Ruining It

“You’re ruining things for us you know,” my friend told me as I paid my worker and thanked him, reminding him I’d see him the next day. We still had work to do and I very much needed his help.

I was living alone in my beach hideaway at the time.  And although I can do just about everything, there are things where I need help like carpentry, heavy lifting and cement work.

Rafa and I were making a wall with recycled glass bottles I’d collected: long elegant wine bottles,, stout and fat tonic water bottles that made a great foundation and some relatively square tequila bottles that provided support in the mid-section as we rose the wall higher. My liquor shopping had become as much about shape as content.

“What do you mean?” I asked my friend, puzzled.

“You’re ruining it, paying so much,” he said. “He’d work for way less.”

I laughed, asked him if he were serious and then said, “It’s barely enough to get by as it is.”

He shrugged and say, “Most get by with less. And they’ll all want more if you keep that up. You and the rest of the gringos.”

I decided not to engage, not to defend my ideals or my countrymen. Instead I opened a bottle of wine with a smile, poured us both an Italian glass full, handed him one and said, “Here’s to paying enough.” I paused, wondering if my philosophy might lose me another friend but decided to continue regardless. “If helping others have a better life is how I ‘ruin’ it, so be it,” I declared.

He sipped the mediocre wine and commented, “You Yogis.”

Ritual and the Black Cat

With a look that says my efforts are futile, Frodo , the oversized black and white cat who’s adopted me, refuses to move from between the pillows as I make my bed.  “What’s the point?” he seems to ask. “You’ll only undo it later.”

 I smile and scratch his belly until he rolls from the pillows, stretches and walks away as if to say, “Your bad.”

 I make the bed.

 I always make the bed.

It’s a thing for me. Like the pranayama, tapping and short meditation I do beforehand with the cat curled up behind my back. It’s comforting to have him there. Then I light a candle, say thank-you to the universe, make coffee and the time it takes to make the bed is a perfect timer for when it will be ready.

 Ritual completed, I sit at the computer, warm beverage in hand and write. Everything for the next hour is perfect, especially when the ideas arrive. My ritual sets the table and opens the door for them. Generally they arrive early, as I’m scooping coffee into the French press or trying to count breaths in meditation. I never shoo them away. I ask them to wait until I finish preparing. They are welcome houseguests, undemanding and patient. And as we converse and share moments as the sun rises, I delight in the knowledge that this moment is mine with my laptop, the sunrise and the soft purr of the black and white cat by my side.

 What’s your ritual? What makes your ideas arrive? What allows you to share a moment with you? What would make you get out of bed to light a candle against the  dark and watch the sunrise?

Try making the bed.

Travel Toward Peace

A recent insta post about the late Anthony Bordain, the amazing travel and food guru, made the point how important it is to travel; how it makes the world a better place. I so agree. It’s way more difficult to drop a bomb on a country you’ve met. Knowing places gives them a face that’s not the devil.

 Under the photo of Anthony in an oversized armchair on a remote beach, a comment read, “Yeah, easy for a privileged white boy.” I had to accept, it was easier for Anthony than it might be for most. But bottom line, Mr. Bordain opened the world for his audience and made incredible connections through appreciation of food and gratitude for it.

 That got me thinking. Without so much consideration for privilege, could travel be finding a new nook and saying hello? Wouldn’t that help us connect? Couldn’t we “travel” within our own neighborhoods?

On another level, couldn’t travel also be connecting with ourselves, sitting with the breath and moving inside the universe that is the human body – physical, energetic and emotional? Wouldn’t that be an amazing way to explore peace for yourself, within yourself. Then you’ll spread peace into the world with every step you take.

 Humor me. Set a timer and sit for 6 minutes. Notice the breath moving within you. Be amazed at how everything works. When the timer goes off, saunter to a local restaurant or grocery store. Take your time. Look around. Get to know your neighbor. Genuinely meet a new person, even if it’s only eye contact, a short hello or a smile. Share the peace and wonder you, minutes before, felt within yourself. This way we can cultivate peace right where we are, starting within.

 We all recognize that we need peace more than ever. This practice will remind you that peace begins within each one of us. We each make it happen.

 Lets.

 Happiest of Holiday Seasons

Be Of Service

Give away all your possessions, live in the slums and minister to the poor.

 Noooooo, not that.

 Well, if you’re up for it, if that’s what’s calling you, go for it.

 But most of us don’t have that dharma, that wouldn’t make us happy. In fact it may make us miserable and that doesn’t serve anyone. However, there are simple acts we can do that make our world a better place. Things like smiling at a person when they pass you in the street. Planting a garden so you create some green, even if it’s a few pots on your dining table. There are so many little things we can do like helping someone who can’t climb a stair. Even texting a friend to say hello and ask, “need anything?”. These make the world a kinder place. And when the world is a kinder place, we can be kinder in it.

Once cultivated, these small habits grow. You may find yourself volunteering at a dog shelter or nursery school. You may start coaching a sports team or handing water out at a road race.

And it actually starts by asking the question, what serves me? You receive as well as give. For example, if practicing yoga makes you happy, invite a friend to class with you. If saving money serves you, put some aside for your favorite charity. If loving on animals is your jam, volunteer at a local rescue or adoption center. If holding a hand serves you, volunteer at a nursing home, hospital or nursery school.

We are part of this living organism we call Earth. The more we serve each other, the more we serve ourselves.

Be Creative

Can being creative save the planet?

How do you think we came up with a product that absorbs micro-plastics from water? Or one that collects the petroleum discharge from tires as you drive? Its creative ideas that can make the world a better place. And you don’t have to be a scientist. What about the people who filled plastic bottles with sand to make bricks to build their homes? What about planting roof gardens to reduce ambient heating? Or fences and windows made with recycled glass bottles? That’s all about thinking outside the box

We are creative beings. The more you stimulate that part of your brain, whether in how you make a smoothie or solve a mathematical equation, the more creative you become. We get good at what we practice. So close the recipe book. Sit under a tree and wonder. Figure out what to you could actually do with those old yogurt containers. Paint a wall a new color and add a curved line. Add a colorful scarf or tie to that business suit.

Get wild.

Have some fun.

Let your creative self come to the forefront of whatever you do and see if it doesn’t make your world a better place.

Practice Gratitude

Thanks for Reading

 Doesn’t that feel good? For me and for you, it does. You see, gratitude saves us in so many ways, lifting us up emotionally and allowing us to become aware of and appreciate what we have. When you are grateful, you generally feel better. You shift the paradigm.

Doubtful? Try this: when you waken, before anything else, say thank you for another day. Speak to god, the day itself, your higher power, the universe, to whomever you pray. But say it, out loud if you can and whether you’re looking forward to it or not.

 Then, when you place your feet softly on the floor, say thanks for the support. Then say thanks for your feet. Brushing your teeth, thanks for them. Washing your face, thanks for the skin. Thanks for the wrinkles that remind us of smiles and of wisdom gained. Drinking a glass of water before all else, (you do that right? First thing?) say thanks for the water because with it we have everything and without it, we have nothing. Say thanks for the birds and the flowers and even say thanks for the problems, its how we figure things out.

Say thank you for all of it and see if you don’t feel better, happier.

It’s a gift to be alive.

Let’s be grateful.