63 and I finally

finally learned how to do this.
Plus: last day as a Sonoma full time resident.


Through an hour long
wrist learning
activity/lesson/experience
taught by Anat Baniel,
the leading developer of the
Feldenkrais Method® to further
possibilities
in accessing our brains to transform
our "body" and
our life.

In this hour long lesson,
a bunch of us,
experienced and experimented
with all sorts of ways of
our wrists
and using our wrists
and pushing into the floor
in a way that respected and
was "real"
about gravity,

At the end
of this hour
I could do this yoga
"pose"
the "peacock,"
which before I'd only been
able to lift my feet a few inches for the ground,.


So, my back wasn't any stronger,
but my understanding of how
to support and lift myself
from my wrists had been way
upgrading.

And so:
I could do this


Fun

---

see TravelHeal.blogspot.com
for pics
of the last day
party
hosted
by the beautiful
Marlie
and the beautiful
Isa
for
the one called Chris

The primacy of Love

The Primacy of Love:

well,
actually
first we have to eat
and breathe
and find a way to move
around

and then,
if we
are lucky

we realize
that to love
life
others
ourselves

is to be happy

is to be potentially useful

is to be taking the miracle
this gift
(you know, the being alive thing)

and doing
and being

something
with it


yes

oh, yeah:
and to be in love
with.....

is to be fearless

for when we love,

the .....
the .... that we are in love with,
that .....

is what matters
and
we
the
"self"

don't matter


good



bloggy about the day
stuff now going to start over
at Travel Heal Learn Contribute Blog

morning is always

as long as we
live

morning
will keep
rolling
around

no matter
how
early

we wake
up
in the middle
of the night

God
God
God

in the dark
and
then
the coming of
the day

what a sweet
gift

this rolling Earth
that hides
and unveils

the sun
again
and
again

and
even behind the clouds

again

sun today

sun today:::::

that's nice

and the sun
is always
shinning
isn't it

sometimes the clouds
or
the night
tempt
us to forget


oh, well

today is a mess....how wonderful

there is
clearly

too
much
to be done

not enough
time


good


time is a fool's game
often
tricking us out of
the now

and then
again
we have appointments

we can show up

and be more or less
on time

and not
hurry

if we just
do one
thing
and then
another
and be there
with it

along the way
to the sweet silly wonderful whatever
appointment

each moment:
an appointment
with God

noble idea

Baraka mentions
a noble idea:

all men/women/ children equal in the Universe
s
eyes
on the way to happiness if they so want

a prez
interested in noble ideas
and seeming to embody nobility
in the best sense
of the world

noble ideas>>>>>>

when do we let
these in
for ourselves

the idea of a life lived
as we know
we can

a dance of pleasure
and being there to help
the old ladies
dance across the street,
the old men do a jig
the young women laugh at the programs
others wish to strap them into
the young men
not afraid of their confusion
excited
about
what
what
what
are we
going to learn

new day, end of an error

so far
so good

new President
with all black wife
a basketball game

and a plan of getting things done:

hire good people
don't be afraid to hire people smarter than he is
low tolerance for turf wars and ego trips
therefore smart people are focused on real goals

and as he says,
"some things get done."

......
his speech:
laying the groundwork:
new ways of thinking, the old are bankrupt,
time to make hard decisions
time to stop squabling and work together

could we any all
of us
use this in
"everyday life??"

Barack's Speech on Let's "Get to Work"

My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

finally

finally:

it's not a sin
to be
intelligent

welcome
Barack


Baraka: the invisible stream
of lumination
from a deeper world
the other world
the invisible world

whatever

welcome
blessings
intelligence


good

sometimes love isn't love

sometimes we notice
that another person
doesn't"love us"
as much as we "love" them

oh, well

that's the way they are
or what they are capable
of just now

and anyway:
when the mind starts
"keeping track"
it's not love
anymore

it's a marketing
arrangement

reality:
it's fun to ove

reality:
other people love or don't love

that's their job

our job:

wake up to ourselves
in the moment
and see where we
can go
from there

drink tea, be happy

in the morning,
drink tea and be happy

in the evening
drink water
and smile
and caress
whatever wants to
be
caressed

for love

for love
we would do anything

trick is
to remember
that love comes
from emptiness

when we stop
wanting, wanting for
me, me

or it comes from fullness
so happy to be alive
that this just
has
to spill over
to you
and
you
and you

(and then there's
the Special One...


hmmm
Who says Whom
is Special?)

breathing

is our friend

why not

why not be happy

and learn
when we aren't happy

how we create that?

for love of morning

in the morning
the birds do sing

in the morning
our heart can ring

in the morning
anything's possible

with enough quietness
and listening
to now

inside

then,
ah,
how to keep that magic

a good
question

the porpoise of life

to be happy
in a simple way
that doesn't require
anything

to be of use to others
and the
Earth

to learn some good stuff
and help
other people
out of their suffering
and squandering of
the miracle

of
life

if they want help

if not:
be happy
waiting for them
to maybe wake up
to the need

to
wake
up

boundaries

someone once said
"boundaries are always selfishness"

could this be true?

sure.
and sometimes selfishness is
just what we need
and sometimes it's a grand old excuse
to stay in the same old same old
prison self robot

oh, well


what is love?

annihilation:

is that true?

it's all pretty interesting

this breath

let's say
we've been kind to ourselves
and given
ourselves a few minutes
to
do
nothing

and then we start to get
a little antsy

what to do?

notice the breathing

notice the noticing

notice how we are sitting or standing or lying in
gravity

notice
the noticing

good

So called tired

Sometimes "tired"
means we really are
tired

sometimes it means:
"I don't want to do this whatever
anymore"

sometimes it means
we are dragging along
in a rut

not awake to our life

sometimes it means:
rest for a few minutes

sometimes it means:
go for a walk

sometimes it means:
say something nice to someone

sometimes it means:
go to bed

lots of possibilities

Effective Living

If what you are doing
isn't working:

Notice what you are doing.

Stop.

Pause.

Come to the present.

Find a bit of happiness and connection to
the sensing of gravity and breathing.

Try something else.

this poem

this poem
has nothing to say

that's okay

listen clearly

to nothing

and you me I wee

can learn

a lot

Peace that Passeth all Understanding

life is amazing
and fair in a strange, strange way

there is a saying in the Bible about
the "Peace that passeth all Understanding"

it sounds like a big
deal

it is a big deal

and here's the strange secret:
when we go to war with Reality
we always lose

when we accept Reality
we can begin to move and live
in ways that are interesting and free

when we love Reality
when we let it win
with joy and surprise and delight

then:
ah, Peace comes
deep, easy,
no words

to be awake is to love

To be awake is to love

And: is that true?

Try it and find out.

here's a few hints:
without the "story"
about "so and so" should be different
it's very easy to love them

like this: gaze upon yonder redwood tree
or blue sky or
flittering bird:
we don't want them to be different
we delight in them
just as they are

something very close to love
happens when we have
no "words in the head"
no "story"

then we can be awake

and from that,
love seems easily to pop out

---

ALMOST ENLIGHTENMENT
a 108 activitiy 108 pages ebook
for sale in an unusual way see
almostenlightenment.blogspot.com

---

A real person

What can a real person do?

Love

Forgive

Move with ease, grace and awareness

Enjoy learning

Be happy even if things aren't "going our way"

Think clearly

Live in the present moment

Connect with Nature




that's a grand start,
eh?

If another person is a pain in the ass

If another person is a pain in the ass
you can be annoyed by it,
and then:
they won

you can be amused by it
and you are
free

you won, not the struggle
but the life you want to live:
one free of being pushed around
by ridiculous forces

free to be the happy, creative,
amazing
person you want to be

If another person is a pain in the ass

And you get angry they win

If you get curious or calm or loving
or once again, amused:
then you are on the way to being a
real person

which is a very fun thing to be

New Year, New Chances to Love

New Year, New Chances to Love


new chances to love our fingers
as they raise the tea cups to our lips

new chances to love our lips
as they kiss our friends

new chances to love our friends
even when they forget to be friendly

new chances to love ourselves
when we forget to be friendly
to ourselves

new chances to love
discovering how to make more
and more people
a recipient of our love
or liking
or enjoying
or giving them
just plain old wonderful
sweet now
is now
is now
is now
attention

more and more
people
including our
so called selves

good