shigata ga nai

"it cannot be helped"

gambarimashaou

"we must keep up our fighting spirit"

oil is spilling in the Gulf again.

how long ago and far away the last spill feels.

kokoro

"heart and soul"

step one: show up

step two: 

do things for others.

step three:

do the things you love.

step four...

go ahead, fill in the blank

been thinking a lot about what is happening in Japan.

this post is days old because my internet is crap.

it's what I came up with in response to the large scale sadness I felt.

Infinite Intelligence

instead of reading this blog, you can just read elephant journal...

it just ends up on here later.

just read this blurb on taking guidance you've received and checking it against 

the fruit of the spirit:

love

joy

peace

 patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness 

gentleness

self-control 

If the guidance we hear leads to these qualities, it is much more likely to be trustworthy.

don't take my word for it

Sometimes I can be a cry baby whiny cranky pants.

Sometimes I don't want to think about alignment in triangle pose.

Sometimes I don't want to work 40 hours a week.

There is something to be said for alignment and my work is not out of alignment with my values.

you'd prefer an astronaut

there's something to be said for the hard-working slacker.

i bogarted this image from elephant journal.

3rd Floor

I'm told there are

rainbows

unicorns

little green dudes with pots of gold

crazy dancing bananas

awaiting me when I turn 30.

I believe it.

BRING IT

forgiveness

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, And his suffering is spilling over.  He does not need punishment; he needs help.  That is the message he is sending. 

~ Thich Nhat Hahn

I scooped this from the wise Molly Lannon Kenny's monthly wisdom.  

I received an unexpected apology today.  

Sometimes it's hard to find the gratitude for those gifts.

Forgiveness

is part of my continual process and journey.

is part of allowing others their process and to continue on their journey.

is part of keeping the energy in continual flow.

no witch

i bought it on itunes.

I recommend you do too.

http://thecavesingers.com/

the universe has quite the sense of humor

the world is no longer a romantic place.  some of its people are, however.  and therein lies the promise.  don’t let the world win, ally mcbeal.

-john cage.

if ally mcbeal were still on the air, she would be going to yoga.

waves

the wave does not need to die to become water.  she is already water.

thich naht hanh

a young gentleman died in the snow this last week.

my heart goes out to his family and community.

my gratitude goes out to all those who commit themselves tirelessly, again and again, to search and rescue.

alex, may you rest in peace.  i didn't know you, but hope the snow was epic.

this weekend's snow felt like what I imagine surfing to feel like.

riding a wave.

floating effortlessly.

Chromosomal Grab-Bag

"the observation of confusion is insight...the intelligence that binds us together is wisdom"


small town life is funny.

like, for example, when you spend the better part of your work day talking smack about one of a total of 3 local customers and then said customer walks into your evening yoga class. and you spend the better part of your yoga class feeling mildly guilty...


is that, what's it called?
karma?

i don't seem to tire of this band lately

fear

Do something you fear, NOT to conquer the fear, NOT to accomplish a task, but to familiarize yourself with the processes with which fear protects itself, to demystify it. 

-cheri huber

the year of the rabbit

It is said that this will be a temperate time with unhurried pace, suitable for introspection and respite. 

In continuing the theme of a new year 

(which I usually ponder until March when my new year happens), 

I came across this quote once said by a guy coaching a mountain bike rider.  

"Look where you want to go. If you look at the tree, you’ll hit the tree." 

it's often about choosing your line

high standards and low expectations

sometimes it feels a bit like an upstream swim.

elephant with a trunk up

happiness seems to be a recurring theme in my life.

my brother shared a joke written in a book on happiness that said an outgoing Dane looks at your shoes instead of his own.

my father is Danish and my dear friend visited Denmark and said Danes are quite odd.

it's true.

it came to me not long ago that happiness is not something you have to pursue, it just is.

this guy might disagree.  

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” – Anonymous

did anyone else get through college paper writing 

by making some bold statement to back up your argument 

and labeling it "anonymous"? 

Dear Rob Brezny,

does this mean I get laid soon?

In comedian Sarah Silverman's memoir, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, she confesses that she was still wetting her bed at age 19. Depression was a constant companion throughout adolescence, and she took a lot of Xanax. Yet somehow she grew into such a formidable adult that she was able to corral God himself to write the afterword for her book. How did she manage that? "This is so trite," she told Publishers Weekly, "but . . . sex." I predict that a comparable reversal of fortune is ahead for you, Pisces. Some part of your past will be redeemed, quite possibly with the sexy help of a divine ally. 

Full Moon In Cancer on Jan 19th

At this juncture, the Full Moon symbolically will heighten the urge towards completely letting go. Emotional attachment will prolong things. Remaining in the space of emotional insecurity will keep one weak. Flush it out altogether. Let the tears, joy, healing flow through. Our inner stability returns through this process. A new chapter is about to begin, similar to the Sun rising in the early morning and the fog dissipating. The past need not define you any longer. The Sun in Capricorn and Moon in Cancer reminds us to balance both the physical world and emotional world. We must find the common ground to feel emotionally mature in our daily interactions with self, others and life itself.

from one of my favorite astrologers Dipali Desali.  more soon...

Thank You, Fresh Air

Right up until 7pm this evening, I was highly disappointed with NPR's coverage and special programming for Martin Luther King Jr.

 I might still be mildly disappointed, especially with the focus on the I Have A Dream speech.  

It feels a bit trite and an underrepresentation of King's work, life, philosophy, career.
I couldn't feign disgust as a listened this evening to a lengthy segment on a new eatery in Cambridge that offers a order by text message service.  Really?  Do we have nothing better to comment on on this day?
  

Perhaps it's my local station's choices of programming.
Perhaps we're consumer oriented sheep.

I've appreciated this evening's episode of Fresh Air.

Reminders of the FBI watching King throughout his career, reminders of his commitment not just to justice for the African American people in the US but to non-violence everywhere, his heated opposition to the Vietnam War.

What would King think of our current state of affairs?

I honor Dr. King's legacy and his life but I also honor the contemplation of his philosophy.

Dr. Gill taught me tremendous amounts about the history of African Americans.

Awarded Professor of the Year multiple times at my alma mater, I'm still saddened by his young death.

MLK Jr. photographed with Thich Naht Hanh

credit where credit is due

i yoinked the photo from elephantjournal.com

wish i could better credit it.

unintended coincidences

Go Means Go - Meet Your Maker video series #1. from Matthew on Vimeo.

funny how things go 'round and 'round on the internet.

just after my last post i came across this link on a friend of mine's website.

the video is self explanatory, but in case it's too long and boring, the short story is this is the guy who made my bag (and several other dank items) seen in that last post.

he makes a damn fine bag.  

i love the guy dearly.

two hots and a neutral

plagiarism 

was talking with a coworker about plagiarism the other day, in terms of credit where credit is due.  credit when an idea that you put forth might actually be deeply inspired by someone else's work or art or work of art.

so it got me thinking about how much this particular blog is inspired by other blogs I follow.  and I guess that's why you link things in the cyber world.  

but not everyone who inspires is linked.

so if you're reading this, consider yourself linked.

it's time for coffee and snowboarding.

enjoy your saturday and thanks for inspiring and contributing to creative expression.

Disregard

When you're a bike messenger, "Disregard" is how you tell off your dispatcher who's making you criss cross town 17 thousand times for your customer who's so ancient she still types her order slips for deliveries on a typewriter.  You tell them off over open circuit on the radio but with just enough mumbling so that they don't quite catch it the first time.


"10-9?"


"Disregard."


sometimes you have to disregard things. 
sometimes you have to ask to be disregarded.

photo by mark pilder

nobody told me there'd be days like these