| Wow. |
[Apr. 11th, 2009|08:39 pm] |
Suddenly, with no prior warning, I am the proud owner of two tickets to see Leonard Cohen perform live in Seattle on Thursday, April 23, 2009.
Who wants to go with me?
I am pooping in my pants right now. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 18th, 2009|01:18 pm] |
(Excerpted from Who Dies? by Stephen Levine.)
Once someone asked a well-known Thai meditation master, "In this world where everything changes, where nothing remains the same, where loss and grief are inherent in our very coming into existence, how can there be any happiness? How can we find security when we see that we can't count on anything being the way we want it to be?" The teacher, looking compassionately at this fellow, held up a drinking glass that had been given to him earlier in the morning and said, "You see this goblet? For me, this glass is already broken. I enjoy it. I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind knocks it over, or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, 'Of course.' When I understand that this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious. Every moment is just as it is, and nothing need be otherwise."
When we recognize that, just like that glass, our body is already broken, that indeed we are already dead, then life becomes precious, and we open to it just as it is, in the moment it is occurring. When we understand that all our loved ones are already dead -- our children, our mates, our friends -- how precious they become. How little fear can interpose; how little doubt can estrange us. When you live your life as though you're already dead, life takes on a new meaning. Each moment becomes a whole lifetime, a universe unto itself.
When we realize we are already dead, our priorities change, our heart opens, and our mind begins to clear of the fog of our holdings and pretendings. We watch all life in transit, and what matters becomes instantly apparent: the transmission of love; the letting go of obstacles to understanding; the relinquishment of our grasping, of our hiding from ourselves. Seeing the mercilessness of our self-strangulation, we begin to come gently into the light we share with all beings. If we take each teaching, each loss, each gain, each fear, each joy as it arises and experience it fully, life becomes workable. We are no longer a "victim of life." And then every experience, even the loss of our dearest one, becomes another opportunity for awakening.
If our only spiritual practice were to live as though we were already dead, relating to all we meet, to all we do, as though it were our final moments in the world, what time would there be for self-protection and the re-creation of ancient mirages? Only love would be appropriate, only the truth. |
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| WTF?! |
[Feb. 28th, 2009|11:54 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Bonecrusher, in my head | ] |
iTunes doesn't have Soulhat's Bonecrusher, one of the finest songs ever written?!
How am I going to get my house clean now? |
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| I did it! |
[Feb. 16th, 2009|04:07 pm] |
Today is a day to feel proud.
First off, I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight (137 pounds), which was a goal I had set for today. (I actually got there a couple weeks ago.) I still am not my "original size," which is the size I was before I got pregnant with X; there are a couple pairs of pants I don't fit back into. My end goal (unrelated to weight) is to get back into those pants, or else to discover that the folklore that says your hips end up wider after you give birth is actually true (it kind of sounds like baloney made up to make moms feel better about being fat, to me, but we'll see).
Secondly, I got through my first year as a mother of two. The statement I read somewhere is that this was to be the hardest year of my life.... but actually, it wasn't as hard as the first year I was a mom. Well, so much for that. May all the parenting years before me be even easier.
And thirdly (but not leastly): I got my girl child through infancy! Happy first birthday, Lily, my sweet girl. |
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| Myers Briggs result |
[Jan. 31st, 2009|09:55 am] |
So I was chatting with someone recently and they asked what my Myers Briggs result is. I said ESFJ, and they were totally shocked. And it occurred to me that I haven't taken the test since before I was a parent, and I know I've changed a lot since having kids. So I'm interested to retake the test, but I don't want to pay mad bucks for the official version. I took a 4-page (or so) free test many years ago, but I can't find it online now. Anybody have a good online test they can share with me?
Thanks. |
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| update about hospital bill |
[May. 2nd, 2008|04:57 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | hospital | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pandora Radio | ] |
It got paid by my insurance company. Apparently it was one of those things where the hospital bills you AND bills insurance, just to make sure somebody pays.
So far, unless other bills come in that I wasn't privy to, out of a $9,000+ hospital stay and $2,500 midwife fee, I've had to pay about $500 total. Score! I loves me some United Healthcare.
Next week is my appointment for a physical and a blood test, to find out if I contracted HIV or Hepatitis from my blood transfusions. |
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| Fun! |
[Jan. 25th, 2008|09:10 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  ecstatic | ] |
It's -2C in Corvallis right now, it's a beautiful sunny day, and I'm walking to my prenatal yoga class through an inch of squeaky, powdery snow.
Life is good. |
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| Today's Special Link |
[Jan. 11th, 2008|03:34 pm] |
Seeing the picture for this made me want to laugh and cry simultaneously.
And then I read the comments.
I'm serious, follow that link, you won't be sorry.
Thanks ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) _elle_! |
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| A Birthday |
[Sep. 21st, 2007|07:35 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | marriage | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  loved | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Kevin Gilbert, When You Give Your Love to Me | ] |
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these,
Because my love is come to me.
Raise me a daïs of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
-- Christina Rossetti
Our marriage turns five today. It's now older than the relationship which preceded it. Which seems odd, because those four years seemed interminable; I suppose because our future together (and in general) was much less certain.
Time flies, and it just keeps getting better.
Happy wooden anniversary, Lover. |
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| I hold the power. |
[Jul. 20th, 2007|08:57 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | enthralled | ] |
I am posting this from the iPhone I received today as a tenth anniversary present. My spouse rocks. |
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| travel is fun, usually. |
[Jul. 9th, 2007|08:12 pm] |
The good news: I am no longer annoyed about the couch. The bad news: X and I are both sick (with different maladies).
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
( the flight ) |
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accomplished
curious
shocked
gloomy
