Nature

"Elegance is to get ride of all the superfluous things and focus in on the most beautiful one."

Paulo Coelho

I went to listen to Krita Tippet's On Being today because I needed that kind of energy. There were a few recent episodes I was excited to listen to - Joanna Macy, Elizabeth Gilbert and Paolo Coelho.

Paolo Coelho - an all time favorite author of mine.

People are attracted to camping and vacations in general because it often allows one to focus on beauty. But more interesting to me is how do we get rid of the superfluous things (physical, mental and activity wise) in our everyday life, so that we can better see the beauty there?

The first and last photo from our campsite in the BWCA brought me peace when I looked at them yesterday, and anxiety when I looked at them today. I experienced both there.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote was true more than ever for me. I had to search to find the author and am happy to say it is Emerson because this reminds me that my second favorite play of all time is coming back to town soon, about the friendship between Thoreau and Emerson.

http://www.tigerlion.org/nature/

Two small things that are big appreciations for me today are:

A. The kind/understanding woman on the phone whom I called about having some tests done next week.
B. My friend being available for me to come over and talk to her tonight.

"Elegance is to go to the core of beauty, and the core of beauty is simplicity." Paulo Coelho

Super Soul - Shawn Achor

#1 - When I went camping last month I thought a small town we passed through sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.  Then I saw a sign that said "Pine Grove Lodge."  Oh!  This was where a friend of mine in middle school moved up to.  At first they only lived there in the summer, then in 9th grade she moved up there year round.  I stayed there with my parents a couple times.  It is/was a small place.  Six cabins plus the main lodge.  When we drove by I thought, "I should write to her."   I looked up Pine Grove Lodge and saw that her brother and family now run the place.  This morning I awoke at 6:30 and had the time and space to relax in bed and write that letter.

#2 - Then I wrote another letter.  As is often the case, I was surprised by what came out through my hand.  This is my definition of good writing, when I am just as surprised as the reader would be at the content.  That is letter #42 for me.  I'm 10 letters away from reaching my goal of 52 letters this year.  At this point that goal feels within reach.

#3 - Making it to the neighboring farmer's market just before they closed, since I wasn't at mine yesterday, to grab a cantaloupe.  Last week's was delicious.

#4 - Feeling my energetic/enthusiastic self again when I arrived at the sweet man's house today and had a bunch of things to tell him. His smile demonstrated his appreciation.  We (his girls and I) took a break during our tasks to teach him how to play spoons.  The youngest hasn't quite mastered watching the spoons and the cards at the same time.

#5 - Being able to openly talk about the sweet man's "pain body" (Eckhart Tolle term) after it has passed with his daughters.  The fact that he is open and receptive to this is a great teaching tool for them.  We talked about how the pain body is never rational, and the oldest said her dad wasn't patient with hers.

"What would be helpful to your pain body?"  I asked her.

"For people to pay attention to me."  She responded.

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P.S.  I've been enjoying the Super Soul Sessions put together by Oprah this week.  This man is new to me, I can't help but share it even though I can't figure out how to embed this link.


http://www.supersoul.tv/supersoul-sessions/the-life-altering-power-of-a-positive-mind

Flowers and Fear

#1 - My father unexpectedly showed up at the end of the farmer's market so I didn't have to figure out how to bike home with this gift from a vendor.

#2 - Because he was there, the only time all year, I asked him about one of our tents that has a screw missing. One of our board members said he'd bring it home after the market last week to fix, then said wouldn't bring it home but would come back to get it during the week. That never happened so a different board member said he'd come back to get it this week. I wasn't sure how long this would continue. My Dad looked at it, brought it home, and had it fixed within an hour.

#3 - I had a doctor appointment last week. There is something I'm not concerned about but I'm going back soon to have checked out. Today I found further reason for inquiry and suddenly I felt scared. As I walked to the bus I alternated between alarm and seeing the beauty around me. In fact about halfway through the bus ride, a woman remarked to her cell phone, "Look at those beautiful clouds."

So I did.

#4 - The bus dropped me off a little over a half mile from the sweet man's house. I had emailed him earlier that if he felt like a short walk he could come to meet me, and at that point I was really hoping he did.

He did.

#5 - On our walk back to his house he asked, "Is everything alright?"

"No."

Then we came upon this