January 6th 2009

 

This one hangs in my bedroom...

January 5th 2009

I really enjoyed stitching this one. The colours were fun to work with. 

January 4th 2009

 

One of a set of three teacups I am cross-stitching.

Jan 3rd 2009

 

I am using Picasa for the Mac for this post.

Pretty easy so far! I think this would greatly speed up my photo journal project for this year

Jan 2nd 2009

Most popular activity of the day!

My checklist of things to look forward to!

100 Things for 2009

1. To articulate in writing 99 things I desire to manifest in 2009.
2. Read a book a week.
3. Read the rest of  Urusla Le Guin’s books.
4. Watch more good feeling movies.
5. Embark on our Annual Cruise to a new destination.
6. Explore a different area of New England every other weekend.
7. Visit parents.
8. Work out at least 4 times a week.
9. Plant more vegetables  this coming Spring.
10. Record a photo diary.
11. Rendezvous with more friends.
12. Listen to a different XM station each day.
13. Ride in a hot air balloon
14. See the Northern Lights
15. Become more vibrationally attuned.
16. Meet the President of the United States.
17. Receive a postcard from every state as well as every country in the world.
18. Stay at a castle in Scotland or Ireland.
19. Create more beautiful one of a kind jewelry.
20. Compile and publish a recipe book.
21. Refurnish dining room.
22. Elton John concert.
23. Meditate for 15 minutes a day, everyday.
24. Look for the joy in my daily routine.
25. Work on Geni.
26. Prepare a new recipe at least four times a week.
27. Develop a daily writing practice.
28. Practice  food appreciation before eating.
29. Give up more often.
30. Complete the scrapbook I am currently working on.
31. Broadway theatre.
32. Add books to my Amazon wishlist.
33. Paint laundry room.
34. Freecycle electronics.
35. Learn to knit.
36. Treat myself to formal teatime  more often.
37. Play the What If game more often.
38. Make daily lists of appreciation.
39. Be more selective in my thoughts.
40. Focus on only good news.
41. Picnic at Walden Pond in the Summer.
42. Spend a day on Block Island.
43. Weekend in Bar Harbor.
44. Meditate on Flickr more often.

 

45. Add to my collection of fine bone china plates for my dinning room walls.
46. Take myself LESS seriously.
47. Continue making daily contributions to the wellbeing of self and others (Wellbeing Journal).
48. Practice deep breathing.
49. Watch all the TED talks.
50. Sow Morning Glory around the deck.
51. Complete all unfinished cross-stitch projects.
52. Giving my undivided attention to what is before me.
53. Simplify.
54. Eat Chinese food besides the fireplace.
55. Float down the Merced River in Yosemite.
56. Spend an entire summer’s day in my hammock in the garden.
57. Become a companion with my IB.
58. Take weekends off from cooking.
59. Sleep more.
60. Go to bed being appreciative.
61. Stitch a BAM for Miranda.
62. Complete Mother’s Day project
63. Aadya’s project
64. Blue room project
65. Tapestry Bloom pillow
66. More day trips to NYC, when street festivals are on.
67. Orlando in the Spring.
68. Visit top 5 chocolate makers in New England (as listed by Yankee magazine)
69. See the Pinchot Sycamore ; largest tree in New England.
70. Breakfast at the Modern Diner listed as the best diner in New England.
71. Attend a summer concert in  Tanglewood
72. Take naps.
73. Surprise someone.
74. Walk barefoot in the garden for a day.
75. Mandala coloring book.
76. Learn a new beading technique.
77. Read  Wiki randomly on a daily basis.
78. Donate all the winter clothes I did not wear this year.
79. Do one thing at a time and be present with it.
80. Call  friends who do not have email.
81. Mail a care package  to a student.
82. Make new friends.
83. Ask for help.
84. Say no more often.
85. Take photos of street signs with my friends name and mail it to them.
86. See all the “gems” in New England as listed in the AAA guidebook.
87. Add to my Creation Box
88. Join the Grafton Library
89. Take train into Boston  and spend a tourist day there.
90. Fill out all questionnaires at Authentichappiness.org
91. Learn sign language .
92. Jump on a trampoline
93. Help someone realize one their ‘to do’ list things.
94. Remember  to ask ‘what’s good about this’ during a contrasting experience.
95. Eat only foods I enjoy.
96. Explore unfamiliar subject areas in the library or bookstore.
97. Visit Mesa Verde NP
98. To  print this list and check off things because it feels good!
99. Add to my beach sand collection.

100.Notice the gift each day brings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Year's Day 2009

View of sunset from the kitchen. This is such a delightful treat, as we can only experience this in the winter.

Order coffee directly from the farmers!

I first read about this in Wine Spectator magazine, and I must admit I was intrigued with the whole concept from farming to my kitchen.

I just printed and mailed my first order and I look forward to receiving and tasting my first cup of Costa Rican coffee!

http://www.communityagroecology.net/

Okay, so how did you do in the last Quiz?

If you guessed the toxic labels to be heart diseases, asthma, diabetes, high or low blood sugar, stress, arthritis, allergies, migraine headaches, you guessed correctly! A+ ‚

Part 2 – Emotions

 There is a voice in your head, which talks incessantly if you are not mindful of your thoughts.

Recently I watched a DVD by Louis Hay where this process is beautifully depicted with a woman walking down a street in NY and she is thinking unpleasant thoughts about herself and the city.

Another woman is shown, skipping along thinking how she loves the city and how nice it is to be here, she is smiling and relaxed in her stride with a bunch of flowers in her hands.

 The city is the same. The thoughts are different.

 So the first lady's thoughts are what the body reacts to with the manifestation of illness or diseases because this is the story her voice in her head is saying. Naturally the body believes it and so the toxicity begins to manifest… 

Tolle defined a negative emotion as one that is "toxic to the body and interferes with its balance and harmonious functioning.

Fear, anxiety, anger, bearing a grudge, sadness, hatred or intense dislike, jealousy, envy- all disrupt the energy flow of the body, affect the heart, the immune system, digestion, production of hormones and so on." 

Now that you know what a negative emotion does to your body, you may want to make a real effort to stop it by simply deciding to find a way to feel better. 

Usually when something goes awry we have a knee jerk reaction to it.

We panic and think the worse possible thoughts. 

For example:

Someone in your household is late coming home. You start to clock watch every nano second.

You frown.

You wonder where they are.

You look at the clock again.

Another minute has passed.

You cannot concentrate on the TV show or the book.

The pleasant music you have been listening to all day is no longer pleasant.

Your phone rings, you think, "Oh my God, I knew it! There was an accident it is the police calling."

You answer the phone and it is your best friend calling to chat. You say, "I can't talk right now, Blank isn't home yet, and I want to keep the phone line open."

You hang up the phone and resume the spiral of negative thinking… in your mind Blank is already lying dead in some gutter, while you have given yourself a migraine.

In the above scenario you have done untold damage to your body, which will play out as any one of the diseases through the crack of least resistance at some point in your life. Meaning a mere cold will translate into bronchitis, a bit of dust in the air will translate into asthma, eating one more slice of bread will cause diabetes and on and on the list goes.

Most people never make this connection between negative thinking and the manifestation of diseases. Instead they are doing what the doctors and those in the medical establishment are doing – looking for a cure and not the cause. 

Fortunately for you, you have just discovered the cause of your dis- eases.

It is your negative thinking.

If you have a manifestation of a disease going on right now, do no fear, you can still get rid of it providing you do the work.

However there is one catch. You have to do the work. 

The good news is that the disease manifests only after prolonged years of negative thinking. Meaning that if you are manifesting 100% well being right now, you will not have a disease just because you engaged in a few negative thoughts yesterday. 

Let's play over the above example of our loved one being late.

 You look at the clock and you think:

Blank is late and I don't feel good, but I want to.

Blank is an excellent driver, and is an extremely responsible person.

I know that when I worry I do untold harm to my body.

I have got to find a way to feel better about this now.

I am going to relax by fixating on pleasing thoughts.

I expect Blank is caught up in traffic, or he may have stopped to wash the car, fill it up or he may have had to wait extra long for transportation today.

Or he is out with friends after work.

I am pleased Blank makes time to have fun; it is good for her to socialize with other people and enjoy herself.

I must remember that well being abounds!

Things always turn out well for me.

I am doing all right.

In fact I feel so relieved! My thoughts feel so good!

The phone rings and you think, "I hope it is my best friend, I want to discuss that last episode of Heroes we saw…."

You eagerly reach for the phone…

 You have just allowed yourself an avalanche of well being to flow unhindered in and through out your body.

If you continue to train yourself into finding a better feeling thought in every moment, there is no disease you cannot cure and there is no disease that can manifest in your body. 

 Quiz!

When you think a negative thought does it create dis ease in your body?

 Does your negative thoughts about someone else create dis ease in their body?

 

The birth of emotions

I have been reading the most fascinating chapter on ‘the pain-body’ in the book A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (the chap who wrote The Power of Now) and I wanted to share excerpts of it. Really, I'm doing this for my own personal clarification more than anything else. It just seems more fun to post it here!

I am totally fascinated as this stuff I have been learning from EFT and from my other metaphysical studies, but Tolle writes it from a scientific point of view, which makes it even more acceptable to everyone!


Here is part 1- the birth of emotion.

“Although the body is very intelligent, it cannot tell the difference between an actual situation and a thought. It reacts to every thought as if it were a reality. It doesn’t know it is just a thought.”

In other words the mind does not know the difference between a thought or a reality.
It just goes by what you think and feel and not what IS.

So when the body has a worrisome or fearful thought it thinks it is in danger, even if the body is at home in safe, comfortable environment! A mere negative thought (not an actual reality or fact, just a thought) sends the body into an alert state

Here is what really happens according to Tolle and which I know instinctively to be true:

‘ The heart beats faster, muscles contract, breathing becomes rapid. There is a buildup of energy, but since the danger is only mental fiction, the energy has no outlet.
Part of it is fed back to the mind and generates even more anxious thought. The rest of the energy turns toxic and interferes with the harmonious functioning of the body.”

Quiz:
What are some of the labels this toxic energy is given by the medical profession?

Happy New Year!

I resolve to have more fun this year!

I plan to do more of the things I enjoy one of which is the culinary arts.

I created another blog just for my daily kitchen adventures-

http://foodcheer.blogspot.com/

I am looking forward to seeing what other adventures pop up for me!

Have a great year!

Procrastination is a good thing!

I like being inspired to action because things always work out with ease and effortlessness and the results are always better than I had expected.

I have noticed that when I make myself do something, it is a hard and sometimes frustrating process. I get to check out off my list, but it was not pleasing to me.

I like making a positive list of all the things that will happen when I take action.
Creating this list is what inspires me to action.

Nowadays, when I don’t feel inspired, I just don’t do it – and some would call that procrastination and that’s a good thing!

If it feels good, I pay attention.

I don't really understand why anyone would want to read or watch or talk about anything that made them feel sad, uncomfortable, depressed, or any kind of negative emotion.
I admit I use to to that, back when I thought doing the right thing was more important than doing what feels good.

Turns out I had some screwy training alright!

Nowadays, I indulge in only what feels good. It means I don't watch the news, or join any kind of groups that wants to take action for or against anything.I focus on tending to my own vibrations and so far it has netted me some really awesome results.
Now where did I leave my gel pens?

My Garden

I want a green, healthy, lawn, with healthy trees, shrubs, roses, vegetables and other plants.
I thrill to the sounds of the sprinklers coming on in the mornings, and as I look out the windows I can see the water droplets glistening on the bright green blades of grass.
I gleefully walk barefooted on this soft, luxurious, living carpet of coolness as I make my way around the garden pruning the roses and other plants. The heady fragrance of the roses rises to my nostrils mingled with the scent of Rosemary.
I am now sitting on the grass feeling deep appreciation for the wellbeing that surrounds me. Wellbeing abounds, and there is nothing I have to do except to allow it in.
I have faith that this is so. My garden is flourishing to its maximum potential this season and all seasons forward.

My imagination

I believe that when I use my imagination to daydream about things I want, or a being I want to be or something I want to do it will happen.
This is how I utilize the Law Of Attraction (shhhhh it’s a Secret).
All things are possible if ye believe.
I do believe in my dreams and I dream with belief, hence the reason for every single one of my manifestations.

Daydreaming, or Imagining, or Pretending, or Vring is so much fun!
I love creating in this state and watching how things manifest for me.

For example, this morning I imagined myself going to the stores and finding front door parking. Next I imagined getting in and finding all the items on my list, and having a fast, smooth checkout.
This is exactly what happened with one seeming hiccup- I forgot one thing on my list. When I got home I found that I already had the item and did not need to buy it!

I did the same thing to manifest flying First Class to Paris a few years ago.
As Abraham says, “It is as easy to manifest a button as it is to manifest a castle.”

You ought to see my house in Northern Ca!

Meditation

I began reading Spiritual Growth by Sanaya Roman again this week.
I thought of reading it on Sunday night, and then early in the week, a friend of mine happened to mention the book and I thought I really ought to pick it up again.

While I am very good at quieting my mind, I have not actually felt the presence of my guide or guides yet, and I don’t even have a name in mind. So I am still in chapter one.

Sometimes I journal my IB which writes better than when I try to listen only, as in meditation.
I guess the process doesn’t matter, just the results.

I was also perusing YouTube and found a great instructional Kirtan Kriya Meditation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqOq4v0cD9w
I like this because it causes my mind to focus on a sound, thus releasing resistance which is my ultimate goal!

The one practice which never fails me is placing a piece of dark smooth Belgian chocolate on my tongue, closing eyes and remaining as motionless as possible until chocolate completely melts.

Curried red kidney beans and Cauliflower

I cooked Curried Red Kidney Beans and Cauliflower (Rajma Masala) found in the Sunset magazine, and I have to say it is absolutely fragrant and tasty!

If all vegetarian dishes were this delicious I would eat more vegetables!!!!

The Divine Matrix

It’s Sunday and I am reading The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden which is deliciously along the lines of what I have to come to know and understand about consciousness and existence.
Nothing in this book surprises me, and everything delights me, because Science is beginning to understand what we have all known intuitively for eons now.
The thing that did make me smile was a Neville quote in Chapter 3 “Imagination creates reality… man is all imagination.”
Prior to purchasing and reading The Divine Matrx, I was also reading three books by Neville…

Yesterday as I was about to leave the house, I impulsively wrote in my journal I wanted phone calls from two specific people that day.
Later on when I returned home, the said two people had called and left messages shortly after I had journaled the entry.

So what are you thinking about right now? Because whatever it is you are creating it, so make sure it is something you want!

Mango Couscous with Green Onion and Sesame Parchment Baked Fish

My dinner menu for last night came from Oprah Magazine and Sunset Magazine.
I paired them together and they were not only easy to prepare but scrumptious as well.

You may fine the recipe for the fish here http://food.sunset.com/sunset/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1575587



Mango Couscous
Created by Marcus Samuelsson
From Great Food in the September 2006 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
Serves 4 (Makes 5 cups)
Printer-Friendly Version Review This Recipe Sweetened with mango, this boldly colored couscous tastes as bright as it looks.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup couscous
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 mango, peeled, pitted and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
1 jalapeño chili, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1 ripe tomato, chopped
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp.)
1/4 cup cilantro sprigs, chopped
1/4 cup parsley sprigs, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste Prepare couscous according to package directions. Fluff with a fork and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add garlic, mango and jalapeño. Sauté until mango begins to color, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, couscous, raisins, tomato, lime juice, cilantro and parsley and toss to heat through, about 1 minute. Season with salt. Serve hot or at room temperature.

My Ah-ha moment today!

I had a huge Ah-ha moment today during quiet time.

I realized that it was better to feel pissed off and revengeful for stuff not manifesting, than it is to try and justify why I want, what I want!

Feeling pissed off, revengeful, angry and just plain old 'hollering at the Universe' is flowing downstream, while searching for reasons in order to justify why I want what I want is flowing upstream on a frozen river to boot!!!!

That is sooooooooooooooo hard! And yet we do it. Why is that?

My internet was down today. I unplugged, hit the reset button did all kinds of things to get it up and running, I rattled off a list of reasons why I needed it to work and it didn't come up.
Finally, I swore up and down, cussed and yelled until I felt unequivocally better and immediately it came up!

I had a new vibrational set point, that had nothing to do with Charter Communication, it was all about my own consciousness in the stream....