Advice from a Tree

Some trees in Beacon Hill Park

Advice from a Tree

Dear Friend,
Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb

Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter

Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night.
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light

Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots

Enjoy the view!

- Ilan Shamir

Powerless day...

Literally. BC Hydro had to replace a pole out front. No electricty from 9am to 5pm. No phone either. I work online, so day off! Woohoo!!!

Nothing like not having something to help you realize how much you rely on it! But, it's also a good experience to go without to explore options, get perspective and/or simply be more appreciative. I'm not just talking electricity and phones here...

But I also am talking electricity and phones!

Today I had no internet, music or calls. No hot bevies and it was cold today (forethought and a thermas would have been a good idea). Not much to eat! (again forethought could have been handy here!). No hot water or hairdryer and a serious head of bed hair (again, forethought!).

But it was also very nice...

I went for a walk (wearing a nice hat). I read a book in a sunbeam. I caught up on a correspondence course. And I've been reminded that going to the loo in the glow of candlelight is very nice!

I might do 'no power days' more often. Marnie unplugged days. I feel very peaceful...

(BTW, I did a Google image search for hydro poles and he appeared on the first page. Not really my type but I thought some man-candy might appeal to some of my readers... you know who you are, you hussies!)

The non-painting painting class.

Last night was my painting class. People were the object d'art for the lesson and we were to bring in photos of people we knew, or whatever, to paint. Most people brought photos of their children or them and their spouses. I brought 'whatever' in the form of a woman doing some sort of yoga torture posture. I thought it looked cool and would be fun to paint.

Oh, but no...

As I've said elsewhere, I'm not very good at drawing and trying to draw this yoga woman proved very difficult for me. Ms Painting Instructor Woman, Hazel Medlyn sensed my frustration and offered some excellent advice: 'If you can't draw feet, make it really obvious that you can't draw feet'... and went on to say that (paraphrased) if your brain doesn't want to draw feet, don't force it to, play with the feet... perhaps your brain has a better idea that you need to listen to... go with what you perceive as a "weakness," flip it around, play with it and turn it into a strength.

So I did... I can't draw feet, hands or heads and so I let them be silly. I have to admit that I'm quite pleased with the results! Ms Yogasnorkelgirl will eventually be painted but in last night's class is was her time to be figured out.



No paint but an excellent lesson! And a generally unseen part of the process of what goes into a painting. Two and a half hours of a painting course with no painting done is not necessarily a waste of time; it's just two and half hours of time in the process of painting a painting.

Ah, I feel all yummy...

I am learning American Sign Language (ASL). The other night I was given my 'sign name' by Sheila, my ASL teacher. Essentially this is a shortened form of one's name. I mean, instead of fingerspelling M.A.R.N.I.E. each time I or someone else 'says' my name, a shortened quick gesture is used.

What is very cool is that your sign name should only be given to you by someone who is Deaf. Making up your own or having someone who is 'hearing' give you one is a cultural no-no. It is a sort of rite of passage to have a sign name.

Mine is made by forming the 'M' in fingerspelling and brushing the 'M' sideways against my cheek, from the corner of my mouth up towards my ear but not all the way to my ear, as if to extend that half of my smile. I love it!

No hope for anyone in 2009!

{thumbs in ears, fingers waving, sticks out tongue}

I have flying books; books of short stories, snippets and such like; manageable passages as my attention span evapourates at a high altitude (is it just me?). I was reading one the other night, a book called, 'Peace is Every Step' by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's full of interesting ideas that I like to let loose to wander around in my head. Read a bit, stare off into space, feel all yummy. Repeat as necessary. Seeing as it's been that xmassy time of year and the hassles that implies (well, for me), it been a good and needed choice.

But! I read something in it the other night that's rattled me, a good rattle! And has shifted my perspective on life ever so slightly, or maybe more, and I like that very much.

Here's a condensed version of it:

Hope as an Obstacle

Hope is important, because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. But that is the most that hope can do for us - to make some hardship lighter. When I think deeply about the nature of hope, I see something tragic. Since we cling to our hope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment. We use hope to believe something better will happen in the future, that we will arrive at peace, or the Kingdom of God. Hope becomes a kind of obstacle. If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover the joy that is already here.

Enlightenment, peace, and joy will not be granted by someone else. The well is within us, and if we dig deeply in the present moment, the water will spring forth. We must go back to the present moment in order to be really alive. When we practice conscious breathing, we practice going back to the present moment where everything is happening.

Western civilization places so much emphasis on the idea of hope that we sacrifice the present moment. Hope is for the future. It cannot help us discover joy, peace, or enlightenment in the present moment. Many religions are based on the notion of hope, and this teaching about refraining from hope may create a strong reaction. But the shock can bring about something important. I do not mean that you should not have hope, but that hope is not enough. Hope can create an obstacle for you, and if you dwell in the energy of hope, you will not bring yourself back entirely into the present moment. If you re-channel those energies into being aware of what is going on in the present moment, you will be able to make a breakthrough and discover joy and peace right in the present moment, inside of yourself and all around you.

Though I'm not one who really dwells on hope, as in I don't pray and wish that things would get better; I try to 'do stuff' to make things better. Yet, I appreciate the idea of hope as an obstacle very much. It's a change in perspective that is subtle and huge and I love having my perspective twisted like that (as stubborn as I can be sometimes).

So, I don't hope 2009 will bring the best for myself and any of you; just have a great time right at this very moment! Now, that said, I still hope that one day xmas will just go away! haha... ;-)