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Happiest Makara Sankranthi!
Our time on this Earth is sacred
and we should celebrate every moment.
-Paulo Coelho
Of all the quibbles that may carry on in these modern days of Thanks&Giving surely we can find the time to reflect a bit deeper and capture renewed meaning this Thanksgiving Day.
-Wishing all a Very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
_____________________
For, after all,
put it as we may to ourselves,
we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread.
The sun, the earth, love, friends,
our very breath are parts of the banquet….
Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host,
and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?
-Rebecca Harding Davis
Each star a rung,night comes down the spiralstaircase of the evening.
The breeze passes by so very close
as if someone just happened to speak of love.
In the courtyard,the trees are absorbed
refugees embroidering maps of return on the sky.
On the roof,the moon – lovingly, generously -is turning the stars into a dust of sheen.
From every corner, dark-green shadows,in ripples, come towards me.
At any moment they may break over me,
like the waves of pain each time I remember this separation from my lover.
This thought keeps consoling me:
though tyrants may command that lamps be smashed
in rooms where lovers are destined to meet,
they cannot snuff out the moon,
so today,nor tomorrow, no tyranny will succeed,
no poison of torture make me bitter,
if just one evening in prison
can be so strangely sweet,
if just one moment anywhere on this earth.
-Faiz Ahmed Faiz
When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.
-Pema Chodron
* A Very Blessed and Happy Mother’s Day! *
In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.
-John Muir
By now everyone has read and seen the devastation caused by the earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.9 in the Sichuan province of China. We have been holding our breath these past couple of days since dear friends of ours were living and working in China but were extremely fortunate and arrived saftely back home in India.
Many, many others are yet to be accounted for, and have not been left untouched by this horrific natural disaster– something of this extent not witnessed in over thirty years.
There are several relief organizations scrambling to help those who have been affected by this catastrophe, though what’s growing increasingly frustrating is how the local government is really making things difficult for aid-workers to get through and deliver assistance ASAP.
We continue to send our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to all those affected by this tragic event.
-shanti
“This day is a special day, it is yours
Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another,
This day is a special day, it is yours.
-INDIAN POEM-
All Women in this World are forms of the Goddess
-Devi Mahatmya 11.6
Wishes for a Very Happy Mother’s Day!
T. Mere-
I awoke early before the rest of the family this morning to have some quiet time- make some chai, sit out on the deck in the bitter chill, layered in winter-wear. May 1st it is… our daughter will be turning a year older this month and is fully discharged from the eating disorder program she has had several months of treatment in, both inpatient, residential and finishing with their intensive outpatient program.
Thinking back to her initial admission in November seems eons away from where she is now. She’s come full-circle, rather similar to the cycle of the year and anticipated, sometimes even prominent, seasonal changes (this winter was one of the heaviest in terms of snowfall and duration!) that mark distinct, at times mundane or significantly important passages of time. For our family it was one of change, acceptance and movement forward- leaving what does not nurture or support us happily behind. And with great hope, looking towards the future, but staying as grounded and balanced as possible in the present.
I remember when our daughter’s were much younger and attended a Waldorf school where seasonal change, holidays and traditions were both honored and incorporated directly within the curriculum (such idealism we as parents carried– but so much fun!) and one of the highlights of the school’s year end was the annual May Faire that had Maypole dancing, farmer’s market, crafts… just all around energy, wonderful food, children running, giggling, singing with weaved flower-crowns or greenery in their hair (parents too!) and just an all-around connected sense of community, diversity and optimism– SPRING had sprung! It was a celebration to honor the changing of the seasons, from darkness into light. Back then our daughter was completely free from fears of food and worries of weight-gain, she couldn’t have been farther from such an ugly menace as ED.
Much time has passed since those pre-K days, and our children grow to find their own unique challenges and strengths– sometimes we are faced with circumstances in our lives that can send one afloat upon unchartered territory, navigating can be difficult, but you find a way back to dry land, solid ground and the comfort of those that love and welcome you; and are there for you “have your back” when you need them most.
Yesterday after our daughter had a brownie with “sprinkles” I realized she is really making huge steps towards facing the ED demon head-on, and while she won’t admit at this point “Wow! I just loved that brownie– Yum, yum!” she is taking what is presented to her each day, much more consciously than five months ago. Perhaps not always with her trademark dimpled smile and sparkly eyes, but she’s doing it, and we’re cheering her on!
As I see the small buds on the apple and cherry trees grow in size each day, and the striking presence of the yellow daffodils dot the yard along with the tulips beginning to take on their dark hues; I feel on this first day of May that we’re finally able to see some Light shine back into our own families’ healing and daily rhythm more akin to life before ED– and that feels so wonderful!
An optimist is the human personification of spring
– Susan J. Bissonette
Facing the bluntness of reality is the highest form of
sanity and enlightened vision… Devotion proceeds
through various stages of unmasking until we reach
the point of seeing the world directly and simply
without imposing our fabrications… There may
be a sense of being lost or exposed, a sense of vulnerability.
That is simply a sign that ego is losing its grip
on its territory; it is not a threat.
-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
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