Doors of Dublin

When I travel, I seem to love taking pictures of doors…..Dublin was spectacular with the brightly painted Gerogian doorways. These doors are all from one street, directly across from the Irish Parliament buildings.

x

 

Word of the Day: Defenestrate

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb:

To throw out of a window.

Some of his apparent chums . . . would still happily defenestrate him if they caught him near a window.
— Andrew Marr, “No option bar the radical one”, Independent, July 5, 1994

I defenestrated a clock to see if time flies!
— Lane Smith, quoted in “Who’s News”, Time for Kids, September 25, 1998

From my high school French, I know that “fenetre” means “window” so this word now makes sense. But honestly, did you know that this word even existed in English? Hmmm…I have to mull over whether I have ever defenestrated (or wanted to) something……..perhaps an annoying alarm clock? A importunate infant (see April 8)???

At Sixth and Howard in San Francisco “Defenestration”:

 

Are you Enjoying An Expanded Desire?

Are you enjoying an expanded desire that has not yet manifested?-Abraham- Hicks

While listening to the most recent CD from an Abraham workshop last week, this statement caught my attention? At the time, I was NOT enjoying the wait for something to manifest- in fact, I was doing my darndest to not be cranky and impatient. I paused and considered this statement.

Firstly, what was meant by “expanded desire”? Why not just the word “desire”? The more I pondered, I got a glimpse of the word “expanded” in this context- I expand when I desire something- be it an improvement, better relationships, more money…Abraham does teach over and over again that our desires serve to “expand” the universe, but me? I started to get the feeling of my expanding outward, larger, fuller, greater, than where I had been BEFORE I had the desire, any desire.

So, I have a desire. For sake of this discussion, let’s say it is for a larger income. I have expanded my thinking about what is possible. I have thrown out a “rocket of desire” so to speak. And now, what I started to understand, I need to move into that “expanded” space with enjoyment. Enjoying the wait for Source to bring me what I have now requested. I mulled over the idea of a pregnant woman:

There are two things going on – the growing of the baby in utero, and the expectation of the baby once born. Both co-exist…..and getting impatient for the baby to come while being pregnant takes away from the whole experience of the…well…waiting. And of course, there is an optimum time for the baby to be born- not too early and not too late. And so someone who is pregnant KNOWS that their cherished baby will emerge at the end, and also finds a way to enjoy the wait.

A wise friend wrote me that there is only the now…the past was the now, and the future will be the now. My point of power is the now-“…your own point of VIBRATIONAL energy vortex is in the NOW MOMENT…”

And so, while waiting for an expanded desire to manifest, I found that walking on the beach, listening to music, enjoying my kids, cuddling with my husband, and just twirling around in the living room was the best way to enjoy the journey.

 

Ireland, The Cotswalds, Las Vegas, Tahiti and Greece

What do all these have in common? At first glance, not much.

Actually, they were all lovely thoughts in my mind a while ago- I had some friends leave for Tahiti last week, and I was mulling over while driving whether that was someplace I would ever go to- so romantic yet so far away. Ireland? Well, I had thought about Ireland last fall as someplace else I would like to go one day. The Cotswalds in England- a lovely place that also sounded so romantic and lovely. Las Vegas? My husband loves the heat in August there, and we love to leave the kids at home and spend some adult time seeing shows and eating at all the fantastic restaurants there. And Greece was the first vacation place my husband and I went to over 20 years ago.

So…what do they have now in common? Well, it looks like I am now going to all these places within the next year! Talk about Deliberate Creation- and truly, I only gave each of these places very light thoughts, and then between email invitations, co-incidences and some action on my part, all of these trips have manifested- some at no cost to me, some where we will even earn an income and some just because!

I cannot thank Esther and Jerry Hicks enough for bringing the Teachings of Abraham into the world- those teachings have transformed my life.

http://www.abraham-hicks.com

 

It is Good and I am Happy

There are those moments in life when an all pervasive peace prevails. It is much like when Yahweh, on the seventh day, looked over all of creation and said ” It is Good, Tov!” And then rested.

I woke up this morning feeling that goodness… I looked around me and said ” It is good, and I am happy.”

Why?

I planted my small flower plots on my deck yesterday- that deck was just a vision in my mind’s eye last May, and this May it is now built and I can sit out an enjoy the surrounding trees.

I paid off my credit card bill yesterday, and there is still money left in my checking account. A month ago, my financial reality was looking grim, but again, in my mind I knew prosperity was to come. And an investment grew to the point where I could draw some money out yesterday to pay those pressing bills.

When I was a child, I played piano non-stop. When we moved at age 10, I stopped lessons. Yesterday, I took my first piano lesson in 45 years, and loved it. I am back to sitting in those quiet moments and playing music.

Our cold, rainy spring will change today- already I can see the sun starting to come up and the forecast is for sunny and hot. Not only that, we are starting a long-weekend here where I live. Can you imagine that??

My dear friend is coming to spend time with me this weekend and we are off to the spa this afternoon for some pampering, and then off to a dinner at another friend’s home to watch the sunset and welcome the Sabbath.

My children are all well, my husband is off in a foreign land with our oldest son exploring and enjoying life, and…. It is good and I am happy.

 

A Tale of Two Desires

I have to admit- I was curious to find out how it would end. When two people have conflicting desires, who will win out. Here is my story:

We just celebrated Mother’s Day in North America, and a tradition for those of us that live far from our mothers is to send flowers. Every time I do so, my mother calls me to say that she received them, but that I was far too extravagant. In the beginning of this yearly exchange, I used to feel hurt; now I understand her “post Depression” mentality.

So this year, I chose not to send flowers but a basket of plants that I ordered over the internet. I spoke to my mom the day before Mother’s Day and at the end of the conversation she admonished me: ” Now remember, no extravagant flowers for Mother’s Day! Save your money!” I wondered then how her and my desires could both be fulfilled. I could not have organized what transpired next.

When she did not call me to thank me on Mother’s Day, and then tell me that I should not have done so, I called the florist who told me that they had lost a whole bunch of internet orders and that her basket was not delivered. I laughed and thought to myself- she won! I told them to just cancel my order.

Well…… I just got a call back from the florist- they want to deliver flowers now to my mother at no cost to me as an apology for losing my order. I couldn’t stop laughing as it dawned on me that we were BOTH going to get our desires….my giving her flowers, and she knowing that I had not spent any money on them.

 

Word of the Day: Parsimonious

Here is a word that I KNOW I never knew what it meant.

parsimonious \par-suh-MOH-nee-uhs\, adjective:

Sparing in expenditure; frugal to excess.

His mother became increasingly parsimonious over the years, and even if there were a good doctor around she did not like to pay one.
— Willard Sterne Randall, George Washington: A Life

I also found out that in penal theory and the philosophy of punishment, parsimony (pahr’-suh-moh-nee]) refers specifically to taking care in the distribution of punishment in order to avoid excessive punishment- the theme of “sparing” is present in both definitions.

What an interesting word, and fun to say- try it. And I wonder if an opportunity will arise today to actually use it in conversation- let me know!

 

Homeopathy: The Convinced vs. The Skeptical

I discovered homeopathy over 25 years ago, and all my family now chooses homeopathy to help them keep well, and to treat aliments as they come up. I have been made aware recently that, in the UK primarily, there is a concerted attempt by those who call themselves skeptics to attack homeopaths and homeopathy in general. They seem to believe that science and the scientific method is the only way to determine truth and that homeopathy does not stand up to that kind of scrutiny.

What has been upsetting to me is the vitriol and what I call “swarming” that happens on some of the anti-homeopathy blogs. It is ugly and angry. It is easy to get caught up in defending one’s position, and the anger and frustration builds up even more. I am sure that people on both sides of the question spend many hours writing in these blogs to present their point of view.

I opened up a book yesterday, Lights of Holiness by Abraham Isaac Kook, that spoke to my heart and to this situation :

It is an art of great enlightenment to purge anger from the heart entirely, to look with a benevolent eye, with compassionate concern, without reservation. It is to emulate the eye of God that focuses only on the good.

Whoever reflects on divine ideas in their purity cannot hate or despise any creature or talent in the world, since everything manifests the grandeur and might of the action of God.

Hatred, sternness and irritability result from forgetting God, and the extinguishing of the light of holiness.

Here is a lovely posting I found today that is a wonderful testament to homeopathy:

My family have used homeopathy and herbs for generations which has kept us well and healthy. None of us has needed any conventional medicine including vaccinations in decades including my father who at 90 was still gardening eight hours a day.

Just like the Queen when we travel abroad I take my little box of remedies which deals with all those nasty bugs like Hep A and diseases like Malaria. If it is good enough for HRH it is good enough for me.

For all the skeptics out there have a look at the figures for the cholera epidemic in London in the mid 1800s when hundreds and hundreds of people died in the conventional hospitals compared to the homeopathic hospital where the death rate was next to none. What more proof do you need????

I will stick with my homeopathy thank you and stay drug free unlike the rest of my pensioner friends who take a cocktail of drugs for their aches and pains, diabetes, high blood pressure etc., etc.,

For those of you who want drugs and all their side effects good luck to you, you have the freedom to chose that path if you really want to, that is your choice. I am sure you will agree that the important thing is that we all have freedom of choice on how we wish to look after our health.

 

Freedom and Joy: Eckhard Tolle, Abraham and Opa

The basis of your life is absolute freedom, the goal is joy, and the result of that perfect combination is motion forward, or growth. Your goal is to find objects of attention that let your cork raise- from the Teachings of Abraham

–

A few years ago now, I picked up Eckhard Tolle’s new book ” A New Earth”. I had read “The Power of Now” and even seen him talk at one of his last public events. I experienced a deep sense of stillness and peace emanate from him. And I wanted to find out more about how to achieve that place.

Last year, I offered a course where I live on his teachings blended with the teachings of don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four Agreements.” Over two months, ten people studied with me- we went week by week over the four agreements, listened to music, and tried to carve out two hours where we could start the journey towards finding joy and freedom.

For me, it is also about finding those magic moments in life where you feel really alive and excited. Or where you make a heart connection with someone, even a stranger. I was walking on the trail near my home the other day, and I saw a young women in front of me stop and give this big tree a hug. It was a lovely moment, and when I found myself catching up to her, I asked her if she was from where I live. She said “no”, that she lived 3000 miles away, but that she had lived here in the early 90’s. I confessed that I had witnessed her embrace, and she looked embarrassed. I said ” I just wanted to tell you about Opa- the 1000 year old tree nearby- friends have built a bench around him whereby you can lean back and look way up through his sky high branches.” We laughed as I gave her directions, and then chatted a bit more… and then gave each other a lovely hug and went our separate ways.

After living like I do, surrounded by nature and trees like Opa, the stillness that I witnessed in Eckhard has started to be experienced- I love now waking up early, seeing the sky beginning to lighten, and enjoy a few hours of extreme quietness before the busyness of my day begins.

 

Since Being Sick: Krishna Das, Mandalas, Mahfouz

This virus that struck me down almost three weeks ago was particularly black. On the second week, I was somewhat better but could not find joy in anything. I could not write anything, could not enjoy my hot chocolate in the morning, nor even read. Now this was scary- I saw my day, my life looming before me with no ability to enjoy anything! I started to get worried, as I live a life of my creation- working from home, raising an 11 year-old daughter, NOT watching TV (we don’t have one by choice), and finding enjoyment from reading, writing, and walking in nature, with the occasional vacation thrown in. And there I found myself unable to rustle up any enthusiasm-a blah feeling that would not go away.

I turned on the radio during this period, and heard someone talking who caught my attention- talking about meeting Ram Dass in the late 1960’s and then going to India. I kept listening, loved the sound of his voice and his manner of talking and then heard some music that he played- kirtan music…it was wonderful. I felt my spirit lifting a bit… and I went to i-tunes and bought one of his, Krishna Das, CD’s.

And then I took myself to the library, and wandered about somewhat indifferently looking for something to read that would interest me. My eyes fell upon “Palace Walk” by Naguib Mahfouz. That seemed familiar to me- then I remembered that my eldest daughter had written her honors English thesis on it, and so I decided to bring it home. I curled up in my favourite chair, opened it up, and could not put it down…every moment that I could, I immersed myself into 1910 Cairo and the al-Sayyid family. I felt my energy being raised even more.

Gradually, over this third week, I am now enjoying my hot chocolate in the morning again. I am playing Krishna Das on my i-pod, and am on the second of the three books that make up the Cairo Trilogy. I even found a wonderful colouring book of mandalas, and on Tuesday, my husband, daughter and I each spent the evening colouring them in. My bright colours are one finally of enjoyment again, and with spring in the air, I am once again feeling a contentment that seemed so far away last week.