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bumps on the road of life

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Cuenca’s Rio Tomebamba. It’s well-loved and a perfect setting for strolling.

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There are times in our lives when we need to find a way to bring us out of a bump on the road of life. Otherwise, staying too long with that bump can damage our entire day.

Those securely anchored bumps can play havoc with our thoughts, and when that happens, returning to a calm mind can be a full-time job. Uh-Oh!

When a bump on the road of life is strangled in its path without too much delay, we quickly regain our equanimity. A passage in a book, a chance conversation with a stranger, a wise teacher, even tapping into our own wise selves, can snap us out of a bumpy situation.

Ram Dass has written about one such bumpy issue. In lieu of another way, his way makes great sense, and can be used time and again. Because, let’s face it, in today’s world, bumps on the road of life happen, and a quick resolution so that we can get on with creating wonderful lives, is indeed an awesome thing to know.

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www.ramdass.org

“If somebody is a problem for you, it’s not that they should change, it’s that you need to change. If they’re a problem for themselves that’s their karma, if they’re causing you trouble that’s your problem on yourself. So, in other words when Christ is crucified, he says “forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing”, they’re not a problem for him, he’s trying to get them out of being a problem for themselves, because he’s clear. Your job is to clear yourself. In ideal situations you would clear yourself within the situation, but very often it’s too thick and you can’t do that. Now, what you do then is you pull back and you do the stuff you do in the morning or at night before you go to work, you do the stuff on weekends, you do the stuff that quiets you down and then each time you go into the situation to where you have to work, you lose it again. And then you go home and you see how you lost it, and you examine it, and then you go the next day and you lose it again, and you go home and you keep a little diary “how did I lose it today”, and you saw that, and then you go and you do it again, and after a while as you’re starting to lose it you don’t buy in so much. You start to watch the mechanics of what it is that makes you lose it all the time.
If I’m not appreciated, that’s your problem that you don’t appreciate me. Unless I need your love, then it’s my problem. So my needs are what are giving you the power over me. Those people’s power over you to take you out of your equanimity and love and consciousness has to do with your own attachments and clingings of mind. That’s your work on yourself, that’s where you need to meditate more, it’s where you need to reflect more, it’s where you need a deeper philosophical framework, it’s where you need to cultivate the witness more, it’s where you need to work on practicing opening your heart more in circumstances that aren’t optimum. This is your work. You were given a heavy curriculum, that’s it. There’s no blame, it’s not even wrong, it’s just what you’re given. You hear what I’m saying? It’s interesting. Can you all hear that one?”
-Ram Dass, Summer 1989
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Let’s make it a grand day in however way we can.

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lorna byrne

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She inspires! And the messages she gets from Angels go around the world with her as she communicates what they tell her. Seeing Angels and receiving their messages, and asking them questions, I can’t image how that must be for her.

On one of her recordings she said that she was in a hotel in the Times Square area of New York and saw the Angel of Hope moving among the skyscrapers and sending hope to the people below.

That is a wonderful message for all Americans to keep in their hearts on this Fourth of July 2013. She said that the Angels tell her that America hasn’t reached its potential yet, but it will.
“@LornaByrne: Happy 4th July! America is a beacon of hope for the world http://bit.ly/1b9GOFH”

She gets and gives lots of hugs, and wants us to open our hearts and send out compassion and love to all the people we’re connected to — and that’s everyone.

Thank you Lorna Byrne for being a messenger of hope around the world.
www.lornabyrne.com

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

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A tweet: “@LornaByrne: Angels are asking me to ask you all to smile a litttle more.”

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Welcome To 2013!

Happy New Year friends & visitors. I hope you are as excited about 2013 as I am! There is something incredibly special about entering a new year and it is important to remember that the possibilities for change are endless. It’s up to you, so what’s it going to be? How is this going to be your best year ever?!

As far as favorito.com we are gearing up for what will be a year of growth and change… New writers added, a new look and awesome video and pictorial content are on the horizon. We would also love love love to hear from you our readers. Have something to share? A written piece? A photo or video? A cool link? We will be adding contact forms for submissions and suggestions.

Lastly I would like to thank all of you who have visited and supported favorito.com through the years. We are grateful and humbled by the amount of traffic favorito.com has received since starting out. We can’t wait to blow you away in 2013 as we continue this fun interactive journey together.

Cheers

Michael

P.S. I love finding cool and interesting sites online. What could you come up with to make some $$$ in the next 24 hours? eh?

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the celestine prophecy

The holidays are here. I love the music playing as I enter shops. There’s always this marvelous merry feeling I wish we could all bottle and have the year long. Though when I see people carrying three or four shopping bags full of gifts, I tend to hope that the givers have enough in their piggy banks to allow for stress-free buying. Because buying shouldn’t lead to this: “Stress, a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. ”

Speaking of stress free, an amazing way to keep the holiday glow is to watch a movie that gives us a sense of the spiritual part of the beautiful December holiday, since it’s so very easy to forget that the holiday wasn’t created for shopping. We’re blessed because there’s another side to us, and when we take our attention away from all the enticing ads and commercials, from all the things that take our attention away from what’s really real, and place our attention on slowing down, using our intuition, using the guidance within, focusing on and remembering what’s really important, magic begins to happen.

This is what the movie The Celestine Prophesy is all about, and what it does, it does magnificently. The special way the actors play their part based on their own spiritual life and experiences, the story, the words, the scenery, the energy of many of the people involved in the making of the movie, takes the one watching away from every day thinking to a new way of seeing life. And, if we allow, can get us into the real spirit of the holiday season, and also what we humans are really all about.
www.thecelestineprophecymovie.com/about.php

And when we watch the “Special Features” part, the writer James Redfield talks of “synchronicity.” And it becomes clear that step-by-step the making of the The Celestine Prophecy is completely aligned with the story and its meaning. When we listen to the writers, producers, directors talk about the movie, it becomes clear to us that everything was in sync because of the spiritual life of everyone involved in the making of the movie. After he wrote the screenplay, James Redfield’s intention was to place his attention on synchronicity, intuition, and guidance from within to attract those directors, producers, and actors needed. He did, they showed up, and this too is a marvelous story.

There’s a big chance that by focusing on what The Celestine Prophecy and/or the book by James Redfield is saying, we can change the way we think about certain holidays if they cause stress, because with a new awareness, and a knowing from experience that there’s guidance within, we won’t feel out of control anymore. And then, most likely our usual way of handling stress will be a thing of the past. Oh, yes.

HAPPY, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND LOTS OF LOVE TO ALL OF US!

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“We wanted actors that related to all this – that were on a spiritual journey of their own.”
– James Redfield

“Synchronicity is a meaningful coincidence – something that happens that gives me an idea of what I’m supposed to do next with my life. And I have to say that sometimes I will follow those guidances, those thoughts, and, in a short run it may look like I’ve made a mistake – why did I feel that way, or think that way, or say that? And then I may find out later that there’s a higher meaning to it. I had to grow through a certain experience, or I had to become a different person, in order to live out what that was guiding me toward.”
– Salle Merrill Redfield, executive producer

“One of the most amazing things about life is that when we stop controlling we open up to a whole new possibility . . . I believe that when we do that we’re led down a whole new path. We meet people we would never have met before. We experience new things that we could never have experienced before. But we have to let go in order to do that, and it’s not easy, but I believe once we do it, we embrace this idea that we’re not fully in control of our lives. Then we see a whole new turn of events happen.”
– Salle Merrill Redfield

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a 2012 imagine that! new year

HAPPY 2012 NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US!

It feels as though it’s going to be an interesting 2012. Interesting that loosely-used and versatile word saves the user from having to explain further as it has a way of explaining itself. People understand what they want to understand when the word is used. I like this word.

What is there to say about the coming year other than there’s a good chance it’ll be interesting? Will it be more interesting than other years? Will it be interesting in that they’ll be more wars, more political betrayals, more greed, more abductions, more foreclosures, more murders, and more scandals?

Or interesting in that we are our “brother’s keeper” will be written in our hearts, and step-by-step all of the above will have no place in our world because the pattern has been broken and replaced with “How can I serve?” Some people say this way is not possible on Planet Earth. Some say it is indeed possible. How will we ever know whether it is or it isn’t unless we give it a try? Imagine what an exquisitely interesting world it could be.

HAPPY 2012 NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US!

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Ecuador

At this time of the year many of us, for different reasons, leave the bright lights and merriment of our own hometown to travel abroad. We go for various reasons: we don’t want to be alone in familiar surroundings, we’re thinking that, at this point in time, we’re not compatible with family, we’re grieving and want to get away, or we simply enjoy the sheer pleasure of traveling. I’ll be going, too, in imagination – to a sweet, small country called Ecuador where celebrations in the streets are happy, lively, and colorful. If you haven’t yet formulated your traveling plans, you might want to consider Ecuador.

I’m reminded of Ecuador for two reasons: I receive information from International Living and lately their focus has been on Ecuador, and I’m in the midst of organizing papers and came across a box filled with memories of five months spent in a beautiful place; a place so enjoyable that it’s perfectly understandable that people from different parts of the world are wanting to buy and live there.


Ecuador’s centuries old buildings and cathedrals have plenty of history. And now I’ll generalize and say that the people are kind and helpful, the hostals are clean and have a nice array of travelers, it’s easy and pleasant to get around (a little knowledge of Spanish is helpful), the food is excellent – north, south, east, west – there’s plenty to admire, fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful in the large markets, it’s inexpensive, and additionally, this is a chance to buy a Panama hat. If you haven’t read THE PANAMA HAT TRAIL by Tom Miller you might want to take it along. It’s a good book about Ecuador; it’s witty and informative.


I’d like to tell a simple story because it was a sign of how it would be for me in Ecuador – one helpful person after another. In Quito, the capital, I checked out of one hostal for no particular reason other than another was highly recommended. I wandered the unfamiliar streets and wondered where oh where could this place be. Suddenly next to me stood a high school boy. He asked in English if I needed help. That sounded like an offer, and it was too good to refuse. He took my suitcase, and away we went walking and talking right to the door of the lovely mother and son operated hostal. He wouldn’t accept a tip. He said that he wanted to practice speaking English. Very nice, I thought. Though being an American, I’ve yet to understand how people know one when they see one. Quito, the capital, has what many big cities have, its own history, museums you don’t want to miss, historical sites, and culture. The following are a few places to consider:
www.lacasasol.com
www.cafecultura.com
www.magicbeanquito.com
and Hassan’s Cafe, located at Reina Victoria No 24 399 Y Colon, Tel.: (02) 223-2564
You’re probably saying, I’m not going to Ecuador to eat Lebanese food. And I’m saying, Ah, but this is very tasty Lebanese food, and it’s a good chance to mingle with the locals.

Let’s leave the big city of Quito for the beautiful colonial city of Cuenca; we can always return. In Cuenca many of the hostals have wonderful old, big, beckoning courtyards. It’s a joy to walk along the streets and come upon small museums, old and well-used churches, restaurants, markets, the Tomebamba River, etc. and finding history in all of it. it’s a walking city and with a map, quite easy to navigate. One of the places I stayed at was the utterly charming Inca Real. Finding a hostal or hotel is not a problem, or, if staying a while, an apartment for $200-$250/month with kitchen and full bath.
www.hotelincareal.com.ec


A good guidebook and intuition helps when walking along Cuenca’s streets. Eventually Raymipampa Restaurant on the main square will appear just when it’s time to eat. And also El Maiz Restaurante although it’s a little out of the way, is not to be missed,


Now for a hair-raising bus ride from Cuenca south to Loja and then Vilcabamba. It’s worth the bus ride because it’s a chance to see the land and the people in a different way, and that’s all I’m saying. Loja is a good stopover for the night. Time to get acquainted with this interesting old city, and find a place to stay, and enjoy the evening before leaving for Vilcabamba tomorrow to savor the mountains. It’s tomorrow already? To the beautiful mountains by taxi or bus. Perhaps staying at Le Rendez-vous Hostal owned and operated by a couple from France who built it after touring South America and deciding to make Vilcabamba their home. Time to hear about what’s happening in Vilcabamba from Serge and Isabelle. Or check out other places to rest and revive; what makes one person happy, doesn’t necessarily make another. – a soft mattress, a hard one, maybe a hammock; it’s all there waiting.
www.rendezvousecuador.com

So much to see, the coast, the city of Guayaquil, the Galapagos, the Amazon, and north to Ibarra, Otavalo, Cotacachi, etc. Ah, yes, another time, perhaps.

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The pleasure in traveling consists of the obstacles, the fatigue, and even the danger. What charm can anyone find in an excursion when he is always sure of reaching his destination, of having horses ready waiting for him, a soft bed, an excellent supper, and all the eases and comfort he can enjoy in his own home! One of the great misfortunes of modern life is the want of any sudden surprise, and the absence of all adventures. Everything is so well arranged.
– Theophila Gautier, WANDERINGS IN SPAIN

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thanksgiving day


Now seems a good time to prepare for the thanksgiving part of the day, and have it be a real awareness of gratitude. We all should have the specially prepared food down pat with all the help from magazines, cookbooks, etc. The food of: roast turkey (or, if we’re in the south, deep-fried turkey), the kind of gravy and stuffing we want to eat at least once a month, cranberry sauce, mashed or roasted sweet or white potatoes, green beans, or brussel sprouts, or collard greens, warmed bread/rolls, a drink for toasting, and then there’s the dessert, with tea or a special kind of coffee and, oh yes, perhaps a few drops of Amaretto in it.

Truthfully, I don’t usually remember to say a thank you before meals, and when I do I’m aware that’s it’s done quickly, and not as thoughtfully as it should be. So one recent morning I decided to say a proper thank you for my breakfast which consisted of Gaia chia in a glass of water, and later coffee, and toasted bread with butter and jam. The interesting part is that once I started with the thank you I couldn’t stop. Never did I suspect that so many were involved in this simple breakfast.

The coffee, Organic Fair Trade Shade Grown Ethiopioan was purchased at Trader Joe’s. I began thinking of the people who plant the organic coffee beans (my knowledge is limited; I could only imagine), and carefully supervise it, the best beans are considered, coffee is transported by truck to the marketplace, negotiations, purchasing, packaging, the traveling to selected stores (what does all that take?), trucks arrive at stores, coffee is stored, or placed on shelves by the employees. Then we, the customers, arrive, and pay the cashier. It’s bagged, and off we go. And that’s only the coffee.

Then I noticed the Wedgewood cup and saucer, a gift that came from Japan, the plate from Indonesia, the knife, the wheat sandwich bread from Metropolitan Bakery in Philadelphia, the jam from France, the butter from Iceland, the cinnamon sticks for the coffee from Viet Nam, the French Press, the toaster. How many people were involved before this simple breakfast found its way to my table?

It’s not necessary to say thank you to everyone involved, of course, – the Creator is the important One. Though I discovered that thoroughness has it’s own reward, and sitting quietly for a one-time thorough thank you brought a heightened sense of awareness to what those words mean. And after all these years, on this Thanksgiving Day I’ll finally be able to say a heartfelt thank you.

I want to wish you all an enjoyable, full-of-laughter, satisfying Thanksgiving Day. And where ever you find yourself, whomever you’re with, and whatever you’re eating, enjoy thoroughly.

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happy new year to all of us

What a lovely day it is; the sun is shining brightly, the snow is melting, and 2011 is here. Are we ready for a new wonderful way to live so that we’ll find ourselves in a good place? It seems our intelligent universe is asking individuals to come forth and shine mentally, spiritually, and physically so that together we can all thrive in the world.

Happily there have always been people who have understood their connection with everything that exists, and their responsibility to look upon the universe with kind and generous eyes, and to hold compassion, love, harmony, joy, beauty in their hearts for all that exists. That’s impossible, you say. if you tell that to those who know life differently they’ll say that everyone can come from a place that’s nurturing and loving – that it’s a choice. They’ll also say it’s time in the evolution of humanity for every one of us to change the way we see the world. We need a new understanding of our fascinating world, our place in it, and the way in which our thoughts and actions affect it for better or worse. Before a new year arrives we begin thinking of things we can do to improve – once again the opportunity is ours to get away from worse forever. When that happens all that exists will benefit big time. That’s not too shabby a thought.

“. . .Every atom of your body is connected to every other atom in the universe. . .”
-taken from an essay by Nassim Haramein in the book: Transforming Through 2012
Leading Perspectives on the New Global Paradigm
Featuring 33 Authors – Scientists, Researchers, Futurists, Mystics, Astrologers, Indigenous Elders and Luminaries. . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US.

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ruka

When Christmas shopping has come to an end, I walk into a favorite shop and buy something for myself. A little special something, not a splurge, something only I would call exciting. That something has to be small enough to fit nicely into a suitcase. I never know beforehand where I’ll end up, or when. As in today when I passed Ruka at 114 South 19th Street in Philadelphia, and it hit me – here is the place; now is the time.

It’s always a pleasure to browse and shop at Ruka. There were desert bells hanging on the wall. I took them down. And there were a wonderful array of mala beads. I chose the simplest. Then a little hand bell looking old, and sounding wonderful called to me. I placed these three on the counter. A customer picked up a round metal container, and asked what it was for. It holds spices, someone called out. I’d seen that box in the home of a friend. It holds her fragrant spices, – those she uses most often, and can’t cook if she doesn’t have them. A spice box will one day be mine, too. Not just yet; I’m very good at knowing when it’s time to go. “Ruka offers a treasure trove of items to delight and entice the spirit.” www.ruka.com

Now at my place the mala beads are waiting to be fingered, the desert bells are on a hook and sound as sweet as they did in the shop, and the small hand bell has its own perfect place.

Enjoy the season.

May peace be ours the world over.

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a black bra

This is a very simple story, and, since it’s Martin Luther King Day, I want to tell it. It was in the 1970’s that two baby girls were born, and at a certain age they became very good friends. One of them was black; the other was white. In high school, among other things, they stayed true to what many teenage girls do, -try to figure out what was what in the fashion world. White shirts were popular, and detailing one’s bra wasn’t, at least not in the every day world. The girls discussed this, and one day one of them said she had the answer, she’d bought a black bra, it’s perfect, and, she said, you have to buy one too. And so it seemed that what went underneath a white shirt was solved. Away they went to purchase a black bra for the one who didn’t have one. In the fitting room, however, it became obvious that what worked for one wasn’t going to work for the other, and, of course, they did what many fourteen year old girls do; they giggled. Imagine a world in which no one notices, or cares about, another’s skin color, and just understands that the Creator created with variety in mind. When we look around it’s apparent that there’s no boredom in the Creator’s work – only boredom in our way of thinking. www.mlkday.gov I said it was a simple story.