How you make others feel

this is a picture from way back in the day...like 1982...at Disney World.
Bev, Leslie, me , Brian, my mom and Bobby
I love this story below and hope you do too.
Happy New Year!!!
Love,
Michele


The Whale
Justine Willis Toms
Received by Rick Ingrasci M.D.
Who got it from Torkin Wakefield


If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her...




A very dangerous proposition.
One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.




They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.




The man who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same. May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will swim with you in the deep waters that may engulf you, and who will help you become untangled from the things that bind you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

People will forget what you said...
People will forget what you did...
But people will never forget how you made them feel.

On Opening

I took this picture today on my walk....hope you enjoy the words below.
Have a great day!!
Michele



Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could
take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me
and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book
until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have
made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a
f***load of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and
forgiving and accepting, that is what matters. What matters is saying yes."


-Dave Eggers, *The Harvard Advocate*

On Happiness

I don't care how many "secrets" you know, if you are unhappy you will never be able to create your life the way you want it to be - full of love, laughter, friends, and a lifestyle that you prefer.

As long as you have people sucking your energy and draining you, you will never be happy.
As long as you have people in your life that criticize, belittle, and treat you unkindly, you will never be happy.
As long as you blame yourself or others for anything, you will never be happy.

It is time to complete the mourning process and let all that go.

-Takara

Marko created these with his cars tonight and took pictures of the artwork:)

There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else.

--Peyton Conway March

note to self

look underfoot

We spent the day with my parents in Cleveland.....had a nice time.
hope you are having a great day...and hope you like the words below!!!
Namaste,
Michele




"The lesson that life constantly enforces is 'Look underfoot.' You are
always nearer to the true sources of your power than you think. The lure
of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is
where you are. Don't despise your own place and hour. Every place is the
center of the world."
--Naturalist John Burroughs

dragon or princess

We met this Browns fan downtown today.
He was out saving the day at Tower City.
hope you enjoy the quote below!!
Namaste,
Michele




Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.
--Rainer Maria Rilke

on being alive

Let the beauty we love
be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways
to kneel and kiss the ground.
-Rumi

being alive

photo by Macy



"Anything that does not bring you fully alive is too small for you."
—David Whyte

Be nice or leave:)

We bottled our Christmas brew tonight. This is a picture of our friend Chris McKim.

He and his wife, Pam, own the Brew kettle in Strongsville where we have been going since 1996. He is such a nice guy...not to mention a fellow lefty and Gemini.

Have a great day and hope you like the word below!!!

Peace,

Michele

People who nurture revenge are liable to increased heart rate and blood pressure. A study at Harvard School of Public Health found that men who scored highest on an anger scale were three times more likely to develop heart disease over a seven year period than low scorers. These negative outcomes from held anger have been repeated a number of times. It is plausible that those who forgave were less depressed and anxious, slept better, and were free from obsessive thoughts and also from revenge fantasies.

Ken Keyes (in Love, Not Fear) noted that we create the world in which we live:

• "The world tends to be your mirror. A peaceful person lives in a peaceful world. An angry person creates an angry world. An unfriendly person should not be surprised when he/she meets only people who sooner or late respond in an unfriendly way."

do you think they make my butt look big?

My cosmic to do list

Cosmic to do list:

* Search out a forgotten friend.
* Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
* Write a loving letter.
* Share some treasure.
* Answer softly.
* Encourage the young.
* Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed.
* Keep a promise.
* Find the time.
* Mend a quarrel.
* Forego a grudge.
* Forgive an enemy.
* Listen.
* Apologize if you were wrong.
* Try to understand.
* Flout envy.
* Examine your demands on others.
* Think first of someone else.
* Appreciate, be kind, be gentle.
* Laugh a little more.
* Deserve confidence.
* Take up arms against malice.
* Decry complacency.
* Express your gratitude.
* Gladden the heart of a child.
* Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
* Speak your love.
* Speak it again.
* Speak it still again.
* Speak it still once again.
* Thank God for this gift of today


-Christina Richa Devi

what a long strange trip its been!!!

The world is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first,
nature is incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on,
there are divine things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine beings
more beautiful than words can tell.

—Walt Whitman, excerpted in The Poetry Diary

what?

Laughter

This picture is an example of why you don't want to forget your lunch in this house.
Today was the third day Mira forgot her lunch this year. The lunch keeps getting delivered in bigger and bigger bags. Today Mark took her lunch up in a shopping bag decorated on the outside and filled with all kinds of crap like plastic forks, puzzles, ads from the newspaper, and some of Marko's drawings and her lunch.
have a great day and enjoy the cosmic quote below!!
Love,
Michele

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. --Jean Houston

going mad???

Here is a view from our Christmas tree this year.
do you like green m and m's???
hope you enjoy the quote below.
love,
Michele




"I think the whole world's gone mad."

"Nah. It's always been like this. You probably just don't get out
enough."

-Neil Gaiman in *The Sandman*

Being with nature

This is a picture of Macy taken in Ashtabula on Lake Erie. My friend Arlene lives there right on the lake. She is a special friend of mine that my family loves!!
We always have so much fun when we visit her.
below describes in words what being with nature does for me.
Namaste,
Michele

For me, there is a sense of Godliness in the wilderness —a sense that touches me in a very basic kind of way. It comes out when I see a sunset, or a mountain or it comes out when I see a flower. It strikes me when I just sit back. I consciously recognize a force, a sense of something much, much bigger than me. I am not sure why I know the experience is meaningful and significant, but it is.
— John Mordhorst

How can I serve??

This is a picture of my cousin Chad on the day after Thanksgiving. When the kids were younger they called him "Chaddy, Chaddy, Chaddy"....I think Mira started that when she was about two.
Chad lives in Albany now and he called yesterday to say he just got engaged.
Congratulations Chad and Kristen!!! They plan to marry in a Buddhist monastery and they asked Mark to read a poem at the wedding. hope you like the words below.
Namaste,
Michele





How can I best serve humanity?
By being a healer, a teacher, a friend, a loving spouse and a loving parent. I can serve by leading by example, by being genuine and authentic.
By being prepared to expose myself, to break down the persona, to peel back the layers and living the real truth of who I am.
By walking through this world with a quiet mind and open heart.
To live in the now, to face my perceived fears, to feel compassion, to see the divine in all of life.
To see the divine in all of humanity - no matter what the colour, race, sexuality, creed, age, or walk of life they may come from.
To look into the eyes of another human being, and look into the depths of their soul, to see the divine with in.
To talk with passion and not just speak, to listen without judgment and not just hear, to look with the eyes of wonderment and not just see.
To live from a place of truth, respect, forgiveness, acceptance, freedom, harmony, spiritual connection and love.

Mark Coleman

letting go

Macy took this picture at Omega Institute last summer.

Seek the art of loosening the knots. Quick! Before your soul leaves your body. Leave behind that nothing that seems like reality. Seek the reality that seems like nothing.
-Rumi

Peace

a view from our dining room



I saw this letter on the "RIP Jessica Schaffer" page on facebook.
I thought it was beautiful and a good reminder for me.
It is written by the owner of "Sportsworld" on the square.
They make custom shirts, sweartshirts and such for teams etc......
read the note...esp. the last few sentences....It is beautiful.
have a beautiful day.
Namaste,
Michele



Hi Everyone,

I am sending this to you because you all are very important to me.

If you have not heard, a very sweet, sweet young lady lost her life this past weekend. I had the pleasure of knowing Jessica Schaffer - she would stop in to see me here at work, sometimes she'd get shirts made with her brother and boyfriend's racing numbers on them, sometimes to just browse and chat. Jess stopped in on Friday and had something made for her grandfather for Christmas and told me of her plans to follow in his path to Ohio University. Jess has touched the lives of so many. I cannot even express how much I will miss her - she will always be 'my little friend'. Please, I ask each of you to keep this family in your prayers.......It has been very difficult for so many of us, I can't even imagine what her family is going thru. But this has really put things into perspective - there are so many unimportant things in life that we make way too important. Hug your loved ones, tell them you love them EVERY chance you get, never leave or go to bed angry - make sure the last thing you say or do before you/they walk out the door or hang up is something you/they can live with the rest of your/their life. You never know when it will be the last time you see them or they will see you. So if a bed goes unmade or if you've actually forgotten what color carpet is in their room! or they stay up way past their bedtime - this isn't life changing! Let them have fun, live a little yourself! If they run across the furniture, shock them - follow behind! Throw the couch pillows at them! Take a night just to play games - and don't answer the phone! Laugh with each other, laugh at yourself. Have dessert for dinner -.....brownies have most of the daily food requirements in them, just in case have a glass of milk with it!

Life is so short, no one really knows how much time we have here - so live it up!

I wish each and every one of you a very safe and happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Ameena Hoshaw

'Tis The Season!!!

http://www.myspace.com/m5christmas
Please visit our myspace!!!!

Can you come out and play???

Mira took this picture:)

Everything in the universe is alive
with playful intelligence and wants to
improvise with us.  
-Rob Brezsny

Rest in Peace

An old classmate of mine, Tammi Dunlap Schaffer just lost her daughter in a car accident on Saturday.
She was a senior at Medina High School. I can't imagine the loss that their family feels.
She was a beautiful girl with so much life ahead of her.....it sounds like she touched a lot of lives by reading all of the notes people have left on the facebook group" Rest in Peace Jessica Schaffer."
Please keep the family in your prayers.

below are some words of comfort that I remember that Ram Dass wrote to a family when their 12 year old daughter was violently murdered.
It is a beautiful letter.



Dear Steve and Anita,
Rachel finished her work on earth, and left the stage in a manner that leaves those of us left behind with a cry of agony in our hearts, as the fragile thread of our faith is dealt with so violently. Is anyone strong enough to stay conscious through such teaching as you are receiving? Probably very few. And even they would only have a whisper of equanimity and peace amidst the screaming trumpets of their rage, grief, horror and desolation.

I can't assuage your pain with any words, nor should I. For your pain is Rachel's legacy to you. Not that she or I would inflict such pain by choice, but there it is. And it must burn its purifying way to completion. For something in you dies when you bear the unbearable, and it is only in that dark night of the soul that you are prepared to see as God sees, and to love as God loves.

Now is the time to let your grief find expression. No false strength.

Now is the time to sit quietly and speak to Rachel, and thank her for being with you these few years, and encourage her to go on with whatever her work is, knowing that you will grow in compassion and wisdom from this experience. In my heart, I know that you and she will meet again and again, and recognize the many ways in which you have known each other. And when you meet you will know, in a flash, what now it is not given to you to know: Why this had to be the way it was. Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts – if we can keep them open to God – will find their own intuitive way. Rachel came through you to do her work on earth, which includes her manner of death. Now her soul is free, and the love that you can share with her is invulnerable to the winds of changing time and space. In that deep love, include me.

In love,
Ram Dass

The purpose of life

Mira made this and took this picture at Omega Institute.....when it was a lot warmer than it is now!!! A new facebook friend and Rumi fan, (like me) wrote the myth below.
I love it...and hope you do too.
Namaste,
Michele






“And so then what is the purpose of Life?”..................





The young girl spoke, “Divine Spirit. You have told us what Love is and have explained to us the purpose of Life, and they were wise answers indeed. But we would like to learn those answers for ourselves, through our own direct experience of personalized mysteries. Is that possible?”

The Divine Spirit, in a soft uplifting breeze, nodded yes and said, “That IS possible. It will involve pain. It will involve challenge. It will involve death. And it will certainly involve struggle. But if you agree to these terms, I will give to each of you – an opportunity to learn the meanings of Love and Life through entirely unique and creative experiences.”

The young girl turned to the crowd and they all nodded in eager agreement. She turned back to the Divine Spirit and said excitedly, “Yes. We accept those terms wholeheartedly.”

The Divine Spirit continued, “And of course, in order for the Great Mystery of Life to be so, you must also forget this conversation and agreement. Is this also okay with you?”

“Yes, yes! We obviously agree to that!” the people excitedly jeered.

And the Divine Spirit sighed with renewed inspiration and again shook the Earth with a simple snap of its fingers.

"So be it."

And the birds started singing. And mothers started nursing. Poets started composing. Brothers started competing. Fishermen started fishing. Children started playing. Dancers started dancing. Doctors started saving. Bakers started baking. Dogs started barking. Politicians started lying. Babies started crying. Countries started fighting. And everything continued…at least for another few million years (until the End of Time and the New Beginning is born).

The End (is Not the End)
-Khan Kindred Nguyen

First he looked confused

Mira took this picture of our bad dog.....just kidding, he is a good boy.



First He looked confused

I could not lie anymore
so I started to call
my dog "God."

First he looked
confused,
then he started smiling,
then he even danced.

I kept at it:
now he doesn't even
bite.

I am wondering if this
might work on
people?
-Tukaram

Nonviolence

Mira took this picture after playing scrabble with Mark and Marko.
I thought that it looked pretty cool.
hope you enjoy the quote below!!
Namaste,
Michele


I am a believer in nonviolence and I say that no peace or tranquility will descend upon the people of the world until nonviolence is practiced, because nonviolence is love and it stirs courage in people. There is advantage only in construction. I want to tell you categorically I will not support anybody in destruction.
--Abdul Ghaffar (Badshah) Khan

singing your own song

Mira took this picture last evening. It is one of my favorite ornaments on our tree.
Hope you are having a great day and hope you enjoy the quote below!!!
Namaste,
Michele


I think everybody should just turn off their TV machines and make up their own songs about whatever comes to mind-their couch, their friends their loaves of bread. Everybody's got their own songs. There should be so many songs out there that it all turns into one big sound and we can put the whole thing into a pickup truck and let it roll off the edge of the Grand Canyon.
--Beck Hansen