Community

People are beginning to wake up: [they're saying] "I'm not separate from my community. I am my community!""  ~Bruce Lipton

Last night I got sucked into American Idol. I'm loving the new judges. But that's not actually what I was going to write about. After that, there was a PBS special on stress featuring lots of different scientists. Well, not Bruce Lipton, but Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. [Brilliant book--altho, not for the footnote phobic, which are some of the best parts]. Anyway, as you follow me thru this labyrinth of thought processes . . . here's Bob in Africa studying his baboons. He's been studying the same tribe for 30 years now. He was noting the usual hierarchy of alpha dominance in males, with subordinate males & females. Here's where it gets interesting: they started eating tainted meat from a resort trash bin, and some of them developed tuberculosis and died. Survival-of-the-fittest, Darwinian logic would say that the alpha males would be the ones to survive. In fact, the opposite happened; the alphas were less inclined to engage in daily grooming with the other baboons, they were more aloof. [they were the lone wolves of the baboons. haha] Not as much touching, loving & bonding. And they died off. Did the surviving males suddenly become more aggressive to take on a new role? No, there was a new community that emerged. Lots of grooming & cooperation. New males coming into the tribe would be aggressive or do the alpha dominance thing initially, but Zapolsky said that they adjust their behaviour. It takes about 6 months, but they get the message that "that's not how things work around here."

I'm reminded of a recent story about Egypt's Muslim community that banded together as a "human shield" to prevent bombers from attacking churches after an attack on New Year's Eve on (Coptic) Saints Church in Alexandria. Said one person:

“We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.”

How long does it take to bring peace into a community? It starts now.

I had a dream . . .

Last week's blizzard-dusting. View off back porch.

No, this is not an MLK reference. I had a dream last night with Brother Atlasta. So we were outside in his yard and he had this elaborate pagoda-thingie. He was telling me about the exotic plants around it. "My neighbor doesn't believe me that I have all these plants, because he can't see them. He doesn't believe in my plants." He rolled his eyes. "It's winter. Belief has nothing to do with it. Nothing's growing right now, it doesn't mean it's not there."  I woke myself up laughing. Nice way to start the day!  :-)

M&M Monday

Outdoorsy Girls

See the bear? Kidding. M&M find something fascinating.

*sniff*  *sniff*

We had a 3-minute blizzard. Maggie heading up the ramp.

Exploring another part of the estate.

Huh?

Millie overlooking her domain:

Yoo-hoo, Mil!

And then as I was leaning down taking Millie's picture, Tabby Bobcat jumped 

on my back. And as I felt her land on my back, I got Millie's reaction:

Huh?

Here they are together on the back porch:

Here's Maggie with Tabby:

Maggie goes after the cat every once in a while.

Maggie heads back up the ramp:

Tum de dum

Tabby Bobcat likes to sit at the top of the ramp & be in the way!

Like a sphinx.

Millie

Hangin' on the back porch:

Indoorsy Girls

'member when I propped up Millie's food bowl with my sneaker? She likes her food with lots of water and it's v. sloppy. Plus she pulls the bowl with her teeth. This week she spilled her food while trying to move the bowl. So I started using a cardboard box top to prop the bowl. Also doubles as a pillow.

Maggie at my feet, Millie snoozing on her bed. We're all cozy.  :-)

Tabby Bobcat

I think I've been adopted by a cat. When she came to me a few weeks ago, she was v. skinny. FF to now; clearly she is not starving. Neighbor Sue had suggested she might be a bobcat mix. Her grandmother had barn cats that were.

Walking the railing. She does this a lot! 

Climbing up.

 I did the Googley thing & it turns out that she's not just any stray bobcat-mix, she's called a Pixie Bob. There's even an official Pixi-Bob website. According to the information I've read, she's fairly young because her eyes are still green, and as she matures, they're supposed to turn golden. She's v. friendly & purrs like a buzz saw. Apparently she's not supposed to meow, but she does. Only she says, "Mow." Rhymes with cow. It's v. funny. She also likes to chase things. If I throw an apple core off the back porch, she goes running after it. According to the site, they can fetch.

She was obviously socialized. She's getting more used to the dogs, but she doesn't really like to hang out with them when she comes in:

Tum de dum.

 She likes to dart back to my bedroom & plant herself on my bed. When I go back to retrieve her, she starts with the buzz saw purring.

And so begins Tabby Bobcat Tuesdays. Kidding. No Tabby Bobcat Tuesdays. *snort* I just wanted to see Mum's eyes rolling over the internet.  ;-)

M&M Monday

I spend most of the day in the living room with the girls. Maggie likes to be right near me and so I end up moving the coffee table (my desk) away so that she can settle in at my feet. Here she is:

She's got some eyebrow dot action going, there!

From the other side.

Here's Millie, settled in in front of the wood stove, all nice & toasty:

Huh?

Zzzzzz . . . .

That's our exciting week! Pretty quiet & ordinary. I didn't even get pix of them in the snow dusting from Saturday.  I'm getting a bit lazy in the photo dept. Back next week! 

M&M Monday

We had a few days of really warm weather. I didn't even have the wood stove fired up. So the girls were happy plunking down & spending a bit more time outside.

View thru the kitchen window.

Maggie always comes back up first. Often I don't even call her, but if I do, she comes right away. Not so with Millie. She stands there and pretends not to hear me.

"Hmmm . . . MAYBE I'll go back to the house . . . ."

Heading up the ramp . . . but . . .

"Oh, lookit that!" (whatever it is)

Ta da! Back on the porch. "You're welcome."

Yesterday, Millie stood on the porch looking at me holding the door for her to come in. She just stood there. Waiting. For me to get a treat. I reached for the bag, and she started walking in. Smart girl.

Love Millie's smushy-face.  :-)

One of Millie's favourite spots where she can watch trains & turkeys & deer.

And then Maggie found her way there, but she never watches out the window like Millie does.

Zzzzzz . . . .

I woke her up.  "Must you?"  Zzzzzz . . . .

Yesterday I was away for a Spirit School gathering. Usually when I come home, both girls greet me at the door. I got home, and there was Millie . . . but where was Maggie?  I walked into the living room & then I thought she must be in the bedroom. "Maggie?" I'm standing in my bedroom and somewhere, I hear the Maggie Tail Thump. "Maggie?" Thump-thump-thump! I follow the sound and there she was in my office. She had nosed her way in and the door shut behind her and she couldn't get out. Ever cheerful, lying on the floor, waiting for me to find her! Poor thing. I gave her some Whole System EEP and we headed outside. All is well.  :-)

Acceptance

This a.m.'s sunrise.

I've had a cascading effect from my OMG-I-hate-desks-Ah-Ha-Moment. And it's this: ACCEPTANCE. I was thinking about how much energy I freed up by just accepting myself for who I am. I stopped struggling and trying to force myself to be something I'm not. Dave Dobson used to talk about holding a beach ball under water. You can do it, but it takes a lot of energy and effort. And as soon as you get tired or change your focus, the ball pops back up to the surface. What would happen if you were to let the ball go?

For me it's translated to having more energy. I've stopped fighting myself and I've noticed that with this new-found acceptance I've also stopped judging myself. It's not right or wrong, it's the reality of the way it is. The next part was a nice surprise: I then extended this acceptance to other people. That takes another layer of tension away. There's a Sufi saying, "If everyone sweeps their own steps, the world would be clean." 
I'm just focusing on my own steps. Another byproduct is that it has freed up the shoulding brain chatter:

I should _____. 
S/he should ______.

 If I feel this good just by accepting myself for my organization style, can you imagine what it feels like for someone who has something heavier they are shoulding themselves about? Ricky Martin comes to mind. Yeah, I know--giant leap. But here's my thinking: he's accepted who he is, and he's being honest with the rest of the world. I haven't read his book, but in it, he reveals he's gay. Quelle suprise. When I heard this I was thinking, "Who didn't know?" And really, what does it matter? But it mattered to him. He has a lot more people to judge him than the average person, as well. And this brings me to my final Ah-ha about acceptance:

When you finally accept yourself for who you are, you let go of the shame. You stop trying to hide that part of yourself in the dark & you allow the light of truth to shine. This is who I am, and it's OK. It takes courage to be vulnerable, because even when you accept yourself, there will still be others who judge you. The difference is that you no longer resonate with the shame.