Easy like Sunday Mornin’

Yeh… that’s right… me and my baby…

a quiet Sunday morning at home… alone. AH!!!

A day of perfection and connection

Today is an absolutely beautiful day! Beautiful blue sky, light occasional breezes and zero humidity! What a gift!

My wife has been enjoying wandering all around our new yard putting her pruning and landscaping skills to good use. She just knows exactly how to trim a bush! (Mind outta the gutter… a different bush today.)

As I sit in the shade and enjoy this perfect little sanctuary under several Maple trees in our yard (pictured at right), I have also been enjoying the simple pleasures of connection. Yes, definitely, connection with my sweet wife as she passes by for a quick kiss when the neighbors aren’t looking. But also the pleasantly surprising connection when various of my Tweet Peeps sprinkle replies or comments throughout the day. Maybe that is one of the mysteries of the popularity of Blogging and Twittering. That extra aspect of connection that the medium can provide.

However you are spending your day today, I wish you all plenty of “perfection” and connection. Now, it’s about time to move to the front of the yard as the neighbors have set up their BBQ part in the back yard. See, connection can be a fickle thing! LOL! When we want it–it’s great… when we don’t… we move on!

Independence Day

AH!!! My first day all to myself in about a month. All the kids have gone for their summer visits with their dads. My wife will be home after work and then we will enjoy a welcomed three-day weekend (as the USA commemorates its “Independence Day”) alone together.

So, this day. What will I do? What should I do? Well, I have a few things that I needed to attend to this morning. But other than those, my thoughts turned to a little book we have–and I believe that one of the keys to the enjoyment of today is found in the title of this book.

So many things call for attention and completion, but today I will enjoy my independence day a little early and practice the art of doing (almost) nothing!

I hope all of you–whatever you do or don’t do–will enjoy your holiday weekend as much as possible!

Here is a link to an excellent song for all my friends.

Thought for Today

I snapped this church sign a few months ago back in OR. (haven’t seen any church sign slogans yet in PA). It really spoke to me. I believe this is so very true! I have lived it.

In my former long term relationship… the first part of this sign seemed to be the rule of thumb. And that very thing contributed to the demise of the relationship. Thankfully, in my current long term love, I can gratefully say that the second part of the slogan on this sign is the ongoing theme that I have grown to count on and appreciate.

That is the thought for today.

Here is where you will find updates on the rest of my day…

A Mandala for Monday

As I work to re-center myself and to re-focus and renew my life in this new place–desiring to re-create a sacred space and sanctuary for myself while also building a loving and lasting home for my loved ones, my thoughts go back to a project I created years ago. A Mandala.

I had not previously heard of mandalas, but discovered that I really enjoyed the artistic process once I was assigned the task of creating one. I crafted this for a graduate course, and I found that I was able to create something lasting and meaningful.

“In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention…as a spiritual teaching tool; for establishing a sacred space; and as an aid to meditation.”

Here is my Mandala…

When I presented this project before the class, I also sang a song. Here are the lyrics to that song.

“These days are passing over me
At the speed of light
And standing here in their shadows
I’m silenced at the sight
Like water on the wind I sense the change to come

All that I’ve held in like teardrops run…

I am clay and I am water
Falling forward in this order
While the world spins ’round so fast
Slowly I’m becoming who I am.

Nothing ever stays the same
The wheel will always turn
I feel the fire in the change
But somehow it doesn’t burn
Like a beggar blessed I stumble in the Grace
Reaching out my hand for what awaits.”

The Halo Effect

What is the halo effect? Is this the glazed over look in the eyes of my boys I have seen before after an especially long X-Box 360 marathon? Maybe, but that is not what I am talking about.

What I am talking about is the way people, places and events are seen in a different light once the individual, union, opportunity or event has passed away. Obviously in light of yesterday’s news about the death of Michael Jackson, and the subsequent outpouring of love and coverage toward and about this man, the concept of the halo effect could not help but surface in my mind this morning. But it is not just that news even that has made me ponder the halo effect through the years.

I have heard jilted lovers glow about their ex after all the rubble is cleared. I have heard my wife speak favorably about a former boss who she previously denigrated and disrespected. I have heard my daughter speak about individuals in a completely different light once they were no longer in her life…

I am sure there are many other examples… but I am off and running for a full day of (finally) “closing” on our home, entertaining the in-laws who just arrived last night, sorting boxes and most of all enjoying the kids before they all disburse for their summer stints with their fathers.

Just pondering all of this today. What is it about endings that seems to bring about the halo effect?

I’ll leave you with the topic to discuss… “tawk amongst yourselves”… I’ll be back… and I’ll see you on your blogs soon as well!

Moving, mayhem and other mysteries.

We are all here–finally–in our new home state. We all finally have our beds to lay our heads down on at night. We have at least one TV hooked up in the house, and all the movers are gone! Hallelujah!

And now begins the hard work. The hard work of sorting through countless boxes to try to piece back together what used to be a fairly well ordered home and life. And so it is in our personal lives too. These couple of months have been so full of uncertainty and upheaval that our interpersonal connection is nearly as scattered, jumbled and boxed up as our belongings. With my beloved going ahead of us weeks in advance to start her job, and I handling all the mayhem and details of moving… we have both been in survival mode… just counting the days until we were together again. And now we are. And now we need to and want to reconnect. This is as delicate a dance as two can commence. This is a mystery to me. When all two people want is to be together… and yet all their energies have been given to coping, working, surviving–how does one ease the transition? That is another mystery. But I know that over the last decade we have always successfully found a way to traverse that all important bridge back to connection and harmony with one another. And so… much like knowing that in due time all these cumbersome boxes will be gone and all our belongings will be in their proper places, it will be so with all the compartmentalized pieces of our familiarity and intimacy. They too will survive the mayhem and find their places back to where they belong.

This I believe.

This I will patiently wait for and work toward.

Oh, but could it all just be magically re-organized, re-ordered and renewed when I get back from taking the kids to the movies today?