gracious

oh wow, you're heading to vipassana?! "enjoy" in some sense of that term. you will benefit hugely.

i missed a day b/c i didn't have the internet yesterday, so...:

1. days without the internet, stellar slow-downs
2. carrot juice, fresh-squozen yumminess
3. friends getting rid of things that you can use
4. recycling anything ever
5. plants: roots, stems, leaves, and life...so beautiful
6. the cooing of the dove outside that calls me to meditate and to remind me of home (is this a double? if so i'm ok with being doubly thankful for that little guy ;)
7. chocolate chip cookies
8. overcast days that say, 'stay inside and get things done, and while you're at it, relax a little.'
9. avocados.
10. summer tans and the smell of sunscreen
11. surprise visits to a partner, anticipation is a fun little ride

au revoir

ecstatic gratitude listing

1. dream appearance by the dalai lama! like, really
2. surprise 'clarity thai massage', clearing up some energy lines and bubbles of clarity rising in the ajna chakra
3. delicious little michigan plum from aunt pat this a.m.
4. roadtrips
5. fresh starts
6. spontaneous storytelling
7. healing
8. beautiful memories
9. a murder of crows cackling out a good time
10. heading now to vipassana!!!

take care dear one.

xo

gratitude practice

1. Forgiveness of self or another. Forgiveness from another.

2. Constant golden retriever love.

3. Full-body immersion in freshwater lake- the particular purity and softness of freshwater.

4. Thai massage! An experienced thai practitioner goddess that gets to the bottom of long lingering issues in my friend's body.

5. Serendipity!

6. Knees...bring us forward with each step.

7. When "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night" comes on the radio

8. Indiana sweet corn, nature's beautiful variations in its alternating white and yellow kernels

9. The asanas that challenge deeply everyday and the instant reward of embracing the sensation as it is

10. Earplugs...granting quiet sleep almost anywhere

dix choses

today, i am grateful for:

1. this little button on blogger that you can just 1, 2, 3 bullet points
2. index fingers. was chatting with a gal last night about this blog - being grateful for the thumb. she shared an unfortunate index finger manicure experience, and index fingers are important too!
3. the wind, particularly as i was strolling by a cat-litter-box-filled trashcan, and the breeze came by to alleviate that situation.
4. dolphins. they have inspired me since age 7, and they inspire me to go surfing all the time. when i think of the possibility of seeing a dolphin in the ocean, i get my butt out there and get thrashed in ma blue, and it's always the ass-kicking and refresher that the doctor ordered.
5. surfing! wow that's good fun, even though i'm...still in a beginner's mind...and body!
6. raunchniness. where would we be, ab, without it? even purity begs a balance.
7. french bulldogs! holy cuteness! have you seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0-Sv6YnxEc
8. youtube! how else could we share french bulldogs can't roll over? global community come together!
9. japan, for their refined culture, manners, politesse, and healthy diet. fuji apples for dessert?! not quite there yet, but i'll letchya know...
10. morning doves cooing. their call reminds me of home, and of the place i stayed for vipassana meditation...always a call to sit, breathe, and be.

mucho greatful

good morning sunshine................mucho grateful for...........

1. resistance to shopping but i go inside. a moment of persistance brings perfect beach outfits to me as if by magic (and yes, owning a bathing suit is a necessity here in the steamy midwest jungle)

2. grace is good

3. accepted into vipassana meditation course

4. older and wiser friends

5. friends with compassion

6. dave's homemade donuts (deep fried in oil)

7. redunkulous bag of hand-me-downs with a copy of 'committed' included, turns out a deeply thoughtful well-researched fun book.

8. persistant 4 yr old who wants big hugs instead of letting me finish this blog

9. daily dose of led (zepellin)

10. mom sets aside some vegetarian taco salad for her yogini daughter. grateful for her thoughtfulness.

xoxo

gratitudinally

ooh, delicious, delightful entry from miss beard...

today i'm grateful for

1. the ability to sweat. it feels good, and thank you, human body for taking in what you need and letting go of what no longer serves you [or me]
2. spontaneity - freedom to pull into a parking lot ready to do my shopping, feeling like, this isn't where i want to be - and going to hang out with friends.
3. dictionary.com, for spelling help on #2 and any other word at the tap of my fingers
4. onomatopoeia [#3 again] - for cool words like, 'pop!', 'boom!', 'schwaap!', 'bluurb!'
5. kind people with common interests
6. rats - they are cool pets, so loving and mellow
7. friends. friends from far away, friends who need help - especially grateful for the ability to serve and make another person feel their own value, their own light, and their own love.
8. the beach! black's beach, the most beautiful beach in san diego...basking glorious beauty.
9. ear plugs. i'd be sleep-deprived and crabby without ear plugs.
10. fresh tomatoes pulled from the garden, plopped straight into my mouf. nummmmm!

counting blessings

mmmmmmm....i was sitting on our kitchen counter yesterday like i used to as a kid, sipping smoky gunpowder green tea and counting my blessings. here are some...


1. purring contented cat resting at my feet

2. fresh new blooms in the garden- white oriental lilies, big red hibiscus

3. aloe plant to soothe summer skin

4. open throat chakras

5. organic cotton panties i bought that are too small for my hinder- friend out west
whom they will fit.

6. tantra

7. comforting old friends, shining new friends, expansive spider web of kula friends

8. henna and hookahs

9. 70's folk rock music

10. dinners out with dad and conversations about color with mom

transform with gratitude

hey ab -

wanna conspire with me on this idea? every day for a week we write ten things for which we're grateful. k, i'll go first:

1. i'm grateful for ocean waves, for they are fun to frolic in
2. gardenias. no smell so intoxicating
3. i'm grateful for my mom, her love, and her baked goods.
4. i'm grateful for my dad, and his big soft heart.
5. i'm grateful for my lifestyle, that i was able to play at the beach this morning and hang out this a friend this afternoon.
6. honeydew bras. wow, they're comfortable!
7. comfy undies for that matter. you know what a chafe it is to hear undies that ride up - this could be a version of purgatory as far as i'm concerned.
8. thumbs. man, they're so useful. you don't take a moment to appreciate your thumbs until you get a cut or a sprain. even wiping your bum becomes an issue if you were to have no use of your thumbs. of course, toilet paper isn't something i'm super grateful for, but i'll leave my potty talk [from this point on :] out of our blog space.
9. friends with beautiful green eyes.
10. yoga. specifically, today, the breath. the connection to inner and outer and the bringer of balance on a basis of even seconds. you don't even have to wait a whole minute for the balance of an exhale to follow an inhale.

hmm. that felt pretty good. u?

i'm on it

mev,

people have been recommending that i read tom robbins for years. they think i'll love it and understand it so thoroughly that it will give them immense pleasure just for me to read it and then to report back how much i enjoyed and got it. so, i'll pick up a book of his and start it thinking 'oh yes, this is just the type of writing i will love' and then don't get into it, thereby disappointing me, them, everybody. maybe i was just waiting all these years for this particular book of robbins, with a female protagonist to whom i relate so much and share the same name. another roadside attraction is an absurd delight! a complete pleasure! it contains hardy laughs on every page! i look forward to the rain scene. and yes sure does sound like yoga to me too. thanks for the maha-book recommendation. there's nothing like good fiction to awaken the mental body- yoking myself to the right book- ah, some more yoga.

i started peeling off the heinous wallpaper in my childhood room. that means the serenity prayer had to come down off the wall for awhile...lily, the cat, immediately lays on it, then paws at it with her poor declawed paws. she gets up and lucy, the dog, licks it.

jaya ganesha

om om om

another roadside attraction, by tom robbins

beardness - this is the book i was recommending to you. the heroine, amanda ziller, is achingly sexy, and i think she's revising my idea of what that word means....i digress....

"the legendary seattle rain. it was a thin gray rain; hard and fast and cold. in it, we had to walk four blocks to the zillers' jeep - we were at its mercy. as was my custom in such elements i hunkered against the rain, drew my head into my collar, proceeded in misery. but my hosts, i soon noticed, reacted in quite another way. they strolled calmly and smoothly, their bodies perfectly relaxed. they did not hunch away their faces from the rain but rather glided through it. they directed their faces to it and did not flinch as it drummed their cheeks. they almost reveled in it. somehow, i found this significant. the zillers accepted the rain. they were not at odds with it, they did not deny it or combat it; they accepted it and went with it in harmony and ease. i tried it myself. i relaxed my neck and shoulders and turned my gaze into the wet. i let it do to me what it would. of course, it was not trying to do anything to me. what a silly notion. it was simply falling as rain should, and i a man, another phenomenon of nature, was sharing the space in which it fell. it was much better regarding it that way. i got no wetter than i would have otherwise, and if i did not actually enjoy the wetting, at least i was free of my tension. i could even smile. what i smiled at was the realization that i had been in the zillers' company less than fifteen minutes and already their example had altered my behavior. surely, i was on the right track."

buddy, if that's not yoga, i don't know what is!

serenity

i remember when nantucket island was changing. some more trees went down near the house where i was living, more wash-a-shores (myself included) arriving. a neighbor said to the loss of the wooded area, 'what we're losing here, is our serenity!' for many, serenity = a group of tall trees.

my latest and bravest travels have been back home to the heartland. hanging out
in b-town last weekend, my friend and i reminesce of our best high school buddies.
one such friend used to say catch phrases and funny little things that somehow defined his signature personality. he'd wisely say in many instances of doubt about gossip or in teasing some present company, 'if the shoe fits.' or we're walking along and see a penny on the ground, he'd bend down, scoop it up, and say 'find a penny, pick it up, all day long have good luck.' somehow this was very funny and sweet and not at all dorky, which surprises me thinking back to our tough teenage attitudes. he also delivered another gem...the serenity prayer. goes like this...

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things i cannot change.
Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference.

So, as i'm leaving my friend's apt. in b-town, she takes a homemade plaque of the serenity prayer down off her wall and gifts it to me. it's on natural-looking paper with flower petals in it, with blue ribbons and beads, the prayer is raised a level to get a 3-D effect.

Moral of the story...if you don't learn something the first time....life will bring the lesson back to you! oh yes.

With this, I'll leave you some f'ing special lyrics from John Lennon. It's been played on the radio 3x in the past 2 days. i am listening, God.

Instant Karma.

Instant Karma's gonna get you. Gonna knock you right on the head. You better get yourself together. Pretty soon you're gonna be dead. What in the world you thinking of. Laughing in the face of love. What on earth you trying to do. It's up to you. Yeah you.

Instant karma's gonna get you. Gonna look you right in the face. Better get yourself together darlin' Join the human race. How in the world you gonna see
Laughin' at fools like me. Who in the hell do you think you are A super star.
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun. Well we all shine on Everyone come on. Instant Karma's gonna get you. Gonna knock you off your feet. Better recognize your brothers Everyone you meet. Why in the world are we here. Surely not to live in pain and fear. Why on earth are you there when you're everywhere. Come on and get your share.

Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun Yeah we all shine on Come and on and on on on Yeah Yeah, Alright, uh huh Ah Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun Yeah we all shine on...