Equanimity, Joy, Love, Compassion

4 Treasures
watercolor on watercolor paper
8/2012

One of my favorite words as a teacher is equanimity.

To me it means is treating each child the same.  What I do for one, I do for all.  Give the same level of care, giving, understanding and compassion.

Many years ago, as an end of the year gift a family gave me a bracelet from Me and Ro with these Tibetan symbols on it.  This bracelet is one of the most amazing beautiful gifts I have ever been given.  The symbolism of this gift coming from a family whose child I taught touches me deeply.  The words on the beads are love, compassion, joy and equanimity in Tibetan.  WOW!! 

As a teacher how important are these words.

I think about these words and what the actions of these words imply.

I felt like receiving this gift was a message from the universe about my path in life.  It was telling me how I should be with children: the importance of creating a safe place for children to be and grow, it re-enforced how I strive to be with children – neutral, gentle, observant and a listener.  It doesn’t matter the age of the child.

Sometimes I think I take myself too seriously, but then I think I am affecting someone’s life. I am giving them permission to be themselves or I am causing them to shrink inside.  I am giving a child permission to safely explore the world or I am saying the world is not safe, don’t explore.  I am giving a child permission to express who he or she is right here and now or I am saying it isn’t important for you to share who you are.

 In my world I always choose to say YES:  explore, express be yourself to the children and adults I encounter on my path.

It isn’t always easy, I make it sound easy, it isn’t, but isn’t it great to be up to a challenge.  Challenges help us grow.

The four immeasurables:

May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes,

May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes,

May all sentient beings never be separated from bliss without suffering,

May all sentient beings be in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.  From brahma viharas ( a buddhist quote)

The most meaningful moment of my day…

I recently ran across an article in Simple magazine about different writers and photographers talking about their favorite moment of the day. 

This gave me pause to think: what was my most meaningful moment of the day.

It was hard.  I couldn’t pin point one moment.  I could only think of many.

I could think of meaningful moments in my week:

interactions with other people, greetings and hugs of hello, moments when I felt a connection, moments when I felt understood and understood another person, moments when time felt like it stood still. Moments where I felt positive love, energy, compassion, understanding, mindfulness,

Being in tune with divine consciousness.  Singing, using my voice, I love melodic music.

What did the author mean by meaningful? Each writer chose moments in their day where they were enjoying other people’s company or doing something for a loved one.

Still thinking….. can I have a few?

One of my most recent favorites is going to the farmer’s market to get fresh fruit to make a fruit salad for a man I am head over heels for and getting to know better. I taste and choose fruits that are delicious, juicy, fragrant and seasonal. Then go home to wash cut and pare the fruits to create the most amazing and tasty fruit combination.  I like the slow down of cutting the cherries in half and taking the seed out of the cherry, cutting the grapes in half, peeling the nectarines and peaches.  Making the fruit salad be a work of art.

I love the time when I am preparing something for someone I care deeply about.  I think about how much I care and want to feed the body and soul, through a little fruit salad.

It is meaningful for me to do something for someone that I care about.  

Summer time and the livin’ is easy….

8/13/2012
view from Kenneth Hahn park
looking east
6:00 am ish

What an amazing summer I have had.  Working non-stop for six weeks in a summer program and now coming to a halt.  Living on the creative edge of my seat!! Inventing new curriculum,  how to support children's acquisition of knowledge from a different perspective, focusing on one part of a whole.  But I loved it.

photo number 2, looking east
6:02 ish

I don’t know how to stop!! But I am ready for a break, a shift in the gears, slow down, recharge my batteries, center myself.

looking east, wait for it
photo number 3
6:05 ish

This summer I had to have a little black dress, 2 to be exact.  This summer I got on an airplane to visit my very sick (in the hospital) might not make it father, back east.  Maryland is like the bathroom after a hot shower (steamy and hot), but no relief because all the air is like that. It's beautiful though, very green from all the snow.  Reconnected with my brothers laughed and remembered being children.

I  learned about Ramadan and how amazing it is for people to fast all day. 

I find myself in a world of new possibilities.  And happy to feel myself growing in ways I didn't know I could. 

I see it, wait for it
number four
6:07 ish

I find myself trying new things…yesterday I woke up before dawn to go take photos of the sun rising.  It was cool except for the bites I got on my legs.  I loved watching the shades of orange and pink and yellow as the sun rose.  It’s beautiful.

Here comes the sun....
8/13/2012
6:11 am ish

I saw movies:  Brave, I love a good Disney movie. I saw Savages:I love Blake Lively, I saw the Bourne Legacy: I liked Jason Bourne espionage and a little butt kicking.

I went to the farmer’s market in Hollywood to get fresh fruit, what a fabulous market.  I loved it.  I have been learning to make the delicious fruit salads.

I went to see Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”: I love Shakespeare, being in an outdoor theater.  It was fun. So amazing that the stories are still so pertinent. And anyone who can speak Shakespeare is amazing in my book!!

Now I am going to focus on working out, continuing to eat well and loving my life and everyone in it.

I am going to do exercise moves I don’t like, but feel good after I have done them and be grateful I can do them.

Make a Choice - be inspired, be the change

love
watercolor on watercolor paper
7/2012

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch… to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded!  - Emerson

life is beautiful. everyday we breathe, we have the opportunity to do good.  we have the opportunity to make a choice to be a tool of healing or a tool of pain.  make a choice to be helpful. make a choice to smile, love, laugh, be present, witness another's growth and development on their path.  my father is very sick, my sister is a pain in the you know where, my patience is being tested.  i am making a choice to be a tool of love. i am making a choice not to be afraid, fearful or negative, but to love, offer love and a gentle touch.

heart
watercolor on watercolor paper
6/2012

Lipstick Queen

I love lipstick.  It is my favorite make-up item.

Ever since I was a little girl playing in my mother’s friend’s makeup bag I have been a lipstick diva.

I remember having shades or orange and red put on my lips and feeling so girly and sophisticated.

Fast forward to now, still lovin’  lipstick. 

The shades I am rocking are the shades I have always rocked: red, pink, coral.

I flirted with shades of brown but always come home to my basics.  I am a classic kinda girl. It doesn’t matter the shade of red, the brighter the better. 

My granny wore red lipstick ONLY.  Pink? Well only a bright pink works on my skin tone.  I call it ultra puce! I have loved pink since college days.  There’s Schiap pink and I do love Schiaparelli jewelry so I still have to purchase that one, I have been holding out…I don’t know why.  Pale pinks don’t work on me, they sort of look washed out.  oranges are also bright, vibrant, warmth on my lips.

When I was little, my mom said” you don’t need to wear make-up”.  So mostly I didn’t and don’t.

I have several shades of red, several shades of coral but rock only one shade of pink. I can’t leave home without it.

close up
self-portrait
mixed media on canvas

It’s my “go to” to brighten up my face and mood.  Who can be sad if they are wearing a bright lipstick.

By the way, I was rocking the  electric pink before Nicki Minaj was born.  So she stole it from me.  

It doesn’t matter the brand, but for a while I only loved Chanel reds. Then it didn’t matter, Revlon, L’Oreal, Laura Mercier, who ever made a shade that I liked so much, I bought it.  Target, Macy’s, CVS, online. 

It is a little embarrassing but this is one of my favorite things.

Even when I paint self-portraits I give myself beautiful red lips. It’s like a trademark.

Lips, lipstick... one of my favorites.

Lipsticks
by Wayne Thiebaud 1960's

The Art of Love

“You've gotta dance

like there's nobody watching,

Love

like you'll never be hurt,

Sing

like there's nobody listening,

And live

like it's heaven on earth.”

- souza

watercolor and pen on watercolor paper
2011

Love is an emotional feeling that has been written about, sung about, painted, drawn, acted out in plays, movies, operas and many more genres to name.

Why are we pre-occupied by love? Why is love important?

Love is a feeling.  Love is an emotion.  Love is and can be a gift. Love is a noun, a verb, adjective, a phrase.

It has been said that love is all there is. I think Love is a beautiful way of being.  Love for one self and all that cross one’s path.

Love is powerful.  It is said love can move mountains.  It is said love is the deepest emotion next to hate. 

Sometimes love is reciprocated.  Sometimes it is not. 

Some of us receive it on a regular basis, some give love on a regular basis.  Some never receive love and don’t know how to give it.

I think about this very basic human emotion and need – rather requirement.

Love is a requirement for healthy living. In its broadest sense loving makes us feel good inside.  It triggers good feelings, good feelings help us flow through the challenges in our lives.

How do we get to love? How do we get to that place of contentment inside ourselves? Is it the same for everyone? 

watercolor on watercolor paper
2012

Are there different levels of love? What do the Guru’s say? What do the Holy men and women say? How do you find it? How do you hold on to it when the going is tough?

I think the important concept about love is to never stop loving.

It keeps the body, mind and spirit open.

The Beatles sang “All You need is LOVE”. Dionne Warwick sang “This girl’s in LOVE with you”, Jennifer Lopez sang “LOVE don’t cost a thang”, Steve Winwood sang “Higher LOVE”, whose right? The list could go on…. There are that many songs with the word LOVE in it.

Is LOVE all you need?