Hi Angels,

It's blogging Friday and I'm still in Texas.  The weather's been awesome. My Mom grows stronger and will be able to sail her life-ship single handily soon.

Yesterday when the physical therapist visited Mom he spoke during the session with her about his 16 yr. old son.  Between working with Mom with exercises that will help her regain and strengthen balance, he shared his concern about his son. His son was very upset by the news of the co-pilot whom deliberately flew the plane he was in command of into the mountains, killing himself, and all on board.  This is a brutal unthinkable act.  Processing an act such as this, in the wake of shock and tangled emotions is even hard for adults. The 16 year old said to his father, "Dad people are so mean."   The father was taken aback by the statement and wondered out loud, "Are we creating a mean world or a sick world?" 

Personally I think meanness breeds sickness. 
And personally I feel simple answers will not work toward understanding an act such as this.

My daughter calls me from the airport tonight apprehensive about flying.  She loves to travel and yet does not like to fly.  I'm right with her.  I find flying challenging. And I too will be boarding a plane on Saturday, flying back to Maine.

It is not my intent to write about fear of flying today.  Today I'm wondering about the world we are co-creating together in the reflection of that teenagers observation and statement: "People are so mean."  A world where my mother matter of fact-ly answers, "People are mean." My mother, a survivor, whose family escaped from Nazi Germany knows people can be mean.

We are mean to each other and ourselves. We all know this. 

I keep turning to the Dali Lama's words, "Be a little kinder to each other."
I hold his words in my heart as a talisman and protection against the meanness in myself.
I clasp them as a mantra, so my heart will not harden.
I hold the truths of non violence Gandhi practiced as aspiration. 
I believe under the light of kindness some of the ills of the world would be soothed. 
Or is this a fairy tale?  Has the world psyche simply gotten too far out of hand?  And are we too ill to see that we are living unwell?

Is simply 'being kind' enough in today's complex entwined world?  As the weave and patterning of terror becomes more apart of our daily lives and the strata of world inequities becomes more apparent are acts of kindness enough?  How do we explain to our children that sick people sometimes do sick things for no apparent reason.  The unpredictability of life in and of itself  can be terrifying. And sometimes wild cruel acts are in-sighted by social, economic, or political agendas. And sometimes horrible acts are instigated by illness and are terrifying and incomprehensible. And sometimes the most simplistic understanding is framed as 'mean'.

It hurts me when our children have to ask why is the world so mean? Our children observe that they are not safe on planes, or in schools, or on the streets.  Is this the best we can do? Acts of sickness/illness in society are both reflected and indicative of what we are creating. 
Will we wake up?

I just returned from a conference on peace several weeks ago.  I was heartened by so many folks in the world working toward peaceful change.  And this is where I choose to focus.

I have a friend who through her own bout with mental illness is in the process of creating a forum for others with mental illness so awareness and healing can take place.  I know a young man who has just made a beautiful film about living more sustainably in the world.  I have friends who volunteer in many places bringing their gifts and compassion to those who are under-served.  I know teachers bringing critical thinking into their class room lessons and passing on tools to students so they will have broader understandings when navigating this complicated world.  I know kids who plant their own gardens and are raised in families who understand that the earth is sustainable as long as we are in alignment with earth's laws.  I know a man who adopted three kids whose parents died of aids when he was 20 years old. He supports and cares for these kids and has made sure they have received a good education.  So yes people have the capacity for 'being mean' and for also being kind.

I don't always understand or comprehend the motivations of such crazy acts as killing yourself and plane full of people on purpose.  Sometimes these acts are so terrifying and outcomes so 'mean' and raw that they anger and frighten me too.  I want to shake everything and yell 'STOP!'
The collective wake of grief and pain these acts create is experienced by us all.  I can't even imagine the shock, the anger and the grief the parents of those exchange students aboard that deliberately crashed plane yesterday are experiencing today or the loved ones of others who perished on this flight are feeling.

I would explain to that 16 year old that yes we human beings have a wide capacity.  And I feel it is my job to weave a kinder place, every day, no matter how hard it is.  And that it is my job to find kindness inside myself so I can bring that kindness to others.  No matter how difficult that is.  I would tell him that the world may be 'mean' and it is my job to reach through the meanness as best I can and find some good.  I would be honest and share that these crazy acts scare me too.

I would emphasize that each small act of kindness changes our own hearts and therefore matters.  And that there are silent cries for help that are unheard or ignored daily that can grow into unthinkable actions if left untended.   And if I harden myself against the world, that I too become 'mean'.  I would be honest and say I don't always like or understand these seemingly insane acts or the cruelty caused by them.  And I don't know if we will evolve to a place where violence is no longer an attractive way of gaining attention or problem solving. 

Yet together one by one we each can and do make a difference each day. 
I would tell him I believe in kindness and that kindness matters.

Have a sweet weekend all.
And angel well out there. 



  

Angeling: A practice

Morning Angels

Presently I am 'angeling' in Texas.  I'm here helping out my Mom. Two weeks ago my Mom had a stroke.  The stroke hit her swiftly and was located in the cerebellum.  Mom's balance has been affected and her right side weakened.  All other operating systems check out just fine and Mom is recovering well.  

Now, 15 days after her stroke my Mom can saunter slowly along with the help of a cane. The physical therapists in the rehab unit had to remind her to slow down.  Mom's attitude is one of triumph.  My Mom feels as if she has dodged a bullet and is grateful knowing that a full recovery is in sight.  And as her brain rewires, I notice slight improvements daily.   

My Mom is not a women who enjoys being catered too.  She is the one usually in charge. Still strong and independent at 87 years old, My Mom is at the gym 5 days a week. Mom still lives alone and though her sight is greatly impaired she runs a successful house hold.  She has raised four strong willed children. Mom is a planner and still hosts family holidays in her home. The large dinning room table is set with fine china days before any of us will sit there and food preparations always begin months in advance.  Having all her family around one big table brings Mom joy.

For many years my relationship with my Mom has been complicated. 
Today I cook and clean for her.  She is the queen and captain of her home and I have willingly signed on as first mate on this tightly run ship.  Occasionally Mom barks orders and I answer aye yi, and follow Captain Mom's orders to a T.

I veiw my time as care giver for Mom through the eyes of a Karma Yogi and find being in service a blessing.  Mom is gracious and accepting of my mainly vegetarian cooking style.  She tells her friends when they call, "Oh yes Eva is here and caring for me. All our meals are gourmet."  My cooking is well received and for this I am grateful.  Personally I am not here as servant,  I am here because she is my Mom. 

Caring for aging parents or children is a practice of love.  Viewing my time here in Dallas with Mom as a yoga practice, is helping us both.  Mom's an able adult and has her own way of doing things.  My job is to keep the order she understands. This is an important part of my practice. Helping my Mom feel 'safe' by providing safety through order.  This in turn allows my Mom ease.  Mom can relax and her energy can be directed toward healing rather than the maintenance of space.    

Mom gifted 'You've been Angeled' angels to many who cared for her in the hospital. I was touched she honored me and the medical community with our creations.  A nurse named Renato was overwhelmed by Mom's gifting, hugging her twice! It was very touching.

Mom is proud of what my sister and I do in the world and we're proud of her!

Angel well my beauties!  Hugs

Things Fleeting

Yesterday I turned off the news.
I find the world filled with so much sensation.
I wonder where the 'good' inside us lives..

Shakespeare's quote from Macbeth:  "The evil men do lives after them, the good is oft interred in their bones." 

Oh the good lives in our bones.

We are bombarded by information. The frequency of news cast upon us as onslaught is not helping.
I feel myself become more defended against while listening to so much suffering rather than being compelled to move toward easing the torment.
I do what I can within my own community.  I know there is so more I can be do.   I find myself feeling helpless in the face of it all.

I feel manipulated by agendas. Why is this particular organization highlighting that bit of information at this time and choosing to leave equally compelling information out? What governments protocol is being slanted by the news reported and to what end? Unknowingly we are fed and become pawns to incentives that ultimately will not calm the storms. 

How do you and I become the angels we are in the midst of it all?  How do we grow and hold our light in the world?  There are many who hold small lamps of faith within the most terrifying of circumstance.  Can we help these lamp lighters, those aligned with good, and support their works of light? Can we feed our own light and strengthen our ability to be the change we choose to bring with what ever gifts we have?

I want to leave you this Friday with a quote from the Radiance Sutras translated by Loren Roche Phd.
 
In the wonder of something greater than all I could say or comment on, I find the beauty spoken of in these sutras so enlivening and compelling. 
 

'One day The Goddess sang to her lover Bhairava,

Beloved and radiant Lord of the space before birth,
  Revealer of essence,
Slayer of the ignorance that binds us,

You, who in play have created this universe
and permeated all forms in it with never-ending truth.
I have been wondering . . .

I have been listening to the songs of creation,
I have heard the sacred sutras being sung,
and yet still I am curious.

What is this delight-filled universe
into which we find ourselves born?

What is this mysterious awareness shimmering
everywhere within it?

What are these instinctive energies
that undulate through our bodies,
moving us into action?

And this “matter” out of which our forms are made –
What are these dancing particles of condensed radiance,
Are they an illusionist’s projection?

What is this power we call Life,
appearing as the play of flesh and breath?
How may I know this mystery and enter it more deeply?

Beloved, my attention is ensnared by a myriad of forms,
the innumerable individual entities everywhere.

Lead me into the wholeness beyond all these parts.

You, who hold the mysteries in your hand –
of will, knowledge and action,
Reveal to me the path of illumined knowing.

Lead me into joyous union
with the life of the universe.

Teach me that I may know it fully,
realize it deeply,
and breathe in the truth of it.

1.
The One Who is Intimate to All Beings said,
Beloved, your questions require the answers that come
through direct living experience.

The way of experience begins with a breath
such as the breath you are breathing now.
Awakening into the luminous reality
may dawn in the momentary throb
between any two breaths.

The breath flows in and just before it turns
to flow out,
there is a flash of pure joy –
life is renewed.
Awaken into that.

As the breath is released and flows out,
there is a pulse as it turns to flow in.

In that turn, you are empty.
Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.'


Sweet weekend to you all.
Angel well my beauties.

  

 

You've Been Angeled

My Sister and I have a small business called You've Been Angeled.  When folks ask me what 'You've Been Angeled' is about, I say, "It's about stepping into 'Angeldom' and 'Angeling' the world one angel at a time."  The general response is "Awesome" or "You've got to be kidding".  Or my favorite, "You must be mad!"  Or the dismissive "How cute..."

They'd put me away in some far away dark place if they knew I was actually serious.  I believe inspiring each other to step into our best selves, will change the world!  Naive, maybe, and maybe not.  Folks inspire each other all the time.  We know necessity is the mother of invention and creativity. And these days the news around us affords and encourages us toward calculated creative heights! 

I believe all of us at our core are good.  I believe we do want the best for ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our planet, and the world at large.  I believe stepping into a spirit of generosity toward all living things is good for everyone.  Yes we have horrible disruptive forces at play in the world, and I believe stepping into goodness may be disruptive in a different way and perhaps a bit more life affirming.  I know I'm not alone within this belief.  Zoe Weil speaks of creating 'solutionaries' in her treatise on Humane Education,  Charles Eisenstein tells us: "A more beautiful world is possible".  And many elders from many nations pray and encourage us to wake up and remember who we are.

Did you know being generous opens hearts! Did you know kindness really does pave pathways toward understanding? And when we're happier and kinder, we behave better and the stories we live for ourselves, each other, and the planet are more positive and productive. 

The old tales of interconnection still live amongst us. These stories can be found hiding between cracks of mountains, within branches of whispering trees, and running along the banks of babbling streams. They can be found in hearts of aid workers or in the hands of neighbor who shovels a walk other than their own. I know you've heard the helpful songs in your own backyard.  I choose to affirm and honor these stories,  for the substance found in these tales, is what earth and angels are born from.

How many of us saw Avatar and like the main character Jake Sully, a wounded x marine, did not want to leave the inter-dimensional world woven on the big screen in 3D before us.  A world where connection within the spirit world and nature remains intact.  A place inside us pines for the recognition that we are still connected to the mythic tree of life portrayed in the story.  Within the onscreen life of Avatar, we remembered ourselves as whole spirits re-connected to everyone and everything.  We remembered how we longed for this world, a place where how we behave mattered to everything. Within this big screen world, we again subconsciously realized that we as individuals had worth in the collective calling of life.  As the screen went dark and the lights from the theater emerged our souls ached... for we remembered.

The angels sit with me and remind me that stories of a world laced together are alive and well. These stories are still felt in many sacred places and in many hearts. Madison avenue is invested in tearing us from the root of connection.  When we understand we are whole, we may not need to 'buy' out of lack.  When we understand that stones and rivers can sing to us, we may be reminded of our own true voice. This voice speaks and tells us that we are enough in the face of of everything.  This belief of 'being complete' will sustain us and give us courage. We will understand we no longer have to take everything our planet has to offer in destructive ways in order to be whole.  We will trust that we can live affordable sustainable lives.  The beautiful world we inhabit daily can and will teach us.  Our job is to listen.

This is the story I and the angels choose to tell.