A Cat Post (apologies, Caroline!)

Nothing makes my cat happier than when I sit down with a blanket on my lap and keep still. Such a simple thing and so appreciated. Just keep still.

I have a thing for sleeping cats - I just adore a sleeping cat! I try to capture it in photos but there is something illusive about a sleeping cat.

Maybe what I find so great is how they OWN it. Right or wrong, your sweater or your lap, whether there's something else to do or not, a cat will sleep and sleep like there is no tomorrow. They are in full possession of their napping. They live into it.

Does that make sense?

I want to OWN my stuff more. I want to do what I do, unapologetically, even if it's a "shortcoming." Even when it's napping and there's other stuff to be doing. I want to fully enjoy it, the way a cat enjoys a nap on a warm lap with a blanket when a loved one has decided to finally keep still.

What would you own if you could be more catlike about your life?

Smile

Someone spray painted this on the marble ledge of a building in town. Now, whereas I don't subscribe to valdalism I do like that in this particular person chose a positive message to pass along.

Happy Sunday!

What do you do to pass along a positive message to the world at large?

Mi She Berach

for memphis: hope in the healing, originally uploaded by champagne.chic.

My favorite prayer in the Jewish tradition is the Mi She Berach. There is a heartbreaking tune that I learned it to that stays with me throughout the day.

Today I am in need of the Mi She Berach...

Mi she berach avoteinu,
M'kor hab'racha l'imoteinu

May the source of strength, Who blessed the ones before us
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing
And let us say: Amen.

Mi she berach imoteinu,
M'kor hab'racha l'avoteinu
r'fuah sh'leima

Bless those in need of healing with r'fuah sh'leima
The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit,
And let us say: Amen.

Where do you turn when you are in need?

Urban Coffee in Greenlawn, NY

This place is very much becoming my home away from home; I love it there! It's local, family run and guarantees that I will see a friendly face (other than my family members) everyday when I go get a cup of coffee. Sure, I could make one at home but I have discovered that I am a better person if I get out of the house and see other people, even if it's the two minutes in the coffee shop. At two bucks a day I can afford to pay for sanity.

Last night we had our first journaling group meeting. A cozy three of us sat at the back tables by candle light and talked about affirmations and how to use them effectively in life and in your writing practice. It was such a blessing to be with others that enjoy this kind of thing and long to bring more of it into there lives. And heart donations were even made to the Save-Your-Journal-Instructor's-Small-Business Fund, so I made a little money for which I am extremely grateful.

When I got home last night I did a little gratitude ritual with my offering bowl and my new set of Story-Beads (pictures pending.) I was trying to think of a metaphor for the evening, small and simple as our first meeting was (it remains open to anyone who wants to stop by - every other Wednesday evening!) I kept thinking of it as a seed - something to grow into something more.

Then I realized GACK! No good. I kill anything green that comes within a one mile radius of my black thumb. Not at all what I'm looking for.

A baby. Small, needs nurturing but... I can't stand babies. I love kids (mine especially) but babies and I just don't connect, and they don't bring out warm fuzzy feelings.

So, I'm searching for a metaphor (or analogy) for my brand new group, my brand new business experience and the warm and fuzzy feelings that are my home away from home at Urban Coffee.

(time to go get a cup now - lots of sugar and half and half, thank you very much!)

What metaphors or analogies do you use to describe your life?

Assuming the Worst

from I Can Has Ceesburger - LOLcats

Why is it we always assume the worst of ourselves?

Earlier this week I had a delightful lunch with someone I hadn’t seen in a year. A year had passed partly because of the weirdness of the whole hibernating thing. Partly it was because after a certain amount of time had passed I felt so awful about it that I couldn’t psych myself up to call her.

My mother would say “well, she didn’t call you either.” It’s hard to argue with that that fact, and yet, it has never made me feel any better. (Probably because it is, after all, all about ME.)

This someone, Colleen let’s call her (because that is, after al,l her name,) is another small business owner and when she sent out her monthly ezine I emailed her back without allowing myself to think too much about it.

I did it because if the tables had been turned I wouldn’t have been annoyed at all with her for her absence. Quite the opposite, I would have been overjoyed to hear from her again. Maybe, I thought, just maybe she might feel that way about hearing from me.

It was a stretch to believe but I took a chance and lo and behold, she was happy to hear from me. We had a wonderful lunch. We plan on seeing more of each other because we seem to have the rare gift of “getting” one another.

I want to start practicing assuming the best of myself. I don’t exactly know how I’m going to do that – it feels like such a radical concept!

"Every human being's soul is beautiful, but to show this beauty outwardly, you must first have found it within you." Barbel Mohr (the quote Coleen has on her email. So beautiful!)

What would change in your life if you started assuming the best of yourself?

Story-Beads for the Forgetful and Unfocused

It is so easy for me to lose focus. Not only do I lose focus but I forget that I’ve lost focus! I don’t even remember that there was something I was intending to focus on. (Renewed commitment to this blog for instance…)

Enter: STORY-BEADS.

In the same way that we teach what we most need to know, I make Story-Beads to remind myself that there are specific (empowering) things that I want to keep in the forefront of my mind.

Of course, I then lose my sets…but I find they turn up at the most fortuitive times.

I stumble upon them when I am feeling most lost and suddenly I remember! Yes! That was where my focus was supposed to be! I’ve wandered from there and that’s why I feel so flighty.
Maybe I should start marketing Story-Beads to the forgetful – myself first and foremost!

Need help focusing?

a key for my journaling, a mouse for my story, an angel for the friends that have my back