May 23

It's been a while.  I know.  I've been doing some new things and making some big choices. My mind has been in a lot of places and trying to sort some things out.  I'm glad I'm on this journey, and am finding that living love is a great way to grow courage.  A friend of mine posted this, and it really inspired me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmMFIganRQY

I've also been watching the "Dog Whisperer" and am learning a lot about being a calm, assertive pack leader.  Not only  for my new canine friend - but in many other areas of my life as well.  I have always seen myself as a leader, but often a reluctant one.  That fear of rejection, or making mistakes, or somehow being viewed in a negative light holds me back....

But perhaps having 20 seconds of insane courage will help me to be the leader I need to be for my family... for myself.... and to grow in love and life.

Aloha,
Emily

May 1st

So, I got a dog.... it may seem crazy (and it is), but I really felt like I just needed a little more love in my life - to give and receive with a furry friend.

My furry friend, Santera, is a special animal.  She should be dead - in fact, she should have died at least twice... but some human angels have been looking out for her... She has a story so amazing that I've stopped telling it because people always look at me like I can't possibly be telling the truth... :)

She is also special because she is a therapy dog of sorts for me.  She is helping me to get out of a self-defeating rut. Because of Santera, I now get straight out of bed every morning 1 1/2 hours earlier than usual.... I pull on my coat and my mitts... and we go for a walk.  I had forgotten how beautiful the world is at dawn.  So, I am developing healthier routines, so that my whole life will be healthier.

Sometimes big goals require big changes to achieve.

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.
Henry David Thoreau

It sure is dark when I wake up now... but the most amazing thing happens as we get started.... it grows lighter....

Aloha,
Emily

April 24

Something rather remarkable happened today....
My inner child came out to play...


I didn't know she even still existed... 
And yet, there she was. 


As our yoga practice began this evening, my instructor offered the intention of remembering to be childlike....


She asked us to think about a child in our lives, and before the images of my own children could even pop up - her little voice called "Hello Emily"... and suddenly she was there. 


Later... when she recalled us to think of that child, it was in the context of thinking if the children in our lives need our help or support in any way... again, there were the faces of my own children in my mind... and my intention to live love.... but more than that, there was my inner child.... and my lifelong yearning to be loved.  


A tear welled up in my eye.... my inner child is alive and well... and she wants to come out and play, but most of all she wants to be loved. 


Oh, the things we learn from children... and from remembering the power of being childlike even as adults....


Aloha and namaste....
Emily

April 20

‎"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose." ~ Dr. Seuss ~

April 9

I am told that it has been a month since I last blogged, and so it has!  I've been occupied with all the joys of the changing season... and of reading fiction and living a pleasantly joyful life.  So I suppose that is good news.

I have been rolling around another famous quote in my head, credited to Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change that you want to see in the world".  Seems that is exactly what I am working towards and am feeling really good about it.

I've been eating more healthfully, exercising more often, playing games more with the children, and paying more attention to what is important to say 'yes' to and what is important to say 'no' to.  I am learning that simple choices are often the most important....

Aloha,
Emily

March 6

I'm starting to think that quotes about change are attracting to me;)

This one that I picked up from Facebook fits the current theme.



So I am blogging today and checking my negative attitude... and being more forgiving and less demanding... and thinking about the reasons for making some significant life changes so that I can live a life reflective of love and not oppression.

I just finished reading the Hunger Games Trilogy for a little fun, but interestingly enough, it fits with this theme too... about how human beings are capable of dominating and oppressing one another through fear and privilege... and about how human beings are equally capable of rejecting such a reality....

Aloha for now,
Emily

March 3rd

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.

Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Talk about smart people.  Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. 

What do you care about? 

My sister posted a quote for me recently that the only poverty is the absence of love. Could we really prevent people from suffering, from starving, from dying - with love? I believe that Mother Theresa has proved that you can.  

I'd like to prove it too. 

I may be just one person - and you may be just one person - but if we ACT on our care, things will get better.  I care, and things are getting better.

OK - so I had actually posted this blog and then read this from the Center for Action and Contemplation <cac@cacradicalgrace.org>:

DISCERNING OUR COMPLICITY

We are all complicit in and benefitting from what Dorothy Day called “the dirty rotten system.” That’s not condemning anybody; it’s condemning everybody because we are all complicit and enjoying the fruits of domination and injustice. (Where were your shirts and underwear made?) Usually the only way to be really non-complicit in the system is to choose to live a very simple life. That’s the only way out of the system!  Thus most of the great wisdom teachers like Gandhi, Saints Francis and Clare, Simone Weil, Dorothy Day, Jesus and Buddha—lived voluntarily simple lives. That’s almost the only way to stop bending the knee before the system. This is a truly transfigured life in cultures which are always based on climbing, consumption, and competition (1 John 2:15-17). Once we idealize social climbing, domination of others, status symbols, power, prestige and possessions, we are part of a never ending game that is almost impossible to escape. It has its own inner logic that is self-maintaining, self-perpetuating, and self-congratulating as well as elitist and exclusionary. It will never create a just or happy world, yet most Christians never call it into question. Jesus came to free us from this lie which will never make us happy anyway, because it’s never enough, and we never completely win. Adapted from The Spiral of Violence: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (CD/MP3) Prayer: Hold me accountable to Love. Well... that leaves something new to think about eh?

Aloha, 

Emily