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By doriluthy, November 19, 2008 7:03 pm

Wow, I didn’t even notice, and this happened:

Also, another ‘eagle on the steeple’ sighting this morning.

Eagles and frost, there is always a good reason to be late for work!

How is the weather where you live?

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By doriluthy, November 18, 2008 12:13 am

I meant post these photos of Strathcona last week. It was a beautiful sunny day about 5 days ago, and I just was gushing in love for the hood. Have a good squint into the sun, you can almost feel the warmth!

(I’m trying to use Flickr more- feedback is appreciated.)

The trees with their brilliant leaves are pretty much all gone now, but here’s some gorgeous cheer to remember my first autumn in Strathcona by. It has been a joyful 3 1/2 months.

So with 3 and a bit days left until Friday, I’m getting ready for the Culture Crawl this weekend! Nov 21-23rd- which means (my favorite part) the annual mopping of the studio floor! Come by and see me at the Mergatroid, for those of you who are local. (or loco)

Happy last days of Autumn!

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By doriluthy, November 14, 2008 4:35 pm

Happy Friday!

Welcome to anyone who popped over from Discovering your Inner Samurai, Dr. Reid is an awesome resource for women entrepreneurs, full of inspiration and motivation! Thanks for the shout out, Susan!

Did anyone notice the full moon last night? It was a (rare) clear cold autumn night in Vancouver, and a lovely time for a small walk around the ‘hood. I had the pleasure of hanging out with a dear friend (remember my business guru? yeah, him) last night, enjoying the full moon and the always entertaining company. He’s the type of friend that is enjoyed best with one to one conversation and a little food & drink. Well, I think that most friends are enjoyed best this way, perhaps a good measure for one’s ability to be truly honest is the quiet of the room and the openness of the heart when faced with laughter, kindness, probing questions and energetic debates. Yes. Open heart.

Here’s a visualization exercise I try to practice when in these spaces with trusted friends: I ask myself- how open is my heart to this person? Can I visualize it opening further? Breathe deep, relax my shoulders, feel my chest expand and the heart opening… Saying to myself “I love this person” causes both physiological and emotional shifts- I get a smile on my face when I say to myself “I love this person, I trust this person”, and that heart warmth relaxes my defenses, expanding the opportunity for further compassion and honesty. Trying to free ourselves from our fears of failure, pain (fear of anything!) with those we love is a huge challenge (lordie, I know), but if we hold back with the people that are closest to us, what purpose does that serve? And I have to keep reminding myself that Fear (I’m afraid of being hurt, abandoned, etc) it is nothing more than a story I have told myself, a story that keeps me distant from the truth and intensity of love… Can I learn to remember this every day?: The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. (ACIM)

Expanding our trust in love is much easier practiced with dear friends- but perhaps the biggest challenge is how to say (and truly mean it) “I love you” to the people with whom you have experienced other than love? Because, truly, this is when the stories of FEAR appear bigger than life, and the breath shortens, shoulders tighten, and it takes the smile from your face. Yuk. shake it off. Well, that’s the results of choosing to hear a story of FEAR instead of remembering that what is all-encompassing can have no opposite… But I’m still learning about this, as it proves to be my particularly challenging challenge in this life- I’ll keep you posted on that.

Funny, I was just considering if I do this positive visualizing/loving practice with MYSELF? Hmmm… how compassionate and honest am I with myself? Or am I lugging around stories of fear that need to be re-written? Ahhh. Is THIS is the root of the root, the bud of the bud (to borrow from e.e.cummings) of human compassion?

___

Sacred Ground

We are standing on sacred ground.

Let our hearts take off their shoes
and come bare, trembling with awe,
into the Presence which burns too bright
and too close for ordinary vision.
Only a naked heart can see
that all around us, each clump of grass,
every leaf, twig, stone and flower,
is a blazing torch, incandescent with the one fire which has no name
except “I am”.
And only a naked heart can know it too, is a burning bush,
all of us caught in the one fire,
“we are” burning into “I am,”
brighter than a galaxy of suns.

Words cannot contain the moment;
but let’s take with us the feeling of awe and wonder.
In this sacred place we feel we may never wear shoes again.

-Veronica Littleton

___

Yes. Open heart.

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By doriluthy, November 5, 2008 1:11 pm

One of those rare “where were you” moments of human history occurred last night, approximately 8:30pm PST. The news came through in the middle of our Board meeting on someone’s iphone: “HE WON!” Shock and disbelief, excitement, more excitement, then tears of joy. We quickly wrapped up business, and turned on the radio just in time to hear a humble concession by John McCain. It is real! We left the meeting and a few of us expats headed downtown to a little Irish pub. The place was packed, and there we stood in awe surrounded by our Canadian friends, watching our new president elect accept the opportunity to serve. Again, more tears of joy, relief and hope.

And waking up this morning so very relieved to discover it wasn’t just a wonderful dream, but yes indeed, history was made last night. The conclusion of the election has apparently also captured a great feeling of joy for people across the planet, as one of the benefits of listening to Canadian radio is the external view to the U.S.. This morning on the CBC were interviews with people across the planet, the US, India, Israel, Spain, Mexico, Columbia- oh the global excitement!

And then this youtube video appeared in my inbox this morning. Seems like a perfect song for the day after November 4th, 2008, a day that will go down in history as the day the people spoke.

Jian Ghomeshi (CBC loveliness) made a comment this morning- bringing on more tears of joy. Jian pointed out that children born from now on will never NOT know the possibility of an African American elected president. It is no longer a question of possibility, but a reality of possibility. History has been made.

God bless us all.

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By doriluthy, November 2, 2008 12:21 pm

Simple foods. D-man’s on board. We’ve decided to try to avoid adding extra sugar/sweeteners to our food. Here’s how breakfast turned out:

Baked Apples with cinnamon, short grain rice, walnuts, almonds, there are some cranberries tucked into the rice, and yogurt.

D-man says: ‘very hearty. The apples, rice and yogurt all have their own nice sweetness. No sugar needed.’

Talk about sweetness, we’ve got Awen for the day! He’s into Hot wheels and the library. Sounds good to me!