The Art of Meditation
Posted on 16. Sep, 2009 by Deb.
During the Lenten Season, I vowed to learn to meditate and when the end of the season rolled around, meditation was one of the things I decided to carryover into the rest of the year. Meditation is truly a gift that you can give yourself. As things tend to happen when they become too much of a habit, my mediation sessions began to feel like work instead of an opportunity to find my center and focus. I struggled to find it, and though I have continued along with my mediation time, it wasn’t productive. I’ll be honest: I was going through the motions and getting very little out of it.
When I realized that I had begun to take this gift for granted, I chastised myself. All the years of well-practiced self-flagellation made it easy to slip into the negative voice in my head. I hate that voice. Sometimes, though, no matter how hard you try, the voice doesn’t quiet easily. I have discovered, however, that if you allow yourself to be loved, the negative voice becomes dimmer and the voice you hear inside yourself is instead one more gentle and encouraging.
Today, I was feeling confident enough in myself to give myself the gift of peace. I wasn’t looking to simply go through the motions, but to find that space where mediation is truly a part of your being. I sat on the floor of my office next to the dog. She loves for me to work in my office as it means she can nap in front of the sofa there. I began breathing deeply and soon realized that my body was timing one deep inhalation and exhalation with two of her breaths. As I found the rhythm, within moments I had found my center. I breathed and focused on the energies in my body, slowing moving energy from the tips of my fingers and toes to my chi and gently holding the energies. And then I found it. That perfect imperfect moment where the world around me disappears and there is nothing but energy and breath.
Like art, no two people will mediate the same. But also like art, it is often about the process. I’m thankful that the process once again feels not foreign, but like a part of me.
Happy Wednesday!
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It Takes a Village
Posted on 13. Sep, 2009 by Deb.
These businesses know their customers, often on a first name basis. Their customer relationships, like every real relationship, encounter the occasional rough spot. Being small and human means making plenty of mistakes.
But when these businesses mess up, unlike AT&T or Microsoft, their customers often love them more.
This entire article really spoke to me in two ways: as a business owner and as a consumer.
I’ve been a consultant since 2003 and I treat my clients like they are friends. I find that even after a project is complete, I continue to have contact with a past client. We telephone and email (or text). Share a meal. Converse about how business is going and how the family is getting along. Sometimes, I’m able to introduce past clients to each other and they are able to form a business relationship to fill a need. It increases the strength and size of my village. Some of the work was truly a one-time thing and I may never work with a particular client again; but we keep in touch because we’ve become close enough to care.
In regards to being a consumer, I’ll be the first to admit I like to spend my money with businesses that treat me like an old friend. Some businesses have learned the knack of creating a small community of consumers. I mourned the closure of my closest Starbucks because I missed not only the employees, but the other customers I have shared a hello and a how are you with for ten years. I go to Bagel Boyz rather than Subway because the guy behind the counter remembers that I’m likely going to get tuna, even though he’ll try to persuade me that his chicken salad is just as tasty. And I prefer to stay at the Hotel Monaco in downtown DC because the staff members treat me like a long lost relative instead of treating me as just a hotel guest.
In times like these, when the economy is tight, these businesses who operate like a village are going to continue to thrive while the big boys are going to flounder. I think it’s because we see theses businesses like we see our friends: we love them and we want them to be successful.
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Never Forget.
Posted on 11. Sep, 2009 by Deb.
(Pentagon Memorial. Photo is mine, taken September 2008)
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The Smell of Grease Paint
Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Deb.
School is back in session. Nothing like the smell of a freshly opened box of Crayola’s!
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Muse
Posted on 23. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
I got a call from one of my closest girlfriends today.
“My muse is angry at me,” she said.
Then we began to discuss why she felt that way and, better yet, how to remedy it. For some writers, there is a ritual, routine, and rhythm associated to their writing. She is one of those writers. When she finds her rhythm, though, it’s magical.
I’ve been having problems connecting with my muse myself. It’s why I understood what she was trying to tell me. Lately, when I sit to write, all I see before me is a blank canvas that I’m afraid to paint upon. Now to figure out how the hell to overcome the fear and reconnect myself.
(bolded words are my magnetic words for the last three days)
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The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real
Posted on 20. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
But all the while he was longing to dance, for a funny new tickly feeling ran through him, and he felt he would give anything in the world to be able to jump about like these rabbits did.
The strange rabbit stopped dancing, and came quite close. He came so close this time that his long whiskers brushed the Velveteen Rabbit’s ear, and then he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears and jumped backwards.
“He doesn’t smell right!” he exclaimed. “He isn’t a rabbit at all! He isn’t real!”
“I am Real!” said the little Rabbit. “I am Real! The Boy said so!” And he nearly began to cry.
Just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the Boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared.
“Come back and play with me!” called the little Rabbit. “Oh, do come back! I know I am Real!”
But there was no answer, only the little ants ran to and fro, and the bracken swayed gently where the two strangers had passed. The Velveteen Rabbit was all alone.
“Oh, dear!” he thought. “Why did they run away like that? Why couldn’t they stop and talk to me?”
For a long time he lay very still, watching the bracken, and hoping that they would come back. But they never returned, and presently the sun sank lower and the little white moths fluttered out, and the Boy came and carried him home.
Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn’t mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn’t matter.
via The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Illustrations by William Nicholson.
Just because I love this little story.
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Magnetic Words: Two for One
Posted on 19. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
I’m well aware that I missed writing about my word of the day yesterday. It wasn’t that I was ignoring it, I just chose to spend time with my daughter and as much time with The Boy as we could manage. I took the words of Scarlett O’Hara to heart, though, and thought it would be best to think about it tomorrow.
I couldn’t exactly not think about it, though. The word echoed in my heard throughout the day and I went to bed with it ringing in my ears: Sculpture. it followed me into my dreams as my dreams were filled with marble and paintings and sculpture and a monastery. I think it was Philadelphia.
This morning, I pulled my word, and was laughing before I had my first sip of coffee: angel. Now I knew why I had procrastinating a day: The Angel Sculpture.
This sculpture is in my parent’s back yard. I can’t recall if it was a gift for my mother’s birthday or Mother’s Day, but I do know that I purchased it in 1988. My mother is far from perfect, but she introduced me to a love of books and from that grew my love of words.
I love this little angel. I wish I could find another one for my yard. In the meantime, I’m happy to gaze upon her sweet little face on my computer.
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Loss of Mystique?
Posted on 19. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
“The first thing I did when I walked into the arena to work on the set I said, ‘It’s 2009 and there’s a million iPhones with a million opportunities to take a picture of our show and ruin Christmas.’
“I’m so over the Internet, Twitter is ridiculous and there’s too much info out there. Celebrities, movie stars and rock stars are losing their mystique.”
I certainly understand his feelings. I love the instancy of communication and the huge amount of information at my fingertips. But I also mourn the days where there was mystique about a person, when we had privacy. When someone protests their privacy, I always wonder if they have something to hide or are simply wanting things to be the way they were twenty years ago. Maybe it’s just a desire to keep a few things to ourselves and those who really love us.
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from 1968
Posted on 19. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
I was going through my hard drive looking for a piece of an old story, and found this:
It’s me and my mom. Taking a walk on Hillcrest Street. Believe it or not, her hair style is the same.
Just thought it needed to see the light of day.
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Marijuana Is Gateway Drug for Two Debates
Posted on 19. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
Marijuana, the country’s most widely used illicit drug, is typically not thought to destroy lives. Like alcohol, pot has been romanticized by writers and musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Bob Dylan, and it has been depicted as harmless or silly in movies like “Harold and Kumar.” And addiction experts agree, marijuana does not pose as serious a public health problem as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The drug cannot lead to fatal overdose and its hazards pale in comparison with those of alcohol. But at the same time, marijuana can be up to five times more potent than the cannabis of the 1970s, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
And this new more-potent pot and the growing support for legalization has led to an often angry debate over marijuana addiction. Many public health officials worry that this stronger marijuana has increased addiction rates and is potentially more dangerous to teenagers, whose brains are still developing. And officials say the movement to legalize marijuana — now available by prescription in 13 states — plays down the dangers of habitual use.
“We need to be very mindful of what we are unleashing out of a Pandora’s Box here,” said Dr. Richard N. Rosenthal, chairman of psychiatry at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan and professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. “The people who become chronic users don’t have the same lives and the same achievements as people who don’t use chronically.”
via Marijuana Is Gateway Drug for Two Debates – NYTimes.com.
I have a million thoughts on this article. Most of my thoughts would make me unpopular with many folks who believe that marijuana is “no big deal”. I understand the medical benefits of use and I wouldn’t want to deny that use by those who medically need it. My issue is with those who choose this as part of their lifestyle.
I hope you take a moment to read the article.
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Thoughts on Journalists
Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
One of the best pieces I’ve read today is Susan Toepfer’s piece in the Wall Street Journal’s “Speakeasy” blog. My degree is in Broadcast Journalism and the foundation of that education is that the reporter should always stay neutral unless it is an opinion piece. I worked at ABC News while Peter Jennings was still there, and the maintenance of that journalistic integrity was key to how the evening newscast was put together.
We’ve entered a time, of course, when objectivity–whatever that is, exactly–is not a sellable product. What we want instead is opinion. Talking points. Or vulnerability. Certainly, there are some who struggle to keep their tone civil, their reports tethered to truth, not to the political tides that crash through MSNBC and Fox News. Old-line network stars like Brian Williams and Charles Gibson gaze solemnly forward, without pausing for personal asides. CNN, despite the challenges of instant, dubiously reliable Internet news flashes (how could TMZ declare Michael Jackson dead before doctors did?), continues to put on a globally neutral face, even as its anchors’ faces become more glamorous by the day.
But the whole Anchor-as-Immobile-God persona started to crumble back in 2001, when Dan Rather-–always the most volatile of the Big Three evening newscasters—dissolved into tears on David Letterman’s show, talking about the 9/11 attacks. A few years later he was gone, along with Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings.
In 2005, Anderson Cooper, overwhelmed by the body count of Hurricane Katrina, broke down on the air. Then, in 2008, came the sudden death of Tim Russert. The loss of this admirably affable newsman, who never showed his hand, may well have marked the end of the politically neutral broadcasting for which Cronkite once stood as stolid symbol.
Not that I personally object to the proliferation of blatantly biased news–I’d rather have journalists flaunting their political preferences than sneakily (or subconsciously) slanting their reports. And I do confess a fondness for the overblown Olbermann, with his boorish cries of “Fascist!” “Liar!” “Treason!,” just as O’Reilly and Rush have their supporters. O’Reilly once threatened to “boot right off this set” that mild-mannered talk show host from another era, Phil Donahue.
If that’s not entertainment, I don’t know what is! And just how does a traditional, trained-to-be-objective newsman compete with this newfangled display of passion and bile? It is, after all, impossible to imagine Cronkite going after John Chancellor or David Brinkley.
Uncle Walter did not engage in such antics. Nor did he brandish his political beliefs, or reveal the full extent of his anguish, joy or grief. He was first and foremost a reporter, a stalwart announcer of the day’s events.
via WSJ.
I honestly don’t watch much Network news any longer. I’d love to say that newspapers are more objective, but I can’t honestly say that, either. It’s a matter of digging through the news from different sources and putting things together.
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Read Worthy News (Saturday, July 18 – New York Times)
Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
Just a few of the stories I’ve read this evening that are worth pointing you to:
- Henry Allingham, one of Britain’s last three surviving veterans of World War I, died on Saturday at a nursing home in the south coast town of Brighton, staff at the home said. Age 113, he was officially recognized as Britain’s oldest man. (via Henry Allingham, British Veteran of World War I, Dies at 113 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com.)
- A disconnect between perception and reality worsens the problem. New studies show that drivers overestimate their own ability to safely multitask, even as they worry about the danger. (via Dismissing the Risks of a Deadly Habit – Multitasking on the Road – NYTimes.com.)
- The seven points proposed by President Óscar Arias of Costa Rica during a second round of negotiations at his house in the capital, San José, would require the political elite of Honduras to recognize Mr. Zelaya as the country’s legitimate president, something they have refused to do until now. But in restoring Mr. Zelaya, Mr. Arias’s plan would also sharply curtail his powers and focus much of the country’s political energy on the next election. (via Plan Would Return Honduran Leader – NYTimes.com.)
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American Moments with Walter Cronkite
Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
Walter Cronkite escorted America through the 1960s and 1970s every night, from his boyish, awestruck enthusiasm for the wonders of space to Vietnam, assassinations and a nuclear scare. See the videos below:
via Speakeasy – WSJ.
For those of you too young to remember, The Wall Street Journal has gathered a set of six Walter Cronkite Videos. Click on the link….
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Korean Taco War?
Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
Baja Fresh filed for trademark protection for the term “kogi” on May 8th, Mr. Rink says. Kogi filed its trademark paperwork for “kogi” on December 4th of last year, but only for narrow use, just on mobile food carts. Baja Fresh is seeking protection for the use of Kogi with everything from tacos and burritos to promotional toys. Kogi co-founder Caroline Shin-Manguera says a steep “learning curve” when starting the business accounts for the wording on the trademark application.
via Kogi and Baja Fresh in a Korean Taco War? – Speakeasy – WSJ.
To me, this is an example of Big Business capitalizing on what a small, independent business has done. It will be interesting to see how it all comes out.
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Magnetic Words: Know
Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by Deb.
My mother could never read me enough books and my grandmother could never tell me enough tales about her life. When I learned to read, I could never consume enough books. When I meet people, I want to know about them. And when someone does something incredibly odd, I want to know why.
How does a story unfold? How did a character get through a sticky situation? Why is my grandmother crying in the only family photo of her family when she was a child? Why does this person have an obession? Where are we in the world?
I think it’s my innate curiosity.
I want to know.