I’ve been asking the universe for a new car to replace my aging, standard shift, Subaru. In a dream, I was given a burgundy Subaru Outback with automatic shift and 11,000 by my mother. In waking life, I was given a car to use for work—it was a burgundy Subaru Outback with automatic shift (but a little bit more than 11,000 miles). Close, but no cigar; at least, not yet. 🙂
Posts Tagged ‘laughter’
Synchronicities, Part II: Dreams
Posted on Sunday, September 15th, 2013
Potluck gathering as sacred geometry
Posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2012
Last night I was at a potluck dinner where I began knowing only a couple other people. As is my tendency, I gravitated to a corner from which I could talk with the person on either side, or sit back and just listen to other conversations, or watch the proceedings, which is what I did, but this time with different eyes. At first I simply took delight in all of our surface differences the tattoos, hairdos, clothes, ages, levels of engagement with each other. Then, given our differences, I wondered about what drew each of us to this gathering, not just on a social level, but on the underlying level(s) – those of energy, geometry, gravity. I began to “feel into” the energy of the group, and found a cohesion there, even as people moved toward, and away from, the center(s). And, as I began to move towards “separating” myself from the group, I wondered what would happen to the feel of the group as I did that. When I look back on it now, I imagine a large bubble of water, from which a single drop emerges, and the bubble reforms, slightly smaller, but still with an attraction for the individual water drop, now forever connected and transformed by, energetically, that bubble. I am now more likely to reconnect with that group than I was to go there in the first place. These people are now part of my memory – the boy with curls just like his sister’s at that age, the man with empty holes in his earlobes, the teenage girl sitting on her mother’s lap. And beneath that, circles within circles; spirals; spheres. What will happen when we all see the entire universe this way?
First You Need Ashes – A Personal Story of Joyful Resurrection
Posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2012
I’ll be speaking about my “release” from work on 12/26/11, and subsequent joyful “resurrection,” at Jubilee, 46 Wall Street, Asheville, on April 8th, Easter Sunday, at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:15. I hope to see you there. If you can’t be there, I’ll publish the text here in a couple of weeks.
Make Your Own Happiness – surround yourself with. . .
Posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011
A friend has asked me to make him a quilt, adding, “I am surrounding myself only with things I love, that make me laugh, or remind me of friends.” What a wonderful way to live your life. Obviously there are things that are practical or even necessary, but my friend’s list is a helpful addition for anything beyond practicality. But even practicality can mix with other values. . . as when another friend said to me, “If it doesn’t feel like pajamas, I’m not wearing it.” There, comfort was the issue, and my friend loves comfort. I like a house which is neat and clean, but more than that I love doing what I love to do – which, more often than not these days, is sewing and making beautiful things to look at or which carry loving, supportive energy.
Delight at 60
Posted on Sunday, March 20th, 2011
Today I went to a friend’s 60th birthday party and discovered it was, primarily, an ecstatic performance, by her, of some dance/story/sign language pieces which she offered to us, her friends. It was delightful to see such an expression of joy in her and in us. May we all express ourselves with such joy and abandon in our own lives.
Joy is our natural state, and laughter IS the best medicine
Posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010
I invite you to try this idea on for a while. I liken joy to chi which is supposed to flow unrestricted through the body’s energy meridians, but occasionally encounters blockages which can be opened up through practices such as acupuncture or qigong. What often blocks the flow of joy are beliefs, like: “There’s a dark side to everything” or “I’m not meant to be happy” or “You can”t go around being happy all the time.” — To which I respond, “Why not?” The Dalai Lama seems to, which is really amazing, given the history of his land and people. I am able to laugh about just about anything, but what occasionally gives me pause is what other people might think about my laughter — e.g., its “appropriateness” in certain circumstances. It is said that as the Buddha was approaching his own death and the need to appoint a successor, he chose the one who gazed into his eyes and laughed. How appropriate is that?
“One of the most common responses to the practice of gazing at the beloved is laughter.” – Will Johnson, from The Spiritual Practices of Rumi
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/features.php?id=20120