October 28--Blossoms!

You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more.  --Oprah Winfrey

    I look at my 2-year-old and 6-week-old grandsons and ponder how their lives will blossom. Our whole purpose in earthly life is joy, expansion and freedom. With that as our guide, we cannot help but blossom into more.

    We are living on a gigantic playground! Don't be afraid to explore it. I have been to Europe, Asia, Africa, Central America, Canada, and most states in the U.S. Soon I will be adventuring in the South Pacific. I live by two mottoes: 1) I lead a charmed life, especially when traveling; and 2) it's bad business to kill tourists, so countries generally don't do that. So far, so good!

    Closer to home, all one needs to do to keep blossoming is to continue learning. Ten years ago I would have proclaimed, "I can't paint." Now it is one of my favorite hobbies. The internet tells me that pickleball was invented way back in 1965--look how that has flourished and enhanced lives, including mine. 

    Can we please do our blossoming with much greater respect and care for our precious Mother Earth!?!?

        Leta

Zinnias know how to blossom!

October 27--Belonging is Beautiful

Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is that if we are not beautiful to each other, we cannot know beauty in any form.  --Dorothy Allison

We have to be willing to meet each other on the porch in peace, to make room for each other, to listen to each other. Even if, at first, we might be inclined to presume the other person or group doesn’t belong…. Welcome your neighbor. Have a conversation. Listen not with a need to agree or disagree but with an open heart and a desire to try to understand their perspective…. You never know what you might learn about this other human being. Or what you might learn about yourself. Our ability to sit with each other in that space, through our differences, is the gateway to radical belonging. It is how we learn. It is how we grow. It is how we become. --Rev. Ben McBride

    Rev. McBride is describing beauty among us.

        Leta

Leta's latest "straight line" artwork

October 26--Our Body Intelligence

You attract the right things when you have a sense of who you are. 
--Amy Poehler

    I often write about the wondrous mystery that is the human body. Lately in my readings there has been considerable information about the intelligence of the body to recognize situations even before we are consciously aware. The feeling of safety is a primary one. When we are in danger, our bodies signal us even before any threat is evident. One example is how my body gets into a nervous panic near a great height even before I get near the edge. 

    Being able to recognize and use the body's signals is part of "having a sense of who you are." We would do well to nurture that intuitive sense within us. It can both keep us out of trouble and "attract the right things." 

        Leta

Our backyard "Red Sunset" maple

October 25--Considering Empathy

Few people, very few, have a treasure, and if you do you must hang onto it. You must not let yourself be waylaid, and have it taken from you.  --Alice Munro

    This dives into the realm of "what is your treasure?" Is it family? Wealth? Power? A hot car? The big house? Your looks?

    Let us consider empathy as a treasure, with these words by Debbie Mirza, from the book I wrote about yesterday:

One of the most concerning things I have observed about our society as a whole is that there is a growing number of people who lack empathy. This seems to be increasing, especially over the past couple of decades. As this planet has become more advanced in many ways, we are also losing what is most important. 

Many of the political leaders running the world's countries are devoid of empathy, and this affects everything. ... I have observed overt and covert narcissistic behavior in both the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Decisions made by political leaders as well as heads of large corporations affect all of us. If these are made from a place where empathy does not reside, it will not end well. When empathy isn't in leadership, decisions are made that hold money and power as the greatest priority instead of the people who reside here and the planet that feeds and shelters us. 

People with no empathy have no remorse and act out of their own selfishness, hurting others and not feeling bad about it. They excuse their destructive behavior and blame others. Covert narcissism is all around us, affecting our self-image and self-worth. 

    What are our treasures? What future are we creating?

        Leta

October 24--A Very Welcome Spiritual Nudge

Never say you know the last word about any human heart.   --Henry James

    I would say that this quote has quite a long spectrum, from the ultimate love of a healthy heart to the ultimate destruction of a wounded heart. 

    My niece sent me a picture of a book imploring me to read it, and as it turns out, I already had it and hadn't opened it. How's that for a spiritual nudge?!?!! The book is by Debbie Mirza titled "The Covert Passive Aggressive Narcissist." It describes my niece's life experience with her ex-husband in frightening detail. I originally purchased the book in regards to the abuse I experienced from my older brother, Ken. The book indicates that anyone who has experienced a CN is all three of these: target, victim and survivor. The target is one who takes most of the CN's abuse and is the CN's energy supply. We were victims of abuse even though there are no physical scars. And we are survivors diligently working on healing. 

    It is a very encouraging book, written by someone who understands the life-long trauma this abuse can cause. I have never been able to make anyone in my family understand the insidiously-sick relationship my brother created with me. It is comforting to find someone who "gets it." 

        Leta

October 23--Big Project Mostly Accomplished

One can never ask anyone to change a feeling.  --Susan Sontag

    Sure one can. That's what gaslighting is. But I get it--it is a cruel, disrespectful thing to do. 

    The feeling I'm going with this morning is WOOHOO!!! I purchased a new laptop computer a few weeks ago, and I've been procrastinating on getting it up and running. I revved it up Monday afternoon and got it all set up, including cajoling my ancient unsupported laser printer to print!!! I asked my techy husband only a couple questions and was able to figure those things out. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself! 

    Happy dance!

        Leta

October 22--This Ancient Wisdom Still Applies

Consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society.  --Confucius

    Kansas is, unfortunately, a very "red" state, where our Republican-led state legislature appears to be clueless as to the wisdom of the Confucius quote. By all appearances, their mission is to make and keep Kansans sick, dumb and poor. 

    I would offer that consideration for others includes a "live and let live" attitude. There are so many personal things that are nobody's business--not the government and not any outsiders looking in. This includes such things as gender orientation, sexuality, and abortion. Our "good society" is fading away as our freedoms are being taken and government interference mounts.

    Vote!

        Leta