Light always overcomes darkness.
nAMaste
Tag Archives: namaste
Their Mothers
We celebrated our friend today, who is preparing to give life to a newborn son in a few weeks. She was glowing with joy and anticipation, thinking about what to name him and getting his nursery ready for his arrival. We were so happy to see her and to share her excitement and to shower her with gifts and love and friendship.
Although we were celebrating new life, my mind kept wandering to Paris and the shock and loss of life and terror that has risen again over night. I kept thinking of the men who chose to end their own lives by blowing themselves up and wondered about their mothers and their childhoods. Who are these children that grew up to think that death was the way of life? How did they come to choose this path? I don’t understand, from a mother’s viewpoint. I don’t understand hate.
One mother raised three suspected terrorists. Seriously? Can you imagine being a mother who raised three evil beings? How does she live with herself and what led her children to darkness? I would be horrified. I don’t understand this will. I don’t understand this life choice. I don’t understand. And I don’t necessarily blame the mothers for their children’s behaviors, but I do wonder how she would explain having raised 3 suicidal terrorists and want to know what she thought led them in this direction.
Life is a mystery.
Wishing you peace, mamas. Love your babies well and be well.
nAMaste
11-17-15 – After I shared this curiosity and couldn’t find any story about the mothers, one showed up. Here is a link to the heartbreaking article about how their children abandoned them to join a cult. The title is Mothers Of Isis and can be found on Huffingtonpost.com if the link doesn’t work.
Be Not Afraid
Be not afraid.
I go before you, always.
Come follow me.
And I will give you rest.
Those are a few of the words from one of my favorite Christian songs that bring back so many great memories.
When the Parisians were stuck at the stadium and were attempting to exit, they began to sing the French national anthem. They sang to unify and comfort one another and to connect and to be stronger than their attackers. They did not give into fear.
There is evil surrounding us, not only in Paris, Beirut, Syria, but around the world and it is up to us to fight and band together against evil. We are connected through our humanity and we need to practice our courage and love, every day.
One love.
One truth.
Have courage to be loving, BeLoveRs. Stand up to hate.
Share the love.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité .
nAMaste
Are You Interesting?
You were very interesting when you were born. We all were. We all had people interested in our coming to life and celebrated us. We were very interesting, probably for a very long time. But over the years, some of us become boring. Why is that? Are you boring or are you interesting and what makes you interesting? Hmm… I’m always interested in learning about other people and their interesting interests, even when I don’t share them. I find passionate people very interesting.
What are you passionate about? Are you afraid to share your interests? I think fear gets in the way for some people and they hide away instead of connecting and celebrating and living out loud.
Seth Godin just posed this question here -> Seth’s blog and he made me think of the most interesting person I know, who fascinates me.
This would be my husband. He is one of the most interesting people in the world to me and I love hearing his stories and being a part of his life.
Like right now, he’s making a slab of bacon on the smoker, which has been smoking for 6 hours. The smell of the apple wood chips burning in the smoker is drifting into my kitchen while I write. I’m smelling the sweet smells and hearing the hum of the smoker’s convection fan. He promised his friends at work that one day he’d bring them some home made bacon, but he didn’t tell them when he would bring it in. I bet they are going to be surprised this week.
I bought a pork belly at Costco last week, and it has been sitting in our refrigerator, rubbed in spices and curing, as he turned the slab from side to side every day, awaiting today’s smoking. After it smokes, he will slice it and share it and fry it in a pan. I can’t wait. I know his friends are anxiously waiting too for the day to arrive with bacon in hand. Who doesn’t love bacon?
And this is only one interesting fact about the man I married. He chooses to show up and to share his gifts and talents EVERY day. He is funny and kind, hard working and loving and I love how much others love him too. He sincerely cares about people and is always making this world a better place. I’m so happy he was born and that he chose to share his life with us. He is VERY interesting.
I could go on and on, but I’ll save that for another day.
What makes you interesting? Go out and SHINE!
Who is interesting to you? Share. Connect. Think about it. This is a fun one!
I hope you have a FaBuLoUs and iNteResTing week.
nAMaste BeLoveRs
xoxoxox
Top Ten List
Tonight I thought I’d list some things I’m thankful for since I feel like I don’t have anything interesting to share or novel to write about.
1. Nothing is really bugging me. In this moment. 🙂
2. My family went out for breakfast all together to check out the new Black Bear Diner.
3. Our comfy couch.
4. Happy, independent teens and a tween.
5. Learning that we need sadness to balance out joy and to connect with others where they are at. Thank you Inside Out.
6. Friends to play with and to enjoy the days and evenings together.
7. Lit fire pits and candles.
8. Dinner date with my husband.
9. Clutter free and clean home.
10. Kittens that bring joy and life to our house.
Your turn. What ten things come to mind when you reflect on what made you happy today?
nAMaste
Stunned
I think this is the only word to describe the feelings inside my body again.
There was another shooting at Northern Arizona University (NAU) this morning and my cousin’s best friend was killed and 3 more kids are injured. This is not okay, not fair and not right. She shouldn’t have to be experiencing another tragedy like this.
On the same day, there was another shooting in Houston, Texas on a college campus, leaving one person dead.
Our children go to to college to learn how to learn and to become independent and responsible adults. I didn’t think that they had to learn these type of survival skills and how to deal with this type of pain and loss. I can’t believe that Jeff and I were talking about what advice to give our kids should they ever be in a situation like one of these.
I am scared and feel vulnerable again. One person’s actions ripple and affect us all. Families are destroyed because of one moment of random selfishness. Why is it okay for some people to use violence to solve their problems? What is causing people to be so distraught that they no longer value life?
We are definitely connected and our country needs healing.
I know people are looking for reasons and want to understand why. They want gun control measures, and I think yes, maybe so, but this doesn’t get to the why and focuses on a band-aid and doesn’t really fix the underlying problems.
Why are young men shooting other people? I’m sure there are several reasons. I think that our youth are missing a sense of purpose and structure. Families fall apart. Religious institutions have lost popularity. We have violent video games that are readily available. Our mental health system is a joke. Community service is not a priority, and instead there is a strong focus on self which might not be the best thing. Sure, it’s great to be self-aware, but probably not so self-absorbed. We need each other. We need to help and to serve one another. We need to accept ourselves and one another. We need to belong to each other because we are all connected. One Love.
If you wish to support the families involved in the NAU shooting today, there is a Go Fund Me account set up here: NAUstrong “All funds raised through this campaign will be donated to the victims of the shooting to help them with their various expenses following this tragedy. Stay strong everyone. Call up your loved ones and tell them you love them.”
nAMaste and rest in peace, Colin Brough.
The Good Life Quilt
What if we could stitch a quilt of love between us?
What if we could take the values that give our life meaning and stitch them together and create a warm blanket to share?
What would you include in this quilt? Would we all include the same things?
I would weave the common good, courage, justice, love, peace, kindness, truth, compassion, fairness, tolerance, acceptance, hope, freedom, passion, creativity, integration, justice, and connection.
What values would you add?
What would be the purpose of this Good Life Quilt?
I think having one would provide us warmth and something to share. It’s colors and diversity and patterns would be woven together and give us something beautiful to touch and to see and to build together.
When Charlie was born, he almost died. We were filled with fear and did not know what was wrong with him for 6, agonizing days. We had no idea whether he would live or not We had no control. And we just had to wait and watch and pray. We were scared and it was a very lonely feeling, even though there were so many that wanted to help us. One thing that provided comfort in the sterile intensive care unit, was a handmade quilt inside his bed. I wondered where it came from and why it was there. It was stitched by a volunteer group who gave of their time and their talents and added warmth and color and a sense of home to his little bassinet. It felt like a warm hug and provided hope of normalcy, that one day he’d be in a cozy bed in our home. Dreams do come true.
May you be covered with a Good Life Quilt and stay warm and loved.
nAMaste
See One Another
We all live under this one big sky and it’s a beautiful thing.
The next person you come in contact with, really see them. Say hello and acknowledge their presence, even if they are a little weird or different than you. We are all weird.
Be curious . Don’t be afraid. We all are the same on the inside.
This world needs more love and acceptance. We can make the difference by loving everyone we meet, from within our hearts, through our actions and with our intentions. Go ahead and smile first. Strike up a conversation. It’s so easy. You can make a difference just by being you.
Oregon – I wish you peace and am so sad and angry that so many lives were sacrificed and harmed because someone didn’t think they were enough today. I am so sorry for your unexplainable loss.
You are enough, BeLoveRs.
nAMaste.
Rooted
What makes you feel rooted?
What makes you feel established and firmly grounded?
Where is your place, where you feel you belong?
I think growing older is a beautiful thing because I can feel myself more rooted in knowing who I am and what is important to me. These 2 things guide my daily choices, decisions and reactions to life’s daily events, opportunities, changes and challenges.
I am continuously learning and practicing (and failing) and connecting to all that is good and letting go of all that troubles me to live the best life possible, every day, moment to moment. I know this sounds dorky, but it’s true. It’s how I think and it works for me.
I wish the same for you, that you feel rooted and loved and valued and connected to this good life and to one another.
One Love.
nAMaste.
One LOVE Tree
Can you see the love tonight?
nAMaste BeLoveRs.
Be well.
here i am 