Monday, February 24, 2014

LOVELY LAZY LUXURIOUS TERRIFYING LETHARGY


Whooooooooa.  Mmmmmmm.  Morfgaphama. 
I've been in Mexico two weeks.
My husband and I live here part of the year and own a house.

The first week is always finding and fixing stuff.  Computer connections not connecting, washing machine not washing, light bulbs not lighting, (however also snow not snowing)  Brain madly trying to dig for Spanish words like toilet paper and carrot.  Making up words by adding ito or ato itito to English words and then smiling.  (Try acting out toilet paper)

Then I jumped into a five day Writers' Conference put on in San Miguel.
Top notch. Big deal.  Workshops, networking, jibber jabber, producing,
pitching to agents---New York energy in Mexico.  Go away.

And now -- por fin, I have entered the peaceful calm of lethargy. Beyond relaxing.    I sit on a balcony surrounded by a railing full of geraniums filtering sunlight so the leaves look neon.  A pepper tree grows close and make a lacy filter to the almost beginning sunset.  Hummingbirds snap at one another wanting to eat alone at the feeders.  I am surrounded by books and my iPad.
I don't read.  I am in pre-snooze mode.  Does three naps in one day mean you didn't ever wake up?  I am almost thinking of and almost getting up for a glass of wine, but then that would mean moving.  It is no temperature here.  Not hot, not cold.  The no temperature when your body doesn't register too hot or too cold. 
  Reminds me of recovering from surgery. That drug induced moment of no pain, nothing to be done, comfort in knowing it won't last but loving the respite. I get a little afraid I'll never come out of the stupor state. That's the terrifying part of lovely lethargy.  What if I get stuck in this state of no urgency, no energy, no oomph. No creative surge.  What if indeed?


 Then again, that's what Mondays are for--snap you right out of that lethargy--even in Mexico.

In the meantime--Mmmmmf, morfaphama, whoooa, shzzzla pft.


Monday, February 17, 2014

HEART SMARTS



So did you make it through Valentines's Day without any sense of disappointment, obligation, rejection, or feeling false and foolish?
And are you over 12 years old?
If you did, mark it in your calendar.
It doesn't often happen that people have a Happy Valentine's Day.
It is such an overwrought day.

I am happy to announce that my husband and I did not celebrate Valentine's Day at all.  With our grandchildren, we did, but not the two of us.  We did nice little things for one another during the day and that was it.  No cards.  No flowers.  Just a little extra lovingness.   Free at last!

I'm kind of tired of the heart focus of our culture in general.
We are on a pendulum swing from "head, logic and brain" focus being dominant into the sloppy, self-indulgent expression of all emotions.
Actually we've been schizophrenic along the head- heart continuum for a while.

So let's hear it for the intelligence of the heart that resolves this conflict of head and heart.  It is the study and focus of the wisdom of the heart that gives us a true steady place to act from.  It is both biological and spiritual.  It's goal is not happiness per se.

Here are some Valentines for you on the intelligence of the heart:

The HeartMath Solution by Doc Childre & Howard Martin
The Heart's Code by Paul Pearsall
The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav
The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine by Candace Pert

Here's to smart hearts

Monday, February 3, 2014

PETE SEEGER GOT IT RIGHT!



I wonder how many of you know Pete Seeger.
Folk singer.  Just died.
Writer and popularizer  of many famous songs :
If I Had a Hammer
Turn, Turn, Turn and so many sixties/seventies folk songs.
And the absolute the best song album for kids ever.  Look it up.

His life personified what many of us blather about.
He was who he was who he was who he was.
Always.

He did what he loved to do--sing.
Others might have sung better but not with such joy in doing it.
His truest joy was singing with others.

He included others as naturally as breathing.
He created several singing groups
He never gave a concert that didn't end up with hundreds of people singing along with him.
He galvanized people to clean up the Hudson River.  How?  By singing a song and starting small with something he could do and then kept doing it.  Essentially he built a boat and sailed the Hudson singing.

He kept his innocence in the power and pleasure of singing even when
he was blacklisted and kept off the stage,radio and tv for five years.
He would not testify that he had never sung to a Communist.
His reply was that he would sing to anyone anywhere who wanted to sing along.

He lived in a cabin mostly built by himself.
He was married to the same woman for over 60 years.

He lived simply.
Spoke simply.
He never betrayed himself or others.
He used his gift fully.
He loved with permanence.
His simple actions had big broad world impact.

He would have done them whether they did or not.
His integrity was impeccable.

Pete Seeger did indeed get it right.