Thursday, May 3, 2012

Getting A Big, Free Unusual Happy Life

Small Abstract in matte 11"x14"

For my birthday I got myself a big new free happy unusual life! Nice of me, don't you think? I've been wanting this for quite some time now but every year I forget. Mostly I am never quite sure where to get this, what it looks like and if I can afford it.  Can you think of a better gift, really?  You might even want this yourself?  Oh, did I mention it's a book? By Nina Wise. No I forgot, well memory's not what it used to be and there are up sides to that. The book is subtitled "self-expression and spiritual practice for those who have time for neither" It is my good fortune to have time for both, but still the book appeals.

I like to think of a birthday the same way I think of the turning of the year on January 1st.  Our birth was a new year for us as we inhaled our first breath and this is the anniversary of it. I like to think of my birthday as a time of re-orientation and reflection, a time to consider where I might  go from here, to consider and set intentions, instead of just stumbling along the well worn ruts or reciting the lines of my life by rote. And always with a nod to the bigger picture and the fact that life may have other plans for me.

And of course more than anything, a birthday is a time to be grateful for life so far.  The normal inclination is to pick at what remains undone like some small sore, to notice what doesn't please and what we wish we hadn't done. But there is a moratorium on this line of thinking that comes accompanied by a bar of chocolate (it's a party, right?). This is a time of celebration, don't you think? We tend, in our busyness, in our usual state of partial awareness to forget the essence of these defining moments. Someone bakes a cake, someone buys us a gift, we get a few phone calls, maybe have a nice dinner but the deeper essence of it scuttles along the ocean floor of our lives. I say, get out the Zen pom poms and do a little cheer, shout into the forest. What is the sound of one more year passing? Which way are we pointing ourselves, deeper into the forest or craning, like a wise seedling toward the light?



This year my dharma radar has picked up some previously hidden hot spots.  The power of our minds and how we can train them  in more wholesome ways of being has been an important aspect of practice this year.  A retreat, a general tiredness of the landscape of fear and the book the Buddha's Brain were all auspicious opportunities, pointing me in this direction. I have spent some time just being with worry and fear, getting a taste of their particular flavour in the body and then watching them move through time and again like little dust storms of angst. Seeing how these emotions pull like twisted stitches on the fabric of my days has been sobering.  Seeing that I have a choice to sew a different stitch has made all the difference.  The power of the mind led me to consider  the energy of intention and its cultivation. Like any year, this one has been rich with opportunity to wake up. I like to think that the keel of my little boat has balanced a little more evenly and steadily this turn around the pond (even if I don't have both oars in the water all the time). I have been reminded of the preciousness of this human life by some brave souls which has encouraged me to consider how I really want to spend my time.

So in the tradition of the native people of this land who give gifts when they hold a celebration, I would like to invite anyone who would like a small trinket of art to send me their snail mail address and I will pop a little something in the mail to you. It seems a fitting way to hold a party.

And here are few of the treasures that have come to live with me and give me great delight, bring beauty to my eyes and  and inspire me.

By Jeane Myers

by Juana Almaguer (Gallery Juana on etsy)
Tag by Leslie Avon Miller 


23 comments:

  1. For some reason I had my comments turned off! Back on now! You can find my email address via my profile.

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  2. Well a big Happy Birthday to you my friend! So glad to be a companion on this road of Life! And I am happy that you are happy - emergent Joy! That is the best gift... May you thrive!

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    1. thanks, Christine for your kind wishes and friendship on the path!

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  3. And my own comments first thing this morning were dispersed to the atoms, it seems, but I am back to reiterate blessings and thanks for your beautiful post and reminiscences of Prufrock and other inspirations. . .

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  4. Thanks for your persistence with the gremlins and the blessings! May they head back in your direction like a lovely boomerang of blessings!

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  5. Happy Birthday! Great book choice and great subject...a big happy unusual life! This is a great post and I'm still smiling.

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  6. thanks, Mary Anne! It looks like a fun book, couldn't resist the title and I've loved her talks that I've found on Dharma Seed. Glad to be able to pass on a smile!

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  7. huge birthday wishes Carole - we must be very close to celebrating our births on the same day, mine was the 3rd - I loved this post, but I love all your posts - your ability to lay down the words like you do is so inspirational - I must check out this book, I mean the title, that seems like enough, no? xo

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    1. Hi Jeane, that's funny! We are 2 taureans in a pod! Mine is the 4th. that's so much fun. and happy birthday to you! hope it was a good one.

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  8. happy birthday, carole! i'm sending you a whole bunch of smiles and gratitude...

    xoxo

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    1. Got them! Now I'm smiling and passing them on!

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  9. Buen Cumpleanos, and many more. Lovely pieces you have posted, I looked at Juana''s Etsy site and it looks like you have the only example of her work that includes bothe figurative and cat. Will look into the book though I gues I'm now behind because I still need to get the Loori book.

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    1. thanks! I actually purchased the piece by Juana several years ago and only just framed it recently. She might take requests, I'm not sure.

      My latest book haunts for reasonably priced things has been Abe Books.

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  10. Happy Birthday Carole! Is the first piece yours? I find it very rich. I am intrigued by the book title. Will you give us a book report?

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    1. thanks, Leslie. yes 1st piece is mine. definitely a book report! Happy Monday!

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  11. May you have many, many happy returns of your special day...

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  12. Happy belated birthday.. I am always behind and later.. but sooner or later I come through. You are the lucky recipient of one of Leslie's tags.. so am I..and recipient of other wonderful art too.

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  13. I love the imagery! I must have missed your birthday while chasing something scuttling along the ocean floor ... but I will definitely take you up on the trinket of art by snail mail offer :)

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    1. The envelope is opening to receive the trinket!

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    2. Then the envelope arrived and I opened it and received the trinket. It's beautiful! Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!

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  14. Very Happy (belated) Birthday to you, Carole! What a great sounding book that is-— looking forward to your review. Wishing you all the best for your curious, magnificent, new year's adventure!

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    1. thanks, Kris! Love your curious, magnificent words! I am peeking out from under a stack of marvellous books right now: David Whyte's newest, 2 Mary Oliver, another Peter London, and several more! eek, book greed! it just happens!

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