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Quote o the Day
Fear doesn’t frighten me as much as it used to. I know it’s from clinging and I know it will pass. I can tell myself, “I’m frightened now because even though I know what’s true, I have forgotten it right now. I know the possibility of remembering exists.” That possibility, that conviction, gives me a lot of hope in the middle of the biggest fright.
– Sylvia Boorstein
Whatever may be scaring you today, we send you Big Light and hope. Hang in there, you are smarter and more capable than you may think, and no doubt you are doing a better job than you think you are. Be kind and gentle with yourself and breathe into it. It’s all going to be ok. Breathe. You are safe and all is well.
credits: This cool picture came from the fine folks at Search Quotes, be sure to check them out for more great pics and quotes.
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No More Closet Monsters
Hello All! Welcome to the new Blessings Site and streamlined blog! We have had many changes, including an updated website and change in the way we do a lot of things here. More info and posts are forthcoming, I promise. In the meantime, I wanted to share a smile.
During this time, when it seems as though most of the folks in suits can’t figure out how to get along and play nicely with each other, I thought perhaps an alternative perspective might be in order. Many fun things are happening these days and there are still lots of neat people, neat ideas and fun to be had. Given all that, I wanted to continue my “Favorite Vids” series with another fun video from the ever creative folks at The Fun Theory. These fine people are trying to prove you can make anything fun. This video is about getting kids to clean their rooms. This video is just over a minute long, well worth the watch!
You can see another fave Fun Theory Video about getting people to take the stairs here.
Hope this finds all well and having fun!!! 🙂
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One Billion Rising–Dancing is a Revolution
“Dancing insists we take up space. It has no set direction but we go there together. It’s dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive. It breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere at anytime with anyone and everyone. It’s free. No corporation can control it. It joins us and pushes us to go further. It’s contagious and it spreads quickly. It’s of the body. It’s transcendent.”
Hello all! It’s what my friend Janet calls Activist Shaman time, and she’s probably right. But if this isn’t about healing, then I don’t know what is.
Here are the facts of the case and they are undisputed:
One in three women will be raped or beaten at some point in her lifetime. Really take that in. Look around your office, your school, look at your group of friends, look at the women in your family. One in three women. One third of women, many of whom you know and love.
As someone who has worked in trauma therapy, my personal opinion is that the number is much higher, because that 1/3 is from women who can admit it happened. Because this is an atrocity at every level of life and impacts every single one of us, male and female, children and adults, we are joining the One Billion Rising Event. Feel free to pass this along to others who may be interested.
Here’s the info. If you are going to organize anything, please let us know, as well as the organizers of 1BR. Leave your info in the comments section and we’ll post it. Thanks.
ABOUT ONE BILLION RISING
ONE IN THREE WOMEN ON THE PLANET WILL BE RAPED OR BEATEN IN HER LIFETIME.*
ONE BILLION WOMEN VIOLATED IS AN ATROCITY
ONE BILLION WOMEN DANCING IS A REVOLUTION
On V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, 14 February 2013, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, our solidarity across borders.
What does ONE BILLION look like? On 14 February 2013, it will look like a REVOLUTION.
Q. Why dance?
A. When One Billion bodies rise and dance on 14 February 2013, we will join in solidarity, purpose and energy and shake the world into a new consciousness. Dancing insists we take up space. It has no set direction but we go there together. It’s dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive. It breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere at anytime with anyone and everyone. It’s free. No corporation can control it. It joins us and pushes us to go further. It’s contagious and it spreads quickly. It’s of the body. It’s transcendent.
Q. Why should I join?
A. To show the world that we want to end violence against one billion women and girls! By being a part of One Billion Rising we will all discover our solidarity and the scope of this issue. We will come to know that ending violence against women is as important as ending poverty, or Aids or global warming. We will come to see that it is not a local issue or particular to any culture or religion or village or age. We will come to see what is possible. When One Billion bodies rise and dance on 14 February 2013, we will join in solidarity, purpose and energy and shake the world into a new consciousness.
ONE BILLION RISING IS:
A global strike
An invitation to dance
A call to men and women to refuse to participate in the status quo until rape and rape culture ends
An act of solidarity, demonstrating to women the commonality of their struggles and their power in numbers
A refusal to accept violence against women and girls as a given
A new time and a new way of being
SIGN UP TODAY
*2003 UNIFEM report entitled “Not A Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women,” or 2008, the UNITE To End Violence Against Women Campaign, initiated by UN Secretary-General’s Office
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Drop. Swap. Grow
Hello all!The event is FREE, but you must register in advance to participate. We’ll be in the basement of The Word at Shaw again, 4265 Shaw Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63110. Saturday, March 2, from noon to 3.
Bring seeds to share, any amount is fine by us. Please, no expired seeds! Seeds may be store-bought or harvested from your garden. Gold stars for heirloom or organic. Clearly label all seeds and indicate whether they are full sun, part sun, or shade. You do not need to individually package seeds, but we certainly don’t mind if you do. Slow Foods is sponsoring again and has generously provided a grant to Drop. Swap. Grow. so we can get some native and heirloom seeds for the seed bank to share. It’s always a good idea to bring envelopes or baggies to store the seeds you pick out. We will have some envelopes to share, but they go fast.
The tool swap is easy-peasy, too. If you have any new or gently used extra tools lying about, bring them to swap with others. We’ll have a table set up for drop off when you arrive.
As everyone checks in we’ll have some snacks to share and time to socialize. Once we are all settled, we’ll have a couple short talks from some awesome local yokels who are going to share their wisdom. We’ll have a speaker from Slow Foods as well as Jenny Murphy from Perennial who will teach us how to creatively reuse common household items in the garden. We’ve got a couple other ideas cookin’, too. We’ll keep you posted as plans are finalized.
If you would like to volunteer at the event, please email Holly at dropswapgrow@gmail.com
Can’t wait to see you!
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World Hunger Day Fast for Charity
Hello all! I know it’s been awhile! Things are good here and I’ve been out living life instead of blogging about it. More to come on a recent trip and much more.
In the meantime, I wanted to update you on some things that are coming in October. This time of year is traditionally about honoring the cycle of the seasons, pausing to reflect on our abundance and blessings, and preparing for winter. To call attention to the ways in which many people on the planet are unable to take part in the abundance of harvest, UN World Hunger Day is held every October. Also called World Food Day in the US, it is a time to come together to move towards a solution to end world hunger.
I know, I know. It’s a crazy time of year. Some say it’s not possible to end something as huge as world hunger. I say, we do not have a supply problem on this planet. What we have is a distribution issue. There is already more than enough to go around, for all of us. Enough food. Enough time. Enough love. Enough money. Enough. Enough to share. Enough to know you are already blessed and abundant, right here, right now. It’s more about mindfulness and awareness for most of us. But for some, it’s only about being aware of their stomach growling, their physical hunger, their need for food, their need to feed their children.
I also think many of us hunger for much more than food, but often use food to fill the hole inside of us that says we aren’t good enough, that there isn’t enough for you to slow down and enjoy a meal or time with family. I say there IS enough, and that there are many kinds of hunger. I think a lonely, spiritual hunger can be as bad, if not worse, as physical hunger for many of us. But above all, I believe in abundance and living as if there is already enough to go around for all of us.
It is in this spirit that we approach World Hunger Day. This year, for this world wide event, we have partnered with one of our favorite charities, Micro-Financing Partners in Africa, also known as MPA. MPA gives micro-loans to those living in extreme poverty, allowing them to start a small business and work their way out of what once seemed like an impossible situation. Their tag line is “we give a hand up, not a hand out,” and that captures it beautifully. In Kenya, they give loans as small as a quarter in US currency (seriously, $.25 can change a life!) and these amazing women start a business and lift themselves out of poverty and the slums. They do much more, including a cow project and a soy milk factory, and you can learn more about those projects here.
This year we have started a team through FirstGiving to raise awareness and money for MPA and World Hunger Day. We are fasting for 36 hours, during the day October 19 and ending the fast the morning of October 20. We always joke, “why do they call it a fast when it goes so slow?” and yet there is a deep spiritual component to fasting. All of the religions advise it, and most have sacred times of year built around fasting. If you do not feel called to fast from food, or do not feel ready or able to do so, perhaps you could consider fasting from TV or the news or soda. Several years ago during Lent, I fasted from self-criticism for 40 days and instead feasted on acceptance. It was one of the most transformational experiences of my life.
So think outside the box on this one. The purpose at one level is to support MPA, but at a much deeper level, it’s to face those hungers within, to get in touch with things you might not be aware of or maybe didn’t want to face until now. You can do this in any way you’d like, but the key is to be aware of some kind of hunger and be in solidarity with those who experience hunger daily without a choice.
If you are interested, you can can join me HERE or start your own team by going to the MPA website and looking at the Hunger Fast page. Feel free to engage in some friendly rivalry with family, friends or colleagues on this one. You might be surprised how many relationships can be built and fostered through this sort of commitment. I also invite you to not focus on food but on your abundance and gratitude, your ability to join in with something like this, and the opportunities we all have to offer a hand up to someone in need.
Blessings to you and your families this time of year!
Peace,
Terri 🙂
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Ancient Paths, New Journeys
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls…”
~~Jeremiah 6:16
Hello all 
A friend and I just returned from Santa Fe, where we did some hiking, some writing and a lot of playing. We are working on a book about Spirituality and Grief, and I cannot think of a better place to ponder such things than the desert.
I snapped this picture near Skull Bridge, at the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) near Abiquiu, New Mexico. The Trail head is just over that bridge and heads south into the Rio Chamas Wilderness area, a gorgeous place no matter what time of year. I wrote about another trip here in a post titled Smile at Fear.
It’s funny to me how small the world seems when I sit at my desk and type, when I can instantly communicate with someone in New Mexico or Australia, when I can click a few buttons and pretty much anything I want is at my fingertips. But the world takes on whole new dimensions when you are actually out in it. I am often filled with wonder and a deep sense of unease that it is easier to speak with someone hundreds of miles away via text than it is to walk across the street to talk to a neighbor. I have a house full of things my grandmother’s generation was told would save time and make life easier and I suppose in some ways they do. But time for what? More work? TV? Stress? Family and friends? What do we do with this supposed extra time and ease we were granted? We live in a world moving so fast that when something takes mere seconds I say it is moving slowly. But that’s when I’m inside, dealing with the non-human, unnatural world. Traipsing around on a trail that literally runs from Mexico to Canada makes the whole thing suddenly come into a more realistic perspective.
One of the reasons I love hiking is that the planet truly takes on a whole new dimension when you are walking through it– deserts and woods are not like other places. For one thing, they are huge, but more than that they are full of wonder and scenery, challenge and solitude, hope and a sense that we are not alone. Interestingly, when I get away from all the stuff that is supposed to save me time, I have all the time in the world. When I get way from the hustle of the millions of people on the planet, the less alone I feel. Wilderness trails offer a chance to reconnect to myself and in doing so I reconnect to my God as well. I love the water, but put me on a trail anywhere, especially in the mountains or the desert, and I have found my bliss. A path simply takes you from one civilized place to another, but a trail…Ah, a trail takes you from what we like to call civilization into the unknown. I believe the further we travel into the Unknown, the more we travel the path the ancients knew led to the Heart. By doing so, we allow the soul to take the ancient paths which lead to peace and rest. I think of Augustine’s line,
My soul is restless, O God, until it finds rest in You…
There is something so comforting about knowing that just as this area on the CDT was traveled for centuries before Europeans “discovered” America, so too has the Path of Life has been journeyed for generations before me. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote those words about ancient paths sometime around 600 B.C.E. We really haven’t changed that much in all of the years we’ve roamed this planet…we’ve always been restless, we’ve always sought rest for our weary souls. Leaders and subjects come and go, tides ebb and flow, children are born and someday die in old age, relationships are complicated and endure, money is made and lost and on and on. Cravings have always been with us, as has emotional pain and bliss, but time marches on and the search for meaning transcends generations. This has always been the nature of humans and I assume this will continue on long after I am gone from this body. Our technology has changed, but deep down we all want the same things we’ve always wanted…health, love, safety, joy, freedom from suffering, the chance to live and love and enjoy those with whom we live and love. These are the ancient paths we all walk, and while the details may change, the human story is pretty much the same over time.
The ancient paths are the ones I think we all long for in our depths…we all long to connect to ourselves and loved ones, to something greater than ourselves and to all Life can offer. Tillich said the word “solitude” reflects the joy of being alone, while the word “lonely” reflects the pain of being alone. We all need to have time alone to walk the path, to feel the pain and the joy of that “alone-ness” at times. And while it is comforting to know others have gone before me and I am never alone, the truth is that it is still my path to walk and the choice is mine to walk it. Growth is optional and not everyone chooses it, but that is also an ancient path. Buddha said, “You cannot travel the path until you become the path itself,” and I realize more and more how true that is. As they say in Zen, the obstacle is the path, and we can only truly travel that path with an open heart. What fascinates me is that we all have teachers and endless opportunities to open to the path, but we can only apply the lessons within if we choose to do so with an open heart and mind. So we all travel the path, but our choices can lead to a path of heartache or one of joy. As usual, discernment is the key.
What the ancients knew, that we all must learn, is that the good path will only open to us as much as we can or will give ourselves to it, without judgment of ourselves or others. In doing so, eventually we find what all the mystics tell us over and over about the path…such as, we are not punished for our anger, but we can be harmed by our anger. We are not rewarded for our good deeds, we are rewarded by them, including the ways in which our immunity and our cellular structure becomes stronger and more resilient as we practice compassion and joy. The deeper we go, the more love and humility and compassion we find, thus the more rest we find for our weary souls, which leads to more compassion and humility. I’ve come to believe essence of true humility is knowing I am neither too much nor too little, and that I don’t have to prove myself to anyone—even me. But that was one of the lessons of my path, I didn’t come in with that understanding at all. Like all of us, I grew into it and hopefully will learn to walk this path with a wise heart.
Just as Jesus said to love one’s neighbor as self, and Buddha said there is no one more deserving of your love than you, we all have to walk the path of embracing our own goodness. We have all faced demons and struggled on the path. We have all embraced the path or run from it, not realizing it was all still the same path. We have all had conflicts with parents or children, friends or bosses, teachers, lovers and maybe even someone we called an enemy. But choosing the good path leads to rest, and a rested soul is a wise soul, and wise souls usually come to understand the conflict is within, not outside of us somewhere. Thus they seek the wise path of peace.
We all walk these ancient paths, and the paths often diverge into addictions and an experience of suffering. The path always eventually leads to the same place of Home, but not everyone knows to ask up front, “Which one is the good one?” But the Universe, in all of its gracious abundance, always lights the path before us until we know to ask, until the answers become clear. Because this too is the nature of the path, leading us from one civilized place to another, ever offering the Light yet another day. Gautama Buddha addressed this hundreds of years ago with his own disciples, hoping to shed a light on the path for them, yet hoping they would also take responsibility for illuminating it themselves. He said to them,
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
But do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
So today, for all of us standing at the crossroads and asking, ‘Which one is the good way?’ I wish you peace and clarity, and rest for your souls.
peace
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