The Stillness in Between

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast,

you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.
  Eddie Cantor

I read this quote and realized how many times I rush things. One task is barely done and the next has started. Each day is crammed full of ‘to-do’s with no break in between.

At the Yoga Studio, my teacher makes us slow down and listen to our breath as it moves. She tells us to pause in that moment of stillness in which our intake breath changes to our exhale and then to pause again before we breathe in.

Being aware of this makes me appreciate my Yoga time even more. We are not often told to be still, when the only thing to do is to breathe.

University of Portland, Oregon

 The next day with this thought in mind, I caught myself. I had just bitten into a tiny, delectable morsel of chocolate (did my hushed sigh of pleasure) and already had one foot on the floor ready to move. NO! I forced myself to stop and enjoy the flavour of that dark chocolate as it melted in my mouth. “There is no need to rush, stop and enjoy this moment” I said to myself. 

How many times a day do we deprive ourselves of those moments of pleasure that would enrich our day? 

Persist until you Persevere

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.

Walter Eliot

                                            Wilammette River, Portland

What if 11/22/63 didn't happen?

I finished reading 11/22/63 a few weeks and decided that it was time to put fingers to keyboard to share my thoughts.

You might have stayed away from this book because of the Stephen King name and his propensity for scary things that go bump in the night. It was bit of a surprise when I first heard that King was going to tackle this subject. The date of J F Kennedy’s assassination is marked in many of our minds as one of our earliest encounters with tragedy.

Immaculata School (off Decarie in St. Laurent) sent all the students home that day. We watched the news and saw Kennedy’s blood splatter over his wife’s clothing on our black and white televisions over and over. It is an image etched in my memory, even though I didn’t quite grasp the magnitude of the event.

This book however is more about the Time than about the Date. It is about a naive nation, about mystery and hope and love. I won’t spoil the story for you but the walk down memory lane, the references to cars with chrome and fins, candies, clothes and music are on their own worth the cost of the book (paper or digital).

*11/22/63 is the first book I have read on my Kindle. The Kindle was very light weight and has an easy-on-the-eyes screen for reading on the beach or on a plane. I am very fond of it! It was relatively problem free to get used to making notes and highlighting passages for future reference. It is my newest favourite thing since I discovered post-it notes…



                                                         

Click here to check out my new favourite thing, my Kindle!        
      

Disappoint - they will survive

 Making time for yourself in this bustling, noisy world we live in can be challenging. How do we find and commit to "me" time?  Let's face it, we are on/in demand to every family member and 4-legged beast that lives under our roof. We are connected by blood, love, and wireless-ly, there is scarcely a moment of solitude. 

I know of people who set their alarm clocks earlier  in order to get some quiet time, to read, run, swim, write or meditate. Many folks are then catching a shut-eye in their cars over the lunch hour or on the train home at the end of the day. 

We have been raised to be polite and respectful of others and feel horribly guilty to put ourselves first. Why is it easier to disappoint Me rather than You? Honouring yourself takes time and dedication. If we can't find the time and reason to celebrate who we are, why should anyone else? (Click to Tweet)

See Cheryl Richardson's video and article on Let Me Disappoint You.

Spanning the Divide

Bridge in Portland, Ore.

Sometimes you can work alongside and know nothing more than a person’s title. Or by perchance, in a brief few minutes, you can be invited into a window of someone’s CORE.

In conversation with someone new who works in my building, I heard and learned a fascinating story. A refugee from Ethiopia, in 7 years he has brought to Canada, his (now) wife and a handful of family members. He and his wife now have 2 (he said joyously) Canadian children.

He has a degree in the environmental sciences and his wife worked as an engineer. Neither were able to secure similar employment in this land of freedom, they both do work with their hands. He said that he has done 1, 2, or 3 jobs simultaneously to get ahead. “It will not last forever and I am doing this for my children. I am the Bridge.”

"I am the Bridge." (Click to Tweet)

Are you a Bridge? Have you or are you in this very moment, putting aside your own dreams/needs and desires to make it better in the future for someone else?

Ralph Marston’s words are posted at my desk. When I am feeling weary, I read these words to hold me up. Because if we each built a Bridge, how far could we go?