Another Trip Around the Sun

 Song - Feeling Good by Nina Simone

 

 

WELCOME 2022

 

Birds flying high, you know how I feel

Sun in the sky, you know how I feel

Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel

 

It's a new dawn

It's a new day....

 

 

and it's a New Year! 

"Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know."

-- Pema Chodron

 

 

Embrace It All

Song - Stop In The Name of Love by the Supremes

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Paris and it is difficult for me to cope with the tragedy and violence from last weekend.

I had an art reception on Sunday that I was going to post about today but in seems so irrelevant in view of what's happening in our world right now.  I will save it for another day.

I hope you find time to light a candle, say a prayer or make yourself & a friend a warm cup of tea.

One of my favorite sculptures of Joan of Arc at Chateau Rivau

"We could learn to stop when the sun goes down and when the sun comes up.  We could learn to listen to the wind; we could learn to notice that it's raining or snowing or hailing or calm.  We could reconnect with the weather that is ourselves, and we could realize that it's sad.  The sadder it is, and the vaster it is, the more our heart opens.  We can stop thinking that good practice is when it's smooth and calm, and bad practice is when it's rough and dark.  If we can hold it all in our hearts, then we can make a proper cup of tea."  --Pema Chodron

An Evening in Los Angeles

Song - Hallelujah by K.D. Lang

I have so much to share with you.....

Over the weekend, I flew (all my myself) to Los Angeles!  Now for those of you who know me, I am not a confident flyer.  I have to sit myself down and give myself a good talking to, in order to be able to step on a plane. 

So this weekend, I was visiting a good friend and going with her to an evening event at UCLA.

Gwen and myself at Royce Hall

But before we get to that, we had some time to play so we went to the Getty Museum and gardens. It was amazing.  I never even knew that they had a garden!

You walk down a wooden & stone walkway that zig-zags you over a stream and waterfalls. But because of the drought, it wasn't at its full roar!  The stream ends up pouring into this floating azalea maze.

They had metal trees with Bougainvillea growing inside in a variety of colors.

There were a lot of semi-tropical plants which I didn't know the names of because we can't grow them in Northern California. I especially liked this one below.

It was quite warm and the kids were playing in the stone studded stream.

Then we only had a wee bit of time to go inside........but just look what we found!

Van Gogh

Monet

Khnopff

Godward

By the time we got back to Gwen's car, it was just a few blocks to get to our event.

I have never been on the UCLA campus before. 

The event consisted of a Spiritual discussion with Pema Chodron and K.D. Lang.  Leading the discussion was the founder & CEO of Sounds True, Tami Simon.  You can read more about the evening here. 

Tami & Pema

K.D. Lang helping Pema off stage

After a brief intermission, K.D. held a concert.  Her voice is as smooth and lovely as ever.  In fact, one of the songs she sang was the one I included at the top of this post - Hallelujah.  

Spectacular evening!

This quote was displayed in one of the greeting rooms at Royce Hall. 

Hooray for flying and good friends!!!!

Soul Full

Without infringing on anyone's privacy, I need to share.  

I have an amazing friend. 

I smile just saying those words.

She is very ill.

I have been sending good energy her way and saying many prayers.

As are many others.

 

Today I meditated facing east, as the sun was setting behind me.

I got so much comfort from this.

I was reminded that her soul needs to do what it needs.  Not what mine wants, not what her loving family and dear friends want.  

Her soul may need encouragement by prayer and energy of so many who love her but probably not.  

Her soul probably already knows.....somewhere deep inside, how loved she is. 

But it can't hurt.

“Bodhichitta is our heart—our wounded, softened heart. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die. This love is bodhichitta. It is gentle and warm; it is clear and sharp; it is open and spacious. The awakened heart of bodhichitta is the basic goodness of all beings.”--Pema Chodron

A Little Cooing Going On

Song - Bird Song by The Wailin' Jennys




Last week I posted about the Mourning Dove that built a nest on Mr. B's ladder in our side yard.

She (or he) is still there!

Since posting, I have done some research on Mourning Doves and found out that the male sits on the nest during the day so the female can feed and then the female sits on the nest during the night giving the male a break. 

However, I also found out that the female is always on time but the male occasionally will leave the nest a little early.  Sound familiar?

My oldest son, Andy had to go and one-up me by sending me a photo of his Mourning Dove at work.......mmmmm......I think his wins for most beautifully decorated!

At the Getty museum over the weekend, I found this lovely little painting with Doves nesting in a the helmet of Mars.

Detail from Mars and Venus, an Allegory for Peace by Louis-Jean-Francois Lagrenee

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. ” - Pema Chodron

 

 Song - Sounds of Autumn

 

 

"We could learn to stop when the sun goes down 

and when the sun comes up. 

We could learn to listen to the wind; 

we could learn to notice that it’s raining 

or snowing 

or hailing 

or calm. 

We could reconnect with the weather 

that is ourselves, 

and we could realize that it’s sad. 

The sadder it is, 

and the vaster it is, 

the more our heart opens. 

We can stop thinking 

that good practice is 

when it’s smooth and calm, 

and bad practice is 

when it’s rough and dark. 

If we can hold it all in our hearts, 

then we can make a proper cup of tea."

from "Wisdom of No Escape" by Pema Chodron

 

 

Soul Surfing

This morning I got up early and drove to Tomales for my painting class with Jeanette Le Grue. I hesitated about going because lately I have been in a painting slump.....of sorts.

But I pushed myself out of the door while the sun was still asleep and the moon was out.

The beauty of the pink sky just before dawn almost made me drive off the road!  Then came the orange sun that turned the golden hills a lovely shade of copper.

OK.

I was nervous.  Anxious.

High drama.

Would I ever be able to paint again?????


I made a deal with myself.  I won't drink too much caffeine on the drive there so I won't get too high strung in class and I can focus on painting.

I can do this.

Good deal.

Jeanette Le Grue's home & gallery

Right?



I'll be calm and just absorb all of this wonderful knowledge that is being shown to me.  Jeanette is an incredibly gifted teacher and sweet as can be.

The day was frosty and beautiful. The little yellow school buses were just returning from their morning drive when I pulled up in front of the studio.

The Studio

The old water tower now used as a workshop and guest house

After Jeanette's demo we began to set up our easels and painting supplies.  During class I heard several other painters letting out deep sighs as they tried to tackle today's project. One painter was ready to give up painting for life because it just wasn't coming to her "fast enough"!

Why then did this please me?

My guess is that I just needed to know that I was not alone, wallowing in my pity party.

I perked up instantly.

My painting began to improve immediately.

I was even humming (in my head).

After class I was so thrilled with the painting.....and with myself.....well, just because!

I drove to Dillon beach afterwards to take a long walk along the water.

It was warm and there were lot's of people on the beach as well as surfers enjoying the waves.

 On the ride home I drove through the countryside and what do you think I saw on Friday the Thirteenth? 

 A Highland Cow?

Yup!

Gracie - Jeanette's guardian in the studio?

Yup!

A Camel?

Mmmmm.......?

YES....there is a camel in the Tomales countryside!

Enjoy your Saturday and I hope you find lot's of little treasures in this wonderful,

funny world we live in!!

Today I have two quotes for you because.....well..... because today I just "stayed" with my insecurities and fear.  They didn't gobble me up.

“A further sign of health is that we don't become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it's time to stop struggling and look directly at what's threatening us. ”  - Pema Chodron

“Surfing expresses ... a pure yearning for visceral, physical contact with the natural world.” -- Matt Warshaw, Maverick's: The Story of Big-Wave Surfing

Stay

Stay is a powerful word.

                                    

Stay with me

Stay the course

Stay in the moment

Stay for awhile

Stay with those feelings

Please stay.....

When the feelings of "fight or flight" come up, I'm generally the first one out-the-door.  But more and more I am learning to stay. Simply stay. 

It's far too easy to go off to the movies, downtown shopping, veg out on the computer or TV, or take a two week trip to Belize (did I just say that?) to avoid an uncomfortable situation or uneasy feelings. I now recognize when I start packing my suitcase for a quick unplanned road trip, I'm usually running from something.

First it's being aware that I'm "heading out of Dodge" in one form or another.

I allow myself the option of still taking off but first I try to figure out what I'm trying to avoid. Just like mom always said "Stop.....Look....and....Listen".

If I have the ability at that particular moment to stay with those feelings for at least a little while then I feel that I can grow as a person.  Usually just being aware & thinking about the "pink elephant" in the room is enough to calm the angst in me.

                                

We all need to take a breather or just get some distance from a situation for a different perspective but doing the inner work takes courage and is great for the soul.

"Seeing Ourselves Clearly - When we begin to see clearly what we do, how we get hooked and swept away by old habits, our usual tendency is to use that as a reason to get discouraged, a reason to feel really bad about ourselves.  Instead, we could realize how remarkable it is that we actually have the capacity to see ourselves honestly, and that doing this takes courage.  It is moving in the direction of seeing our life as a teacher rather than as a burden.  This involves, fundamentally, learning to stay present, but learning to stay with a sense of humor, learning to stay with loving-kindness toward ourselves and with the outer situation, learning to take joy in the magic ingredient of honest self-reflection.

                                                            -quote from Pema Chodron "Taking the Leap"

I love those words...especially........stay with loving kindness and a sense of humor!  Oh yeah AND learning to see our lives as a teacher rather than a burden! 

                                                            

“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.”  
 - Albert Einstein

Quiet Gray

Tomales Bay

Last Friday I drove out to Tomales for a painting class and afterward turned down the coast to "Nick's Cove".  It was so calm, quiet & beautiful out there on the water - but very COLD!  It's a charming place to stay or just dine on the waterfront!

"The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves."
— Pema Chödrön (When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times)