Reflecting On Our WORDS - August

I feel empowered today because four of my blog friends and myself are joining together AGAIN and reflecting on our WORDS for the year. It is really a gift for me that we chose to do this project together as I feel these posts help keep my WORD in the forefront of my mind.

We began our journey with our WORDS back in January. Caroline over at The Zen in You gave us the inspiration.

The ideas lady, Coach, suggested "this month we make one statement......one sentence about how we are feeling about our Word and where we are in the month of August. An honest assessment of how it is going. Pitfalls or Pleasures".

Now as I am such a music freak the song I associate with this post is:

ON MY WAY HERE by CLAY AIKEN:

"On My Way Here
Where I am now
I've learned to fly
I have to want to leave the ground
I've fallen hard
But I've been loved
And in the end it all works out
My faith has conquered fear
On my way here".

Here are our reflections for August:

Coach - ABUNDANCE


In August, I recognized the ABUNDANCE of seeing old friends, listening to great music, feeling the cool mountain air, and having a real time phone conversation with a good mate!







Annemarie - DISCIPLINE


DISCIPLINE is setting your eyes on the prize, recognizing what you need to do to get there and removing all obstacles that will prevent you from finishing the race.







Roban - JOY and FAITH





I have found that JOY is all around me.... It just takes opening my eyes and heart to really see it and feel it!







Julie - EXCELLENCE





EXCELLENCE: A process and a discipline, not a destination.











Moi - BALANCE






Striving for BALANCE between complexity and simplicity, constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the trade-offs I have to make to get there.








This quote I dedicate to my lovely friends:
"By associating with wise people you will become wise yourself".
Menander

Please join us in reflecting on your word by commenting or posting on your blog and linking to this post. The blogosphere is a wonderful community, a place to share, dream and smile!

Namaste
Peggy

Enlightenment - Are We There Yet!!

There is a fabulous Van Morrison song called "Enlightenment" that I have been playing over and over lately. Unfortunately I can't find any video or music on the web to play it here, so I have copied the words, the fabulous words!

"Enlightenment"

Chop that wood
Carry water
What’s the sound of one hand clapping
Enlightenment, don’t know what it is

Every second, every minute
It keeps changing to something different
Enlightenment, don’t know what it is

It says it’s non attachment
Non attachment. Non attachment

I’m in the here and now, and I’m meditating
And still I’m suffering but that’s my problem
Enlightenment, don’t know what it is

WAKE UP

Enlightenment says the world is nothing
Nothing but a dream, everything’s an illusion
And nothing is real

Good or bad baby
You can change it anyway you want
You can rearrange it
Enlightenment, don’t know what it is

All around baby, you can see
You’re making your own reality, everyday because
Enlightenment, don’t know what it is

Enlightenment, don’t know what it is
It’s always up to you
Enlightenment, don’t know what it is
It’s up to you, the way you think.

************************************************

Then Suzanne Vega found her way into my car CD and talked about being tired of sleeping and wondering when I'll be waking.

"Tired Of Sleeping"

Oh Mom, the dreams are not so bad
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something
His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin
And I just can't hear what he's saying

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, the kids are playing in pennies
They're up to their knees in money
And the dirt of the churchyard steps

Oh Mom, that man he ripped out his lining
He tore out a piece of his body
To show us his "clean quilted heart"

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, the bird on the string is hanging
Her bones are twisting and dancing
She's fighting for her small life

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

*******************************************

Both these songs carry important messages for me as I meander along my spiritual path full of questions about the purpose of life and the nature of the universe around me.

My spiritual journey is about discovering my relationship with myself and with the world. I find music is food for my soul and affects my decision making and thus my way of living.



Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia, June 2007. An extremely spiritual place.

Sign of the Times

The urge to put up signs everywhere is now totally out of control: the warning sign, the laying-down-the-law sign, the no-responsibility sign, the do-not-leave-your valuables sign.

Walk around town and we are constantly accused of planning an act of either outrage or stupidity: No Speeding, No Stealing, No Mashing Your Face Against this Hotplate. And don't even think of smoking.

Let your eyes wander for a moment and someone will very soon be barking orders at you - right down to the instruction that you should wash your hands after using the toilet.

Sydney's councils are like a garrulous uncle who can't leave anything left unsaid. There is no activity so unlikely that the local council does not feel the need to expressly prohibit it. One signpost near me goes to the trouble of banning horse riding, as if the municipality of Willoughby is routinely disturbed by the cries of mounted riders in full pursuit of a fox through the middle of the Westfield food court.

Next they'll erect signs banning falconry, witch-dunking and turd-throwing. Well, you never know when a craze might break out.

Nearly all signs state the bleeding obvious. "No Smoking" notices are a good example. I'm not a smoker but I'm sure the smokers have by now got the message: they are not allowed to smoke anywhere. It would be more economical to put up signs at the two or three locations where smoking is still allowed. I'm imagining a windy hillock located just outside Crookwell, with a lone sign saying "Yes Smoking".

Talking about lone signs, legend has it there's a sign somewhere in the middle of a field in Ireland that says "Please don't throw rocks at this sign". I'm hardly surprised. It may be surrealistic - wonderfully Irish in it's droll wit - but how different is it to the signs on Sydney buses which give elderly people advise on how to ride a bus?

Senior Citizens, via the "Senior Citizens Travel Tips" display, are now given advice on how to catch a bus. According to the sign, they should wait at a bus stop and when the right bus comes along they should - now pay attention here - signal to the driver that they wish him to stop.

You may think that in their 60 or 70 years on the planet they may have heard rumours of this "signal the driver" technique. But no, they need to be told. The only problem is you only get to read the sign once you are on the bus, so it's a mystery how the daffy old fools ever managed to get the bastard to stop. Maybe they just copied younger folk.

Further "Senior Citizen Travel Tips" are available on board to guide future trips. Tips such as "Stand back from the curb as the bus pulls in" And "Wait for the bus to stop before boarding". Thank God they mentioned that. I can't tell you how sick I am of the sight of senior citizens hurling themselves at the side of buses in George Street without waiting for them to even slow down. They land - splat - against the side, much like Coyote in a Roadrunner cartoon. If that warning sign can save just one life.....

Well folks today is my one year blog anniversary. One year ago I sat down at my computer and decided to start a blog. If anyone had told me then, that a year later, I would meet so many beautiful souls, I would have scoffed at them. Bless you dear friends who live inside my computer, I hold a very special place in my heart for all of you.


BTW my first post was very enlightening....LOL!!!

PS - I was just reading through some of my other posts and quite enjoyed what I wrote in this one called "Answers, Questions and maybe Wisdom"

Being Human..Interesting Rules

I was cleaning out my spare room and came across a sheet of paper entitled "Rules for Being Human".

I never knew there are rules for being a human. Actually the rules are not exactly the "rules" that state whether you're a real human or not. There's no such thing I guess. But these rules are more into the essence points in life that we, as a human, should be able to learn.

I am sure some of you have read them before, but it is an interesting read and a very nice reminder to get back to the basics of living.

Is living really as simple as it sounds using these rules. I suspect it is.

Society these days want us to think & perceive that life to complicated, WHY? For power, greed & oppression I suspect. I like the KISS principle "Keep It Simple Sweety".


1. You will receive a body.
You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."

4. A lesson is repeated until learned.
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here."
When your "there" has become a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."

7. Others are merely mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Life is exactly what you think it is.
You create a life that matches your beliefs and expectations.

10. Your answers lie inside you.
The answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

11. You will get what you ask for.
It may not be what you wanted, but it will be what you asked for.

12. You will forget all this.

- Cherie Carter-Scott from "Chicken Soup for the Soul"

I would like to add this one.
13. You can remember it whenever you want.



I climbed a mountain yesterday and when I reached the top this is what greeted me......it felt really wonderful being human.


View from Barrenjoey Lighthouse, Palm Beach, Sydney, 16 August 2009.

Let Us.........

Let us consistently choose the single goal of peace rather than multiple goals that lead to conflict.

Let us continue to practice forgiveness and to see each other and ourselves as blameless.

Let us look lovingly upon the present, for it holds only knowledge that is forever true.

Let us continue to be involved in a process of personal transformation in which we are only concerned about giving and not about getting.

Let us recognise that we are united as one Self and illuminate the world with the Light of Love that shines through us.

Let us awaken to the knowledge that the essence of our being is Love, and, as such, we are the Light of the World.

I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me,
I ask for, and receive as I have asked.


I love this photo. I was outside the orphanage in Rwanda, Africa in Nov 2006 taking photos of the people walking by and was so lucky to capture this contrasting image of the different way people reacted to the camera.

An Ode to Angels

I see your face today
I don't know your name
But I believe my souls on fire.

Across a crowded room
Our eyes chance to meet
And yes I know my souls on fire.

And I hear you call
In the middle of the night
In the middle of my fog
And I know your the one
That I am running to
When all is said and done.

You stay for hours here
I don't even know your name
But I believe I know you well.

It is how I see your eyes
And how your voice reacts
To the feelings held deep inside.

I see your face
I sense your grace
I sense the magic
It's over you.

I want the lust
I want the love
I want to take this time to heart.

I sleep for hours lately
I don't even know your name
I only know the soul and fire.

It's hard to breath at night
It's hard to breath at all
It might be true
And so devine.

I've found the hour
To make it all come true
I've got the power
I'm holding out for you.

"Philosophers have argued for centuries about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but materialists have always known it depends on whether they are jitterbugging or dancing cheek to cheek”
Tom Robbins - American Novelist.

Joseph my angel, July 2009, Cromer.

Beyond A Requisite Amount

One day I am going to get on a plane holding nothing apart from a small clutch bag containing passport, ticket, wallet and lipstick, with one paperback book casually stuffed in my pocket. I'll carry my sunnies on my head.

I did once meet a man who travelled like that. We were on a flight from London to Singapore and I noticed him in the boarding lounge, where he was the only person not carrying an inflight bag.

He got on board, put his jacket in the overhead locker and read the book all the way. By the time we made Singapore he'd finished his thriller and he left it on the seat to glide hands - free and footloose through the airport and on to whatever adventures awaited.

I, on the other had, disembarked as I had arrived - Sherpa Peggy, hauling a bulging handbag plus a tote bursting with inflight essentials. By the time I reached my hotel I needed an osteopath.

To be fair to the younger me, it was 30 years ago, when you could never be sure if they would give you anything resembling a toothbrush if you were flying in arse class, so I feel retrospectively justified about the washbag I had in there. But was the large make-up bag also necessary? The change of clothes? The 1.5 litre bottle of water was clearly excessive and I have now learned to scam it from flight attendants, so I no longer make that mistake.

Where I still go wrong, though, is the two newspapers and three glossy magazines. They weigh so much and the lugging is nightmarish, yet I am unable to resist the allure of the newsstand before getting on any kind of transport.

I have tried actively to counter this neurotic tendency by leaving home without the tote, which inevitably becomes full to maximum capacity, but this just led to a grotesque incident where a plastic shopping bag split on public transport and I had to cram bananas, sandwiches and water bottle into my handbag and jacket pockets.

The only crumb of comfort I can take from the understanding that I am a spectacularly unrelaxed traveller, even on relatively short journeys, it that I am clearly not alone in it.

Every transport hub I have ever been to - railways, airports, ferry terminals and bus stations in about 20 different countries - has been a mini medina of stalls and shops catering to transit neurosis, be it via newspaper cones of sunflower seeds, or full-fat mocha lattes and a box of cinnamon rolls.

Clearly something about leaving home - even when we are thrilled at the prospect of our trip - triggers a universal insecurity that compels us to acquire everything we might possibly need until we arrive at our destination.

If only I could convince myself it's just one paperback book.

My kitchen stained glass window I made back in 1983 when blogging hadn't taken over my life.