January 31, 2014 close the book...

Astral Insights

Chinese New Year - shed the skin of the snake, jump on the horse :)

“Decisive action, not procrastination, brings victory.

 Events move so quickly in a Horse year that you don’t want to gallop off in the wrong direction…”

Friday evening Fun?

How I Celebrate Chinese New Year

I made chicken and rice for our dinner and took this picture this morning of...

Jack Frost's beautiful handiwork

Kid President has a new video

Leaving this as is

M

Nighty Night

Off to grab my book now

P

Quant - quantitative analyst - saw it on The Crazy Ones with Robin Wiliams

Reading...

Speaking of reading, I think I'll leave this blog post as is and just close out the month.

Well-lived lives ... require balance, imagination, and risk.

January 30, 2014 - brrrr

"A toddler experiential learning - week one" Thank you Rosie

Brrrrr 7 degrees when I walked Misty this morning

"Camaraderie, where Conversation and moral support were the only things asked for and given freely." p.133 

Devin Daring

Eby Electricity Energy p. 153

Feeling your oats today? p. 152

Goat in a tuxedo p. 152

Halcyon p. 127

Inkling p. 145

"Just when you think you know the ending, it changes." p.151

Kate

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

p. 129

"Never argue with an alligator" p. 189

Outlandish p. 194

Pete Seeger : “This banjo surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”

Quirky p. 128

Reading Lost Lake
Surfing a little too
"This would be so much easier if I was told what I'm supposed to find instead of just being given stupid clues." p. 195
Up early this am, work delayed until 11 am, giving me more time to read :)
"Village people" :) Janice, Shaun, Mom Valerie and Barbara

Whitney Miller's Birthday is today

Yellow House post Thursday am "Good morning Village People! What will today bring?"
Zen to Zany (Anita) posted: 

Snow DAY!! January 29, 2014

Art of Asking

Butter coffee

Chile spiced mango

Dipped in Dark chocolate

Engage my spirit

Feel it

Gratitude for

Horse stance
 "It occurred to me last night, that all I really have to do is, bring everything into my heart, and my heart into everything! Boom! Heart! Weave it!" ~ Meghan Griffith 1/28/2014
Jessica
Kelly's Birthday
Lackadaisical - what a word

Mandy Smith's Jewel of Winter

Neil Gaiman's Journal

Oops (Over did it a bit with the glue)

Pleasure was Palpable

Quiet corners

Reading

SNOW!

Two snow angels

Vichyssoie fog p.55 Help Thanks 

Wow

eXperientially
Yawning

Zzzzzz

A tribute to my yoga practice

Awareness

Brigid's Cross

Crow (Bakasana)

Dhanurasana (bow pose)

“Enjoyment and celebration of life have such a positive effect on us.” ~ Shiva Rea

Filling up with light and

Gratitude

Hanumanasana ~ Splits Pose

IT Band 

Jivamukti Yoga

Kundanasana

Lizard Lunge

Mind traps that hold us back

Need to breathe and be open

Opening the hips

Pigeon Prep

Quads

Reset

Sundial Surya Yantrasana

Thank you Meghan xo

Uuuuuttanasana :)

Variations

"Wake each day excited to bloom in a new way." - Karen Salmansohn

Yoga Journal images are amazing

"Zebra swallowtail on mint (boost)" by Mandy Smith

Punctuation Marks and Yoga Birds

"Always, Always, Acquiesce to your own whims, especially when there's no reason not to do so." ~ Jane Eldershaw

Bird of Paradise

Crow : Bakasana

Down Dog

Eagle

Frog

Growth Mindset

"Hats" by Amy Grant - How have I never heard of this song? 

Isomodic principle : mood matching music

Jaw-dropping photos
"Kids love Bakasana!" from OmGirl blog 

"Laughter and irony are at heart reminders that we are... voyagers" ~ Eben Alexander

Matthieu Ricard: The Habits of Happiness

Pigeon Pose Patience

Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet

Reminders to Rest

Sunday yoga, Sunday cooking, Sunday afternoon naps

"This is the last great lesson your parents will teach you." (about 10mins into this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hUSbs6gOe0)

Upeksha : means equanimity, non-attachment, non-discrimination, even-mindedness or letting go

Winky face ;)

Yes, the universe does have punctuation marks...

Something like a "to do" list

Become and Be Fully present
Current balance
Dessert for Monday's lunch?

Engage appropriately in this day

"Flexibility trumps perfection" ~ David Allen

Gestalt : essence or shape of an entity's complete form.

Higher powered

Imagine, then act on that Idea

Janice and Martha

Kindred Spirits

Looking through the Lens of Love

"Mind like water... Make a Map" ~ David Allen
New data
Outcomes, be specific
Pretzelized p. 24 Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamottt

Quickest bad mood zappers: sunshine, fresh air, laughter p. 13
Reading Mood Food by Jane Eldershaw

"Starfish Sunset"

Ted Talks: Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.
Uniquely qualified
Vested interest
What is it? Write it down.

Zest

Upcoming events and the week in review...

"Bursting with Brilliant sunshine..." p. 116

Carmen Christopher and her Comic relief

Definitely many things for which I am so very grateful

Elephant Rock 

"Feeling the intensity of unconditional love." p. 131

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." ~ Cicero (106-43 BCE)

Hocus pocus video. click here. no idea why, but there you have it.

"I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be." ~ Albert Einstein
Jess updated her blog and pictures - yay!!

Kid President : "Hope is contagious. Spread it. (The flu is also contagious, but don't spread that.)"

"La-dee-dee-da-da-da... Abracadabra..."

Magic!

Neurosurgeon, Eben Alexander's Near death experience

"'Om' was the sound I remembered hearing associated with that omniscient, ominpotent, and unconditionally loving God..." p. 47

Quote by Einstein : "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." 

Rise up

Stand tall

"Understood for the first time who I really was." p 124

"Vexed by some earthly concern." p.113

"We are connected as One through our Divine link with God" p. 161

Zeke, Jess, Liam and Kelly 4 make me smile :)

Saying YES! to Life - Victoria Morrone

Adventurers: "All is well... Don't worry,...All is well" p. 113

Be Fearless from Circles Of Inspiration by Anna Pereira

Chink in the Cloud Cover
Deity

"Expect a miracle"

Ferocious Passion for Completeness

Girl on the Butterfly Wing

Home is where your Heart is

Joy Jolt
Kindness. "Only Kindness matters" ~ Jewel
Linear Language doesn't begin to express LOVE
"...My guardian angel on the butterfly's wings" p.102
Neurosurgeon's Journey: NDE - Near Death Experience
Om "Orb of Light deep in the Core"

"Quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet." ~ Alan Watts
Reading Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander
Spinning Melody
"There is nothing you can do that is wrong" p. 109 - "Thank you" p.113
Understanding
Vortex Voyage
Wildly spinnong
eXtraordinary eXperience

Yes!!

Zen-like

Weekend Worrier or Warrior??

Albert Camus: “Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.”

Carmen Christopher's 

Daily mantras: 

"Eroticize intelligence" ~ Douglas Coupland

Gotta love Words With Friends and Scrabble, always Good for a new word, like "Grebe"

"How We Rise Up From Rock Bottom" article at Elephant Journal.com

I choose Warrior 1, 2, AND 3!  ... water, sunlight, yoga

John, both Law and..
Kincheloe, Ken
Law too...
Let's...

Map out a 

New life for 

Ourselves

Poem by Mary Oliver: "Why I Wake Early"

"Quozio turns meaningful words into beautiful images in seconds."

Ready for whatever is next

"Talk about your joys" and "Stop the glorification of busy" - also Carmen :)

Umbrella Cat

Vulnerable

Worry Warrior 

eXpectant

Yoga helps replenish and remember the warrior in me

Zapped of all energy

Friday, January 10, 2014

"An Auspicious Day" by Elizabeth Johnstone 

"Bluebird" by Ian Newbury Watercolors

Celebrating LIFE!! Kristen's Birthday and Vickie's recovery

Enthuzimuzzy : "Satirical reference to enthusiasm." Created by Braham the terror, whoever that is." 

"Fluent" : I would love to live / Like a river flows  / Carried by the surprise / Of its own unfolding. -John O'Donohue

Going back through some things, and finding what I need. For example:
"Holidays" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

The holiest of all holidays are those

Kept by ourselves in silence and apart... 

The secret anniversaries of the heart,

When the full river of feeling overflows; 

The happy days unclouded to their close

 The sudden joys that out of darkness start

As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart

Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!

White as the gleam of a receding sail,

White as a cloud that floats and fades in air

White as the whitest lily on a stream

These tender memories are; —a fairy tale

Of some enchanted land we know not where

But lovely as a landscape in a dream.

Inspirational TedTalks

Jackson Brown
Kristen Marie's 37th Birthday
Law, Lidestri, Lessig
Mister Splashy Pants (made me smile while watching this TED talk by Alexis Ohanian)
Nathan Khan: click here for his TED talk
OK to lose control
Plug Points
Questions
Responsibility
Social aspects of life
TED Talks
Unable to say no?
Victoria Malaghan Morrone in need of prayers and healing

What's really important - and What's not

eXceptionalism is the perception that [something] is unusual or extraordinary in some way and thus does not need to conform to normal rules or general principles. Used in this sense, the term reflects a belief formed [and] influenced by knowledge of historical or comparative circumstances.

Y did I stop there, I wonder...
Zero answers

Gifts January 7, 2014

"After the Storm" by Munford and Sons

"Bonfire Heart" by James Blunt

"Cover Your Tracks" by A Boy and His Kite
"Days like these lead to... Nights like this lead to  Love like ours."

Every gift from the heart... this one a CD of music because they knew I'd like these songs

Flowers in your hair.

Get over your hill and see what you find there... Grace in your amazing
Heart
"I’ve been looking at the stars / For a long, long time / I’ve been putting out fires / All my life"

"King" by 

"Love will not break your heart..."

Night has always pushed up day
One that starts, Starts the spark in Our bonfire hearts
People like us—we don’t Need that much, just some-
Querencia : a place from which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home;the place where you are your most authentic self. Thank you Mandy at Attualmente

Scared of what's behind and whats before...  Starts the spark in our bonfire hearts
There will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears...
We stood tall... "When all of our flaws... have been
eXhumed  we'll see that we need them to be who we are. / Without them we'd be doomed"

You light the spark  One that starts, Starts the spark in our bonfire hearts
thank you, a-Z lyrics! :)

January 6 2014

A beautiful image and tribute, thank you Elizabeth Johnstone

Balthazar brought hope and the wisdom of God
Caspar brought charity and the love of God.
Deity

Enjoying the music CD from my kid because it is filled with music and love. xo

Feast of the Epiphany

Goodnight

Hope was brought by Balthazar

I think I really like the wild and crazy balance of things in this post

Jesus Joy!

Knitting, lots and lots of Knitting (my Mommy helped with this effort)

Love the story Elizabeth Johnstone shared on Facebook

Melchior brought faith and the power of God.
Nephew Andrew preparing for Chorus of Westerly's Twelfth Night

Oh the Joy!!
Presentation
Quite the artist
Revel in it all
 Sweet dreams

 Threefold flame of the heart of each one of us...the Three gifts of Christmas

Uniquely created each year...
Very special Celebration of Twelfth Night
 Will be in Westerly this coming Weekend

Xmas, Epiphany, and beyond

Year of big changes ahead

Zest for life will be needed every day.