All You Need Is Love

Happy Christmas to All!!

We Are The World…

We Are The World

We are the children…

Sending Christmas wishes to all. Peace on Earth, Good will to humans.

Osho Zen’s commentary on this wreath of humanity dancing is a lovely wish for us each to celebrate love in all its colors and flavors. Whatever spiritual path you follow, may the true meaning of Christmas be with you as you walk this holiday season.

When thousands and thousands of people around the earth are celebrating, singing, dancing, ecstatic, drunk with the divine, there is no possibility of any global suicide. With such festivity and with such laughter, with such sanity and health, with such naturalness and spontaneity, how can there be a war?… Life has been given to you to create, and to rejoice, and to celebrate. When you cry and weep, when you are miserable, you are alone. When you celebrate, the whole existence participates with you. Only in celebration do we meet the ultimate, the eternal. Only in celebration do we go beyond the circle of birth and death.   (Osho I Celebrate Myself Chapter 4)

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Commentary:

Humanity is depicted here as a rainbow of beings, dancing around the mandala of the earth with their hands joined together in joy and gratitude for the gift of life. This card represents a time of communication, of sharing the riches that each of us brings to the whole. There is no clinging here, no grasping. It is a circle without fear of feelings of inferiority and superiority. When we recognize the common source of our humanity, the common origins of our dreams and longings, our hopes and fears, we are able to see that we are all joined together in the great miracle of existence. When we can combine our tremendous inner wealth to create a treasure of love and wisdom that is available to all, we are linked together in the exquisite pattern of eternal creation.

 

Blessings, Peace and Love! or, in other words:

Feliz Navidad ♦ Merry Christmas ♦ Joyeux Noel ♦ Natale allegro ♦ Boas Festas ♦ Glaedilig Jul ♦ Hauskaa Joulua!…

…While the World Turns

…I’ve been sitting my little corner of it, happily snowed-in and gradually regaining my strength after abdominal surgery.

I’m not ready to climb any mountains yet, in fact, this is what I felt like after washing a few dishes and cleaning the toilet:

It’s all right though, it will all come back slowly… and the world will still turn, whether I do chores or not. And Christmas will still shed that glorious bit of love upon on our stressed out little planet.

Joyeux Noël!

A Fun but Exhausting Day

I just came home from our office Christmas event and am totally wiped out, but happy. We had the special privilege to go to the Biltmore Estate here in Asheville.

First we enjoyed a lovely late luncheon at the Inn, followed by our traditional Santa Swap (amid much hilarity). 

The more energetic staff members then trekked through a muddy “hard hat” tour of the new village area under construction. I stayed in one of  the cars and chatted with a very pregnant colleague.

For the finale we adjourned to the House for the Candlelight Evening Tour. The care and planning that goes into making such magic is impressive! Every detail was perfect. The decorations are incredibly lovely. The massive tree in the banquet hall is straight from a fairytale. 

Things  are made even more enjoyable by the Biltmore House employees.  They are  – without exception – warm, welcoming, competent, and helpful.

It made for a satisfying  day filled with great company and great beauty everywhere one turned. 

I did the house tour in a wheelchair, since there was no way I could walk that much yet, and still, I am beat! I’m looking forward to getting back some stamina over the next couple of weeks.

I’m really glad I went, even though I’ll be especially sore and tired tomorrow. I’ve missed my colleagues more than I knew.

The whole day made for a joyful start to the Christmas Season.

Buon Natale!

Inner Voice, or Just Inner Chatter?

Inner Voice

One of the blessing and challenges of recovering from this surgery is all the time I have to just be quiet.

 It takes very little physical exertion to tire me out, but my mental stamina is back to normal.

Thus,  I have a lot of internal conversations going on. Some are profound and wise; some, just garbage. Sorting the wheat from the chaff, as it were, takes patience and discernment. The reward for careful listening is greater understanding, deeper compassion, and truer insight.

The Osho Zen Tarot, as usual, has good things to say about the true Inner Voice.

If you have found your truth within yourself there is nothing more in this whole existence to find. Truth is functioning through you. When you open your eyes, it is truth opening his eyes. When you close your eyes, it is truth who is closing its eyes. This is a tremendous meditation. If you can simply understand the device, you don’t have to do anything; whatever you are doing is being done by truth. You are walking, it is truth; you are sleeping, it is truth resting; you are speaking, it is truth speaking; you are silent, it is truth that is silent. This is one of the most simple meditation techniques. Slowly, slowly everything settles by this simple formula, and then there is no need for the technique. When you are cured, you throw away the meditation, you throw away the medicine. Then you live as truth – alive, radiant, contented, blissful, a song unto yourself. Your whole life becomes a prayer without any words, or better to say a prayerfulness, a grace, a beauty which does not belong to our mundane world, a ray of light coming from the beyond into the darkness of our world.

Osho The Great Zen Master Ta Hui Chapter 23

 

Commentary: The Inner Voice speaks not in words but in the wordless language of the heart. It is like an oracle who only speaks the truth. If it had a face, it would be like the face at the center of this card – alert, watchful, and able to accept both the dark and the light, symbolized by the two hands holding the crystal. The crystal itself represents the clarity that comes from transcending all dualities. The Inner Voice can also be playful, as it dives deep into the emotions and emerges again to soar towards the sky, like two dolphins dancing in the waters of life. It is connected with the cosmos, through the crescent-moon crown, and the earth, as represented by the green leaves on the figure’s kimono. There are times in our lives when too many voices seem to be pulling us this way and that. Our very confusion in such situations is a reminder to seek silence and centering within. Only then are we able to hear our truth.

White Squirrels

[subtitled] …plenty of time on your hands while recovering

white squirrel

The Everyday Adventurer is a great blog about observing nature. Ratty, the blogger’s alter ego, has a bit of a squirrel obsession.  

It got me thinking about the famous white squirrels of Transylvania County.

When I first moved to the area, I didn’t believe they were real — just a little something silly to confuse the Yanks. 

But here is a picture and link to a good resource about this unusual critter. 

http://www.whitesquirrelinstitute.whitesquirrelfestival.com/ 

 

  

 

 

Owie Wowie!

I’m writing this from my hospital room — I’ll be here at least another day. While my surgery went very well, there were more extensive repairs done than anticipated, thus the switch to inpatient.

I’m incredibly sore and tender.

Courage

The staff here are all — without exception — professional and caring. I’m in very good hands and am grateful.

I feel like the pain is this giant mountain I have to climb to get where I want to go. All I need is the grit and persistence to do it.

 Here’s my tribute to courage to keep me going.

Zen Osho Commentary:

This card shows a small wildflower that has met the challenge of the rocks and stones in its path to emerge into the light of day. Surrounded by an aura of bright golden light, it exposes the majesty of its tiny self. Unashamed, it is equal to the brightest sun.

When we are faced with a very difficult situation we have a choice: we can either be resentful, and try to find somebody or something to blame for the hardships, or we can face the challenge and grow.

The flower shows us the way, as its passion for life leads it out of the darkness and into the light. There is no point fighting against the challenges of life, or trying to avoid or deny them. They are there, and if the seed is to become the flower we must go through them. Be courageous enough to grow into the flower you are meant to be.

Blessings to All!

Playing Around with Artichokes

Even though I’m in pre-surgery mental mode, food still can grab my creative attention.

I’ve been playing around in my head with artichokes — not the gorgeous and expensive whole globe guys, but the more mundane and accessible canned artichoke hearts. I’ve written up two simple recipes that I really enjoy.

The first needs a food processor to make satisfactorily, but it is so delicious on bread, or as a quick pasta sauce:

Artichoke-Olive Tapenade a la Laurie

1 can artichoke hearts

1 cup green stuffed olives

1/2 cup black pitted olives (can be kalamatas for a stronger flavor)

1 clove garlic (or more to taste)

a handful of basil leaves (fresh is best, but I have some frozen in vacuum bags that works)

1/2 can diced tomatoes or 1 medium fresh tomato

enough extra-virgin olive oil to mix

salt & pepper to taste

 

Start with the olives and pulse a little in the food processor. Add the remaining ingredients, pulsing briefly to achieve a semi-smooth texture. Use just enough oil to help bind the ingredients.  Keeps in the fridge for a few days,  but it never lasts long at my house.

 

You can vary this with other ingredients, like grated cheese, capers, or red peppers. 

 

You can tell I have a thing for both olives and artichokes.  Here’s number two. Equally quick to make.

Olive-Artichoke Macaroni Salad

4 cups freshly cooked elbow macaroni (still hot)

1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

3/4 cup green stuffed olives, halved  (quartered if large)

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup chopped marinated red peppers

1 tablespoon capers

1 glove minced garlic

Italian seasoning mix to taste

olive oil and lemon juice to taste for dressing

 

Mix all the ingredients into a large bowl, then stir in hot pasta and add any additional oil and lemon juice needed to make moist enough.  Serve warm or chilled.  Serves 4.

 

To make this a main dish salad, add a can of “tonno” which is italian-style light tuna packed in olive oil. 

 

To quote my Nonna, “mange, mange, tutti fa benne!” (Excuse the mangled Italian. It means, roughly, ”eat, eat, everything’s good!”)

Anticipation

In just two more days, I’ll be having outpatient surgery to repair an umbilical hernia that is causing me all sorts of serious health problems. I can’t wait!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a wonderful primary care doctor who has gradually changed my opinions of medical professionals. Every referral she has made for me has been of a doctor of equal competence and compassion — skilled and thoughtful human beings with good minds and good hearts. It’s amazing.

The surgeon I’m scheduled with on Friday morning fits that description perfectly and, thus, I feel perfectly safe. I know all the terrible things that can go wrong with anesthesia and sharp knifes and tiny germs, but there’s no point in dwelling on that information.

Little Miss Monitoring Me

I made an informed and careful decision to go ahead with this much needed repair work and so I refuse to scare myself. I’ve got my support team at home all ready, work stuff is all covered and I’m eager to get this done.

It will probably be a few days before I feel well enough to post again.

As you can see from the picture, I’m leaving my computer in good hands.

I wish everyone a safe and happy week ahead.

Birds and Thanksgiving Blessings

I’m alone today and enjoying it immensely!

Of course, alone is a relative term. No people — but 3 cats, flocks of birds, a ham baking in the oven, and happy indecision about what music to listen to.

In honor of Thanksgiving Day, I slipped out to the supermarket and replenished my bird feeding supplies. I put up woodpecker treats, new suet baskets, thistle seed socks, and refilled all the feeders.

I’ve got special high-priced cat food for the 3 beasties, and bought a sweet potato pie for dessert.

It’s quiet in the house now – the lovely stillness of a peaceful day, with no worries that can’t wait until tomorrow; no sorrows that can’t be put away; and no fears that can’t be soothed by birdsong and music.

Blessings of the day to all.

And so it is.