December 31, 2008 at 4:11 pm (life)
I am at home with Rose, Fran, Grayson and River. My husband (and faithful servant) is in Virginia Beach with Fran’s. They are changing drainage pipes and sewer exhaust thingys, and so we thought it would be better if the rest of us vacated the premises.
The interesting thing is this: I never tend the fire, feed the animals, cook, do dishes or watch the weather. I am not only here without the doer of all those things, but also have guests!! Mind you, I am completely capable of performing all these services, I just never have to any more!!
So today, while enjoying the opportunity to participate in our everyday warmth and feeding, I’m also feeling extremely grateful to my J for doing all he does for us, so that I’m free to do other things: Spin, knit, weave.
We are under a winter storm watch, it’s snowing and 20 degrees. We’re totally fine, but I look forward to having J back.
Happy New Year to all (my eleven readers)!!
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December 21, 2008 at 4:51 pm (life, philosophy)
The shortest day of the year, and all the earth centered religions are celebrating the return of the light. They have been doing this from time immemorial. Although I can’t refer to actual sources, I have read many times from many different authorities that Jesus was actually born sometime in the spring. Early March would make sense since the fish (Pisces) is often used to represent Him. The early church fathers changed the date to correspond to the already existing celebration, thereby imposing it’s own spin on Solstice and ostensibly recreating the holiday to serve this new perspective. Before that, the Jewish people had a miracle at the same time of year that they choose to pay attention to now.
But it all boils down to the same thing, which is Coming of the Light. In my opinion, we would cover so much ground if the focus was actually on the Light, as opposed to the different manifestations of it. As we continue to separate ourselves down into all these different schools of thought, we also continue to miss the point.
Even the original celebration of Yule was an honoring of a representation of something. The early pagans knew that the Sun is only a material manifestation of the Universal Source of all Life (Light).
A real celebration of this profound Light will occur when we can put aside our prejudices and preferences regarding material manifestations and focus on the Source of all of it.
Giving thanks is always a good place to start. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, Glorious Yule!!
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December 20, 2008 at 4:01 pm (life)
Our collective perception of gift giving (and receiving) is generally confounded: “She never even thanked me” “I never even saw him wear it” “the least they could do is pretend they like it”
These are all conditions, and pretty much undermine the “giving” part.
If you attach any condition to your gift, however minute it might seem, you are imposing an expectation–not giving a gift. Now the receiver is somehow obligated to…what…reciprocate? How does that equate with giving? Once the presentation has been made, the best thing you can do is to set them both free. Give no thought to how the person responds, or what s/he will do with the item now. It’s theirs–they can do whatever they want with it.
When receiving a gift, just gracefully receive it. Say “thank you”, own it, and let go of any expectation attached to it.
Sometimes it is difficult to be cognizant of the actual gift. And if you are caught off-guard, try to look as completely blank as you can so as not to inadvertently commit yourself to any particular course of action. Thank him for the flowers.
Have Blessed holidays, all!
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December 5, 2008 at 8:34 pm (Uncategorized)
Benni did it so I will, too: 8 things:
TV shows:
1. House MD
2. All the CSIs (that’s 3)
5. My name is Earl
6. Two and a half Men
7. Scrubs
8. my best favorite, Bones.
Did yesterday:
1.Finished Hannah’s sweater
2. Worked on John’s socks
3. Started a dance skirt
4. Ate a sandwich
5. Petted Lady
6. Cleaned the toilet
7. Threw out some stuff I couldn’t recognize in the fridge
8. Wrote some emails.
Look forward to:
1. Seeing the kids and grandkids
2. Madeline finishing her diss
3. Christmas
4. Visiting mom and dad at New Years (maybe)
5. Gas back down to $1 a gallon
6. Taking a yoga class
7. The rest of my life
8. Being able to withhold judgment and love without conditions.
Favorite restaurants:
1. Max and Erma’s (tortilla soup)
2. China buffet
3. La Carreta
4. Famiglia
5. What’s that sandwich place with the jalepeno cheese flatbread
6. Panera
7,8. Wherever I am and I’m hungry.
Wishlist:
1. Navigator
2. Unlimited travel resources
3. More time with favorite people
4. Health and happiness for all (NOT cheesy, Meg!)
5. Negativity being integrated for the purpose of growth and learning (as opposed to being an opportunity for finding fault and placing blame)
6. Tolerance expanding and evolving into embracing of diversity
7. Understanding the profound essence that is creative energy (God).
8. I can’t think of another one.
OK, I’m tagging LooseMoose, Nosparetime, and academom.
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December 3, 2008 at 9:12 pm (family, life)
As time continues to fly by, I am completely relaxed and content, though it would seem the opposite as I appear to be busily spinning, knitting and weaving myself toward Christmas! I wanted to take a moment to share Madeline’s family picture: http://academom.wordpress.com/ with Joshua looking especially cooperative in this one! We were there (York, Pa) for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful weekend of great food, marvelous hiking and, of course, Starbucks!! Also, I want to echo my daughter’s apt statement concerning our collective participation in outdoor enthusiasm: “We have the best family ever!”
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