I've written three books, each a part of my journey to elderhood. Now with this blog my intention is to give a moment to moment accounting of my life as it is now, and now, and now. I'm a leader and student of Sensory Awareness, and a practitioner of Rosen Method. I believe in the connective and collective power of Love.
“You have to really hug the [one] you are holding. You have to make him or her very real in your arms.. breathing consciously and hugging with all your body, spirit, and heart. Hugging meditation is a practice of mindfulness. “Breathing in, I know my dear one is in my arms, alive. Breathing out, he or she is so precious to me.” If you breathe deeply like that, holding the person you love, the energy of your care and appreciation will penetrate into [them] and they will be nourished and bloom like a flower.”
Redwood trees rise and root in circlesWater, rocks, and seaweed meet in nourishing touchSeaweed and rock attach through tidal change
This morning, after reading these sobering words from Heather Cox Richardson’s substack, I went for a walk along the marsh.
She wrote:
Tonight, speaking to Christians at the Turning Point Action Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump made his plans to become a strongman clear: “Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
This chilling statement comes after Trump praised autocratic Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán in his speech at the Republican National Convention last week and then publicly praised China’s president Xi Jinping for being “brilliant” because he “controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.” It should also be read against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s decision in Donald J. Trump v. United States that a president cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed as part of his “official duties.”
Morning EgretTransitionBranch to changeStepping with Purpose!!And the tide comes in –
I watched President Biden give his address on his decision to withdraw from the presidential race. We may ask ourselves if it is the man or the time period that makes a man great. In our president, we see both in action, a man who has devoted 52 years to political office who looks at this time in history and knows what to do. And he’s doing it with the message that the Supreme Court needs reform. He saw it when Reagan’s choice, Scalia, was approved, and we’ve been seeing it, and now we want to once again have three branches of government that balance each other to continue our democracy. It’s time.
I’m thrilled with all I’m reading about Kamala Harris. Finally, someone who is speaking it as it is. It’s time to call Trump out for who he is, what he has done, and what he and his cronies plan to do.
Heather Cox Richardson writes this today:
Today more than 350 national security leaders endorsed Harris for president, noting that if elected president, “she would enter that office with more significant national security experience than the four Presidents prior to President Biden.” As vice president, she “has met with more than 150 world leaders and traveled to 21 countries,” the authors wrote, and they called out her work across the globe from her work strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region to her historic trip to Africa and her efforts to expand U.S. relationships with nations in the Caribbean and North Central America. In contrast to Harris, the letter said, “Trump is a threat to America’s national security.”
Just that, is enough to vote for Harris, and of course, there is more. Blood pressure across the nation comes down with a return to issues, clarity, ethics, compassion, and sanity.
I just read that President Biden has decided to end his reelection campaign. Clearly, it’s the right decision, and yet tears come. Watching this battle as we did with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Dianne Feinstein is tough, especially observing it all as an elder.
If we elders are paying attention, we know our minds don’t function as well as they once did. We comfort ourselves that we’ve gained wisdom. Hopefully, we’re less judgemental, less quick to jump to conclusions, though a temper can still stop us in our tracks.
Anyway, I’m grateful for the decision. Because we’re living longer, and productively so, we still need to look at the truth that people do age. We age at different rates, and there’s always potential ahead for each of us, but maybe in the political system, as is in business, we can phase out those, especially on the Supreme Court, who’ve been invincible, and honor upper as well as younger age requirements for office.
Clearly this is a painful decision for our president, and he is a kind and wise man, and it’s the right thing to do, for his legacy and the country.
And now, let’s see what comes as whoever runs is running against a man who is also too old to be president.
ReflectingAnd the young step inA time to bendHonoring the path as it curves
Yesterday a friend and I went to the Presidio Tunnel Tops to walk around and see the views. It’s an easy walk from the Presidio to Crissy Field, so gentle movement from grass to sand. We began up top with the Visitor Center where we learned of Michael Painter’s vision that inspired others to cooperate to create this place of beauty, fun, and education. We watched short films on the history of the area, which includes the Native people, Black people, Chinese, and Japanese, and now is a place for all to gather, savor, and feast. We bought lunch at the cafe, and sat in comfy orange lounge chairs to eat with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the world.
This is a place of community and restoration. The children’s playground is made of natural materials and blends in beautifully. If you need a place to believe in the communion of nature, grace, and humanity, this is it. San Francisco is already amazing, and this tops the dream.
View of the Golden Gate Bridge from aboveConnectionA structure on the beachAngel IslandRise and Connect – Vote Democrat!
Yesterday I participated in a Sensory Awareness workshop in Berkeley. The pandemic brought workshops on-line on Zoom, and there can be power in that, but in person touch is a leap.
To begin, we brought one hand to our forehead, and eventually the other to the back of the head. Quite lovely, but then, someone else brought their hand to our forehead, and then, to the back of the head. A more profound and deep connection.
We held a bamboo pole to feel the pull of gravity, and the responding lift. We tapped each other’s backs. We sat back to back with another and simultaneously rubbed each other’s backs.
There were other experiments, other ways of awakening and touching into vitality, other ways of opening to play and returning to the spontaneity of childhood.
I’m with this now, the grounding vibration in my feet, signaling up to the top of my head, and deep into the core.
The poem Notes to Self above the Paradox Valley by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer was read.
The whole poem is exquisite but I’m with how “You cannot shovel snow that is yet to fall.”
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