Amazing Christmas Music for All

Check out these guys doing a funny and inclusive (almost) take on the music of the season! These guys are awesome!

Enjoy!

The Joy of God Expressing

I started this blog for purely selfish reasons. I wanted to create more joy in my life. I know that wherever my intention and attention intersect the result will be creation.

It is true that my capacity to tolerate joy has risen. Way Cool! This blog has also served to help me to better stay in touch with family and friends. That has brought me tremendous joy. Sophia seems to be good for my traffic!

My hope was that in blogging about my own exploration others would find themselves thinking about joy more often and hopefully experiencing it more often as well. I have no clue weather that is happening. I don't really know if there's anybody out there reading...Pink Floyd is running through my brain...post a comment now and again if you're out there...

One thing is for sure, this blog has heightened my awareness for things that bring me joy or make me think about how I can better serve our world. And it has given me a place to share what I am finding...

Today I want to share a video that is making its rounds around the internet and on You Tube. It's five minutes. I will share my thoughts about it below, and hope you'll watch it first.





I sat entranced watching these two graceful dancers. Their bodies looked absolutely gorgeous to me. Healthy, toned, strong. Their creative expression moved me to tears. Maybe that happened for you too.

As I reflected on my tears and my feelings I noticed I was feeling such pride and love for these people who had overcome what would seem like an obvious impediment to this level of dance expression. At the age of 13 I had allowed some off-hand comments made to me about how "real dancers" have long legs derail my passion for dance. Knowing I did not have long legs and being young and impressionable, I tossed my dancing dream and my weekly lessons aside. How about having TWO legs!

So many of us have given up on our dreams because they seemed impractical and/or unrealistic. We all get to be healed just a little bit by watching something like this where the idea of limits is shattered before our eyes. And maybe we are given another chance to dust off our old dreams and breathe life into them once more.

I had a second response, one that brought more tears than the first. This response was the realization that not all that long ago, people like these two brilliant dancers would have been considered society's throwaways. They would have been deemed useless or a burden. They may have been left to die at birth or abandoned at an institution. What struck me was how brilliantly their Essence was radiating out from them as I watched. That radiance is God on Earth.

I began to think about all of the other people society often chooses to call "throwaways." The poor, the uneducated, ethnic people, gays and lesbians, people of differing faiths or world views, people with mental health issues, or severe physical challenges, those who commit crimes, welfare moms, basically anyone "not like us." Many of these people are considered the world's expendables. We kill them in war, we execute them or lock them up like animals in our "justice" system or our "institutions," we steal their resources, killing their children or dooming them and their way of life to slow death.

And just look at what can happen when the Light of God that exists in every human being is nurtured and allowed to shine despite outward appearances, despite differences. Just how much beauty, love, GOD, are we missing because we see only something useless or offensive that needs to be thrown out.

I see a day when every man, woman, and child on earth is seen for what they are in their truest nature - an expression of the Divine. I see a day when we take up our responsibility with great joy and fervor to unleash our own Divine Expression to its full magnificence and create cultures, systems, structures, and environments that are designed to support this unleashing in every person, for every child.

Some people would say this is ridiculously naive. They would point to people like Hitler and say where is there God in him. My answer is that Hitler's aren't born, they are made. WE make them.

God is born anew in every child. Just look at a newborn and tell me it's not so. Whether that child grows up knowing and embracing its magnificence, whether it is told it is the worm-ridden dust, or told it is useless, or just a simple cog in the great machinery of society and should resign itself to taking its place, is completely up to US. To each one of us.

Not just the child's parents, family, teachers, religious and political leaders. These children are all around us. They are aged 0 to 103. They dwell in each of us, now. And they hear us. In every word and deed we either affirm those around us are Divine Expressions of God or we deny it. We either feed the flame of Spirit or throw water on it.

Can you see your own fire of God burning inside you? Can you help others to see it in themselves?

Will you call out to the Light in you to come forth and shine? Will you have the courage to say yes to it and give it free reign over your life? Will join me in every word and deed urging others to see and embrace the magnificence inside them? Yes, with practice it can be done. We can and we must! There are dances to be danced, songs to be sung, love to be shared, God to be expressed...and what a world it will be! Can you see it?

Joy & Gratitude

Is it just me or does life seem to be accelerating to others as well? Today is December 10th! Where has this year gone? Now, I know that happens more and more as we age, but really, how can it be the end of 2007 already?

It was February 10th of this year that we arrived in Overland Park, Kansas with a tiny U-haul trailer filled mostly with clothes and toys. We did have a mattress, but not yet a box spring. Neither Toby nor I had work, although I had a budding business with great potential. Sophie was enrolled in a Montessori and we had an apartment and the love and warmth from our friends at our church that would grow into a loving spiritual community for us. We had the loving prayers and well wishes from people scattered across the country. And of course we had each other.

The apartment is just about completely furnished now (our new couch arrives on the 17th) and with a few more finishing touches such as paint and curtains about to happen it will be as beautiful a home as ever we have had.

Toby has a job he loves just 15 minutes away. He comes home at lunch to jog on the wooded trail that runs in front of our door. Sophie has transfered to a more traditional Montessori only 5 minutes from home, loves her teachers and is making friends. And my business has taken off beyond my dreams!

I guess even though it feels like the year has flown by, we have accomplished a lot. But the list above isn't what I am talking about.

This year, my beloved husband and I have lived through some very difficult times. Major shifts and transitions can be hard on a couple, especially when health issues complicate matters. Yet the fires we have walked through have not burned us. Rather they have strengthened us. They have melted away the dross while leaving the core of us more pure and true than ever. We have both embraced deep soul learning in the every day and in books, retreats, nature and more. We have moved ever closer to living in and from the Essence of our Being.

We have re-committed to ourselves and our relationship at a deeper level. We have grown as parents and as people. We have found ways to bless our world and we have been blessed by it - as it must be.

There can be no other response to this than great joy and gratitude. "Pinch me, I must be dreaming!" No, I am awake. I AM Awake.

Love and gratitude to all of you who have supported us so lovingly on our journey.

Radiant One: The Movie

I am so thrilled to share with you a project I have been working on for about 6 months. It's called Radiant One: The Movie.

Inspired by a short essay written by Suzanna Kennedy, I set out to make a short film. I found the dazzling artwork of Montserrat to illustrate this message, asked my friend John Hardesty to compose a score with his usual brilliance, and asked another friend Claire Papin to lend her magnificent voice. I believe the result is absolutely inspiring...I hope after you see it you will agree!

Please visit the website: www.RadiantOneTheMovie.com to learn more about the artists. You can also get yourself a DVD copy of the film and a companion meditation.

One final request - If you like the film, please help spread this message of light and love. You can email a link to the film's website to your friends and family and/or maybe post it on your blog! (It's on YouTube and Tiny Pics so it can be embedded directly - Just do a search for Radiant One to get the code or email me).

Thank you for your loving support and enjoy the film!

Infinite Joy, Love and Blessings,
Rima

Halloween Joy

Yes I know I am a little late on this one, but I am going to invoking Mother's Privilege with today's post. And I apologize in advance to my dear husband. Toby, I love you, and these little videos were too funny to pass up! Mystery Solved!

Sophia is 3, actually almost 4 now, so this was our first real Halloween. She had three events to prepare for. I can tell you at the end of the week, I was exhausted!

Sophia decided she wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the West (from her favorite movie The Wizard of Oz). Only she would be wearing the ruby slippers having gotten them from Dorothy after all.

Now to assemble the costume: Sophia already had the slippers (from the days when Dorothy was still her heroine) and a witch hat and gown that her friend Kate had outgrown. Next we had to find the perfect broom to go with it. Oh, and who could forget the face paint for the green face!

Once those were secured, we decided we'd better have a dress rehearsal - to make sure the makeup worked. This short film is our rehearsal captured on tape! Sophia had to work at keeping her witch hat on as it was a blustery fall day.




As you can see the makeup left something to be desired so we got better makeup for the real thing. Read on...

EVENT ONE: Halloween Party At School

Blue Valley Montessori hosted an evening party on Tuesday, October 30 for the kids. Sophia was a hit as the "WW of the W" and she insisted I go as Glinda the Good Witch of the North. Here are some photos from the festivities. Notice the much brighter green make up!

EVENT TWO: Classroom Party

Sophia's teacher opted to give the kids another party on Halloween day. This time Sophia went as one of her favorite princesses, Snow White. This is a photo from last February of Sophia in her Snow White outfit.

EVENT THREE: Halloween Night

Sophia joined her friends Julia, Claire and Rachel for trick-or-treating. The girls, who are 10 and 11 (twins), had invited some other friends as well. It was a big group so Sophia had a lot to keep up with.

For this event she decided to go as Tinkerbell and wear the dress her Aunt Melanie gave her for her birthday last year (see photo).

Because it was in the upper 50's I insisted she wear a turtleneck sweater under her dress. When she balked, I gave her a choice between the sweater plus a coat or just the sweater. She happily chose the sweater, but after putting it all on declared, "This looks ridiculous!" When I asked if she was interested in adding the coat, she again was happy about the sweater (I don't know how much longer I can use this strategy before she catches on!)

Off we went to the Wakefield's house to begin the trick-or-treating. Now, I know this may be hard to believe, but as we walked to the Wakefield's, Sophia turned to me as said, "Thank you Mommy for making me wear my sweater." WOW! She actually had to connect the dots! She felt it was cold, was grateful she had her sweater, remembered I insisted she wear it, felt grateful that I had insisted, and decided to voice her gratitude! These are moments parents live for!

Finally it was time to trick-or-treat. Dad was in charge of documenting the momentous occasion. The two short videos below are the result:





Okay, we did manage to get one photo anyway:

But most importantly, Sophia had a ball. She got tons of candy (UGH!) and she lasted almost as long as the big kids!

Hope you all had a joy-filled Halloween! We certainly did!

The Joy of Good Enough

"Would that there were an award for people who come to understand the concept of enough. Good enough. Successful enough. Thin enough. Rich enough. Socially responsible enough. When you have self-respect, you have enough." Gail Sheehy, 1937

In my early thirties I was blessed beyond measure by the opportunity to work with Angela Blanchard. Angela was my boss for most of my five years at Neighborhood Centers Inc. (NCI), a dynamic and effective social service organization serving Houston's poorest communities. She was a generous boss who artfully and lovingly mentored me. And she has become one of my most trusted and beloved friends.

While at NCI Angela not only helped me see and understand the value of the work I was doing, she taught me to "Take the 98%." She used to chide me that she wasn't going to hire anymore A students because they (meaning me) often are so obsessed with getting it perfect that they miss the deadline. Rather than trying to get a 100% every time she taught me that if it's late, or misses it's window, it's a zero - so be satisfied with the 98% and get it in on time.

I don't know whether Angela knows how deeply I have been touched by all she taught me while I was at NCI. This lesson in particular opened a space for joy in my life that had been missing. Constantly striving to do it better, make it more and more perfect, robbed me of a sense of accomplishment. There was always something to fix, some new nuance to add.

I believe that kicking the perfectionist habit is one of the key steps on the path to a more joyful life.

One book I read years ago to assist me with this suggested I leave the bed unmade for a week to practice not being perfect. Perhaps this may seem silly to you, but for me it was a tough assignment. (See my post on joy and housework). I was able to do it and it gave me a new sense of freedom. It's not that I stopped making my bed from then on, but it changed how I felt about it. Rather than being something I did on auto-pilot because of some unconscious need for order and/or approval, now I made my bed as a gift to myself. And if there was a day I was running late I could choose to leave it unmade without feeling stressed by it, to creating more stress by forcing myself to do it hurriedly before leaving the house.

Often motherhood changes our ability to keep up with it all, but it may not change our perceptions of whether we should be keeping up with it all. This is one of the greatest joy-stealers of all time in my book. When I was overly concerned about getting it all exactly right, else suffer a loss of my esteem in my own eyes, my focus was in the wrong place. I was squarely in my ego rather than living from my Essence, my soul.

When the Divine is at the center of one's life, it's much easier to sense when we are tromping down the path of perfectionism and missing the beauty and joy of life. Excellence at the expenses of a life of joy is mis-guided. Excellence that brings joy is on target.

I have found this to be a good measuring stick. For example, I am nearly done refinishing an antique Duncan Phyfe table and four chairs. It has been a lot of work and also a lot of joy. The attention to detail, picking every last bit of the latex paint that has covered this gorgeous set out of every nook and cranny has taken months. I have really given it my all to get it an clean as possible, even in places that won't be visible unless you remove the seat cushion. It has been for me a mindfulness activity, so doing it as perfectly as possible has brought me joy. I always knew when to stop or take a break if I felt the joy waning. And I also took the 98% on my re-upholstery job. Which, even with some slight wrinkling, I know is truly good enough.

So what do you think? Are you up for taking the 98%? What will you do today that you will allow to be good enough, even if it isn't perfect?

Have fun and be joyful!

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved brother Steve. You are a true light in my life. I love you and I celebrate with countless others this day that you were born to us. What a gift you are!

Joy & Kindness

We vow to bring joy to one person in the morning, and to ease the pain of one person in the afternoon. We know that the happiness of others is indeed our own happiness, and we vow to practice joy on the path of service. We know that every word, every look, every smile can bring happiness to another person. We know that if we practice wholeheartedly, then we ourselves may become an inexhaustible source of peace and joy for our clients, our customers, our coworkers, our family, and our friends. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

How amazing would life be if each of us did this?

What I am thinking about today is how much being kind to people increases my personal joy. There are times when a situation may not seem conducive to kindness, when I have been hurt or wronged in some way - real or perceived. But it is in just these situations where I get the most joy from acting with kindness.

That's not to say it's always easy. While I had excellent models of duty and service growing up, it wasn't often done with kindness. Or at least it didn't seem so to me. I remember often feeling like there was a giant unknown price tag for the good that came my way. If someone was doing something nice for me, doing me a favor, I was acutely aware of how much it was "putting them out" to give to me. I began to imagine this was true for everyone who gave to me. This often made it impossible to fully accept their gifts.

Later I could see how my own ability to give had been affected. I often gave from a place of duty, but it wasn't with a free or loving heart. I gave even when it wasn't good for me to give. Often it was to feel accepted by someone, or to earn love, respect, attention, etc. I gave to the point of losing myself. And being lost I was incapable of real kindness to myself or others.

I began to notice how stingy I was with my love, with kind words, or with praise. Whether it was my attitude toward myself or others, I was not soft. I was prickly. One day I was drying off after a shower when I became aware of how roughly I was scrubbing myself with the towel. I realized that even in the smallest of ways I had no idea how to be nurturing to myself, to treat myself gently and with kindness. No wonder it was hard for me to treat others that way. While I always had jobs that served others (as a teacher, non-profit fund-raiser, church executive), I didn't always carry them out with kindness. It wasn't enough to choose a job that "did good" if I hurt others in the doing of it.

Over the last decade I worked hard at being kind to myself. I learned how to be patient with myself and to love myself even when I was down - especially when I was down. By learning to be kind to myself, I stopped giving before it became dirtied by resentment or co-dependency. Then I could really give, without attachment. It seemed in practicing on myself (who was the hardest of all to love) that it became easier to be patient, kind, and loving to others.

What I have learned in my quest for joy is that the act of kindness itself brings joy. I have had the profound experience of knowing that all the love I ever need is inside of me and that the fastest, most reliable way to feel love is to send it out, to give it away - freely. Indeed the supply of it is inexhaustible. In fact the more I give it away the more I have to give.

I invite you to try it with me. Let us be absurdly kind today. Let us give kindness with abandon, to ourselves and to others. Let it fall from our mouths and pour from our hands like the rain from the greatest storm to ever come from the heavens. Let us bathe the world in our loving kindness. In so doing our hearts too will be flooded with joy.

Joy, Housework, a Devil, and a Dervish

Until last week I would have thought it strange to put the words joy and housework together. I have always considered housework as a necessity and something I wanted to do. But my desire to do the housework was all about enjoying the results. I love the feeling of a tidy clean space.

You can ask Toby about our early days together and how I would turn into a kind of reverse Tasmanian Devil spinning and sweeping though the house feverishly putting things away so I could find the floor to vacuum, often feeling quite angry about the mess (see Taz video at end of post). In recent years I have relaxed about it enough so that I can still be comfortable if the house is a bit out of sorts. I think having a child is a natural antidote for the neat-freak compulsion. It sure has made life with me easier for my not-so-neat-freak husband.

But even with my new laid-back approach to home neatness, I still reach a point where I look around at the "chaos" and I am unable to do anything else until the house has been put back in some semblance of order. I call this hitting "the mess wall." This usually happens about once a week or maybe every 5 days depending on how hectic life has been and how much has been left to fall where it may. Keep in mind I work from home, so if the house is a mess, so is my office (and vice versa I might add!). There is no escape for me!

Then this magical shift happened. It was a week ago today. I wanted to meditate, but I had hit "the mess wall" so there was no way I could sit and be still with my environment in such a state. I only had an hour and a half before I needed to get to work - not enough time to clean up and meditate. I decided I would try to make my housework the meditation. I lit some incense, put on my new favorite meditation music by Deuter, took some slow deep centering breaths, connected with the Divine, and dove in.

I began with the pile of unfolded clothes on the couch. As I folded Toby's t-shirts I thought about how much I love him. I thought of all the ways he is such an incredible person, husband, father. I focused on sending loving energy into the clothes as I touched them and envisioned him wearing them with joy and in safety. I did the same for Sophia's clothes and even my own. By the time I was done my heart was so full of love and in such an expanded state I felt like I was floating. As I moved around the house putting things away, everything I touched filled me with a sense of gratitude and joy.

I put away items given to Sophia by her grandparents and I thought of how much I love them and how grateful I am for them. I washed dishes feeling grateful I had food to eat and running water in my home. I made the beds grateful for the comfort and beauty of the beds and the bedrooms. On and on it went. I didn't want to stop.

I found myself tackling big messes, like the piles on my desk, which I had been putting off organizing for months. Every time I touched my work I felt love and gratitude for my clients. I felt intense joy that I get paid to do what I love. I was even able to make decisions about things that had been left out forever because I just didn't know what do to with them.

I was having a radically different inner dialog with myself and my surroundings. It seemed crazy to me that I would have ever touched the things in my home with anything other than love and gratitude in my heart. I was shocked when I remembered the way I would normally think and feel while putting away Toby and Sophie's things. Housecleaning had been a time for angry, resentful, victim thoughts like, "Why can't they put away their own stuff? Who am I, their maid? Why is it always me doing all the housework?"

When I felt the power of focusing on my love for them, on infusing their things with that love and joy, I knew I could never go back to the negative, angry, resentful way. I resolved to practice housecleaning as a mindfulness meditation or to not do it at all. I committed to exuding love into my home through this activity. And I went on for another hour loving my home into order. The feeling was exquisite. Several times I was moved to tears by the love I felt for my family and the gratitude I felt for the blessings in my life. The state of joy and peace I had created lasted the entire day.

Over this last week I have had the chance to put this new practice to the test. I had a few moments where the old dialog tried to come back as I put away the same things again (and again) but I had an effective tool for cutting it off - LOVE.

The reverse Tasmanian Devil has become a Whiling Dervish. Like mystical spiritual practice of the Mevlevi Order in the Sufi tradition called The Sema (see video below), I have discovered that being in motion and dancing with DIVINE LOVE while I do housework brings me great joy and deep peace.

Housework and joy are now synonymous for me - if I let them be. Wow - who'd have thunk it?

MORE ON TAZ
In case you have forgotten what TAZ, Tasmanian Devil, can be like here's the original Bugs Bunny cartoon. Enjoy :)



MORE ON THE SEMA
The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives at the "Perfect." He then returns from this spiritual journey as a man who has reached maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation. Click here for more from Wikipedia.

Here's a short video clip:

My Joy Guru

Children can teach us so much about joy and authentic self expression, especially when they are encouraged to trust themselves. Loving and living with my daughter Sophia is one of the most significant ways that I experience joy. She is, in fact, my Joy Guru.

As I watch her sense of freedom to be fully herself I learn. I learn about myself, and about how much more I have to live into myself.

I watch her hop and jump all over the living room. She runs back and forth, back and forth, making sounds of pure delight. There's no "reason" that I can see that she moves her body in this way - other than she clearly enjoys it. And of course, no one tells her to stop it or suggests it's strange. She agreed to let me film one of her romps - the video appears below.

Sophie simply loves to express her joy and sense of fulfillment.

We noticed early on that she tends to hum or make noises of enjoyment while she eats. I am sure some parents would think such sounds at the table are bad manners. Toby and I think it's cute. More than that, we value it as a way she is authentically expressing her experience. We made a conscious decision not to quash it. Only on rare occasions when we share meals with others and she starts with the yummy sounds do I hear the voice of my internal critic wondering if others will think she's weird. Sophie isn't in the least bit worried about this. She just goes on eating and humming...and saying "It's delicious mommy!"

Yes, my Guru, I am watching you. I am learning. And I am inspired to be more of who I am and less worried about what others think.

I hope I will always find ways to reinforce Sophia's budding sense of self and encourage her continued joyful self-expression - including when it's time to set or enforce family boundaries.

"You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again." ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

MORE ON JOY AND CHILDREN
My film "Let Us Be Healed," featuring images set to the song Healing Room by Sinaed O'Connor, is about connecting to the Divine within and how the innocence of children can often be a doorway to that part of ourselves that remains free and true.

The Joy of Health

It seems like ages since someone in our house hasn't been sniffling, coughing, or dealing with ear aches and sinus trouble. I was vexed. Everyone gets a cold once in a while, but why is it that we can't seem to get well?

As many of you know we eat a pretty healthy diet around here. We are modified vegetarians (we eat fish) and modified vegans (we eat eggs), which means: no meat (other than fish), no dairy products, very few sweets/snacks and lots of veggies. We take probiotics and vitamins regularly. We also eat mostly organic and natural foods and avoid almost all processed and packaged foods, including soy-based fake meats (although we do enjoy the occasional veggie version of Sloppy Joes).

So...what's been going on?

Well joy of joys Toby has finally figured it out! Last June we had a washing machine malfunction that caused flooding in our apartment. The carpet in the dining, living and main hall areas, as well as Sophie's bedroom and closet were all soaked. While our complex did everything they could to dry it, clean it, and treat the floor, pad and rug so it wouldn't mold or mildew, according to Toby's nose their efforts were not successful. This is bad news since we all have high allergic reactions to mold and mildew.

Today I will be approaching them to request the carpet be replaced. I am sure they would have done it when I asked last June if it hadn't been new when we moved in last February.

In any case, I am so elated to have found the probable cause of our health issues that I am prepared to offer to pay for new carpet myself. Now of course I won't go in with that offer. First I am going to see if they will do it on their own, then I'll offer to split it. Only as a last resort will I suggest that we will foot the entire bill. But if it comes to that I really don't care. I am just so grateful that we may have some light at the end of our mucus-filled tunnel (eeeew gross!).

I am not worried that we are dealing with the "black mold" that is so dangerous. At least I hope we are not. It's more likely just your average house-hold mildew that's causing the problem. I will probably have someone come out and clean the AC ducts as well - just in case. We'll have to see when the carpet comes up.

And so life goes on...each day presenting a choice. Why be angry or upset about the hassle and expense of replacing the carpet when we can celebrate finding and eradicating the likely source of our stuffy heads! Why be resentful that they didn't change the carpet to begin with as I had asked when we can look forward freedom from hacking all night!

And just think of the old-growth trees that will be saved from our reduced Kleenex use.

Yes, there is much to celebrate this morning!

Naturally, I'll keep you posted on how things turn out...