Because we are all one,

we should treat other's the way we want to be treated, all day, every day.  There are no exceptions.  Make a ripple, stand up, see what happens.

The gift within the gift

My dear friend who was sick, and now is well has gone with her partner on a short, well needed vacation.  They asked me to look out for their house, and also check in on their elderly neighbor.  I was glad to do it, they have been such good friends to me and have made so much joy in my life.  So, I go each day and take care of things.  One of the perks is that they live near the woods, so I get to go for a beautiful walk every day.  The other is that I get to spend time with this neighbor.  One day, I noticed a beautiful painting in his house.  It was made of Japanese characters.  Have you ever seen brush painting?  It is more than beautiful.  He was sad because it had belonged to his mother and she didn't know what it said.  I had the idea to take a picture of it and take that to a near-by Japanese College to see if they could help us.  I met two of the most wonderful women in the Culture Center.  I got to speak with the director of the center and she spent over an hour deciphering this writing, and who had written it.  She even printed out information about the person, so I could take it to my friend, who was overjoyed!  My point is this: we never know what is going to be a gift to us.  If we are fortunate, sometimes there is a gift inside that gift.  All this has made my day and my week.  Make a ripple, pass it on, see what happens.

What is it?

I was trying to explain about blogs to my new friend.  He has never used a computer.  I told him that before I started my blog in October 2013, I had never even read one.   Then I proceeded to try and explain what I write about.  I told him I wanted to make a difference in the world, so I wrote about things that I thought mattered like taking care of ourselves and being kind. I told him I wrote about things that were right and wrong with the world and thought if people payed more attention, took just a little more time each day, maybe we could all make those changes.  It certainly happens faster if lots of people do it.  He asked me if people have to agree with me.  I said "no."  The point of the blog was just to use life experiences, some painful, some silly, to shed light on some things we could all look at.  I also told him that I try hard to talk about all the people who are choosing to do good in the world., but no, they do not have to agree with me.  I want people to laugh, be inspired, be aware of the awesome task of being a great human being and to just pass that on. That's why I named it "Lets make a ripple." 

Tend your garden

Yesterday was a fairly nice day.  We all know how spring is, one step forward (warm), one step back (cold, rainy)  So about two weeks ago, we had several nice days in a row and I was out there with my shovel and pitchfork digging until I dropped.  Two of my raised beds were cleaned out within an inch of their lives.  Then came the cold and the wind and the rain.  A funny thing happens when you aren't out there with your shovel, all sorts of things seem to re-appear in those beds.  Yesterday was nice, so I went out to assess the damage.  Fortunately, there were only 3 things that had made their way back.  There were new raspberry plants, :) there were new catnip plants, ;) and there were new thistle plants ;(  So, I dug and dug, cussing the thistle plants, because they throw out deep runners and you can't get them out completely. Then, I dug out all the catnip plants and transplanted them out of respect for Catboy.  I did the same with the raspberries, out of respect for me.  It's funny, my garden is like my life.  As much as I hate the thistles, they are tenacious and remind me of what I don't want. The catnip plants show me how if I throw down really good roots, nothing can crush me, and the raspberries just taste good and are great to share. Make a ripple, find the lesson in everything, see what happens.

What are we missing?

Recently, I have been spending time with an elderly man who has become a friend.  I find him to be interesting, and engaged with the most twinkly eyes.  He talks animatedly about his past life and all the things he has done, all his traveling, and his family.  I relish my time with him because he has no agenda , just seems happy to be alive.  He walks, and swims and right now, I am showing him how to do word searches.  It is fun to see him learn something new and he is so excited.  He is 94 years young.  What I am learning, is that we all have so much to give to each-other, no matter what age and I feel a little ashamed that I have neglected a population of people who are so valuable.  This seems to be a part of our society which gets neglected often.  In his culture, family and the elderly are revered, maybe we need to take a page from his book, I certainly will.  Make a ripple, look around, see what happens.

In other words...

There is this thing called "framing."  It can pertain to your house, or a picture on your wall.  It can also describe the way a catcher catches the ball in a baseball game when he wants a ball to look like a strike (within the strike zone.) Framing is used by all of us in speech at some point to make something we are saying sound a little more like what we want you to hear.  What I am noticing, lately, is that it is being used consistently in much of our advertising, and not for our benefit, at all.  The energy companies are using this type of speech about "Fracking." They are framing it as "fracturing technology." This is a process in which natural gas is being removed from the ground.  Sounds innocent, except it poisons aquifers, and pollutes the air, just to name a couple of the horrible things it does.  Do these companies, with their smartly dressed tall blonde lady, also say the energy is mainly being sent to China and the land and people here are the ones under severe health risk in perpetuity?  Nope!  All I am asking, here is for you to be informed.  Get on your computer, go to the library and find out how to make a stink over this travesty.  We are talking about families, kids, and the way they will live, or die.  Make a ripple, make a difference, see what happens.

Pure and simple

While out and about yesterday, I saw a bumper sticker which said it all.  "Now is all we have."  Make a ripple, simply be, see what happens.