Salad Days

Do you ever feel like being thrown from one end to another by the weather? On the one hand you have wet rainy days on end, and on the other extreme -- sweltering heat. Such is these past couple of weeks in my corner of the world. Not only in my environs but also in the interior of me. Talk about parallels...

When the downpour was fierce i could not bring myself to fully rejoice in the comforts of a cozy bed as water was rising to scary levels in some other places. One of my friends posted that life was not all about one's pleasures but that we need to also consider what is happening to the suffering world around us. 

Though grateful as i am for having a life that is light and smoothly running (for now), i need to take the time to be there for those going through the rough and tumble of life. In whatever way, provide a space for some hope, some comfort, some companionship --- even without any wise words.

When the heat of life's eruptions come i do need somebody to be there walking alongside of me. I suppose that is a common need --- the necessity to enliven ourselves, to be refreshed in ways of looking at our world.

We could take time out to have that vacation --- effective but could be expensive. And to many of us, the extra expense could only add up to an already existing challenge. But by grace --- there is comfort in simplicity. Even a serving of salad can bring back the spring in your step. With some edible flowers tossed in --- voila! we have something special. Who said that flowers are just for looking at?

With the heat on, salad days are here again. Recapture that verve. Start with a salad.

Here are some links so you could include eatable blossoms: http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/edible-flowers-at-eli-organics, http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

Head, Heart, Hands

It is said that what we produce stems from our thoughts and our hearts. What we do reflects our passions --- or absence of it. One of my favorite painters is Georgia O'Keeffe. Her paintings are sensual, energy so dynamic, so intimate, so passionate. 

"She revolutionized the tradition of flower painting in the 1920s by making large-format paintings of enlarged blossoms, presenting them close up as if seen through a magnifying lens." - Wikipedia

Life flows through her head, her heart, her hands.

When i quiet down, my awareness is heightened. I can focus on the negative (my natural tendency), or the positive. What i look for is what i will find, indeed. That's why i must be intentional in feeding my mind only what is noble, true, good, right...And make these move my heart. A good friend taught me the principle of the mind-heart-body connection. Every little thing is conceived in the mind which reflects the posture of our hearts. What we practice (make, do with our hands) will mirror those stirrings.

A woman who works with her hands is a LABORER; a woman who works with her hands and head, a CRAFTSMAN; but a woman who works with her hands, her head and her heart is an ARTIST. ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Rain and Sunshine

Illustration by Yael Miller at Behance Network

It just rained hard today where i live. The weather forecast was right. This kind of rain is what i enjoy indoors, with a good book, and peace and quiet. Yet, it also makes me whisper a breath of a prayer that it won't turn the streets into rivers that reach rooftops. 

Shortly after, the sun was out again. Such an abrupt turn. It was like reading the last page of a book and immediately turning to the first page of another. That's how the weather is nowadays. 

I thought this was somewhat bipolar. But lest i become insensitive to those close to the condition --- i  decide to enjoy the peculiarity. 

Wish trying circumstances were this quick to make a turn. As in a flick of a finger. There are those days -- that may stretch to weeks, and months, and even years. But how may we know sunshine if we didn't know the rain. How may we know joy, if not for the pain.

Rain and sunshine --- together make rainbows.

Fresh Takes

I look forward to this week. 

Though last week has not been that good, today i make the choice to be more grateful, to be more appreciative, and to live life leaving no regrets.

As long as i have today to wake up to --- i am assured of second chances. 

I want to laugh more, serve more, love more. 

Whatever i have in my life is a gift --- even the seemingly challenging ones. I love that grace abounds.

Note to Self

                                                  poem cushion by chunkychooky, on Flickr

Living is tough.

Breathing is not easy. There are more hard days than easy ones.

Choose your favorite spot to be still. Peace amid chaos is possible. Reflect. Pray. List a couple of things to do that may help you regain balance.

"A stone when struck resists.  If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered.  While the living thing may easily be crushed by a superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existences...  It is the very nature of life to strive to continue in being.  Since this continuance can be secured only by constant renewals, life is a self-renewing process." ~ John Dewey, Educational Philosopher

Revive a Wilting Flower

I enjoy having flowers around the house. Buying them myself is a luxury. If money were no object i would regularly have those beauties to brighten up the home. On occasion i would receive some. And as long as i can, i try my best to maximize their "presence".

Here are some tips i got from the florists:

1. Regularly change the water and clean the vase out.
2. Snip off the ends of the stems on an angle
3. Add some detergent to the water
4. Some lemon juice and sugar can also be added to the water

But soon enough time will come to throw out the wilted ones. Life is a mist, so the bible says. The tangible things do not last forever - even if we badly want them to. 

There have been two deaths in our close circle of friends. One due to a very aggressive cancer. Another went so unexpectedly, like a thief in the night, due to cardiac arrest. Just the thought of grieving depletes energy. 

Indeed, we have in our hands precious life. Borrowed, temporary, transient, on loan. 

We can only attempt to extend it. 

The good thing is there are things which we can hold on to permanently -- only if we choose to. We have relationships, a marriage, faith. And yet even these can be lost if we do not give it the care, or the work, that it needs.

What needs resuscitating in your life today? 

Souls and Raindrops

by Sidney Lanier


Light rain-drops fall and wrinkle the sea,
Then vanish, and die utterly.
One would not know that rain-drops fell
If the round sea-wrinkles did not tell.

So souls come down and wrinkle life
And vanish in the flesh-sea strife.
One might not know that souls had place
Were't not for the wrinkles in life's face.

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