Saturday, March 31, 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

love thursday 03.29.12 ~ create the climate you love



Love is creative. It does not flow along the easy paths, spending itself in the attractive. It cuts new channels, goes where it is needed.

Evelyn Underhill

I'm loving the tropical climate we've created. Makes my insides feel warm even when it is blowing and...well--Northwest outside.

Come on Spring....

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

where i slept


(this opens into a bed)

"Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."

Jeremiah 6:16

This is where I sleep when Mom comes to visit.

It sleeps good.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

entitlement

You’re entitled to your stupid, petty, awful, hateful bigoted opinion. Everyone else is entitled to call it exactly what it is.

John Scalzi


Just sayin'....

Monday, March 26, 2012

liar, liar

We have to make truth and nonviolence not matters for mere individual practice but for practice for groups and communities and nations. That at any rate is my dream. I shall live and die trying to realize it.

Mahatma Gandhi

Did you see the Jim Carrey movie, Liar, Liar? He is an attorney who is always telling lies. Some would call them white lies, some would call them half truths. Some would even say that he is trying to spare others' feelings at times. But he tells lies of commission, omission, and scant truth.

Then he is cursed (or blessed?) to only be able to tell the truth. Whatever comes out of his mouth has to be true--no matter what he starts to say when he opens his mouth. He changes. His life changes.

Wouldn't that be a great blessing on us all?

May it be so.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

saturday's project


(see the dark patches? blueberry plants.)
Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.

Ezekiel 47:9, 12

...and there will be blueberries.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

what ever happened...

What ever happened to live and let live?

me

...to products that last?

...to being able to reliably find the same product without it being "new and improved" (which turns out to be NOT)?

...to sharing?

...to health care really being about making us healthy instead of being lab experiments?

...to honoring differences?

...to affordable housing?

...to settling disagreements through conversation and if they can't be settled, agreeing to disagree?

...to having enough to go around for those willing to do their share?

...to living wages?

Really--what happened?

Friday, March 23, 2012

enthused for spring

(the boys are very unenthused with the snow)

Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others.

David Seabury

Today I checked things off the list. Got my licenses renewed. Made some phone calls I needed to make (now the ball is in their court).

And the snow was a flash in the...beginning of Spring.

I know it's coming. I just know it is.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

love thursday 03.22.12 ~ love is creative

(i didn't take this on the 2nd day of spring, but i could have)

Love is creative. It does not flow along the easy paths, spending itself in the attractive. It cuts new channels, goes where it is needed.

Evelyn Underhill

And so, apparently, is the weather.

Happy Love Thursday!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

i moved to a tropical island and made my first million


And I have a boat, a band, and a bar.

Sweet.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Monday, March 19, 2012

the least of these



You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those
who can do nothing for them or to them.

Malcolm Forbes


He used to be only one stripe wide. Then this. Now he covers the whole seat. And his purr is even bigger than he is.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

time for bed



When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

Paulo Coelho

He was trying to get me to go to bed. When I didn't move as fast as he wanted, he took matters into his own paws.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

love in action



I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.

Albert Einstein

I try to do that, too. It makes one popular among garbage men and can create consternation among presidents (of a certain personality type).

Too bad. So sad.

Friday, March 16, 2012

oh...hallelujah

Although violence and the use of force may appear powerful and decisive, their benefits are short-lived. Violence can never bring a lasting and long term resolution to any problem, because it is unpredictable and for every problem it seems to solve, others are created. On the other hand, truth remains constant and will ultimately prevail.

Dalai Lama

Thursday, March 15, 2012

love thursday 03.15.12 ~ another perspective on how to become more loving

(sitting in the brown chair looking out the door)

I don't like that man. I need to get to know him.

Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

fire and water



That you need God more than anything, you know at all times in your heart. But don’t you know also that God needs you — in the fullness of [God's] eternity, you?

Martin Buber

I will regale you over the next while with different views from my office.

Kilauea flowing into the ocean is a perfect analogy for my astrology. Fire, water, a little steam (air) and the earth...disappears. On my new wall, the print comes alive.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

generosity

(he's almost learning to sleep with me)

Giving material goods is one form of generosity, but one can extend an attitude of generosity into all one's behavior. Being kind, attentive, and honest in dealing with others, offering praise where it is due, giving comfort and advice where they are needed, and simply sharing one's time with someone - all these are forms of generosity, and they do not require any particular level of material wealth.

Dalai Lama

Mijo is being very generous, sleeping on the corner of my bed just after lights out. He stays for about 5 minutes at the most. I appreciate his presence.

Funny how I love having those furry little creatures rest with me and touch me while they do it. I love their companionship and find their presence comforting. I hope I return the favor to them.

Monday, March 12, 2012

factoids about my new paint job

(i love the optical illusion)

Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.

Paul Hawken

Environmentalist

1. I didn't paint the ceiling. It was already white.

2. Devine paint by Miller is...divine. They say it goes on like yogurt. It does.

3. I love the tropics. The blue is called Caribbean Sea.

4. Half my natal astrological chart is in water. Ahh. I'm floating in the sea.

5. I love French roast coffee. The dark brown is called French Roast.

6. I love chocolate. Painting the brown wall was like painting with Hershey's syrup.

7. I have no earth in my natal chart. The dark brown grounds me.

8. I love Frog Tape. It works really well when you follow the directions. Taking the tape down and having a clean line that I didn't have to touch up was thrilling. (3M makes a product called Edge-Lock. It does the same thing. I haven't tried it.)

9. I re-learned that I truly love open, uncluttered space. You'd never know it if you saw this room before I moved everything out to paint. Now I am trying to figure out what to do instead of moving it all back in. I see many discards in my future.

10. When I finished the job, I really wanted a piece of chocolate cake...so I had one.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

and how does losing an hour fit into this?

It is important that when pursuing our own self-interest we should be “wise selfish” and not “foolish selfish”. Being foolish selfish means pursuing our own interests in a narrow, shortsighted way. Being wise selfish means taking a broader view and recognizing that our own long-term individual interest lies in the welfare of everyone. Being wise selfish means being compassionate.

Dalai Lama

I love me some HHDL! I wouldn't want to be him or have his life, and I am so glad he is in this world at this time--and that I get to breathe the same air.

Working on painting my office still. I thought I would be done Saturday. I just couldn't move that fast so Sunday will have to be soon enough.

Pictures to follow....

Saturday, March 10, 2012

a lot of quotes about patience are appearing

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you think maybe there is a message there for me?

Nah....

Friday, March 09, 2012

isn't that what yesterday's post said?

In today’s materialistic world there is a risk of people becoming slaves to money, as though they were simply cogs in a huge money-making machine. This does nothing for human dignity, freedom, and genuine well-being. Wealth should serve humanity, and not the other way around.

Dalai Lama

Thursday, March 08, 2012

love thursday 03.08.12 ~ love of money


(my 4 year old great nephew
took this shot of my boots)

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. But as for you, [people of God], shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

1 Timothy 6:10-11


Let's get this straight...the love of money is the root of evil. Not money, but the love of money. Got that?

Another word for that is greed.

Money is a tool. Any tool can be used for good or for ill. I once heard a spiritual teacher say that one of the problems for people on the spiritual path is their disdain for money. He said that we need money so that it will allow us to do the good we want to do.

As long as the money doesn't become the goal, I agree with him. Those who have access to that tool have a great power in their hands. And just like anything else, that which we hang onto for the sake of hanging on can become "rotten" in our possession. So can our beliefs about it.

Flow. Use tools wisely. Use them for good.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

getting ready to paint the office

maybe i'll have some love to share tomorrow....

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

patient attention...a discovery worth making

If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.

Isaac Newton

It is amazing how much one can learn by listening and waiting...and watching.

Monday, March 05, 2012

i'm tired...



Without realizing it, we continually put up protective walls made of opinions, prejudices, and strategies, barriers that are built on a deep fear of being hurt. These walls are further fortified by emotions of all kinds: anger, craving, indifference, jealousy, and arrogance.

But fortunately for us, the soft spot—our innate ability to love and to care about things—is like a crack in these walls we erect. It’s a natural opening in the barriers we create when we’re afraid. With practice we can learn to find this opening. We can learn to seize that vulnerable moment—love, gratitude, loneliness, embarrassment, inadequacy—to awaken bodhichitta.

Pema Chodron


I'm tired of...

...inacurate blame.

...hearing those who claim superiority when what they really experience is fear.

...xenophobia masked as terrorist alerts.

...freedom of religion being one sided and not including freedom from religion.

...patriarchy without husbandry.

...decrying "socialist" or "fascist" or some other inflammatory label for the sake of tapping into that aforementioned fear.

...the war on women.

...the war on choice.

...blaming Muslims rather than fundamentalists.

...blaming Christians rather than fundamentalists.

...lack of personal responsibility.

...lack of social generosity.

...high gas prices.

...hearing people blame Obama for the high gas prices when facts point to speculators and the highest profits ever for the petroleum industry (who set the prices).

...politicians and Congressmen who want Obama to fail, rather than getting on with the business of running the country.

...talking heads who want America to fail.

...being told that something awful will happen if I don't forward emails or repost on Facebook.

...being told that if I don't repost I am part of the problem. (No, I just don't agree with you and we see different solutions to the problems.)

I'm tired. Just plain tired.

So, apparently, are HoneyBoy and Mijo.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

happy birthday, mom


Laughter is the language of the Gods.

Buddhist saying

May you be forever young.

I love you.

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Friday, March 02, 2012

efficiency...

...cleaning up your desk
...shredding the envelope from today's mail
...with incoming check still in it...

...not all it's cracked up to be.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

love thursday 03.01.12 ~ work with love

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

Kahlil Gibran

Some might say this is an interesting twist on "do what you love--the money will follow."

May we all be so blessed as to love our work and be rewarded with enough.