Round & Round. Hothouse for blooming.

I’m preparing to move back to the Monterey Peninsula, again. Pebble Beach this time. November 1st.

What magic, mystery, karma, true nature – is guiding me back to this place, where my soul, can bloom and thrive. Nurtured by the place, the people, the possibilities, the naked truth of me.

Interesting how we feel that thriving is like the environment we had that felt most pure, as a child. I spent alot of time in the woods – of my parents 40 acre home – in South Central Michigan.
I don’t go there anymore.
Not since 2001.

I drew a line in the soil. We need to draw boundaries sometimes. From these boundaries – we build our home. The wall of the basement – is the boundaries we drew yester-month.

Who’d know that many years later -I’d open my eyes on a Sunday morning – in the foothills overlooking Pebble Beach – hearing the roar of the ocean meeting shore – below – and thinking – how lucky I am – to be here now!

I am living in the forest – out of the traffic of the city – off the beaten trail of the auto – and clamoring crowd. Living in the rich silence of the woods. I strain to hear the wind whisper through the trees. Cliche yes. Cliches are Cliches because they are real.

It’s so simple. And so hard to get. That peaceful, rich, full, and simply beautiful place where we realize, finally, that we are like flowers, inhaling nurturance, our friends and family and even a stranger’s love, curiosity, longing to know us; it all counts to fill us with wonder, and transcendant awe.
We are all like flowers – subtly dependent on the weather to cause us to bloom. We look to situate ourselves in a hothouse environment – where we are sure to bloom. But we’re left to find our own hothouses. Where is my hothouse?

Once Benjamin said about purpose, “We might be on earth -for the one moment – to say hello to a woman in the gutter – who needed to know – she was seen by someone – in that time – in that place.” My sons are rich – having made their own lives meaningful to them – for now. I know they’ll awaken – and it’ll all change – or at least look different – down the road. Sometime soon.

Blooming is all we really want in life.
How hard it is to find – how good it is to find – how simple it is to find – when we finally find it. . .
Our blooming self!

Bloom

Wonder! Change inpsires Wonder!

This is Wonder-Inspiring. Thanks  to Anthony White for sharing this delightful experience – conducted & filmed in Grand Central Station.

http://www.gadling.com/2008/02/01/best-prank-ever-stopping-time-at-grand-central-station/

Obama or Hilary? Character or Experience?

February 5th is approaching fast. I’m glad I’m not a registered Democrat. So few choices this year. Either a noble young leader, or an angry middle-aged, oft’ scorned woman, with a Machiavellian taste for achievement and power. In the end, our destiny is always about how our character responds to experience.

Ironically, Obama and Hilary are separately rich in what the other lacks. Obama needs a resume of experience. Hilary needs the character and mindfulness for noble leadership. Could we lock them in a room for a few months until they become one?

Obama lacks experience. Since when do we hire people to do jobs – who are junior – to the biggest leadership role in America. Could we have co-presidents please?

However, I admire what I perceive to be an indication of noble character in Obama. He doesn’t lose his cool. Not even when Hilary, screams or gets her husband to scream at (or about) Obama. Jeez! Hilary & Bill! Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

It’s sad to watch candidates like Hilary (and her lackey, Bill) disgrace themselves.

Whether we’re talking about a family member or candidate for U.S. president – when people set out to destroy someone’s reputation in order to achieve personal gain – we’ve been warned. When we know how someone operates from their “shadow-side” it’s as if they’re transparent in the most useful way.

Seeing a person’s character is like seeing the blueprint of their operating system. Look at Hilary: overt anger about being more experienced than Obama; and covert action to obfuscate the noble character of her opponent.

It comes down to a bit of wisdom: “How you do anything is how you do everything.” If someone lies to destroy another’s reputation, what would they do to win a war?

Obama will need to surround himself with deep experience but that’s easy to find.

Hilary has been compensating for being “the scorned woman” far too long. Is it too late for Hilary to comprehend the power of humility, the grace that surrounds wise and noble leadership? Is it too late for Hilary to care?

Perfection aside, we humans are a fascinating species.

Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof is on Public Television tonight. I’ve been watching since the first few minutes. It’s running without interruptions; no commercials. Just like it was in the movie theaters in the early 70’s. Tradition was crumbling then, too.

Life checks our ability to keep balance, through all the change and uncertainty.

The Fiddler keeps joy in the mix, no matter what is going on.

Tevye and his band of citizens in the little village of Anatevya (?), they keep God in the center of all.

How much heartache we can take when faith in God is guiding our response to life.