestige. How worthless those goals really are. No happiness guarantee there.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I wonder if early humans were ever able to live in the present, to gaze at a beautiful sunset, relax under tree, draw a picture just for the sake of drawing, swim in a pond just for fun? Was there any time that they weren’t thinking about what they had to do next; wondering how to achieve happiness? </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I sincerely hope so. Because if they were able to do it, then we can do it, too.</span></p>Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-65388083070556607672013-07-22T11:54:00.001-04:002013-07-23T10:55:25.546-04:00Something To Look Forward To<br /><br /><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/07/23/753.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/07/23/s_753.jpg' border='0' width='200' height='150' align='left' style='margin:5px'></a><br /><span style="font-family: Futura; font-size: medium;"><br />A long time ago, when I was an eager college student on the threshold of adult life, I took a class in basic psychology from (the now late) Dr. Kennedy at FSU. One of the lectures he gave that stuck with me the most was about Dr. Milton Erickson and the African Violet Lady. What I took from it was that everyone needs a purpose in life - something to make them feel a part of the big world. So many times I've thought about that lecture over the past 30 years. But, I think I have realized something new about it.<br/><br />There is tremendous power in having something to look forward to.<br/><br />It's not always good. When "something to look forward to" is bad for you, it can be called an addiction - cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, junk food; there are all manner of things in the world to look forward to that aren't particularly life enhancing.<br/><br />I really don't know why it took so long for it to all make sense. It's something I've known deep down all along.<br/><br />I have an elderly mother whom I look out for and help so she can be at least <i>semi-independent</i> for as long as possible. She used to travel cross country and camp in a tent. She used to climb mountains. She used to walk three miles fast every morning. Then she had a few health setbacks. I never expected her to give up and sit down in a chair in front of a television set. But, she did. It seemed to me, from what she said, that if she couldn't do all the things she had long ago decided were the only things to look forward to in (her) life, then there was very little left for her at all. She developed a tendency toward depression.<br/><br />I started trying to get Mum out as much as possible. She won't travel out of town because she is afraid to be too far from her doctors. I am not bossy and overbearing enough to tell her we are <i>just going</i> and pack her things and make her go. And, she is also stubborn enough that it would be miserable to try. So I came up with things to do around town. I bought a wheelchair so we could go to parks and gardens. But that just wasn't enough. What she needed was something regular, something scheduled, something reliable that she could look forward to short term whether it rained or she had a head-cold or her digestive system was wacky-nu-nu. That's when I came up with Movie Night. Every Saturday I fix dinner and we watch a movie or an episode of something interesting and entertaining to her. I knew exactly why I originally started doing it - I mean the theoretical or even clinical type reason - other than because I love her. It was to give her something to look forward to. It works so effectively that she has trouble changing plans, even for something more interesting.<br/><br />Consider where we come from as humans. Ancient people were looking forward all the time, and much of their focus was sequential and somewhat dependable - <i>seasons, times for different foods to be available, length of days, warmth...</i> Maybe they lived mostly in the present, but they counted on certain things and looked forward to them for their survival. <br/><br />It seems that humans have been working from pre-history to create things to look forward to, like holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. It's the reason we have hobbies and sports. It's the force behind every kind of ambition. It's even why my daughter serves coffee to mostly the same customers every day.<br/><br />I also think this is why addictions are never really cured. A smoker looks forward to their next cigarette. A gambler looks forward to their next bet. An alcoholic looks forward to their next drink. When they give up the addiction, they give up something they looked forward to. And it's one more reason why chemical dependency is so insidious - it's the need for something to look forward to coupled with the physical inability to resist that particular thing.<br/><br />But what about hoarding? That's an addiction, right? What is there to look forward to about a house filled with junk? Or, too many pets? It all makes sense if you've ever known a hoarder and listened to them talk about it. They always have a plan for the future. "I'm going to deal with this before I die." That's the hoarder's mantra. Something to look forward to, postponed.<br/><br />So, now that I have convinced myself that needing <i>something to look forward to </i>is the reason for almost everything human, and maybe even convinced you to partially agree, what is to be done with this all-encompassing <i>seed pearl of wisdom</i>?<br/><br />1. Use it to understand yourself and others.<br />2. Use it for building compassion.<br />3. Use it to help people. <br />4. Use it to help yourself.<br/><br />My prayers and intentions now are for you to have wonderful, delightful, healthy, fulfilling things to look forward to. I wish for you that you can look at your life and see all the things that you look forward to for what they are, both good and bad. And when something you look forward to doesn't happen just right, I pray that you will quickly let it go and replace it with something else.<br/><br />Of course, the best thing is always and forever to fully experience the present, if you can. Because looking forward to something might be what makes us feel that we have a reason, but experiencing what we have looked forward to in the present moment is what makes it all worthwhile.<br />Namaste.</span><br />Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-26435840987594291122011-09-11T13:03:00.002-04:002011-09-11T17:23:25.689-04:00Lessons of 9-11∙∙∙∙∙∙✵∙∙∙∙∙∙✵∙∙∙∙∙∙✵∙∙∙∙∙∙<br />
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<b>Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Mohandas Gandhi</b><br />
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<center>⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀</center><br />
<br />
One of the lessons reinforced for me by the disasters of September 11th, 2001, is that anything can happen. You never can tell. <br />
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No brilliance of imagination, no aptitude of logical reasoning, no foundation of history can guarantee that things will go well or go awry. I think we all really know this, even though many people act everyday as though bad things happen only to other people.<br />
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This is not to say that we need to cloister ourselves away from the world. We were reminded of that fact several years ago when a woman in Florida was killed by a plane that crashed into her house while she knelt praying at her private altar. <em>Anything</em> can happen.<br />
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The victims of 9-11 gave their lives while living life to the fullest. There are surely an infinite number of lessons, societal and personal, that have arisen and will continue to arise from their loss. Those lessons keep their deaths from being in vain. <br />
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For me, however - who thankfully did not lose a loved one or friend on the same day that America collectively lost the illusion of impervious national security - following the shock and sadness, the lesson remained <em>to forever expect the unexpected.</em><br />
<br />
In that light, we must always remember that in the field of all possibility, unexpected good can happen as well. Just as so many believe that bad things happen to other people, many also believe that good things happen to other people. It's so important to understand that if something good can happen for one person, it can happen for any person.<br />
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<center>⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀</center><br />
<b>There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein</b><br />
<center>⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀</center><br />
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When we remember the historical events of this date, we would do well to reinforce our commitment to live in the present and boldly experience each moment. Meld with the environment, whatever it is. Allow the sensation of <em>all that is</em> to fill you with feeling. And above all, act with compassion in all situations. That is what is singularly important when everything else is stripped away.<br />
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We owe it, to those whose lives were taken, to live valiantly and give love openly. For all those moments that they have lost, we can experience ours enthusiastically. For all the kindness they were denied the opportunity to bestow, we can give extra. For all the dreams that disappeared with their loss, we can dream larger and believe for them.<br />
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We owe it to them to do our best to make the world a better place.<br />
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<center>⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀ ⁀♥⁀</center><br />
<b>We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. - Martin Luther King, Jr.</b><br />
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<center>¸¸.◦☮ɳɑɱɑʂté☮◦.¸¸</center>Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-18281113598209797562011-09-04T11:01:00.005-04:002011-09-04T19:32:06.142-04:00Problems<b>If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. - Abraham Maslow</b><br />
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I tend to vocalize little everyday problems. Usually they don't mean much to me - a mosquito bite, a spot on my shirt, an appointment I don't want to keep. Most of those problems are tiny. Even my big problems are small, really, in the scope of the whole universe. I just keep forgetting to keep my little issues to myself.<br />
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There are three basic ways that people respond to the mention of a problem; they change the subject, they sympathize, or they suggest solutions. The first two responses are really the best and most sensible, in my humble opinion. If I am so foolish as to assume that I have a problem important enough to take up any "space" in someone else's thought waves, it is really best for all if <i>that someone</i> maintains sensibility and ignores me or just expresses some form of compassion and moves on. <br />
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For the most part, I can handle the majority of my own problems, small or large. Unless I directly ask for assistance, in which case I acknowledge that I have no idea how to help myself, I don't generally need to be told what to do. Yet, so many times, in casually noting a small personal issue, I regret to find I have conjured a reluctant and agitated hero.<br />
What are the signs?<br />
An aggressive showering of overly pugnacious advice that starts to sound more like "Do as I say and shut up. Case closed."<br />
<br />
I wish so much that I could remember only to say pleasant things or nothing at all. Why in the course of the day I would feel the need to tell anyone anything that doesn't concern them, I do not know. Perhaps it's only conversation. It might be just a case of carelessly thinking out loud. Why does anyone need to know that my head hurts, I have a hole in my sock, or my tea went cold?<br />
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Once, a long time ago, I expressed to a wise friend my desire to tell a certain person what <i>I thought</i> they should do to solve a problem, and my friend asked me something I have never forgotten.<br />
"<i>Who are you</i> to try and take away somebody else's lesson?"<br />
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Many problems don't have much of a lesson, though. <i>Remember to look at your socks in the light to see if they are black or blue. Laugh at yourself if you forget.</i><br />
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My father, whom I've been missing for four years now, once asked me to make him a business card. In the middle it had his name, beneath which was the title, "Professional Listener." In the corners it said, No Advice, No Opinion, No Judgement, No Response. It was a joke, of course, but it was inspired by how so many people, many of them strangers, would often choose him to receive their life stories. Being a good listener is a talent and it will get you a lot of business - even when you aren't charging!<br />
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We all need each other. There is no doubt about that. We help each other, we support each other, we validate each other. Sometimes we may even need a leg up. But, the most important thing we can do for each other is to just be there. I don't really need to be told to take an aspirin, change my socks, or put my tea in the microwave. I was only being human and imperfect, (and maybe annoying,) in mentioning such little insignificant problems. It's something to work on indeed.<br />
In the mean time, I hope everyone will join me in the effort to replace all negativity with a response of compassion. No opinion, just sympathy. No judgement, just understanding. No advice, just friendship.<br />
<br />
Namaste<br />
Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-62254564921351121892011-03-19T14:56:00.002-04:002011-09-04T11:13:48.253-04:00Holding On and Letting Go<br />
<center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=11/03/19/1975.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/11/03/19/s_1975.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />
<b>All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. - Henry Ellis</b><br />
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One thing I spend quite a bit of time contemplating is knowing when to hold on and when to let go. How funny it is that I just devoted an hour and a half to a post on this subject, with which I was very pleased and in the stage of conclusion, and then somehow deleted most of it. <br />
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No matter. My whole point was that the only way to deal with holding on and letting go is to give up fear of regret. There is a reason why my blog disappeared, just like everything else that happens in this world. To mourn the disappearance of all my carefully chosen words would just be to hold on to the past, to nothing.<br />
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There is a place for regret, however, if it is because one has retrogressed or might retrogress spiritually. Then it becomes the catalyst for a positive change. It may lead one to forgiveness or retribution or better yet, foresight. That, I think, is the real purpose of regret. To teach us.<br />
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So, how does one know when to hold on and when to let go in normal every day life? Listen to other people? Listen to your inner voice? Cling tightly without question or leap into the void without looking? All of the above, I think. It's mostly important just to live, to love, to make all decisions from a foundation of true compassion, and to move on in life without wasting time wondering what might have been. Imagination is magical when applied to the present, torture when applied to the past.<br />
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So, I guess I'll just hold on here as is for awhile and sooner or later I'll figure out when to let go. In the mean time, please pardon me if I sometimes, maybe, think about little things a little too much. <br />
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I think I'm meant to be working in the garden right now.<br />
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Namaste.<br />
Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-15946477872804627792010-08-14T13:05:00.002-04:002010-08-14T13:16:43.673-04:00Strength and Love<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="body">Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.</span> - <b>Lao Tzu</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I </span><span style="font-size: small;">think t</span><span style="font-size: small;">he story of Tiger Woods is very important and needs to be studied from more than the perspective of a person who achieved greatness and threw it away by thinking himself infalable. It needs to be examined as more than just a sports hero who rose and fell. More than a marketing disaster. More than a tragedy of failed family values. Tiger seems to have a lesson for everyone.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The most important lesson, in my opinion, has to do with the effects of love. Tiger was once so loved that people watched golf just to see him play. People admired him. They loved the story that they thought was real. I can only imagine the energy that used to be on the course while he played. The love that people extended to him, I believe, was what made him a super star. It must have started as a little boy and he learned how to absorb that love and use it to give him focus and courage.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now that he has lost that love, he can't perform the same way. He is no longer a beloved hero. He is ridiculed by comedians. The energy on the course while he plays must be very different now. People whispering, watching, gawking, judging, sniggering. The massive waves of love that moved him are gone.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Such is the power of love and the withholding of love.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"><m:dispdef></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac>I once read a unique perspective on Satan in a book about angels. It was kind of scary for me, being raised in a southern Baptist background. I say it is unique because it is different from what I was told as a child, yet I have also read that this is a Judaic view of Satan. This perspective was one that spoke of a strange gratitude to Satan. It painted the picture of an angel who agreed to do a job for God, to be the keeper of the dark side, to be the initiator of temptation. He knew that he would be reviled and feared, but his love for God was greater than his desire to be loved. God wanted us to have a contradiction to love so people would choose the path of love rather than just complacently accept it. The author's point was that everything is a creation of God, and that we have choices because God wants us to have choices. In this story, Satan performs his duty of dangling the dangerous temptations of the material world and we decide whether we want to please our ego or please our God. </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It's an odd thing to think about. Anyone with any smidgen of fundamentalist religion in their background must get a little chill at thinking kindly on Satan. I am not convinced that there is a being in the form of a dark angel who tempts us, beyond being a metaphor, but it is an interesting concept to ponder.</span><br />
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</style><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%;">❦</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></div><span style="font-size: small;">People who achieve greatness and then lose it in scandal probably don't see themselves as performing a service for mankind, but they really do if we pay attention. If we look away from the judgments and the ridicule of such people and just learn from what happened, we can transend many of the trials of living in the material existence. We can mentally put ourselves in their shoes and feel the pain, feel the loss, know the effects, and make a choice to never fall victim to similar temptation. I think it is like the lesson of Jesus in the desert - that we don't have to really experience a mistake to know what it will do to our lives.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCANYNF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCANYNF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCANYNF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps we can find a new way to love Tiger Woods. Maybe not the way he wishes he could be loved. But we can appreciate the sacrifice he has made during his time here on earth, having to live the rest of his life under the shadow of so many lessons we can all learn from.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm sure most people have heard a version of this:</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much, from him they will ask the more. <b>Luke 12:48</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCANYNF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCANYNF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCANYNF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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</style><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%;">❦</span></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And, then there is this simple quote, which sums up it all up for me.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="body" style="font-size: small;">If you want to be loved, be lovable.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> - <b><span style="font-size: small;">Ovid</span></b></span></div><span class="bodybold"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/o/ovid143433.html"></a></span></div>Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-45584977873025816192010-05-29T10:22:00.005-04:002010-05-29T13:50:38.201-04:00Cunundrum<span style="font-weight: bold;">Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has, the more one wants.<br />- Benjamin Franklin </span><br /><br />Of all the opportunities for learning that our world has to offer us while we are here, I think the issue of “money” offers the most diverse and controversial aspects of all. It seems like people put an awful lot of time into thinking about it, for as many reasons as there are people on this planet. Each of us finds call to think about money in several different ways, unless one is fortunate enough to have someone trusted to think about it for them.<br />It’s all so strange.<br />Sometimes when I think about the complexity of the money issue, I feel like I am contemplating something ridiculous.<br />Really, it is just a pretend stage production we all play. There was a time on this planet when it wasn’t a factor. We have allowed this macabre tune to suck us in and we dance to it as though we have no choice. The world we have built around us makes it too difficult to exist without playing a role, so most everyone gives in.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~<br /></div>I worked late last night and when I got home I turned the on TV to a favorite show, sat down with my laptop and was reading email when I just keeled over on the sofa and fell asleep. I woke up after midnight. There was a popular televangelist giving an intimate seminar on 7 Laws of Success and he actually sounded interesting, so I listened for awhile. I like to hear different viewpoints because it opens my mind. What he was saying sounded kind of New Age, kind of Law of Attaction-ish, which was fascinating considering how fundamentalists have feared and reviled those areas of thought.<br />Some of what he was saying sounded incredibly wise for a televangelist. I continued to listen, took some notes even, because I was getting excited that all these people in his audience, all his fans, were getting this great information from a source with a history of narrow minded fundamentalism. These are the very people with whom I could never feel comfortable discussing this way of thinking coming from my sources and foundations. The people who listen to this guy would plug their ears against Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, or Eckhart Tolle. These folks think Oprah and Marianne Williamson are bad people.<br />He continued in his charismatic and charming way and after awhile he was talking more and more about money. The focus was no longer about finding your vocation in service to God and the world. It was about money. How to amass more money. How he acquired money. He was basically, in a sideways kind of way, telling people that if they pledged to send him a certain amount of money they would become magically debt and mortgage free because he had a special message from God. I was so disheartened. All these people, worried so much about their fragile souls that they’ll only listen to someone who systematically invokes their particular chosen dogma, getting a small amount of sensible Law of Attraction philosophy only to have it used to lure them into a trap. There is the possibility, however, that it might just open the awareness of a few people who would normally be closed off to a different speaker providing much of the same information (excluding the send money part.) Maybe some of them will discover the power of intention and learn to just flow. Teachers come in all forms.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~<br /></div>The money issue, though. Why do some people feel like they must have so much? Why have we created a world where money rules so much of what we do? Our biology dictates that we have to participate in a system that has been building to this point for thousands of years, at least in some capacity, because we have to eat and have shelter. Those basic needs are capitalized upon by others who think it is okay to amass large fortunes of money and hoard it. The important thing about money: if it isn’t flowing, it isn’t doing what it was created to do. A multi-millionaire with most of his money socked away in Switzerland is just another man with a mortal body housing a soul that doesn’t benefit at all from millions of dollars. It’s all an illusion.<br />Is there a point to all this ranting about money? It’s so complicated. I only know that I wish it wasn’t the way it is. I’ve managed to get by with a decent life just by trusting the universe and because I was lucky enough to be born in the United States. I have to keep a watch on my thoughts so I don’t get drawn in to the money dance. But I dream of a gentle life where everyone has what they need and feels equally important. It could be that way. The world is a beautiful and abundant place with way more than enough for everyone to live out their time here in peace and comfort and amazement. I’m doing my part by living with a plan for increasing simplicity. If we all work together, humans can build a world where money is no longer something to fear or revere; a world of love and safety.<br /><br />Imagining that world is the first step.Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-36645400000994949042010-03-07T12:17:00.008-05:002010-03-07T12:37:22.475-05:00Making Time<span style="font-weight: bold;">The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. – Albert Einstein</span>
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<br />Modern American life eats up a lot of our time. I’m sure that with the invention of electric washing machines and telephones and automobiles and microwaves and computers and… stuff, there were people thinking, “Wow, this is going to give folks more time.”
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<br />So what happened? How did we use up the extra free time? What happened after Grandma didn’t have to scrub on a wash board and ring out the water with rollers before hanging up the clothes? What happened after a chicken dinner no longer meant catching the chicken and going through a disgusting process of preparation before it made it to the table? What happened when going somewhere no longer meant working with a horse? Or walking where we had to go? It really hasn’t been that long ago.
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<br />I think about such things because my life is really busy during the week. I try to preserve the weekends, but sometimes that gets bitten into as well. I’m always plotting and scheming how I will manage to get exercise and meditate and make things and write. Every now and then I have committed the mistake of openly voicing frustration over finding the time for those favored things. A polite and gracious person will say something like, “I completely understand. I pray you can work that out.” But there is another reply that used to affect me like the sound of fingernails scraping across a chalkboard. Maybe the whole purpose of this experience was just simply to teach me to stop grumbling. That reply is, “You have to make time.”
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<br />That one phrase used to unleash a gnashing little dragon inside of me and I had to use my most powerful techniques of self control to subdue the creature. I do try to steer away from people who use that kind of response technique, but when you work in a public service job you can’t always pick and choose the people with whom you spend the day.
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<br />The fact is, making time, in the conventional sense, really just means taking time from something you already do and devoting it elsewhere. If your responsibilities are such that making time for something extra will eat into something you aren’t willing or able to give up, or even trim, then you have a problem. A problem you might be inclined to grumble about, upon which someone who is overwhelmed with their own problems might overhear you and say, “Well, you just have to make time.”
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<br />So, what’s to be done? About the time issue, that is? People who teach the Law of Attraction would say that you have to stop focusing on what is dragging you down and concentrate on how you want things to be. That takes a lot of mental fortitude, I must say, but I’m thinking maybe they are right. After a few unexpected and impromptu encounters with some “make-timers,” I decided that the universe was speaking to me through them. Sometimes a slap in the face snaps you out of trance better than a gentle nudge.
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<br />With recent budget cuts in the school system and the longstanding practice of assigning extra jobs to the librarian, my work has become increasingly more difficult to get finished within the allotted contracted time frame. (In other words, I do a lot of overtime.) Complaining and feeling sorry for one’s self definitely has no positive effect on a situation like that, except maybe to make one ill and get them some time off that way.
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<br />I decided to try the Law of Attraction philosophy here, thinking that maybe all it might do would be to settle me into just accepting <span style="font-style: italic;">‘what is.’</span> And, that would have been okay with me. It’s not that LOA is something new to my system of thinking. It's just that I never thought about using it in this particular way.
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<br />I started repeating the affirmation, “I have more than enough time for all of my responsibilities and for myself.” Most recently I began incorporating <span style="font-style: italic;">subtle action</span>* into my routine. I’ve teeter-tottered back and forth so much between despondency and my positive affirmations for the past couple of years that I’m sure the universe has been confused. But, in the past couple of weeks there appeared a small glimmer of hope, so unbelievably unexpected that I could not have imagined it. Three of my greatest difficulties at work have been affected. One is gone completely, the other is now changing, and the third is approaching change. <span style="font-style: italic;">I can now see the universe making time for me.</span>
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<br />I’m quite sure that the people who ventured to tell me I just need to “make time” were not in any way referring to using the Law of Attraction, but they were unwittingly speaking to me from a higher place. I just had to figure it out.
<br />
<br />I have indeed discovered the secret to making time.
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mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Namasté</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br />*<span style="font-style: italic;">subtle action</span> is a term created by Dr. Deepak Chopra to describe his method of using LOACanynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-65105293791319170432010-02-15T08:55:00.008-05:002011-10-18T23:49:25.712-04:00Hobby-horses<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCanyn%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCanyn%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCanyn%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> 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.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me. – S. Kierkegaard<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Long ago, I was assigned to read a book in college called <u>Tristram Shandy</u>, by Laurence Sterne. One of the major discussion points about that story was Sterne’s use of the “hobby-horse” to describe a private obsession someone might have about which they tend to go on and on in a conversation. I believe, if memory serves me, that the characters in the book may have had only one hobby-horse each, perhaps to simplify the issue. Sterne was greatly influenced by the works of John Locke, who believed that every person lives in his or her own little world, communicating and interpreting everything based on their own thought obsessions. He saw this as why people having conversations frequently feel misunderstood, given they are talking about something from two totally different perspectives. I think he also attempted to explain why people get so offended in personal debates, how they think their hobby-horse is being insulted or attacked when it hasn’t even being considered. In <u>Tristram Shandy</u>, hobby-horses tend to give people something to focus on in order to keep from looking at themselves. They might even begin to see it as themselves. <br />
I didn’t really care for the story itself, but the idea of the hobby-horse stuck with me all these years. I was reminded of it yesterday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >I was having a pleasant discussion with a family member whom I love dearly, and whom I consider my most treasured friend. We can have spirited debates and always come away still devoted to each other, which we have been doing since I was a child. One of the wonderful things about conversations with family members and old friends is that they teach you how to recognize when a hobby-horse has entered the room. There is a feeling that takes over the conversation when one of those blasted things pokes its nose in. Personally, I think people have multiple hobby-horses and I think they ride different ones with different people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >My dear sister was somehow led to get on her medical hobby-horse. She knows a lot about and thinks a lot about diseases, medical procedures, and tests. She goes to doctors when she has a feeling that there is something wrong. There is nothing the matter with that, if it is what she chooses to do. I, personally, tend to try and diagnose myself and I use Reiki and positive affirmations, herbs, exercise, or whatever seems appropriate to rid myself of bothersome symptoms. I’ve rid myself of many problems in just that way. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >I know that most of the world, faced with a jumpy feeling in the chest, or a severe pain in the shoulder or knee, would immediately make an appointment with a doctor. I don’t do that and I’m sure that a majority of the medical professionals out there would say that it’s an insane way to behave. I guess that’s why one of the hobby-horses people saddle up and ride hard around me is the “doctor” issue. I don’t mind really. I don’t argue or tell them that I think <i style="">they</i> are wrong – I wouldn’t dare! I just tell them I won’t go to a doctor unless I think I have to, and that’s that. The conversation ends until they decide to get on it again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Now, I am trying to think, what are my hobby-horses? Do I have more than one and do I use them to stand in for who I am? Do I get on and ride whenever the opportunity arises? Do I ever find myself embroiled in some frustrating conversation because someone is riding their hobby-horse and I’m on mine and we just don’t understand each other at all? Seems like maybe the answer to that is yes, though not so often anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >I know that I’ve had times in my life when I’ve had thoughts about not being understood. It probably happens every day. Half the time people don’t understand simply because they aren’t listening – they’re busy thinking about what they want to say next. Truly, there are only a few instances when it is absolutely necessary to make people understand something, such as in cases of emergency, issues of planning, legal defense, instructional issues, and practical instances like that. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Maybe releasing the need to be understood is the key. Maybe if I don’t ever care to defend my point of view, if I don’t ever think to try and convince someone to believe the way I do, I can be rid of the hobby-horse forever. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >How wonderfully good and free that feels to imagine that!<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:14pt;" ><span class="bodybold"></span></span>Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-28483077262866888862010-01-23T21:23:00.017-05:002010-01-31T11:37:22.732-05:00Who Am I?<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> 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<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="body">There is no absolute point of view from which real and ideal can be finally separated and labeled.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - T.S.Eliot</span><span class="bodybold">
<br /></span></span> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >I've never been fond of labeling when it comes to human beings - for many reasons. It's limiting, for one. It can be condemning, for another. But, what about when someone attempts to label you with <i>something positive</i>?
<br />Most of us would like to accept the positive labels. It is in those situations that we feel our gracious actions are being noticed and acknowledged. We might even feel rewarded by it. If we have lately been especially aware of our shadow side, it might give us hope that we are just being hard on ourselves and that people don't see the shadow which we know is there. If people were used to seeing the shadow, it might mean that a change has been noticed and forgiveness is at hand. Whatever the case, positive labels are rarely rejected.
<br />
<br />I was recently offered a heartwarming label, one that would definitely be <i>how I would like</i> to be seen. The friend who offered it took it farther and asked if I saw myself as he described. The question kind of took me aback. I couldn't bring myself to say <i>yes</i>. All the therapy books and speakers who have addressed self-esteem were screaming in my head! I simply replied, "Only God can say. I do my best and hope it is good."
<br />
<br />As far as limitations go, if I were to be limited by a label, it would be a happy circumstance to be packaged up in [COMPASSIONATE] or [LOVING] or one of many other spiritual identities.
<br />
<br />Alas, but it can only be my actions which are labeled, not me. I believe we are everything, all the "bad" and all the "good." It's what we choose to show the world that counts; it's what we choose to bring out into the open that inspires how we are thought of and how we think about ourselves. 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style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >¤~¤~¤<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >I wrote earlier about the experience I had with past life regression. It caused me to want to know more about the concept of reincarnation. I read a good deal about it and I used what I read to come to <span style="font-style: italic;">my own conclusion</span>. What I came to understand from that study, and the perspective that I work from in my life now, is that the task I am faced with here in the material world<i> is to get myself closer to God than I was the last time I was between incarnations</i> - the goal being to get close enough that I don't have to be born here again. My actions while I am here, those characteristics which inspire labels, are what make a difference in how much progress I make.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >I know there is a lot of talk and writing about how we are God, and God is Love, and we are Love. I believe that, too. The whole thing, the whole system, is about helping us to discover that truth and know it innately.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >I had a French teacher in college back in the late 1970's who was the first person I heard use the term, "metaphysical." Oh, I adored him and every word that came out of his mouth was magic, so I began to seek clarity on everything he mentioned. He spoke of "<i>knowing</i>" in a way that caused me to tax my infantile teenage brain. He said, "Ancient man knew things because he just knew them. He knew the cycle and pattern of the stars because it was a part of his awareness. Unlike us. We know most things because we are told."<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >Perhaps God wants us to "just know." 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priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </u12:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >¤~¤~¤<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >I think T.S. Eliot is right in saying there is "no point of view" that can separate real from ideal - at least no human or philosophical point of view. We can only work from our ideals and hold fast to them and trust that they are serving us well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >And if, in a moment of being human, we apply a label to someone or ourselves, let it be an ideal label - even if the label doesn't come from true "knowing." People seem to attempt to live up to those labels deliberately or haphazardly applied to them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >Labels for people, in my humble opinion, should always have a potential response of, "Thank You," even if only God can really know the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:";" >Thank you, JX. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Namaste.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-46172721868234853772010-01-10T16:42:00.016-05:002010-02-09T10:11:12.902-05:00The Magic of Empathy<span style="font-style: italic;">Love someone who doesn't deserve it. – Unknown</span><br /><br />When I saw that quote I wondered, how can we judge if someone doesn't deserve to be loved? Wouldn't that be kind of cruel - to make the decision that another human being doesn't deserve love? Seems to me like that decision would be the foundation for war and violence and all sorts of nasty things.<br />But, still, it made me think about something that happened many years ago.<br /><br />There was a period of time in my life when I was a homemaker. I had a small child and I was fortunate enough to be able to choose to stay home with her. That bit of good fortune didn't come with a lavish lifestyle. My husband had a decent job that paid the bills, but we lived paycheck to paycheck. I was thrifty and skilled at making things, however, which helped us to live better than we might have otherwise. It especially helped at Christmas, because I made most of our gifts.<br /><br />One year, it was 1989 to be precise, my teenage niece wanted a hard to come by tapestry vest for Christmas and I decided to make her one. I knew of a warehouse type store in a remote part of the Pocono Mountains that sold upholstery material, ends and pieces from factories, and I managed to find just what I needed. Everything else, the pattern, the silk, the buttons and buckle, I found in town. I was already working against the calendar because I had been so busy making presents and cards for other people. I wasn't sure I would have the vest made in time to mail it to Florida for Christmas. It was a complicated piece of clothing and would take great skill.<br /><br />After a few nights of working on it when my daughter was in bed, I started to run into trouble. Things wouldn't line up right. I knew I could only sew and pick out the stitches so many times before the fabric was ruined. I was devastated because I wanted so badly to give this gift to my niece and make her happy. I was up late trying to solve the mystery of how to get the lining and vest to match when breaking news came over the television.<br /><br />The United States had sent troops to Panama to find and apprehend Manuel Noriega, a man despised and feared for his ruthless dealings and total disregard for life. There was a lot of controversy over the invasion and somehow Noriega had escaped capture. They suspected he might be hiding in an embassy of the Catholic Church. I was listening to all this on CNN, working on the vest, thinking about all the terrible things I had heard about this man, and suddenly I felt pity for him. I was kind of shocked at myself, really. This was a person whom, by all popular standards, deserved no pity from anyone. I guess it was the idea of someone hiding in a religious facility that got me. I had read about other people who had asked for refuge in a church, but mostly it seemed like something for stories.<br /><br />The vest continued to frustrate me as I worked it and reworked it. All the while I listened to the reporters and anchormen talking about the rumor, trying to confirm it without success. I thought about that man hiding, full of fear, finally humbled, and something came over me. I got down on my knees and I prayed for him. I prayed for God to have mercy on him and help him to have a change of heart so no one else would be hurt. Then I went back to my sewing project.<br /><br />From the moment I picked up the vest and started back to work, things began to change. It was like some enchantment had been woven over my hands and everything began to come together perfectly. It was quick work after that. If it had been that easy from the start, I might hav<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNJokJRLP34aAQxqs_5ms3iwx_pbn4WFMAmHLSOtzn4va3PBxEeXmtYgWyQRs8-dQHD_rKXFFyrmaPar6Mm5HIsHgPPi2bKVrtyOaseyBx6wqMSeGvA5oc-vq1-kyRZQk_HaOpeMsnWY/s1600-h/vest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNJokJRLP34aAQxqs_5ms3iwx_pbn4WFMAmHLSOtzn4va3PBxEeXmtYgWyQRs8-dQHD_rKXFFyrmaPar6Mm5HIsHgPPi2bKVrtyOaseyBx6wqMSeGvA5oc-vq1-kyRZQk_HaOpeMsnWY/s200/vest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425271395843970738" border="0" /></a>e opted to make one for myself. But, I knew it wasn't my skill that made it come together. I knew it was that tiny, minuscule act of love for another human being, just because he was a human being and for no other reason, that the vest project had in the end become an easy task. The magic of that love and empathy had come back to me instantly.<br /><br />I think I remember that my niece didn't get her vest until after Christmas. I'm told she loved it anyway and wore it with pride. I know it stayed in her closet many years, even after it was out of style and too small.<br /><br />Funny how that quote by an unknown person could make me remember that odd experience. But, I do understand how some people might be thought undeserving of love or even sympathy. I think, however, since the quote's author is unknown, I shall take the liberty of adding to it.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Love someone who by opinion doesn't deserve it and know that your love is not wasted</span>.Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-31709382855693281522010-01-02T16:11:00.003-05:002010-01-02T18:05:23.766-05:00Finding ReasonLife is a puzzle.
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div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style=";font-family:";" >é<o:p></o:p></span>. I don't mean to say it's a puzzlement, or that it is puzzling, even though those are probably true enough statements to make. I mean that life is truly a puzzle - to work on, to decipher, to advance in progress. The goal is not even somewhere at an end. The object is just to keep advancing, always moving, always seeing the clues and following them. I suppose one could say that the goal is enlightenment, but that would imply that no advancement would be required at some point. I know for myself, if I were to wake up one morning and say, "I am enlightened and I have reached my goal," something crazy would happen just to make sure.
<br />
<br />So, how do you figure it out?
<br />I'm not willing to attempt to claim myself as an expert on that matter. Oh, no. I would even venture to say that figuring it out is <span style="font-style: italic;">as individual as your left thumbprint, as the iris in your right eye, as your personality</span>. The only thing I can really say is that you must attempt, as best you can, to be aware. Whatever it takes to help you become aware will help you figure out your puzzle.
<br />
<br />For me, I am always looking for the reasons for things. Reasons, in my life have sometimes been layered, complex, and interdependent. Sometimes, it has seemed as though I made a wrong turn in life, but while trekking down that wrong path there is an opportunity to do something that helps somebody and/or helps me to get back on the right path. Sometimes I know that I have been on the right path, because of how life once flowed, and it has suddenly gone on too long, become rocky, and I know there is a turn someplace ahead but I don't know when or where or how. It can run me crazy if I think about it too much!
<br />
<br />That's where being unattached and living without expectation comes in. If I was working my way through a maze, I couldn't say, "Up ahead there will be a right turn and it will take me to the edge." Unless, of course I was psychic or had been there before. I can say, however, that I wish to go to the edge and then work my way through until eventually I get there. And, even then, there could be more surprises.
<br />
<br />That's all very abstract. How about an example?
<br />I took a job in a grocery store bakery in a rural section of the northeastern U.S. during a transition period in my life. It was an odd place to be working, being a young southern girl with a bachelor's degree in English. I saw the ad taped to the front door of the grocery right when I was asking <span style="font-style: italic;">what on earth</span> I would do. I needed money, I knew it was temporary, and it was very convenient. When the time that I spent working there seemed to go on longer than I thought it should, I started to ask, "Why am I still here?" I knew I was meant to get the job at first, but I assumed it wouldn't go on so long, that the other objectives I had set for myself would be coming into view very soon. It was not the easiest thing to do, living day to day without expectation, with so much impatience churning around inside of me. I won't pretend I was good at it.
<br />I had developed a habit, however, of awakening every day asking, "What extraordinary things will happen today?<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>" Because of the volatile nature of my life at that time, I had taken to looking at it as though I were reading a novel, and each day was another page turner. It was that attitude that kept me going, kept me looking forward without despair.
<br />Within the workplace environment there were a few problems, most of which were caused by one employee who sought power over others. I became embroiled, unwillingly, within the drama and intrigue caused by this person because I could not bear to see people being hurt. There was an elderly lady working there, a woman of incredible spiritual fortitude, who chose to work there to pay for the debt she had incurred bailing irresponsible family members out of trouble. She was a military widow, and should have been well-to-do were it not for those who drained her resources. I began to protect her, and others, from the wrath of the power seeking person. In return, I incurred the wrath as well. I kept asking, "Why am I here? Why? Why? Why?" Not to be pitiful or anything. I just knew, because of past experiences in my life, that when things seemingly dragged on for me, that there was a reason.
<br />In the end, the power seeking person left for a different job. The goals they had for their personal power in that situation were abandoned. Order was restored. I knew, without a doubt, that my involvement had helped to progress things to where they were meant to be for the other people involved.
<br />There were still other hurdles outside of work, some of them huge, during that transition period. When I finally moved on there were several situations that had been altered for people who seemingly needed my help. It was almost like the universe was saying, "If you want out of this fine mess you've gotten yourself into with that silly ego of yours, you'll have to do some good deeds. And don't be thinking you get to choose what they are, either!"
<br />
<br />I guess until the day that my body becomes a dried up chrysalis, as Elizabeth Kubler Ross might describe it, and my spirit emerges like a butterfly in another form not of this material world, I will be solving this unsolvable puzzle that is my life. I'll just keep asking, "What next?" and the answer will come sooner or later. A fork in the path will appear and I'll try to choose the right one, try to feel which way the wind is pushing me to go, and hopefully do some good along the way.
<br />It's that <span style="font-style: italic;">doing</span> of something good that makes it all worthwhile.
<br />Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-28099053322233263962009-12-31T09:12:00.009-05:002010-01-01T00:32:09.429-05:00A New Year<span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. - Lao Tzu </span>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Everywhere I go, people are breathing a big sigh of re</span><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgDYY5p_5Q9Qu8v-JPlxJBSECZyUfwrktfZbYX_x8GGhlS96GQha5mGRrurgf9zAYKelJjveZh7EYb1FpUIt53JDvVCp2k-wTq7RSKGhC46WdVrGEb9yjPWCsCkFz4Ru9D5YqzBPmLyc/s1600-h/old+stairs+%282%29.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgDYY5p_5Q9Qu8v-JPlxJBSECZyUfwrktfZbYX_x8GGhlS96GQha5mGRrurgf9zAYKelJjveZh7EYb1FpUIt53JDvVCp2k-wTq7RSKGhC46WdVrGEb9yjPWCsCkFz4Ru9D5YqzBPmLyc/s320/old+stairs+%282%29.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421421522430756626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;">lief that 2009 is over. The news anchors claim there is a general feeling across the country that this was an especially bad year. Was it really? It's like there is a magical wall over which we can climb at midnight and escape the imagined curses of the past.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">For as long as I can remember, the new year has always brought a response of, "Thank God!" I really cannot remember a time when this was not the case. As a child and a teenager, this declaration came mostly from adults and maybe some kids imitating adults. Children don't usually look at all the bad things behind them; they are too busy being interested in the next few minutes. Teenagers are thinking about the immediate future. Young adults start to get scrambled, coming up with a mixture of concern for their future and trying to grab everything they can in the now.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">So why is this year making the news as an exceptionally bad year? 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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">tragedy - Disappointment? Illness? Loss? War? Death? Natural disaster? Unrequited love? More tears than we think are normal?
<br /></p><span style="font-family:georgia;">I am </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >absolutely certain</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> that there have been 365-day blocks of time in the history of mankind that were much, much worse.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It would be infinitely more helpful to think of what we are grateful for over the past year. Not so we can hang on to the passing year and revel in it - so we can bless it and let it go. Even the smallest thing to be grateful for is worthwhile, because that small, positive thing could just as easily have been another disappointment.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">My father was a humorous curmudgeon. People would say to him, "Why can't you be more positive?" He would reply, "I am positive. Positive everything will go wrong." He had the philosophy that if he expected the worst, he would never be disappointed. I do remember one or two times when he declared a whole year a wash and gave the big sigh of relief and the "Thank God it's over," declaration. Those instances, however, involved the tragedies and misfortunes of others, people he cared for, because for himself he had accepted that everything would always go wrong. One year, to him, was no different than another. "You've seen one bad year, you've seen them all." The closest thing to gratitude I ever heard him say was, "It's better than a kick in the butt."</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I'm not going to pretend that I don't have my own gripes with the events of 2009. In the interest of avoiding a "whine-fest" I won't get into what those gripes are, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >or were</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. I can honestly say, though, if I were to make a list for every year, put all my concentration into thinking about the unpleasant things that have happened in my life, the lists would vary in length only slightly from year to year.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">So, what is there to do? I think instead of a disappointment list, I'll make a list of satisfaction. I'm sure if I think about it enough, I can come up with a pretty long list. I bet I can make my satisfaction list longer than any of the disappointment lists. Lets see, where to start....</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">1. I am alive.</span>Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-53443667418686412722009-12-22T11:56:00.000-05:002009-12-22T13:04:19.103-05:00Inner Messenger<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >I love my "inner messenger," which I'm told is really called my higher self or my consciousness. Sometimes it pushes me, without words of course, to do something in a particular way. Sometimes it guides me to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes it just tells me to be still </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >and avoid doing anything. It's a wonderful thing.</span></strong><b><span style=";font-family:";" ><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >Mostly I listen, but sometimes I don't.</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >Why not listen always?</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >Well, there are a few factors involved with being an "in tuned active listener."</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >1. The need to pay attention and be aware. </span></strong><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWhuLHuDipBDadtSwmfzrBVmlHNCsAJ7OOUBBVWqxSItoh5XlHasM8ViAakyBAp3ZPoKgd5Q8SMyK_TSL6RaV-T6YBEY-YGqi_S5u2-n-i2iN83NJZEIJrE3kBe29h_AVt7MtLfsIVAs/s1600-h/IMG_7407+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWhuLHuDipBDadtSwmfzrBVmlHNCsAJ7OOUBBVWqxSItoh5XlHasM8ViAakyBAp3ZPoKgd5Q8SMyK_TSL6RaV-T6YBEY-YGqi_S5u2-n-i2iN83NJZEIJrE3kBe29h_AVt7MtLfsIVAs/s200/IMG_7407+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418119892073483858" border="0" /></a></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >2. The need to trust the message.</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >3. The need to be able to stand up to those who question or doubt.</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >4. The ne</span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >ed to be strong and eliminate fear.</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >I can remember when I first recognized that my inner messenger, my higher self, had spoken to me. After this experience, I was able to connect all the times throughout my life when I had "heard" it and either listened or ignored. But at this one point, I became absolutely aware and could acknowledge that there was a messenger, in my heart, which told me things in a very subtle but recognizable way.</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >I was driving down to town in a 1976 VW SuperBeetle. The year was 1993. The place, the Pocono Mountains. My husband (ex) was sitting in the passenger seat. I downshifted and put on the blinker to make a right hand turn that would cut across an approaching fork in the road and eventually take me to the same intersection at a different place. It wouldn't save time or trouble in any way. I did it because, without thinking about it, something inside me told me I should. It just made me feel more comfortable. My husband complained: </span></strong><em><b><span style=";font-family:";" >Why would you do this? What does it help? This doesn't make sense! It will add time!</span></b></em><strong><span style=";font-family:";" > I switched off the blinker and drove on without turning, while he continued to argue his point. Within several feet of driving past the turn I had intended to make, a school bus passed us going the other direction on the two lane road. A child on the bus threw a rock from the bus window and shattered the windshield of the VW.</span></strong><b><span style=";font-family:";" >
<br /><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >My response was, "If only I had listened to myself, and not you, this wouldn't have happened." Of course, I was angry - at myself, at my overbearing husband, at the child and the bus. But, I was also just beginning on a path towards enlightenment and it didn't take long for the anger to change into, "Ah-ha."</span></strong></span></b></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >I know now that the point of this experience was purely to teach me about my inner messenger, about the obstacles that I must face in order to listen, and about the unhappy experiences <i>I </i></span></strong><em><b><span style=";font-family:";" >won't ever know were right around the corner</span></b></em><strong><span style=";font-family:";" > because I listened.</span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >Had I turned, the only lesson I might have received would have been to avoid taking my husband in the car, or to wear ear plugs. </span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >Still, I have to admit, I don't always listen. What my inner messenger tells me doesn't always make sense: I get the urge to pack something odd in my suitcase for a trip, or stick unusual things in my purse before work, or I feel the need to complete something way ahead of time. I always find out <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> later on. I have also taken those odd things back out of my suitcase and my purse, and put off doing things ahead of time, and I eventually find out why I </span></strong><em><b><span style=";font-family:";" >should have</span></b></em><strong><span style=";font-family:";" > listened. Those are just a simple examples, but it kind of works that way, in all types of situations.
<br /></span></strong></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:";" >What I try not to do is berate myself too much for not listening. No one is perfect. 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Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->insignificant<u4:p></u4:p> experiences are good lessons. They keep me aware of that inner messenger that "speaks"</span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:";" > through feeling, or pure thought, and not words. The more familiar that guiding voice gets, I believe, the more likely I am to listen when something really important is at stake.</span></strong></p> Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-10374880750711063172009-12-20T00:10:00.000-05:002009-12-21T12:23:24.303-05:00The Tuition of AngerI get angry sometimes. It’s not a chronic problem. I don’t get offended easily or dwell overly much on injustice. But, sometimes I do have a welling up of that hurtful emotion, that beastly ghost, and it always comes in lesson form.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Major Test</span><br />About a month ago I had an experience that elicited from me a reaction of extreme anger. It was a dreadful case of disrespect at work. I was so angry that I shook inside, trembled in my spirit body like a dry leaf ready to break free. It had been so long since I had allowed a feeling like that, I broke down. I became physically ill. It took a forgiveness ritual and much meditation to get back on track so I could get well.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Field Study</span><br />Today I went to my daughter’s university graduation ceremony. Her boyfriend and I found seats right up front where we could see her accept her diploma and walk down the stairs. We waited a good hour and a half for that momentary event. Meanwhile, other audience members would come down the stairs to take pictures and were quickly chased away by a woman usher who was very devoted to her job. The usherette seemed to be curtly insistent with some people and softer with others. I alternated between trying to be understanding, to watching in curiosity, to being a little shocked by her behavior.<br />At one point, a man in a suit came rushing down the stairs to take a picture of his daughter and nearly knocked over, linebacker style, a woman who had just been brusquely chased away. The usherette simply looked at him silently as he planted his feet, yelled for his daughter, held up his camera, and clicked as his daughter stumbled down the stairs! Thank goodness for the boy who caught her! It was as though the man’s self absorbed energy, that had nearly pushed a stranger into my lap, was thrust across the divide over to his poor daughter. I found the whole thing quite amazing.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Pop Quiz</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7ALiZVWfd9yYGtjMCuxZ57TEw2kRNlEErNX60tkOcS-a-oiSip7tlJrtr0DtvCwxpyPdvcSqYEEMYDI9mmXoI9KP5ZhvlWdsucNWDXVzD842za9KoO5dqGJ9RzZEaDPmvvAgwNVI-us/s1600-h/IMG_7364.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7ALiZVWfd9yYGtjMCuxZ57TEw2kRNlEErNX60tkOcS-a-oiSip7tlJrtr0DtvCwxpyPdvcSqYEEMYDI9mmXoI9KP5ZhvlWdsucNWDXVzD842za9KoO5dqGJ9RzZEaDPmvvAgwNVI-us/s320/IMG_7364.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417741075742637874" border="0" /></a><br />Then it was time for my daughter to walk. I had a perfect set up right from my seat to get a clear shot of her coming down the stairs. (I was lucky enough already to get a really cute picture of her entering the arena to the graduation processional march.) I got greedy, though. I stood up to get a picture of her being handed her diploma. The usherette fussed at me. I snapped the picture and the usherette continued to fuss. Rather than sending her love and a smile, I argued. I pointed out that I was just standing next to my seat. It took only that long for my daughter to reach the edge of the stage and walk down the stairs - without me getting the picture I had waited for.<br />I knew instantly what had happened. Moi - the person so often described as mellow, patient, laid back – had merely acknowledged the ugly head of anger and was getting an obvious, <span style="font-style: italic;">in my face</span> lesson.<br />I’ve been reading quite a bit about the effects of anger lately. Writers like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, and Eckhart Tolle warn of the consequences of allowing anger to separate us from each other. Anger ruins everything.<br />The usherette was firmly lodged in an “us and them” mentality and I fell into the trap. I wasn’t even angry myself. I just took the time to acknowledge her anger, allowed myself to absorb the negative vibes coming from her, and in weakness I responded!<br />So what am I going to do? I had to laugh. The cool thing to be happy about is that my daughter and her boyfriend had a special moment glancing at each other across that space - a sweet moment that only they share.<br />And me? Well, I’m still a long way from being a Yogi. But I’m taking little baby steps - and that’s okay.<br />The usherette? Thanks, lady. I think you helped me earn another enlightenment credit hour.<br />Until next time,<br />NamastéCanynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-4817686240550880702009-12-17T21:29:00.000-05:002009-12-17T18:26:27.640-05:00Power ThresholdFor every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing.<br />- Friedrich Nietzsche <br /><br />When I was in my pre-teenage years, a very strange thing happened. The president of the United States - respected, revered, and a father figure to most everyone - acted in a dishonest way and abused his power. It was shocking and disheartening. We were accustomed to our celebrities misbehaving, although it seemed, as a whole, we wanted to reserve the news of their indiscretions for whispers and short news articles in special publications. The fall of our 37th president, however, was out there, big and full blown for everyone to see. As teenagers, we weren’t sure how to interpret this. We had grown up with the Vietnam War and the Cold War, a time when politicians were being accused of lying to us on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we were faced with the unhappy conclusion that people we respected and counted on would lie and cheat. (I'm sure we aren't the first generation in the history of man to have to face that.)<br /><br />Since that time, we have become a nation, perhaps even a world, which loves to expose the wrong doings of the rich, powerful, and famous. Perhaps it’s to help us forget about our own indecencies. Perhaps it eases our jealousy. Regular people do naughty things all the time. Over the course of my life, I have been entrusted with the secrets of many family members who presented themselves self-righteously and yet bore the personal history of those human weaknesses capable of raising an eyebrow. I hold those secrets like a treasure chest, not sharing them with anyone who would delight in them, but saving them as potential parables for conversation with my wise and wonderful daughter, as did my own mother with me.<br /> <br />What is important, in my opinion, is that we learn from the public stories, as my daughter learns from my private ones. It seems that people who seek or accept power over others, in any form, frequently have an opening through which they cannot go without foundering. I’ve always called it the “power threshold.”<br /><br />A power threshold can be reached at any level of influence or livelihood. One doesn't have to reach the astronomical heights of the world leader or the sports hero. I've seen people allow a taste of superiority to cause shameless or assuming behavior in many walks of life. One person could make it to a position of great power before becoming so filled with self importance that they lose their humility and get careless; another might fall after merely acquiring a humble trust in some modest capacity.<br /><br />So what can we learn from it?<br />The obvious first lesson is that no one person is actually better than another. That is something that I think we can easily forget in the presence of someone charismatic and powerful.<br />Another lesson, the one that I most emphasize to my daughter, is the importance of remaining humble at all times and in every situation. If one can hold steady in the imperative acceptance of their humility, and be forever grateful for whatever blessings have been bestowed upon them, they will be less likely to behave in a way that appears as though they feel they are somehow more entitled than others.<br />And, perhaps the last lesson is just to understand the misery of being exposed. To understand that, though the world may seem to love one person more, it's not like a mother's love. It's a mercurial love. It stands on feet of sugar crystals ready to melt away when the reasons for that love become hotly tainted. To reach an accomplishment of any magnitude, great or small, and then lose what has been gained through actions that were no more than selfish whims must be a great punishment indeed. That's when saying over and over that the past is past and it's time to move on and deal with the present would be almost unbearable, I'm sure.<br /><br />I am not convinced of Nietzsche's philosophy about a bait for every man, however. I believe that the power threshold of any individual is set by that individual and doesn't lie in waiting like a hidden fox trap. If we want to, we can achieve any state of greatness and always remain humble and never take the bait. Indeed, perhaps there are those of us for which no bait even exists. I'd like to think so. I'd like to make it so.<br />Namasté.Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-70558008107842428102009-12-15T08:36:00.000-05:002009-12-22T13:05:04.502-05:00Just One Wish<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CCanyn%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C02%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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{mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} span.entry-content {mso-style-name:entry-content; mso-style-unhide:no;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >If you had one wish…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >I know it sounds childish, but really. What would you wish for if you had one wish?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >I’ve thought about this my whole life. Why? I don’t know. Usually it’s something to think about when I’m lying awake in the early, early AM, when my mind is still kind of sleepy but not enough to actually sleep.<span style=""> </span>If you’ve never contemplated the one wish dilemma, then you might want to start contemplating kindness, forgiveness, and tolerance so you don’t get the urge to make fun. <span class="entry-content">☺<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="entry-content" style="font-size:130%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Back to the wish.</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >When I was young, the standard answer would be, “I wish for more wishes!” That way I could help everybody else and myself, too. But, then, some wise guy somewhere asked the question and qualified it by declaring that the “infinite wishes” answer wasn’t allowed anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >Of course not.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >So what would it be? Endless food for everyone? A loving home for every human and domestic animal?<span style=""> </span>World peace?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >One pretty good wish would be to make everything that is meant to be a weapon, or is used as a weapon, just disappear – poof!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >One wish could end fear, end greed, end hate.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >You could even wish for everyone to suddenly be filled with divine love for everyone and everything.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >I watched Star Trek a lot as a kid and I always liked the episode with the spores that shot out of the flowers and made everybody perfectly happy and healthy. It was a lovely symbiotic relationship. Even Mr. Spock was happy. Maybe I would wish that those flowers were real and growing everywhere on earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:130%;" >It’s just too hard to decide. If it really happened, I think I’d need a little time. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:16pt;" ><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Since it’s not real, I’m going back to the “infinite wishes” wish. I don’t care if it’s not allowed. That one takes more time when I’m trying to get back to sleep.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-86170920789871775572009-12-14T08:35:00.000-05:002009-12-15T06:34:38.596-05:00Santa ClausI have issues with Santa Claus.<br />This might not be the right time of year to talk about it, but when else? I realize that Santa Claus is a happy symbol - magic of Christmas, giving, childhood - something along those lines. Really, it's just fun for the adults to create a story of magic and fun for kids to fantasize. There have always been some aspects of the Santa fantasy that have bothered me, though. I can't seem to really talk about it out loud without getting snapped at by someone, as though I've kicked the poor dude in the shins, or worse.<br /><br />When my daughter was born, I needed to make some decisions about how to handle the Santa issue. Her father and I decided that in our house Santa would only fill a Christmas stocking and all the presents would come from us. This was in an effort to keep our daughter from believing that expensive material objects arrived in the house by magic. I just didn't think it was fair to set her up for that disappointment.<br />One family member, in whose household Santa dropped three vulgar piles of wonderful things, said, "Well, you just want all the credit."<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hmmm. Yes...And?</span><br /><br />The other issue was my memory of when I, as a child, realized Santa was probably bogus. In that transition period, when I had to admit to myself that the whole Santa thing just didn't make sense, I was confused. I sort of believed, I sort of didn't - like the boy in the Polar Express. Unfortunately, a magic train didn't pull up outside among the palm trees. Instead, I watched the behavior of the adults and made my assessment. My parents didn't talk about it too much, and when I started doubting, I didn't talk about it too much either. Some of my uncles and aunts would talk about "Santy" in a kind of tongue and cheek way that I think maybe made them feel better about it. It all became a game of <span style="font-style: italic;">who knows what</span>, with the ultimate concern being, for me as a child, "Will I stop getting presents if I say I don't believe?" That may have been my first experience with real greed. It felt kind of bad.<br /><br />So, my husband and I talked it over and decided that we could allow our daughter the fun of the Santa fantasy, with minimum psychological damage, if we just did only the stocking thing. After all, wasn't that what Santa traditionally did in the beginnings of Santa? He stuffed the socks drying at the fireplace, or put things in the wooden shoes outside the door?<br /><br />Then, there was my father's perspective. Orderly Alton, I called him. He was a bah-humbug kind of guy. He never was a materialistic person in the sense of desiring to accumulate possessions. Everything had to have a usefulness or a sentimental value. If he bought something, he got rid of something. I'm sure he was a child once. I've seen pictures. But, by the time I got to know him, he was not a fan of Christmas, and his references to "Santy Claus" always conjured up a feeling of goofiness. When I decided to discuss with him the plan about how to <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfhhdAleSEEigHS2XeCtLnXKhGI2gFPAjWtw9wfP7G1jeVEdxYIWecGWQPuUtBAYM5guKs8tODCxf8qnjUbMCYPG0Y45FPrc1TGlz_d5Zpn4COgtSivu_E4MGiajC5rvYx5Sv_2ysd48/s1600-h/Orderly+Alton+at+xmas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfhhdAleSEEigHS2XeCtLnXKhGI2gFPAjWtw9wfP7G1jeVEdxYIWecGWQPuUtBAYM5guKs8tODCxf8qnjUbMCYPG0Y45FPrc1TGlz_d5Zpn4COgtSivu_E4MGiajC5rvYx5Sv_2ysd48/s320/Orderly+Alton+at+xmas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415424040867764722" border="0" /></a>handle Santa with my daughter, to insure everyone was on board, he jumped right on it. He praised my decision and even said I should go farther and not do it at all. Of course, I wanted to know why. His childhood memory of Santa Claus didn't include shame about greed at all. His memory was that of betrayal. He said, "When I figured out that Santa wasn't real and saw how easy it was for adults to lie, it bothered me. I figured if they could lie about that, they could lie about other things, too."<br />So, that was factored in.<br />My daughter's father and I decided that we would just do the stocking from Santa, but we wouldn't make a big deal about it. We did get a few pictures taken, when she was willing to go near him, and they are adorable. All was well until she grew old enough to compare what she got from Santa to what other kids got.<br /><br />Question: "Why does <span style="font-style: italic;">'Sally'</span> get a computer and a bicycle and a TV from Santa and I only get a stocking?"<br />Answer: "Because we get your presents so Santa doesn't have to."<br /><br />I don't know when she finally decided that she didn't believe in it anymore, but I know it wasn't traumatic, and Christmas didn't lose any magic. She sort of just took on the role of a participant. At some point she confided in her grandmother that she knew Santa wasn't real, but she didn't want to take away my fun with it. My fun?<br /><br />It's been many years since all of that transpired. My daughter, at 21 years old, is graduating this Saturday with her BA in psychology. She is the most pragmatic and stable person I know. She's expressed gratitude many times for how the Santa issue was handled. I breathe a sigh of relief, because who can know these things? You do what you think is best and maybe it's right or maybe it isn't.<br /><br />But, man-oh-man - I wouldn't be able to tell this story out loud to very many people without getting shouted down. It's amazing how protective some folks are of this tradition. Most people I've talked to about it claim that Santa just made them happy as a child and they don't remember anything about the transition of believing to not believing. One day they figured it out, and they kept pretending until everyone figured out that they were pretending and everyone else was pretending and it was all good and everyone laughed.<br /><br />So, now, as a librarian in an elementary school, I am faced with protecting everyone's traditions by not talking about it too much. One time, one of my favorite students, a boy from China, blurted out, "Santa is fake!" I had to quickly fix it with, "Not everybody wants Santa to come to their house." I gave him a subtle look that he understood, I'm sure, to mean <span style="font-style: italic;">we know the truth, but we have to be nice.</span> He came to me in the springtime to ask why everyone talks about leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of rainbows. He knew the scientific facts about rainbows. I told him it was just for fun; that people like to pretend. He said it was still silly.<br />I guess he showed me, God love him, what it's like to live with no fairytale magic at all.Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-239040489890308142009-12-13T10:01:00.000-05:002009-12-14T18:16:53.449-05:00Past LivesIs this the only life we have?<br />As with any controversial subject, I won't say that I know the answer. I really only know my own experiences, and why should anyone take that as proof of anything? They shouldn't. They can only take what I say and compare it to what they know for themselves, and then come to their own conclusions.<br /><br />When I was growing up, both of my parents often referred to having previous lives. I don't know why. My mother and father were both raised as Methodists, one in the north and one in the south. So, I can be fairly sure that they were not being taught about reincarnation in Sunday school. And, they never taught it to me. They just sort of tossed the subject out there every now and then, without thinking or explaining. My mother, being an original women's rights advocate, would regularly claim that she was going to be a man in her next life. My father, who had a strong connection to nature, would claim he was coming back as one kind of animal or another - usually a buzzard.<br /><br />It was my father, however, who really talked about visions from the past. He would have lucid and disturbing dreams of familiar feeling places and people which he couldn't explain. When I got older I would ask, "Have you seen a movie or a TV show about that?" His answer was always no. Many of them were repeat dreams. He said a psychologist would just call him crazy, so he didn't care to pursue the cause of it. He did say, however, that he wondered if he was having visions of past lives.<br /><br />Because of this background, I had a matter of fact opinion about reincarnation. It wasn't until I was almost 30 years old that I actually read something about it. Shirley MacLaine's book, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Out On On A Limb</span>, made reference to reincarnation and cited Edgar Cayce as a source of information, so I immediately went out and bought the first book I could find about this man who was called "The Sleeping Prophet." There are mountains of books about Cayce, and I read as many as I could get my hands on.<br /><br />Not too many years after that I started making jewelry as a cottage industry. One of my best markets was a new age shop in a nearby town and they only took pieces on consignment. I sold a lot of jewelry through them, but at one point they had an employee under whose watch the receipts and some of my jewelry went missing. The store was hurting from the loss and I agreed to take payment in goods and services instead of cash. The services were an astrology work-up and a past life regression seminar.<br /><br />In both, of course, past lives were a given.<br /><br />I arrived for the past life regression seminar with butterflies in my stomach. I wasn't afraid of the past lives - I was concerned that I might not see any. When you have an open mind, you always have to be prepared for anything to be revealed. I knew that it was a possibility that there was no such thing as a past life, or that I was not in tune enough to see them, and I was ready for that conundrum. Just like in summer bible camp, when all the girls were seeing Christ in the curtains and the clouds and rushing to the pulpit to declare themselves, while my friend and I clung to each other wondering why we couldn't see anything.<br /><br />The regressionist, who was certified, explained that we would be visiting three different lives. She guided our small group into a meditation. We were all lying on mats on the floor in the back room of the nag champa scented new age store. It was relaxing and comfortable, so I allowed myself to go with it. I can't remember how she moved us into it, I guess because I was engaged in the activity, but I did have visions and experiences of three different "lives." One of them carried over later into a very lucid dream that seemed to explain some of the experiences and emotions that I was having in my current life. It was in that dream, in a kind of symbolic finale, that I went to a giant book, opened it to a page bearing only the Nordic Rune symbol "Laguz," and a voice behind me said, "This is your cross to bear."<br /><br />Since that time, I've read and studied a little more about the belief in past lives. I think for some people who are suffering from unexplainable phobias, or experiencing emotions that don't seem reasonable to them, past life regression might be a good idea. I was able to understand a few things about myself more clearly, and I think it was helpful. But, really, your past lives don't matter that much. All the good or bad from the past is not nearly as important as what you are doing right now. You might be here trying to make amends for something you did in a past life, but do you really need to know what that transgression was? Is it as meaningful to do the right thing for any other reason than just because it is the right thing?<br /><br />In one book I read about Atlantis, I can't remember the title I'm sorry to say, the story was that the powerful Atlantean leaders were selfish and wanted to do as they pleased. They knew about reincarnation and karma and decided that they could do what ever they desired and pay the karma later. I think about that when I see some of our leaders and heroes acting shamelessly and in ways that hurt others. Reincarnation and karma isn't a widely accepted and institutionalized belief among the majority, in this country at least. So, what do our leaders and heroes around the globe believe about their actions when they are doing things that hurt people?<br /><br />One of the very important factors in the concept of reincarnation and karma, as I see it, is forgiveness. Forgive yourself; forgive others. That was one of the lessons I learned from my past life regression experience. Holding a grudge and refusing to forgive just binds us to whomever is the object of those negative feelings, now and later. When you think of it that way, it makes it imperative to forgive, to genuinely forgive. It doesn't make you weak to do so. It sets you free. Reincarnation or no reincarnation, forgiveness is really as necessary as kindness.<br />It's the closest thing I've ever known to a magic wand.Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-10464159079534596282009-12-10T09:32:00.000-05:002009-12-13T10:13:46.607-05:00Healing Yourself<p class="MsoNormal">I'm totally into the practice of healing myself with my thoughts. I sort of figured it out a long time ago, many years before I ever heard it called by any name. When I was a busy kid in junior high school, I remember declaring that I didn't have time for a cold and noticed that it went away within hours. It happened again, and after a few times it was my accepted practice to will away colds and even the flu. Later in life, I felt sneaky for letting myself suffer a full blown cold just so I could get some time to myself. I didn't know why I was able to do this, but it was obvious that I was in control of something that everyone else felt victimized by.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The first book I read along that line of thinking was a diet book called <b><i>The Only Diet There Is</i></b>, by Sondra Ray. My cousin sent it to me back in the mid 1980's and I thought it sounded true, but it was a little over my head, or it just wasn't the right time in my life for accepting that my physical body, my size and shape, could be altered by my mind using love intentions.
<br />I didn't really <em>get it</em> until I read <b><i>You Can Heal Your Body</i></b> by Louise Hay. That book was given to me also, this time by a well known Wise Woman who lived in a cabin on a mountain top in Pennsylvania with her Abyssinian cats and her books and her spirit guides. A friend found out about her and somehow got us an audience with her. Before I left my house, I was compelled to put a polished rock in my pocket, one of a set of twin museum quality moss agates I'd purchased from an estate collection. We drove and drove, winding and winding our way to her cabin. When we got there, she didn't have a lot to say. We talked about her beautiful cats, we discussed the dawning of an elevation in consciousness, we touched on the subject of animal signs and other signals from the universe. I guess, since we had somehow been allowed to visit her, she must have thought we were as enlightened as she was. Who knows? I guess I was kind of expecting to be handed a metaphysical key or something - a secret.
<br />At one point in the visit I reached in my pocket and felt the stone. It was warm, as though it had life in it, and I suddenly had the urge to take it out and hand it to this woman. I felt awkward, like a kid shyly handing an apple to his teacher. I didn't know what to say, so I just said, "I think I brought this for you." She took it, graciously, and nodded her head and said "Yes, thank you. I believe you did." It was like she knew already - like she had a prophecy or even manifested it. Before I left, she handed me the book by Louise Hay and that was the start of a major shift in my consciousness.
<br />In the past few years, I've read <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You'll See It When You Believe It</span> by Wayne Dyer and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Secret</span> by <span class="style3">Rhonda Byrne, and I just kept thinking, well, it's that same concept that Louise Hay and Sondra Ray wrote about except with a focus on getting something. Everyone seems to have a slightly different focus. Eckhart Tolle (<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A New Earth</span>) talks briefly about playing with the creation or manifestation of<span style="font-style: italic;"> form</span>, but seems to indicate that peace and awareness should be the real focus of ones effort.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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</xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:11pt;" ></span> When I purchased <b><em>Ageless Body, Timeless Mind</em></b> by Deepak Chopra a few years ago, I was excited to see a real medical physician giving accounts of how the mind controls the body. When I first started reading about metaphysical healing, it was something you didn't talk about with just everyone. I didn't savor the idea of being viewed as a nutcase back in then, and I still don't. (The subject of Metaphysical Healing can bring out judgment in the nicest people. Oh, those raised eyebrows.) But Dr. Chopra made it possible to talk about metaphysical healing more openly. He is a brave soul for blazing that trail. Of course there are a multitude of books out there now. I recommend <span style="font-weight: bold;"><em>Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul</em></span>, by Dr. Chopra.</p><p class="MsoNormal">You really can heal your own body and get off the medical merry-go-round if you want to. Even if you're skeptical, it's worth a try.
<br /></p>Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6445778208503451559.post-37176826778083825032009-12-09T09:50:00.000-05:002009-12-13T10:12:59.442-05:00Stepping Gingerly<span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">She stepped gingerly across the jewel colored carpets that covered the creaking wooden floor, sensing a foundation so decayed it might swallow her any minute...</span><br /><br />Since this is the first entry in this blog, I decided to address the name of it. Stepping gingerly is my way of life. Not because I wouldn't like to barrel boldly forth, but because careful movement seems to work better for me. Sometimes I forget and ultimately end up in one of those, "Well, you knew better," conversations with myself.<br /><br />Everyone seems to have their own lessons in life. Some of our lessons overlap. Some are as individual as the color flecks in our irises. It accounts for why things don't always seem fair: "Why does the universe allow that person to get away with this over and over, and I can't get away with it once?"<br /><br />I read somewhere that life is a school and we all decide what we have to learn and what we want to repair in ourselves. That would account for situations that just won't seem to change, either for lack of motivation or lack of good fortune. Now, I'm formally learning about Subtle Action, the Law of Attraction, and about accessing the power of genuine gratitude to manifest a desired outcome. But, what if I didn't sign up for that outcome? Can I do a kind of drop/add? Will it keep me from <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">graduating</span>?<br /><br />Not knowing for sure what the answer to this is, and not being all together comfortable with swallowing someone else's interpretation of things, especially if I don't fully understand, I step gingerly. What we all accept to be the truth, most likely is far from it. What we frequently build our lives on - money and things and influence - that's a fragile foundation that can easily crumble.<br /><br />Stepping gingerly is not so bad. It makes it more possible to notice the trees and the flowers, the air, the energies of other people and self. It makes it easier to sense which way the wind blows; to discover the path of least resistance. It's not for everyone, of course. I would never profess to know how everyone else should live. I do know one thing, though. If you signed up for it, like I'm positive I did, you'll eventually figure it out. And, if it's not for you, I'll be waving to you as you swoosh by.Canynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682670681520202582noreply@blogger.com1