The White Bench

Ryan celebrated his 7th birthday on August 22 and so I traveled to Yorba Linda to join his party. He has so many wonderful little friends who played pin the tail on the donkey, had a water balloon toss and enjoyed cake and pizza. The real celebration for me was the next day and the day after when we attended Peyton's soccer tournament in which Ryan really preferred to be home riding his scooter. He brought the scooter with us to the tournament so he could play. We watched a little of Peyton's outstanding footwork on the field and then it was off on our journey through this beautiful neighborhood in Corona, CA. Ryan would ride his scooter about 10 feet, stop and wait for me to catch up to him. He would ride again and I would walk at my less then scooter speed pace and join him by his side and this is how went until we saw the white bench. Ryan was tired and needed a rest break from all this scootering around and he spotted in someone's front yard a white bench (actually a porch swing) and it was under their shade tree. Without hesitation in "trespassing" he set his scooter on the sidewalk and walked up their sidewalk and sat peacefully in the swing and I sat beside him. We rested there for perhaps 15 minutes and then he was ready to continue. Well the tournament went on from 8am until 2pm that day and so we must have taken our little journey to this bench some 5 times resting in between our scootering and walking bliss. I don't know what heaven is like, but I hope it has a porch swing so that I may sit and rest awhile with Ryan by my side. Saturday and Sunday were heaven on earth during our journey to and fro and resting on our white bench.

Arriving in Every Moment

Arriving in every moment was our mantra for the walk that Mark and I shared this morning through our beautiful neighborhood. We contemplate matters of philosophy and then we put it into practice. This morning's reflection was to arrive in every moment and so with almost every step we created a new arrival. It was fun and playful. Now I arrive on computer and reflect that today will be an arriving into this moment and this one too and even now. What does this mean, for me, it is presence in every step, it is the joy of a new beginning in every moment and it is best thought about as when you arrive at a destination, that feeling of joy, excitement and anticipation. Arriving even as I end this blog entry is joyful!

Finding Inspiration

Last night my yoga class changed to accommodate the personal requests of several students and in the process we were all inspired to reach new depths in our practice and increase our overall well being. Inspiration comes from different places. I signed into my blog knowing that if only I begin to bring words to paper inspiration would follow and it did. What occurred in yoga was that only a few women showed up to class as several regulars were on vacation and two women had specific goals: 1 to have a "tiny hiney" and the other to strengthen her upper body. They inspired all of us to try to yoga postures and to support one another in our journey towards well being. This morning I am inspired by these women who come faithfully to class even when other obligations or choices arise. Inspiration so often comes from commitment, this morning in just signing into my blog and beginning to type, committing myself to the blog has created this entry for today. I would conclude with this observation: inspiration comes from personal commitment and may in fact inspire others.