ear candy: adele

gorgeous. have a listen.

thank you.

things i'm grateful for today:
my dad's bone scan came back 100 percent clear/said and i bought our tickets to dubai (march 1 thru 10)/i'm going to be able to wrap my arms around my family tomorrow at 9 pm/i taught a really fun yoga class last night/sia's new album/the mini cadbury eggs that are already on shelves

create

another word for creativity is courage.
george prince

the artist's way

inspired by a couple of friends who have started reading "the artist's way," i've decided to commit to the twelve-week course myself. a friend gave me the book in high school and it has traveled to college with me and then to dc, but i've never actually read or done the course. the whole book is about unblocking and restoring your creativeness.

for me, it's about recovering my creativity in not just writing but in my yoga. i feel like i always have these lengthy to-do lists, and i rush past even the things i enjoy, like planning a yoga class or writing an article. i want to sloooooow down. let things simmer. and soak. and become.

i got this quote in my inbox today:

"most of the time we go through the day, through our activities, our work, our relationships, our conversations, and very rarely do we ground ourselves in an awareness of our bodies. we are lost in our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions, our stories, our plans.

a very simple guide or check on this state of being lost is to pay attention to those times when you feel like you are rushing. rushing does not have to do with speed. you can rush moving slowly, and you can rush moving quickly. we are rushing when we feel as if we are toppling forward. our minds run ahead of ourselves; they are out there where we want to get to, instead of being settled back in our bodies. the feeling of rushing is good feedback. whenever we are not present, right then, in that situation, we should stop and take a few deep breaths. settle into the body again. feel yourself sitting. feel the step of a walk. be in your body."

joseph goldstein

d/u/b/a/i

said & i are going to dubai!

(details to come as i have a habit of speaking too soon. i have a hard time veiling my excitement. ever.)

we are of the same nature

after you wake up you probably open the curtains and look outside. you may even like to open the window and feel the cool morning air with the dew still on the grass. but is what you see really "outside"? in fact, it is your own mind. as the sun sends its rays through the window, you are not just yourself. you are also the beautiful view from your window. you are the dharmakaya. dharmakaya literally means the body (kaya) of the buddha's teachings (dharma), the way of understanding and love. before passing away, the buddha told his disciples, "only my physical body will pass away. my dharma body will remain with you forever." in mahayana buddhism, the word has come to mean "the essence of all that exists." all phenomena--the song of a bird, the warm rays of the sun, a cup of hot tea--are manifestations of the dharmakaya. we, too, are of the same nature as these wonders of the universe.

thich nhat hanh

a state of flow

i read this today and it totally resonated with me. i had to post it. thank you michelle!

"i tend to listen when *the universe* sends me messages and the concept commitment has jumped out at me several times in the past two days - most recently last night as i was going to sleep. i was reading a book about integrative nutrition (wow!) and at the beginning is this idea often mistakenly attributed to Goethe, but actually written by W. H. Murray a 20th century Scottish mountaineer:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

if there is a dream of your own that you are hesitating about, commit to it. take that first major step. many times in my life when i’ve been floundering, i’ve committed, or re-committed to something - a friendship, a job, a dream…and found it coming much more easily, as if i was no longer swimming upstream, but moving with the tides….commitment helps to put you in a state of flow."

saturday.

my brother is here!

he flew in yesterday afternoon. we had a big lunch, went thrift shopping, played with the kyoko babies, and then came home to practice for his teaching fellows interview. apparently during the audition one of the girls wrote on the markerboard with a sharpie. poor thing!

it's so wonderful to have him here. we've gone on long walks, gotten big coffees, and caught up on anything and everything all day long. he grounds me.

a blank canvas

from this beautiful blog"


i was talking to my friend morgan the other day about change…
about how even when it is good,
and you know you are doing the right thing,
it does not always feel comfortable.

like, what do you do with that spiritual awkwardness,
those evacuated spaces that used to occupy
so many thoughts and conversations?

my sweet friend said its like
someone is handing you a white canvas.
you don’t have to make a mark on it right away.
you can just be with it for awhile.

funny how this never occurred to me before.
why stick something there just for the sake
of not having it empty?
(that is probably how i winded up with a
storage unit full of shit i don’t know what to do with.)

i have to admit,
minus the pressure of a deadline,
life seems way more manageable this way.

i want to live a life
without notes.
without outside influence.
without evidence.