I was really thinking about Swine Flu... media and the mass hysteria it causes.  The kids friends have confirmed cases.  It looks like that's what the boyfriends have, what Nyasha has.  Hmm.  It doesn't appear so "hysterical" from here : )  All is well; they're all recovering, slowly but surely.  So, worry not about the pigs in the pen...  reality looks a lot different from the inside than it does from the screen or newspaper.

The girls are ending a rather sleepy weekend by watching a few episodes of Northern Exposure.  It may be the best existential television ever produced.  The line in the background was about the turns of events centered around the Aurora Borealis.  Everyone is having another's dream.  Interesting.

In some ways we are all having each others dreams... we are co-living the manifestations of the very dream we call life.  Or maybe not.  It's just a theory. 

Right now, I'm observing Saturn in my Third House.  What the heck does that mean?  I'll tell ya.  It means I'm finishing up a marriage of twenty two years.  It means I'm coming to the end of raising a couple of extraordinary adults, or they me.  It means I'm changing the environment I live in, the way I face the days of my life, the very actions of my moments.  It's the end of the ends!  And so I reflect on the manifestations of my last couple decades.

Was it just an image on a screen?  Am I the projector or the actor?  Does it look as different from "reality" as the Swine Flu does from the media presentation? 

You be the judge.  I'll wait for the next flickers from the projection room.

I should go back and check the blog list.  I bet I've addressed this a half dozen times, maybe more!!!  Today I was considering the words of Eckhart Tolle (who named him?  Poor guy).  I've been listening to a CD retreat tape based on The Power of Now.

According to Tolle, love is the space inbetween.  Space consciousness, ya know, the gaps... like when words are written, the places inbetween the letters.  Or, when words are spoken, the silence.  Or in the existence of matter, the places where there in nothing there.  Love. 

That seems a lot more accurate to me than the Disney chick flick thing.   But yet, it lacks the emotional passion that we all seem to connect with.  Today, I'm calling that Disney emotion "attachment".  Attachment as love is needy.  It wants certain behaviors, certain actions.  It requires something... presence, attention, devotion.  It ebbs and it flows, back and forth, reduces and increases.  It is something that is perceived to shift and change.  People stop having attachment love for one another, and pain occurs.  People think others do not love them, the attachment kind, yet more suffering.

But, as always, I will argue that love is Eternal.  There is no ebb or flow.  It is consistent.  Exponential.  Perhaps ever increasing.  It is detached.  Love is perceived in the spaces because everything else is not.  : )  Or maybe, better said, love is not a perception at all... it is the state of BEing itself.  Love is riding the ebb and flow.  Love is the in the shift and change, everpresent, ever widening.  Love requires nothing, because it is the actual state of nothingness.

It's definitely a conundrum.  What is love?

 I have read about the barriers to spiritual awareness at every turn of a page.  And although I have noticed accuracy in my personal life, I have also witnessed absolute opposites.  Total inaccuracy.  Crazy.  Maybe this is the place where paradox is born, in the FOOD. 

Now, I admit to fasting.  Serious fasting even, like ya know, five days without a calorie type things... but then, that's not so strange when you stop to consider that the human conundrum is an illusion.  And when people think "fast", they think hunger.  When the Eternal Whatever instigates a fast, hunger is never an element, oddly.  True hunger seems to be Divine, time to break-fast.  Of course, ego can be a lure.  And then that's the monkey mind saying grab a banana!

Sugar is really a big no no in the power realm.  I don't know why.  Somehow, for some reason, it does seem to cause "blockages" in the electrical connections with Supreme messages.  Yet, sometimes it doesn't matter at all, or provides a person who is wildly detached from the earth a way to get back to the planet.  Other times, a real sugar high and meditation are amazing.  So what the heck should we do with this?  Jeez.  Sometimes consistency would be helpful! 

What I conclude is that there is no such thing as a consistent way of tackling the new dimensions of reality!  Sometimes a piece of cake and ice cream can elevate ya beyond your wildest dreams.  And then, really, overall, a healthy vegetarian diet might be the best baseline.  Who knows? 

Shake it up.  If things have become monotonous, flip yourself over and do the other extreme for a while.   See what happens.  After all, the goal is non-duality.  Once you're on one side of the fence, you have to balance it out!  Why not get that covered in this lifetime!

It all starts innocently enough. Ya open your inbox. There in the subject line is the compelling title, “Read Alone… Especially the Poem”. Point. Click. And then the words meet your eyes: “ I believe whatever is in store for us will be for us. The poem is very true, unfortunately… Case 1: Kelly Sedey had one wish, for her boyfriend of three years to propose to her. Then one day when she was out to lunch David proposed! She accepted, but then had to leave because of a meeting. When she got to her office, she noticed her emails. She checked them, the usual stuff, but then she saw one she had never gotten before. It was this poem. She simply deleted it without even reading all of it. Big mistake! Later that evening, she received a phone call from the police. It was about David. He had been in an accident with an 18 wheeler. He didn’t survive!...”

Oh, and it does NOT end there, no! Of course not, there’s another example and then the poem. Who creates this email trash? Do they not have a hobby? Is there no service or charity they could contribute to? What the heck!

I know people do not like to take responsibility for their own lives, but the truth of existence is that we are co-creating this world! Our thoughts, our intentions, every word we type, every sound we speak manifests into being. There is a lot of resistance to this truth, because awareness has only been prevalent recently. Evidence comes from the popularity of the Secret, of speakers and authors like Mike Dooley (he’s soooo cool), Wayne Dyer, Abraham (Esther and Jerry) Hicks, Michael Beckwith, etc. Of course, many point to the fact that they can imagine themselves millionaires, and it has not yet happened. And who hasn’t wanted to find an adversary “off-ed” here and there… yet they stay in ones life. Proof it’s not working?

I’ll leave the arguments to the professionals. What I feel, what I perceive, what I know deep within is that each of us has an enormous role in the unfolding of the planet. We can focus on gratitude, on the magnitude of beauty, on the examples of love that surround us (no matter how small)… or we can write (or forward)emails that swirl in negativity. The choice is pretty dang clear! And death? That’s not so horrible… but why not “death by chocolate” if ya gotta go : )

The kids just walked out the door, heading for a terribly Zen friend's birthday party.  What the heck do you "get" for someone like that.  None of the teens had a clue.  Some opted for jewelry... she doesn't WEAR jewelry.  Too funny.

Nyasha and Shante went off with a flock of ducks in a bag.  I called out, "make sure none of them bites anyone",  as they climbed into the car!  Of course, that isn't possible.  The ducks will be raised elsewhere.  The gift was a contribution to Heifer International, a non-profit that provides livestock to people around the world... to help them help themselves, feed themselves. 

We were laughing about the option of a water buffalo.  Although a bit pricey, who wouldn't want a water buffalo for Christmas?  If you have ever experienced Silly Songs with Larry,  a Vegi Tales classic, you know "everybody's got a water buffalo, mine is fast but yours is slow"... but as the adversarial vegetable points out "everybody does NOT have a water buffalo. "  And the truth is many people do not have a way of acquiring enough food to survive.  We have it in our power to change that, with our thoughts, with our love, and with the choices we make.

Emily is getting some scented candles with her ducks... just ‘cause it seemed balanced.  She'll be able to re-gift them in a month!  Woo hoo.  Consider a present that keeps on giving as we head into the holidays.  No one wants another trinket that gathers dust!

Yes, I’ve done this before… but I was doing it again. I was watching a flock of birds that rose from the tip top of the tree and with mastered synchronicity, shifted, turned, and dove through the sky. I’ve never seen one run into another. I’ve wondered.

We spend so much time on elements of coordination in our lives. I’m pondering right this second about whether I am supposed to be picking up Shante or if Nyasha remained at school to collect her. The kids once had the option of doing Doggy Drill Team with 4H. Imagine the chaos factor in that! We’ve been working to coordinate Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family for about three weeks, still unscheduled. I’m concluding that humans are not all that good at the principle.

But the Eternal is. Have you noticed that? When we let go and allow the gifts of our lives to flow, we are just like those darned birds. There are dives, and shifts, but we just don’t crash. It all happens with evolving beauty and synchronistic bliss.  It’s when we dare to intervene that our destiny gets shaky. Am I good at this? Could I be one day? I hope so. Peace and happiness depend on it!

I so love that word.  Like an obsession!  Debauchery... a journey into the depth of all things twisted and villainous and intentional.

I was thinking about the strange position that we get ourselves into with spirituality.  A lot of people use the context, the knowledge, their apparent "elevation", to exaggerate the issues that were apparent on the human level.   That doesn't feel like the point.  After all, why are we here?!

Judgment, negativity, setting oneself against another... wow.  As I think of commenting on it, I notice my own judgment about it : )  What a snafu.  Maybe I can claim my position as observation!

A friend of mine had her young adult brother enroll in the Landmark Education Program.  He was advanced enough, intelligent enough, to walk away with a new level of power.  He understood personal manifestation, and he did not understand nor care about personal responsibility.

This is oddly an independent journey.  As Rich points out, alone is a contraction of all one.  We are to separate ourselves and the experiences of the body in this world and focus for personal growth.  We are to look at the conundrums, and puzzles, and challenges, and take them internally like a pill.  We are called to become a "master of self". 

It seems that if we dare to step out into an interactive space and share our knowledge and be the independent self, there is a lot of work in the detachment department.  How do we know which moves are"right" and which are "wrong"?  Well, none of them are wrong.  But some lead to higher awareness and some do not.  You get to choose.

And spirituality, frankly, can take you on either road.  Perhaps debauchery is a form of understanding too.  Who am I to judge? : )

I have had umpteen million discussions on the identification of enlightened individuals.  And pretty much, I think agreement is rare. People who are in a space of self realization have very little need to be recognized.  You won't see headbands or shirt logos that announce it.

And fortunately or unfortunately (neither really), there are no specifications for the title, other than recognizing the core of being.  That means the ax murderer down the street could be enlightened.  Maybe.  It would only matter if Lizzy realized it as her true gift, her unfolding to the universal all.  Not what most of us picture.

But where I wager I will get little disagreement is on Ben and Jerry!  First, if they're not in spiritual bliss right now, they get my vote for next up on the Universal checklist.  And, the ice cream has got to be one of the most enlightened foods American's ever come across.

I read an editor article in Nutrition Action Health Letter one time.  The head health dude said he would rather have one spoonful of the seriously sinful Ben and Jerry's ice cream than eat an entire carton of another kind.  And WHO would disagree?

I usually lean toward Phish Food (named after the band).  It's an ooey gooey chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and caramel and little chocolate fishes.  My kids like the Coffee Heath Bar Crunch and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. 

If you're ever up for just a giggle, visiting the frozen section can bring ya names like Chubby Hubby, Mission to Marzipan, etc. 

I am truly grateful!  I am thrilled to be surrounded by amazing authors, brilliant poets, superb artist, and elegant ice cream!  The world could ask for nothing more : )

I can still do the human thing with Christmas.  In fact, today, as I whipped the cream for the pumpkin pies, I turned to my teen daughter.  "It's all traditon.  Grandma's pie recipe, the whip cream..."  "Yep", she responded.  Shante has extraordinary appreciation for such things.  But I had stopped and looked... the Christmas music already sprinkling the air.

There is something to keeping the glowing love and postive attributes of our ancestors, of course.  We wouldn't evolve without keeping the "good" and tossing the "bad".  But the TRUTH... for seekers of such, what is the truth?

I wanted people to play Christmas music during my labors a couple decades ago.  No one was really into appeasing me.  Nyasha was born in July, Shante in March.  Not exactly the seasons.  But because of my concrete connection to love during the month of December, all the giving and family and glow, it would have been a compensation worth trying through the pain.  The music still brings that sense of peaceful bliss.

Oh, but the words... have you listened?  And the commercials?  Sometimes it's all too much to endure. 

"He is the reason for the season."  Ok, hey, I appreciate Jesus more than most Christians could ever grasp, BUT people, wake up!  You are the reason for the season!  His message was that!  I think about the idea of "Jesus" walking the earth today looking at what his guidance has led to... Black Friday, omg!

I guess as I fall into the depths of the feeling Christmas brings to me, as I allow the love and amazing intentions of the All to "consume" me, I can turn the words of the songs to their correct focus.  Each of us can do the same.  Evolve.  Be.  Love.  Then you will live the truth.

"... only a hippopotamus will do."  Hee hee hee.  Have you heard that Christmas tune?  Kinda obscure.  Right up our alley.  And the typical answer to the "what do you want for Christmas" question when it is asked of my teen children.

We were discussing what to tell the boyfriends.  You see, all three of us share a quality that annoys the Black Friday shopper greatly.  Gifts are number five on our love language lists!  I imagine a lot of parents dream of this circumstance... but believe me, it's awkward! 

If you haven't checked out your own friends and family members on the five love languages tests, you might give it a shot!  Why?  'Cause you could be trying to show someone how much they mean to you in a way they can't understand!

People are so different.  I personally am into time shared together and acts of service done for me (like someone makes me something or helps me with something).  Others like words of affirmation or physical connection.  And of course, some love the gifts!

I guess the guys are lucky to have Nyasha and Shante.  They won't have to think at all about what glittery thing to buy... because that would only leave the girls cold.  The kids are into going somewhere together, having fun, spending time.  The gift of the moments! 

And what do I do with that, as the mom?  Sigh.  Usually I think up some sort of quirky game or scavenger hunt for the gifts they do get, endure.  And we spend time... looking at lights, going to plays, having their friends over, movies, laser show, whatever. : ) 

Good luck out there in the malls!  Don't get trampled by the Hippopotamus.