Velveteen Rabbit

"...the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic has made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter." - from The Veleveteen Rabbit

Steven Cope writes in his book Yoga and the Quest for the True Self ...

"The highest capacities of the human being to see reality clearly are rooted in the simple experiences of being seen. We cannot see without having first seen. We cannot wake up without interacting with a consciousness that is awake.

Spiritual practice in the contemplative traditions works with the rudiments of the capacity to see clearly, and then it builds them into all the extraordinary potentials always present in the seed of the human being.

The deepest structures of the mind are evoked in this process of seeing clearly - the intuitive awakened mind, buddhi. The is a mind, an awareness, a consciousness, that can move anywhere, that is not separate from anything in the whole field of mind and matter, that is not restricted by fear, clinging, holding on. This is the mind that can acknowledge, experience, and bear all of life. This is the mind and body that can be fully in the dance and, at the same time, be fully in the calmly abiding center. "

"Once you become Real, you can't become Unreal again. It lasts for always!"

Change agents for unabashed joy

I know there is poor and hideous suffering, and I've seen the hungry and the guns that go to war. I have lived pain, and my life can tell: I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for the early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights and the rivers that run  and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives. Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world or reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? Rejecting   joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn't rescue the suffering. The converse does. The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, the are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world. When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let the joy penetrate our cracked dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows. How can this not be the best thing for the world? For us? The clouds open when we mouth thanks ... Somethings always comes to fill the empty places. And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grown within in me. This, this makes me full, and I magnify him with thanksgiving and God enters the world. " - from A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Universal Religion

If there is ever to be a universal religion, it must be one that will have no location in place or time, one that will be infinite, like the God it will preach; one whose sun will sine upon followers of Krishna or Christ, on saints and sinners alike; on that will not be Hindu or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all of these, with infinite space for development; and one that with its catholicity will embrace in its infinite arms every human being, from the lowest to the highest man. It will be a religion that will have not place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, that will recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be centered in aiding humanity to realize its own true, divine nature.

-Swami Vivekananda

Moon Cycles

NewBegin new things. Be spontaneous.

Cresent Gather information. Implement plans.

1st Quarter Confrontation. Address problems. Lay foundations.

Gibbous Make adjustments. Refinement.

Full Fulfillment, unveiling. Revealing.

Dissemination Social, sharing and understanding.

Last Quarter Let go.

Balsamic Rest, reflect.

I find that by paying attention to the moon and the natural rhythms of our planet, I find a easier flow for my daily life. Each new and full moon, I take a (non-essentail) technology free day, give my body and home a deep clean, take in an intentional yoga practice, spend extra time connecting with those I love most in person, and I make a special meal at home for my family. I also teach a special class at the studio around these times and set deep intentions for myself, my life, and my business. I would like to encourage you to either join me at the studio or consider joining me energetically during these times. We are more powerful together.

Here is a link so that you know when the "Moon Days" are.

Deep Love to all, Kat

Invitation

More from Peter Block about invitation.

We come together to create a new possibility through having a conversation that we have not had before. We do not come together to negotiate interests, share our stories, or problem-solve the past or future.

No one will be asked in any way to yield on their commitments or interests. We are not coming together to decide anything. We begin with the belief that the commitments and interests of each of us have to be honored and taken into account by all.

Each agrees to participate in all discussions. There are always emergencies, and always pressing priorities, but the loss of even one person, for just one meeting, immensely reduces our chance of success./blockquote>;