October 17--Encouragement Appreciated

Our chief want in life is someone who shall make us do what we can. 
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Do I want someone who will make me clean? I don't think so!

    Moving on... I think this is more in line with wanting someone who will strongly encourage us to use our Spirit-given talents. My husband's parents made all three sons take piano lessons as youngsters. Two of the three have been active life-long musicians. What a gaping hole there would have been in my husband's life without using his musical talents. I had an extremely creative mother who had the infinite patience to teach me to sew and crochet and in general planted the "creativity bug" in me. She is also responsible for my "travel bug." My life would have been so different without those encouragements. 

    When I was in training for my spiritual coaching certification, I was at an event with my teachers and other students and ministers. I volunteered to offer a prayer. Afterwards, one of my teachers basically said that I didn't do it right. Another minister overheard that, pulled me aside later and said, "Don't let that bother you. Once you get your license, you can pray however the hell you want!" And I do!

    Off and running,

        Leta

October 16--Gettin' Fancy

Love is the expression of the one who loves, not of the one who is loved. Those who think they can love only the people they prefer do not love at all. Love discovers truths about individuals that others cannot see.  --Soren Kierkegaard

    Although I see the truth of this quote, I have a LONG way to go to truly love those whom I don't prefer! It is hard enough sometimes to love those I do prefer.

    I have been sewing since I was probably eight or nine years old, taught by a mother who was both an outstanding seamstress and perfectionist. Back then I made my own clothes. That's what a thrifty person did. I don't sew much any more--it is not the economical practice it used to be. I mainly mend or make the occasional "project." 

    When I was last visiting my niece and we were playing Rummikub, we would put the tiles in a small beat-up paper bag to draw from. I promised her I would come up with a nicer set-up. I found the silicone steamer basket on Amazon which is the perfect-size tile-holding tub. At the fabric store, the colorful fabric jumped out at me as "the one," and it even matches the tub. I measured, cut and sewed the bags, one for the tub and one for the racks. This makes for easy transport, as my niece and friends often take the game to brew pubs and play. I mailed the tub and drawstring bags to my niece. She called as soon as she opened it, laughing, and said, "Oh my god, did you make these?!?!?" Yes! She is happy to have such a nice portable Rummikub setup. 

    Mission accomplished!!

        Leta

October 15--All Alone at the Pity Party

A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference. 
--A. A. Milne

    I am fully aware that I am spoiled. I have been since birth. I am also aware that the other side of the "spoiled coin" is self-pity. I've been recognizing this character defect in vibrant, living color lately. Yesterday's reading in AA's "Daily Reflections" offered this: "Before we begin [our day], we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives." 

    OK! OK! I get the message. One thing I recognize as pulling me into self-pity is having too much idle time. Another is procrastinating on creative projects. I am much happier when I am working on a painting. (To my credit, I have scrounged up some canvases to play with.) I was scrolling through my calendar for the next couple of months and found this note-to-self in November: "Make treats for the neighbors instead of being Christmas-grumpy." Clearly self-pity is a long-standing defect!

    Milne's quote is the solution!

        Leta

October 14--Infinite

Love is about bottomless empathy, born out of the heart's revelation that another person is every bit as real as you are.  --Jonathan Franzen

    Bottomless = infinite. I want to direct this writing to the fact that our magnificent Mother Earth is "every bit as real as you are." We have lost this knowing in our gross exploitation of the planet. This is from Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation of October 13:

We have not honored God’s Presence in the elemental, physical world. We made God as small as our own constricted hearts. We picked and chose, saying, “Oh, God is really only in my group, in baptized people, in moral people” and so on. Is there that little of an Infinite God to go around? Do we have to be stingy with God? Why pretend only we deserve God, and that God is not for other groups, religions, animals, plants, the elements, Brother Sun, and Sister Moon?

    The Earth and all creation are vibrant expressions of the infinite love of Spirit. "Infinite" is a tough concept for the human mind. But we need only look up into the sky to see "infinite." 

    Let us honor the infinite love that enfolds us by caring lovingly for our Earth home.

        Leta

October 13--Relentless Love

Watch out for each other. Love everyone and forgive everyone, including yourself. Forgive your anger. Forgive your guilt. Your shame. Your sadness. Embrace and open up your love, your joy, your truth, and most especially your heart. 
--Jim Henson

The conservatives/Republicans will never give up using their fear tactics, so we have to be equally relentless with love.  --Leta Miller

How about we don't have a president and we all just agree to be cool? 
--Random internet meme

Disagreeable things tend to disappear when they are not believed in. 
--Frances Lord

    I am exceedingly grateful right now for the rapid passing of time, because I want this election cycle to be OVER. The fear-based advertising and lies are nauseating. Even more troubling to me is the ignorance that has led folks to believe the lies. 

    The answer? Our hope? Reread the quotes above. We must stay focused on a higher consciousness, and that is literally homework--it starts within each individual. It is no small challenge, but our future depends on it.

        Leta

October 12--It's a Secret!

Self-love is a part of love just as self-interest is a part of friendship. 
--George Sand

    Self-love is the foundation of one's ability to love. If one does not love his/her own being, one cannot love another. We project how we feel about ourselves onto others. If we are judgmental and negative toward ourselves, we likewise judge others negatively. If we are content with ourselves, comfy in our own skin, we are accepting of others. 

    I've been pondering lately the idea of family secrets. I think the keeping of family secrets was hammered into me from an early age. I don't think anyone outside our family knew that my dad was an alcoholic, and my mom killed herself slowly via bulimia. When I was nine years old, there was a huge amount of family chaos and fighting about my brother Ken and wife-to-be Mary Ellen getting married. I was clueless at the time, but figured out later that she was, God-forbid, pregnant out of wedlock. When I was very young, a cousin married an African-American man, which was the worst possible thing that could happen in my parents' eyes. That cousin was forced to move away, and we were not allowed to speak of her. 

    I am keeping secrets to myself, I know. It feels safer than expressing them. It is a deeply-ingrained conflict-avoiding habit in me. I believe I am not alone in this habit. I am so grateful that I let out the big secret of my food addiction and sought help and recovery. 

    I fear that someday dementia and/or old age may cause me to lose my filters and all my secrets will spill out. That will be entertaining!

        Leta

Most likely true...

October 11--To Sparkle or Not to Sparkle

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. 
--Virginia Woolf

    But I love sparkles!!! Well, mostly I sparkle with toenail polish. As I look around the woman cave, I have sparkly curtains, glitter on the pots I painted, and a red cap with sparkles on it. A bit of sparkle IS me being me. 

    "No need to hurry"... I remind myself of this often, because I create time and I can create as much as I want. (See "The Big Leap" by Gay Hendricks.) Have you noticed lately how many more folks are running red lights? They are in a hurry. If I am the first car in line at a red light, I have trained myself to hesitate and look for red-light-runners before taking off on a green light. Maybe I'm just becoming a "get off my lawn" cranky old fart 😉😉

    I'm relieved to hear that my Florida friends and their properties are OK. Power outages were the worst of their issues. Alas, having been to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium on my MLB quest, I must say that having the roof ripped off that stadium is the best thing that could happen to that mold-infested arena.

    Speaking of baseball, I'm bummed for the Phillies and Royals who have now gone home for the season. One of the main reasons I dislike winter so much is because there's no baseball. 

    TGIF!!

        Leta

Tropicana Field--this is the roof that 
is no longer there.