Changing seasons

Back to ordinary times. Let’s make this ordinary period extraordinary.

A miracle happened: another day of life. – PAULO COELHO

Afterglow

Source: http://woodsmokeandpumpkins.tumblr.com/

“It is only her in large portions of Canada that wondrous second wind, the Indian summer, attains its amplitude and heavenly perfection, — the  temperatures; the sunny haze; the mellow, rich delicate, almost  flavoured air: Enough to live — enough to merely be.”  –   Walt Whitman, Diary in Canada

Seek and You Will Find

I have a favourite residential area that I make sure I walk around whenever I visit my doctor. The street is lined with all kinds of trees courtesy of Vancouver City. The city wants an image of having green environment.

Knock and the door will be opened

Even the residents created street garden. I think they are gorilla gardeners that want to beautify their sidewalks. The city doesn’t mind. It is most enjoyable to see every corner of different vegetation growing according to the gardeners taste.

Kids Library

Isn’t that a noble idea to find Little Free Kids Library along the street. This area must be family oriented. A good way to share books. I checked if it has Calvin and Hobbes, my favourite comic book but not luck.

Dog Library

Further down the street must be a hood of dog lovers. Take a stick, leave a stick. Behind is a note for the human to curb their dogs. No pee pee around this area, please.

Little Free Adults Library

Take a book, share a book with book lovers. As much as I want to take a book to add to my collections of unread books, a photo will suffice.

To complete the the title of this post, it goes: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

The best part of this find. I wasn’t even asking, seeking or knocking. It was all free.

Favourite. It’s a secret.

I have so many nephews and nieces that it’s difficult to choose a favourite. So, when one of them asks me who my favourite child is, I whisper to his or her ear, “You are. Keep it a secret. Your cousins will be jealous.”

London

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you

Flight 2022

Flight 2022 Instructions*

ALL ARE WELCOME. PASSPORTS NOT REQUIRED,

Good blessed day and welcome to Flight 2022. We are ready to take off into the New Year.

Please make sure your Positive Attitude and Gratitude are secured and locked in the upright position. All self-destruct devices: pity, anger, selfishness, pride, and resentment should be turned off at this time. All negativity, hurt, and discouragement should be put away.

Should you lose your Positive Attitude under pressure during this flight, reach up and pull down a prayer. Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith. Once your Faith is activated, you can assist other passengers who are of little faith.

There will be NO BAGGAGE allowed on this flight.

God, our Captain, has cleared us for take-off. Destination – GREATNESS!

Wishing you all a New Year filled with new HOPE, new JOY, and new BEGINNINGS!

Source: Unknown

Tell Me A Story

How do you respond to this question or statement when I ask you “tell me a story” instead of “how are you?”

Is it an art to be able to respond to a simple question? Or you’d rather not talk about it? As I get older, I noticed even in my family, I could sense their discomfort in sharing even the best of life’s situation. Thank goodness, I am learning to be still.

There is a site that offers vestige stories of women that are open to storytelling.

o

Let’s share meaningful narratives.

Vestige is the poetic synthesis between the essence of minimalistic beauty and the gravity of storytelling. Stories collected from women of different paths form the basis of our designs, which are then woven, sewn or embroidered into each garment. Storytelling has long established its place as the most essential tradition of all human culture. We hope this precious custom can extend beyond the literature and media we consume, and permeate the very products we use in our daily lives.

Photo credit: Vestige Story

Talk of the town

Now all the babies are born, all three of them, one boy and two girls, the centre of our conversations is about the babies. You can just imagine the chin wagging on how to raise a child from the elders.

I for one hardly say on how to raise a child. I just want the child to see the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

This is Lucy. She’s now a grown up studying at UBC to become a lawyer. I don’t know if she remembers the simplicity in life. But I think she does. The other day, she sent us how fall is blooming in the grounds of the university reminding us that it’s time to visit and see the ordinary beauty of nature turning into extraordinary.

Can’t wait. This time bringing my other sister who wants to escape from intellectual conversation.

How do you plea?

Plea the Fifth Amendment. I refuse to answer for this might incriminate me.  In Canada, we call it Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Self-Incrimination. 

“Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God.”  And then I swore on the Bible.  This was my experience as part of a Jury for 10 days.  A priest once told me when he is called on to swear on the Bible he refuses because he has already taken the Oath when he decided to serve God and mankind.  Of course, I forgot about this when I was asked.  I placed my hand on the Bible, and I said:“I swear.” 

It was quite an experience and an honour to serve Canada being selected as a Jury.  It made me think that the future of this man lies on my hand should I decided against the other jurors.  I was Number 8.  Mind you, we were given a manual on pointers on how to become a jury and how to make a decision based on just law.  No bias, no discrimination.  The jurors came from all walks of life.  One juror, in my opinion, was very fashionable.  She made sure that she is well dressed for the public and for the Judge.  This is not a criticism.  It’s important that we are dressed properly.  But once we deliberate behind closed doors, we have to divest ourselves.  Not our clothing, but our just minds.  We have to have an open mind without the probability of a doubt. 

We did reach a verdict.  NOT GUILTY.  Whew.  I was glad we came to a conclusion.  What was the case, you asked?  Joe vs. the People.  Joe was accused of killing his brother.  Just like in the Bible, Cane killed Abel.  But Cane was guilty; Joe was not. 

Back to swearing on the Bible to tell the whole truth; when I was a child, my Mother always reminded me to tell the truth.  That is so plain and simple.  Should you ask me WHY, the answer my friend is blowing in the wind.  (click to play the song) 

Tell the truth, try, you might like it. Nothing adversarial.

One Minute Meditation:

“Why is everyone here so happy except me?” “Because they have learned to see goodness and beauty everywhere,” said the Master. “Why don’t I see goodness and beauty everywhere?” “Because you cannot see outside of you what you fail to see inside.” || Anthony de Mello, SJ

Light Made it Visible.

To reach the peak of Mt. Sinai to witness the first light of the day, one has to start trekking at zero dark thirty.

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

Dawn of a new day
On top of Mt. Sinai.
Half light, half dark
The light made it visible.

It is a place for everyone.
Muslims, Christians, Buddhist, Atheist.
All is welcome.

Zero dark thirty is a phrased I picked up from Tina.

You light up my life. Not the sun, but the moon.

By the light, not the dark but the light
Of the silvery moon, not the sun but the moon
I wanna spoon, not croon, but spoon
To my honey, I’ll croon love’s tune

Honeymoon, honeymoon, honeymoon
Keep a-shinin’ in June
Your silvery beams will bring love’s dreams
We’ll be cuddlin’ soon
By the silvery moon

The rest is details

I want to know God,
The rest is details.

We chose to stay at home to be surrounded by love ones.

Photographers and people who have let themselves be photographed assume that someday people will see their images and do something in response to what they see, she argues. They imagined you, their future viewer, hovering above them at the moment the picture was taken, and you must live up to their expectations.

 Azoulay  asks her readers to project themselves into the scenes of photographs, to notice the power dynamics at play, to identify the participants, and to view the outcomes not as inevitable but as one possibility among many. Looking at photographs this way, Azoulay thinks, can loosen events from their seeming inevitability and reveal that history didn’t have to proceed the way it did. Things could have been different. Viewing a photograph becomes a kind of reanimation: the still photograph begins to move, and though this motion cannot erase inequality, it can trouble oppression that might otherwise seem intractable. Azoulay understands that actions in the past are irreversible, yet she insists that photography introduces a kind of malleability, the potential for change. “The photograph is out there, an object in the world,” she writes, “and anyone, always (at least in principle), can pull at one of its threads and trace it in such a way as to reopen the image and renegotiate what it shows, possibly even completely overturning what was seen in it before.

Quotes source: How We Should Respond to Photographs of Suffering

Beauty under my naked eyes

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket save it for a rainy day ~ Perry Como

It’s snowing. Finally, I’ve been waiting for it. The last time it snowed was on Christmas. As it falls, I tried catching a flake. As soon as it touches my skin, it melts into water. I figured that my body temperature is not cold enough to keep it for a second or two. Trying to take a photo using an iPhone 6 seemed to be a futile activity, but I persevered. This flake stayed long enough, and I have used a burst of shots.

Since it rains so much here in Vancouver, it’s so easy to forget the snow.

Today is a good day to inspect the snow.  The air is so dry and the flakes are hardly sticking.  I tried looking at the snow on various surfaces and colours. Red, blue, green, yellow, orang, umbrella, nettings, plants and even on my jacket.  It’s was fascinating to seem them glitter like diamonds.  

The snowflake makes its first appearance in recorded history when people identified individual snow crystals—with their distinctive six-fold symmetry—as the constituent elements of falling snow. The earliest known account was in 135 B.C., when Chinese scholar Han Yin wrote “Flowers of plants and trees are generally five-pointed, but those of snow, which are called ying, are always six-pointed.”

Subsequent Chinese writers mentioned snowflake symmetry as well, an example being the 6th-century poet Hsiao Tung, who penned: “The ruddy clouds float in the four quarters of the cerulean sky. And the white snowflakes show forth their six-petaled flowers.”

“The snow crystals . . . come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in Nature, but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade way. But though the beauty of the snow is evanescent, like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades but to come again.” ~ Wilson A. Bentley

Write. Read. Wrong?

Write. That is a complete sentence — a full statement.

Having learned how to write, it becomes an obsession. I still prefer longhand writing using the old cursive loops. Sometimes, I can’t write fast enough as fast as I think. I can’t write them all. Just as well, maybe it’s not that important. Yet, writing to me is a compulsion. I am a compulsive obsessive writer. Sometimes, I write on white space using my breath and a window. It leaves no trail. Poof.

white space

There is a box full of spiral notebooks accumulation of my writings. I don’t read them. I write my thoughts to make room for more thoughts. I am not a writer. Nor do I want anyone to read my innermost thoughts. Hence, I started purging. Again.

Lucy obsess with my torn up writings.

If I had written negative about somebody else, and then they surprised me by behaving completely differently to how I had characterized them, I might say, “Well, they made me eat my words” (in hindsight, this may embarrass or even pleasantly surprise me. Should it’s embarrassing, I have to take back whatever negative remarks I made about them). Is it better to put my foot in my mouth or to eat my own words? Idiomatic.

Nowadays, most of my writings consist of groceries or a things-to-do list.

End result of purging my writings served on a plate.

Nothing has been written that hasn’t been said before. So I use some writings as a quote and unquote. Quotes are better.

I recently used a quote and posted it as a comment on Donald J. Trump’s Facebook page.

"The SCOTUS isn't insane enough to be on Trump's side. 
He will lose again. This makes me happy. 
Trump is a horrible human being."

Note that this was posted previous to the SCOTUS decision. I truly have no idea how the Rule of Law will swing nor how SCOTUS will respond.

Much to my surprise and amazement, this comment received more than 1.5K replies, all inflammatory directed at me. Aside from that, I received messages via Messenger. Some visited my personal public FB page, left a trail of laughing and angry emoji. Some were bold enough to write comments. The good thing is that FB is smart enough to filter their comments. All I have to do is delete them. Easy peasy.

Read! Doesn’t anyone know how to read at all? It’s a quote. Geez.

One exception. One person read. One person really knows how to read. And I quote:

*Daamnn its sad over 1000 people never heard of quotation marks…youre almost famous now lol”

Wow! Wow…wow…wow…you actually caught the quote. You are the only person that paid attention to what I posted. If this is a lottery, you won the jackpot. I responded.

“Ya…it looks like [they] were screwed tho.” He responded.

Write. Read. Wrong?

You Should Be Writing

Recently, WordPress sent me a happy anniversary notification. Wow. At least someone remembers me. After that, I was notified that my Personal account is set to expire on January 15, 2021. Thank you again, WordPress, for the friendly reminder.

You Should Be Writing! I see this all the time from another site that I subscribe to, Writing about writing. This is another fun place that I spend time reading, not writing. 

Yep! Been busy writing. Writing comments (my opinion) on FaceBook. I know I can be opinionated objectively. I am not a hater. I do not attack. I do not post emojis or GiFs (god, I hate those!) because I should be writing.

BAMM! Haters and spammers, beware. Haters receive vitriol awards while spammers are reported to FB admin with a reply “spammer reported.” Oh, they easily remove their content. I go further and check out the rest that they replied to all commenters. I received applause, thank you, like, and love from commenters. This is just something to do while I entertain myself during Covid times. Desperate measures in desperate times bored to kingdom come.

BAN HAMMER

Since FB has difficulty banning hate speech on posts and commenters, I am taking this matter and using Thor’s hammer. I wonder how many users I can block? I’ve lost count.

Goodness. I do receive some good responses and people with a sense of humor. Those are the best. For example, I respond to this comment when our good doctor decided to prohibit all religious sites from having services for the next two weeks. (This news did not go well) Anyway, the conversation goes … thread.

SN: It baffles me too. Restaurants, bars, and even schools remain open, but you can’t attend church! This is starting to look like the government take over!

Me: SN, I posted the same thing on different media. Churches have been good in the prior mandate of 50 max attendees; they use masks, and only two people in a pew every other row. Transits, trains, restaurants, bars, cinemas, malls are high traffic. If the government has to mandate, it has to be objective and universal. The media’s first focus was the temples, now the Catholics. What’s next?

Someone chimed in:

PM: The government will place an agent in your house, and you’ll be prevented from any form of worship. This happens on Monday. Afternoon.

Me: That would be really nice. I hope the agent is not allergic to cats.

PM: hahaha. I hope he loves cats.

Me: I sure hope so; cats are gods. I worship them. Tee hee.

PM: I like them, but my dogs take exception to cohabit with a cat(s). My dogs discovered eBay and sold the cats.

Me: Laughing hard. This is way too funny. Dogs are just way too smart than the masters, I want to have a dog, too, but my cats insist on total loyalty.

PM: my dog is smarter and better looking than I ever was. (Sent me a picture of his dog.)

Me: Well, but wisdom comes with age and good humor. This is one handsome canine. This dog reminded me of my Doberman many years ago.

We both had a good conversation outside a sensitive topic.

Back to writing about writing. I did make one contribution to the community, and it went very well amongst the writers.

WordPress: Please do not feel neglected. I am still you’re number one fan. I love it here; feeling secured from spammers and the community of bloggers is tremendously wonderful.

FaceBook: You could do better.

Be Grammared or Be Hammered

I’ll catch the sun

I’ll catch the sun

It is better to light just one little candle,
Than to stumble in the dark!
Better far that you light just one little candle,
All you need is a tiny spark

Pretty Lights.

Have you ever heard of the saying blinded by the light or experienced seeing dark after looking at the intensely bright light of the sun? It’s blinding, and we see dark. It’s the exact opposite that darkness cannot drive out … Continue reading →

Handle with care

In poetry what is not said and yet gleams through the beauty of the symbol, works more powerfully on the heart than that which is expressed in words. Symbolism makes the very style, the very artistic substance of poetry inspired, … Continue reading →

‘Tis the season for Red

Mark your calendar, February 5 is Chinese New Year. Red lanterns will be floating all over the place, red packet of envelopes, red dress, red dragons, anything, and everything red. 2019 is the year of the Pig. I did find some … Continue reading →

Quarter Past Six

To remember the exact time my cousin Jessie was born, he made sure it’s permanently fixed on his skin. I thought that is very original. There was a man who had a tattoo of his birthdate, a hyphen and blank … Continue reading →

Depression is a choice

QFTD: (Quote for the day) Depression is a choice. QFTD: (Question for the day) Is this true?

The Fall of Autumn

When Autumn arrives, I have to remember to revere the glory of what was before: in spring, the earth is waking up to life; in summer, the world is basking on the light and warmth of the sun. Spring and … Continue reading →

Autumn of Life

  The autumn leaves can dazzle us with their magnificent colors: deep red, purple, yellow, gold, bronze, in countless variations and combinations. Then, shortly after having shown their unspeakable beauty, they fall to the ground and die. The barren trees … Continue reading →

On Writing

I am pleased to say that some of my posts became useful to others particularly to my sister, Susan Papas Hauck. It provided links to other seekers who are in their journey to a path beyond comprehension. Unbeknownst to me, … Continue reading →

I answered YES

This gallery contains 1 photo.

 

Sophie’s Choice

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Making a choice in cutting off ties in any situation is difficult when it’s a no-win situation, an unbearable option that one is forced to choose. Even thinking that it is the lesser of two evils, it can still remain … Continue reading →

Pssst… Lucy here.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Hey, do you know that when people practice a pitiful affection for cats, they are all the more disposed to take pity on their fellow human beings? Okay, not just cats, animals then. I don’t want you to think this … Continue reading →

Mask No More

This gallery contains 1 photo.

  “For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried, ‘Blessed, blessed are … Continue reading →

Fourth Day of Christmas – Just for today

  Just for today, I will improve my mind. I will not be a mental loafer. I will force myself to read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. A year in review of photos with Code of Happiness of … Continue reading →

Unshakable Faith

From the distance, I could see the green hill with something erected on the mound. The site is open to the elements that nothing can shield me from the cold wind. The expansive cloudy sky is threatening that rain is … Continue reading →

This story has a picture

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Tell me a story is what I say instead of “Hi, how are you?” My friend finally understood what I mean and how important story telling is when he attended the Toastmaster International 2017 held in Vancouver last week. Toastmaster is … Continue reading →

Ecstasy at our feet.

This gallery contains 3 photos.

These feet will take us wherever they want to go. Passengers from the hydrofoil are rushing to plant their feet on the ground of Estonia after a two-hour sail from Finland, 2,000 of them more or less. As pilgrims, our feet … Continue reading →

A Certain Smile

Joshua Edward Spackman Siglos

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there and they die there

Last night, my family and I were looking at Josh’s photo and I said, he has that certain smile. A Mona Lisa’s smile.

Is his smile happy or sad? I would like to think that his smile is unequivocally happy. It’s not rocket science. Being surrounded by his family loving him to bits and unconditionally, of course, he is happy.

Even his eyes, the eyes will follow us no matter where we are in the room. A gaze that will make you wonder, what is he thinking? Again, happy or crappy thoughts? His thought is brilliant, a gifted mind.

We wish he is here with us to ask him: Hey Josh, what do you think of your photo? What is the meaning of your smile?

The answer will remain a mystery, more mysterious than Mona Lisa.

Josh Siglos died at a young age of 31 on April 28, 2017.

To Earth, with gratitude

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Earth We belong to Earth, Take care of it. We must! Meanwhile, somewhere in Canada, in Burnaby to be precise, we are celebrating. I contributed some of the photos I shared in WP taken in my backyard. The small space … Continue reading →

Good vs. evil: The answer is found in Easter itself

This gallery contains 1 photo.

It’s God’s gift that enables peace. The supernatural message of Easter is that Jesus overcomes death, and when people believe that and act upon it, it changes the headlines. Spiritual beliefs change how people respond to evil. The bloody cross … Continue reading →

Write! Write! Write! – Talk! Talk! Talk!

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Talking and writing are great partners in celebrating life. It’s an antidote for depression. Just take a look at this recent discovery exchange of words between one depressed person to another: I talk to anybody on the street more than … Continue reading →

Tossed here and there

This gallery contains 1 photo.

There are various kinds of relativism, and by no means are all of them bad. For example, there’s a relativism of size: 7 feet tall is very tall for a human being, very short for a giraffe. And a relativism … Continue reading →

Chunks of Dense Matter

This gallery contains 1 photo.

I pray that each one of us stays awake as we fall. I pray that we choose to go into the abyss willingly and that our fall is cushioned by faith–faith that at the bottom we will be caught and … Continue reading →

The Gift of Prayer

This gallery contains 1 photo.

We have just finished our third night of prayer for our dearly beloved, Lorena when her sister’s mother-in-law followed Lorena’s footsteps. Now, we have to remember the mother-in-law in our prayers as well. Tonight will be the sixth evening that is extra … Continue reading →

Crossing

This gallery contains 1 photo.

For those who are lost, there will always be cities that feel like home. ~ Simon Van Booy Many times I stood beside the Crossing waiting for CN Rail to come by filled with travelers from different parts of the … Continue reading →

Out of Solitude

As she looked at her own face in the mirror, she suddenly recalled the sorrowful widow. It was at that moment that she wrote the opening lines of “Solitude“.

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In giving shape my view of the world having a solitary person in the foreground suggests that it is okay to be alone but not lonely.

All work and no rest makes a man boring. Rest he did in his three-wheeler taxi cab. Who needs money when one is too tired to enjoy life. When he wakes up from his solitude, life becomes bearable again.

And what on earth is he doing down there alone? Fishing! Men prefer to reel a fish similar to playing golf, alone. So why do men enjoy fishing alone?  Because the fish are bigger and the stories are better with no witnesses!

In a crowd of a million tourist, he just have to sit down with a non-verbal companion. Maybe he had enough listening, blah-blah-blah. Or maybe he is just like me observing how silly tourist really are. Or maybe he left his wife in a store shopping. Or maybe…

Ah, solitude, such sweet surrender.

Hey – Did you hear? So, rumor has it that…

This gallery contains 1 photo.

If you are going to spread rumor, make it good that it will benefit others. You can quote me on that. This was the gist of my short talk about Occupational Health and Safety at our General Membership meeting . … Continue reading →

Feeling Good

This gallery contains 2 photos.

I’ve never read the book Anne of Green Gable written by L. M. Montgomery, a Canadian writer. The book is supposed to be a classic literature. Curiosity took over me and I came across with Chapter 5: Anne’s History. “Well, … Continue reading →

At the end of the day, I just want to be a cat

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Oh, there were resolutions to keep a low profile to pace myself to take it easy, because nothing is so important anyway but yesterday there was an inertia that got out of hand like a rolling thunder and good people … Continue reading →

What lies ahead without Fidel

This gallery contains 7 photos.

The earth expanding right hand and left hand, The picture alive, every part in its best light, The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted, The cheerful voice of the public road, the … Continue reading →

In Search of Advent at the Quay

This gallery contains 1 photo.

The parade just started when I got off the SkyTrain station at the Quay. Motorcades with signs ‘Season’s Greetings’, ‘Dream, Live, Celebrate’, ‘Merry Xmas’, ‘Only Santa delivers more’ drove carrying Gingerbread Man, Frosty the Snow Man, Rudolph the Red Nose … Continue reading →

Misch: Dog on the window is not for sale

This gallery contains 1 photo.

What is there to be thankful on a Black Friday when the focus is on shopping? Sale. Sale, Sale. Signs on the windows displayed 20 to 70 percent mark down. With the discounted prices still the sale is expensive since … Continue reading →

Life is Priceless

When you surrender,
the problem ceases to exist.
Try to solve it, or conquer it,
and you only set up more resistance.
I am very certain now that,
as I said therein,
if I truly become what I wish to be,
the burden will fall away.
The most difficult thing to admit,
and to realize with one’s whole being,
is that you alone control nothing.

— Henry Miller, A Literate Passion: Letters of Anais Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953. (Mariner Books,1989) Originally published 1945.

Thank you, David for your response in It’s been a long day.

Live by example

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Children have never been good at listening to their parents, but they have never failed to imitate them.  – John Medina Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five Be careful.

Volume of the week

This gallery contains 1 photo.

“Sunday is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week.”  – H.W. Longfellow

…anyway. One tough act to follow.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

This is the original version of Mother Teresa’s “Do it anyway” posted here written by Dr. Kent M. Keith. It is surprising to know that it was part of booklet for student leaders. Mother Teresa’s was re-written for spiritual purposes. In the real world, this is … Continue reading →

Yay! Books!

This gallery contains 2 photos.

It’s an escape A mental break Stress relief Improve memory Widen imagination Ice breaker Conersational piece And a LOT more! I have to give these away to get more books and start stocking up again.  

Pack nothing except prayers

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Another morning and I wake with thirst for the goodness I do not have. I walk out to the pond and all the way God has given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord, I was never a quick scholar but … Continue reading →

A thought for obsolete children

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Final Scene – Act V

This gallery contains 1 photo.

  He Dies

Paws and a Prayer

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Well, Maurice, do pray that cats go to heaven. A movie was made that dogs go to heaven and I am still waiting for Disney to make a movie that cats go to heaven. This is how I speak to … Continue reading →

The Giver and The Receiver

This gallery contains 2 photos.

For two years, I’ve waited when the birds will return. Lo and behold, I heard chirping and saw this little guy checking our the bird house. Who is more jubilant? Needless to say, me! Trying so many ways to give nature … Continue reading →

Traces of Reality

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Trust the children to draw what they see and use me as the object of their art. Provide them with pen, paper and Miss Pretty (mwah) using Picasso’s way of abstract art, the result is: So, which one would you choose? “There … Continue reading →

The Light Made It Visible

This gallery contains 1 photo.

“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” ~ Rumi Dawn of a new day On top of Mt. Sinai. Half light, half dark The light made it … Continue reading →

Deep question deserves deep answer

This gallery contains 1 photo.

How am I to approach the problem? Am I to take each problem one by one, to take fear, look at it, and then study love? How am I to capture the whole thing? I can’t capture the whole thing … Continue reading →

Happy Feet

This gallery contains 5 photos.

The March of the Penguins brings me to an animated movie Happy Feet 2 where they danced to the music of The Lord of the Dance written by Sydney Carter. It was at the Vancouver Aquarium I saw penguins for the first … Continue reading →

Seasons in the sun

This gallery contains 6 photos.

I love the sun. I want to catch it, if I could, keep it for myself. As I was about to reach out for it, a boy races towards the sun, beckoning to come along to play with him. Soon … Continue reading →

Who let the dog out?

This gallery contains 1 photo.

“Children are the seeds of our future. Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life’s lessons. When they are grown, give them space to grow ” The Way of Meditation

Sense of Wonder

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Do you know that we are just like cats that get scared easily, fearful? So be careful. All we need is love. Yesterday, I attended a conference in renewing my sense of wonder by bringing together theological, psychological and spiritual awareness … Continue reading →

Unimaginable You

This gallery contains 1 photo.

  It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada. I thank you for your readership.

The Way of a Seeker of Life

Every morning, when I look at myself in the mirror, this is what I see. Not my tousled hair, not the morning star at the corner of my eyes, not the blemishes on my skin. But this reminder what Life … Continue reading →

My, my, how much we have changed.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

It’s interesting to see how pets are ‘dressed up’ when there are so many people divesting themselves. It’s unfathomable how we change the nature of animals and ignore humans that need clothing. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast … Continue reading →

The Cat is always right!

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Source: Metro News Philosopher Cat by Jason Logan

This is what you shall do:

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Becca Givens started the Nurturing Thursday at: “On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea”. Click on this link to see what others have contributed to nurture yourself and others.  Come and join us. This is an open invitation.

Happy is as Happy does

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Becca Givens started the Nurturing Thursday at: “On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea”. Click on this link to see what others have contributed to nurture yourself and others.  Come and join us. This is an open invitation.

* Haiku – all you are

It’s Nurturing Thursday.
I decided to join Becca Givens and I think you should, too, without invitation
https://beccagivens.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/nurturing-thurs-ride-the-waves/

Val is good enough to give me a tug by ‘liking’ one of the comments I posted in a blog.

Her site happens to be very nurturing in helping us to “Find Your Middle Ground”

Here’s to us and let us encourage one another by nurturing uplifting post.

Find Your Middle Ground

~

Become all You are

Let go of roles and pleasing

Find Your Middle Ground

~

If you are new to this site, welcome!

Please explore more about finding your middle ground by clicking here.

View original post

Climate Change According to a Cat

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Think like a cat. “A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.” Marcel Proust

A Man and His Vision

This gallery contains 1 photo.

“To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance.” Jean Vanier founder of L’Arche. A humanist, philosopher, theologian, man of letters is first and foremost described by his companions as a man with heart, a man … Continue reading →

Be kind and listen.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Source: Random Act of Kindness

First Thing First

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Denzel Washington recently gave the Commencement Address at Dillard University in New Orleans. He broke his speech into four takeaways for the new graduates: Put God first: “Everything that I have is by the grace of God, understand that. It’s … Continue reading →

Muse: Changing Seasons

This gallery contains 7 photos.

“My heart mused and my spirit inquired” She was holding a flower when I first saw her. I wonder how she got it? Imagination takes over. Someone admires her and must have given her a flower. What a delightful sight … Continue reading →

Think Happy Thoughts

Today, someone sent me this note: “Think happy thoughts and good things will happen.”

It came at a time when the world around me is crumbling down. I am fine but not the people who I care about. I wish I can share the value of thinking positively that nothing is over until the fat lady sings.

It does take a lot of imagination to think happy thoughts. In order for me to see it vividly in my mind, there are several wallpaper on my computer to ignite and to tickle my funny brain.

Source: SoundingSoul Photography – Maria Vanesa Acuto

I can still remember the lady who took this photo. She has a very warm heart in doing volunteer work for SPCA.

The color of the hummingbird is effervescent and glitters as I hurriedly took a shot of it before it flew away.

And I am throwing this in to make everyone smile.

“Vivid is limited only by your imagination.”

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Vivid.”

On any given day, give thanks.

This gallery contains 3 photos.

When it comes to gardening, I prefer to start from seeds. It reminds me of conception to birth. The seeds are the eggs and the sperms are a mixture of good potting soil mixed with mushroom manure saturated further with … Continue reading →

Felines are taking over.

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Felines are taking over. Today New York, tomorrow the world. Move over Humans of New York. I must confess that I look at felines more than anything else on the internet. For me, it’s the best way to decompress after … Continue reading →

Proverbs

A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.

It’s hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!

• Don’t change horses …until they stop running.
• Strike while the …bug is close.
• It’s always darkest before …Daylight Saving Time.
• Never underestimate the power of …termites.
• You can lead a horse to water but …How?
• Don’t bite the hand that …looks dirty.
• No news is …impossible.
• A miss is as good as a …Mr.
• You can’t teach an old dog new …Math.
• If you lie down with dogs, you’ll …stink in the morning.
• Love all, trust …Me.
• The pen is mightier than the …pigs.
• An idle mind is …the best way to relax.
• Where there’s smoke there’s …pollution.
• Happy the bride who …gets all the presents.
• A penny saved is …not much.
• Two’s company, three’s …the Musketeers.
• Don’t put off till tomorrow what …you put on to go to bed.
• Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and …You have to blow your nose.
• There are none so blind as …Stevie Wonder.
• Children should be seen and not …spanked or grounded.
• If at first you don’t succeed …get new batteries.
• You get out of something only what you …See in the picture on the box.
• When the blind lead the blind …get out of the way.
• A bird in the hand …is going to poop on you.

And the WINNER and last one!

• Better late than … Pregnant!

Hat tip: Weezie
Image Credit: Love, Live and Laugh
Posted by Sandee

Quote and Unquote

A little thought on ‘today’

No matter if it’s a Monday or a Thursday,
a new month or the middle of it,
or the 1st of January or the 8th of February.
Any ‘today’ will give you the same opportunities
as these stated ‘start-over-days’ will do
– it’s just a matter of how welcoming we are
towards the concept of today.
Also how much we actually allow
ourselves to live in ‘the now’.

via A little thought on ‘today’.

Sketch: Carl Richards

Feed your patience – thank you.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot … Continue reading →

Your Instruction

The sound of silence
Is all the instruction
You’ll get

Haiku: Kerouac’s (1965)
Image: Tumblr

I want, I want, I want

We are put here for a little space
that we may learn
how to bear the beams of love.
…..William Blake

Think about this:

“What is it you seek?” asked the Master of a scholar who came to him for guidance.

“Life,” was the reply.

“If you are to live, words must die.” Said the Master.

When asked later what he meant, he said, “You are lost and forlorn because you dwell in a world of words. You feed on words, you are satisfied with words when what you need is substance. A menu will not satisfy your hunger. A formula will not slake your thirst.”   ~ Anthony de Mello, SJ

Credits on William Blake from:
Image from Todo El Oro Del Mundo
Qoute from Make Believe Boutique

No need to pretend

When you are a “holy fool” you’ve stopped trying to look like something more than you really are. That’s when you know, as you eventually have to know, that we are all naked underneath our clothes, and we don’t need to pretend to be better than we are.

I am who I am, who I am, who I am; and that creation, for some unbelievable reason, is who God loves, precisely in its uniqueness.

My true identity and my deepest freedom comes from God’s infinite love for me, not from what people think of me or say about me. Both the people who praise me and those who hate me are usually doing it for the wrong reasons.

Adapted from Franciscan Mysticism (an unpublished talk) Richard Rohr

Gateway to Silence:
I am who I am in the eyes of God, nothing more and nothing less.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair.”

Audrey Hepburn

I chopped my hair before I left for India. Short, very short. From long to short. Quite an extreme.

Nope, this is not me. But someone just addressed me Audrey Hepburn.  Flattery will take you nowhere.

Note to self: must dye hair, maybe.

The same key opens the door

Italian handwoven tapestry at the Italian Cultural Centre

 “To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven;
the same key opens the gates of hell.” ~ Buddhist proverb

Strong Self-Determination.

“It’s probably not just by chance that I’m alone.  It would be very hard for a man to live with me, unless he’s terribly strong.   And if he’s stronger than I, I’m the one who can’t live with him.  … I’m neither smart nor stupid, but I don’t think I’m a run-of-the-mill person.  I’ve been in business without being a businesswoman, I’ve loved without being a woman made only for love.  The two men I’ve loved, I think, will remember me, on earth or in heaven, because men always remember a woman who caused them concern and uneasiness.   I’ve done my best, in regard to people and to life, without precepts, but with a taste for justice.”   ―     Coco Chanel

I’ve watched the life story of CoCo Chanel and I find her story remarkable. She swam against the current  of adversity in a man’s world. When you have a chance, I highly recommend the film.

Thank you, Deo for  the quote. Visit Deo’s site for more.

via Favorite Quotes on Strong Self-Determination..

Transformation: Way of Life

Tri-angle hands of women

May I see what I do.
May I do it differently.
May I make this a way of life.

 

The story behind the prayer Let the discomfort begin with me.
Contributor: Courtney E. Martin
Via: On Being with Krista Tippett

Four Corner Angle

“I love my stories being multi-layered, and coming at it from different angles so that you don’t understand the film’s true emotional motivation until the very end.” ~  M. Night Shyamalan

Look up north, look down south
Look west and look east
The street is lined with colour

The City of Vancouver created a permanent rainbow-coloured crosswalk in Davie Street village to cover all angles in celebrating city’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and queer communities. This area is LGBTQ friendly.

…. Tell me,

This gallery contains 1 photo.

… Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one and wild precious life? ~ Mary Oliver Asking AC a serious question is difficult. It’s hard to get a straight answer from him. The question is what … Continue reading →

Waiting in silence

“In the Dark” ~ Thanksgiving 2014

The true contemplative is
not one who prepares his mind
for a particular message that he
wants or expects to hear,
but is one who remains empty
because he knows that he can never
expect to anticipate the words
that will transform his
darkness into light.

He does not demand
light instead of darkness.

He waits on the Word of God
in silence,
and when he is “answered,”
it is not so much by a word
that burst into his silence.

It is by his silence itself,
suddenly, inexplicably
revealing itself to him as
a word of great power,
full of the voice of God.

Thomas Merton from Dialogues with Silence
Source: Parabola Fall 2004 page 71

Keep Writing

Doubts pushed me into drawing up a list, “Eleven Thoughts on Rejection Dejection,” responses to questions one side of me was asking the other. I admit the weary voice of continuance half hoped retreat would prevail:

• A real writer perseveres—he cannot do otherwise.
• The only effective escape lies in more writing.
• Cease evaluating and just write.
• If first you don’t succeed, write, write again.
• Better to fail than walk away haunted.
• How much do you respect failure?
• What else is really worth doing that you could do?
• Write until you prove unequivocally that you can’t.
• Try quitting to see how you like it.
• Write your best today and the hell with tomorrow.
• To keep writing is to live in hope and possibility.

Source: “A Guy in a Metal Suicide-Box,” chapter six of Writing Blue Highways, is reprinted here by permission from the University of Missouri Press and the author via Talking Writing.

What compels me to write.
Well, first and foremost, an old quote from a wise friend: “A paper refuses no ink.” Secondly, it’s a very long list of stories of in between times.

Now, what compels you to write?

Quote and UnQuote ~ Pearl of Wisdom

“When an oyster becomes irritated, it produces a pearl.” comment from roweeee,

Understand, Adapt and Grow.

Read all about it via How to Get the Most From Irritating People.

Quote and UnQuote

The human soul is hungry for beauty;
we seek it everywhere,
in landscape, music, art, clothes,
furniture, gardening, companionship,
love, religion, and in ourselves.
No one would desire not to be beautiful.
When we experience the beautiful,
there is a sense of homecoming.

~John O’Donohue

via beauty & the quantum leap.

This quote came from Make Believe Boutique, a site that will make you feel good and beautiful especially the part “when the angels come.” Visit and enjoy.

Autumn of Life

This gallery contains 1 photo.

The autumn leaves can dazzle us with their magnificent colors: deep red, purple, yellow, gold, bronze, in countless variations and combinations. Then, shortly after having shown their unspeakable beauty, they fall to the ground and die. The barren trees remind … Continue reading →

October Glee

“Then came October, full of merry glee.” ~ Edmond Spenser

Signs and Wonders

God uses loneliness
to teach us about
living together.

Sometimes he uses anger
so that we can understand
the infinite value of peace.

At other times he uses tedium,
when he wants to show us
the importance of adventure
and leaving things behind.

God uses silence
to teach us about the
responsibility of what we say.

At times he uses fatigue
so that we can understand
the value of waking up.

At other times he uses sickness
to show us
the importance of health.

God uses fire
to teach us
about water.

Sometimes he uses earth
so that we can understand
the value of air.

And at times he uses death
when he wants to show us
the importance of life.

Read the signs.

by Paulo Coelho

Harvest Time: Carrots

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Well, the dog is happy. Found Seeker and rescued her from boredom, along with the rest. All kidding aside, this is the result of hard work of container gardening. One thing that I don’t understand is what made one carrot so different from … Continue reading →

Learn from me, you will find me waiting for you!

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Life has seen me standing hungry by the fence and fed me with a fig from its trees seen me naked under the sky and clothed me in a cloud of its cotton seen me sleeping on the pavement and … Continue reading →