Happy Tony's Birthday

I was talking to Doug about dates and upcoming cities we'll be in with John Morgan Seminars. And he said something like, "Oh, look! It's leap year this year. Tony's birthday." Doug worked for Tony Robbins for several years, and that's how we met. Anyway, I don't know if I know anyone else, except my chiro-sister Ruthie, who would remember Tony's birthday.

20 years ago today, I was sitting in a seminar with Tony in NYC. It was his "Mind Revolution" that started with a firewalk on a Friday night and went through the weekend. He used to joke that he wasn't going to get all EST-ish and lock us in the seminar room and not let us go to the bathroom. He didn't do that. He just never gave us any breaks!

Back in those days, he was still teaching straight NLP, having studied with Bandler & Grinder AND Dave Dobson.

Tony used to do this anchoring thing with his watch & tie, so his staff surprised him with a b-day greeting and gave him this. WATCH how you TIE in these new concepts of learning with ease....

Tony had a variety of squirt guns he used. Ooooh, put the sunglasses on, Tony. So Blues Brothers. Ah, good times. Happy Leap Year, & Happy B-day to all you Leap Year babies!

P.S. omg! John just sent me this link on leap year b-days with Tony. :-)

Ornament Thursday: LUCK

I designed this labyrinth based on a 4-leaf clover. You can see the template in the previous post.
There are a couple variations. The first one I did on cardstock and used graphite paper to trace the image. Then I applied the dimensional paint (I use Scribbles). I mod-podged a real 4-leaf clover in the center. I used a gloss varnish for the finger path, and then used gold sparkle paint around the labyrinth. Then I glued it to the cover of a journal.


My favourite way of creating finger labyrinths is to use regular copy transparency sheets (for an overhead projector). I put the labyrinth template underneath and trace over with the dimensional paint. It dries in a few hours. Then you can apply that to a note book, journal, etc.
On this one, I painted the cover of the journal with acrylic paints, and then put the labyrinth on top when it dried. I used a metalic marker for writing.

This is my favourite! Glow-in-the-dark dimensional paint, great fun at night. Also, the dimensional part adds a nice kinesthetic feel to tracing the labyrinth with your finger. You could also close your eyes for a different experience. This one is on a transparency sheet and I put it over a pretty piece of shimmery paper I got from Michael's. I've also used wallpaper to cover notebooks, steno pads, etc. and then the transparency sheet goes right on top.

HAPPY ORNAMENT THURSDAY, everyone!!! :-) H.

Here are the links to the rest of the gang:

Art Bead Scene Lucky ABS!

We're part 2 of Lucky Knots!Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva Luck is knotted up in Part 1 of this tutorial

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie is inspired by a lucky Leprechaun to make a fairy tale, treasure filled necklace

Jennifer Heynen of Jangles Lucky Charms Bracelet...The name says it all. This bracelet has everything to bring you good luck.

Joolz by Lisa As Luck Would Have It...Lucky Earrings

Katie's Beading Blog Make your own luck with these fun, swingy earrings!

Linda Augsburg at Make It Mine magazine Lucky doesn't begin to describe the adventure I had making this T-shirt...

Lucky Lucky to be... based on a coin holder a friend made for me...

Lucky To Be Me Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Well, YOU, of course. No matter who you are when you look into this magical mirror, you'll be reminded you're lucky to be you!

Lynn Kvigne - Beading Help Web Irish Proverb Window Ornament - step by step instructions for making this year-round ornament that may bring luck right through your window!

Melissa J. Lee - Strands of Beads Good fortune is yours with this cookie-inspired necklace.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! You'll "make Jean's day " if you check out her lucky Pendant with a Clint Eastwood eighties twist

Swelldesigner Swelldesigner gets lucky this month with some super colorful, sparkly painted bangles

The Impatient Blogger Luck starts with a wish...Margot shares an project she created for Simply Beads last August.

Labyrinth o' Luck

Oops! It is the end of the day & I'm just realizing I should have added the rest of the project on this post, not a new post for Thursday. Thanks, Jean! I didn't mean it to be secret. Click here to see the finished product & to get to the other OT links. Below is a template for the labyrinth.

Luck = preparation + opportunity

When I think of luck, I think of 4-leaf clovers. I have a knack for finding them. Once I found 11 all in about 2 minutes! This is a labyrinth based on one.

New note: I recently discovered a link from Barbara Martin, with some lovely ideas for creating a Lucky Labyrinth garden. Go see. And thanks, Barbara! :-)

Another Dobson-related Story

On my way back from Dave's Funshop, I had a connecting flight in Las Vegas. I walked off the plane behind an older gentleman named John who stopped & asked the gate attendant where he could get a hotel. I thought that was a bit odd, so I said Hello OTCly and then started with a few Yes/No questions. He limped like he'd had a stroke. As we spoke, it became apparent that he had Alzheimer's. He was coherent enough to buy a plane ticket, but not enough to hold a conversation. He had no luggage, he wasn't meeting friends or family. He told no one where he was. I asked him several times what made him want to come to Las Vegas and his answers were: I've always wanted to come, my son came here once, because it was raining

I got out my cell phone & said, "Why don't we call your son & let him know you're here." But he wouldn't (or couldn't?) give me the number. I walked with him through the airport and he asked me to help him get a hotel. Luckily there was a police officer standing at the information desk (not so lucky for the person who'd had the car accident). Anyway, I left John at the hotel courtesy phone wall and told the police officer what was going on. He said he'd had this kind of situation before and took it from there. John had been an electrical engineer and had done a bit of traveling in his day.

I would like to think that I would have been that observant before studying with Dave, but as Dave would say, whonose?

P.S. John wrote a v. EL-O-QUENT post for Dave. I wonder if you'll be curious enough to go see.

Dave Dobson

Dave Dobson, Funshop 2006

I used to send him blonde jokes. Dave's Joketree is the BEST for funnies and punnies.

I fell asleep to his Beach tape for almost 20 years before I ever studied with him in person. I had just finished massage school and there was no logical good reason for me to go spend the very next week on an island in his Funshop—except that I’d always wanted to and it was his last one because he really was retiring this time. Again.

There was so much that I learned from him that I didn’t know I learned until much later. That’s the way it was with Dave. He is the gift that keeps giving. I ran into some old Tony Robbins friends from my firewalking days and told them I’d gone to Dave’s Funshop. Kay smiled and said, “How much of it do you remember?” That’s the big joke, because I didn’t.

It was after working with him that I finally finished my Healing Labyrinth Path script. I started it with All right, let's get comfortable . . . just like he does on his beach trip. I put a lot of things in there for Dave, and anyone who knows Dave would be able to guess what they were. My favourite inside-just-for-Dave was You might make a funny face if you ate a dandelion. The story goes that when he was a baby he ate a dandelion. Once. I sent him the CD and asked for his feedback. He said he kept falling asleep. :-) Really? THANKS, Dave! My friend Robbie said when she saw our picture, “He looks like a teddy bear.” I said, “Oh, he’s a bear, all right! But underneath that, he really is a teddy bear.” I told Dave that and he looked confused and said, “I don’t know how to take that.” I said, “It means I really do like you.” Not that Dave cared or needed anyone to like him. But I did.

The first day he told me to hang up my beliefs on the coat rack for the week. “I don’t want them and they get in the way of your learning,” he said. Or something like that. Really, did I mention I don’t remember? He taught me how to say hello Other-Than-Consciously; the rest of your communication beyond words. One of the first things I did when I created my blog was to post some things for him. He wrote back and said, "Bye the bye, since you used the term "other than conscious communication"on your blogger page, you have my permission to use the term "Dobsonian hypnosis" when referring to some of your training experiences."

English Camp

One of my favourite Funshop experiences was English Camp. Ah, English Camp. Fond memories. Dave sent us off to play at English camp after a Tuxedo trance (formal, close-your-eyes) where we were regressed to the age of 3. It’s amazing how much you miss as an adult. We climbed trees and ran through the woods and played on the floating dock. Dave said that one year one of the participants sat in the water on the shore in his business suit and splashed around “as happy as a clam.” He also suggested that we would find a treasure there. And do you know what I found? I found a piece of pottery with a tiny child’s fingerprint embedded in it. I later was in a museum there and saw other pottery pieces—200 years old that matched the one I had. WOW. Plus I found TONS of rocks. I was wearing cargo pants and every pocket was filled—more so than a usual rock gathering trip.

I can see Dave in Heaven now. After greeting "Our Designer" (he didn't say God) OTCly, he might run into Milton Erickson. They were contemporaries and developed similar techniques independently of each other. I was joking with John that Erickson would say, “Seeing you reminds me of a story….” And Dave would say, “No! Seeing YOU reminds ME of a story!”

To see more stories about Dave, his life partner Barb has created a space for people to leave comments. He used to sign his emails to me, cyasometime. cyasometime, Dave. B.G.P.

Day of Rest

This is a picture I took at English Camp when I went to visit Dave Dobson a coupla years ago. I've sprinkled Dave throughout my blog since I started it. He died yesterday. I adored him. BLESS you Dave, on your path.

Accomplishment

This is a picture of the day my mother showed me around the house "just to look." It didn't take too long after that to decide to make the move. Prominent in the photo is the woodstove, which I thought I would never use. HA. HA.

Then it got cold-very-cold. And I had my first oil delivery. And was prompted to give the woodstove a go. Afterall, I grew up with wood heat. My Pioneer Sister has a beautiful, original, pot-bellied stove. I have a huge woodshed FULL of wood. How hard could it be? HA. HA.

Is the flue open? asked my mother as I regailed her with tales of fire-starting failures. You've got to have the flue OPEN. OK. I retreated to the library with a space heater. Nice and toasty. I was talking to my boss about the wood stove. Is the flue open? he says. Hehhh....

Then Fisherman Willie gave me firestarters for Christmas. Is the damper open? You've got to have the damper open. I said, "You know, I keep hearing about this mysterious damper-flue. How do I know it's OPEN?????" So he helped me start a fire, and eventually I learned not to let it go out. It's much easier to keep it going than to have to start a new one every morning. I've made quite a dent in the woodpile.

So here's my thought: we get a sense of accomplishment from doing. Whatever it is: learning a new skill, or creating something, or completing a task--that is the foundation for self-esteem. It is the YAY, me! place where you know without a doubt that you are good at something. You don't need validation from anyone else, you have complete ownership of the skill. And now, in the area of woodstoving...YAY, me! All cozy-toasty in the cold.

Getting It Done

If you had to know everything there is to know about something before you wrote a book, no books would ever be written.
~ Larry Winget

P.S. And I forget the exact quote, but Purple Cow Guy says something like:

Well done today is better than perfect tomorrow.

P.P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISS RUTHIE!!! LOVE from Miss Halimah

Willpower . . . won't

Yesterday I watched Dr. Oz on Oprah. In the episode it followed the progress of 3 people who were quitting smoking. They all kept a video journal detailing the agony of willpowering themselves to quit. Willpower is like the bully forcing the Other-Than-Conscious mind to do something it doesn't want to do. It's kind of like blowing up a door with a stick of dynamite when you could have just used a key. Find the key.

Cigarettes are a very addictive drug. Who in this day and age doesn't know they're bad for you? And does knowing intellectually change the behaviour? I know an asthmatic who smokes. Think that's stupid? Wait--this person is also a doctor. John Morgan points out that it is not the intellect that got you to smoke in the first place, and it's not the intellect that will get you to stop. That goes for any habit or behaviour, really. So how do you find the key? You go to the source and work with it: that Other-Than-Conscious part of you that's driving your behaviour when you're not even aware of it.

There's one gal on the show, Wendie, who is set up to fail because her husband still smokes. So if she doesn't go back to it (which Dr. Oz suggested she would!) she will replace smoking with something else. For most women, it would be food. It pained me to watch those video diaries, not only because the quitters were in such distress, but because it was so unnecessary. I have personally witnessed a crowd full of smokers throw their cigarettes away AND CHEER at the end of a 2-hour Smoking Cessation seminar. They walk out of that room as non-smokers. We've had 3-pack-a-day-ers and smoked-for-40-year-ers, and they leave it behind.

So I wrote to Dr. Oz and suggested that we both have someone in common who could help with the smoking cessation: Doug O'Brien. Doug worked with Dr. Oz for 6 years, helping create the Dept. of Complementary Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian. Doug is also one of the hypnotherapists for John Morgan Seminars. It is what we do.

P.S. If you're reading this and have stopped smoking from our seminars, then I invite you drop Dr. Oz & Oprah a line. If you smoke and want to quit, get to a seminar or buy our DVD.

Life is Like a Labyrinth

I was traveling with my Resonance Repatterning friends Dee & Jane to a seminar in upstate New York. It was held at the Empowerment Center, an old school in the middle of nowhere outside Goshen. I love it there. It's beautiful and remote with hundred-year-old lilac bushes that are like trees. We had driven for 6 hours and it was approaching midnight as we were on the final stretch down the back road. Up ahead were those orange barrels and a road block. That was not a good sign. The bridge was not there. Instead, there was a crane sitting in the middle of the creek, and some cryptic note saying to follow the detour signs. Detour signs? What detour signs? There were detour signs? Where?
We could see the building lit up on the hill, a 3 minute drive away. The detour signs took us in circles, so we stopped for directions. Several times. We finally got there 2 hours later. I had decided that no matter what, we were going to keep the situation cheerful. There's nothing worse than being in a situation and then getting all grumpy along with it. The situation is the situation. I would like to take credit for such enlightenment, but I had just re-read Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning prior to our trip. In the whole vast configuration of things, getting lost in Goshen was spit compared to what he went through. One of the things he said after surviving the Nazi concentration camp was, "Everything can be taken from a man but ...the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
So we chose to laugh. And we did. We came upon Crack Street. Plumber jokes abounded! I think we laughed more in those 2 hours than the whole weekend, and a weekend with Chloe Wordsworth is pretty spectacular.
The next morning as the seminar was about to begin, I handed Chloe a gift which she set on a table to open later. She began by welcoming us and telling us that some people had given up and didn't make it. She said, "We've all come through a labyrinth to get here."
"Chloe," I whispered. "You have to open your gift, now. It's very appropriate." So she opened the LABYRINTH journal that I made for her. Inside I had written:

Life is Like a Labyrinth

Whatever path you are on, you ARE on a path.
Sometimes it may feel like you’re going in circles,

and then you turn the corner,

and you’re closer to your goal.
The journey is just as important as the destination.
Weather happens & the terrain may be rocky,
Seasons come and go. In all these things,
You get to choose if you’ll SMILE on your path
And who you’ll share your journey with.
May your path bring you BEAUTY, JOY,
and much, much LOVE and LAUGHTER .

BLESSINGS to you on your path, wherever you are. :-) LOVE, H.

BIG LOVE

"Love is the great democracy--all of us are equally deserving of its welcome." ~Bradford Keeney

According to Keeney in his book, Bushman Shaman, the Kalahari bushmen refer to God as the Big Love. In gladness and sadness, they dance in celebration of that Love. I'm reading Eckhart Tolle's Oprah Bookclub book, A New Earth and in it he suggests that you may have an awakening experience as you read the book. I don't think that's just with his book, it could be any book that touches your soul. That was certainly my experience as I read Bushman Shaman.

I was visiting a friend out in West Virginia. He was mowing his GF's yard and I'm watching him as he rides the mower on the side of the hill like he's surfing. He's having FUN. And I'm reading about Big Love and I feel my spirit open up and I am in the heart of God on a mountainside in WV feeling the BIG LOVE. GF's mother is in the house and she keeps going in/coming out and standing next to me. We don't speak and I know she doesn't know why she feels compelled to keep checking on the mowing progress. It's OK. Stand next to me and be in the Big Love with me.

The painting above is a healing symbol reflecting the Big Love--but since we are created in God's image, it's also a reflection of our spirit, radiating our own Light. We are like drops of water in the ocean of Love. However we express it, we're wanting to have that connection to Love. In the heart of God, there is no separation. It is in our humaness that we feel disconnected. Oh, you with your Godtalk, Hali. Yeah, I'll have a more mundane post tomorrow. Perhaps. In the meantime, here's wishing you all . . . BIG LOVE!!!

P.S. A v. HAPPY B-DAY to my 3 Six-of-Diamonds friends born on this day: Alaria, Dee, & Doug!

Quote-of-the-Day

When you are at your wit's end, at the end of your existential rope, and your mind can't figure out what to do, you are in a good place to do some work with the Lord. When you get to church in a down-and-out state of mind, it is easier for you to give it up for the Lord. That's one way of becoming empty, a vessel ready to receive the gifts of spirit.
~Bradford Keeney, Bushman Shaman

Day of Rest

This is from a Washington Post photo contest.

He's just . . . that's right . . . lyin' around. hahaha

I got nothin'

on the Grasshopper today. Go see. Happy Saturday! :-) H.

I've Joined . . .

Robbie's flowering cactus

Oprah's Bookclub for aN Eckhart Tolle webinar series based on the new book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. I've started reading it and it's v. quotable and profound. Here's a nice stop-and-smell-the-roses quote:

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition.

LOVE!!!

First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sherida, born on the day of LOVE. This is a painting I did for her a coupla years ago. Hard to see here, but the outside purple part is textured with tissue paper and then sparkley varnished. The hearts around the hand are holographic confetti that I glued individually. The symbol in the center of the lotus is Sanskrit, "yam" (pronounced yah-m), and is the seed sound of the heart chakra. The green is a variation on the green of the heart chakra, and purple is a v. spiritual, higher chakra colour. She is a massage therapist and so much more; truly a healer in every sense of the word. I told her once that what she does can't be taught in school or with any technique. When I decided to go to massage school, she was part of my inspiration, because she is THAT good.

And in honour of Valentine's day:

This is the third painting I did for Bulgarian Gal for her skincare line called Chakra. It's a variation on the heart chakra yantra (sacred geometric symbol). And here we go with a poem for today:

May your heart be open to the LOVE

all around.

May your spirit be filled with

God's holy sound.

May GRACE be your guide

with LOVE at your side

As you walk through this life

with arms opened wide.

Grey in a Black and White World

I once had a Jehovah's Witness guy come to my door. He was standing there with his sweet little boy, about 8 years old. He was smiling and we stood on my porch and chatted. He asked me if I feared the devil because there was so much evil in the world. I said, "When your heart is full of God's love, there is no room for the devil." He said, "You must be a Christian." I smiled, "You think?" Then I told him he was on a street with mostly Catholics, so good luck with that.

I think it's human nature to have a tendency to put Panacea Blinders on and think that if everyone _________ (fill in the blank here: became Vegan, went to the gym, learned Reiki, became a Christian/Muslim/Buddhist/whatever) the world would be a better place. And it would, wouldn't it? Or not.

I was watching an interview with that great philosopher Larry David. He said that he got criticized because in one episode of his show, he was making fun of his father-in-law's religion. He replied, "It's a comedy!" It's not real, it's a show. And then he went on to say:

"Your religion SHOULD be made fun of. It's quite ridiculous, isn't it? Think how people spend their lives. They have no idea. They go around as if this is a fact. It's so insane, you know. If I really believed that stuff, I'd keep it to myself lest somebody think I was out of my mind."

The beauty of this world is that we have free will. We are all branches on the same tree. What good does it do to argue the value of one branch over another? But we will. Reminds me of the days shortly after 9/11 when I had a friend who left NYC to stay with us. She was a v. strict vegan and we were out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Her first order arrived and it had meat in it. Then came the anti-eating-innocent-animals rant. She sent it back. The second order she said the enchilada sauce had meat in it (it didn't--but was followed by another it's-wrong-to-murder-animals rant). In the meantime, her starving husband ordered french fries. Finally her food came. During the course of the conversation, she said, "If I were a man and my country called me to serve, I would."

I said, "I find it interesting that you think it's wrong to kill animals, but you're willing to travel to a foreign country and kill people you don't know."

Now, this is not against anyone serving our country. Far from it. It's not anti-vegan. This is not against anyone's religious beliefs, either. But they are just that: BELIEFS. Beliefs are our filters and we will experience the world as we believe:

The world is a beautiful place. Or not. People are basically kind. Or not. God is a loving God. Or not.

It's all in what you believe. And it's not like we are even conscious of our beliefs, it's all programming, as Bruce Lipton points out in his book, The Biology of Belief. The problem is that we then create rules and then we SHOULD all over ourselves and others. We cast judgements and dispersions against whole populations. We try to convert people to our side. Like we know. There's a Sufi saying, "Take responsibility for sweeping your own porch, and all the porches in the world will be clean."

On the eve of Valentine's Day, the ONE day greeting card companies and flower shops have reserved for love, perhaps we can make room for other people's ideas, opinions, and beliefs without judgement. Personally, I think God can handle a difference of opinion. Of course, that's just a belief.

By Cracky!

Downed tree in front of canoe I discovered when all the leaves fell off the trees. I did a post on it that mysteriously disappeared until I searched my blog for "roof vacuuming."

"Roof vacuuming???" you might very well ask. Go see, I'll wait....

OK, so we had a fierce windstorm on Sunday. Fierce! Remi and I were walking outside and the trees were swaying and I was hearing cracking in the woods. And he ran under the deck--when animals take cover, I take notice. So we went back inside. This tree went down at the edge of my field.

Sunday night I got a call from Mum. [Read with Mary Poppins English accent]

I was going to a concert and I got all the way to the end of the driveway and there was a tree across the road. I said, "What, Mum? You didn't whip out your chainsaw and hack it out of the way?" Well. She doesn't have a chainsaw, but only because we didn't give her one for Christmas.

It was a SMALL tree, and I DO have a handsaw...but it's dark.

And if you know my mother, and you may have an inkling if you read about her adventures in roof vacuuming, or previous posts, I'm sure she would have been out there if it were daylight.

No that's all right. I can get it--just a small tree, really. No bother at all....that's my mother. :-)

LOVE Never Dies

I was asked a few months ago to contribute to a scrapbook for Claudette, the matriarch of the Brimhall clan. She has been in my thoughts and prayers alot since last Feb. when she was first diagnosed with cancer. She passed away last week, and her funeral is today. Words fail me at this moment, so I am going to leave you with the poem I wrote for her.

FROM THE HEART OF A MOTHER

From the heart of a mother
To daughter and son,
LOVE shines through
From the Holy ONE.

Heavenly Father
Guides and directs
This heavenly mother
Nurtures, protects.

In times of Light
In times of dark
LOVE from a mother
Is never far.

Her hand of kindness
Her hand of LOVE
Guided by God
From up above

In Spirit and flesh
In Light, in Truth
This mother’s LOVE
Follows you

From here to there
From near to far
A mother’s LOVE
Is wherever you are.

Day of Rest

Remi and I are listening to The Savoy Express, Track Number 4 on XM this a.m. Playing all the hits from the '40's. Growing up, I used to have a huge time-warp-crush on Gene Kelly, circa Singin' in the Rain / American in Paris. Mmmm...he was so dancey. Anyway, post is late-ish due to cleaning attack of my stove. Sometimes I'm my mother's daughter, and when the mood strikes, it's just time to put on the rubber gloves. So really, I guess I've switched my day-of-rest with yesterday when I had a Curb Your Enthusiasm marathon. Happy Sunday. :-) H.

Poetic Advice from Rumi

When I was in massage school two years ago, each class would leave behind a gift to the school. There were various art things, many involving hands, of course. One in particular I liked was a quilt with everyone's hands on it. Another was an OM symbol with everyone's names. So our class, Section 05-L, knew we wanted something hand-related and personalized.
The program started in Oct. and ended in May, and in between there was little time for anything else but anatomy, physiology, and massage. One of my classmates remarked that there was a perpetual pile of laundry on the sofa, and her family knew that's where they needed to go for clean clothes. Back when I lived near civilization, I could spend hours in Michael's. Even tho I didn't have time for art then, I was still there one Saturday wandering around. I saw this huge canvas, 3 X 4 feet in the back of the store. At the time I was just concentrating on muscles-muscles-muscles, had no immediate plans for anything artistic, had never painted anything beyond 14" X 20", and thought, "I'll wait until I get one of their 40% off coupons and then I'll buy it." I walked to the front of the store to get in line and an older gentleman walked up to me and said, "Excuse me, young lady. Would you like this coupon? My wife is not going to use it." And that's how fast it takes to manifest a congruent desire!
I blinked, and two months later, our class was talking about giving our school a going-away gift. And here was the canvas ready to paint. It might be hard to tell, but the hearts at the bottom are each a picture of my classmates. And the picture didn't translate the purpleness of the painting. The hand, the colour associated with the heart, represents healing, massage, and God. The lotus represent the soul. What some people might call a "star of David," is actually a symbol used in Vedic (Indian) art. The upward pointing triangle represents masculine, outward moving, action-oriented energy. The downward-pointing triangle represents the femine, receptive energy. United, it represents the union of heaven/earth, yin/yang, physical world/Spirit. In the chakra system, in sacred Indian art, the triangle is featured in the heart center, uniting the physical body with the spiritual. In the center of the lotus is an OM, representing God, the primordial sound. [In the beginning was the WORD].
The quote is from my favourite Sufi poet, Rumi:

Let the BEAUTY of what you LOVE, be what you do.

The Gift of Presence

"When you're in that place of presence, there are no magic words." ~John Morgan

I reminded John yesterday that he said this to me in a conversation--prolly when he was expounding on the virtues of Eckhart Tolle. "Oh, really? I did?" He didn't remember. He must've said it while in that place. I've been reading Radical Forgiveness--it really is v. radical. I fell asleep after I'd read this:

"Don't pray for peace. Pray to feel peace. That's the most creative prayer you can make. Peace is the strongest power on earth, and it is certainly called for at this time. When we can feel peace in our hearts, we will know Love and our world will reflect it."

So I fell asleep praying to feel peace and extending that prayer to my friends who have lost a beloved family member. I woke at 4 a.m. feeling that place of presence, absolute peace. Warm and cozy, listening to the snores of Remi at the foot of my bed. It is rare that I don't wake up with the To Do List in my head. Nothing from the past, no worries of the future, just the present. What a gift.

Perhaps

"You sure like books," he said. We were standing in my little library, and I was showing my visitor around the house. Ron was the original owner and builder of my river house. Super-nice guy and I felt like I already knew him from stories my friend Fisherman Willie has told. I was so happy to meet the person who created such a beautiful place here and to be able to express my gratitude. Thank you for the pantry in the kitchen and all the wonderful workspaces. Thank you for the huge back porch and for the front porch, too. Thanks for the wood shed with 2 years worth of wood! There is so much I am thankful for, being here.

"I hate to read," he confided to me. This is so sad to me. As a book-lover and teacher and parent, books open up worlds of new learning and possibilities. In my family when I've not talked to my sibs in a while, one of the first questions is: What are you reading?

This is what I would surmise about a book-hater, based on my experience in the education field: he has a learning disability OR he had crappy teachers. Or both. Strong feelings, positive or negative are created through conditioning. My nephew announced that he hated art last year. Who could hate art? Someone with a v. mean teacher. Yes, mean. Not even well-meaning. My nephew who is brilliant and smart and funny and whose favourite book when he was 6 months old was Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?

Hating books is not the same as hating raw green pepper. Perhaps we hate what we're not good at. Perhaps we avoid those things where we feel less than. Perhaps we are stuck in a pattern from a previous experience, and whenever we think about it we are transported back to all those sensations we initially felt. Perhaps it's helpful to think of resources we have now that could help us work through and create different associations now to those things we hate. And perhaps, we will then update ourselves into a new appreciation. For books or art or whatever. Perhaps.

Book Report

Not a complete book report because I just started reading it: Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping. Wow. It's one of those Oprah-Lightbulb-Moment books. Some favourite quotes:

You must choose whether to heal and to grow--or to be right.

We always create our reality according to our beliefs. If you want to know what your beliefs are, look at what you have in your life. Life always reflects our beliefs.

We do this all the time. We experience an event and make interpretations about it. Then, we put these two pieces together to create a largely false story about what happened. The story becomes the belief, and we defend it as if it were the truth. It never is, of course.

Top Eleven Favourite Movie Lines

Does the word ‘duh’ mean anything to you? ~Buffy the Vampire Slayer
He’s making vi-O-lent love to me, mother! ~It’s a Wonderful Life
This one goes to eleven. ~Spinal Tap
You all are bastard people…I’m just going to go home and bite. My. Pillow! ~Waiting for Guffman
It’s like, how much blacker could it be? And the answer is: none. ~Spinal Tap
InconTHevable! ~Princess Bride
You know how much I love to watch you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wife to murder, and Gilder to frame for it. I'm swamped. ~Princess Bride
As if! ~Clueless or Buffy or Legally Blonde--I forget which one....
We can talk or not talk…. ~Best in Show
You’re crying? There’s no crying in baseball! ~League of Their Own
Well, there you have it…too many notes. ~Amadeus

Quote-of-the-Day

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child--our own two eyes. All is a miracle. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Day of Rest

Through frosty woods of icy glow

Crystal forest, in I go.

Sparkle, sparkle everywhere

winter scuptures standing bare

of leaves or life, it's underneath

a winter surface that is deep.

Sleeping slumber awaiting spring

bringing life to everything.

Sisters

I've been going through lots of photos this week, and it always makes me appreciate my family.

I love this picture of my Auntie Vera and Mum. I've always thought it would look good on a box of chocolates. I'm off to a fam-gath. Back in time to listen to XM Radio Guy's show tonight on Lucy Channel 54. What will his cheap give-away be tonight? Tune in and find out. :-) H.

Appreciation

I can't begin to express how grateful I am to have received such WONDERFUL comments for my artwork yesterday. No one has ever said "astounding" to me before. THANK YOU, Jean! And to be acknowledged for sharing my creative process--I'm always fascinated to read about everyone else's creative experiences. It doesn't matter what the medium is: paper, beads, clay, fabric, etc., I appreciate the energy of creativity that went into the final product. I think it was Julia Cameron who said that part of being created in God's image is that like God, we are creators.

Some of us follow that calling. Growing up in all my geeky-quirkiness, it's always such a JOY to connect to other artists. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been called "weird" or worse throughout her life. I used to want to be "normal." Once you accept yourself for who you are, you define your own normal. And then you discover that your normal is someone else's too. How cool is that? And then weird becomes an acronym:

Wonderful Energetic Intuitive Radiant Delicious

THANK YOU ALL for your kind words of support, encouragement, and inspiration. MUCH LOVE, :-) Hali