… Sit twice a day for 20 minutes at a time …

Morning meditation. A lot to be thankful for. A new day, a new beginning, a fresh start. Starting right now, I can be more mindful as I go about my day, to draw every bit of juicy sweetness out of it as possible. I want to expand myself to live my most full and meaningful life. I want to live a life that encourages opening eyes to the simple wonder we live in and to how powerful we all are. Truth and transparency set you free like nothing else. Doubt leaves, Grace descends. The more I look to be grateful for, the more profoundly I am blessed.

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Elizabeth Griffin writes :”I have often had an image of myself as a monk in housewife garb. It’s a portrait that does not present any sense of struggle as much as reminding me of who I am within. I know my path is not a cloistered one. Still, I have always been interested in a hermit’s ethic. To my delight, I recently discovered the books of David Steindl-Rast. He is a Benedictine Monk, originally from Austria, who resettled in the States and lives in a Monastery in Big Sur, CA. He wrote a book called Music of Silence, in which he walks the reader from morning until night from the point of view of his religious order. The day is broken into parts that are accompanied by chants and prayer. So each segment of the day has characteristics on which reflection can take place.

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I didn’t raise kids, although we had custody of a stepdaughter for 3 years. She was independent, she was smart, she was street savvy. That was all good since her mother left her on her own so much from age 4 until we got her at age 10.  I had insights this year about why the new generation is like they are. Many of them have had to raise themselves. Many of them are under-educated and emotionally over-charged.  A friend has two children she’s left unattended overnight all year long as she spends nights at her boyfriend’s. They are used to raising themselves. Their home schooling leaves them unprepared and under-socialized, their peers and role models are on tv.  Each is emotionally halted at about age 10. Continue reading →

A friend complained to me about a “self described healer and teacher and student of zen” who is a sociopath, a habitual liar, has unethical business practices and doesn’t pay their bills.  I asked what his problem with it was. “Well, they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”
Me: “Why make it your business? Can you turn your attention to something else?”
Him: “But it will still be happening, it won’t stop because I stopped paying attention to it.”
Me: “But it will stop bothering YOU if you stop paying attention to it.”
Him: “But that doesn’t stop them.”
Me: “You don’t have to stop them. It’s not your job to stop them.”
Him: “So what’s my job? How do I fix the situation?”
Me: “You fix the situation by turning your attention to something else. You leave them up to the Universe to handle. You find fun and interesting things to focus on. You release them to their own karma. That way you stop creating more karma in your own world.”    Continue reading →

A friend reads the daily Facebook horoscopes and today’s concerned her: “Your path is becoming more difficult to navigate than you first thought.” Her situation is that she let her son and a friend live in her home for a year, with the idea to help her fix it up to sell. The bottom line is no one ever helped her as promised, no one contributed money, she finally put her foot down and they left.  All is well. Then she read her horoscope today and got worried again: “Your path is becoming more difficult to navigate than you first thought. Perhaps somebody is trying to dissuade you from your plan or even thwart you. Don’t give up – see it as a challenge and a test of your will. Defend your plans and push forward, or adapt your ideas to current circumstances.” I told her that nothing makes our path more difficult than we ourselves do via our repeated thoughts. We can make it easy and we can make it hard.  Whatever it is. Continue reading →