Breathe the Beauty

Books like The Secret Garden, The Phantom Tollbooth, and plays like Our Town, taught me long ago that beauty is everywhere, if we only stop to look and listen. I forget this all the time, but doing a simple breath meditation is a good way to slow down and really tune into the senses. And so was born this design.

Root Down, Blossom Up!

Everything We Need is Already Inside of Us

Inspired by my beautiful daughter, Mariel.

Be Your Own True Self

dedicated to all the people who are doing wonderful things to make the world a better place.

Dream It, Then Do It

Love is everything

and always.

I Will Love

I will not turn away but will pay attention and hold all beings, victims and perpetrators, in my heart, loving all as if they were all my children. I will love, I will love, I will love.

My Anger Magnified a Billion Times Makes My World

Yoga Sutra II.35: AHIMSA PRATISTHAYAM TAT SAMNIDHAU VAIRA TYAGAH.
In the presence of one firmly established in non-violence, all hostilities cease.

There is so much violence in the world. The situation in Syria seems so hopeless. The news of the sergeant in Afghanistan who went on a rampage killing 16 people is tragic on so many levels. My heart goes out to families of the victims, but also to the parents of this soldier and his friends and other close family. They must be suffering so much. What must have been going on in the heart of this man, on his third tour in Afghanistan, to commit such a crime? It is very sad.

Why do I see a world with so much violence in it? The tradition that I follow teaches me that the violence I see in the world outside of me is caused by my thoughts, words and actions towards others. How can this be? I am a kind and peaceful person. I do good things. I try to take care of others.

But not always. Like anyone else, I get angry. I get irritated. I am sometimes thoughtless and careless about other people's feelings. In the past, I haven't always been honest, and I have hurt people who were close to me. There are many things I do each day -- talking on my cellphone while driving (much less than I used to but still...), leaving myself too little time to get places and driving aggressively, snapping at my husband or daughter -- that "do harm." And little seeds grow up to be big trees.

Like everyone else, I have a difficult/irritating person in my life. Right now, he is "popping up" in all his difficulties. He is someone who you have to walk on eggshells around, because he misinterprets the most benign things as slights. He is always feeling disappointed by people. Many other people who know him share my view that he is difficult and unreasonable, making it seem all the more to me that he is, in and of himself, difficult and irritating and that I am absolutely correct in my view of him.

In really thinking about him, I realize that he is a very unhappy person. He really has very few friends, and has isolated himself in the community. I would not want to live in his skin, feeling like all the world is against me. I still don't like his actions, and will respond to them as skillfully as I can. When I consider his suffering, I am no longer irritated by him or angry at him.

It is hard work to come to this view. But it is the work I must do, and that we all must do, to see an end to violence in our world. If I can constantly remind myself that everyone, at heart, wants to be happy, I can be angry less, and compassionate more. It's not easy, but it will be worth it.

Life Is Short But Its The Longest Thing You Do

Yesterday, I went to a funeral for a friend who died after a long fight with breast cancer. In the mid '90s, I taught a cardio-funk class at the YMCA (because I'm just so funky y'all), and Lydia was one of the regulars in a terrific bunch of women who came every week to learn routines to "Thriller," "Rhythm Nation," and "Proud Mary," to name a few. I had recently gone through a divorce and was tip-toeing into the dating world, and these ladies were a great source of support, wit and wisdom. When I first met my now husband, he came to take the class, they vetted him, pronouncing him "worthy." At about the same time, Lydia met her soon to be husband Thomas, and we vetted him too.

Lydia had a huge smile and a bubbly personality. She was one of those warm, loving people who embrace life with arms wide open. She was wildly in love with her husband, beyond proud of her daughter, and a cheerleader for her friends.

I lost touch with Lydia shortly after my younger daughter was born. For the past 11 years, our paths barely crossed; we both were caught up in our lives, and plans to get together didn't materialize. I am sad to say that I didn't appreciate how grave her illness was. When I bumped into her lovely daughter from time to time, I would always send my love, intend to call, and not follow through.

The beautiful memorial service today made me think a lot about why good people die young. When someone "bad" dies or suffers through a horrible illness, we don't really think about it. We have a sense that perhaps they deserved it. And when "bad" people prosper and thrive, we feel that the universe has made a terrible mistake. But when good people suffer and leave us too early, we sit up and take notice. The tragedy transforms us, wakes us up, makes us think twice about how much we take for granted. We always think we'll have the time to connect, to say the things we want to say, until we just don't. So, sadly, we keep needing these reminders about how precious and fragile life is. I am so sorry that I had to get this reminder from Lydia, and that I didn't make a point to stay in touch with her.

Life is the longest thing we do. So make yours amazing. Make it count. Share your love and goodness anytime and anyway you can.