Posts related to writing
Hello Dear Ones!
A friend has a deck of meditation cards. You shuffle them while considering a question you want answered or an issue or emotion you want clarified. Since yesterday’s decision to no longer wear the mask of anger (see my blog post Anger = Fear, Masked) I wanted to know where to step next – what direction to take to heal this issue further. The wording on the card was generally this:
“Forgiveness is for you and you alone.†Continue Reading →
Hello Dear Ones!
Interesting that last week Mike and I wrote about “When dreams do NOT come true” in our He says/She Says post. Here’s a direct link to my take on the topic … Marcia Says … Notice I talk about being angry.
The week before, tied in to a Hallowe’en theme, our joint topic was on the masks we wear. Today I’ve had a strong – very strong – inclination to connect the two: anger as a mask.
It’s easier to be angry than it is to be scared. Anger is familiar. It is within my control. I can mumble, grumble, explode, lash out, blame others and the Universe as much as I want.
Fear, on the other hand, leaves me feeling helpless, powerless, lacking in control, weak, vulnerable, even impotent.
Being angry I feel powerful, in control. Being afraid, I feel like a victim. Continue Reading →
Hello, Dear Reader:
A desire arose within Marcia four weeks ago. An ad appeared in the employment section of the local newspaper requesting applications for a position Marcia had both the skill and the passion to tackle. She felt it a perfect job fit and a truly outstanding role. Thoughts of moving into this role had her excited! The added advantage of a more remunerative wage than her current position offered, plus medical benefits and other perks had her submitting her revised resume with a very wisely worded, professional cover letter.
She got an interview. In fact, she was the first to be interviewed by a 3-person panel. It went outstandingly well. Marcia felt she set the bar high for all other candidates being considered. As she had been taught and because it felt right, she then sent an e-mail to all 3 interviewers the day after the interview to thank them for their time, their expressed interest and the pleasure and privilege it was for her to have shared with them and learned from them during the process.
Due to a large number of qualified candidates and a week’s unavoidable absence by one of the interviewers, there was a two week wait to hear the results. By the Thursday of the second week, Marcia thought (at Mike’s wise suggestion) to send a “Thanks for taking the time to interview me, I’m still interested …” e-mail to each of the 3 interviewers. She was in the midst of composing this e-mail when the telephone rang. Continue Reading →
Hello, Dear Reader:
Well, today is Hallowe’en, in this part of the world at least. For children and adults alike it’s an opportunity to dress up in costume, to put on a mask and to go out ‘trick or treating’. It can be fun or frightening, or maybe a little of both. We decorate our houses and our schools and our businesses in ways that either venerate or mock those departed, ghosts, witches and the like, and it gives us an opportunity to participate – individually and en masse – in our own ‘inversion’ rituals‘. That covers one day of the year, but what about the other 364? What about the masks we show ourselves and each other throughout the rest of the year?
For this week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post we discuss “The Masks We Wear“.
Hugs,
M&M
Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View
Hi Folks:
It’s Monday, not Sunday (again), and this week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post is going to be mostly a ‘He Says’, but as always Marcia gets the last word. It’s a day late mostly because I’ve been avoiding writing it, but one can only put off such things for so long!
Before I get started I should mention that I rarely know what I’m going to write before I begin, so I’m not entirely sure where this post is going to end up. Added to that, my mind tends to ping-pong from one thought to the next, often building bridges out of the most ephemeral connections. Because of that, and because of the topic and the possibilities that someone might misunderstand what I’m trying to say, I thought I’d begin with one of my favourite quotes (author unknown):
“I know you think you understand what I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.”
Hello, Dear Reader:
Happy Monday!
This week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post was inspired by a quote we came across recently from Andrew Cohen, who is the Founder and Editor in Chief of EnlightenNext:
Are You a Seeker or a Finder?
“Are you a seeker or a finder? This is a very important question. If you are on a spiritual path, have you found what you are looking for? Or are you still searching? If you are doing a spiritual practice, are you doing it to reach a goal or are you doing it just because you think it’s a good thing to be doing? Or are you doing spiritual practice from another position altogether—the position of being a finder? Being a finder means you are one of those rare individuals who has unequivocally found what they are looking for, and are now doing spiritual practice only because they want to continue to develop.” ~ Andrew Cohen
NB: This is only the opening paragraph of a longer article. You can read the full post here.
This is a very fundamental question, and sparked different ideas for both of us. If you haven’t already, ask yourself: are you a Seeker or a Finder?
Hugs,
M&M
Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View
Hello, Dear Reader!
This past weekend was ‘Thanksgiving’ here in Canada; it’s really no surprise that Thanksgiving comes in the fall because this is when the earth is most fully offering up her bounty. Here on the west coast this can mean everything from an abundant vegetable harvest to wineries starting up production to the salmon returning to their birth streams to spawn a new generation.
For many people the Thanksgiving holiday is associated with family get-togethers, a huge dinner and too many turkey leftovers. That can certainly be a part of it, although our Thanksgiving this year involved dinner out at a Japanese-fusion restaurant on Saturday night, and a wonderful meal of blackened fish and root vegetables on Monday. The turkeys were safe from us this year, although we can’t really think of turkey dinner without remembering Stuart McLean’s stories on the Vinyl Café about ‘Dave Cooks the Turkey‘, followed by ‘Dave Raises the Turkey‘. Continue Reading →
Hello Dear Ones!
Have you ever seen the newspaper comic “Hi & Lois“? The baby of the family, Trixie, ‘thinks’ thought balloons visible to the reader. The baby lets you know how very much she adores sunbeams: the magic of them, the marvel of them, the elusiveness of them …
I got thinking of Trixie and sunbeams the other day. On my way to work I pass through a delightful path bordered on both sides with cedar bushes. The sun was rising blazingly in the east and streaming through the cedars, imprinting light onto the paved walkway before me. I actually stopped to admire the patterns portrayed so erratically, so spontaneously. Incredible artwork. Yet as I stood there mesmerized by the awesomeness of the impressions, the patterns changed: subtly, but they changed and shifted like a slow-moving kaleidoscope. It was breathtaking to watch!
Due to time constraints, I was unable to stay and observe anything further, yet as I headed to catch my bus I had an AHA moment – the play of light through cedar and the resulting beauty could be glimpsed briefly – only briefly, before there was change. The light was elusive; the pattern, impermanent. Continue Reading →
Hello, Dear Reader:
Any fan of ‘The Three Stooges‘ knows that they had no difficulty getting their point across to each other. We think they would have loved ‘Boinks‘!
For most of us, however, the Universe speaks in a much quieter voice. There is a lovely Hindu poem, translated by Ravindra Kumar Karnani, that speaks well of this:
And A Meadow Lark Sang
The child whispered, “God, speak to me”
And a meadow lark sang.
The child did not hear.So the child yelled, “God, speak to me!”
And the thunder rolled across the sky
But the child did not listen.The child looked around and said,
“God let me see you” and a star shone brightly
But the child did not notice.And the child shouted,
“God show me a miracle!”
And a life was born but the child did not know.So the child cried out in despair,
“Touch me God, and let me know you are here!”
Whereupon God reached down
And touched the child.But the child brushed the butterfly away
And walked away unknowingly.
For this week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post we want to disuss the quiet voice that speaks to each of us from within.
Hugs,
M&M
Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View
Hello, dear Reader!
Yes, we usually do our ‘He Says, She Says…‘ posts on Sundays, but last Sunday was our 95th Monthaversary of the day we were married, and yesterday would have been Mike’s sister’s birthday, so things kinda got pushed forward. We were going to let it go until next Sunday, but Marcia’s current schedule gives her little free time for computer work and we didn’t want you to think we’d abandoned you entirely. To that end, this is going to be primarily a ‘He Says’ post. Marcia does reserve final editing rights, of course! Continue Reading →
