This blog covers an eclectic range of topics for information, fun, and all the ups and downs of life and always with the support of meditation. Dreams and ideas dance in our hearts and swirl on the wind. It’s just a pilgrim traveling across the universe on a planet orbiting a sun in the Milky Way Galaxy.
22 April 2014
Earth Day – Celebrated Every Year
In case you're wondering how we looked on Earth Day this year, NASA snapped this selfie.
Can you see yourself? You're there. In the moment.
In fact, we're all there... together.
Perhaps that's the point. Looking at this is a reminder of how we are all in this together.
That can either reassure us or terrorize us, depending on which day we look at it..
How do you like your selfie?
“The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night.”
The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator.”
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's time to welcome the fall equinox. We bid adieu to our summer harvest with its abundance of fruits and vegetables. Hot, lazy days become a thing of the past.
It's time to wave goodbye to our early morning light and long evenings of daylight. We prepare ourselves to wake up in the dark for work. Somehow it seems terribly uncivilized to have to get up before even the sun has agreed to do so.
While we miss the longer days and abundance of the farmers market, the cooler weather is welcomed as we snuggle into chunky sweaters. It's time to tuck into a big chair with a steaming cup of cinnamon-flavored tea. Time to enjoy the nip in the air as we warm our fingers on hot cups of coffee.
Activities take on a slow, bossa nova rhythm – a softer, more contemplative beat. Now we linger as we stroll on a path of falling leaves. Armed with a good book, we tuck ourselves into a corner of the couch. No need to feel guilty about it.
Lots of holidays tumble into fall for our pleasurable participation. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hallowe'en, and Thanksgiving, just to name a few.
Pumpkins are everywhere. Jack o'lanterns, pumpkin pies and desserts, and gourds of all sizes populate our decorations. What's your favorite fall holiday?
As we turn up our collars to rainy, foggy days of grey and the chill of longer nights, the fall equinox reminds us of the balance of light and dark in our own lives.
Keep your inner flame burning bright.
“Sitting for hours on end is not necessary. Some people think that the longer you can sit, the wiser you must be. I have seen chickens sit on their nests for days on end. Wisdom comes from being mindful in all postures. Your practice should begin as you awaken in the morning. It should continue until you fall asleep.
Don’t be concerned about how long you can sit. What is important is only that you keep watchful whether you are working or sitting or going to the bathroom. Each person has his own natural pace. Some of you will die at age fifty, some at age sixty-five, and some at age ninety. So, too, your practice will not be all identical.
Don’t think or worry about this. Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become quieter and quieter in any surroundings. It will become still like a clear forest pool. Then all kinds of wonderful and rare animals will come to drink at the pool. You will see clearly the nature of all things (sankharas) in the world.
You will see many wonderful and strange things come and go. But you will be still. Problems will arise and you will see through them immediately. This is the happiness of the Buddha.”
This is what we seek.
To bring our awareness to all that we do. No separation.
This clever video of a dog "talking" about getting a new kitten makes me smile. I must confess, having watched it over and over, it never fails to brighten up my day.
As a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner, I often perform screening exams for women. This important part of my patient care includes lab work, mammograms, and pap smears of the cervix. One type of patient I care for routinely – women with abnormal pap smears.
If a patient has an abnormal pap smear result, the cervix is further evaluated with a microscope procedure called a colposcopy. If the results are mild, we then have a waiting period of 12 months before we test again for the HPV virus (human papillomavirus).
We need that time to allow the immune system to rise up and "clear" the virus. The immune system must recognize the virus is there and then push it back behind a "gate." Once that takes place, it is no longer detected on the cervix. If the virus isn’t there, it can't make changes to the cervix.
Invariably a patient asks what she can do to treat HPV.
Is there a pill, some kind of drug she can take?
There are no medications for HPV. Instead, we help our immune system to be strong so it can suppress the virus. I always tell my patients about healthy eating, good exercise, adequate rest, no smoking, decrease stress and... laughter.
Medical research shows that laughter and humor can boost the immune system and promote healing. Laughter is considered to be a "natural medicine" that lifts our spirits and helps reduce stress and discomfort. The Cancer Treatment Centers of America integrate Laughter Therapy into their care of patients.
Laughter Therapy, combined with a healthy diet, exercise and adequate sleep, are all part of a healthy lifestyle.
May laughter bubble forth in your ongoing healing process.
“O God, Our Heavenly Father,
O God, and my father Who is also in heaven.
May the light of this flickering candle illuminate the night the way Your Spirit illuminates my soul...”
There is nothing quite like the liquid voice of Barbra Streisand to touch emotions and our hearts. Here in the movie Yentl, she sings to her God in the heavens and to her own father who recently died and who is also in heaven.
For a daughter whose papa has passed on, this song is perfumed with the father-daughter love they shared and her longing to still be connected with him. If only he could hear her and offer his advice.
Yentl prays in the forest with nature surrounding her, and reaches out to the stars twinkling above her. Isn’t it interesting how we so often turn to the stars in these moments? Pinpricks of twinkling light that are millions of light years away and yet they bring us comfort as if something deep inside, the cells of our bodies resonate with the same elements that make up those distant stars.
“Papa, how I love you,
Papa, how I need you,
Papa, how I miss you kissing me good night...”
All of our emotions, not just the happy ones, are part of the kaleidoscope colors of our lives – expanding colors that constantly change as they vary in shape and hue. Even when life lies broken around us, we walk through the jagged parts and continue the dance of life.
Does the loss go away? Not really. We live with it, we are shaped by it. The grief becomes a part of our life’s dance in a certain way we hold our head, gesture with a hand, or in the way we cross a room.
We are changed. The traces of our love and loss are etched on us and are their own pinpricks of light shining within.
If you're going to San Francisco... not only do you have to wear some flowers in your hair, but you also have to take a cable car ride.
When I attended the Contraceptive Technology medical conference in San Francisco, I stayed at the Huntington Hotel which is perched on top of California Street, just across from Grace Cathedral.
The California Street cable car runs right in front of the hotel.
On the first morning of the conference I bounded out the door of my hotel, late as usual, and spied the cable car paused on its tracks. A gesture from the cable car gripman indicated it was okay to come aboard, so I hopped on to profit from a ride, instead of a long walk, to my conference that was being held in the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero.
Of course, this was after a quick check for traffic since you must take care to not be mowed down by a car or truck as you run into the street to climb aboard.
Once on board, I was immediately overtaken by the familiar sounds and sensations of the cable car. The constant humming of the cable running below the tracks was almost a palpable vibration. Like a musical instrument, the grip handle ratcheted back and then released as if playing a rhythmic song.
The gripman applied the brakes and expertly clung to the cable that pulled us along. Sitting on the outer part of the car, l happily inhaled the fresh Pacific Ocean air, rich and full of life. Our departure from a stop was signaled by a tap-tap of the cable car bell, like a sweet cherry placed on top of this feast for the senses.
I couldn't get enough. I gulped in the sounds of whirring cables that pulled us up and down the great hill of California Street. In a video created with only my iPhone 5, I captured this noisy symphony.
Cable cars are not just for the tourists. To quote one travel writer, Kathryn Vercillo:
“This is a form of transportation, not a ride, and you should treat it with that respect and safety in mind.”
This working activity of the cable cars gives them a real substance, a depth to their purpose.
Everyday office workers utilize the cable cars for their commute and to attend business meetings. Native San Franciscans can be seen catching a cable car for shopping or running errands. With a Muni pass, it's easy to hop on and off.
Take a look how this gripman, Val Luiz, describes working on the California cable car line in his blog "Tales from the Grip." May 2005, "California Here I Come".
California street evening view from the cable car
Many secrets and sparkling gems are tucked among the hills of our beloved City by the Bay.
The San Francisco cable cars are just one of many reasons to fall in love with The City.
sutro tower at sunset from hotel
Mother's Day is upon us in all its glory.
Fêted with flowers, cards, and chocolate, this day has become one of the biggest consumer spending days of the year, because naturally, everyone has a mother.
Mother's Day is set aside to acknowledge and honor all our mothers.
As far back as 1870, Julia Ward Howe spearheaded a movement in the United States to have a mother's day celebrating not only motherhood, but peace. She had seen too much of the carnage of the Civil War and she understood deeply that no mother wished for a son to die on a battlefield.
Howe called upon women to come together to make a stand for peace. Her writing showed an expansive, global viewpoint that embraced all of humanity. She was a planetary peacemaker before her time.
Here's an excerpt from her call to all mothers:
“In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions.
The great and general interests of peace.”
Mother's Day did not become an official holiday in the United States until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into national observance. He declared the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. President Wilson proclaimed:
“Let flags be flown on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”
Anna Jarvis
This day focused more on the individual mother.
The founding of the holiday is often credited to Anna M. Jarvis when she held a memorial ceremony in 1908 to honor her mother, and all mothers, at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church.
The church is in Grafton, West Virginia and is recognized as the International Mother's Day Shrine. Designated as a national landmark since 1992, it marks the first official observance of Mother's Day.
“I hope and pray that someone, sometime will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church
Many of us have become much broader in our thinking about this holiday. We honor our mothers and yet, it doesn't have to be limited to only a physical mother.
On this day, we take a moment to honor the deeper meaning of mothering that consists of the energies of nurturing and caring.
When these energies take center stage, we recognize that nurturing can exist in many forms, such as caring for animals and plants, and even our planet that we affectionately call Mother Earth.
Caring and nurturing can also mean taking care of a creative project. Our mothering doesn't have to be limited to only our immediate family members. Our caring can reach out into our greater communities on local, national and even global levels.
In this rough and tumble world, it seems only the "tough" are rewarded. Mother's Day gives us a chance to honor a softer, loving energy and acknowledge the healing aspect of caring.
Radiant Nursing - Caring for Yourself, Caring for Others. Offering classes in The Radiance Technique® with Authorized Instructor, Leslie Anneliese.
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