My Recent News

My little dog Cinnamin died yesterday. She had been doing so well, and then one day she somehow poked her eye - probably on some stiff field grass - and had to have eye surgery for a corneal abrasion. It was just too much for her to handle... the underlying issues of cancer, kidney disease, and arthritis.... the pain of the surgery, not being able to see while her eye was healing, the stress of the surgery itself, the anesthesia, and the nausea caused by the antibiotics.

She hung around for almost a week, saying her goodby, and then she was gone...

I cannot believe that the sun had the gall to come up this morning, that the leaves and the grasses sparkle in the afternoon light, that birds still sing, or that life will march relentlessly on... and yet it is so.

If I were not surrounded by friends and family who love me and are taking care of me, I might not have the courage to be here now today. So, be kind... be kind to everyone you meet, we all suffer... we all lose those we love... if not sooner - than later... we are all fighting a great fight. The little kindesses make all the difference. And it's good to have friends, even in hell!

Here is a picture of her little sweet self... and an awesome poem to go with it.
Blessings,
Shirley



For what is it to die but to stand naked in the
wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is to cease breathing, but to free the
breath from its restless tides, that it may rise

and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence

shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountaintop,

then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs,

then shall you truly dance.

~Kahlil Gibran
From The Prophet on Death

Being Unhappy

"According to Buddhism, your unhappiness is never really caused by circumstances. The real cause of unhappiness is your belief that your happiness is caused by circumstances.

You do not have to accomplish or acquire or earn anything to experience peace, love, and joy now. You do not have to "make" your own happiness all you have to do is to stop making yourself unhappy and to remember your own deepest truth as a being of Spirit.

Does this mean that we simply give up all of our desires and dreams? No, because it's not the goals and dreams that are the problem, but rather how we understand and live toward them. Going for your dreams can be an intrinsic part of the joy and passion of your life and can be how you concretely express the love and joy that are your truth. But as soon as you (choose to) believe that your happiness is dependent on a certain outcome, or that "things" have to change for you to be happy, then you are living in fear. You are no longer expressing your joy, but are desperately trying to achieve or earn it."

~ William R. Yoder Ph.D., D.C. ~

I am a lonely painter

"I am a lonely painter. I live in a box of paints. I'm frightened by the Devil And I am drawn to those who a'int..."

~Joni Mitchell

Monkey Mind

"In this age of skepticism, we are skeptical about everything except the skepticism itself. We have put all our faith in skepticism and doubt all else. Is it a wise course of action? Is there a truth out there? Our mind doubts everything except its own capability to find the truth. We have put all our faith in our limited and doubting mind and doubt that there is anything greater than our limited power of intellect.

Are we than any better than a common beast of burden? Even a dog has put its full faith in its limited mind and in its ignorance; it thinks it’s a top of creation. That’s why it remains to be a dog!

In India, they catch monkeys by putting few seeds in a pitcher with a narrow neck, while monkey is watching. As soon as no one is around, monkey darts and grabs the seeds in a pitcher but now with a clenched fist it cannot get hand out of a pitcher. It will not let go because its mind will not let him.

This is what mind does – it plants the seed of doubt through its endless analyzing, fragmenting and splintering of the simple truth, while in all its wisdom it remains completely oblivious of its own limitations. It’s a great mistake to think that mind is the top of evolution because it is not. The soul is! Without soul, the mind would be a dead piece of matter."

~ Daniel Srsa

Invisiblility - It is possible!

Belive it or not, there is a lizard on the trunk of this tree.
Can you see him?
He really is there!
Don't believe me?


Here's a picture of him in profile - on that same tree.
Give up?
Need a hint? Click here to see the lizard marked out in the bark.

Here's more about this intriguing little lizard.


These small lizards live in trees and are masters of Camouflage. If they are sitting on a bark without moving, its almost impossible to find them. On land they are clumsy and easy victims for predators. When scared, they run up a tree.


When threatened, they leap off the tree. With their "wings" stretched out, these long-tailed, lightly built lizards glide gracefully. The wings act like parachutes. They gently land on another tree, head up. When they land, they run up the tree, getting ready for their next flight.

During mating season, male flying lizards defend their territories. They court females by displaying their bright yellow throat flap as shown in the photograph above. They have to, as they are well camouflaged otherwise.

Pretty cool, huh? Just goes to show that it IS possible to be invisible - and that just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there!

Do You Believe in Fairies?

I posted the folowing question about a year ago over at question of the day. And I thought it would be fun to revisit it...

Fairies
Do you believe in fairies? If so, have you ever seen one? Why do you believe in them? If not, why not? And if there is no such thing as fairies, why are there so many stories about them?

We had 2 Comments:

Cindy H said...
Yes, I do believe in fairies! I don't think they are quite as common here in the midwest US, but there are some here. I haven't ever seen one up close and personal, but maybe someday I will! I think fairies are distant cousins, so to speak, of angels, leprachauns, and other magical beings. September 1, 2007 12:48 AM

shirley said...
I believe in fairies too. I have never seen one with my physical eyes - but I have talked to them... and they have talked to me... and I almost knew what they looked like.I had a friend who had fairies on her property and in her house. I spent a long afternoon there once, painting her woodwork. And they would come and talk to me... it was pretty cool. I didn't hear their voices with my ears - I heard them in my mind... the same way that you hear when you are remembering a conversation with someone... like that. They were very curious ... it was pretty cool. And I know how crazy this sounds!
September 1, 2007 2:48 AM

So here we are - a year later... what do YOU think? Have you ever seen a fairy? Are they for real? What do they look like? Are they big? or little? Do they have wings and fly around? Or are fairies a totally made up story? A complete fantasy? Come on guys... talk to me...

SEED Conference Sketchnotes

SEED Conference: Sketchnotes 17
Originally uploaded by Mike Rohde

Ok... so I found this really cool series of sketch notes... I uploaded the latest set at My Work at Home Job. If you are interested in stuff like this - go check it out.!