I recently came across the loveliest poem, and must share it.  Not much of a surprise, it comes from Mary Oliver- from her book Red Bird. This is the very last poem in the book, the conclusion to a series of poems interlaced with moments of “Red Bird.”

Red Bird Explains Himself

“Yes, I was the brilliance floating over the snow

and I was the song in the summer leaves, but this was

only the first trick

I had hold of among my other mythologies,

for I also knew obedience: bringing sticks to the nest,

food to the young, kisses to my bride.

If I was the song that entered your heart

then I was the music of your heart, that you wanted and needed,

and thus wilderness bloomed there, with all its

followers: gardeners, lovers, people who weep

for the death of rivers.

And this was my true task, to be the

music of the body. Do you understand?  for truly the body needs

a song, a spirit, a soul.  And no less, to make this work,

the soul has need of a body,

and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable

beauty of heaven

where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes,

and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart.”

Ahhh….it is that last stanza that sends shivers up my arms and brings tears to my eyes.  ”And this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart.”  Could it get any better?

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Bailey’s dinosaur hat only stayed on for a few minutes.  I will try to find a picture of it at some point…she was a very excited dinosaur.

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” -Pablo Picasso

“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” – Elizabeth Lawrence

These words flew up at me from magazine pages this week.  I realized again how fortunate I am to spend time with 3 year olds on a regular basis.  Yes, spending time with 3 year olds on a regular basis is tiring, and sometimes I feel “crazy,” as one mother told me I was for doing so, but it is honestly one of the most lovely jobs in the world.  Their moment to moment encounters with the world remind me to keep perspective, and to never let a moment go to waste.

Take this picture for example.  (I cropped out her face for privacy:) This energetic young girl walked over to me, holding this crayon creation proudly, and asked (declared??) “This is the most beautiful picture you have ever seen, right?”  I, of course, answered a resounding YES, but was left to wonder when we lose that sense of confidence in art- when do we decide things have to be perfect?  Many of us completely give up creating such things- and when we do so, we lose an essential part of our innate joy.

So go out there.  Get a brand new 64 box of crayons.  Open them. Smell them…and create!  And declare your picture to be “the most beautiful picture you have ever seen.”

I’m rather hesitant to even share this…but it is rolling around in my mind like crazy!  I guess I’ll share it without complete details.  For those of you who don’t already know this about me, I am an extremely vivid dreamer.  Always have been- I have those kinds of dreams where throughout the day I still really think they happened, and sometimes I have to realize that no one else knows they happened too.

Last night, I had one of those incredibly real, vivid, “true” dreams.  And it was a weird one.  Again, without going into complete detail about who was there, where we were, and all sorts of other jazz, basically a group of my family and friends, including myself, were arrested and taken to an abandoned house for ‘trial.’  When we got there, we discovered the reason for our arrest- a word I don’t think actually exists, and upon asking what it meant, I was told I was being arrested for clapping too loudly for one person, and not enough for another.  I asked my friend, “What’s the defense for that?”  His response was, “There isn’t one.  If they want to keep you, they will.  If they decide not to, they won’t.”

Many other events happened throughout the dream, but I woke up with two glaringly obvious lessons from it.  First, I remember in the helicopter ride (yes, we were helicoptered…on a platform…) to the house I kept noticing all the gorgeous colors of autumn.  In my head, while sitting on the helicopter, I told myself that no matter what happened, no one could take color away from me.  Second, while waiting for my turn (and Joe’s turn…yes. He was arrested too) for trial, I came to the conclusion that a person seriously has NO IDEA how a day might turn out- and for that, the imperative nature of GRATITUDE.

So.  A really weird dream.  Seriously not sure why I felt the need to share it.  Even though this didn’t really happen, and I am lucky enough to live in a place where it most likely won’t, it was a forceful reminder of two ways to live my reality.

A Navajo Prayer:

In beauty may I walk
All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk
Beautifully will I possess again
Beautifully birds,
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk
With beauty may I walk

With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.

As the date approaches December 21 and the nights grow longer and sunshine hours ween away, I find myself staring into darkness more often.  Knowing myself to be easily brought down by the grays and blacks of 5:30 pm sunset and 7:30 am sunrise (and it is only October…) I realized I would need to add some spicy color to my interior, and settled on the idea of bright autumn colored dishes.

I considered my flash of brilliance and tried to talk myself out of it.  ”It is just you and Joey at home.  No one is really going to look at your dishes.  Why does it matter if you have fun dishes?  You should be practical.  You already have dishes.  Some people don’t get to have dishes.”  (I’m very good at guilting myself)

Suddenly I stopped myself from negative thinking, a skill that has taken many years to develop.  I decided then and there that the brightening of my kitchen did, in fact, matter.  If for no other reason than because joyful dishes make me happy- and why are we here if not to be happy?

So I bought myself a variety of dishes to mix and match and go color-crazy with, and I enjoyed setting our ‘table’ last night.  Lesson learned…no need to be practical, just to be happy.

A dear friend recently asked a group of us for our opinion on what people would like to learn about healthy eating and weight loss.  I thought I’d have a concise response, but I am apparently quite passionate on the topic, and decided to jot down my ideas here as well.  (I am finding myself to be passionate about most topics these days…who knew I was so opinionated?!)

I will try to keep this as brief as possible.

First and foremost, healthy eating must be looked at not from solely a physical body perspective, but as a reflection of one’s inner contentment.  A person who feels content with her mind, body, and soul, will be much more likely to make positive eating choices.  As we all know, emotions play an enormous role in how we eat, and why we are eating.  So before creating a thousand rules about what is and is not acceptable to eat, take note of your mental and emotional state of being.

Secondly, or maybe this should be first and foremost…hmm…anyway- awareness.  These days much of our society simply runs on autopilot.  We’ve forgotten the power of remaining conscious throughout everyday activities.  Eating can become as much of a meditation as anything else; becoming aware of every morsel you place in your mouth will persuade you to choose healthier options.  Keeping gratitude at the tip of your tongue wouldn’t hurt either.

Along those lines, I think it is important to have a connection to the origin of your food.  Know where your meat was raised.  Find out if it is injected with antibiotics, hormones, or gluten.  (Yes.  Some meat is injected with gluten to make it look plumper.  Odd.)  Know how your food reached your table- a process that can’t help but procure some gratitude and awareness.

Every person is different.  Everyone’s body type is different, metabolism, likes and dislikes, digestive system…you name it- we’re all unique for a reason.  Listen to that and follow your intuition.  I spent many years (I won’t go into detail for those of you who don’t know me well:) struggling with digestion issues, and found myself incredibly frustrated with the lack of recognition that ‘one size doesn’t fit all.’  Finally I learned about ayurvedic medicine, and through that ancient science of health, and in developing more intuition about myself, I now feel equipped to make the food choices that serve me best.

Last, when considering food options, go for the mantra “Eat Real Food.”  (If you haven’t read that book, it is a great read).  Stay away from the packaged goodies with incomprehensible ingredients (that don’t make any sense anyway) and choose foods that are actually that…food.  Believe me, your taste buds will rejoice.

Healthy eating is about nutrition.  Nutrition is about nurturing.  Be certain the foods you eat truly nourish not only your body, but your mind and spirit as well.  Your health and happiness will thank you for it.

All too often I find myself making decisions based on logistics and pragmatics.  Logic certainly has it’s place, but more important are the decisions that come straight from the heart.

I recently read a quote from Don Juan in his teachings to Carlos Castenada that explains this so easily:

Look at every path closely and deliberately.  Try it as many times as you think necessary.  Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question.  This question is one that only a very old man asks…I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart?  If it does, the path is good.  If it doesn’t, it is of no use.

I think dogs always know this already, hence their ability to love whole heartedly.  It is an especially nice way to live.

Today is the International Day of Peace, started in hopes of promoting one day of complete peace and ceasefire in the world.  Such a day immediately reminds me of the poem by Lao Tse:

If there is to be peace in the world,

There must be peace in the nations.

If there is no be peace in the nations,

There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,

There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,

There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,

There must be peace in the heart.

So take a moment today to find that peace in your heart, and know it does reverberate throughout the rest of the world, as do the  ripples in a pond.

namaste.

This week marked the beginning of school, which for some preschool students means more than just the first day of the 2009-2010 school year- it means their first day ever in a school setting.  One of my little ones, we’ll call her Vieve, waltzed into the classroom confident as could be to embark on her school career.  Her parents stuck around for a moment to make sure she’d transition smoothly, and were pleased to find she promptly told them “Ok Mom and Dad, hug and kiss, and I love you and then you need to go.”

This tiny tot spent the entire morning making me smile from ear to ear.  I felt like the coolest teacher ever- anytime we regrouped to transition; from outside to inside, from morning circle to the snack table, from the play dough to blocks, she clapped her hands together in pure delight, looked at me with bright eyes and exclaimed, almost breathlessly, “And what do we get to do now?!”  She was in awe of the whole thing. 

When her parents picked her up at the end of the day she ran to them and leaped into their arms.  ”This was the best day ever!”  And she started to tick off every single thing we’d done that day, everything “that lady” (me) had said, and pointed out all her new friends.

How incredible would life be if everyday could be approached with that attitude?!  Thank you, Vieve!