On Knowing

picture from my parent's trip.....beautiful!!!


The more you know the less you understand.
-Tao Te Ching


.......and the less I need to know why......or to understand.....some days anyway.... I am working on letting go.
Love, Michele

On Truth

"But the Emperor has nothing on at all!" cried a little child.
-Hans Christian Andersen

Seekers

Soon the child's clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions,

preconceptions and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted

with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later

does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn.

The sun glints through the pines, and the heart is pierced in

a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise.

After that day . . . we become seekers.

Peter Matthiessen

Bake Sale

Macy asked me to post this flyer below that she made....the bake sale is at our house noon to 5pm this Tuesday. Cassie and Macy decided to do this after we went to Ohio State on Sunday and they saw a homeless man holding a sign that he needed help. thanks in advance for helping them!!! love, Michele

Help Macy and Cassie Raise money for the homeless
When: Tuesday, July 31
Where: Macy's House
Where’s the money going: To the homeless
What will we sell: Brownies, cupcakes, Kool-Aid, cookies, water, muffins, rice crispy treats, and zucchini bread ☺
We will also be collecting small items to give to the homeless☺
Items: Hairbrush, Sweaters, Shampoo, Men’s Socks, Water Bottles,
Deodorant, Chap Stick, Band-Aids, Nail Clippers, Toothbrush and toothpaste

Expanding

As I struggled with the realities of losing my father at the age of 12.
I reveled in my heavenly father who would not disappoint me
as my earthly father had done. Without that firm anchor,
I do not know what would have happened to the fragile lad that I was.
It is one thing, however, to need a literal anchor
in a particular storm of life but quite another to cling to yesterday's anchor
because you can not grow up. Life changes, boundaries expound and spirits soar.
That is when one discovers that security is not the end goal of life
and that sometimes one has to risk, to let go, to venture
and to journey and when you do, you discover that
God is more than just a security anchor. God is a future hope,
a dream, and a reality beckoning you to live, to love and to be.
- John Shelby Spong

Taking the time to notice

Picture of Alyssa, Macy's dear friend......Mira took this picture...beautiful.....ehhh???


When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it,
it's your world for the moment.
I want to give that world to someone else.
Most people in the city rush around so,
they have no time to look at a flower.
I want them to see it whether they want to or not.
--Georgia O'Keefe

On being a mystic without a monastery

This for me is about random acts of kindness or the angels that walk the earth....what we all have in us to help another soul resurrect from darkness or hopelessness.......birthing new parts of ourselves.
love,
Michele

"The Divine has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which
the Divine compassion
is to look out to the world
Yours are the feet with which
he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which
he is to bless men now."
-St. Teresa of Avila

You can't always get what you want

"You can't always get what you want,
but if you try sometimes, you just might find,
you'll get what you need."
The Rolling Stones

Did you Know....

Elephants from my parents trip to Africa.....I guess one of their travel mates had an elephant stick his trunk in their hut......
Some bizarre facts from one of my favorites.....Rob Brezsny....
did you know that:

In the next 24 hours, 200 million people will make love
on this planet, as
they do every day of every year.

*Wired* magazine reports that vast supplies
of frozen natural gas lie
beneath the oceans, harboring more potential
energy than all of the
world's oil reserves.

China and India, which comprise one-third of
the earth's population, have
more than twice the wealth they had in 1989.

Rising rates of intermarriage are helping
to dissipate ethnic and religious
strife worldwide.

Death rates from cancer are shrinking.

Acreage devoted to organic farming is increasing rapidly.

Levels of literacy and education and political
freedom are steadily growing
all over the world.

If forced to decide between having a bigger
penis and living in a world
where there was no war, 90 percent of all men
would pick universal
peace.

With every dawn, when first light penetrates
the sea, many seahorse
colonies perform a dance to the sun.

An average cloud is the same weight as 100 elephants.

There are always so many fragments of spider
legs floating in the air that
you are constantly inhaling them wherever you go.

A river requires a million years to move
a grain of sand 100 miles.

Diamonds rain from the skies on the planets
Uranus and Neptune.

The five most beautiful words in the English
language are luminous,
crucible, melody, undulates, and gratitude.

http://FreeWillAstrology.com

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

Above is a picture that my dad took on their trip to Africa.
They are back home safe now and had an outstanding time. My mom said it was a trip of a lifetime and she would do it all over again.
beautiful picture!!!
Love,
Michele

one of my favorite song lyrics below. I think it is a very spiritual song:

Circle of Life
Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice

Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba [Here comes a lion, Father]
Sithi uhm ingonyama [Oh yes, it's a lion]Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama

Siyo Nqoba [We're going to conquer]
Ingonyama
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala [A lion and a leopard come to this open place]

[Chant repeats]

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

Strange Journey

you like my leaves?? I love the poem by Rumi below.
I have the poem framed here at home. Hope you enjoy it too.
Namaste,
Michele

Rise up nimbly and go on your strange journey
to the ocean of meanings.
The stream knows it can't stay on the mountain.
Leave and don't look away from the sun as you go,
In whose light you're sometimes crescent,
sometimes full.

-Rumi

American Gothic

went to columbus yesterday to get Mark's Bongo drums that I bought him for his birthday....which picture is really us????

Being true to YOu!!

mask of the collage by Mark


I am an outside advisor to the Board of Directors of Heaven
and I see that vegetarians, people who meditate,
joggers and the faithful all die. Some of them are quite bitter
when they realize how much time and effort they put into trying to avoid death.
The message is to live fully your unique and authentic life
and then you will live your longest, fullest life.
Remember, he who seeks to save his life will lose it,
but he who is willing to lose his life will save it.
I see many people recover from life threatening illnesses
when they learn they have a short time left to live.
It is at that moment of reckoning that they begin to live their true life -
what is in their hearts. Then, they feel so good they don't die.
-Bernie Seigel

Baby!!!

This is a picture of baby Alexa.....Isn't she sweet?
My very dear friend Roberta has six kids and this is her youngest.
She came over on Tuesday for the afternoon and I got to hold Alexa a lot.
I don't know how Roberta does it......she is a very loving mom
and all of her kids are so beautiful.
My kids loved having all of them here because
there was someone for everyone to play with.
I met Roberta at work about 3 1/2 years ago....
it was like an instant friendship for me.
She is so easy to talk to and she really knows what is important in life.
Have a great day!!! Love, Michele


"I think all babies, animal and human alike, are naturally contemplative.
We are born open, present, unfocused, here-and-now.
In civilized human society, we teach children
to focus their attention, to fend off distractions,
to concentrate on the particular task in front of them.
This may be necessary for learning in the ways our schools are conducted,
but we should know that we are training our children
out of their natural contemplative presence, teaching them to devalue it,
even perhaps to fear it.
Children with attention deficit disorders tend to be more naturally contemplative,
but they can have tremendous difficulty in our focused civilization.
We treat them with drugs."
— Gerald G. May in the Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature

Hurt

eggplant anyone????



“People hurt other people the most
when they’re trying to kill their own pain, real or imagined.”
-Frank J. Page

Tomorrow's child

"Let us plant dates even though those who plant them will never eat them.
We must live by the love of what we will never see.
This is the secret discipline.
It is a refusal to let the creative act be dissolved away in immediate sense experience,
and a stubborn commitment to the future of our grandchildren.
Such disciplined love is what has given prophets, revolutionaries,
and saints the courage to die for the future they envisaged.
They make their own bodies the seed of their highest hope."
--Ruben Alves, Tomorrow's Child

Grandpa Benjamin

This is a picture of my Grandpa Benjamin.
He died in 1994, just less than 2 weeks after my
grandma died.
My favorite saying that my grandpa said to me was when I was
wearing a new very brightly colored outfit........and I asked him if he liked my new shirt
or something and he just said "Well I guess that is what they are wearing these days."


"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose.
All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
–Helen Keller

Love

"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place."
–Zora Neale Hurston

Dance when you're broken open

Macy in her new pointe shoes.

Dance

Dance when you're broken open.

Dance when you've torn the bandage off.

Dance in the middle of fighting.

Dance in your blood.

Dance when you're perfectly free.

Struck, the dancer hears a tambourine inside her,

like a wave that crests into foam at the very top,

Begins.

Maybe you don't hear that tambourine,

or the tree leaves clapping time.

Close the ears on your head,

that listen mostly to lies and cynical jokes.

There are other things to see, and hear.

Music. Dance.

A brilliant city inside your soul!

--Rumi

That Most Delicate Place

You like my flower that I painted??

How about the quote below????

That Most Delicate Place

 There is a place in all of us
that has remained innocent, uncorrupted
and untouched by the world. 
We have to locate that most delicate place.
It is a very sensitive place,
 it's where we feel love - where tenderness
and compassion arise, free from self-interest.
 This place is the hole we have to fall into
 - and disappear in forever.

from "Enlightenment is a Secret"  By Andrew Cohen 

An Open Mind

Maxine and Mira



AN OPEN MIND
Peace and clarity are the attributes of an open mind.

An open mind does not cherish opinions or harbor prejudices.

It is not preoccupied with judgments or interpretations.

An open mind is unfettered and free to respond to the challenges of the moment.

It does not dwell on the past or fantasize about the future.

It is present right here and now.

As a result, it is open to all of the possibilities that might arise.


Paul Ferrini

Teaching story

Teaching Story

An American tourist found himself in India on the day of the pilgrimage to the top of a sacred mountain. Thousands of people would climb the steep path to the mountaintop. The tourist, who had been jogging and doing vigorous exercise and thought he was in good shape, decided to join in and share the experience. After twenty minutes, he was out of breath and could hardly climb another step, while women carrying babies, and frail old men with canes, moved easily past him. "I don't understand it," he said to an Indian companion. "How can these people do it when I can't?" His friend answered, "It is because you have the typical American habit of seeing everything as a test. You see the mountain as your enemy and you set out to defeat it. So, naturally, the mountain fights back and it is stronger than you are. We do not see the mountain as an enemy to be conquered. The purpose of our climb is to become one with the mountain and so it lifts us up and carries us along."

— Harold Kushner in When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough

RatDog

Make Bobby Shave!!
Paul, Mark and I

RatDog concert was last night. Bobby was wonderful as usual!!! Below is the set list......Going down the road feeling bad was awesome!!!

I: Jam > The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion > Jack Straw > Easy to Slip > Supplication > Easy to Slip > Lazy River Road > Big Railroad Blues

II: K.C. Moan, Friend of the Devil, Victim or the Crime > Even So > October Queen > The Deep End > West L.A. Fadeaway* > Stuff*, Wharf Rat > GDTRFB

E: Gloria

Being Love

Marko made this collage with Mark in our art studio....do you like it???

Being Love

Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not.

Our actions and states of mind matter, because we're so deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is the supreme creative act.

~Ram Dass

Awesome job Nationals!!!!

Last night was such an awesome experience for the boys and for the parents!!
Marko's team, the Nationals, won their championship game.
Their head coach Tim did such an amazing job of coaching the kids.
Whenever I think of how Tim coached, I think of this one teacher's poster at Macy's school.
It said something like " the teacher believed she was smart and so she was."
Coach Tim believed that they were awesome players and so they were.
I have never seen such an upbeat and positive coach.
His encouragement was endless........and not only taught them great baseball skills,
he taught them great life lessons like: everyone matters, baseball is suppose to be FUN, there is no "I" in team and everyone has a gift to give to share.
He made every single person on the team feel special.
Coach Tim......thank you for all the time you put into coaching (and Brigid too.)
You have a beautiful gift of being able to coach and you made a big difference in the lives of 12 boys!!!!!!!
Marko will always remember you and how much you believed in him!!!!!!

Nature

Teach a child to play solitaire, and she'll be able to entertain herself when there's no one around. Teach her tennis, and she'll know what to do when she's on a court. But raise her to feel comfortable in nature, and the whole planet is her home.
Joyce Maynard

Parenting

It's not only children who grow.
Parents do too.
As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives,
they are watching us to see what we do with ours.
I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.
All I can do is reach for it, myself.
-Joyce Maynard

Congratulations Nationals

Marko's baseball team is one of the two remaining teams in the finals.
They get to play under the lights Saturday night for the championship.
They are so cute!!!! I guess this day ended on a good note....I was feeling
pretty blue after taking Macy to the doctor.
Have a great day!
Namaste,
Michele

I feel so bad that my dad isn't here...this is the kind of thing he would love!!!!
Subject: Championship game

The tournament is coming to a close after some great games. Every team played their hearts out and really showed how much hard work they put into this season. The CHAMPIONSHIP game is set and should be fantastic. The Mets (9-2) and the Nationals (8-2) will meet on Saturday, July 14 at Reagan 3. The players will be introduced and we will be doing the National Anthem before the game, with the teams taking the field at 7:30pm. Everyone is invited and encouraged to come out to the game and cheer on the kids. The louder the crowd, the better!

The Water

Mark made this collage....something about it speaks to me.....same with the quote below.
I love to read spiritual quotes.....it gives you a small glimpse into the mystical world of the unknown.
I had a hard day....took Macy to a kidney specialist because she has kidney reflux...
one kidney is bigger than the other (inflamed) and she may have some more pretty
invasive testing like she had when she was three years old. It breaks my heart....
wish I could have the testing done on me instead of her.
Maybe like the quote below, I need to go to the water and be soothed.
I guess I find that soothing in my morning walks and in playing my harp and in doing yoga.....
where do you find that inner peace?????
Love, Michele

"When something intolerable is in my life, I head for the water.
It leavens me in some way. Some middle-most part of me is soothed
and silenced by it."
Alice Koller

Kindness

You like the fruit that I painted???
How about the quote below?
I love the quote below.......have a great day! Love, Michele


"When you are kind to someone in trouble,
you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else.
And it'll become like a wildfire."
(Whoopi Goldberg)

mystery

Rainbow at Findley State Park last week....beautiful.....ehh?? Love, Michele

“The answer is never the answer.
What's really interesting is the mystery.
If you seek the mystery instead of the answer,
you'll always be seeking.
I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have,
so they stop thinking.
But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery,
plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom.
The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.
-Ken Kesey

A Metaphysical Dissertation on Being Who You Are

Mira saw the sun coming through the trees at Findley State Park last Thursday and asked Mark to take this picture. I am glad she did.....very cool!

I had a hard time going back to work today ...and I love my job....It just seemed so "jarring" to the soul today after being in the woods all week. Oh well, I will adjust. It took me a day to adjust to camping and really relax....to just be able to sit and watch a fire or to listen to the birds.....anyhow,
there is a pretty beautiful poem below......hope you enjoy it. Love, Michele

A Metaphysical Dissertation on Being Who You Are
Jun 22nd, 2007 by diannone

If nothing else,
don’t doubt yourself.
If nothing else,
don’t discount the wisdom
planted deep inside you
from the very moment
of your birth.
If nothing else,
don’t be afraid
to be yourself
in all your glory.
If nothing else,
don’t for a moment
waste your life wishing
you were something
or someone else.
Should you decide
you want to be
something more,
start first
by being who you are.
Chances are
you will find
no need to be anything
more than you already are.
http://poeticalchemist.wordpress.com/2007/06/14/on-being-who-we-are/

Moving towards life

Swamp Stomp with Ranger Roger
Sunshinedaydream
MarkO's camp art
My camp art

On Moving Towards Life....Not Death

and embracing life fully.....

Namaste! It is a little hard to come back from camping all week. I love camping and being "Unplugged." It is so beautiful and peaceful at Findley State Park....I could stay all summer. Last week, I was reading After The Ecstasy, The Laundry, by Jack Kornfield and came across the most beautiful poem (below)....I was very intrigued by it and kept reading it over and over......... it is about living and learning to love the mysteries NOW, but the author is unknown. I think the author wrote the poem at a meditation retreat and wanted to remain anonymous.

Hope you enjoy the below poem as much as I do!

Love,

Michele

REVERSE LIVING

Life is tough.

It takes a lot of your time,

all your weekends,

and what do you get at the end of it?

Death, a great reward.

I think that the life cycle is all backwards.

You should die first, get it out of the way.

Then you live twenty years in an old-age home.

You are kicked out when you are too young.

You get a gold watch, you go to work.

You work forty years until you’re

young enough to enjoy your retirement.

You go to college,

you party until you’re ready for high school.

You become a little kid, you play,

you have no responsibilities,

you become a little boy or girl,

you go back into the womb,

you spend your last nine months floating.

And you finish off as a gleam in someone’s eye.

Gone Camping...... Will Be Back On Blog Next Week

SunshineDaydream

Grandma Benjamin

This is my Grandma Benjamin and Mira at 4 mos. old.
My grandma died on 9/16/94 about 4 mos. after this picture was taken.
My grandpa died less than 2 weeks later....
they were married almost 60 years.
My Grandma was a big part of my life.
She kept her opinions to herself and did not try to change anyone
or want them to be anything other than who they were.
My favorite thing that she ever said to me is a phrase that I use often.
She said it to me when I was in college when Mark and I were dating.
Mark had just grown a ponytail and I asked her if she ever noticed
Mark's new ponytail
and she said yes, I most certainly did. Then I asked her why she never
said anything about it.
She said," There are a lot of things
that I notice that I don't say anything about."
I often feel my grandma's presence with me.
It is a very comforting thing for me.

"If you knew who walks beside you on this path that you have chosen, fear would be impossible." A Course in Miracles

Nobility

Mira last week when we went to Geauga Lake......and partially Macy and Marko.
I love this Hindu proverb below.
have a great day!
Love,
Michele


There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man.
The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
Hindu proverb