democracy matters

We are waving our banner with pride - as we step up to protect our country, its principles, and its people against a Trumpian dystopia. 

Due to an increased demand and ever growing need Heather Cox Richardson has expanded her Letters from an American posts to American Conversations - informative videos all packed with sound advice. 

In her latest interview with technology reporter Gil Duran - they discuss recognizing the dystopian vision for human society from a select technology elite - and what we the people can do to disrupt this. 

The first thing people can do is recognize the pattern and expose it. This isn't chaos or random techno antics - this is an organized ideological project. 

be like water

Water is a vital element of life. Everything in our blue planet needs it and thrives on it. Including us. 

In a translation of the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8, Lao Tzu states, “the best of [wo/]men are like water.” To quote Bruce Lee's famous teaching philosophy is, "Be Water, my friend. Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water." 

be water, my friend

Water covers over seventy percent of the Earth's surface with seas and oceans making up most of the water volume (at over 95%). The human body contains from 55% to 78% water, depending on our body size.

soul identity

Love has no labels, no definitions.

It is what it is, pure and simple.

Love is the Water of Life.

And a Lover is a Soul of Fire.

The Universe turns differently when Fire Loves Water.

~ Rumi's Sun: The Teachings of Shams of Tabriz ~

Ram Dass speaks about the soul being like a step on the ladder that you are later going to throw away. Soul Identity is the process of realizing that you and I exist on more than one plane of awareness simultaneously. On one plane suffering stinks and on another plane suffering is grace.

We feel this in the loss and grief for a beloved, whether it is a person, thing or situation. However much love we invested affects how much we feel the absence when what is so loved is lost.

proud immigrants

Today is Pay It Forward Day. As an immigrant I choose to celebrate our countless human stories. 

If you haven't yet, you absolutely must watch the choreography gems of Keone and Mari Madrid. 

They are a multi talented award winning couple - dancers and choreographers, teachers and creatives, husband and wife.

Just love this Eileen Fisher ad campaign they choreographed to the tune of  “Wildewoman” by Lucius

boast of quietness

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1996), Jactancia de Quietud, from Luna de Enfrente, 1925

Christmas Comet Lovejoy

Writings of light assault the darkness, more prodigious than meteors.
Escrituras de luz embisten la sombra, más prodigiosas que meteoros.

The tall unknowable city takes over the countryside.

La alta ciudad inconocible arrecia sobre el campo.

Sure of my life and death, I observe the ambitious

Seguro de mi vida y de mi muerte, miro los ambiciosos

and would like to understand them.

y quisiera entenderlos.

memoricide - a spreading worldwide dis-ease

Ilan Pappé, Israeli historian and political activist, refers to the uprooting of Palestine's indigenous olive trees and the massive erasure of Palestinian history as state organized memoricide.

Memoricide is not just forgetting the past, it is the killing of our memory.

All over the world it seems governments, countries, organizations, and peoples prefer to bury a past that brings up messy issues with the possibility of attendant accountability or reparations.

The disrobing of Draupadi, 

Histories throughout the ages hold memory is an essential part of life. Memory is the love that forms the foundation which sustains and nurtures humanity in limitless ways.

for the love of Joni | then & now

Reading a tender homage to Joni Mitchell in the New Yorker magazine due this October 7. Capturing the images and drama perfectly - of life then and the trajectories that lead it here.

I had just moved to the big city, enrolled at the state university - martial law was so new and not as impactful as living on my own for the first time. 

It was a year of many firsts for me. 

defining tenderness

Even I was amazed at the number of definitions the Merriam-Webster dictionary listed for this word. 

releasing, relaxing, letting go

Definition of tender

1 :     marked by, responding to, or expressing the softer emotions : fond, loving

• a tender lover

2a :   showing care : considerate, solicitous

• tender regard

b :   highly susceptible to impressions or emotions : impressionable

• a tender conscience

3a :   easily chewed : succulent

b :   having a soft or yielding texture : easily broken, cut, or damaged : delicate, fragile

• tender feet

alignment & lining up

I love and have been an advocate of Abraham's teachings for many many many years. 

Abraham is the fountainhead of the information upon which the hit movie, “The Secret” was based.

The collective entity known as "Abraham" channel their messages through Esther Hicks via workshops and lectures on practical applications as well as up-to-the-moment leading-edge expanding information regarding the Law of Attraction.

Over the years Abraham and Esther have tried to give us [humanity] some basics - presenting important integral truths in countless faceted ways so more of us are able to access and accept these. 

Eager as I am to embrace all that's good about the Law of Attraction though I have all too often gotten in the way of my own manifestations on several occasions and instances. 

What an adventure this growing current is then - Law of Attraction's tsunami sweeping around the world. It is just the motivation and inspiration humanity has called forth.

Collectively and individually. Consciously or ingeniously.

There are thousands of books, films, essays and lectures now available to fuel our current paradigm shift in consciousness.

Ask and it is given indeed. Most especially for those in greatest need.

Here is a video clip that may contain some gems for us. 

Happy trails and be well! 

move, moving, movement

A home of my own is important to my Cancer beingness.

This recent hunt for a new apartment took longer than planned and some of the initial options presented were just too dismal.

Besides I loved my little barrio and was adamant about remaining here. Daunting as it seemed I would not give up.

Persist. Insist. Resist.

celebrate life, grieve loss, grow & gain

This week was filled with one eulogy too many. Life and death. Loss and gain. Joy and grief.

In any stage or phase of our lives, these are attendant attachments of every human being.

However well lived a life - in intent and application, in motivation and purpose, in success or satisfaction - its end does not always bring closure for those left behind.

full moon rising

Coming out of Mercury Retrograde with the full moon on the rise in a few minutes - these past few days have been rough on us all. 

This is but the dress rehearsal for things to come - in preparation of 21 December 2012. So be alert and attentive.

This is not the time to slack off. Persist and persevere to reap your rewards.

For relief, meditate and be kind to yourself and others throughout this period.

Remember, this too shall pass.

Photo Credit: National Geographic

 

Olympics on my mind

With the Olympic Flame lit and the game opening officially this Friday (July 27), thoughts turn toward excellence and its pursuit. 

This being the year 2012, brings to the fore the Dodekatheon - the Twelve Gods of Olympus made famous in Homeric legends. 

The twelve deities are  Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes. 

Their constant power plays and eventual demise may be the root to the saying mens sana in corpore sano, a sound mind in a sound body - or better yet, anima sana in corpore sano, a healthy soul in a healthy body - to express the concept of a healthy balanced life. 

Divine or not, we all are better off healthy and wise. 

a life simply & fully lived

miss someone? . . . . call
want to meet? . . . . invite
want to be understood? . . . . explain
want understanding? . . . . share
have a question? . . . . ask
want something? . . . . declare it
don't like something? . . . . say so
like it? . . . . express appreciation

it's best to express ourselves, rather than wait in expectation

we have one life. . . .live it well

life lessons

In honor of Teacher's Day and in praise of all my teachers thru the years. . . .

Count yourself miraculously blessed indeed if at any time in your life you have had the sheer good luck to have a teacher push open the doors to your possible probables - awakening your awareness and igniting your spirit thru other ideas and perspectives. 

Hooking your imagination and drawing you into magical mysterious worlds so that - in however imperfect but distinct a voice of your own - you learn to grasp, formulate, and express your self, your hopes, your aspirations, and your desires. 

In my idyllic island paradise the first AHA! moment I experienced that moved me out of my fixation with myself as the center of my universe was at 13 when I started high school.  I was enrolled in classes with two English teachers who were polar opposites - inside and out. 

One class taught the lyricism in literature and writing.  The other class taught the mechanics of language and grammar.  Both teachers demanded the best and were strict disciplinarians.  One taught what she loved and the other worked as a teacher. 

When we struggled with the convolutions of Olde English, one teacher had us listen to Shakespeare's plays narrated by Sir Lawrence Olivier.  When we mutilated conjugations, the other teacher would shame us with her snarky sarcasm. 

We bloomed in one class and were shaken to the core in the other.  Either way, like young saplings we weathered thru and grew up.  Some better with the wear than others. 

By their example I learned from both teachers what worked and what did not.  The experience taught me how to approach life - happily or not. 

We can choose to learn our life lessons from a school of hard knocks.  Or we can illuminate life with the wonder and delight of discovery, change, and challenges. 

Either way the choice is ours completely. 

free falling fall

In the three days since I've been down this road the trees have begun to turn.  So much can change in just a matter of days or in an instant.  Who we are, what we do and how we evolve can all happen at any moment.  Why then do we go about our lives believing otherwise? 

We go about our lives pretending that being ok is good enough and even worth being grateful for.  Instead of focusing on blessings and consecrating our lives in sacred ceremony we put one foot in front of the other and fall into mindless routine. 

All along the way three days ago there was a languorous misty rain falling.  Lots of birds flocking overhead migrating south with the weather change.  All along the way I thought lovingly of how this route has entranced me for life.  How delightful it is to be back. 

Boundless energy and irrepresible joy fill my being with bold daring for the fate and destiny I careen towards.  I am propelled forward by a raptuous sensuality that awaits.  In tense anticipation and voluptuous expectation - I feel tingling ripples twanging tightly all over me. 

I give free reign to the physical desire that drives my dementia.  Reliving the sensual abandonment of previous torrid encounters.  Willingly held hostage by my beloved thief of hearts.  I am made aware of being vitally alive - that life is full of wonder and surprise, that hope brings possible probables. 

As long as I have this sacred space I have a refuge for my soul and a haven to express my spirit.  For succor and relief from pettiness and triviality.  So I don't fall for the urge to sweat the small stuff.  Taking my beloved self to distant realms, off to dream in pursuit of bold adventures, ineffable visions and heady interludes.

a wedding, a funeral & finding love - all over the place

These past weeks have definitely been a roller coaster of emotions played out in the arena of life. 

A dear friend was married back home.  While another was buried. 

Beloved friends were over looking for their prodigal son.  Glad to report all's well that ended very well. 

I flew cross country on a hellacious 12 hour adventure with consequences I will only hear from in 30 days. 

All this and more and I am back home - in love and loving my life as it unfolds as it was meant to - with purpose and direction. 

I'm back. . . .

I took a longer break than planned - figured turning 55 was a good enough reason to return " ) we shall see. . . .

Time to reflect and recollect - especially on the blessings and challenges in our lives.  Seasons and occasions have an energy and a feeling to them and whether we realize it or not, we too are affected by this. 

We celebrate and prepare for birthdays and holidays in different ways.  Birthdays are occasion to celebrate new things, new beginnings, birth and rebirth - promise come to fruition. . . .or not.  

Half a year  has gone by since my surgery and at 55 I can gratefully laugh that other than this I am in perfect health.  Yet my body has changed dramatically.  One thing I noticed is that my processing, though more heightened in sensitivity, is slower and less efficient in unfolding - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. 

All too often in the daily grind of our lives we forget ourselves.  We are so immersed in the mundane world - doing our lives as ordinary human beings - we have become so removed from the fact that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. 

This world that we think of as so real and tangible is in fact transitory and an illusion of our own creation.