Day 149 December 31, 2010

Day 149  Olivia 

David and I are spending New Year's eve at our friends Mei and Rob's home in Kentville.  We've made this New Year's Eve visit a routine for several years now.  One year we had to leave early, before midnight, because of a blizzard.  That was a bad drive home.

Blizzards don't care what your plans might be, they just dump a lot of snow with high winds and then leave you to figure it out.  David had to help me find the road that night.  Visibility was difficult, even on the highway going very, very slowly.  We both worked hard to ensure that we kept our car on the road.  We made it, but it wasn't a lot of fun.  Our normal 45 minute drive took nearly 2 hours.

Today the weather is fine though.  It will be fun to bring in the New Year with old friends.  Their daughter Olivia is lots of fun too.  She is learning how to play the piano.

I hope you have some fun tonight too, ringing in the New Year.  Even if you chose to stay at home, have fun doing that :)

Day 148 December 30, 2010

Two days in the city are enough for me.  I miss my own bed.  Taking care of two adorable cats even gets a little old when you aren't sleeping perfectly.  Cats tend to play at night when you are trying to sleep.  But things are not all rosy and perfect in the country either, you know.  Sometimes, and I especially think this is true of urban dwellers, we romanticize country life.  I live in the country and I even romanticize country life!  Perhaps we just need romance?

I get home right before dark and my driveway is a sheet of ice with precious little room to manoeuvre at the top.  I sneak in next to my husband's car and then carefully negotiate my way to the house, by sliding along on the ice, versus lifting each foot to take individual steps.

Yes, things can be dicey anywhere.  Things can be lovely and then they can be awful.  Sounds like life to me.   Best wishes on the eve of New Year's Eve.  Best wishes for a glorious new year.

Day 147 December 29, 2010

Day 147  Cleo and Moses

So perhaps your day hasn't been so wonderful.... perhaps your blog has stopped working properly and you've had six people from the IT department working on it, and still it's a no go.  The good news is, you are okay.

This reminds me of a dear friend who has had a large share of health issues over the last five years.  He is a young man who is recovering from a traumatic brain injury.  He is making miraculous progress yet there are days when it is such a slow recovery process he loses faith.  He gets distraught.

Once when I visited him he had only negative statements for me.  I pointed this out to him.  I reminded him that if he was looking for a pessimistic friend he was talking to the wrong person.  I am an eternal optimist. I am well aware that there is enough hardship in this world that I could cry 24 x 7 to express all the sadness, but I don't.  Instead, I look to the good in life. I direct my focus to the positive.

And so when my friend continued to complain about his very painful ankle that was keeping him from walking properly, to say that it was a mess, that it would never get better, that it was a write off, ....after listening to him talk for a few minutes I stopped him and said,  "Do you want to know the good news about your ankle?"  He did.  I told him, "The good news about your ankle is that you have an ankle."  This stopped him.  He was silent.  He stopped complaining.

So just when things are at their darkest, when you cry because you just have to, and you are not one to usually cry, realize that we all need to cry at times.  It is our turn.  To cry is to be human.  After you are done crying, see the good around you.  There must be something that is good.  Perhaps a cool wind is blowing, perhaps you are in a warm room, perhaps dinner is soon, perhaps you can call up a pleasing memory, perhaps you, just you, have touched your own awareness of the gift we all share.  It is called life.

Day 146 December 28, 2010

Day 146  Cleo the kitten at Jen and Nick's house

I'm in the city of Halifax tonight, taking care of my daughter and her fiance's kitties while they are away visiting family in Ontario.  Cleo has only been a part of their family for a week so she needs a bit of watching.  Cleopatra and Moses, such biblical names, but cats do possess a timeless quality, and an air of majesty and poise.

Cleo was quite excited by the foam blocks I set out for my shoulder stand practice.  She went into attack mode briefly, wrestling with them.  Once I'd settled on the floor for savasana she made friends with me.  I was on her turf.

I noticed today that winter has definitely arrived in Nova Scotia.  Driving into the city was slow going, which is a good thing.  I only spotted two cars off the road.  One was in the median ditch between the twinned highway and the other was mysteriously parked in the snow next to a grove of tall spruce trees, well past the ditch between the highway's edge and the start of the forest.  If there had been a road to that location it wouldn't have seemed odd at all.  There was no road.  The car had at some point flown over the ditch and landed safely next to the tall trunks of the spruce trees that had been limbed by the highway crew this fall.

There are times in life when we need to slow down and be more alert than usual.  Driving during a winter storm is one of those times.  Even in a yoga practice slowing down and becoming alert to the nuances of the asanas' effects on the body is a good thing.  As well, slowing down to view your recent artistic efforts is a good thing.  When you slow down you become alert to nuances of colour and details of shape and form.

Just for today, see if you can take the time to slow down at some point, even if only for a short while.  Do things appear different to you when you slow down?  What does your self awareness tell you when you slow down?  Is this unknown territory to you?

Day 145 December 27, 2010

I’m a bit embarrassed to report that today is our first snowfall here at home.  The reason I’m embarrassed is that when I read the national news it is reported that Maritimers are exhausted by four winter storms in as many weeks.  Here in my corner of the world we did experience a serious wind storm two weeks ago but the other three storms were mild in comparison.  We only had four roof shingles to replace and some flooding in the basement.  We were fortunate to find able roofers to help us out quickly.

Some Maritimers lost power, experienced serious flooding and have registered for disaster relief.  These Maritimers are exhausted by winter already.  Travellers are too, especially air travelers, in the Northeast.  Here in Falmouth, N.S. it was a calm beautiful day.  Just before sunset I snapped a photo that tried to highlight the gorgeous fog and high ceiling with blue skies.  A bit of snow shoveling was needed at home, but other than that we had a lovely first snow.

Day 145  First snow

I hope that whatever your weather conditions are today that you will manage dealing with the weather with calmness.  I do, however, remember once screaming into a winter storm many year’s ago.  I wanted to give back some of the harshness that I felt the storm was dishing out in my direction.  I was totally fed up with the raging wind, the deep snow, the extra work from shovelling, and with the winter in general.  It was probably March.  I’m usually ready for spring by then.   Let’s hope we all get through the winter this time with a bit more grace than I managed that winter.

Day 144 December 26, 2010

Great walk with the doggies today at a park where I was the only two legged guest.

At one point I could hear people talking way down at the other end of the lake, but I couldn't see them.  For that I was glad, to only hear them, but not see them.  I guess sometimes I just need a lot of private time with nature.

What do you need?

Day 143 December 25, 2010

Christmas Day.  I talked with all my siblings in the USA and my eldest daughter in Ottawa.  After many hours on the phone keeping in touch with the ones I love, Christmas can be a very emotional time.  Last night my youngest and her fiancée celebrated Christmas Eve with David and I, and the doggies. 

The magic of the holidays captured me. David and I walked the dogs, Mr. Bear and Ms. Madeleine.  David turned back for home at one point and I continued onward to the solitude of the river with the dogs.  I wanted to contact nature so instead of looking across the river at the two houses right near the bank upstream I looked instead to the other bank towards a grove of full grown hardwoods near an eddy in the river.  I looked towards the natural order, to briefly leave the world of humanity behind.  Bare nature speaks to me, it touches me deeply inside and stills my chattering mind.  The ageless quality of water and trees connects me to something bigger than my life.

Then once home I had a quiet, chest opening yoga practice that put me in contact with the fluidity of the spine.  I opened like a tree bending with the wind.  In setubundha, with feet on the wooden block at the wall, legs strapped together above the knees, and sacrum supported with a second wooden block, the arms turned outwards and the hands gripped the sides of the yoga mat.  The block offered support and I rested amicably in this arched position, such a deep rest I really felt like this was my body’s normal posture.  I rested, breathing evenly, as if in a deep sleep, with only a minimal effort used to stay in place.  Removing the blocks and coming down, the upper spine curved even more deeply as I let the hips and sacrum lead the movement, and then like a tree that finally returned to its normal posture after a brief wind storm, I returned to the mat completely.  At peace.

This is what I wish for you to find for yourself today.  A moment of peace.


Merry Christmas.

Day 142 December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve.  It is wonderful to see your family during this holiday season.  Especially meaningful if last year things weren’t going so well and you and your family was under stress for any number of reasons.  Perhaps someone in your family lost their job, or someone was ill, or someone was far, far away in more ways than one.  Our lives do tend to balance themselves out though if we give ourselves half a chance.

I’d like to send out gratitude for the happiness and calmness I feel tonight.  I know that not everyone on the planet is as fortunate as I am.  I have a very full stomach and I’m inside a warm house with my loving family.  There was much laughter around the dinner table tonight. 

The photo I’m posting tonight shows you our desert. It is a small bowl of Luna and Larry’s coconut bliss frozen delight with one organic chocolate truffle on top and a few slices of a fresh organic pear.  Lovely.  Entirely lovely.  We had homemade Asian food for dinner, a Japanese soup followed by Chinese beef and broccoli and stir fried rice with green onions.  A feast indeed.

Merry Christmas and may you feel Blessed.

Day 141 December 23, 2010

Yesterday I posted a photo of my brother Jim and I on Skellig Michael, a rocky island about 25 miles off the shore of Ireland.  If an excursion requires boating my brother will hurry to sign up it, and so there we were.

Skellig Michael is an ancient monastic outpost and more recently home to lighthouse keepers and their families.  To see the remains of the monastery, you needed to climb 650 stone steps that were carefully laid by the monks.  The monastery was first sacked by the Vikings in A.D. 812 and again in A.D. 823.  Despite these sackings and the privations of this island life atop a rocky crag, the monastery remained functional until it moved ashore to the Ballinskelligs in the 12^th century.

Needless to say, climbing those steps to the ancient monastery is grueling and not for the faint of heart.  The concept of handrails is unknown and just the sea greets you if you slip and fall.  Of course some folks on the day we climbed Skellig Michael looked quite relaxed, as if they were out for a summer stroll and a picnic.  Perhaps it wasn’t their first visit.  Having been steeped in a Catholic childhood this visit held emotional overtones for my brother and I, as well as physical challenges.  Faith that we would achieve our goal to get to the top helped us.

Did I mention that the views were spectacular and well worth the uneasy moments?  Sometimes life is frightening.  Sometimes being frightened is worth it if you reach your goal.  I hope that you will not be too frightened or have to work too hard to achieve your goal.  

View of boat launch at Skellig Michael, photo by Jim

View from the monastery of Skellig Michael, photo by Jim

Day 140 December 22, 2010

Another day of rainy weather, wind and mud here in my part of the world.   Hello to you all, wherever you may be.  As one of my favourite students recently wrote as a facebook entry, saying hello to his friends here in Canada where he goes to school,  “hello, from over here on the other side of the planet.”  He’s gone home to Seoul, Korea for the holidays. Yes, hello to everyone wherever you might be on this lovely planet of ours.

Having just finished a quiet yoga practice I feel a bit humorous and light hearted.  Forgiving of humanity’s foibles.  We do try our best it seems.

Try to take pleasure in the small things today.  Those small things add up J  Get comfortable with yourself, afterall, it’s your life.

Day 139 December 21, 2010

Apples and Berries

The winter solstice is upon us.  Here in my corner of the world it is a blustery grey day with high winds.  It rained for part of the day.  The wind has changed since last Monday’s storm.  It now blows from the northeast, not the south, a sure sign of the upcoming winter storms that soon will follow from this direction.

Today is an auspicious day for it breathes upon us the coming of a new season.  Today David walked the dogs, he fixed our shed door that was threatening to come apart again and he and I refastened the lattice work that the wind has loosened that covers two walls of our dog run.  I worked on upcyling a sweater to make it more “me”.  Then I prepared a gluten free apple berry crumble to bring to the pot luck dinner that follows each sweat lodge ceremony.  The apple berry crumble is now baking and it smells divine.  I wrapped a few presents too.  One of the benefits of making art is that you have gifts at hand at every moment.  Just dive into the studio and voila, gifts appear.

I hope that you will find a gift to give someone today.  It is the season.  It is so satisfying to give a gift.  Selecting it, wrapping it, and handing it to the person are all rewarding.  I love the look of expectancy you see on someone’s face when they have just received a gift.  It’s that birthday cake look.  You know, that glow children and adults get from all the loving attention of the birthday cake with candles’ ceremony?  Unabashed joy. 

That is what I wish for you today :)

Day 138 December 20, 2010

As I sit to write, the darkness outside is absolute except for a few lights across the road at my neighbour’s house and for the multi-coloured lights on the blue spruce tree at the edge of our property.  Here inside our tall Christmas tree is lit with soft white lights. Two vintage gold foil reindeer that I remember from my childhood, adorn our mantle with a herd of Christmas cards for company.  I can feel Christmas approach.  In the grocery store today a few people greeted each other and wished each other Happy Holidays.

I’ve talked with close family and friends recently who I either see rarely due to huge geographic distances between us, or else to arrange an upcoming visit over the holidays.  My siblings and I will be calling each other on the 25^th.  My eldest and her spouse will be having a virtual Christmas with us on the 25^th thanks to skype. 

It’s a good time to reach out to others and thank them for something that they’ve done for you, even if that something happened a year ago or longer.  Expressing gratitude is like a prayer.  There never seems to be a bad time to pray, or a bad time to thank someone for a kindness they’ve shown you.  

Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar refers to his asanas as his prayers. He says in the foreword of his book Yoga Wisdom and Practice, “Thus, yoga uses the body, the container, to touch the content, the soul.”   As I breathed quietly in an asana today I realized just how deeply I was breathing.  I was honoring my life by taking the time to breathe quietly and deeply.  Honouring the need to care for myself so that I can continue on this journey. 

May you all see your life experiences today with equanimity, patience and joy.  Namaste.

Day 137 December 19, 2010

Sometimes I can have too much of a good thing.  When this happens it usually has something to do with chocolate.  Christmas is nearly here and that used to be a time for me to always over indulge in this delicious treat.  If I’m not careful I’ll be repeating that trend this year too.  Oh well.  I’m not perfect, at least the last time I looked I wasn’t.

Are you perfect?  Just checking.  I hope that you also find an opportunity to laugh at your foibles today.  There is nothing like laughing at yourself; it’s quite a good reality check.  Remember, we are only human. 

We’re supposed to make mistakes.

Here is a small list of things that have been invented to deal with our common mistakes: 

Erasers

White out

Undo commands

Delete keys

Backspace keys

See what I mean?  So, relax, and accept your small imperfections, ... and please pass the chocolate.

Cuba 2008 photo taken by David

Day 136 December 18, 2010

Some people’s work is just inspiring, don’t you think?  Take street performers for example, they are pretty tough and inspiring, don’t you think?  These street performers are part of the celebrations for Canada Day, July 1^st, in Ottawa. 

How about celebrating the upcoming winter solstice on December 21st?  There will be a full moon.  I know lots of North America is now frozen solid and covered with snow, but here in my part of Nova Scotia we’ve had a really warm week, a warm, very wild wind on Monday night, and calm since then and still warm.  Yes it is frosty in the morning and evening, but the ground is clear and the air is as well throughout the day.

I am almost ready to celebrate the end of an inspiring day.  David’s two yoga classes that I attended today were comprised of deep work that brought me to a serious level of tiredness.  The work was satisfying though for it calmed me and made me grateful.  I will celebrate my tiredness by taking a sauna, my first of this winter’s season. 

When you are tired do you rest?  I mean really rest, not just lie on the sofa and watch television or read, I mean eyes closed with deep breathing where you shed your tiredness like dirty work clothes at the end of a long satisfying day of hard manual labour.  That is what I am about to do. 

Reward yourself today for all the hard work you do just to keep your body and soul together.  Be kind to yourself, not just to others.  

Day 135 December 17, 2010

In contrast to yesterday, I spent a good hour outside early this morning, looking for missing roof shingles from our metal roof, thanks to that hurricane force wind storm we experienced Monday and as well, I walked the dogs.  The air was quite cold.  Hard frost on the winter rye grass growing out on the dyke lands and hard ground underfoot.  This was fortunate for I felt like I was a low flying airplane compared to how I felt on my last walk with the dogs.  I’d slogged my way through mucky, swampy fields that sucked at each of my foot steps which made a one hour walk feel like three hours.  In comparison, today’s walk was a real breeze.

The neighbour’s horses came over to investigate as we passed by their pasture.  Very few birds were visible, just one beautiful group of small white birds that flew in squadron formation as I neared their encampment on the dykes and a solitary hawk out on patrol.

Two things already happened today that cheered me up.  Firstly, I found a lens cap that I’d dropped on my last walk after a careful return to the area where I was sure I first noticed that it was missing.  A small thing you might say, but hey, life is really just lots of small things all squeezed together.  Secondly, the phone rang and it was a man calling to ask if we still needed help with our roof repair.  David and I had called four roofing companies yesterday, all of which sounded unable to help us.  But one of them referred our call to this roofer who thinks he can help us.  Hallelujiah *!* 

Yes, it is difficult to get things fixed sometimes, especially when you live in a rural area like we do.  Actually, it’s probably difficult to get things fixed wherever you live.  Right?  My eldest lives in Ottawa and I recall that she and her spouse have difficulties there too.  So, on that note, here’s a big thank you I’m sending out to all those wonderful workmen who keep our dwellings together.  There are times when I almost feel like getting on my knees in gratitude when a workman comes up our driveway.  Truly.

On a seasonal note, may you have a lovely time preparing for the upcoming holidays.  Stay calm, be happy, and be grateful for the small stuff, cause as one author reminded us in a series of books, “it’s all small stuff.”

Day 134 December 16, 2010

'fig plant'  ink and coloured pen drawing

Today I took care of loose ends.  I spent about 6 hours organizing half of the attic.  It needed it.  I found a good quantity of stuff to recycle.  A few decisions still need to be made, what to keep, what not to keep.  Then there is the other half of the attic, for another day.

Bent in half, or on my knees, for our attic is a long, narrow crawl space, I embraced boxes and more boxes, old furniture, old pictures, empty suitcases.  Lots of stuff.  It can make you not want to go shopping when you confront all the stuff you already have!  I have so much stuff already. 

That’s a good feeling to get right before Christmas, don’t you think?  Celebrate the holidays with good cheer, good food, good friends and family.  Forgot about getting more stuff.  Don’t you have enough stuff already?  I certainly do.

Day 133 December 15, 2010

Aran Islands  2004 photo by Jessica

The other night I revisited a thought I first had in Ireland in 2002.  As my brother, sister and I toured through villages on small secondary roads it seemed that every village had its own ruin from days long past.  Crumbling monuments that spoke to ancient times.  These monuments were celebrated by the local people.  What I realized is that here in Canada the native peoples also left their own monuments.  There are the serpent mounds near Rice Lake in Ontario and most likely other examples of this same kind of monument in other locations and the Inuit created inukshuks in their part of the world. 

What was also left as records of the native peoples’ passing over the last 10,000 years was our pristine wilderness.  I hold a deep gratitude for the reverence the native peoples showed the earth.  They used what they needed.  They left the rest untouched.  And so, because of their foresight we are currently enjoying the vastness of a primarily unspoiled landscape here in Canada.

Since other peoples settled what we now know as Canada, much has changed.  For one thing the landscape is no longer pristine due to the incessant harvesting of natural resources.  Forests are cut and finally some are now replanted, but even 40 years ago in this part of the world replanting was less common.  The huge tar sands project in Alberta that extracts oil is seen by environmentalists as a blight.  The old tar sands pit in Sydney, Nova Scotia, a site where coal was extracted, has left behind an environmental nightmare. The new peoples who settled this land have done much good in many ways, but it seems “the bottom line” is in many cases more important than the sweet earth upon which we stand.

As my yoga and art practice deepens throughout this year, so too does my awareness of the interconnectedness of my life here on earth.  We have much to be grateful for but we need to relearn the lessons of protecting our earth that the native peoples taught us.

Day 132 December 14, 2010

Today is Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar’s birthday.  He is 93.  I honour him today for all he has done to help others with his work.  Personally, I am very grateful for how his work has helped my own family. 

I hope that you may find a teacher who inspires you also.  Perhaps it will be a teacher in high school, or middle school, or perhaps in university, or perhaps beyond the scope of academia.  Perhaps your teacher will be a monk, or a yogi, or a chef, or an artist.  I just hope that you experience the passion a great teacher brings to their work.  It is contagious, to experience such passion.

Namaste.

Day 131 December 13, 2010

Pomegrante Quinoa Salad

Pomegrante Quinoa Salad

1 cup Pomegrante arils

1 cup quinoa

1/2 cup chopped Fresh cilantro

3/4 cup chopped Fresh parsley

1 cup peeled and diced English cucumber

3/4 cup Toasted pine nuts or walnuts

1 large clove Fresh garlic

1/2 cup Fresh red pepper

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup Olive oil

1/4 cup Lemon juice

Toast the quinoa in a dry pan till it crackles and slightly changes colour.  Then cook for 15-20 minutes  in 2 cups boiling water.  Once the quinoa comes to a boil, reduce to simmer.  Cool and fluff once cooked.  Add to other ingredients when room temperature.  Toast the nuts in a dry pan till coloured.  Toss all the ingredients gently in olive oil and lemon juice.

My favourite salad ingredients, for my favourite salad!!!!  It is a very festive salad.  The pomegrante arils look like red Christmas lights!  They add a sweet, tart crunch to the salad. 

I photographed this salad before I added the cooked quinoa, just because I love the look of the pomegrante arils.  There is so much garlic chopped into this salad it has a pleasing bite to the palate. 

This salad is not for the faint of heart, because the cook must be patient about selecting only the best quality pomegrante arils, taking the time to discard any that might be damaged.  As well, the cilantro and parsley must be very fresh.

Have no fear though, for this salad is superb.  I got the recipe from a yoga friend.  It makes a great statement at a holiday pot luck dinner.

Enjoy:)

Day 130 December 12, 2010

from the rooftop of the green Farmers' market building at the Pier, Halifax, N.S. 

What a day in the neighborhood!  Clear, sunny, cool, but not really cold with just a light breeze,  the kind of day that makes you sit up and take notice.  That’s how I felt when I went outside this morning.  With such an auspicious day, I spent some quality time outdoors. 

First, David and I replaced some bulbs in the string of lights that decorate our house.  Then we tackled a new festive project, decorating a blue spruce tree with lights.  This blue spruce tree is one we planted ourselves. We bought it from a nursery as a living Christmas tree that we then planted in its permanent location the following spring.  We banked it with several bales of hay outdoors over the winter once Christmas was over.  Let me tell you, tackling that now 25 foot tree was a bit formidable.  David did the dance with the ladder, moving it around the tree’s base several times while I hung the lights.  Of course, we ran out of lights.  Isn’t that always the way?  No worries.  We’ll get more tomorrow.  It was fun wrestling with those prickly branches in the fresh air.

Secondly, I drove to the city of Halifax to spend some time with my youngest daughter.  She’d been aching to show me the new green building at the waterfront that houses the farmers’ market.  As I drove in, gliding along in my comfortable car, I snacked on nuts and raisins.  Then it dawned on me; this was the exact food I’d eaten when I first entered Nova Scotia.  I’d eaten nuts and dried fruit every day for five days straight as I crossed this vast country by train, from Vancouver to Halifax nearly 40 years ago.

As I drove down the highway with the forest close at hand on both sides of the road, I marveled at all the changes that had happened in my life in the last 40 years.  I was very grateful for all the gifts given to me by the universe.  Once in the city, my daughter and I spent lots of time at the new farmers’ market, and we drank in the glorious view of the ocean through the floor to ceiling windows on the waterfront side of the building.  Just before leaving we went up to the roof.  The view was even larger there.  I’ve pictured it here in this post.  It was a rather still day for being so close to the ocean, as you can tell by the static position of the wind turbines.  We let the vastness of the view soak into our bones for a little while.  The quality of the air was spectacular. 

The air coming off of water has a certain special quality.  Invigorating. The sense of space you feel when you look at a view over the water fills you with hope.  I certainly hope that you found something to be grateful for today.  Yes, I certainly hope so.  And there's another chance coming, tomorrow.

Day 129 December 11, 2010

Last night I met a funny man.  He laughed a lot.  He had an amazing sense of how to make a cross-cultural joke. He knew that people are just people, despite the differences that can often arise due to their schooling in diverse cultures.  His laugh seemed to welcome you right into the joke along with him.  His joy was contagious.

Here is the full story.  He was a native elder and I met him in the sweat lodge ceremony.  We were about half way through the ceremony and a little talk amongst the dozen or so of us in the lodge developed.  He was sitting near the doorway, and as the lodge cooled because the door was open this elder who sat upon the earth in the middle of an ancient ceremony, said in a very matter of fact voice, “I think we might need some venetian blinds in here or something, to be able to let this heat in and out of the doorway.”  Venetian blinds in a sweat lodge?  Yes, that was a very, very funny image.

And that is how it feels when you hear someone laugh who is genuinely laughing a deep, belly laugh.  It’s almost shocking to hear the depth of delight coming from someone who laughs so loudly and so well.  It makes you stand up and take notice.  But it also does allow you to laugh that way too.  It gives you approval and opens the door to your own laughter.  My advice, hang out with people who know how to laugh.

Day 128 December 10, 2010

'The Look Off' outside of Canning, N.S.

Just thought I’d let you know about a real source of inspiration in the world of recovering from cancer, in case you’re interested.  Her name is Kris Carr.  Yes, the same woman who wrote, My Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips.  She is a writer and artist and her book is fabulous, and I speak from personal experience.  No, I don’t have cancer, but a close family member did.  Kris Carr’s book helped a lot.  Her website is also full of tons of information and she is now promoting a new book on diets, not diets in the sense of losing weight, no, diets in the sense of “what the heck do I eat, now that I feel like a truck just drove over me and I want to re-inflate my sense of well being and health?”

Here are two other great books on recovering from cancer.  Lawrence LeShan’s Cancer as a Turning Point: a Handbook for People with Cancer, their families and Health professionals, revised edition and Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras’ book Foods that Fight Cancer and their follow up book Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer.  All of these books are really helpful.  I know what I’m talking about, so if you know of anyone who is dealing with this issue of the big C, please pass this information on to them.

Thanks, and embrace yourself today.  Take a walk, go for a swim, stand on your head, or lie on the sofa and read a book, make some art, and remember to LAUGH :)

Day 127 December 9, 2010

Clear evening at sunset.  Inspiring quality to the light.  I worked with some inspiring art made by students at King's-Edgehill school this afternoon, deciding which work to hang at the school doctor's office in his waiting room in town.  Such a large range of work that covered many years of teaching with several different art teachers, it was quite a beautiful pile of work that I sorted.  Some of it was going to go to town and some would go to enliven the buildings on campus.

Then I visited the library, my old stomping grounds, and there I found a colleague holding a meeting with a  keen group of students.  The yearbook committee was planning who would create different pages.  It looked like a good group.  Several students wandered into the library with that 'deer in the headlight' look in their eyes; it is science fair time of year.  A grade eight boy had to write 1,500 words on his research topic of "obsidian".  It was due tomorrow.  Oh yes, even in grade eight the idea of a deadline is firmly entrenched.

What I am realizing is one real benefit of this commitment of mine, the 365 days of yoga and art, is that I am entrenching my own desire to center my life around yoga and art.  Today's morning yoga practice felt so necessary.  Sorting art work this afternoon, yes, that felt the same.  Necessary.  I am like a fish out of water, gasping.  I was away from yoga and art too often in the past.  Too busy with other things.  But now, I'm finally getting to what I need to keep me a happy clam in my clam bank, or a happy fish in the pond.  It feels really right.

Find out what makes you a happy clam in your own clam bank.  What feels right to you?  As right as a fish feeling the pond water moving smoothly across its slippery scales.

Day 126 December 8, 2010

Perhaps you've heard of Vincent Van Gogh?  His work is greatly admired today, but within his own lifetime it was not.  He had a difficult life.  Fortunately for art lovers, he painted amazing works.  He suffered from mental illness, physical illness, poverty and from many failures both within his working life and his personal life.

Here is a quote of Van Gogh's, " The more ugly, ill, poor I get, the more I want to take my revenge by producing a brilliant color, well-arranged, resplendent."  Taking revenge is usually not a great approach to anything.  In Vincent's case though, he was achingly aware of his own difficulties and he acted out of that misery to produce vibrant, sensationally colored work.

So you see, sometimes splendor and greatness can come out of the deepest difficulty.  Let Vincent Van Gogh inspire you to overcome your own difficulties.

watercolour

Day 125 December 7, 2010

Muriel and Denise at Vital Health Yoga Centre, Halifax, NS

As I drove with David to yoga class last night in Wolfville, we looked at all the Christmas lights,  and I thought of Denise who was just here last week.  She came to class with us in Wolfville and we laughed that night.  Yes, laughter and yoga do go together, especially once a few of the students know each other well enough to tease each other.  David teased someone last night and we all laughed again.

David and I are ahead of schedule for our Christmas decorations.  Our tree is already in the backyard, next step is to bring it in and decorate it.  Two wreaths are up on the outside of the house.  Next we'll check our outdoor lights, hopefully tomorrow.  I've mailed all my Christmas cards home to the United States and tomorrow we'll mail the Canadian ones.  I love keeping in touch with people.

Do you?  I hope that you enjoy some kind of holiday season, whatever that season might be in your home country.  A few year's ago I made my Christmas cards.  One of my friends who is an artist saved that card and it is displayed in his living room.  This made me look at it again with fresh eyes.  The card's cover image is the top image below.  The image inside of the card is directly below it.

This is my wish for you this holiday season.  Peace within.  Namaste.

Day 124 December 6, 2010

 "You have to give people room to play so that they can come up with something innovative, as opposed to directing the process too early and too often."  Michael Hayden, a genetics researcher from the Univ. of B.C.

Yes, be playful today.

Day 123 December 5, 2010

"You can't be both creative and predictable."  John Allemang of the Globe and Mail   

Stir things up.  Today you could just hang out and enjoy the neighborhood.

Day 122 December 4, 2010

Today is a good day to move, take flight and spread your wings.  Soar.

Day 121 December 3, 2010

Newfoundland winter storm  - photographer unknown

Today brings another moist, gray day to my part of Nova Scotia.  While I enjoyed gardening yesterday, my neighbours to the south outside of Buffalo, NY had such a fierce dump of snow that Interstate route 90 was closed in sections for up to 20 hours!  Travellers stranded in their vehicles tried to help each other out.  A boys' and girls' basketball team shared the bus they travelled on with their coaches and driver overnight.  Yes, weather can get intense in this part of the world.

Who am I to talk though?  I'm sure many of you could give me much more intense examples of the weather's impact in your country.  For example, one year at the school where I used to work, we returned after our Christmas vacation to settle into the winter term; international students arrived in dribs and drabs due to their lengthly travel times.

Once classes had begun, a houseparent shared this story with the rest of the faculty.  One of the likeable, serious international students who lived on his flat asked to have a word with him.  He said, "Sir, is it possible for me to take a bit of time off from participating in sports for a little while, because my leg is injured."  The houseparent replied, "Oh, I'm sure that will be all right, and that's too bad to hear that you've injured your leg.  How did it happen?"  The boy replied humbly, "Well sir, my family was on vacation over the holidays and we were caught in the tsunami."  There was stunned silence from the houseparent at that point I'm sure, but details followed of this boy's close escape with his father from this horrific event.

Fortunately, this boy's family all survived that terrible natural disaster in Asia that killed thousands and thousands of people.  Fortunately too, this boy seemed all right emotionally and he was ready to get back to his studies.  He studied hard and upon his graduation was accepted to Johns Hopkins University in the USA, a prestigious medical school, where he intended to become a doctor, so that he could help others.  So for this one boy, it was just part of his life's experience to witness a profound natural disaster.

We all witness some kind of disaster it seems.  Whether it be a familial disaster, a regional disaster, an automobile accident, or a disaster created by the weather.  When it is your turn to experience a disaster, I wish you the strength and calmness to survive.  To carry on, to inspire others with your humility, with your helpfulness.

We all can benefit so much from helping others.  Reaching out to others brings personal satisfaction.  Of course, it also really helps for you to take good care of yourself first.  That's our first priority, and our second priority, is to help others.

I include a photo taken in Newfoundland one winter after a storm.  It circled around on the internet a few year's ago, and I cannot credit the photographer as I don't know their name, but I think you might appreciate it.

Day 120 December 2, 2010

Day 120  'hens and chickens in flower'

It is warm enough today that I am gardening.  I weed the flower beds by the kitchen entrance, transplant several perennial flowers, one so large I had to drag it across the lawn on the shovel because I couldn't pick it up.  I rescued several clumps of the hens and chickens' flower that I posted an image of today, to place them around the edges of the flower bed below a large picture window.  The new rose bush got wrapped in hay and landscape fabric.  I'm new to roses so I'm trying to model my work on the gardener who kept my last place of employment looking spectacular year round.  And there are still the last of the carrots to unearth, but they might have to continue to be patient with me.

The quality of the air today reminds me of Ireland, moist gray, cool air, just on the verge of forming a mist.  By the time I get back indoors after gardening for well over one hour, I am sweated through my clothes.  My hands are still warm as I inch off muddy work gloves and drop them onto the porch floor.  There is just something about dirt.  I love it.  I love what it does, it nourishes plants.  But I'm not just in love with the plants, it's the dirt too.  I like building it up, feeding it compost and fish meal, manure and soybean meal and lots of hay.  I feed it and it feeds me.

Embrace part of your day today.   Find something to do that makes you completely stop thinking.  Just be.

Day 119 December 1, 2010

Sara, Tai, & Jen as girls in Cape Breton

Another country heard from... those sweet days of youth bring memories of the ecstasy of summer.

In my summer as a girl I'd stop to taste the tiniest droplet of sap from the blossom of the honeysuckle bush. There was no hurrying this process.  First I'd inhale the smell from the bush and then pluck one blossom and pull it apart to expose its one fat droplet of juice which I'd then quickly taste before the tender petals fell away in my hands. Then another and another, until I was satisfied by its taste.   Or I'd deeply breathe in the fragrance from my mother's roses, just for a moment.  But the very best part of summer, that could perhaps only be equalled by my love for swimming outdoors, was to savour the ripeness and inexplicable delights of my favourite food that peaked in summer, fruit.

Peaches, early apples, nectarines, plums, apricots, grapes, pears, dates, figs, watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew melon, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, each fruit had its own unique shape, colour and taste.   The one commonality all fruit shared was its sweet juice.

What is your favourite food?  Can you still remember lingering over its taste?