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a path

Do you find it fascinating the way a chance meeting can affect your day? This is one of those days.

I was walking along Main Street in a small town along the Hudson River, when I met a stranger I’d seen every so often in that town. She stopped, smiled, and began talking to me – one topic after another in a dizzying array of words. Finally I interrupted her to ask a question about a path I was on my way to explore, one I’d heard about from a local who had said that “it’s absolutely beautiful,” and that she’s been walking it since “forever.”  And now I wanted to walk that path.

The path I was looking for was along the Hudson River, and supposedy the place to start exploring it was near the train station. However, my new stranger said, “No, I wouldn’t go there. You’ve got to be really careful. Ticks are all over the place.” Well, I’m a city person, and not an expert on ticks. So, I said, “Other people walk it.” As I said that, I realized it wasn’t a good enough reason in favor of the path. And her response was, “No, “I wouldn’t. I have friends who have lyme disease.” And again she said, “There are ticks all over the place. Soon after that, we said goodbye. I decided to walk back into town.

In town I visited a small antique shop where a few weeks before I had bought two lamps. I was there only a few minutes when the owner started talking about not feeling well, that she’d gotten lyme disease 13 years ago, and it had been under control with antibiotics, “and now it’s showing its mean way again,” and she was worried. I didn’t know what to say, but it seemed tick talk was in the air.

I left the antique shop, and along the way looked in at a charming place where I’d once bought a happy Buddha, and wanted another one. As I entered I saw that the saleswoman was very busy on the phone. After a while I was beginning to think that somewhere along the line I’d become invisible. Every time I approached her, she paid no attention. Finally, she put the phone down and started talking. She said she thought she’d gotten a tick from her dog, and was finally able to get a doctor’s appointment. I didn’t say much. So distraught was she that she would have left me in the store as she hurried by. Out I go, and as I crossed a driveway, the anxious one came barreling out of a parking lot, and almost clipped me. I saw the expression on her face, and hoped she’d make it to the doctor’s in one piece.

I didn’t want to hear any more about ticks. I went to the library and got a book by P.D. James, then a coffee, and sat in the back in a lovely garden, and read.

That night I couldn’t get to sleep. I felt a slight pain running up my leg. Then I began thinking about ticks. And I thought . . . Oh no,  lyme disease? I had to have a talk with myself to put an end to that thought and to remember that. . . .

“Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity.” – Thomas Merton

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” – Madame Curie

The next time I was in the area, I walked into that charming shop and asked the owner how she was. “Fine.” she said. “No tick.” She was happy, so very happy.

 

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david wolfe and the raw food way of life

Once a month I get David Wolfe’s e-letters; they’re a reminder of the raw food way of life. The e-letters inspire because David Wolfe is the epitome of health and vitality in body, mind and spirit, and is dedicated to communicating to anyone who will listen the benefits of a raw food way of life. Don’t be alarmed, taste is very important.

The benefits derived from following this way of eating can’t be denied. Although there are those who deny it, but I wonder whether those who do have ever tried it. Every month when I read the e-letters, I think about what it would take to once again be a raw foodist. For one thing, it helps enormously to live in an area where foods for an uncooked lifestyle are readily available. David Wolfe said in his book, THE SUNFOOD DIET SUCCESS SYSTEM, that you “should move” if the raw food way of life is not possible where you live. That’s his level of belief.

From experience I know that the benefits far exceed anything you can ever imagine for yourself.  It’s good to remember though that the raw food way of life requires the right information.

Ah, yes, since I’m not completely living the uncooked life, I realize that to be on and off sounds a bit suspicious on my part, but having been on has resulted in being able (most of the time) to shun foods that cause havoc to the body and mind. And when the time is again right, slipping back into the raw food life will be easier. To have experienced it for a year gave me an understanding of what it’s about, and next time could be the right time. It requires dedication, and if you can handle that amount of dedication, it repays again and again. In the meantime, it’s something to thing about.

I remember when David Wolfe spoke at Caravan of Dreams. At that time, there was not much happening in Manhattan in the raw food movement. Since then things have changed big time. I think his passion, determination, and energy contributed greatly to the movement.

“It ain’t over til it’s over.” -Yogi Berra

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pistacchio and butter pecan

My daughter Emi was thinking about ice cream as we walked along the streets of Manhattan. When passing one food place after another, talking about food is a given. She said that her favorite flavors – pistacchio and butter pecan – stem from her grandma’s influence during the good old summers spent in New Hampshire. The roads were strewed with ice cream stands and, of course, we would stop. Grandma loved ice cream and she would always order either p or bp. There was never a variation in this area of her life.

As Emi got older her ice cream tastes stayed the same, and when she went out with her friends, she’d want either p or bp. This usually caused a discussion among those she was with as they thought it was an odd choice for her, and would tell her that p & bp are what old people order. Emi didn’t care. And even though they had agreed that p & bp are for old people, Emi’s friends wanted a taste of whichever one she ordered. No one said they didn’t like those two flavors, and I bet the next time they found themselves standing in front of the display case with all those flavors, they ordered either p or bp. And I’ll bet also the idea that p & bp is for old people went the way of the wind.

No one ever told me that p & bp are for old people, so I always went along my merry way enjoying those two flavors. Yes, grandma’s influence was great in the ice cream department. P & bp have been around for a long time. But I know of only a smattering of people who sometimes order p, and never bp – though once they try it, they like it. Summer is right around the corner. It’s never too late to try grandma’s favorite flavors.

Here’s to grandma.

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stuart wilde

Stuart Wilde tends to think about life a bit differently. And that’s an understatement. He’s a man who lives a rather unconventional life while enjoying the largeness of the world, and appears comfortable and confident in it. Many years ago I saw his book, AFFIRMATIONS, read it, and highlighted it. He’s very witty, and writes the way he sees Life. Through the years I’ve managed to keep up with his philosophy by reading his other books and listening to his cd’s. As he learned; his readers learned, too. He doesn’t do anything half-way, so there’s a trust in what he has to say; he’s a breath-of-fresh-air, honest, and oftentimes puts himself on the line. When he’s learned something different, and it works, it’s incorporated into his lifestyle, and taught to people who want to know, too. At the same time, he writes beautifully about our world and our place in it.

I’ve been trying to get to one of his seminars, however, the timing is always off. Strange how those things happen, but there’s always a reason. I think there will be a right time. If you want to have fun, if you want to open yourself to a different way of seeing and understanding our world, his website can do that for you. It’s, well – let’s just say – it’s him. Want to shake up your world, go for it; if you don’t, perhaps another time. There are numerous ways to come to an understanding of our world. Numerous ways of expressing in it, and I suspect they all lead to the same place. We have an impressive choice. www.stuartwilde.com

“Life was never meant to be a struggle just a gentle progression from one point to another, much like walking through a valley on a sunny day.” -Stuart Wilde

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computers

What word best describes someone whose joy in life is to spread a computer virus? Will they always exist – those people and viruses? I want to meet the person behind one; the person whose mind thinks that way. I want to ask, why cause damage when you could be contributing? I wonder what the thought process is. You’d think that with a brain as sharp as theirs, they could find more clever ways of spending time. Ah, but you say, what they do is rather clever. Yes, but, I say, what kind of cleverness is this? Something’s not computing right. It can’t just be about money. These people can make mucho moola if they’d get off their fanny, and look around. Perhaps they’re not smart enough to join forces with the world and do something exceptional with their knowledge.

If my life depended on my being able to create a virus, say if I got caught up in a sinister plot of sorts, it would be bye bye world for me. I can’t even get my laptop back to its original state when it needs help. This is how the conversation goes between me and the person I’ve appealed to for help: he says, “Stop saying you don’t understand.” And I respond, this irks him a bit, “But why? I don’t understand.” So, then he says, “Think of a computer as being human, not a machine, something made by a human.” Nah! That doesn’t work either. For me, trying to repair a computer has the same feeling as a puzzle with 1000 pieces, and all the pieces are the exact color.

I know that to be able to take charge of something, you have to understand it. It’s like a game; but I’m not fond of this game. I guess though that when you play the game, it’s important to understand it. I’m sure that in a hundred years from now it’ll be entirely different. However, since this is the early stages of personal computers, the game has just begun.

Oh, what a thought.

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death

I think death is a part of life. That’s obvious you want to say. But what I want to say is that it’s actually a good part of life. I want to slide into this conversation easily – without raising an eyebrow. Somewhere along the line our ability to sense what it is and what it means got mangled – badly. When we take the time to be alone and think clearly about this, we’re slowly able to put back that lost sense. We’re supposed to die; it’s natural just as eating is natural, Only death has a greater impact on us, or so it seems. To me something that’s natural is nothing to get anxious about. If you’ve had the opportunity to be at someone’s side when they died, perhaps you had a chance to notice how easy and peaceful death can be. Not always, of course, some people struggle with it to the end. But it seems useless to fight something that’s a natural part of us. It’s just like everything else in life, when we take the time to understand exactly what it means, the feelings we have are replaced with an understanding, and eventually a knowing. And when it’s our time for that experience, we accept it, and with acceptance, there’s something else that comes – a trust and a belief in Life. Every day people die with a smile on their lips. How neat is that.

Grieving is hard. It’s natural, too. We lose someone we love and will never see again in that same form. It’s painful. I’ve read often that when we refuse to accept the death of someone we love, it’s possible we’re keeping the one who died in a state of confusion, bound to the earth plane. There’s a need to go on, and we have to let it happen. It’s been said that time is a great healer. And probably we all know this to be true. When we look back at the things we thought we’d never get through and here we are, smiling again. Time is a great healer, and we have to let it work its magic on us so that we can once again see clearly.

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working

We’ve all been helped by people who work at jobs they wouldn’t have chosen given another opportunity. These people I’m thinking about toil easily, efficiently, calmly, and often with a little smile at the corners of their mouth. It almost looks as if they have a secret lingering in their memory. I’d say it’s the secret of being happy. You never know where or when this kind of person will be there for you. It could be in a restaurant, post office, retail shop, hair salon, behind a counter, airport, at a construction site, driving a bus, a taxi. etc. One thing they have in common is that they do their work in an extraordinary way.

Do you remember the 80’s – the decade of the big attitude? That was an interesting time in that many aspects of the service business appeared to fall apart. Maybe we got through that period because of the people who didn’t buy into that way; they treated everyone with kindness, and simply did their job, usually with a smile.

One of those jobs that can be immensely trying is driving a taxi. When you get into one do you notice the driver? All day long he weaves in and out of heavy traffic, sometimes dealing with argumentative, anxious, crabby, sick, demanding passengers, picking up all kinds of people who barely notice him, not even with a simple hello from one human being to another. However that may be, these drivers oftentimes turn their heads, offer a smile, and once again face the traffic. Special. In the years that I’ve been taking NYC cabs, I’ve seen many drivers from many countries around the world sitting at the wheel of one. If you and the driver are in a chatting mood, often you’ll discover that the driver is well-educated and informative, and you leave the cab with a little more understanding of the country he’s from, and what it takes to live in another one.

Where in the world do they come from? How did they get that way? There are many stories. They come from different countries, and have an ability, a knowing, that enables them to do work they wouldn’t necessarily have chosen in an extraordinary way.

Here’s to those people.

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talk and a good bistro

Recently a friend of mine went to an all-day meeting, a panel discussion. We met after, and as we sat at a charming bistro -one needs to balance a heavy discussion with surroundings that please – she began talking about her very. very busy day. It’s easy to sense when a person has had a day that’s draining. Their entire self is different. Those kind of days are somewhat like batting your head against a brick wall, you contribute to the discussion, around and around the talk goes, and nothing too significant gets done because there are so many rules and regulations. I think many people have those days.

The atmosphere of a good bistro lends itself to seeing life differently, and words began flowing easily. She’d been taking part in a panel discussion about young children and health. However, talk about young children was short-lived as we began thinking about adult children. This is not so cut and dry a subject – everyone thinks differently about it, and surely that’s everyone’s right.

We went back and forth with this conversation. Adding that in many cultures, families tend to stay together. This is what I’ve heard and read. Our American culture is very different, as is the way we have of bringing up our children. There’s no right or wrong here, but it’s been written that our culture is too materialistic, that we’re always in a hurry, stressed out, don’t even bring up our children as we leave that for other people to do, and we’re selfish with our time. So when our children return to us, perhaps after a divorce, or when s/he hasn’t found a way in the world yet, or simply is not ready to leave family, we become anxious and struggle with this instead of accepting it.

In some other countries, one sees large families living together, supporting the family in different ways, and enjoying each other’s company. It looks like an authentic togetherness. Sometimes that’s how it is in the States, though the norm tends toward big wonderful family meals savoured mostly during holidays. And according to the hilarious movies we see during the November/December months, family holiday dinners in the US don’t turn out quite the same as, let’s say, those in Europe.

The other side of the coin is when a parent or guardian is not ready for their child to leave. They keep a tight hold, and when thoughts of leaving the family are brought up, an adult child is made to feel guilty. So, the other side of the coin has to factor in allowing a child to freely leave when the time is right for them. Readiness is individual, some can’t wait to “conquer the world.” They leave with or without consent. Some can do this without guilt, others can’t. They stay, and live their life on someone else’s terms.

Yes, this was an interesting conversation. There’s no right or wrong – only opinions – therefore. we resolved nothing. Let’s say that the best case scenario is when joy, peace, love and laughter reign supreme whatever the circumstances.

Yes, we’re ready for the check. Thank you.

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a n smith

Anna Nicole Smith died. We’re all going to die one day. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary. I don’t know a lot about the life of Anna Nicole, only the rumors, don’t know what was in her heart. I heard that she came from poverty. It’s not necessary to know more, and why is it necessary that the world know how she died? Family and friends possibly want to know, and perhaps one day her baby daughter will want to know.

We’re all in this together. We all have bodies created in a somewhat similar fashion. Many in the world think we all have souls. Many think there’s an afterlife. It would be nice if we could be supportive of one another. It would be great to send someone on their way so that their soul is at peace.

It’s been said that a person who has just died needs prayers. Books have been written about ghosts – some say spirits- wandering about for centuries because something keeps them here when they should be on their next journey. Perhaps we can whisper a simple prayer for Anna Nicole Smith so that she can go on in peace. Send her a little love.

It wouldn’t hurt.

“Simply be aware of the oneness of things.” -Lao Tzu

“We arrive at truth, not by reason only,
but also by the heart.” – Blaine Pascal

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about singing our own songs

The word is out that so many of the opinions we 1) hold to our bosom 2) defend at the expense of losing a friend 3) keep us in a prison of our own making 4) sometimes lose our life over – are not our own. What a neat thing to know, sounds like a valuable bit of information to have. These opinions, beliefs, statements have been accumulating in our storage system since we were babes. We didn’t have a chance to figure out what our take on life could be because we learned about the things of life from everyone else – the this ‘n that of what they’ve accumulated. That’s the way of the world. However, now we can think about singing our own songs.

It’s time for us to figure out what’s ours and what’s not – sort of categorize opinions and beliefs and begin anew. Why not? Think of the possibilities. Imagine another view, one we’re capable of choosing because we were born with our own song in our heart. Of course, they’ll be that old companion, fear, right at our side. It could be that its bark is a lot worse than its bite. We just have an uncanny way of making it seem bigger than life. Seems that it likes to be heard, but when we pretend not to hear it – to simply go along our own way, finally trusting in our own selves, it gets lonesome and starts looking for a new place to hover around.

When the universe comes knocking at our door to help us learn more about ourself and Life, a lot of times it does this in the form of what we call pain and suffering. We forget that there’s lots of opportunity to learn and grow with these experiences of pain and suffering. But because we believe everything we’ve learned, we keep bolting the door, afraid of change, afraid to step up to the plate. So, the universe knocks harder and longer, and perhaps gives us a wallop or two to bring us to our senses, and to give us another opportunity to change what’s not working. These experiences seem to be the only way we, sometimes foolish, humans learn. Better to learn and go on our merry way than to stay with the same old story.

We don’t like it when things go wrong in our life. Well, of course not. That seems like a silly sentence. Ah, but let’s go back. If we don’t like when things go wrong, why do we keep doing things in the same way? If we were paying attention to Life, we should have learned by now that when things go wrong it’s an opportunity to make them right. Does that make sense?

So, the universe comes knocking at our door, and asking, are you ready? If we bolt the door, and cry in our misery, we’re never going to discover what the universe has in store for us. When we read the stories of people coming from places that are so far removed from where they are now, it’s mostly because they weren’t afraid to open the door, shake up their world, find out what needs to happen for change to occur, to take matters into their own hands, so to speak, – to begin to understand, to not be afraid of shedding worn out beliefs, opinions, etc.

The universe tries and tries, but somehow in our misery we don’t see it that way. It’s a pattern we’ve learned, along with the opinions of others, the beliefs of others, the seemingly written-in-stone statements of others. It’s so hard at first, but on second thought, it’s harder to stay and do nothing, to wallow in the accumulated beliefs and opinions, pain and suffering that have a way of blurring the truth until we decide we want to see the light – no matter what.

“Do you know the meditations of our poet Rumi?
He has written that there is no reason for fear.
It is our imagination that blocks us just as a wooden bolt holds the door.”