perspective

Scientist Sal Khan views the place of earth 
within our galaxy, with our cosmos 
and billions of light years beyond HERE

Comedian Tim Minchin views life as meaningless HERE
not the meaninglessness of cynicism
but questions the arrogance of human's seeking meaning
in an ego self-importance

In both I hear the voice of God
one puts my life in cosmic perspective
the other offers me ego perspective

I'm neither as large as the cosmos
or as important as my ego demands

it's enough to simply be
to enjoy the delight of this immediate moment
and this one
and this one . . .

and now my task is to live that

creativity

People crave creativity

What is it?

Simply . . . creating something

Where do we see it?

Usually not in ourselves

Usually in others

So if I'm looking at others

and others are looking at me

then we are all creative

Does creativity need to be extraordinary

or is the ordinary extra ordinary

when it's not something that I do

I don't like to bake

I don't bake

Others bake

and I love their creativity

I eat it up!

What is simple for me

is creativity for another

Can I name my own creativity?

Can I crack open that nut

and find sweet meat on the inside

delicious and nourishing?

I will live into that question . . .

being present

The past, the present, and the future
walked into a bar . . .
it was tense

A friend shared this joke
which cracked me up
little grammar nerd that I am

It also got me thinking . . .
(Oh oh! There's a cure for that.)

Most tension I experience
is carrying experiences from my past
as a framework for experiencing the present
as I worry about all possibilities of future experiences

Most tension I experience in others
is from the same intersection of experiences

I've learned
and I'm learning
and I will probably learn again
that the more I'm in the present
the less tension I experience

I simply experience the experience

If I can blow away the past 
like milkweed seeds in the wind

If I can look to the future
as simply anticipation of a new present moment

I will be more calm in each moment.

The present walked into a bar
it was a gift







Photo by Alicia Bock

gratitude: day 4

Gratitude day 4

I've done my son, my dog, and being up in the night

I search around in my mind

For what am I grateful?

like my students

who use up their 3 favorite scriptures

in reflections

then actually have to learn something

I can search around

make a list

my chair, my house, my job, my . . .

365 days of items

Is this exercise more 
than simply compiling a list of things?

perhaps a state of mind

When I wake up

my mind turns to writing a gratefulness post

my heart is expecting to be grateful

and I am

small packages

Chloe is a Chihuahua
a "rescue" dog

No she did not rescue me
I rescued her
given up as a 9-month old pup
6lbs when she should be 10
patchy fur
skin sores

With food and love
she's full weight
glossy coat
flawless skin

She hops up onto Brian's lap
and burrows inside his fluffy bathrobe
enjoying heart-to-heart love and warmth

And I lied earlier
She did rescue me

whatever my day
she welcomes me

everything I do
fascinates her

all that rustles
must be a treat

wherever I am
she must be

her curiosity and delight
with the world
is contagious

we rescued and captured
each other's heart

Chloe . . . gratefulness embodied

sleepless in toronto

3:46am says the bright digital numbers in the dark
"ding-a-ling-a-ling" says the brain
get up in the dark and reduce-the-heat cold
creep past the sleeping dogs
down the creaking stairs
a few cashew nuts to assuage the stomach gurgles
an ounce of sipping rum to leaden the sleepless eyelids
curled up under a blanket 
in the light of my laptop
bliss

For this I am grateful

365 days of gratitude

Looked at a post today
take 365 photos a day for 2014
as a way to name 365 moments of gratitude

Interesting concept

It's not that I am not grateful
I am

But a discipline of naming gratefulness?
every day??

Do I want to challenge myself
with daily gratitude?

Sure . . . why not

And today is DAY ONE
January first
Let me get going . . .

New Year's brunch at the King Eddy
Mom, Brian, Stephanie

and Matthew
my child
my baby
my joy
my delight
my inspiration.

There . . . my first one done.
That was not so bad.
Actually that was wonderful

My heart is so full
full and overflowing.