As I face yet another day of what seems to be an endless path of doctor appointments and surgical visits – I feel such a great sense of uncertainty in my own heart. And as I wait, again, for my name to be called ~ I am reminded of a most beautiful Zen parable, one that reminds us of the importance of caring for our own inner being.

Change can be unsettling, at best…and life altering, and its worst. But if we remember to care for our own inner garden – we may find that the blooms of harmony may begin to stand in its place.

This is a most amazing story, and one that seems always to find a way to “fit” so many of life’s events. It’s beautiful and uplifting and wonderfully charming, and I know you will gain the same comfort that I did.

namaste my most beautiful friends, and remember to drink in all of the moments of your day.

“Embracing the Mystery of Uncertainty
–by Alan Briskin (Dec 28, 2010)
Listen To Reading!

A Zen parable captures the mysterious connection between attending to our own consciousness and the external events that enfold us. A respected teacher was asked by members of a village if he could come and bring rain to their dry fields. They had tried many different approaches, including soliciting the help of a number of rainmakers, but still no rain came. When the teacher agreed to come, he asked only that he be given a small house and a garden he could tend. Day in, day out, he tended his small garden, neither performing incantations nor asking anything further of the villagers. After a while, rain began to fall on the parched earth.
When asked how he could achieve such a miracle, he answered humbly that when he came to the village, he sensed disharmony within himself. Each day by tending his garden, he returned a little more to himself. As to the rain falling, he could not say.

The garden is a wonderful metaphor because it suggests that if there is a safe place for something to grow, then harmony may be restored elsewhere. To care for the soul suggests a return to the self, but a self that interacts with the world around us. Every day we enter situations that are inherently uncertain but still marked by underlying patterns. These patterns maybe emotional fields, dry because there is little nourishment or turbulent because of unresolved feelings of anger, disappointment or frenzy. When we come in contact with each other, some aspect of the underlying field affects us. Like the teacher in the story, we can come to recognize the disharmony in ourselves and begin to make a place where the particulars can be tended. Yet to embrace the idea that our own consciousness is influenced by and influences what is around us, we must honor the overlap of self and other. We must look for unity of what happens and how it happens as inseparable from each other, without forcing a causal link to explain the occurrence.

So much is going on in this, my little corner of the world.

And for the first time – I’m afraid, and quite a bit confused.

I am in this odd space of not knowing my way forward ~ and instead of moving even an inch, I feel helplessly stuck in this moment.

Tonight, I feel frozen in my tracks – afraid of making one move or another.

So, instead…I just simply sit.

We had quite the adventure here today, and ironically occurring on the heels of a incredibly charged and much heated PETA ‘debate.’ Is killing really better than suffering the sight of an animal who is very much in need?

And as I settled in to sort out the mess, of my own mind and the ‘what do I think’s…when I heard these two bunnies in distress.

The little ones from my neighborhood gathered urgently on my steps, and asked me “What do we do?”

And as I looked down and into the eyes of these young babes, I could see the fear building in their eyes.

My editor Kate took a lot of heat today for offering that there must be another way, and in reference to the aforementioned ‘debate.‘ But she stood firm, and steadfast in her beliefs and opinions—not knowing just how quickly they might resonate.

“We must always do the right thing,” I offered to these kind little hearts—and I explained that we must try always to find the ‘right’ way. Within a few moments, the littlest one asked, “Is there some place we can take them where they will be safe.”

I had to smile as I reflected on the back and forth ‘barbs’ in the PETA debate—the Universe always finds a way to send us its nudge…and the best we can do, is to open our hearts and listen.

Animals can’t always communicate in a way that makes things easy, to tell us how best to proceed. But as humans, I think perhaps it’s our job, to speak for them in each and every way.

So, today—and even though I was quite exhausted from my day—I did what was right…driving these two beautiful babies to the nearest animal sanctuary…an almost 2 hour trip. But, in doing so these babies found a brand new and MOST magnificent home…and I made a great friend of the owner and founder. And she, has picked up a brand new volunteer.

Sometimes, the Universe works out in this way…

The ‘right’…and very best way, possible.

*namaste*

A very special “thank you” to Frisky’s Wildlife Rehab and Animal Sanctuary—a no-kill organization, dedicated to the ‘right way.’

You can donate to them directly through this website – and as they are completely independently owned and operated, every little bit will certainly help. 

The truth about PETA and those horrible photos?

This article is a rebuttal to Waylon’s The Truth about PETA & those horrible Photos.

I didn’t add the rest; chances are you may have already seen them on Huffington Post, The Daily Mail or any other news site covering the allegations against PETA. You don’t need to see them again. We don’t need to look at dead kittens and puppies over and over to realize what a horror this is.
Whether or not PETA euthanizes thousands of animals annually is not in dispute. They do, however, choose to justify these actions, with a little bit of truth—and a whole lot of misdirection and misinformation piled on top.

While PETA has raised awareness on many animal cruelty issues, the unfortunate (and misinformed) stance of their founder, Ingrid Newkirk on no-kill shelters is one reason they don’t get my support.

Help me sort this out because the logic eludes me:

1. PETA claims that no-kill shelters do more harm than good because they become filled to capacity and have to turn animals away.
2. PETA’s solution to this problem is to euthanize animals. They do not generally house animals for adoption in their facility, as their approach is to euthanize shortly after the animals arrive.

In fact, according the the Virginia Department of Agriculture findings:

90 percent of the animals PETA brings to their facilities are euthanized within the first 24 hours. Only 6 percent were ever placed in homes.

Their rates of euthanasia are so high, the Center for Consumer Freedom* petitioned the Virginia Department of Agriculture to reclassify their facility as a slaughterhouse. While they declined to make this classification, they will consider changing the facility’s classification to that of “euthanasia clinic,” as they do not seek to adopt out the animals they take in in this facility. Peta is transparent on this issue. They have not tried to hide the fact that they euthanize, but they remain closed to the idea of other alternatives.

to read the rest of this brilliant article, please visit Kate’s page here.

“Why wait for the loss of hearing to appreciate sound? Turn off the white noise of your thoughts and start to listen.” ~  Bella Bathurst, Sound Advice

I was reading an article online this morning, a most beautiful piece about a woman who developed a degenerative disease causing her to lose most of her hearing in her late 20s.

And, after 12 years living in this space of muffled silence, a pioneering new surgery allowed for the insertion of a micro prosthetic device—which restored her hearing to perfect, once again.

The article would have been remarkable ending with just this—the story of a young woman who lost it all, and gained it back once again. But, as is the case with every good story…there is always a ‘hook’ hidden deeper beneath the pages of text—something which, hopefully, just might cause our perspective to shift.

And, as I made my way through and wandered these words, I realized this was really a story about listening.

 “For those with more serious loss, the decline of one sense often strengthens others. Watch anyone who has had hearing problems for a while and it’s obvious that they are listening differently. They listen with the whole of themselves, bodies turned towards the speaker, drinking in cues.”

How often do we find ourselves blocking out the ‘noise’ of our day? The buzzing swirls and hums of all of our techno-gadgets, the bustling scramble of our morning rush, and the white noise that frames out our day?

Have we, perhaps, become deaf in a whole brand new way? Do we tuck ourselves quietly away in this space of our thoughts in order to block out this droning on of our day?

But more importantly, in this process of filtering out—have we damaged our capacity to listen?
How often do we take the time to listen to these most wonderful things…like, the ‘exhilarating ripple’ of a voice…our own child’s voice peeking through the blanket of playground noise…or, the wind brushing through the trees as they sway in the wind, and their leaves share with us their greatest of secrets?

Is it really possible to turn off the bustle of thought, and really listen with all of our being?

Indeed, this earth “has music for those who listen“—so, try not to let it get lost inside the ‘noise’ of your day.

So, lean inwards and towards the ‘music’ of life, and breathe fully the ‘melody’ of this moment. But more so, and most important of all—don’t become ‘deaf’ to this day.

And, likewise, if you feel a bit like you’re not being ‘heard,’ just be patient, and try your best to remember,

Because, you may just find to your “listening ears, all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.”

Koko and her Kitten.

Sometimes it is that we assume so very much in this life…

That we limit our ‘views’ to only that which can be seen…

And keep our minds closed to anything that can not be fully explained.

We believe only that which can be verified with our very own senses…

That we forget the heart and the mind are our most amazing gifts.

“Goodbye, said the fox. And now here is my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince) 

Indeed, it is only through the heart that we can see most clearly—and, the most important things are those which can not be seen.

Like empathy…and love…

And, when we look to something that is incapable of communicating in a way that we might understand, we assume that it lacks the emotional depth to carry love and empathy and sadness in it’s heart…

But, not everything is always as it seems…and love truly knows no bounds. 

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

I dance each and every single day, in my own way and not at all caring over the opinions of those who can not hear this music.

And these days, the best music, is that which comes from within.

So, just for today…

“Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you’re perfectly free.” ― Rumi

but just simply dance.

Much love, and namaste.

I have lots of scars—and I am most proud of each and every one.

And as of late, these scars…they have become a much bigger part of me now—they are, my most perfect imperfections.

And, what used to make me cringe, and squeeze my eyes shut in disgust—it seems, has now become my ‘badge of honor’, and a reminder to be most grateful for each…new…day.

I am grateful for the sun, and the moon, and the stars—as they take turns lighting my path each day.

I am grateful to the gardens just outside my house—as they remind me to pause a moment to reflect, and to gaze at magnificence in a brand new way.

But, I am *most* grateful for the gift of this life—and I promise to not ever squander these moments, these ‘gifts’ the universe has brought my way.

*namaste* my most beautiful friends…we are all so magnificently and perfectly imperfect.

Never, ever, ever be ashamed of the scars you carry…because our scars are there to show us just how very much this life is worth living.

“Everyone in the world has gone to bed one night or another with fear or pain, or loss or disappointment And yet each of us has awaken arisen Somehow made our abolition’s seen other human beings and said Morning, Hi How are You, Fine Thanks and You? It’s amazing wherever that abides in the human being there is the nobleness of the human spirit Despite it all, black and white, Asian, Spanish, Native-American, pretty, plain, thin, fat, vowed or celibate, We rise.” – Maya Angelou

Such brilliantly eloquent words shared to us by celebrated poet, novelist, and civil rights activist, Dr. Maya Angelou.

Indeed, all of us have gone to bed at times feelings so very much alone and overwhelmed; and yet, each day this indomitable piece of our spirit beckons us to once again greet a brand new day.

We have all fallen, at times—and each time, we have each once again risen.

Enjoy this most beautiful video of Professor Angelou reciting her 1978 poem, “And Still I Rise.”

It is simply moving…beyond all words.

Namaste.