Meditations in Simplicity 7 - Old photos

This is me the night before my eighth birthday.

Meditations in Simplicity 6 - Hugs

I think this video speaks for itself. 



And this recent article on the healthy effects of human touch.

Give someone a hug!! :)

Meditations in Simplicity 5 - Empathy

Today, I find difficulty meditating on simplicity and the joy therein for my heart is heavy from the unspeakable tragedy in Tuscon, Arizona where a congresswomen was shot, a judge fatally wounded, and others were gunned down, senselessly. I find myself asking how joy and tragedy can coexist within you and wondering of the nature of emotion, if emotions just take turns being forefront in your conscious, or if somehow you feel everything at all times. I'm not quite sure of these answers, but I find comfort when I hear seemingly unconnected people say things like 'my heart goes out' or 'I'm just grief stricken' I'm reminded of the true empathetic nature of humankind. A heart going out is a heart shared, when someone else's heart is shattered. Our true nature is of empathy, and even though sadness breaks us, we know that never do we suffer alone. Nor do we conversely rejoice alone. Always, we are connected to each other and tragedies of this magnitude dissolve our illusions of race, political persuasion, gender, orientation to reveal a oneness that is definitive of our essence.

Meditations in Simplicity 4 - The Bench outside my office

It just sits there under the tree, patiently waiting for me to expend the capacities of my dimishing attention span until it calls and says sit for a while and rest. Stop thinking for five minutes and just be. My head finds rest on my cupped hands supported with both elbows on the stone table, and we just watch the cars and golf carts go by. Between sips of coffee, I wonder where everyone is on their way to and if they're aware of the fact that they're driving or if their mind is already where they're going to or where they've been. I stop and realize I'm asking myself this very question, and attempt to be aware of my bench, the coolness of the stone, the broken twigs on the table top, the feel of the stones at my feet, and become slightly reborn and aware. I'm afforded clarity and in the stillness, I find knowningness. "Be still and know."

;

Meditations in Simplicity 3 - Thank You Cards

I can't remember where I heard or read this, but recall being introduced to the idea that living in a state of gratitude is living in a state of prayer, or constant communion with God, or the divine. Either way, every once in a journal entry I try to make gratitude list, and usually I find that gratitude begets more gratitude. This flood of gratitude can materialize in various ways, and one of the most simple way is through thank you cards. It's admittedly humbling to receive one. Almost always handwritten, you can feel the gratitude emanate from the card They remind me not only to be grateful, but to share and express my thankfulness, and that people care, even if it's just a 'thanks for listening card' (which this picture is). Gratitude, like almost everything in life, should be shared. How it connects us :)

Meditations in Simplicity 2 - Spiral Notebooks

I have never been without notebooks, those benevolently bound set of blank pages that unconditionally begs the question, 'How are you doing?' and allow me to say whatever I wish. Remember dream catchers? Notebooks are like this. Thought catchers I like to think of them as. I'm sure many of you have done 'morning pages' from the book The Artist's Way.  Julia Cameron encourages you to write three pages every morning in a way to remove the self critic within each of us. I started these in 2005 and have maintained a relationship with notebooks ever since. I've written myself out of self deprecating funks, written myself to Europe, discovered hidden gratitudes and found deeper purpose watching and listening to my hand dance across the blank pages. The notebook mirrors the soul if you allow them to do so. Peace to your writings :)

Meditations in Simplicity 1 - Scarves

My sister gave this scarf to me when she came back from a trip to Bolivia with her husband. It has brilliantly interwoven colors and is very light and breathy, so where whenever the temperature merits at the very least long sleeves, my neck dons this.. I admittedly feel like it's a Linus-esque security scarf, but wearing it is like having someone constantly hugging you (without the practical inconvenience that might impose). I think the weavers must have used an oxytocin laced material when weaving this scarf, but then I realize that every time I wear it, I'm wearing the original thought that my sister had in Bolivia when she thought I might enjoy this. Who doesn't love to be thought of? When I wear this, I feel thought of, and consequently loved. It reminds me to think of people, and to let them know that they're thought of. Perhaps that what gifts of love do. They have a way of extending beyond the giver, beyond the receiver, into the interconnected world at large, warming cold necks all over the world.