Belonging

"We all enter the world with fairly simple needs: to be protected, to be nurtured, to be loved unconditionally, and to belong."

- Louise Hart

Love

The bestest kid on the face of the planet came to visit this weekend! Here are some photos.













Arden Mel. The kid's got vo-cab-u-lary.












Arden and Mel












Big hug












Arden loves Katie












Jill runs the half-marathon in the cold, wind and rain. Jess and Arden and me? We sit back and cheer from the comfort of the new blue Subaru, complete with butt warmers. Go Mama Jill!

Today is national Love Your Body Day

The website (from NOW) has great info on health issues, body image, ways to raise awareness, advocacy tools, etc.

I'm in a spiritual practices group, and this month we're talking about our bodies. We're developing spiritual practices to fuel their health and well-being. (Then each of the next 8 months we'll focus on other parts of our lives--mind, emotions, soul, spirit, sex, relationships, Earth, etc--in a holistic, integrated approach.) This week's discussion helped me realize that my body gives me amazing gifts every day, and I need to thank it. Check out this meditation for reflecting on gifts that your body gives you.

Spiritual practices I'm considering for my own body include:
- regular exercise (dancing, cycling, hiking, weightlifting)
- eating more whole foods
- drinking less alcohol (and more water)
- allowing myself to cry and feel grief as my body needs to.

I haven't created a plan yet, but I'm getting there. Generally though, it means just plain loving my body and actively caring for it.

Do you love your body?
All of it? Just certain parts?
How do you love your body and care for it?


(with thanks to katie and carrie)

Can I get an Amen?

"Life is a gift to be received with gratitude
and a task to be pursued with courage."

- Confession of 1967, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Ode to the down comforter

I love Fall. It comes in as a close second in the lineup of my favorite seasons: Spring, Fall and Summer.

Having grown up in the South, I love warm weather. Therefore all seasons involving warm make the list. Winter, on the other hand, is something I manage to get through. With the holidays and all I'm great until... until... things start to feel, you know, drawn out. Meaning January and February. Now don't get me wrong, there are things I truly, dearly love about Winter. But we'll save that post for a day when it's below freezing and I need positive Winter things on which to focus.

One of my favorite things about Fall is that most ceremonial of moments when The Down Comforter Comes Out of the Closet (if you will). A hush falls over the house, an anticipatory moment of silence is observed, and the down comforter descends from the shelf, unfurling itself lovingly onto my bed. And I am like a kid in a candy store, giddy with excitement.

This momentous occasion happens each year when temps start dipping into the 30s at night--which means it occurred just Wednesday. And a glorious moment it was!

Kitties love the down comforter too. Mine like to snuggle anyway, but especially in winter, and especially with the down comforter. We could be outside in the bed, with a frigid winter wind howling around us, but with the down comforter we'd be warm as toast. Mmmm....

Mayonnaise, for real

I love to make my own mayonnaise, and mayo has been a topic of conversation with at least two readers recently, so here's the recipe. The flavor is superb, it keeps for months,* the ingredients are free of corporate chemical weirdness (especially if you choose local, organic and free range), and it's kinda neat to watch the mayo form. Enjoy!

Mayonnaise

1 large egg
3 T. cider vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. dry mustard
1 1/4 c. oil (vegetable, olive, canola or a combination)

1) Place the first 4 ingredients in a blender or food processor, along with 2 T. of the oil. Process for a few seconds.

2) Keep the motor running as you drizzle in the remaining oil. As soon as all the oil is incorporated, turn off the machine. Scrape the mayo into a container, cover and refrigerate.

Variations:
Green Mayo – add a handful each of chopped parsley & chives to Step 1.
Sesame Mayo – substitute a few T. of the oil with Chinese sesame oil.

From the New Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, a great gift for any cook (except me, because I already have it--thanks Catherine!).

* this recipe uses a raw egg, but i have kept it for months without it going bad. perhaps the cider vinegar acts as a preservative?...

Love me some weekend

What a gorgeous weekend. I danced my heart out, enjoyed the company of amazing friends, meandered around the farmer's market and the St James art festival, celebrated with two friends as they witnessed to their love in one of the sweetest and most meaningful ceremonies ever, danced some more, cooked breakfast for their families, hiked in Charlestown State Park, watched a movie and started some self-reflection around the topic of bodies and health with my spirituality group. All of it was fabulous. And this morning I started the week by riding my bike to work in invigoratingly crisp air and warm sunshine. Ahhh. I feel like a million bucks.

A wee dilemma

I discovered today that Lousiville's most excellent Festival of Faiths theme this year is "Death and Dying Through the Eyes of Faith," Nov 5-11. I took a brief look through the schedule to circle the events I'd like to attend--and when I was done almost every event was circled. The lineup of speakers and experiences is simply phenomenal; it is beyond description.

Where am I scheduled to be that entire week? Traveling for work. Where should I be that week? Taking a week off right here in Louisville, attending the Festival. My soul needs it, my heart needs it, my body may even need it. The question is, Is that trinity worth canceling two trips, losing opportunities, and risking good graces with colleagues and constituents? I think perhaps they may be...

Tough

Some days are harder than others. For some reason grief is hitting me like a truck right now. I couldn't do something as simple as apply mascara this morning because of the tearflow, wide and free and hot. Finally I gave the day up as mascara-free, because I knew I'd just keep crying. Yesterday was like this too.

Music helps. (Watching a documentary about Palestinian house demolitions and annexation, educational as it is, does not.) So thanks be to God for k.d. lang's "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" and Patty Griffin's "Impossible Dreams," albums that get it out and get me through.

What music helps or comforts you?

Happy Junk Mail Awareness Week!

I love the Center for a New American Dream. For lots of reasons, but here's one.

Five years ago I got fed up with junk mail, and a friend pointed me to their website. In a few simple steps, I printed several form letters, sent them off and thus declared my independence from junk mail. It worked. I haven't received one credit card solicitation (or other such undesirables) since!

No junk mail is a beautiful thing--do it today. It saves you time, energy and clutter space, and it saves the planet trees, ink, fuel and waste. Hooray!

Dreamin' up a storm

Lately I've been having dreams every single night, and I'm remembering loads of details. It's a little intense.

Generally I go through periods where I don't remember any dreams, and then I go through periods where I remember a lot. But the last 10 days have been the most prolific and detailed period of dreaming I've ever experienced. I mean, it's constant. And the dreams themselves are really varied. Some are sweet, some are violent, some are peaceful, some are anxious, some are about what I'm doing, some are about what I'm not doing, you name it.

Maybe I'm just taking in more of the world than usual--therefore I'm more open to what my subconscious is expressing through my dreams (?)--but I'd be curious to learn more about this kind of patterning.

Anyone have light to shed on patterns of remembering and not-remembering? Point me to books, websites, your own personal experiences or theories...

And happy dreaming.