Lightening Strikes

I’m having trouble with this week’s Om Minute. It has been a week of buffeting – like the electricity from all these thunderstorms is affecting people and events surrounding me and it’s hard to know where to look next. And it’s hard not to just run under the bed with the dog and wait it out. Yes, I am thinking of the tragedy in Colorado, as well as tragedies big and small happening to people I know and love. I get the feeling I am the eye in the storm and crazy things are spinning around me.

That’s not to say I think I’m the center of things, but that these events are not hitting my person or immediate family; and I want to say, “I hope it stays that way” but then I feel selfish/guilty – you have been on that merry-go-round, right?

The saying goes, Into each life a little rain must fall, but when it is happening to you, it doesn’t feel like a little rain; it feels like a deluge. Everyone, at one time or other, goes through periods like this, where the world around becomes less stable than we’d like. Eventually, the storm passes and we return to peace.

I just heard Marianne Williamson say today that when we look up and think, The skies are gray, that is not the truth, but the perception, because the grayness is just a veil, and beyond the clouds lies the blue sky. I am going to look up and think of that bright blue vastness behind these clouds, and I hope you will too.

Next week, I promise to be funny!!  (Yikes, now the pressure’s on . . .)

Changes

Growing up, my family consisted of a mom, a dad, five sisters, and finally, from out of the blue, a brother. The appearance of this dark-haired kid was a thrill to me. I always loved the little ones! And the fact that he was a male, plopped into the laps of five little girls, made things even more interesting.

My brother Jonathan came on the scene when I was around 8 or 9. He now hovers around six and a half feet, altitudinally, and he was never small; but I carried him around on my hip until his feet nearly dragged on the ground.

The very novelty of having a boy around has given me vivid memories of him. Like in my Catholic grade school, we had Hamburger Day every few months. Mom was the Hamburger Lady, and she’d bring my brother Jon to the school along with the boxes of burgers and orange drinks. She’d send him to my classroom and we’d eat our squishy burgers squeezed into my desk chair. He was my living, breathing show-and-tell.

I also remember sitting on the bottom bunk in our red, white and blue bedroom and teaching him to tie his shoes.  I don’t think that was successful, probably because I was overenthusiastic and he was only three years old and not the most dexterous kind in the house. And I remember a car trip when he was getting over the chicken pox; in the days before seatbelts, he would lay himself across our laps and have his sisters take turns counting his chicken pox scabs.  I think it distracted him from the itch.

My most vivid memory is one from which I believe he still carries a scar – I dropped a little dish full of melted sugar on his bare foot.  For heaven’s sake, who ever thought a cotton candy machine was a good idea for a kid? I still cringe at the memory, at the same time remembering the awe I felt for how very very widely he could open his mouth to cry.

With four sisters, the appearance of a little brother was a novelty.  I’m sure I could come up with a list of memories for each sister as well, but it’s possible I’d mix up who was where, and when. They all looked alike. And they couldn’t get their mouths around a doorknob.

Personal to Jon:  I swear, I wrote this up on Thursday, well before our Jon-centric family conversation on Sunday!!

Good Health Can Drive You Nuts!

“If I did everything “they” say I need to do to be healthy,

I wouldn’t have time to go to work!”

While we roll mats and organize blocks after a class, my students and I often talk about health issues and concerns, and share tidbits we’ve gleaned from our reading and internet browsing.  This week we talked about green drinks, and how, in order to indulge in this nutritional powerhouse, one needs not only a Vitamix blender ($330 to $650 on their website), but the time and energy to get to the farmer’s market or organic food store often enough to keep fresh ingredients on hand. A worthy goal? Perhaps, but one that comes with time and money constraints.

Here’s another topic:  It seems that taking daily vitamin supplements is seen in the same vein as believing in God in the trenches – Do it, just in case!

An article in Time Magazine recently listed colonoscopies as unnecessary and old-fashioned; yet last summer Time also printed a story by Dr. Oz about how his own 50-year old colonoscopy probably saved his life. Hmmmm.

And hormones for menopause, well, bring that up in a huddle of women and be prepared to hear as many adamant opinions as there are huddlers. “I use all-natural supplements. They work. Sort of.” “Anything’s better than the symptoms.” “I would never play around with my body’s natural state.” “Gimme the drugs, I need to sleep!”

I will stop here; the list could go on and on. So what’s a health-conscious person to do? 

It’s simple: Do your best. 

What Would Mother Say?

Mother Theresa once said that she would not attend an anti-war rally; but invite her to a Peace rally and she’d be there. 

I often talk about words in this space, because it is through words that we do most of our communicating, and through words that we do the most harm to each other.  Think back on the last time that a well-intentioned hug brought bad feelings.  No, I thought not.  Now think back on the last time you said some well-intentioned words that backfired on you.  How about this one:  Oh, when are you due? (Not pregnant.) Or this variation on the classic: Your butt doesn’t look so big in those jeans. Even with robust rear ends being fashionable these days, this phrasing will not win you any gratitude.

(Notice I'm avoiding internet communication entirely; that world is fraught with pitfalls!)

Words are important because they convey our feelings. One day when we all have ESP and can read each others’ thoughts we won’t have to worry so much about choosing our words as carefully, because thoughts will be transferred without the interference of the alphabet, and the intent will be transferred along with meaning. But who knows when this will happen; until then, let’s try to improve our vocabulary.

Instead of; Try:

Poverty; non-abundance

Sick; unwell/unhealthy

Fearful; insecure

Clumsy; graceless

Sinful; unholy

Worried; unsettled

Get the idea?  Avoid the negative term and replace it with the negative of the positive! I’m having trouble with anger, though.  Maybe because there are so many things we need to be angry about right now, so maybe anger isn’t really a negative term. Any thoughts?

No Bears

I am taking a few days to be alone.  Alone with my thoughts and ideas; alone with my computer, alone with my dreams. No cell service, no TV, no internet, just a landline phone and a DVD player. Well, almost alone, because I did bring my reluctant dog Sport.  I had to carry him to the car this morning, but now he’s snoring peacefully on the couch.

Despite gleefully anticipating this break from reality for weeks, I felt a twinge of anxiety when I turned up the road leading to this little purple cabin in the mountains. Did I really want to be alone for three days?? I had to do some yoga breathing (yes, I practice what I preach!) for the first mile or so up the hill.  It didn’t help that huge orange dump trucks kept rumbling past me on the narrow winding road, probably ten of them during the five-mile ascent. Yikes!

After Sport and I took a spin around the backyard I dragged all my stuff inside and set up for my aloneness.  Food in the fridge, laptop plugged in at the kitchen table, chocolate and wine within easy reach. I turned on the hot water heater and ate a banana and here I am. The weather is iffy today, overcast and pretty chilly, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warmer.  I plan to take a noisy (bear-scaring) walk with Sport down to the river to meditate.  Maybe I’ll bring my iPad so I can play music to keep away the, well, you know. I’ll let you know how that goes.

P.S. I’m home now. Not a bear in sight! It was great. I wonder when my family will let me desert them again . . .