What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
Something that sparks admiration.
I admire others when they are kind. When they go out of their way or just step up and respond kindly.
I’ve seen this often and it always warms my heart and makes me love my fellow humans all the more.
We never know what others are going through. Sometimes a smile and one kind word can turn my day around. I’ve experienced huge acts of genuine kindness in my life. I’m ever grateful for the kindness of a friend, family member or stranger’. Life can get pretty hard at times. I always admire and feel grateful for human to human loving kindness. I’m grateful for every moment that I have the privilege of witnessing a kind exchange.
Today’s yoga was themed around a story about dharma. Its an interesting topic for me especially lately.
I know when I first learned the term dharma, I was charmed by the concept, but a little stressed about how I would figure out mine. It seemed like a quest. A mystery that some people had already figured out and were easily living. I desperately wanted to live mine.
Dharma means living a life that makes the most sense for each individual. It’s about adhering to rules and practices that are in complete accordance with who you are. Deepak has a whole chapter in the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success about it. I understood it to mean living a purposeful life doing work that uses your unique talents. Like a doctor or a nurse is a good example if you love and resonate with your work, you are probably living your dharma.
The yoga story was about being strong, our instructor told us that living in dharma gives us strength. We went on to do many warrior and bow inspired strengthening poses.
I never thought about it like this. When I live as I am comfortable living, I do have a certain strength. Its a strength in my own certainty, a strength of conviction, which translates into calm confidence. It is regulation. For this reason alone I think it would be good to have learned about this when I was young. Again it comes down to the simple advice to just be yourself
Be your best self. Be myself? Im definitely trying…
I think classic bugs bunny. When I watched it recently, I was amazed at the clever references and all the classical music. I love that as a kid I didn’t know what I was listening to, but ended up with a life long love of opera and orchestra music. I’m talking all of the bugs bunny cartoons. Elmer Fud, Sylvester and Tweetie.
Last night I somehow got myself involved in a conversation about intuition with a handful of intuitive people. One woman was a Native American Shaman. At one point she turned to me and said that I didn’t have to explain myself out of fear that I might not be accepted. She said no one was going to understand anyway. It was information worth pondering. How often do I think someone needs a back story to get me or understand my motivation.
It’s true. I can’t really explain very well anyway, nice to be told not to bother. It’s funny how I’m still on the vein of caring what others think. Another good reminder to live and let live. It’s just that I hate to exasperate anyone, and I do get comments!
This is what I am going to commit to do less of. Giving any commentary on my choices and decisions, my progress, my books, my art. All the pactical minded family members left wondering and worrying, who I’m not really helping with my defenses anyway, are just going to have to talk among themselves.
I will hopefully find this liberating eventually, even if I can’t at the moment figure out how I will deflect, but just imagine, me going forward, as if I had a decent salaried job doing something anyone can understand.
I love this challenge. When I go off to work, yes it’s work even if it’s fulfilling and enjoyable, I will be as justified and legitimate as my son the coding engineer, who also enjoys his job too much and finds it quite fulfilling. Some creative pursuits take years to become lucrative. it’s part of the territory. I often wish I had completely different abilities, but I don’t. This is what I’m doing. Speculation is welcome but will be addressed much less!
What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?
I appreciate this prompt question. This is a good time to look back over the year and pick out the good things.
Early in January I attended an event that was very fun and very positive. It had a running theme of : do not let what you are afraid others are thinking of you, have any influence in your life. In other words don’t give the opinions of others any attention.
It’s hard to believe that 2023 will melt into 2024 soon. I had some strong intentions for what I wanted to accomplish this year.
This sounds easy enough. It might be for some of us, but for me this year has been a running challenge on many things, this one definitely stood out.
I had set the goal early in the year, of finishing my book and luckily the intent of doing so, pulled me through everything else. Tonya Leigh suggested setting a goal so big that you had to evolve as a person to achieve it. I liked the concept of that, future Andie would approve. It was brilliant and I think maybe it worked.
I learned about regulation, at least the term, and I feel like that, in and of itself, was is a game changer for me.
Most of the positive events of this year have been small wonderful moments, often, one on one with my favorite people. Walks on the beach with great friends, being made over by my grand daughter, tea and toast with another grand daughter, playing at being basketball-fouled with the grands. Football with a bean bag, I think it was Oprah who coined the phrase ‘Cheerio moments’ from a show she did.
I watched while she interviewed a family in which the mother was taking her terminal diagnosis and doing many creative things to help her children through it. It was a tearful show, but powerful. The family traveled to several theme parks, and really made the most of their time together. At one point Oprah turned to the young daughter and asked what her favorite thing was. She told Oprah her favorite times from that year with her mom were in the middle of the night when her mom couldn’t sleep and they went down to the kitchen and ate bowls of Cheerios together.
It hit me, and a lot of people hard, that for all the travel and money spent, and amazing things they did together, the cheerios in the middle of the night meant the most to her daughter.
All the precious conversations I’ve had the privilege to be part of, are pure gold. I’m truly the most grateful for interactions with the people I love.
Those are my most positive events of this 2023 year. Hands down
I love that I see wildlife most everyday. Usually birds, but coyotes, squirrels, deer and rabbits are common. We saw a cougar one night. I’ve also seen possums, skunks, raccoons, even a occasional swan or snake.
I don’t live in a nature area or anything, in CA we are close to the ocean and lagoons and here we are on an ocean, maybe that’s why there is so many animals
I’m good at thinking outside the box and coming up with creative solutions or ideas
I’m good at reading
I’m good at showing up and being on time
This is a good exercise, even a little challenging, but a great thing to do now and then. Give yourself some kudos, acknowledge your strengths, thanks, I’m glad I answered this prompt .
Do you have favorite places you have visited? Where?
In no particular order, Kenya, Paris, Rome, Ireland, San Francisco, Sedona, San Luis Obispo, Fredrickberg, NYC, Boston, Wethersfield. All these places I would visit again and again. Also I have never really lived, only visited.
What is one thing you would change about yourself?
Oh hmmm, I can’t choose. I’m maybe like one of those houses that just needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. One thing? It won’t make much of a difference, so I’m going to stick with accepting myself as is, not being a house and all.
This is me. I’ll be polite and considerate for those who I’m too much for, but I’m just going to stand solidly as me being the best me I can. I am changing, but not like I think you mean.
Here’s a fun update. My son and I have been working on Beatrix for days. For my birthday he gave me an iPad with a drawing Ap and a very cool stylist pen. We were all like: WOW
This is going to change my/your life! OMG!
And guess what?: It already HAS! We managed to do things I thought were impossible. We have been working around the clock (and around one very participative two year old who is living her best life being a big part of the production process). Also, in and around holiday decorating which is also super important as well as a very active life, due to said toddler.
Anyway, I’m actually at a third printing place, right now. Low and behold the price is right! Two mock up book copies ordered later, we make a quick stop at a local bakery.
Two year old A from her car seat: “More crousant please!” Nothing cuter than a baby saying French words correctly. Target return (with drive up service- what?!) and Whole Foods. (I’m going to miss California!) I leave tomorrow.
My son will give my website another quick once over and then finally I will try out the blaze thing. I’ll let you know if it does anything helpful. It’s fun to hang out with my personal tech genius and his sweet wife and daughter! As my time here draws quickly to a close, we are all planning another ‘work’ trip.
I’m all set up to start on my next breathing book! I’ve been thinking about it for awhile, so I’m excited to try out my new drawing device.
Meanwhile, things on the East coast have turned bleaker and more serious. Gs stepdad has had some complications since I left. (this part is in no way fun, just a bit of an update). I don’t know what I’ll be stepping into upon my return. Here we thought things would calm down and level out once he was at the rehab place, and it looked like that, until it didn’t.
What a strange life. I miss G. I miss my grandkids, I’m going to miss this little peanut so much and ALL my grown up children and my friends too. Oh blast the wretched holidays this year. It’s set up for… um…no one knows.
Probably like all holidays. How can anyone really know. I saw a clip of two kids getting gaming controllers and crying because they were going to have to share them. I’m sure their parents expected that to go differently.
I’m going to continue to be thankful and appreciative for everything lovely in my life. Circumstances have been changing on a dime these days. I wake up with the loosest of expectations. Still I’m surprised and surprised again. Often with things that are sweet. Obviously with things that are not too, but it’s okay.
This is what I signed up for. This is a stage. It’s going to shift and change and be sad and be happy, and change again. No one gets off easy and no one gets out alive. These are as sure as taxes. I will be biding my time by searching hard for lovely things to be grateful for and looking just as hard for the good in the difficult times. I can only make the best of any given moment and then take good care of myself and be compassionate to everyone (me included) in the others.
So there’s my book update. It’s finally made it to its last edit (fingers crossed). I think I found a print place that understands my goals. I’m about to start on a new breathing book about the earth and gratitude. I’m ready for things to expand out again and plan to begin, using my new IPad, as I fly across the country tomorrow.
I was texting my brother who I just found out I’ll miss seeing, my grandson who had his sister’s phone on the sly, and G who I was trying to wake up because the surgeon called me because they decided to do the surgery in the middle of the night and neither he or his mom were answering. Such a strange time…
I’m sad to be leaving but I know that I’m doing the best that I can do, as I maneuver through this year’s holiday season. Carry on brave friends. I know for some, this will be a shoulder squaring time. For others, enjoy. I wish you peace, hope, and love. (and a bit of fun too)
