stop and smell the strawberries

I read a great story about a girl who is being chased by tigers. She runs and runs as fast as she can to escape. The tigers are gaining traction and are catching up to her. She sees a cliff and hurriedly lowers herself down a vine. She's repelling down the cliff and realizes that there are tigers below her as well, roaring and clawing at the cliff, ready to attack. She looks up and sees a tiny mouse chewing away at the vine. She's royally screwed. She looks over and sees a tiny batch of strawberries growing in a bunch from the vine. Just before the mouse eats away at the last fibers of the vine, the girl grabs a ripe strawberry from the vine and pops it into her mouth. This is the predicament we find ourselves in ... tigers above, tigers below ... birth followed by death ... we could fall at any moment. Why not enjoy a strawberry? I caught this picture of orchids this past weekend visiting the botanical gardens with my family. This was a "grabbing a strawberry" kind of moment. Enjoy your week peaceful peacocks.

motivation

I'm lacking motivation today. Anyone have any good words of wisdom about how to stay motivated? How do you stay motivated?

summertime in chicago

i'm in a fog today

Today is a glorious, sunny, warm summer day in Chicago. I wanted to post this prayer today. It's an affirmation intended to gain clarity and channel your higher self. It's written by Deepak Chopra. Even though the sun is shining today, I feel foggy. So, this feels relevant. Today, I will pray to be new again. This prayer is about releasing confusion. Every day, we must find some way to ask Spirit for clarity. Tailor the prayer below to your own needs by specifically naming what you are confused about. Is it whom to trust? Is it how to be understood and heard by others? Is it the inability to make a choice when more than one direction attracts you; or do there seem to be no choices at all? Asking for clarity opens the way for everything spirit wants to bring you. Without clarity, you wouldn’t be able to notice or receive its messages. So, let’s start: God and Spirit, I’m in a fog today. Give me clarity in mind and heart. Release me from my confusion, which is born of the past. Let me see everything as if for the first time. Shower unknown blessings upon me, And surprise me with joy, Let me be renewed in your way. Let me be renewed in your ways. Amen.

the human condition

I was recently introduced to the work of Pema Chodron (left), a buddhist teacher/author through an interview she did with bell hooks (one of my favorite feminist writers). You can read that incredible, amazing, life-altering, ground-shaking transcript here. So, Pema Chodron is a master of meditation right? And, something I've been increasingly (read: obsessively) curious about recently is meditation. So, finding Pema amongst the vast, lonely galaxy that is information technology was like meeting the Dali Lama on a spiritual quest. Her writing about meditation is so... delicious and simple. She explains the human condition below: It's as if you had vast, unlimited space —complete openness, total freedom, complete liberation —and the habit of the human race is to always, out of fear, grasp onto little parts of it. And that is called ego and ego is grasping on to the content of our thoughts. That is also the root of suffering, because there is something in narrowing it down which inherently causes us a lot of pain because it is then that we are always in a relationship of wanting or not wanting. We are always in a struggle with other people, with situations, even with our own being. That's what we call stress. That's what we experience as continual, on-going stress. Even in the most healthy, unneurotic of us, there's some kind of slight or very profound anxiety of some kind, some kind of uneasiness or dissatisfaction. Have you ever felt like that? I read this and just about burst into tears because it felt so, so, so familiar. So familiar in that I wondered if it was just me who felt like this, like life is so painful for no reason. But not knowing how to shut it off. Not knowing that it starts from within. The mind is so open, so free, so vast and so all-encompassing that there truly is enough for all of us on this earth. No one should have to suffer but we go on suffering because we don't know, we don't know that it's not my [insert source of angst here] that is causing so much stress... it's me. And I can stop it whenever I want. All I have to do is be mindful, breath, find meaning in the "meaningless" and break the cycle of fear that causes my ego to grow and grow, bigger and bigger, comfortable and steadfast. Our minds are so much more capable than we allow them to be because we're so busy "narrowing it down" and focusing on "wanting or not wanting" - this is the human condition. Pema's suggestion is to meditate - to allow yourself to connect with the true vastness of your mind and heart. This lady's point of view on why it's helpful to meditate is great. This guy's ideas of how to meditate are awesome as well. I'm going to go meditate on my cushion. I hope you're mind is as blown as mine right now.

Eleanora

My dear friends, Carmen and Greg, had their baby girl on May 28th. They named her Eleanora and she's the sweetest little thing I've ever seen. Meeting her and holding her for the first time (she was about 48 hours old in this picture!) was an unforgettable experience for me. I've never held a newborn that new before and Carmen and Greg are the first of my group of friends to have a baby so it's all very new for me. I instantly fell in love with her. I felt, more than I ever had before, for a split second what it would be like to have my own child. I care about Carmen and Greg so much, they are so dear to my heart, and this baby is an extension of them... I would do anything for her! There was a long period of my life where I didn't know if I wanted to have kids. I really didn't relate to kids very well and I couldn't see myself being a mom. I felt like there were better things I wanted to do with my life. Then, I met Robbie and that changed. I could see myself having kids with him someday and it felt right. Then, holding Eleanora confirmed that feeling ten fold! That will be an amazing day. Not for a long time but wow...that will be a great day.