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May 20, 2007 Awakening
May 21, 2007 Family
May 22, 2oo7 Resilience
May 23, 2007 Resonance, Vibrancy, Strength, & Clarity
I had an awakening today. What is the saying ....a picture is worth a thousand words. Well I recently found this picture of myself when I was three (I think). I guess some would say here is proof that I was born to take charge to be controlling and somewhat demanding.
Ha..Ha but I think I also show vibrancy, strength and clarity.
May 17, 2007 Be authentic
May 18, 2007 I want a healthy body that is filled with energy
May 19, 2007 I want to live my life's passions
This past weekend I participated in an Anusara yoga workshop with Amy Ippoliti. The
workshop, studio and people were wonderful. Saturday we learned how to assist others with proper poses and alignment. Sunday we learned the "art of heart language".
I love how if you stay open and pay attention to the world around you certain aspects of your life start to make sense. Recently I have been reading One City: A declaration of interdependence. This weekend I read this quote by John Friend the founder of Anusara yoga. I felt one of those aha moments when I read his words how practicing yoga facilitates the inter-connectedness of all life......
By following ethical guidelines we practice serving the flow of goodness in our thoughts and intentions, kindness in our words and life-enhancing skills through our actions. If the highest goal of practicing yoga is to remember the inter-connectedness of all life, connect to the one Universal Spirit that is the essence of everything, then it stands to reason that everything we do should honor and facilitate that awakening for all beings. Works of service off the mat are a natural extension of this. From the profound knowledge of the inextricable, delicate and wondrous interconnection of all of life, we are instinctively moved from within to cultivate skillful means of enhancing life for the entire planet. - John Friend
May 15, 2007 Humility
May 16, 2007 "True humility is releasing the need to win, to have to win, to have to have the last word, to have to always have your insecurities reinforced with endless support. Humility is the ability to help someone who is injured - not to wait for years for the other person to apologize..." Caroline Myss
As artists we are humbled on a daily basis. How many art projects have ended in the trash can. But how many art projects have flourished once we humble ourselves to the process and stop trying to control it.
I associate humility with control. To be humble one has to have the ability to let go and just be. I am not saying give up but live your life without an agenda. I see so much unhappiness because expectations were not met.
The "secret" of life that we are all looking for is just this: to develop through sitting and daily life practice the power and courage to return to that which we have spent a lifetime hiding from, to rest in the bodily experience of the present moment- even if it is a feeling of being humiliated , of failing, of abandonment, of unfairness. - Charlotte Joko Beck
I have just started reading One City A declaration of Interdependence by Ethan Nichtern. Ethan is the founder of the The Interdependence Project in New York City. The book opens with this quote........
It really boils down to this:that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied together into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality......Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality. We aren't going to have peace on Earth until we recognize the basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When will society reach this level of understanding. No I am not advocating socialism I still feel that democracy is imperative. But when will we learn to appreciate each others differences. It seems so much of the world and certain religions feel the need to shove their ideas down our throats. When will the world be filled with compassion and understanding?
All I know is my children liked each other today and allowed me take pictures of all four of them together.....my small miracle. ( I have a huge smile on my face)
I had nothing to do with the hats that was all their idea.
May 11, 2007 - Grace, continue to strive to live a grace filled life.
May 12, 2007 - May 14, 2007 Real peacemakers do not hate the hatred in others; they do not make war in their hearts against war. Real peacemakers start with an understanding of the nature or life. Understanding leads organically to a far reaching and healing sense of forgiveness - forgiveness of one's own perfections, and of the imperfections of others, and of the world.
I love this quote from The New American Spirituality A Seekers's by Elizabeth Lesser. I think in todays world it is easy to be caught up with judging others imperfections and indicting others for our own flaws and failures. We must start by forgiving ourselves. We must be honest and understand ourselves so forgiveness does not lead to a feeling of entitlement. 
I know what I want and that is to live a peace filled life based on love. Which I believe most people want. It is what I wanted for yesterday on Mother's Day. I remember when I was younger and asking my Mom what she wanted for Mother's Day and she replied for you and your sisters to be nice to each other and to get along, no fighting. Looking back I do not believe that we fought as much as we picked on each other. We were constantly judging and felt compelled to share our knowledge/opinions with each other. In a house of three girls I feel that this was very normal but not very healthy. So for my own children I am trying to teach them understanding and forgiveness. I have learned they will only grasp the meaning of these words by my own example. So for today I am going to continue making art which is my personnel guide to understanding life.
May 9 & 10 2007 Prayer by Mary Oliver
Yesterday (meaning Thursday) I practiced praying and being silent. I have become interested in two words interconnected and organic. Here are some photos of what my silence and thoughts led me to created....Stencil & Stamps and a few embellishments.
