March 31--Keep After It

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight. Never stop fighting.  --e. e. cummings

    I imagine e. e. cummings fought a lifelong battle to avoid capitalizing his name. 😉😉

    I've made a giant pendulum swing in life from an ultra-conservative religion to (happily) none at all. I was raised in a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. We received pins for perfect attendance, with bars added to the bottom for each additional "perfect" year. I had a lengthy pin. Even if we were traveling, my mom made me go to Sunday School. That was torture for me, to go to a SS class with kids I didn't know. But I was competing with others for the longest attendance pin. Maybe you recognize why my early religious "commitment" didn't stick!

    I've passed through "lighter" Lutheran, Methodist and New Thought.  My next-door neighbor worked diligently for a few years trying to ensure that I was "saved." She gave up finally; at least she does not talk religion with me any more. Thanks to a 12-Step program, I have a very rich and comfortable and comforting spiritual life. 

    I am grateful for all the people I have met along the way. I have a community of friends who are loving and supportive. I enjoy encouraging others on their journey to find a spirituality that works for them. It is worth the effort. 

        Leta

March 30--Self Rather Than Stuff

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.  --Kahlil Gibran

    The older I get, the more I don't want "stuff." The longer we live, the more stuff we accumulate and that's just more to move around, clean, or leave for our kids to dispose of because they don't want all that stuff. What I really want is to hang with the folks I love. Time with family and friends is much more valuable to me. And I fully appreciate "gifts of service"--when someone does something nice for me, like my sweet husband washing the vehicles. Our pets are the ultimate givers--no stuff, all love. 

    Let's do something nice for someone today.

        Leta

March 29--Wonders

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.  --Carl Jung

    I'm a lifelong gardener. I've started the annual spring cleanup, and I love getting my hands in the dirt and tidying my little spot on the planet. 

    For a mental break from tax work and to move my body, I often take a one-mile walk around Clearwater at lunchtime. I've noticed on the street many of these tree droppings:

    These are (thank you, Google) the seed pods of a sycamore tree. They are extremely hard. However, with a pointed tool, one can get into the bumps and start removing the outer layer:

    

    In contrast to the outer part, that fluff inside is as soft as baby skin. As I continued to peel the outer layer, the inner seed began to appear:

    And here it is, the inner seed, again extremely hard:

    
    Ain't nature wonderful!?!?!?! Explore, look closely, there are wonders to be found!

        Leta

March 28--What is Your Fear Level?

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.  --Joseph Campbell

    To be bravely "who you are" is not easy in a culture that tries constantly to motivate with fear and control. Here are words about that by Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation:

    Fear unites the disparate parts of our false selves very quickly. The ego moves forward by contraction, self-protection, and refusal, by saying no. Contraction gives us focus, purpose, direction, superiority, and a strange kind of security. It takes our aimless anxiety, covers it up, and tries to turn it into purposefulness and urgency, which results in a kind of drivenness. But this drive is not peaceful or happy. It is filled with fear and locates all its problems as “out there,” never “in here.”
    The soul or the True Self does not proceed by contraction but by expansion. It moves forward, not by exclusion, but by inclusion. It sees things deeply and broadly not by saying no but by saying yes, at least on some level, to whatever comes its way. Can you distinguish between those two very different movements within yourself?
    Fear and contraction allow us to eliminate other people, write them off, exclude them, and somehow expel them, at least in our minds. This immediately gives us a sense of being in control and having a secure set of boundaries—even holy boundaries. But people who are controlling are usually afraid of losing something. If we go deeper into ourselves, we will see that there is both a rebel and a dictator in all of us, two different ends of the same spectrum. It is almost always fear that justifies our knee-jerk rebellion or our need to dominate—a fear that is hardly ever recognized as such because we are acting out and trying to control the situation.

    My mother was the poster child for control freaks, and I learned that behavior well. She was terrified of losing a multitude of things. While it's a work-in-progress, I have made great strides in leaving the fear-and-control realm behind. Love is the alternative, and loving is "the privilege of a lifetime." 

        Leta

 

March 27--Best Friend

Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.  --Eleanor Roosevelt

    I've come a long way in befriending myself. Looking at that progression, I see that I have become a better friend, teacher, and worker. It is difficult to function well if you are not comfortable in your own skin.
    Questions worth pondering came my way from a friend recently. Is my "work" here on the planet complete? Not in the sense that I'm ready to die, or that I'm going to off myself, but do I feel satisfied with what I have accomplished here? Is there more that I need/want to do? Do I still have something to prove? These questions are very relevant to "friendship with oneself."
    I have had this voice in my head, seemingly my whole life, that keeps telling me, "You should do more." It's maddening, and usually I blow it off. If I say, "More what?" I don't get an answer, except occasionally "cleaning," so I know it's not a friendly voice. 😉😉

    I still want to travel more, especially to complete my MLB stadium quest (6 more to go). Most of all, I'm not leaving until I get to love up that grandbaby for many years to come. I feel good about my life's accomplishments, but there is still so much fun to be had!!!

        Leta

It's good to have growing things around!

March 26--You Do Know

Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  --Steve Jobs

    A niece was chatting with me about something she should do for financial reasons, but she does not want to do it because of the time commitment and interference with family activities. I suggested she follow her heart. I'm happy to report that the decision has been made--she is not going to do the undesirable thing. As a result, she and I will get to spend more time together, good for both of our hearts. 

    I found this quote by Richard Rohr and it fits with Jobs' sentiment: "The greatest enemy of ordinary daily goodness and joy is not imperfection, but the demand for some supposed perfection or order." Demands, "the noise of others' opinions," are coming at us all the time from all directions. It can certainly be a challenge to even hear one's heart wisdom and intuition, let alone follow it. But just like my niece above, we know what is right for us. The perfect solutions are always within. 

    Knowing where to look is key,

        Leta

Adorable Oscar visited the tax office this week.

March 25--Assertive

To know oneself, one should assert oneself.  --Albert Camus

    I once had a boss here in the midwest who was giving me a performance evaluation, and he said, "You certainly are assertive, but then you're from back east." Up until then, I had no idea that being born and raised in the boondocks of Pennsylvania made one assertive! 

    We don't know what we are capable of until we rise to the occasion and express our needs, wants, and dreams. I've learned so much about myself by going for it: yoga teacher training, traveling (especially solo), and spiritual coaching to name a few. 

    It is a powerful feeling in life to feel and know, "yes, I can." The spiritual journey has not always been comfortable or easy, but it has been totally worth it. 

    Asserting myself into today,

        Leta

Opening day April 7, YES!!!!!