Now, I’ve had a blog for a few years, but I’ve been inconsistent sometimes with regular posting. I have ideas about where I want my website to go and what I want it to produce, but the first habit that I need to get into is actually working toward that. So, I took the plunge. I registered. It’s official. I am a NaBloPoMo-er. I’m already planning to prewrite posts for Thanksgiving and a couple of other days when I’ll most likely be to busy to be substantive.

I gotta admit, I’m an LoLcat addict and when I saw the sidebar buttons, and logo, it pushed me over the edge…

Roomie turned me on to this organization.  There are very few causes that I get behind, because most of them have their own agendas. This one is different. They basically ask for nothing. They are not affiliated with a church, political organization, or any other  entity that might have their own ideas that they want to shove down your throat. You can donate if you want, but there’s no high pressure Give Us Money or You Can’t Play in Our Sandbox tactics. That would defeat their purpose.

They have taken a very simple concept and turned it into something very cool.  There are bad people in the world that teach hate. This website’s counter to that is that if we take responsibility for peace, and work as much at propegating peace as consciously and deliberately as the bad people work at spreading hate, we will  leave this world a better place.  If we take action, at the individual level, to influence people in our lives toward peace, then we’ve accomplished that goal.  There’s no scary evangelizing, or doing anything other than taking a personal stand.  If you do nothing but that, that is still something.  If we teach our children the ways of peace instead of war, and they teach their children, and their children teach other children, that’s all it would take.  

If you register  on the website, they send you e-mail lessons that are a course on creating peace.  I’m looking forward to that.  They don’t limit it to external peace, they also talk about inner happiness, because you can’t have one without the other.  I’m learning that, more and more, as I go down this path that I’ve taken to recreating my life. Peace is a big part of my new life.  

Like I said, I don’t promote anything that I don’t care about.  This one is something I can get behind. 

Now go click on the button and learn.

Peace.

The Infamous Proust Questionnaire

* Your most marked characteristic?     understanding

* The quality you most like in a man?   Not being afraid of being present in the moment with me, in a non-verbal communication kind of way.  I haven’t known many men that can handle that kind of honesty.  When it happens, it blows me away.

* The quality you most like in a woman?  open honesty * What do you most value in your friends?  their ability to get me smiling

I like that blog in general, he makes me think, more often than not, in a quirky kind of way. Enjoy it.

I like that particular post because it’s true in my life.  I’m much more interested in what you have to say, than in posessions or other superficialities.  There are many levels of being human. Show me how deep you are and you will have my interest for life.

I’m eating a leftover hamburger (w/mayo, on wheat bread) and sautéd zucchini as I type this. What did YOU eat last?

Roomie made some yummy garlic pepper chicken, baked potatoes, and peas & onions for supper. Simple food, good conversation, I could get used to this.

I am totally head-over-heels for a very tall man named James, who has a very sexy new haircut (picked out by me, of course! lol)  What about YOUR love life? Anyone special? Tell us about him/her!

Well, there are sort of 2 answers.  I’m working on falling in love with myself again. I can’t really offer me to anyone else before I do that.  My ex-marriage proved to me that saying you love someone before you care enough about your self is more of an act of desperation than of true love.  So, I’m learning all the things about me that I love, accepting that I am worthy of love, and letting that bloom for a while.  

My second answer is that I live with a man that is a beautiful person, inside and out. He’s been a friend for years, and it was beneficial to both of us that we share living space while we’re both cleaning up our past baggage.  He’s wise in many ways, and I draw on that wisdom frequently. He’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He’s also got yummy broad shoulders, beautiful eyes, and just enough of that kind of rugged country boy edge that I find ever so sexy.  Yeah, he’s cool.  That’s all i’m sayin   

 I live in a little house, with lots of trees, on a dead-end street. What is it like where you live?

Suburban hell. I want to live in the country, on a few acres, with water and trees…. I sort of have that now except for the prefab box of a house with neighbors within 20 feet of each side of it and the only water I have is the swampland that my backyard turns into during the rainy season.  <sigh> OK, maybe it’s not very close to my dream, but for now, it’s home.  Probably for 2 more years, then we live the dream.

I love my hair, and my cute wittle nose.  What are YOUR favorite features about yourself?

I have beautiful light blue eyes. All my life I’ve had a love/hate thing with my freckles. I’m learning to accept a lot of things about myself and the freckles, they are kinda cute, even if they do mean that I’ll never have a real tan.

Today, I pondered about the need for mentoring in young women’s lives.  What deep thoughts have YOU been pondering upon?

My next post is something that I’ve been thinking about for months and writing for a few days. It’s about how we make friends, and how that’s changed with access to the internet. I’ll probably publish it tonight.

I love cheese (cubed colby & montery jack) and green growing things! List 2 random things you love about life:

Water. Whether it’s crashing surf, swimming pools, hot tubs, or just a morning shower. The most beautiful relaxed picture that’s ever been take of me was floating in an indoor pool, listening to the stereo, enjoying life.  The other thing that my life wouldn’t be complete without, are animals. I have 4 indoor cats, and I feed the birds and squirrels and other assorted critters outside.  One of my favorite things to do is sit and watch, and get to know all the wildlife that visits.

I found CAC through Melba, who I found through A Mindful Life, which I stumbled on by doing a random search for Buddhist blogs, for no apparent reason! How did YOU find out about CAC? 

I think it was through CrazyAuntPurl, but honestly I don’t remember.   Sometimes I just get surfing and linking around and I stumble across the best sites that way.  CAC is such a cool concept, I’m not much of an artist, but I am a musicion, and I do like to create things (needlework or woodcraft) occasionaly. I am inspired by other people’s creativity and that’s a lot of what I enjoy at CAC. Most of my offerings these days are in the form of writing.  It’s becoming an obsession. 

I absolutely *heart* thunderstorms! What do YOU love most about spring?

Opening the house, letting the fresh air in. The sounds of the birds, the breeze, trees and flowers blooming, thunderstorms and rain, sleeping with the windows open… so many things. 

I’ve let go of the ecumenical laws that I’ve been taught. Organized religion’s rules are borne of politics and not of God. I’ve learned that praying is personal, and fun. My prayers are more like conversations now. I even get answers sometimes.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve collected a few prayers that touch me.

I have this on my desk at work. It has become a meditation to me. I read it every morning when I get there, and every time I need a little peace.

St. Theresa’s Prayer:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you….
May you be content knowing you are a child of God…. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

This is another one that I have on my desk:

Mychal’s Prayer

Lord, take me where you want me to go;
Let me meet who you want me to meet;
Tell me what you want me to say
And keep me out of your way.

Read more about Father Mike here. What a beautiful life he had.

As I’ve grown older, prayers have become more important. I pray for blessings on my family and friends, I pray for love and health for myself, I pray exclusively for positive things. I believe they will come when the time is right.

*stepping up on my soapbox*
I witnessed a conversation at work the other day. Two women in my office discussing all of the gory details of Britney Spears current episode. I’m not judging them, but when did it become acceptable to talk about anyone that way? It’s all over the news, like it’s important to the world that this young woman be documented. We are culturally desensitized and it makes me squirm inside. The same thing is happening with Anna Nicole Smith. Gossiping about anyone, who’s obviously in crisis or died because of one just purpetuates negativity. Britney’s got a new baby and one a few years old, probably dealing with postpartum issues, and divorce and custody issues, and whatever addiction lead her to 3 different rehabs in 3 days. She’s acting out because it’s all she’s got left. It’s a cry for help. Stop talking about her and help her.

Help her by stopping talking about her.

I couldn’t name one person in my circle of friends that hasn’t been affected by alcoholism, addiction, or clinical depression. Either themselves, or someone they love. This is no different. Craig Ferguson says it well. Heather does too.

Emotional breakdowns are very personal, extremely humiliating, and normally private affairs. I don’t have it in me to gossip or judge anyone, public or private, that’s going through that kind of hell. The questions that Britney’s going to have to endure in every interview once she’s better will be humiliating. She’s a public figure and there’s a price that you pay for a celebrity life, but there’s no excuse for all of the gossip and speculation about what might be truth, but probably not. I’ll wait for her version, and I’ll be interested in it from a psychological point of view, because I’m interested in what makes people do what they do.

I have talked with Roomie about her, but it was mostly to let him know what’s in the news and in the “that poor girl, everyone should just back off and let her be” kind of way.

Britney and Anna Nicole both have 3 small children between them. Those children have this horrible legacy and will be followed for years because of who their mothers are. Think about that and make your own decision about the kind of things you say about their mothers.
*stepping off my soapbox*

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

The list below is entirely borrowed from Bernard Pivot who hosted the French TV show, Bouillon de Culture. I have heard these on the American show Inside the Actor’s Studio many times. I love that show. The questions are answered by each star, and every time they do I think of what my own answers would be.

1. What is your favorite word? Sunshine – what a great word to meditate on.

2. What is your least favorite word? can’t

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Touch

4. What turns you off? intentional hurtfulness, mean people suck

5. What is your favorite curse word? oh man, so many to choose from. I’m trying to cut down on my cursing too. I don’t really like the word Fuck. It’s very overused. Mom used to swear in German. That still makes me smile. Every once in a while I hear Scheiss in my head when I want to swear.

6. What sound or noise do you love? babies laughing

7. What sound or noise do you hate? Silverware scraping on a plate is like nails on a chalkboard for me. Oddly enough, nails on a chalkboard doesn’t bother me.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Teaching or writing.

9. What profession would you not like to do? Any of the ones profiled on that show “Dirty Jobs”

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Hello, Welcome, your family and all your pets are right over there. They’ve been waiting for you….