Can it be 17 years since my mother passed on this day? It was 2005 so it must be. I offer comfort to a friend who is grieving the loss of her husband three months ago. Time may not heal pain but it does allow a more open embrace.
Honoring, Embraced
Continuing – Comfort, Flow, and Rest
I seem caught in the roots of Joshua trees, the arms of Cholla cactus, as I hold and process sun and moonlight in new ways. This journey rings through me.
It was complex as my daughter-in-law’s mother passed away recently, so we carried grief with us as well as love and gratitude.
We were wrapped in the words of Pema Chodron: You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.
And there is Bell Hooks:
Imagine how much easier it would be for us to learn how to love if we began with a shared definition. The word “love” is most often defined as a noun,
yet all the more astute theorists of love acknowledge that we would all love better if we used it as a verb.
And now I come to Galway Kinnell’s poem “There Are Things I Tell to No One”
Those close to me might think
I was sad, and try to comfort me, or become sad
themselves.
At such times I go off along, in silence, as if listening
for God.
And then the poem goes on to explain what he means by “God”. This poem speaks to what I felt at Joshua Tree, what I feel now – flow – the ever-moving, balancing and giving flow – the Oneness we are with Gratitude as Blood.
Return
We’re home, after a journey on back roads down, across, and up a huge swath of CA, a state so beautiful, vast, and varied that enchantment expands. The complexity of the landscape helps to explain the variety of perspectives, opinions, and conclusions in this exquisite and complex state.
We return to flowering plum trees, singing birds, buzzing bees, and continuing sunshine.
Traveling
We drove, well, Jeff drove us down to Palm Springs yesterday. We tried to avoid freeways. CA is an amazingly beautiful and geographically and politically complex state. Palm Springs is a dog-friendly place so dinner last night was here. We were seated and each dog presented with a water bowl and duck treat. We’re living the good dog’s life now, and every day of course. Gratitude swells.
Today
Again, I’m outside in the early morning dark lit by stars. I feel the leaves and buds as they begin to rise and emerge from the trees. I’m aware of the blessing of moving through air, of how I influence my surroundings either consciously or unconsciously.
All flows in and out and through me.
What am I here to do and be?
I feel so entwined with the niches in my life, the riches, these words beacon through me, lighthouses guiding fluidity.
John O’Donohue:
I would like to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.
Gratitude
This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.
Maya Angelou
Balancing
This morning I was outside with the stars. I rose on starlight.
I’m reading The Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe. It was a book group choice and I was hesitant, but wow. Thumbs and toes way up. I can’t stop. It’s a drama that will keep you entranced as you see how power, money, and lies manipulate and corrupt. It looks at the Sackler family and their founding of Purdue Pharma and the lies they tell as they hire lawyers to cover up what they do.
This is a taste of how they buy politicians.
“Shortly after Rudolph Giulani stepped down from his position as mayor of New York City, he went into business as a consultant, and one of his first two clients was Purdue. When he entered the private sector, Giuliani was looking to make a lot of money quickly. In 2001, he had a net worth of $1 million; five years later, he would report $17 million in income and some $50 million in assets. For Purdue, which was working hard to frame OxyContin abuse as a law enforcement problem, rather than an issue which might implicate the drug itself or the way it was marketed, the former prosecutor who had led New York City after the 9/11 attacks would make an ideal fixer. In Michael Friedman’s view, Giuliani was “uniquely qualified” to help the company.”
And help he did.
Because I often feel our government could move a little more quickly to address obvious wrongs I’m with these words of Auguste Rodin:
Patience is also a form of action.
I’m also with today’s report from Robert Hubbell:
- Biden created more jobs in his first year in office than any other president did during their first year.
- Biden created more jobs in his first year in office than Trump created in 4 years—because the economy lost 2.9 million jobs during Trump’s tenure.
- Biden created more jobs in his first year in office than Trump created his first three years in office (before the pandemic recession).
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/the-biden-economic-boom
Some Days – All Days
This day was special as all days are. In our family, we receive a Secret Santa gift. Mine was a family photo taken today in Golden Gate Park with brunch afterwards by the ocean at the Park Chalet.
It was so touching, so special, so sweet – no words – no pictures right now just gratitude for the sweetness and love that encircle this world and deep gratitude for my own small circle, as it expands within, and in and out. I am so grateful for my life and this world. Thank you! Head bowed!
Today is 2 Day
Not only is it Groundhog’s Day, but it’s February 2, 2022, so 2-2-22.
And if we pause at 2:22 today, we’ll be in a lineup with twos as though entering an Ark.
And with that, I bring forth Pema Chodron’s words from This Sacred Journey:
My children met the Sixteenth Karmapa when they were teenagers, and I asked him if he’d say something to them. I said to him, “The children are not Buddhists, so is there something you could say to them with that in mind?” He just looked right at these young teenagers and said, “You are going to die. And you’re not going to take anything with you except your state of mind.” You die, but your state of mind continues. So how we work with our thoughts right now really matters.
And right now I’m thinking of the number 2 as a place of balance and harmony.
The Lunar New Year
Today the Lunar New Year begins the Year of the Tiger. The tiger gives people hope and is associated with bravery, courage, and strength. It’s a time to wear red for good luck and to ward off evil spirits. It feels like Christmas to me, a time for birth and honoring our time on earth.
I’m with this quote of G.K. Chesterton:
What was wonderful about childhood is that anything in it was a wonder. I was not merely a world full of miracles; it was a miraculous world.
I invite that now.
One thing I’m noticing is the importance of looseness in the lips, shoulders, and armpits. Do we allow breathing under our arms, the flow out from the heart? Do we taste the freedom blooming there?
I came across a poem I wrote a few years ago and it guides me now, this early morning, as I rise to welcome this new day and year. I shine in the early morning dark.
Lighthouse to myself,
Armpits open to air, shine
Beacon inside out
When Thich Nhat Hanh and his followers walked in a Peace March, others passed them, as they were walking slowly and mindfully and being peace, but then, they were shown a shortcut, and they arrived first. Life can be like that, pure ease, when we embody interbeing, and live as a torch or lighthouse of peace. The moon is new; may we be too.
Cathy's Blog! 