Thursday, May 29, 2008

Time - as fluid as coffee?


I have always found time to be a little fluid. The 20 seconds I take to grind coffee beans in the morning goes faster than the 20 seconds I take to grind coffee beans in the evening. I wonder if it has anything to do with the speed of my metabolism - I'm moving slower in the morning so time goes faster. Has anyone else noticed this?


Janet

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Seeing Things

When we were first born, we had to learn how organize all the things we perceived into some sort of framework. A baby's eyes will roll around every which way until she figures out that they have to point over there to see that thing over there. And then once she figures out how to focus, watch what she looks at. It might not be you, but something she perceives in the air right behind your right shoulder. With parents to help, she will discover the difference between a red apple and a yellow banana. She'll learn what's important and learn to discard the information that doesn't fit into the current worldview.

Sometimes when I watch the grass, I see a pattern of concentric circles in it, large ones. I am usually soft-focused and calm at the time and not thinking about much of anything. And then there it is. Just as real as the eyes I'm using to see the pattern. It's not a woo-woo sort of thing. It's not imagination - we can tell when we are making something up. It's just there. And then after a bit when I start thinking of other things, it quietly dissolves and the grass becomes normal again.

It happens often enough that it's interesting to me. But I haven't drawn any conclusions.

Maybe when it comes to things not usually seen it pays to not draw conclusions.

Janet
http://www.janetdane.com/
photo copyright Janet Dane

Another image for letting go

If we are more visual than auditory, it might not be enough to use the suggestion in last month's "tidbits" of:

(breathing in) Life is imperfect.
(breathing out) Keep moving.

But we can use an image of dandelion seeds blowing away in the wind or of sand running through our fingers. I like the sand one. 

Does anyone else have any images they find useful?


Janet
http://www.janetdane.com/
photo copyright Janet Dane

Robin follow-up

A sad note to the robin who nested on the ladder in my carport. We took a look after we saw that she had not been sitting on the next for a day. The nest was empty.

Tidbit - more about letting go

Here's another 'breathing in, breathing out' mantra I have been
using that's been helpful lately:

It goes like this:
(breathing in) This is not to my liking.
(breathing out) That is okay.

It usually helps on the very first round.

If I'm having a difficult day, I may find myself doing this
exercise a dozen or more times. But that's okay.

I find it's useful in a few ways. When I mentally say 'This is
not to my liking' I am naming my problem without blaming anyone
else. 'Naming without blaming' - that's kinda catchy. Anyhow,
then when I mentally say 'That is okay,' I am affirming that I
have made the choice to accept this situation. I could make
another choice, but I likely wouldn't need to even do this
exercise if there were anything I could do at the moment to
resolve the problem.

Janet
http://www.devas.org/

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Next to the healing tree

When I do healings every morning under the black cherry tree, there is a shrub right next to the spot that has always seemed a bit plain. I never knew what kind of shrub it was. But this morning, when the sun lit the blooms, I took a closer look. I was amazed at the variation in colour between the new buds and the opening flowers and the strange lovely beauty of the tiny flowers themselves. The whole cluster was smaller than my hand. I looked it up and found that it is called a Red-Berried Elder.

Janet
http://www.devas.org/
photo copyright Janet Dane

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Robin's nest on ladder

Yesterday I took pictures of my garden. I loved the play of light on
the dewy grass and I was enjoying a sunny day. Earlier this week I took
a picture of a Robin who has been building and sitting on a nest in the
carport. Last year a robin who built a nest in the carport lost her
younglings to a crow. I hope this one will be more successful.

photo copyright Janet Dane