Books, books, books, books on cd
okay, i have to admit... i love back to school shopping... i'm still a student at heart.... i love office supplies... there's nothing like a fresh notebook even if I do everything on the computer these days......
I buy carrots for my friend's dog
I buy cards for my grandmother with dementia; she doesn't remember me but she brings them to the dining hall and shows them off to the other ladies.
did I mention I buy books?
and, when i travel, which is not often, I buy myself a small piece of jewelry... my brother used to buy me jewelry when he was alive, so I think of him and pick out something he would have bought me....
oh, and I do buy books and send them to Upaya Zen Center for their prison outreach program... I get to buy books and others get to benefit... how great is that?

Peace, Jen

The first word I spoke was, Mike, older brother.  The second word was no.  We laugh about that.  I'm not sure if I heard my parents saying no Mike so often of if I learned to say no and Mike to stop him from picking on me.  LOL..... 14 years after Mike's death, I still say NO and mean it, and stick to my "guns" as it were....   I was told I also got him back though as a little one... I clunked him once with the wooden noise maker to the xylephone and once with a wooden hammer when he was being a goofball older brother... I remember neither... I was only a toddler... I bet I said no Mike on both occasions and he heard me.... sibling love....... ahhhhhhh

Since March, I have become a dog lover... I never had pets because of allergies... but I've met a dog named Baxter who has taught me that dogs don't give unconditional love, but we do our best at loving them unconditionally.

Baxter has taught me that with deadlines, emails, blogs, etc... he is my best form of metta meditation.  He is old and arthritic and I lay on the ground with him and give reiki... It's put a hop in his step and a smile on my face.  If he wasn't so old, I'd ask him to marry me. 

Be well and be at ease.
Jennifer

Every Thursday night at acupuncture Matt....
And by my friend Lois who died 7 years ago this Sept 1st.....
Thank god for healers and gentle souls.

I think I have two:  how can I be more present here and now; how can I make a difference in the world as I move through it...

Knowing that I have friends and family that love me, that I have my health, that I have visions for the future, knowing that I have had many blessing in my life... great opportunities, and many amazing souls that have walked with me on my path.  I also feel wealthy while I'm doing school work and knowing that I am making some of my dreams come true.  And I feel wealthy when I can help someone in need, like the Upaya Prison Outreach Program... I feel like I can share the dharma with them and teach them what I've learned about meditation.  And always, I feel wealthy and honored that all of these people in my life give me back so much.  It is priceless.

Well, it's a bit either/or.  No, I don't mean that I read Kierkegaard and then make a decision.  I either see that things can change and am excited about potentials.  I get excited when things can expand, transform, and evolve.  On the other hand, when change happens because someone needs to keep busy, I'm slow to change.  When I understand why change is happening I embrace it well.  Even in tragedy like some things going on in the town my parents live in, I can still understand the change and know it's part of life.

I've had a lot of changes in life and I think it has been so that I could learn that nothing is as it Is forever. 

Being in nature, especially around water.  Good music.  A great line in a book.  Seeing beauty in some form.  Feeling at One with All.

Integrity and personal congruence.

I'm taking the risk to step outside of my conditioned way of thinking of who I am, forgetting who people have told me I am, and stretching.. one of those really good dog or cat stretches... (I've been with two dogs for 2 months now and they are teaching me a lot).

I'm reaching out to others who I might be afraid to reach out to in the past.  I'm way outside my comfort zone and just taking it in, breathing, and knowing that mystery is part of creativity and growth.

I'm taking a risk on living the dream I have right now.......

Namaste, Jen