You know those folks that people describe as,”He’d give you the shirt off his back!”? I love those people. They are always willing to lend a hand, go the extra mile, put someone else’s comfort before their own.
I had a friend in high school who, when we would get in the car on a frigid Rochester evening, turned all of the heater vents towards me. I don’t now what made him think of doing that but it made me feel so worthy. Continue Reading →
Without the benefits of electricity, (they say it will be back on by Saturday) I was unable to write a new post for today. But I bopped over to the library to re-post one from the past. Yesterday, I posted new from my phone on the Anxiety Schmanxiety Blog. What else would I write about this week? Fear of the dark. To complement that, here is a post about light. Enjoy!
Let the light shine!
While listening to a Richard Rohr CD, I became fascinated and validated by his words. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan Friar author and speaker of non duality. Though he has authored many books, but my favorite title is Everything Belongs. Since this is the message I want people to hear. “You belong!” Continue Reading →
The storm is ‘a coming.
Anyone who doesn’t believe that the earth is in turmoil, ought to check with the weather channel.
As Long Islanders hunkered down, Hurricane Sandy grew stronger and faster early Monday, bringing a “life-threatening storm surge” to the East Coast, forecasters said.
The maximum sustained winds increased to near 85 mph — up 10 mph from earlier Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. advisory. It was moving north at 15 mph — 1 mph faster than it was at 2 a.m.
Long Island Newsday
Having trouble sorting out your priorities?
So excited to be asked to write an article on my blog buddy Lisa Rosenberg’s Blog Writings on Body Image and Identity. Lisa and I are kindred spirits, being the two therapists among all our mutli-professional bloggy friends. Lisa writes about body image and eating disorders after having survived an eating disorder as a ballerina when she was younger. I have enjoyed following Lisa’s blog as she is candid and honest. She gets down and personal allowing us a realistic view of her and her family life. I especially love how she parents with compassion (read How I Survived My Daughter’s First Week of Middle School). Also, it has been great doing the Race 2012 project together. Here is a link to Lisa’s Montclair, New Jersey therapy practice. She is so cool, I cannot wait to meet in realsies.
Here is a sneak peak of the blog post… if you likey, head over to Get Your Priorities Straight on Lisa’s blog, finish reading and leave some comment love for her.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī 1207-1273
There is something about poems by Rumi that captures us, makes us understand what we may not have before. The phrases cut right through our minds, slicing it open and going directly into our hearts. We may not even realize the words, but they touch us on a deeper levels where we understand everything and nothing all at once. They stand the test of time, since they know without a shadow of a doubt, time is an illusion.
These were the first poems by Rumi that I heard.
I am for women’s connecting and supporting women
My husband showed me a great article on gender politics this week called Why Women Should Stop Trying To Be Perfect by Deborah Spar. Here is some thought provoking tidbits…
Even worse, we somehow believe that we need to do all of this at once, and without any help. Almost by definition, a woman cannot work a 60-hour-per-week job and be the same kind of parent she would have been without the 60-hour-per-week job. No man can do this; no human can do this. Yet women are repeatedly berating themselves for failing at this kind of balancing act, and (quietly, invidiously) berating others when something inevitably slips.
Photo from www.miquotes.com
People are in such pain. And they feel so alone in it.
I know they are not alone. I’ll prove it. I am sure some of you can relate to some of these feelings. You. You are not alone!
Did you ever feel…
…like not answering the question “how are you?” since you can’t put the feelings to words, or you don’t think anyone would understand, or it is not worth their time?
…that it would be worse if you shared, because if no one understood, it would feel even lonelier?
…that someone was walking all over you and if you spoke up you’d come across as overreacting? Since this was not their “intention”, they feel like they did nothing wrong. So you hold the scream in. Continue Reading →
Monica sent all the bloggers involved in the Race 2012 Blogging Project an email asking if any of us had an answer to commenter, Gregory Bagget’s, question:
What is race, generally, and what is the meaning of race in the title of this blog?
I’ll take a stab at it, Monica!
Race (n.) means both “people of common descent” and “an act of running” if you look it up in the dictionary. In this blog project, we are talking about both meanings. Plus all of the connotational meanings in which “race” is marinated.
A story on CNN caught my attention. (Thanks, Nikky, for sending me the link.) It was about a photo someone took of a stranger in an airport and posted on Reddit.
It was a photo of a Sikh woman with a turban and facial hair.
It was posted on September 22, with the caption, “I’m not sure what to conclude from this.” As you can imagine, it invited many comments, ranging from others who teased the woman to people appalled at making fun of her.
Today I will embrace what I am resisting. At this point in my life, I’d rather resist all competition.* But instead I have joined the race. Race 2012! It is a blogging project by my blogging buddy Monica Medina.
“Race 2012: A Conversation of Race & Politics in America”
Embrace what you are resisting!
I will kick off from the starting line today. But I am not so ready to dive in to the deep end yet. Today I am just announcing it. Politics and race are complex topics, full of history, misunderstanding, and powerful opinions. It scares me even to write about writing about it. But if I announce it in public, then I’ll have to follow through.
I’ve have committed to write about race and politics in America. Eek!
You might be wondering why such a passionate person can resist writing about such an important topic. I am wondering, too. But the answer is, that I am a coward. I am afraid I won’t know enough or that I’ll come across as stupid. I am afraid that I will offend somebody. So easy to do!
When we commit to something, it is important that we take actions steps everyday toward that ethos. It is all too easy to make excuses, put things off, and talk ourselves out of our goals. I have done this too many times to point to the speck in anyone else’s eye.
For me, these delays tell me something about my upbringing. I was always taught to behave.
When I feel this way, I know, the best thing for me to do is to dive in, and dive in I will. My cousin once told me that , “You’ll know the leaders since they are the ones with the knives in their back.” I don’t necessarily want a knife in my back, but it seems cowardly to avoid it for my own comfort. BTW the safety of the coward’s way is an illusion. If I don’t speak up about change, I will go down with the ship, too.
I think it is time to bring out the wild woman and put my efforts to something worthwhile! Wish me luck! And get ready to cauterize the blood.
* It is not really a competition. It is a wonderful collaborative effort to start a conversation. The worst thing to do with a problem is to hide it. It festers, grows more powerful. The more we speak up about what is wrong in the world, and suggest how to makes shifts, the more chance we have of digging ourselves out of this mess!
Fed up with the mess on the news? I will attempt to offer something different. I don’t know what it is yet, but I will start working on right away!
What would you like to hear about?
