Observations

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So, it's been over a week since I have posted even though I set the intention to post everyday. This is a typical pattern for when I have set intentions to do something daily. I'm adamant then more casual which slowly slips into forgetting I set an intention at all. Well, I want to try breaking that.

Its not that I haven't had things to write about, there are things everyday. It is more about making myself sit at the computer and type, not worrying about what others may think of what I write.  If that is an issue for me, why write on a public blog?  I like the exercise in letting go of what others think and just be myself. I believe this is good work.  This kind of exposure and introspection is what I hope to encourage in others through my business so I also feel that it might be helpful for some to see that I do it too.  Plus, it makes me continue to do my inner work, a necessary element in being able to effectively inspire inner work for others.

So let me get back on the wagon...or is it off the wagon? I can never remember...

Hunger

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Last night I went to see "The Hunger Games" - though I think I need to let my thoughts on the film settle a bit more before I reflect on it, I was reminded of one of my favorite Billy Collins poems. We used to have to on the fridge, but I notice it has disappeared. Maybe someone got hungry?

Hunger

The fox you lug over your shoulder
in a dark sack
has cut a hole with a knife
and escaped.

The sudden lightness makes you think
you are stronger
as you walk back to your small cottage
through a forest that covers the world.


-Billy Collins

Happy

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While on our way to yoga this evening, my roommate and I saw this sign on the corner of Busch and Nebraska and I had to capture it in a picture.


The sign reads, "Happy Morther Day," with a happy little smiley face.  When I first saw it I was startled by a sign that wasn't advertising a house for sale or small business. I mean, how often do we see signs displaying positive messages and nothing else?  But then I looked closer and saw that it didn't quite read "Mother's Day" as we might expect. There seems to be a stowaway R and lack of a possessive S or apostrophe.  And yet, I can't help but feel that the person who made this was unaware of the divergence of the traditional message of today.  It seems like they just wanted to spread the love. 

Upon further reflection, my roommate and I both felt reminded of mortality with this extra R.  As if, on this day celebrating the person who gave us life, we should also recognize the other end of that line - our eventual death. 

So many questions surrounding this sign, the answers to which we will never know.  And somehow all of it together, helps me to just focus on the real focus of the message. Happy and today. 



Wisdom

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Yesterday I participated in a local elementary school's "Poetry Cafe" event.  All the forth grade classes had been working on writing their own poetry and each student composed a small book of their poems.  The teachers organized an event where all the classes got together for each student to share a poem from their book.  They asked a few local poets to also come in and share their work. I felt honored to be among the poets there - and I'm not just talking about the others who were asked to come, thought they were great too.    

Those forth graders really know what's up.  The honesty in their poetry is something I strive for.  I so love that these kids have the opportunity to learn value of sharing their words and I hope their inherent wisdom is affirmed for them. 

After we shared, we got to mingle with the kids a bit and here is what this one kid shared with me.  He was showing me the book he made, called, "A Poem in Every One." At the end, he wrote a little bit about himself which ended with something like, "...and don't forget, there is a poem in a every one." He made "everyone" two words, but we can just call that poetic license. I got what he meant and also told him that he is right and so so wise. 

Its not everyday that I am blown away by a 10-year-old, but I think that is more a fact of not being around them rather than their being a lack of amazing kids. Sometimes I think they know more than we do and that our knowledge is really us just trying to remember what we already knew then. 

Ma

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Since it is going to be Mother's day on Sunday, I thought I'd share my poem about the divine mother. Here it is:

She is like an egg
all round and wobbly,
ceaselessly performing 
that silly dance, making 
sense of space surrounding her.
She is rooted in her own navel,
soil pregnant with possibilities. 
Her trunk, with rings infinite,
is proud to see the fruition of time;
when the wind picks up,
she sways smiling. 
Her limbs stretch through creation
so that she may playfully place
crowns on all her children,
with no exception.
And        when        we        fall

whether it be from floor fifteen,
from fascination, or from grace,
she is that perfect      permanent      pillow,
who swallows us whole
into her linen and feathers,
and then gently eases us 
back to the surface
so that we may again take a look 
at this bright, revolving world
that we had somehow forgotten how to see.

-Nyssa Rhiannon
04/30/05

Maurice

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I just heard on The Story that Maurice Sendak died this week. Not sure how to exactly express how I feel right now, but in the least I'd like to highlight his last interview with Terry Gross earlier this year, that I had actually blogged about previously.

My blessings to his spirit as it is now free. I'm thankful he is no longer lonely, joining his loved ones who left already, and that he was among us, reminding us of childhood and what it means to live.

__

In looking up the links to these interviews, I was reminded that Maurice was also recently on Colbert, also something worth checking out. Colbert shared with Maurice his idea for a children's book and the actual book was coincidentally released on the day of Maurice's passing. The only thing I have to say to that is WOW.  Read it here.

Remember

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So I missed a day. I thought about it last night right as I was going to sleep, but decided that I was too relaxed and it was already late enough that it was okay.  Good thing this blog is called, "Not So Seriously." It really eases up the need for perfection and makes it more play.

Last night we had our first meal together with the new roommate.  My current roommate and I reflected on our almost 3 years together, how we've learned about each other, ourselves. Before we moved in together, I almost lived by myself but through some divine weaving the universe brought me this roommate who's been a great match for me.  We've both done really well at recognizing the truth beyond general roommate disputes. Through consistent and honest communication, we've turned our disagreements into lessons about who we are.  Personal growth is just a natural by-product of this process.    But it also means recognizing when our actions come out of a need for control and discerning the most compassionate way to express our opinions (or if communication is necessary at all).  Its hard work, but totally worth it.

I was reminded of this idea I had that was on a post-it note on my desk for a long time. It read:

The clash of otherness
creates the possibility
for the transcendence 
of duality. 

Looking back, I can see how this statement informs much of what I offer to the world. To remember actually means to come together (-member), again (re-).  When we come together with others, are able to cross the bridge, we have the opportunity to meet the divine in them and recognize it as ourselves.  But this takes practice. I am thankful to both my roommates for allowing this opportunity for each of us to become more of who we are. 


Less

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In the past several months I've made it my mission to minimize my stuff.  Having only moved four times in my entire life, I feel like I've missed out on great opportunities to get rid of a substantial amount of stuff. I have started to learn that I really don't need that much and am working at the non-attachment to things. As I have purged a little more than collected lately, I've started to see that I don't miss the things I decide to part with even if I had them "forever."

In the middle of a major cleaning, organizing, and sorting session yesterday I took a little break and found this Ted talk to keep me motivated.