WHAT A YEAR!

I have to admit I am very thrilled with our President select, I think Barack will really bring us the much needed change. He is erudite, humble, sincere and very smart, I am looking forward to his presidency. I encountered that talking about politics is a rather delicate excersize in the US, and at work one was advised not to talk politics at all because it could be perceived as harrasment. Luckily I was not the only elated person in the office after the election results were clear. Just very proud of America taking such a bold step and showing so much hope and courage!

XOMO

CIRCLE

As I travel further and further along my personal road of life I encounter more often these intriguing roundabouts ;-)
No I am not going in circles or getting lost! Au contraire, these circles seem to connect everything magically (something most Asian relegions have acknowledged for thousands of years). I still struggle with this concept of unity, that all, everything and everyone are ONE. I just can't believe that the person who cuts me off in traffic is part of me and that we are in that same reality...that an insane mother who kills her child is somehow connected to me, it just doesn't make sense.
I would love to be liberated from duality and feel more united at least to start with being united with my real self...part of that journey. For now I'll just enjoy the scenery and try to be as much as possible HERE and NOW. That is a bigger challenge than being occupied with the past and future, something most people are very skilled in. In my next writing I'll describe a few of these circle samples, like how I found a Unitarian Universalist meeting via the Buddhist temple and how I finally understood the real meaning of the Dutch word for the Universe, HeelAl.

Forget time and I'll be back before you know!

Be well, MO

LOVE FAQ

As I discussed love with several people this "frequently asked questions" idea came to me as a way of touching some love input and feedback. By no means would I consider myself a love expert, yet I think we all have some love expertise...

Q: So, what is love not?
A: To be treated as an afterthought and certainly not as an object of any ones ego.

Q: Is there a difference in being loving and being in love?
A: When a person loves with every fiber of their being (being in love) something wonderful happens. They become caring, nurturing, giving and mostly protective of those they have included in their love sphere. Kindness radiates from them and illuminates all about them. Being loving does not necessarily include nurturing and protecting, but certainly includes respect and compassion.

Q: Can you harm someone you love?
A: Yes, and harming your loved ones is harming yourself.

Q: Are there levels of depth in love?
A: When feelings are shallow and superficial they are cloying and restrictive. If a person is unstable in their soul and hasn't the ability to love themselves, there is no possible way they can even respect those they claim to love.

Q: Do you need to love yourself first?
A: Not being able to love yourself causes an emotional rift and one tends to stray from their partner, seeking what they inherently don't have. In this self absorbed state they don't realize it has to be found within before it can radiate outward. Unfortunately, because of this insecurity, they often refuse to let go of the very ones they are hurting so badly.

Q: How do personal priorities and love live together?
A: When you really love someone priorities naturally melt together, you’ll probably find out you have the same priorities!

Q: What is unconditional love?
A: Unconditional love is when you know you have found real love and can say: I am sharing my heart and my soul knowing I can trust you to treat it gently and with care. All I have, and am, is ours. Its total openness and transparency, the “you and me” transcends into “us”.

Q: Why is unconditional love so hard?
A: Unconditional love is opening your heart to everything from joy to pain. Sometimes the person you love may not reciprocate or even understand how you feel, but you should allow yourself to feel it regardless. Love is fearless. But it's silly to say I will love someone if they make me happy... or have my children... or fix my dinner... or any such thing. That's most certainly not unconditional. Most people love conditionally, often without being aware of it; this is what causes pain and conflicts.

Q: Why do so many seem to fall in love with the “wrong” person?
A: Wrong person does mean they aren't good people... it's just they may not be good for you or me. However, the good news is this... the right love may be just a thought away... right there inside your heart.


MO LOVE 2 U, MO

LOVE 2

I LOVE YOU!
People use it every day without knowing the real meaning of it. These words should be seen as strengthening bonds rather than breaking it apart. Saying “I love you” expresses genuine feelings of care and compassion. It’s profound and deep, making it sometimes seem almost impossible to understand. But when you feel it… you know it’s just there. And it isn’t just by letting people know through words that you love them; it should show in your actions and responses.

Contribution by Jim Allmon

In the book, The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, the Velveteen Rabbit asked, "What is REAL?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit....

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does is happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have been carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

When we love a person, an animal, or a plant, they flourish. Everything embraced by love grows. However, we can only love to the degree we love ourselves.
Fall more and more in love with that which you truly value in yourself. Love flows from a wellspring in your soul and is the purest nourishment that God and the universe can provide.

It's a good practice to send out thoughts of love every day, as those toward whom they are directed will feel them. Love with all you are and they will feel the effect. The beauty is, you will heal not only them, but also yourself in the process. Love has an interesting way of melting away old scars and repairing broken things.

Deep within your soul, feel all the love you can. Silently, in your heart, radiate love to everyone around you. That's all there is to it and there's nothing else that needs to be done. Loving people share their love... even when it may not be understood or reciprocated. You see, unconditional love is the greatest gift there is and like any treasure from God... it's meant to be shared.

We were created in love and by it and the life we have is meant to be savored. Don't go forth stumbling in the darkness. Instead shine brilliantly in the light of love and become a beacon for humanity. Learn from life and embrace the miracle of you.

Fly high into the stars and enjoy yourself!


Love to you, MO

LOVE 1

What is the shape of Love?

What we see is not the most important.
Could dust rise without the invisible
hand of the wind?
Could a fan turn without any current?
Could lungs breathe without breath?
Tell me
What is the shape of Love?
How much does Joy weigh
when held in the palm of your hand?
Can you catch the Spirit of Life in a jar?

All things seen depend
upon the Unseen.
All sounds depend upon Silence.
All things felt depend
upon what is not felt

Adyashanti

Just wondering what is the definition of LOVE?
Can you LOVE someone and act in an unloving way at the same time?
What does LOVE do?
Why is there LOVE?

LOVE, MO

The Daffodil Principle

Picture by Rachel from California.
A good friend of mine always forwards these jewels. The story of "The Daffodil Principle" originally appeared nearly ten years ago in Jaroldeen Edwards' book Celebration! A beautiful story and a great insight as well...I lived in this area and know that road very well, yet I never discovered that garden!
I hope it is OK to share this with you all!

Here's Jaroldeen's story:
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come and see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. Going and coming took most of a day - and I honestly did not have a free day until the following week.

"I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove the length of Route 91, continued on I-215, and finally turned onto Route 18 and began to drive up the mountain highway. The tops of the mountains were sheathed in clouds, and I had gone only a few miles when the road was completely covered with a wet, gray blanket of fog. I slowed to a crawl, my heart pounding. The road becomes narrow and winding toward the top of the mountain.

As I executed the hazardous turns at a snail's pace, I was praying to reach the turnoff at Blue Jay that would signify I had arrived. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these darling children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears - and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car. The mechanic just called, and they've finished repairing the engine," she answered. "How far will we have to drive?" I asked cautiously. "Just a few blocks,"Carolyn said cheerfully.

So we buckled up the children and went out to my car. "I'll drive" Carolyn offered. "I'm used to this." We got into the car, and she began driving.
In a few minutes I was aware that we were back on the Rim-of-the-World Road heading over the top of the mountain. "Where are we going?" I exclaimed, distressed to be back on the mountain road in the fog. "This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."
"Carolyn, I said sternly, trying to sound as if I was still the mother and in charge of the situation, "please turn around. There is nothing in the world that I want to see enough to drive on this road in this weather." "It's all right, Mother," She replied with a knowing grin. "I know what I'm doing. I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

And so my sweet, darling daughter who had never given me a minute of difficulty in her whole life was suddenly in charge - and she was kidnapping me! I couldn't believe it. Like it or not, I was on the way to see some ridiculous daffodils - driving through the thick, gray silence of the mist-wrapped mountaintop at what I thought was risk to life and limb.

I muttered all the way. After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road that branched down into an oak-filled hollow on the side of the mountain. The fog had lifted a little, but the sky was lowering, gray and heavy with clouds.
We parked in a small parking lot adjoining a little stone church. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see beyond us, in the mist, the crests of the San Bernardino range like the dark, humped backs of a herd of elephants. Far below us the fog-shrouded valleys, hills, and flatlands stretched away to the desert.
On the far side of the church I saw a pine-needle-covered path, with towering evergreens and manzanita bushes and an inconspicuous, lettered sign "Daffodil Garden."

We each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path as it wound through the trees. The mountain sloped away from the side of the path in irregular dips, folds, and valleys, like a deeply creased skirt. Live oaks, mountain laurel, shrubs, and bushes clustered in the folds, and in the gray, drizzling air, the green foliage looked dark and monochromatic. I shivered. Then we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight, unexpectedly and completely splendid.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes where it had run into every crevice and over every rise. Even in the mist-filled air, the mountainside was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls of daffodils. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.

Each different-colored variety (I learned later that there were more than thirty-five varieties of daffodils in the vast display) was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.
In the center of this incredible and dazzling display of gold, a great cascade of purple grape hyacinth flowed down like a waterfall of blossoms framed in its own rock-lined basin, weaving through the brilliant daffodils. A charming path wound throughout the garden. There were several resting stations, paved with stone and furnished with Victorian wooden benches and great tubs of coral and carmine tulips.

As though this were not magnificent enough, Mother Nature had to add her own grace note - above the daffodils, a bevy of western bluebirds flitted and darted, flashing their brilliance. These charming little birds are the color of sapphires with breasts of magenta red. As they dance in the air, their colors are truly like jewels above the blowing, glowing daffodils. The effect was spectacular.

It did not matter that the sun was not shining. The brilliance of the daffodils was like the glow of the brightest sunlit day. Words, wonderful as they are, simply cannot describe the incredible beauty of that flower-bedecked mountain top.
Five acres of flowers! (This too I discovered later when some of my questions were answered.) "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. I was overflowing with gratitude that she brought me - even against my will. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Who?" I asked again, almost speechless with wonder, "And how, and why, and when?"
"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house, my mind buzzing with questions. On the patio we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman, two hands, two feet, and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was. The Daffodil Principle.

For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun - one bulb at a time - to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. One bulb at a time.

There was no other way to do it. One bulb at a time. No shortcuts - simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded.
Loving an achievement that grew so slowly and that bloomed for only three weeks of each year. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world.

This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle of celebration: learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time - often just one baby-step at a time - learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
"Carolyn," I said that morning on the top of the mountain as we left the haven of daffodils, our minds and hearts still bathed and bemused by the splendors we had seen, "it's as though that remarkable woman has needle-pointed the earth! Decorated it. Just think of it, she planted every single bulb for more than thirty years. One bulb at a time! And that's the only way this garden could be created. Every individual bulb had to be planted. There was no way of short-circuiting that process. Five acres of blooms. That magnificent cascade of hyacinth! All, just one bulb at a time."

The thought of it filled my mind. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the implications of what I had seen. "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My wise daughter put the car into gear and summed up the message of the day in her direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said with the same knowing smile she had worn for most of the morning. Oh, profound wisdom!

It is pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use tomorrow?"

Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards

http://ci.sutter-creek.ca.us/daffodilhill.html

Update from a local:
"...I had heard the garden burned in the fire, but was hopeful that the flowers would bloom anyway. Much to my delight, the owner's home did not burn, the neighboring church did not burn and the Daffodils were spectacular! It was a wonderful day and a very special treat for me! The garden is open for a very limited time. Only from March 22, 2008 to April 6, 2008 and is open to visitors after 10am. If you've never been, you are missing a wonderful gift. You can see a lot of the burn area that surrounds this garden, but to me it makes it that much more special."

Ananda, MO

MO MATT

From: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080722.html

What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend political boundaries and occur in practically every human society. Matt Harding traveled through many nations on Earth, started dancing, and filmed the result. The video is perhaps a dramatic example that humans from all over planet Earth feel a common bond as part of a single species. Happiness is frequently contagious -- few people are able to watch the above video without smiling.

Here you can find Matt: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/videos.shtml

We want MO Matt!

Oh...I just found this on Matt's website in his FAQ section:

Question:
Why is the world so screwed up?
Matt's answer:
Men.
Question:
How do we fix it?
Matt's answer:
Women.