Living

Fred and Eleanor cornered a couple of mice on Monday. We’ve easily dealt with one mouse at a time but never two, and weren’t able to get either before going to bed Monday night. Tuesday morning I spotted and grabbed the first and got it outside safely. Within 15 minutes I saw the other hiding in the kitty-litter room and called to Jack to come help me. If someone was watching us, I’m sure that we’d have looked like lunatics, running around in our pajamas, with the dustpan and cheese-keeper (the tool of choice when trying to trap small animals in the home!) in hand, attempting to get the little fellow. When it finally ran into the bathroom, we ran in too and closed the door. It tried to avoid us by running behind the toilet, the radiator, and around the front of the tub as we crawled around on our hands and knees in hot-pursuit.

After about 10 minutes, I thought I had it but it jumped out of my hand and landed on Jack’s back, somehow crawling beneath his pajama top. I suggested he undress in the tub so at least we’ll have it cornered, but then he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and held it tight saying, “I’ll go outside and take it off there. That way, we won’t lose him again!” and with that he jumped up, and shuffled quickly outside to the front of the house and started undressing. He was naked from the waist up but we didn’t see the mouse until it jumped from the waistband of his pajama pants and flew into the bushes. It was our most creative mouse-rescue ever.

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive. Joseph Campbell

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Uniquely you

Jack eating cake. Eleanor hanging out with her favorite person.

Every time I write a new blog post, WordPress gives me the statistical information about the blog (how many posts, subscribers, etc.) and a quote about writing. This was their quote a couple of weeks ago, ”There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are‘.    W. Somerset Maugham”.

I remember reading a story years ago about Georgia O’Keeffe’s sister. She was quite a talented painter herself, but some negative comment by Georgia, regarding her work, shut her down and she either didn’t paint again, or never made her work public. I can’t remember the details, but they are not that important.

So many of us have doubted ourselves and our lives. We fear that we don’t know enough, aren’t talented enough, aren’t sure how to begin, fear other’s won’t like what we want to do, fear we’ll make a fool of ourselves, and this self-doubt so often results in us not doing what we would love to try, or we quit too early.

I have never met a person who didn’t doubt themselves at one time or another. It seems to be a part of the human experience. So if you are doubting yourself, you are in good-company, and if you are ready to begin something that you have been wanting to try,…..yipee!!!

(An affirmation that I’ve shared here before, and have found extremely helpful myself, is: ”I am deeply and profoundly Self-confident”.)

“What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else”. Joseph Campbell

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The Roadblock Prayer

For all of you who asked to see it…the new haircut!

I saw my mother the other day and she loved my new haircut, and said that she wanted to get a similar one. She then asked me to make an appointment for her with my hairstylist, Liz. While I can enthusiastically recommend Liz, I felt a little twinge of discomfort thinking about setting the appointment up. My mother has never liked her hair cut/styles and although I know that she has changed over the past year (and become a lot more positive in general), I had visions of her being unhappy and grumbling about it afterward. I called Liz anyway and left a message.

As I drove home, I thought, “If this is not in the highest and best for everyone, I ask it to be roadblocked.” This “prayer”* is one of the most helpful spiritual tools that I have ever used. Many years ago, I was working as a volunteer for the Norman Vincent Peale Prayer Line, and the director (at that time) was the one who first told me about it.

Sometimes we make commitments, or say yes to something, that we’re not totally comfortable doing, and aren’t sure if we should cancel, or go forward with it. This is the time when the roadblock prayer is so helpful. Basically it says, “I am turning this entire situation over to a Higher Intelligence. I cannot figure out the best course and feel confused when I try to. I am going to move forward with the plan (whatever it may be) but if it is not in the highest and best good, then I give You (Spirit/God/Universal Energy) full permission to roadblock it, and I will now drop the struggle from my mind.”

The wording is not important, but the intention is. I have to be ready to really let go of the mental debate and turn my current dilemma over to the part of me (the Divine Self) that always knows the best course to take, but that I might be, in the moment, having a hard time hearing because of my conflicted thoughts/emotions. After I’ve said this prayer, I drop the issue from my mind and refuse to entertain it again.

An hour after getting home from meeting with my mother, she called to say that she had changed her mind and was going to give her own hairdresser another try. It was so simple and easy and I didn’t have to say a word. There is so much more help available to us, spiritually/Universally, than we sometimes realize.

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell

* The “Roadblock Prayer” has been such a helpful tool in my life, and I’ve wanted to share it here for a while, but felt I couldn’t adequately explain it. If what I have written is at all confusing or you would like me to say a little bit more about it, please let me know, and I’ll be happy to talk more about it.

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sinking into the YES of life

New couch with Eleanor sleeping on it

I started to write a post today about saying no. About how sometimes we must stay focused and true to our visions, which can mean saying no to other things, but as I wrote I felt deflated. I didn’t feel good writing about that today. When I sat here at my desk and said, “Yes”, I could feel myself coming back to center.

Walking past one of our local thrift stores yesterday, I spotted a big pink velvet couch on their porch. I’ve wanted a velvet couch for a long time, (the cats don’t seem to scratch velvet which is a huge plus for us) and I love the feel of it. I walked onto the porch and sat down into a big pink cloud…oh how heavenly! and big (over 7 feet long) …Our home is small; a little over 800 square feet and we already have a couch.

I went inside and asked the price. $30. I said yes. Then I thought, “Where are we going to put it?” and I knew that Jack would ask the same thing. We moved a small table out and it fits pretty well in our T.V/living room. I love big, soft, vintage furniture. I wouldn’t care if I ever again sat at a dining room table. I like sinking in, putting my feet up, eating with my plate on my lap. It is a part of my adventure here in this lifetime, ….it is a “Yes” for me.

“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure“. Joseph Campbell

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letting go of the old

saying hello to a new friend

This past September, we decided not to host the family Christmas Eve party any longer. Even though it was a relief, I wondered if I would regret this decision….wondered what the holidays would feel like this year. Would there be an emptiness?

Several days ago, a friend gave me the gift of 3 magnificent old wooden statues of the Buddha. As Jack and I were walking through our tiny home, looking and feeling for the perfect spot for each one, we both noticed that there were several extra-large chairs that we didn’t use.

It dawned on me that we had these chairs to accommodate the large group that came for the Christmas Eve party and that the rest of the year, only the cats sat in them. As we moved them out to make room for the statues, I could feel that  the letting go of the party needed to happen to make room for this gift.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us“. Joseph Campbell

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