Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh," he whispered.

"Yes, Piglet?"

"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, "I just wanted to be sure of you."

Little tykes

zola & brie

Beginner's Mind

"If grief or anger arises,

Let there be grief or anger.

This is the Buddha in all forms,

Sun Buddha, Moon Buddha, Happy Buddha, Sad Buddha.

It is the universe offering all things to awaken and open our heart."

Jack Kornfield

Life has been bringing up challenges for me; I have been seeking new and graceful ways to learn and grow from them. I am trying to cultivate "beginner's mind", to look at things afresh and in new ways, instead of letting old habits and fears determine my path. I am appreciative of the things that I am learning, and of the family and friends that have been offering their support along this leg of my journey.

The picture is from last weekend in Esalen, where I had the opportunity to take a weekend workshop called "conscious embodiment and the path of nature". We were taught some somatic akido methods of mindfulness and presence--what does that mean? Well, it's a bit like grounding/meditating in your body, while standing or walking instead of sitting. We also applied this to the lessons & grounding & connectedness one can get from nature, and this included a hike in the Big Creek wilderness preserve in Big Sur.

more kitty pics for Caleb

Zola & Brie. Sleeping during the day. Brie managed to fall out of a window last night at 5am, but she seems fine, except for some of her little claws on one paw--I can't get the image out of my head of her hanging on by a paw...but again, she seems fine.

Caleb, 3 year old photographer extraordinaire

what happens when a 3 year old takes your picture while you're dancing (aka the funny faces we make for little kids vs. the funny faces white people make when they dance?)

Realities

Once when my sister Ali was 4 and I was 9, she woke up remembering a really intense dream, which she began to tell to our mother & myself.
Ali: "And then I was kidnapped by racoons, and they took me down into a hole in the ground..."
Lisa: "...what happened next?"
Ali (with a roll of her 4 year old eyes): "You know! You were there."

(some of the ages in this story have been approximated).

wow

wow! ok--I didn't get a million dollars, but I did get a windfall! As they say, the universe is conspiring to help you succeed...

teeny tiny serendipities

Flying back from New England, I was thinking about summer and cooking and I was remembering that I had a lot of corn masa from making empanadas last September, and I was wondering what else you could do with corn masa, and 2 minutes later I was reading a magazine that had a recipe for corn masa cakes with grilled poblano chilies.

So then I started thinking about a million dollars...and I'll keep you posted!

High School Musical

So, I saw Duran Duran this past Saturday at the Santa Barbara Bowl. I last saw them in 1984, 4th row seats at the Worcester Centrum Centrum Centrum! They were great--they looked great and they played great, although I am no longer attracted to their hottie bassist John Taylor! Listening to their music, especially "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Girls on Film", "Planet Earth", and "Save a Prayer", brought back not just a whole bunch of memories (thanks Mom, Noelle & Heather for going with me, sorry about the hearing loss Mom!), but also a whole bunch of feelings, feelings that had echoes of the age of 16--feelings of longing, and of wondering what's ahead in life. Fractal patterns that go round and round; it was almost like orbiting around my old 16 year old self...or maybe it was my old 16 year old self orbiting around present day me?

In other news along the high school musical theme, Tania has been continuing her theater career, and a review of the play that she is currently in can be found here: http://http//www.independent.com/news/2008/may/08/emomnium-gatherumem-presented-santa-barbara-city-c/

It's a great play and she does an amazing job--tickets have been sold out for weeks and by the time this all wraps up she will have performed it for packed theaters over 16 times!

The Four Agreements

The book "The Four Agreements" by Don Luis Miguel, is something I picked up a couple of years ago. I also got a deck of agreement cards too. For the past week, in an effort to seek greater wisdom in the paths of my life, I've been picking a card in the morning, and one at night. My first one from last week: Don't Take Anything Personally: Relinquish Self Importance. Personal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we make the assumption that everything is about "me".

The Four Agreements are:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

What an experience!

My Nana passed away last week. She was a joyous spirit and had an endless capacity to love and to give. I got to send her an email about two weeks ago: “Dear Nana—you recently taught me a new phrase: “I love you all there is!” I wanted to write to you to thank you for that and to thank you for all the love that you have shown the world! You have created a legacy of love--all of your children are amazingly good at it and you have made the world a better place by your example of love. You and Grandpa always encouraged me with my art and with my education; every memory I have of you is filled with love! Even your great-grand child Caleb is carrying on this loving tradition that you have taught us.” I'm so thankful for having her in my life and for having the chance to tell her what she meant to me. The evening before she passed she turned to my aunts and said "What an experience!!"

Enlightenment

I have received this message twice today, once at home in a magazine, and once at work in a handbook:
"Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light but making the darkness conscious." Carl Jung

Family Tree Taylor branch

My great-grandmother Annie Taylor, on the left as a young woman, on the right after ten kids! Below, portrait of 7 of her children (my grand-aunts & uncles) w/spouses.

Family Tree

Me (probably on my b-day b/c i'm wearing red, white & blue) with my pal Jason, in Sherborn MA.

fiery tree

Snapshot of a recent painting I did. And w/ so many kitten shots I finally uploaded one to "i can has cheezburger" http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/View.aspx?Whatupdawg128477507670468750.jpg

National Root Beer Float Day

So I was thinking about having root-beer floats in my office one of these days, and I was wondering when National Root-beer float day is (August 6th), which is a little bit too far away, so I will let you know when I decide it's international root-beer float day (it's pretty soon).

Gratitude

Giving thanks for another day, another sunrise, another chance to make sense of it all.

Lots to catch up on--not in chronological order

On Thursday I got a call from a friend of mine, Stephanie Brower, who is UCSB's associated students president. She had been asked to introduce Hillary Clinton during Clinton's surprise campaign stop at UCSB. Stephanie asked me to go with her to be her photographer, and Tania graciously took over some hosting duties for me back at home. It was a good night, and I learned some things about photoshoots--when you're about to go backstage, DON'T ask if you can go backstage...although in this situation, the bouncers had guns, being secret service agents, so perhaps asking was the right thing to do. Hillary had some good points, it was great to meet her, it was great to see the students so involved, and I got some good pictures.

they're getting bigger!

ridiculously cute...even more to come. This will temporarily be the all-kitten blog for a while. I'm so kitten-drunk. Even when Brie wakes me up at 5am stabbing me with her bristley little tongue for my early-morning exfoliation (wait, wait, there's a spot right there on your eyelid...and your nose...). Melting!
And a happy, happy birthday to me mum, whom I love more than 200 kittens!