Shall we dance?

In honor of National Dance Day (yeah, who knew? - I'd actually already planned this post last night and then this morning found out about the day on Shutter Sisters - love synchronicity!), I'm sharing this lovely and moving video about the benefits of dance to people with Parkinson's. What a beautiful way to feel healthier!

Here it is!

A while back I rather mysteriously referred to a project I'd been helping with. Well, here it is! Jon Bernie's radiant book, Ordinary Freedom. I was lucky enough to help transcribe at least one talk for the book and was part of the proofreading team. I'm so delighted to be able to share it with you now.

"To find an accomplished spiritual teacher is a rare gift. To find a book that puts you in a most lively way in the presence of such a teacher is even more rare. But here it is! Jon Bernie’s Ordinary Freedom has all the power of the spoken word and vibrates with the overtones of that teacher’s caring, compassionate nearness. Deep, yet always simple; simple, yet never simplistic; clear, eloquent, and always to the point, Ordinary Freedom is not an ordinary book. It springs from freedom and breathes freedom. Caution: This book may be hazardous to your current level of consciousness!"

- Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB, author, lecturer and co-founder of www.gratefulness.org

Self-Care in July with the Women of Spring

I've totally loved exploring the topic of self-care with the wonderful women of Spring during July. If you haven't been there with me, and this resonates with you, I'd encourage you to check it out. There are great guest posts and fun videos, all supporting taking care of ourselves. How wonderful.

Coordination

For years these little trees had to struggle along without grates to help hold the soil in around them. And then one day they not only received grates, but they also got some kind of lovely stonework and the truly delightful addition of flowers, color-coordinated to the nearby fire hydrant. Love this little bit of urban whimsy!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary you cute lovebirds! I'm so incredibly blessed to have you both in my life. And now let's take a trip down memory lane to 14 years ago...

Francesco Clemente

Love, love, love this interview with Francesco Clemente, thanks to Danielle LaPorte's wonderful White Hot Truth. You can watch the rest here. Enjoy!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

I realized I haven't mentioned any books here lately. That might make it seem like I haven't been reading much, which isn't actually the case. Since Slow Love, I've read a lot of good fiction, including Anne Lamott's newest Imperfect Birds and Dani Shapiro's Black & White and Family History. And I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. But I'm finding that the memoirs are really resonating the most for me these days, and I don't think I'm alone. There are a lot of good new memoirs out there and clearly a lot of people reading them, often looking to see how other people got through the challenges in their lives.

In He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, Trish Ryan's challenge is trying to find Mr. Right. The thing that makes this book amazing is getting to witness the way she finds faith and a relationship with God in the process. And, as Allison Winn Scotch, author of The Department of Lost and Found writes, "You don’t have to be looking for spiritual enlightenment to dive into Trish Ryan’s He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. Honest, funny, and poignant, Ryan’s is a story of one woman searching for the right path, and in sharing her journey, she might help you find your own way, whatever that way might be."

This definitely has been my experience. I started reading this book with David Whyte's words about conversation in my head, and while I would have enjoyed Ryan's well-written, funny, and insightful story of her romantic quest just on that level, I was really captivated by her descriptions of the conversations she had with God about her situation. Whyte and Ryan have reminded me how relational one's life can be and how much richer it is when one is in dialogue. I think a deep part of me had been missing that.

Trish Ryan has a new book out that I'm dying to read, A Maze of Grace, and there's a great interview with her on Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, which is how I found out about her in the first place. So glad I did!

Dr. Lissa Rankin and Kate Northrup

Loved watching this video recently. Now that I've figured out how to embed a Vimeo video (I know, nothing to it!) I wanted to share it here. These women really inspire me!

Your secret

Today I was delighted by this lovely video by Jean-Sébastien Monzani, a Swiss and French freelance photographer, graphic-designer, illustrator and video-artist. I especially liked the tone that the soundtrack sets - it would be a very different piece with sort of a zippy, upbeat song pumping away in the background. I loved the evocative quality of the audio of this piece, so if you do watch please listen, too.



Many thanks to Jenn of Kind over Matter for posting this as one of her Friday Lovelies!

Mama Lucy

"As long as what you want to do is good and important to this world, there is no need to have any fear. The only thing you need to do is to plan and put your hand in to start. From there, the universe will support you. The world is waiting for people to take charge. When you take a step, the world will take you a mile."

This interview with Mama Lucy really inspired me today on Marianne Elliott's blog.

The lovely photo of Mama Lucy with some of her students is by Tim Llewellyn.

The August Break

As you can see, things have gotten a little quiet on my end over here this week. My inner world is very rich right now, but nothing that feels right to share right now or that I can even put into words. Thank goodness for the fabulous Susannah Conway and her August Break! She's inviting bloggers to "simply share one photo per day on your blog" during the month of August. I'm up for it!

Feelin' Groovy

Woke up with "The 59th Street Bridge Song" in my head. Not a bad way to wake up. I like how much fun Art Garfunkel looks like he's having in this performance.

Town Cryer

No meta-message with this one:) Just finding myself a bit wordless this Sunday evening and thinking a song might be nice. This is one of my favorites and I enjoyed discovering this live, acoustic version. Hope you enjoy!

Jump Tomorrow

By the same director as Last Chance Harvey, this is another classic, quirky Lizzy movie, currently streaming on Netflix. You can watch the trailer here.

Let Go of the "Doer"

This recent Daily Dharma has been on my mind for the past couple of days. I think there are a lot of places in my life where I could let go of my "doerness"...

July 14, 2010
Tricycle Daily Dharma
Let Go of the "Doer"

As we begin to practice mindfulness of breathing, we often see ourselves, initially, as the breather, apart and separate from the breath itself. The direction and development of the practice is eventually to bridge this separation until our attention is absorbed fully into the breath. The breath breathes itself, and we experience a place of deep calmness, concentration, and ease. When we breathe, we just breathe. As our practice develops, we learn to let go of much of the emotional and psychological baggage that surrounds so much of what we “do” in life. Essentially, we learn to let go of the “doer.” It is important to be patient with this process. Mindfulness of breathing is a practice of patient intimacy, learning to come closer and closer to the simple process of just breathing.

Christina Feldman, "Receiving the Breath: Meditation Q & A" (Summer 2003)

Another streaming hit

This might not seem like something I'd enjoy. On the other hand, maybe it does. In any case I really did! And you might, too...

Opening

I am so in love with David Whyte's words and thoughts. Here's another wonderful poem that I'm only giving you the first part of here. Click on the title of the poem for the full version and then feed your soul by following the audio link on that page (where it says Listen).

The Opening of Eyes

That day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read...

Let the Conversatia begin!

The ever-fabulous Jen Lee linked to an amazing podcast with David Whyte yesterday that resonated really deeply. I encourage you to check it out if the following excerpt speaks to you the way it did me:

The old Latin root of that word is Conversatia and it really means a kind of “living with” or “in companionship with,” so you’re having a Conversatia with your spouse or your partner at home every day. There’s a “living with” whether it’s spoken out loud or not. There is an equal kind of conversation with silence, and with a particular way that you as an individual ask the question of life. You’ve got to find that contact point as an individual. Ask the question, “Where am I interested? Where, in a very short time, do I become passionate once I’ve opened up that initial interest? What do I have energy for? And will I have faith enough to actually spend enough time that I can open up that door into what to begin with is a new territory but eventually becomes my new home?“

One of the difficulties of this conversational identity is that you have to learn to live with the unknown in a way, just as you have to learn to live with another person or with other persons in human social existence. The interesting thing is that that unknown has a life of its own, but also in a kind of ancient, mystical Meister Eckhartian way, it is given life by the way that you actually pay attention to it.

One of the poems that I work with is called “Start Close In,” which is about finding this ground of your own. You know, start close in. Don’t take the second step or the third. Start with the first one, close in, the step you don’t want to take. Start with the ground that you know, the pale ground beneath your feet, your own way to begin the conversation. You’re learning how to find your own place, but you’re not doing it in the kind of “me” generation way so you can become the greatest “me” in the world. You’re doing it in order to find the ground of your own attentiveness to the rest of the world. So you’ve got to find the way that you naturally pay attention and the way you can naturally deepen that attention so that the world will come back to you.

Made whole

This was definitely the highlight of my weekend!



Yes, our bridge is back! And I just couldn't stop driving over it:) (If you want to compare this to the video from back in May, you can see that here.)

Six word story 13

The clear water sparkled. She dove.

Huang Xiang and William Rock

This is a beautiful new video about a project my dear poet/calligrapher friend Huang Xiang is currently working on with painter William Rock. Getting to work with Huang Xiang on a calligraphy exhibition of his poems several years ago was one of the most fun and meaningful projects I've had the pleasure to be part of. Hope you enjoy!



PS If you'd like to read translations of the poems Huang Xiang performs from the paintings, many of the translations are here.

Be inspired by Jen Lemen

Just think what we could do if we all approached our own individual gifts to this world with the same kind of love and attention. Pretty powerful!

Slow it down

"It's when I slow things down that life brings me the most joy."

Amen! I read these wise words yesterday in Suzanne Beecher's Dear Reader column and they completely resonated. If you don't know about Suzanne Beecher, check to see if your library offers her wonderful Online Book Clubs. They're a great way to learn about new books. And she has a delightful new memoir that just came out: Muffins and Mayhem. She's definitely a force for good!

You

You are beautiful
You are strong
You are loved

This is my big love letter to the world today:) And it is 100% true.

Have I mentioned that I. LOVE. DREAM. LAB.

Love and playfulness

I fell in love with a Hafez poem Marianne Elliott sent out this morning as part of the 30 Days of Yoga. These lines lept out at me:

"God wants to see
More love and playfulness in your eyes
For that is your greatest witness to Him."

Streaming hit of the day

Another classic Lizzy movie, currently streaming on Netflix:)

Happy Independence Day!

I'm sorry about putting up another video, but on the 4th of July, when I'm moved to think about what I love about America, I have to say a lot of it is summed up in this sweet movie. I love this land, the physical land of this country. And I love people like Alvin Straight.

35.7.15

I believe I'm headed into the last week of 35.7.15 and it's been fabulous! Adjusting from 800 words a day to writing for 15 minutes (which still averaged about 600 words - not too shabby!) really helped. The act of just getting the words out makes me think of tilling compacted soil. I feel like there's just more space in my mind. And I've had a wonderful time exploring the Calm Heart Flow yoga practice Marianne Elliott created for me. I've definitely seen improvement in the back pain I sometimes experience. I've played around with doing different postures each day depending on how much time I have and how my body is feeling. And I definitely don't see stopping either of these practices after the week is up. Doing this for about a month has really helped me see how to adjust my writing and yoga to fit into practically any kind of day I'm going to run into, and how important it is to my spirit. Thank you Marianne and Bindu for creating this fabulous opportunity to enhance my daily routine!

Another video

Hope you're not getting tired of watching videos here, but I really wanted to share this one. Promise to try to check in tomorrow and tell you how 35.7.15 is going, but a quick summary is "Great!"

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash

Rodg put on Nashville Skyline last night and it had me almost in tears, it was so what my ears wanted to hear. Really delighted to find this.