Morning Ritual

Today begins a new day and I am inspired to describe my morning ritual.  I awake to Joe's kiss, coffee and then leaning out our charming dining room window, like a "french lady," as Joe describes me, I blow a  kiss and wave goodbye to Joe. Joe leaves the house at 5:25am Monday through Friday. It is then, that my secret ritual begins. I dance, pray and journal my way through the morning. I put on the music of Om Name Bhagavate and do a 7 minute yoga flow followed by time in silence and prayers of petition and breathing with the Breath of Life.  I write in my journal or blog and perhaps a letter or note to a friend or family member. By this time the sun is beginning to rise, the day underway and the time has come for a yummy english muffin with my father's home made jam, today will be peach.  My morning ritual inspires my day to be productive, creative, and calm.  No matter what the rest of the day is, the morning ritual is my gift to me and in the end to everyone.

Ordinary to Extraordinary

As I was unloading the dishes from the dishwasher this morning, I was grateful for the simplicity of this every day ordinary task.  I can count on it, I know where the dishes go and I follow a rhythm of removing three items at a time and placing them in the proper cupboard. I do it mindfully and today gratefully. Joe and I are lucky to have dishes, dishwasher, food, a home and simple pleasures and tasks.  As I consider the purpose of this blog post, I realize in performing ordinary tasks in life,  when I am mindful in these ordinary tasks, I become awake to the extraordinary life that is made up of every day moments. Over this past weekend, I worked on my side garden area that had become cluttered with too may pots and plants that needed care and pruning, out door furniture that needed repair and painting and generally organizing the  space.  I enjoyed every minute of the moving to and fro of furniture, pruning of plants, repotting and ultimately purging some items. In reflecting on these ordinary tasks of the weekend and this morning, I am grateful that I have these ordinary tasks that make my life extraordinary.  

Eating with a squirrel

The squirrel on the neighbor's rooftop. 

This morning as I was enjoying my spa breakfast I saw a little squirrel eating a loquat.  To my delight, I watched this little creature enjoy his fruit, as I too was enjoying my strawberries, pineapple and banana cut up and placed in a pretty dish.  As part of a very deliberate practice of doing one thing at a time, including eating my meals without reading, texting or other task, I am observing life more fully. Food has become more flavorful as I savor each bite,  people are more interesting as I practice presence without distraction from computers and other things,  and nature is vibrant and beautiful as I take time to observe.  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord of Life, it is rich, luxurious and satisfying one thing at a time.

Ceramic Rabbit

A little ceramic rabbit I bought from "Turnstyle," a second hand store in San Mateo,  provides the inspiration for today's blog.  I went into my guest bedroom, where I have a beautiful antique table, a gift mom gave me, before that she got it from her mother, my grandma Van, and custom made for someone she knew named Dr. Buchanan.  Mother always shared the history of our furniture as most of our acquired antiques came from passing relatives.  This table provides the place where the little ceramic rabbit was placed for the Easter season and where I sat this morning to have coffee and  then admired and became inspired by the rabbit's joyful character.  In appreciating its simple beauty and thinking of the person who designed it, I realized I have grown to love art of all kinds. I have art from most of my nieces and nephews made as part of school art classes. I have several paintings made by friends and I have some art pieces I have purchased. My father made a mosaic cross for my mother several years ago and mom gave it to me as she thought it was too wide and wanted a more narrow "catholic" cross versus this wider "protestant" cross. When she saw the cross dad made, hung beautifully by Joe, in our living room, she was amazed by its beauty.  Appreciating art is something I have grown into and find everything beautiful. Each piece has its own story. Each piece placed in a thoughtful manner. Touching each piece and thinking of the creator. A great delight is the art in my home and most especially those gifted to me from family and friends. Thank you all who have gifted me with your art, including the art of your beautiful minds.

I have attached a link to some of the art.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153623270707198.1073741833.560447197&type=1&l=0ef5f9945e

What will you be?

"The atomic bomb in the hands of a Francis of Assisi (canonized saint in 1228), would be less harmful than a pistol in the hand of a thug; what makes the bomb dangerous is not the energy it contains, but the man who uses it."  Fulton J. Sheen in Peace of Soul.

We continue to have great suffering and tragedy in the world and often the reaction is a movement towards changing some policy,  specifically our most recent gun control policy due to the tragic Florida shooting at a high school where the current death toll includes 17 children and teachers.  In a world filled with weapons of all sorts, and people who are dissatisfied with life, wrought with depression, and world leaders/companies filled with greed for more money, power and prestige, what we need is peace. What that young man needed was someone to see him as a child, and young adult who was crying out in desperation.  Behind this young man is a whole society who participated by not recognizing and seeing by not being present by being lost in our own minds.

Modern man is locked in a prison of the mind desiring attention, love, things, experience and ideas that lead to coming up empty, angry and lost.  Unlocking the suffering starts with ourselves. Being part of the solution includes opening our eyes to our own personal greed, desires and anger and transforming ourselves. We can be the love and healing the world needs, one person at a time.  As we open our eyes to the world we can see the suffering, deprived and lonely. We can be the one person who may offer the smile, a helping hand and our presence to change the world one person at a time.   Gun control may or may not be part of answer. What I know for sure is that LOVE, KINDNESS, COMPASSION and SERVICE are the answer. What will we be.....for our world?

Fear Not

Fear not is a common quote from Jesus.  It is on my mind today because I just read an article about fear in Catholic San Francisco, our local catholic newspaper. In the article titled Some fear is salutary, Fr. John Catoir quotes John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace, "T'was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved."  These lyrics resonate with me as I often feel that fear keeps me from really living fully.  I seek the grace to live with a balance of healthy fear: fear that I can't do enough to help the poor and those most in need and fearlessness to live in ways that inspire and help versus intrude and enable. I want enough fear to always act with integrity and enough courage to live with congruence to my values.  I also think about this as my little nephew has the opportunity to go on a trip to Ireland and seems a bit fearful. The world has turmoil and always will. I just hope that he is inspired to make his choice from a place of adventure versus fear.  Are we people who inspire adventure, love and joy or do we deflate ideas and fertilize fear. In these times with so much information readily available as life's events unfold, it is not surprising to see how we can become more fearful. However, to live fully, and faithfully, I pray for my nephew to have the grace enough to have his fears relieved.

My new pad of paper….no longer resisting happiness

While I would say I am a happy person, in fact, quite joy filled, there is one area that I can’t deny and that is related to denial itself. I often deny myself little incremental items that I know I would love to use, for example, my new notepad.  I was in between meetings yesterday in San Francisco and saw a big 70% off poster on the Papyrus store of Embarcadero 2. I walked in and there were these beautiful notepads.  I bought several thinking these will make lovely gifts for friends and family. Truthfully, I wanted one for myself.  Normally I would tuck them away for a rainy day birthday gift or Christmas gift, however, today, this morning, I felt different.   I unwrapped the cellophane packaging for this beautiful colorful notepad and I am using it. I touched it, I smiled, I wrote short list of things to be done, added a few more to the list, completed 1 item on the list: calling my sister Bridget and telling her about my new pad of paper.  I am so happy with this little incremental $1.78 notepad, I can hardly contain my joy.  I did not deny myself, I did not resist joy and in fact while I am still a happy person, this morning, I am just a little bit happier, a little more productive and now I check off my list “Blog today.”  What are you resisting that will bring you just a little more happiness?