What is Is-ness?

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Zen motorcycle What is Is ness?Image via WikipediaWhat is isness?  Some may call it being in the moment.  Others may say it’s about  presence or paying attention.  And some may even see it as grace.  Whatever your take on it,  isnessseems to resonate with a group of twenty-something year olds I know.How we came to this term and it’s meaning was an interesting journey in itself.  Apparently, the term is used in the book: The Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.   After starting this spiritual direction group for twenty-something year olds, I thought we should come up with a term for a higher power that resonated for us all.  This term did not come from our heads but only after some internal mining did we discover that our hearts were aligning with it.  It was an awesome discovery, really, because we all knew that we didn’t choose isness but rather it chose us.

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What the World Needs Now is More Bieber Fever!

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What the World Needs Now is More Bieber Fever!Image via WikipediaI am the first to complain about television programming for teens.  I can barely stand it!   Shows where the parentsand teachers are depicted as complete morons or where the parents don’t even exist yet somehow the kids live in a downtown loft and wear designer clothes is so beyond reality that I begin to wonder if my kids will ever want to work.  And why should they?  Everything they see in the media today is about slacking off, doing nothing yet living off the manna that somehow magically sustains their “have it all” life style.So, how my daughter talked me into watching the Justin Bieber movie Never Say Never with her, I’ll never know.  I suppose being asked to do anything with my fourteen year old daughter is an opportunity I didn’t want to miss, besides I was curious about all the hype surrounding this child star.  I assumed he was just another Disney formulated star but boy was I wrong!

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A Good Kind of Tired

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300px North Shore of Lake Superior A Good Kind of TiredImage via Wikipedia
This past weekend, my family and I had the pleasure of what Minnesotan’s lovingly call, “going up north!” Essentially, it means communing with nature either on the north shore of Lake Superioror in the North woods/Lakes area.   It is also understood that what you experience up there is a profound secret only relevant to those who truly “get it!”

My Dog, My Rock and Even My Clock!

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My Dog, My Rock and Even My Clock!

I’m not big on schedules and structures, though I would like to be.  I admire those who create their own schedules and stick to them as well as those who accept institutional structures that tell them where to be, what to do, when to show up and how long to stay.  I, on the other hand, am one of those people who is often held hostage by my artistic temperament.  In fact, I can quickly become resentful of any person or institution that tells me what to do or when to do it Continue reading →

Being on the Road Again

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300px Road Trip Adventure Being on the Road Again

This past week, I found myself on the road again.  My family and I took  an emergency road trip to my husband’s home town. Though, not a pleasant reason to travel, I suddenly remembered how much I like the actual process of traveling.

When I was a kid, we traveled a lot.  My parents being from the Czech Republic, we went to Europe often.  We also moved a bunch, four new houses in three different states by the time I was ten!

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More Freedom for the Material Girl

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300px Gmfreedom More Freedom for the Material GirlImage via WikipediaIt’s become more and more apparent to me that I’m a child of the 80′s.  I may have been born in the late 60′s but my high school and college years spanned the full spectrum, 1981-1989.  Not only do I remember the Reagan years as the “all about me” years but I can hear just about any 80′s tune and know precisely where I was and who I was hanging out with at the time of it’s release.Now, I don’t think this makes me a pop junkie necessarily but it does tell me about who I was then and who I am becoming now.  So much of the 80′s was about image and I mean big time!  We had big hair, big boots, big earrings and big wallets full of money.  Not only did we waste a whole lot of time at the Mall, we worked there too!

Do it Anyway!

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6350144513 36314ef9f8 m Do it Anyway!

There’s a strange saying going around my house.  Perhaps you may have heard it too?  It sounds a bit whiny and even nasal at times.  It’s often followed by a gasp, annoyed intonation or a rolling of the eyes.  Yes, you guessed it, it sounds like this:  “But I don’t feel like it! ”This exacerbated adolescent response to just about anything from picking up socks, feeding the dog, taking out the garbage or doing homework seems to be a staple for today’s teenager.  Similar to the “terrible two’s” when every request is followed by an accentuated “No! ” yet strangely unattractive coming from an over-sized child.  Not sure how this happened, but very sure that “not feelinglike it” is an epidemic amongst kids this age who, for one reason or another, want “to feel” rather than “do!”My friend, whose ancestors come from Ghana and who was raised in England, is quite baffled by the typical American teenager.  This high emotional intelligence seems to trump all other things, especially anything requiring the least bit of effort.  Why these same kids who are quick to diagnose fellow studentswith “anger issues” or “ADD/ADHD” or “depression” but can’t get a simple task done without “feeling like it” first, is a mystery to me!

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Let Your Body Choose Today’s Exercise

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540607179 c4bdcb47bb m Let Your Body Choose Todays Exercise

Image by Yang and Yun's Album via Flickr

I don’t like to exercise!  I mean, the thought of intentionally moving my body is so unappealing that I’d rather just forget the whole thing.  As a youngster, I was quite athletic.  In fact, in high school,  I made the varsity tennis team as an incoming freshman!  I guess, now, left to my own devices, I’d just much rather write at my computer or read a book.

Luckily, my metabolism has cooperated most of my life so I’ve gotten away with sitting around much longer than some.  Unfortunately, however, I’m becoming painfully aware that my metabolism is changing and that having some kind of a daily exercise routine is definitely in order.

 

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Readjustment Bureau

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110367293 3152c3e2c1 m Readjustment Bureau

Saw the movie Adjustment Bureau and liked it a lot!  It made me think about all the times I forced myself to do something or accomplish something without my heart being truly in it.  Like the many sales jobs I’ve had over the years and just didn’t believe in the product.  It didn’t matter how much team building I did or how many product showcase events I attended, if I didn’t care, I just couldn’t sell it!
A similar epiphany occurs to the main character of this movie, played by Matt Damon, who is on the road to a successful presidential bid when he discovers his true love, played by Emily Blunt.  Also on the road to a successful future as a dancer/choreographer, she is suddenly awakened to a new side of herself.  Both freaked out by what this love might mean for their futures, they find themselves moving from a semi-rewarding unconscious life to a conscious life that brings them both passion and havoc.

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Listening to Tears

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3206851974 c8278c2b2e m Listening to Tears

Image by patrmach via Flickr

Last weekend marked the end of yet another season of basketball for my daughter.  An unusually demanding season, I still found myself looking forward to not just watching her play but to cheer and gab with other parents.  It started out as any other season except that I seemed much more emotionally involved regarding the outcome of each game.  Not a competitive person by nature, I had my share of competitive tennis growing up.  I remember enjoying the mantra of hitting and receiving the ball on my racquet but very little interest in winning, or so I thought.

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