mandala thoughts

"Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life."  -- Pema Chodron

[Had some fun coloring this past week...]

mindful morning moments

It is the first day of spring, and this day is very welcome. I haven't done an "at this moment" post in a while and it seemed fitting since I am completely enjoying the scene out of the sliding glass doors with a view of the popular bird feeder on this chilly morning (temperature "feels like" 17 degrees F according to weather.com). This afternoon is my first band concert in 30 years and I am really excited about it. Since I picked up my flute in February, I would say it has been like riding a bike, if by that I mean I have had to figure out how the pedals work again and how to keep my balance on the seat and move forward . . . and brake. I have had to work very hard to get myself ready for each weekly rehearsal to be able to get out there today and do a good job. I am ready.

What I see: birds fluttering around the bird feeder . . . goldfinches still grayish brown, house finches, the occasional black-capped chickadee and a few juncos hopping around the deck floor to pick up the leftovers

What I hear: the hum of the refrigerator (note to self, we need to get a new one soon)

What I taste: black coffee. keep it coming.

What I smell: coffee. okay, that was redundant, but this morning the two senses are intertwined.

What I feel: a vague heaviness in my eyelids and slight soreness in my right hand from all the flute practicing yesterday. C'mon fingers! Move with precision!

looking outside and inside too

"You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer."

--Thich Nhat Hanh

at this (holiday) moment

What I see: Gentle glowing lights on the beautiful Christmas tree on a dark morning.
What I hear: The sounds of Benjamin Britten softly in the background.
What I taste: Coffee with a splash of eggnog.
What I smell: Nothing much beyond the taste of the residual coffee.
What I feel: soft, warm pajamas on my skin and a pillow on my back as I cuddle on the couch with my laptop. (Consciously trying to let go of muscle tension in my shoulders...stored up from the past few days.)


Try this simple "at this moment" practice now and then to have a mindful moment. Just checking in with your senses is centering and calming.

secret #5

Brian Andreas 2015 - StoryPeople.com

Today I am doing the minimum of things I usually do on a Saturday because I am tired and don't feel 100%. There are a lot of things going on and I am just trying to surf high on the stress wave and find the joy.

hidden waters, divine bliss

"Feel the hidden waters of Spirit trickling through all material life

. . . . Feel the divine bliss of Spirit within you and all things."  

-- Paramahansa Yogananda

the fragrance of nature

On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.

--  Jules Renard

at this moment

the light of this computer screen
in front of the white-gray of the sky
out the window
coming through horizontal lines

tap tap tappita sounds
of a woodpecker on the maple bark
punk rocker red cardinal friend
chirps and calls from the oak top
black capped chickadee whistling
fee-bee, fee-bee
digital sounds of a blue jay and
rapid musical notes
from the orange-breasted robin

buzz of hummingbird wings
near the vine geranium pot
carrying deep red blooms
goldfinches chattering away
along with red-winged black birds and more

sounds greet aroma of freshly brewed coffee
fragrance meets moist, near-rainy fresh air
cool on my skin

mouth and tongue readying for
the taste and texture of some toast and blackberry jam
-- don’t forget the melted butter

(what I see, what I hear, what I smell, what I feel, what I taste
early this morning)

© nan, 2015

Up early this morning, watchful and taking it all in. It was the perfect time to gather a few observations into an "at this moment" post -- something I haven't done for a time. It is meditative to do this practice, and to write it down is just fun. Not writing down much poetry, lately, this may help to scratch the surface... to bring thoughts and feelings up and out. Try it.

screen saver (soul recharge)

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love.
It will not lead you astray. 

~ Rumi

laws of karma

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” 

― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Image by Cristina McAllister, via Google Images

I finally got to yoga this morning after many weeks away . . . body and spirit are refreshed! The thoughtful parting words today had to do with the laws of karma. What you do has an effect. What you say has even more of an effect. What you think has the greatest effect of all. Watch what you are doing, saying, and especially thinking!

I am thinking SPRING! (Actually, why stop at spring? I am thinking SUMMER!)

sunrise in the snow and cold

I don't often photograph this backyard tree, but I liked the eastern sky behind it very much, and it shows how the snow is sticking to the tree bows. The temps, according to my online sources are either -4 or -8 (with windchill feels like either -25 or -28 F degrees). That is damn cold. I am staying inside today. 

staying in the moment

At this moment. *

What I see: golden sunlight, muted, through horizontal blinds on the window my desk faces, (and valances occasionally fluttering)
What I hear: a chorus of crickets in mid afternoon and a slight rustling of the leaves in the autumn breeze
What I taste: green tea with ginseng and honey lingering on my tongue (afternoon tea is both a luxury and today, a necessity)
What I smell: fresh air from open windows (and tea steam in the foreground)
What I feel: heaviness in my eyelids and relaxed/tired muscles of a body craving a nap

It is a challenge for a planner like me to stay in the moment. I like to have it all mapped out. I like to have the illusion of control . . . at least control over one day or one week or one month. We get just one moment at a time, however, and all we can control is how we react to it.

Yesterday was a busy day from sun up to sun down. It was a fun day. I put on a big lunch for some family members who came into town to go to the local pumpkin fest and cider mill. Matt played golf with my dad while Tom and I and my mom took my brother and sister-in-law and my two nieces to the festival.  That was the plan. Spontaneously though we decided that we would, all nine of us, head over to the Moosewood in Ithaca for a nice meal -- on top of the already full day we had put in. By the time we got home it was pretty late and that laundry I was going to do just had to wait.

This morning, we got up early to head an hour north for what was to be two baseball double-headers for Matt's fall ball team. It was about 70 degrees here and forecast to be the same there . . . but on the way it started raining and the thermometer did not rise above 60. I sat under an umbrella in the rain (while Tom, keeping the book, got to be in the covered dugout) and I tried to have fun as my feet and legs got soaking wet. After one and a half innings, the game was called, and we dragged our wet bodies into the car and traveled home.

With the found afternoon, I am going to be able to do that laundry after all, and maybe even read a little more of my book. As much as I love to relax, I am not all that good at it any more,. I move from one thing to the next, ticking things off a to do list. I know that this is not how to live a life. I know better. So I made myself at least pause for a few minutes, sit down to write in between laundry loads, in my "found" quiet house with Matt off to golf and Tom off to his office to grade papers. I have no control over what happens in a planned out day. It will take on a life of its own. All I can do is to try to remember in each moment that I can control how I react.

I figure repeating this little lesson to myself may be useful this month as I have been called for a one month term of jury duty for the U.S. District Court in the city about 45 minutes north of where I live  -- and I have to call every Thursday night to see if I have to report the following week. I called this past Thursday night and learned that this week there are no trials, so I have a stay until next week. I will have to take it all in stride. I may have to report, I may get selected, I may have to serve one day or one trial, and I will be "active" until the first week of November or the end of any trial, whichever is later unless excused before that time. Talk about no control over one's schedule. Still, I won't try to get out of it. We'll see what happens. I'll be all "Shogun" like, or so I'll try. If I have to serve, this is as good a month as any. I don't have scheduled work travel until next month, and somehow my employer and I will have to work things out if I get called, just like every other working person who has to serve.

Well, enough procrastinating. Back to the next moment. Cheers. (Okay, I am probably lying. I am probably going over to Tumblr now to reblog some good posts. Who am I kidding?)

* "At this moment,"  is an easy exercise in mindfulness that I recommend! When it comes to the "feel" part, try to focus on the senses and not the emotions. That is another exercise entirely. Take a break and pay attention, will you?

the conscious slow down

What I see: sun light through diagonally tilted window blinds  -- as the golden sun sets

What I hear: the whir of fans drying paint in the bathroom

What I taste: bubble gum, nearly spent, being chomped and cracked by my teeth

What I smell: a mixture of fresh paint, and pink bubble gum

What I feel: tension in my neck and the coziness of a sweatshirt on a cool evening

It has been a while since I have done an "at this moment" post. I recommend this exercise for those times you really need to slow.it.down and pay attention. Random thoughts here since I am all hopped up on doing too much the past week. I haven't posted in a while due to a full work schedule and adding in a household project of hiring a friend to do some painting inside our house. It has been a long while since we have painted, and so everything seems to need freshing up at once.  I had forgotten what a lot of work it is even when you hire someone to paint -- to get rooms ready and to put things back together again.

Today we had the main bathroom painted. I really like the shade of sage-grey-green I picked out. It is so difficult to take a tiny paint card and imagine what it will look like full-on walls. I am happy that I like the color. It is a nice change.

After four days last week and one day this week of our friend painting by day, and us readying by night - we will have about a three week break before tackling three more rooms at the end of June. We are leaving our family room as is for now -- it is not as old - and honestly, I don't think I can take much more.

Add in to that working shifts in the concession stand for a state soccer tournament at the high school all weekend and getting to yoga (ah- an hour of relaxation!) and laundry and fun with friends Saturday night . . . I am starting out my week with a very tired Monday and wondering how I will get through the rest of this week without my neck and shoulders seizing up from stress. (Slight exaggeration, but not by a lot.) I miss making time for reading and writing and listening to music. I hope to be back to all of that soon.

It's funny, I am really not a gum chewer -- but when I get a bit crazed, nothing does the trick like ball-park. individually wrapped bubble gum purchased by the handfuls out of a plastic bucket. Dubble Bubble -- that's the stuff. Love it. And if no one is around -- it is so much fun to blow bubbles and snap and crack that gum! So there you have it. Stress relief by Nan: yoga, bubble gum, and paying attention to "this moment."

near light

This is Ólafur Arnalds and a lovely song called Near Light performed at SXSW (Live on KEXP). Great instrumentation here . . . love that cello and those keyboards. Let your mind relax a little. Take a deep breath. Breathe in peace and light, and breathe out the stuff you are holding inside that you should let go. WJPP here -- trying to keep it real.

the beauty of snow

It has been steadily snowing and blowing since 3:30 p.m. yesterday. About 8 to 10 inches has fallen, and white fluff continues to descend gently from above this morning...appearing to be slowing and tapering to what is to be sunshine tomorrow. Our area, perhaps better equipped for snow storms than many in the northeast, is not due to be in the heaviest band of snow this time. We are in the second or third tier, and so things are business as usual for the plows and the shovelers.  It "feels like -13 degrees" right now, and by Monday, the forecast calls for a high of 40 degrees and rain. It's odd to be able to check weather.com and see weather forecasting by the hour -- or even 15 minute interval -- and it is quite accurate at that. Cross-country skiing later this afternoon will probably be great.

These are a couple of photos I snapped on my phone last night out my living room window . . . a different tree than the usual back yard oak. The first was taken last night, and the second, this morning. I wish they captured the falling snow a little better -- but Instagram has its limits. If they convey even the tiniest bit the beauty of the snow that I see out each and every window in my house, they have done their job.

There is a quote I really like by Chuang Tzu: "Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness." So true, so true! I am just watching the snow fall and sipping my morning coffee (with some milk and sprinkled cardamom -- yum!)  Happy weekend.

at this moment

It is a good practice - focusing on this moment.
Try it, why don't you?

What I see: muted amber light from a lamp that was my grandmother's.

What I hear: The Decemberists singing . . . down by the water, down by the old main drag.

What I taste: lovely bold coffee with a splash of vanilla egg nog . . . and residual of wild berry scones (that I made yesterday!) This is my favorite breakfast.

What I smell: a hint of my Joy aromatherapy oil coming from the diffuser.

What I feel: tired, truth be told.

Image found here.

[This practice focuses on the senses, and it helps give a peaceful feeling of "observer mode". If you want to go even deeper, focus on what you feel inside your heart and mind at any given moment. That, I assure you, is more difficult to put into words...]

star site - star sight

This web site is so cool! Take a tour, and scroll around! I hope you find this as peaceful, relaxing, and INTERESTING as I do!!!

Click on: 100,000  Stars by workshop.chromeexperiments.com. 

"100,000 Stars is an interactive visualization of the stellar neighborhood created for the Google Chrome web browser. It shows the location of 119,617 nearby stars, derived from multiple sources, including the 1989 Hipparcos mission. Zooming in reveals 87 individually identified stars and our solar system. The galaxy view is an artist's rendition based on NGC 1232, a spiral galaxy like the Milky way. 

Instructions: Pan using your mouse and zoom in/out using your touchpad or mouse wheel. Click a star's name to learn more about it.
Warning: Scientific accuracy is not guaranteed. Please do not use this visualization to for interstellar navigation."

(Perhaps best on Google Chrome browser... but you can let me know if it works on others...)

h/t to Steve

adoration

in the church organ loft

adoration shines

and not just for God

Copyright © 2012 Nan P.

We Write Poems asked us to write a poem in 12 words. Process notes: The original instructions said to"count fingers plus two," and instructed us that this process was obviously about brevity -- and breathing in and breathing out. The combination of fingers plus the moment of breathing in and breathing out brought me back to a moment of my childhood. I used to ride my bike to church by myself so that I could climb the long, winding stairs into the church loft at St. Mary's Church to watch my grandfather play the organ for mass. I would take part in mass, but I was really there to hang out with my grandpa. I adored him.

time lapse

[Sometimes it feels like it is all going so fast. Sometimes I see it as time-lapse photography. Traveling down the road after dropping Matt off at school this morning . . .  a small stone presented itself. Today is the first day of spring.]

fog over the little league field

sun shining the face of the old white barn

over the rhine on the CD 

tears streaming my face

groundhog day

Phil saw his shadow today. With the kind of winter we are having, I guess I can stand 6 more weeks of this oddness. Shadow or not, as one of my favorite movies reminds us, all we have is today. I love the movie Groundhog Day. I have watched it many, many, many times . . . and may just try to watch it again tonight. Hope you had a good day!