Organic Organizing...

Organic organizing...that's what I do.  It is not so much planned as evolved to see what will work within a person's habitual patterns and what will work with their own workroom layout.  Because it is organic, I cannot predict how it will eventually turn out but it will be easy to use and easy to find things since it is the intuitive manifestation of what works for each individual.  And in a lot of ways, it is recycling with a view towards re-purposing things that were left behind as bad ideas and stored in basements or attics.  Whole house, whole organizing, whole serenity and whole person.......

Furthermore

Furthermore, as the resident paranormal type person in my family which readers of this blog know, I get dreams when something important is going to happen. Stubborn dreams that come back often depending on what is going to happen.   Before my mother-in-law died earlier this year, I dreamed of her best friend, Ethel, waiting for her.  With my dad, I dreamed a few months back of my cousin, Bud, waiting for him.  That was why I went out to Ohio this August.  Tough trip for a number of reasons but I was glad to make it because I knew the dream meant something was going to happen before the year was out.  And as it happens, the night before my dad's stint failure, I couldn't sleep.  I remained awake from midnight to 5 in the morning.  Why?  I don't know.  I kept thinking something was going to happen and was wide awake throughout the next day.  I was puzzled by it but figured I would find out what was going on.  I got a call from my sister yesterday evening to let me know what had happened and then things made sense.  Tonight I learned that without Eva arguing with the ambulance driver and forcing them to take my dad to the right hospital, he would have died.  Tonight I learned that things happen the way that they happen ... bashert.  Meant to be.  Truly remarkable.

Bashert Word of the Day

 "Bashert" is a yiddish word that means "meant to be."  The cantor of our synagogue has the word on his license plate and for years I thought it meant something romantic like "blessing."  I suspect that blessing is close to 'meant to be' for the torah that survived the holocaust recently installed in a Florida synagogue.  Truly a blessing when you think of how single-minded the destruction of the evidence of Jews was.  Truly.  But bashert is more than that for me today.  My dad survived another failure of the stints in his heart.  Completely unexpected and totally fatal if the failure isn't corrected in a certain time frame.  Luckily, for him, his wife was home and called the ambulance that got him to the hospital in time.  Luckily, he is covered by health insurance.  Luckily, he is well known by that hospital staff and all his records are there as well as his doctor.  And, luckily, his wife is a forceful woman argued with the ambulance driver who was prepared to follow the letter of the law and take my dad to a hospital that was .3 miles closer than the one my dad was so well known at.  Luck?  Honestly, I don't know.  Perhaps bashert is a better definition of what happened.  Perhaps it was meant to be that Eva is outspoken.  Perhaps it was meant that my dad met her just before his first heart incident that caused the stints to be put in initially 9 years ago.  Perhaps it was meant that Eva was home yesterday morning.  Bashert...a good word for the day

Wake Up Calls

After 9/11, the dark humor in the offce was 'would you jump from a window holding your co-workers hand.'  It was a sobering thought then and even more so now. Hard to believe, even now, that people had to make that choice.  It was tragic. 9/11 was one of the major wake up calls of my life.

Aftermath--the Collapse of Civility

Holy God, I am watching 102 minutes of 9/11.  Raw feed and really powerful.  It brings back all the feelings again.  The loss of trust, of innocence,  of the belief that everything would always be ok.  It took the hijackers years to realize but the fall of the towers finally brought down the financial center it targeted on 9/11 in 2008-2009.  We are told that what caused the financial collapse was housing or reckless lending practices.  I don’t believe so.  I believe that the loss of faith in the nation caused by 9/11 made people look out for themselves more and the rest of society less.  9/11 fed the native greed of the Street because, at the end of the day, only one can live. This attitude caused a trickle down effect.  From Wall Street to Main Street, from corporations moving their operations off shore so they didn't have to be US tax or health care costs for their employees.  It did it through health insurance and drug companies charging extraordinary prices for needed drugs and treatments.  It did it through companies refusing to pay a living wage to their workers.  It did it through the erosion of trust in public organizations--the Red Cross scams to the government agencies telling people that the air quality was just fine to breathe.  Air filled with toxic debris and the atomized remains of the people who were in the Towers and the government says it is fine to breathe the air.  First responders dying of aerosol related diseases and they are told they cannot be dying of injuries from helping out at the World Trade Center.  It is truly despicable for lies like this to be told.  New Yorkers were told it was fine to breathe even as the windows in their buildings were washed several times to remove the crushed bone and blood sprayed by the cloud storm that came from the Twin Towers.  The government failed to help those affected, both the bystanders and the first responders, in New York, DC and Pennsylvania.  It took Bush the better part of a week to arrive in New York City and DC is not that far away.  9/11  was just prelude to the massive failure of the feds in New Orleans--trailers filled with toxic chemicals to trying to keep the blacks from returning to their homes in New Orleans.  And again, it took Bush a full week to arrive down in New Orleans.  Now in 2009 we see the collapse of civility in the halls of Congress during a President address.   Rep. Wilson who yelled “liar” needs more than just a slap on the wrist. Unbelievable.  No President has ever been yelled at in the chambers of Congress.  Never.  Representative Joe Wilson never truly apologized, never said he spoke out of turn, ever.  His actions were shameful.  But the true beginning to Rep. Wilson's incivility stems directly back to the collapse of the Towers, the collapse of trust in the government and the collapse of the economy.  9/11 was the just the beginning.

Tributes

God bless Senator Kennedy and others for keeping the faith and inspiring this President to reach for the stars.  It made sense for his widow Vicki Kennedy to be there tonight with the Kennedy children.  What a wonderful tribute to her, to him, to the children and all those who keep the faith of making the world a better place than you find it.

Oh, my god, the President's Speech was Amazing

Chores tomorrow now include finding a full and complete transcript of President Obama's speech.  Wow!  Words fail me.  I kept cheering (all alone, in front of the TV) and doing thumb's up and whistling.  Mind you, I think the cats were entertained.  But what a remarkable -- fulsome -- strong -- in your face speech.  My god I didn't think politicians had the guts anymore.  The C-Span website has the full text now online.  Read it, digest it and support him.

Sitting

Sitting (not just for meditation anymore).  No sirree. Sitting is for watching the President use the bully pulpit to encourage the national discussion on healthcare.  This is going to be fascinating.  President Obama is an amazing speaker -- no matter whether he is in lecture or campaign mode.  Truly the best speaker (non-actor) of I have heard since the Kennedy's. 

Juxtaposition ...my word of the day

Some people can realize moments, capture the grandeur, with photos.  Others explore our universe through use of words.  Tonight there were both on...Oregon's program chronicling the work of Art Wolf and his photography right before President Obama.  Fascinating juxtaposition

Travels to the Edge

I just discovered Art Wolf on a PBS Travels segment.  He has an amazing eye and command of how to make remarkable scenery  working in the margins of light to make a landscape into an abstract piece of art.  The program is filmed in Chile on the Antiplano.  Remarkably meditative and watching him take pictures as he kneels in the water watching him set up the photo as his reflection from the water shows a second image of him.  Truly incomparable.  Clearly, Art Wolf's Travels to the Edge is a program I am going to watch often.   www.travelstotheedge.com

Walking the Lake

Walking the Lake...peace = interior quiet = beauty = today.  From the worse traffic this morning to the soul knitting walk I had at our area Lake.  Fall is coming and I can see the final burst of flowers and plants taking advantage of the sun before the day's get shorter.  It is breath-takingly lovely.  One of those days that make being alive worthwhile if only to delight in the magnificence of the last days of summer. 

Today in Numbers

Today is September 9, 2009 (or 9-9-09).  Numerologically it is fascinating 9-9-9.  As I cruised through the tv channels hoping to find something to watch on the 50 some stations I can get.  No luck.  However, I slowed down at an evangelical station whose announcer-type person talked about how 999 was the reverse (dah!) of 666 which is significant as well.  Apparently the devil has dibs on 666 and 999 is the reverse of that which according to this program means that anyone opposing a 999 person would be overthrown.  Encouraging thought but I have never liked my own numerological reading and by extension am not really impressed.  It just goes to show that I will watch anything when I am bored.

Gravesight / Grave Site

The funeral has reached Arlington Cemetery in the twilight of the day.  All that is visible are the gleaming whites of the honor guard and the gold glints of their many medals.  It is so tough to watch because it must be unimaginably hard for those who are participants of the ceremonies.  Being at funerals before when bodies are placed into the ground is devastating.  Perhaps that is why I watch this so closely so I can continue my own process of healing from the deaths in my family this year and the deaths at the cattery.  The priest at the gravesite has said the kindest of all...that it is somehow fitting for a funeral to take place in the twilight in the promise of the light of the next day after the darkness of the night. 

How to....

Here is the link to the subject how to perform the sign of the cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_Cross

Apparently, there is some debate on whether it is the right shoulder to left shoulder or left shoulder to right shoulder. Either way is correct. Good. I have been feeling out of step on this issue for quite a while. Because I was raised 'high church' Episcopalian, the doctrine teaches the sign to be done right shoulder to left shoulder. It feels right to me since my hand ends up over my heart which has a special meaning for me. The article goes on to say that modern Christians cross themselves left to right. And those who are old church cross themselves right to left. It is a good article and a good resource.

Here is the article that inspired the Tears note

Article of the Day
Tears
Human beings produce three basic types of tears: basal tears, which lubricate the eye to keep it clear of dust; reflex tears, which wash out irritants, like onion vapors, that come into contact with the eye; and psychic tears, which result from strong emotions or physical pain and have a different chemical makeup than those created for lubrication. Though tearing as an emotional reaction is considered by many to be a uniquely human phenomenon, some studies suggest that what animals cry too? More... Discuss
Article of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

Crossings

Crossing ... used to be a simple word for me. Crossing streets, crossing t's, crossing my eyes. Today's funeral reminds me that I cross myself when I say 'amen.' Head, chest, right, left. No, that is not written wrong. It is how I cross myself. Maybe I am dyslexic, maybe I never learned the right way, maybe that was the way I was taught by my Episcopalian minister. Head, chest, right, left. I do it every time I pass a dead animal on the road before calling the animal control number for the folks who clear the car-struck bodies of deer. If the road is no too busy and the animal involved is a crow or a squirrel, I will stop and pick up the body myself, wrap it in a towel I keep handy and take it home to bury. So I feel strange watching so many people do the gesture a different way and yet it is just as valid as mine is. Probably more correct, too. I can accept it. I hope they (that amorphous 'they') can accept my way as well.
May all beings know peace.

Interesting Article of the Day from The Free Dictionary

Today's article is about tears. Now that I write the word, I realize that tears are not only the wet streaks left after an argument or a cut or a funeral. Tears can also be read as "tears" in the fabric of clothe, a wound, the end of a discussion as in 'that tears it.' And certainly Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral today is full of both kinds of tears. Those from seeing the reaction of the people who are standing in today's 86% humidity and 86 degree heat here in DC to watch the motocade to those brave souls in Boston standing in the heavy rain from Hurricane Danny. The weather itself grieves and weeps its own tears. Up north in rain, down here in sweat. And in both places, tears fall from all. It is all so sad. Crickets chirp in the background of C-Span. I love the sound of crickets. I gauge the seasons by them. The louder they are, the nearer to the end of summer we are. We are all seeing the end of an era. May we still be around to witness the rise of another and may all beings know peace.

Saying Farewell to Ted Kennedy

Like the fishermen of Lake Erie, Senator Kennedy has not left us. He has just sailed on ahead.

On the loss of Ted Kennedy

Open letter to the family.......

You have my deepest sympathy for your loss. Your family has given so much to this country that it is unimaginable that the last brother has left us. Born in the 50s, I came of age in the 60s and 70s and all the while watched the news, seeing you all and feeling that here was a family who would fight for those who had no voice, protect the rights of others. Doughty fighters, eloquent speakers, capable of reaching hearts through words and smiles. And if the senator could do that from what could seem an unapproachable place as a United States Senator, then what kind of impact must he have had on close friends and closer family? Your loss is devastating and yet you continue. That's what I think of when I think of the Kennedy's ... loving life, living life, sailing on through storms and high waves. You are all profiles of courage. Thank you for allowing us to share in your loss and to continue to reach out even in your pain. You are all amazing. May you all find peace.

Compass

See post below on finding self. Still searching for that compass. I have been through all the self help therapies known to man and paranomal. From talk therapy, medications, aa, brain scans, spinal taps (no fun), journals, 4 steps, 5th steps, boundary work, chakra work, tai chi, soul retrieval and rewritten the life plan with the higher self. So far the best therapy advice I have ever gotten has been from watching my cats. They don't sweat the small stuff. I move a table, ho hum. I move them, sigh. I don't take them out for a walk (now that's where they draw the line). So they choose their fights. And know themselves and what they want. Eventually, they have taught me that working with others is more effective than working alone, that working with concrete things instead of ideas is far better for me, and that rubbing up against what I need sometimes works just as well as aladins' lamp. For me the cattery is like that. But just like Aladins' lamp, it helps to make sure that what you wish for is something you really need. Perhaps the best curse for current times is to be careful what you wish for...you might get it and then the consequences will come calling for you.....