What a great holiday. Family and friends all pitching in to create an amazing feast, the company of those you love, and most importantly, license to eat as much as you can.
My brother takes the eating part a bit too seriously; he actually forbids his family to eat breakfast or lunch, so that they can save as much room as possible for the big dinner. Of course, that results in eating dinner at 3pm (a bit early for me), but I guess it's tradition so whatayagonnado. Personally, I don't mind eating breakfast in the morning, I don't think it's too much of a detriment to the amount I can fit in my tummy later on that afternoon. But then again I'm no amateur eater.
Of course, I did NOT plan on weighing myself this morning, but then Jason made me so that we could weigh the ham to see how long to cook it. The numbers on the scale reminded me of how much I need to preheat the oven to cook the ham... yikes!
So in a few hours I will turn into a whirling dervish (or more like a Tazmanian Devil) in the kitchen, chopping and cooking and wrapping and mixing and serving all the dishes I plan to make for our early dinner. My favorite - homemade stuffing. Aww yeah. I love Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Love, for me
I love that poem. I love it and I hate it. I recognize and appreciate that love is such a powerful thing that it can steer your life and lift you to the sky and tear you down till you bleed and everything in between. I suppose due to the theory of relativity it couldn't ever be so good if it wasn't also at times equally bad. How do we balance it all? How do we yield to the greatness without living in fear of the pain? How do we truly love someone the way Khalil Gibran would have us love someone, and still be an adult in 2008 and work towards having a career and a family and security and retirement and all of those other worldly things that we are not supposed to covet?
Suffice it to say that I have all the answers and none of them at once. Here are my latest objectives - find peace in my center and be more loving in all aspects of my life. Pursue joy all the time and not become complacent. Wake up happy and embrace the day, everyday.
Suffice it to say that I have all the answers and none of them at once. Here are my latest objectives - find peace in my center and be more loving in all aspects of my life. Pursue joy all the time and not become complacent. Wake up happy and embrace the day, everyday.
Love
Love, by Khalil Gibran
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Spiritual Lesson - One of Many
"Worry pretends to be necessary, but doesn't really serve any useful purpose." Eckhart Tolle
This is something I have always understood on some level, but have forgotten at times. I remember even as a young person trying to tell people that worrying doesn't do any good for them, that they need to let go of the attachment and deal with whatever is going to happen when it happens.
I have found that as I have gotten older I have experienced many of the things which create worry in us and seem to extinguish that happy-go-lucky vibe that is present in abundance as a child, and make us feel and appear much older than we are. Those experiences have caused me to lose that wonderful part of myself, at least to some extent.
However, in this recognition, I am finding and appreciating that part of myself and am in constant practice of it now. It feels good.
This is something I have always understood on some level, but have forgotten at times. I remember even as a young person trying to tell people that worrying doesn't do any good for them, that they need to let go of the attachment and deal with whatever is going to happen when it happens.
I have found that as I have gotten older I have experienced many of the things which create worry in us and seem to extinguish that happy-go-lucky vibe that is present in abundance as a child, and make us feel and appear much older than we are. Those experiences have caused me to lose that wonderful part of myself, at least to some extent.
However, in this recognition, I am finding and appreciating that part of myself and am in constant practice of it now. It feels good.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Signs of Spring
Sunday afternoon beach walk.
Gray sand and sky. Not cold but not warm. A light wind.
Crunchy shells underfoot.
Seagulls searching for food, floating in the water, sleeping on the sand.
The perfect-sized rock to throw just close enough to make them fly.
Peanuts the horseshoe crab, alive for another day.
Lost in thought, lost in conversation, lost in laughter.
For one moment, we owned the whole beach.
Spring is here.
Gray sand and sky. Not cold but not warm. A light wind.
Crunchy shells underfoot.
Seagulls searching for food, floating in the water, sleeping on the sand.
The perfect-sized rock to throw just close enough to make them fly.
Peanuts the horseshoe crab, alive for another day.
Lost in thought, lost in conversation, lost in laughter.
For one moment, we owned the whole beach.
Spring is here.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Exciting Nervousness
I'm nervous, but I'm excited about it. I'm excited that I have a reason to be nervous. I have an interview tomorrow morning, the first one in several weeks. Months even. I've practically forgotten how to do them!
Unfortunately, I'm one of those people that thinks of the perfect response about seven hours after a conversation, so interviews are not exactly my forte. On the other hand, every now and then there are moments where I can think on my feet pretty well. Let's hope tomorrow morning around 9am I have one of those moments.
I don't even know yet what I'm wearing tomorrow. What am I doing here?? Bye!!
Wish me luck!
Unfortunately, I'm one of those people that thinks of the perfect response about seven hours after a conversation, so interviews are not exactly my forte. On the other hand, every now and then there are moments where I can think on my feet pretty well. Let's hope tomorrow morning around 9am I have one of those moments.
I don't even know yet what I'm wearing tomorrow. What am I doing here?? Bye!!
Wish me luck!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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