Yard Sale Season is Here

With the advent of the cooler weather, garage sale season is starting. Just sharing some fun finds to start off the season.

An older woman was selling her mother's lace, some of it is antique and some handmade in the 1930's. She sold the whole lot for $0.25.



Here's Jasmine playing with her new microscope--a la rummage sale.

Freedom and Vision

I did go back to Lola's website and somehow it helped me make a major shift. First, I read her biography in which she started doing art very recently in her life. Her vision of art is the same as mine has become. And because I am so ready to shift in this area, I find reason to everywhere. So...I'm ready to take my art and music seriously.

Lola Jones' painting White Cranes

Most importantly, I got it. I don't think it was specifically something I read but...it hit me. I am God. I've said this affirmation "I am a Divine manifestation of God" more than a thousand times in the last 5 years, but I didn't really get it. I am God. And I can relax and enjoy life. Finally.

My vision of my best life is coming more and more into focus and is more beautiful than I could ever imagine. And that's my job--to imagine it.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And of course thank me.

Isn't Art Democratic? The Importance of Self Initiation

Our homeschool group has decided to do a craft or project each month led by a different parent. This month Jaime led the group in making Thanksgiving banners. I dropped Jaz and the supplies off and ran back home to finish up something. By the time I returned, Jaz was well on her way to creating her own banner. The other mother's were quite impressed--I think particularly by her initiative. All the other families with younger children were working together with mom directing the action.

Jasmine's thanksgiving banner

One of the many gifts of natural learning--sometimes called unschooling--is the ability to initiate and complete a project of one's own choosing. This is complete opposition to way children "learn" in school. Virtually, every moment is directed by the teacher and even when the students have a choice, it is a very limited one.

Because of her experience with natural learning, Jasmine sometimes comments about art projects she's done at summer camp or Brownies, "They made us do it." She understands already that compulsion is the antithesis of true creativity.

Jasmine went to public school for 4 months last year on her own initiative. And so I found myself entering the school setting for first time in many years. Every day, as I entered campus to pick up Jasmine, the words "passive consumption" came to my mind. I was struck by the way the children just passively sit and consume whatever the teacher tells them. It's strikingly different from a life lived learning in freedom. Left to their own devices children are active initiators of their own learning.

Maybe because I knew the art teacher and watched her struggling with "behavior problems", I was really struck by the incongruity of art being taught in a dictatorial system. Is this really art? Being told when to turn on, when to turn off, and exactly how?

I picture art being taught in a democratic school. The art room is stocked and available to students whenever they want to do art. The teacher is available to help student with technique etc if they ask for it. Isn't this a much more beautiful vision'than what public schools offer our children?

To learn more about democratic schools, start by visiting The Sudbury Valley School on-line. They have numerous articles and book chapters to read. Their book A Legacy of Trust: Life After the Sudbury Valley School Experience by Daniel Greenberg and Mimsy Sadofsky was influencial on my path to natural learning. It is a compilation of research and surveys done on graduates of Sudbury Valley School. Reading it helps put to rest any nagging worries about college and adult success for those of us who choose to allow our children to determine their own educations.

Connie Talbot and other Favorites

Here are some of Jasmine's favorite movies.




Yod-a-ley-hey-hey!!!

Opening to Love for Myself

I've been focused almost completely inward for two or three days. I'm really seeing how vicious and cruel I am to myself. I've been practicing loving myself and doing a lot of Ho'oponono and suddenly I began loving myself fiercely. I am going to love myself no matter what. I will love myself--and fiercely--no matter what I eat. I will love myself if I grow as big as a barn. I will love myself if I never clean the back patio, if I never clean anything again. I will love myself if I play computer games, even if that's all I do for a year. There is nothing I can do that can stop me from loving myself. What a beautiful miracle!

Recently, I posted some about my relationship with music, and truth be told I've always wanted to be a musician. I've never told anyone this and only since I've been on the LOA path have I admitted it to myself because I don't believe I have any talent. And we all know about self-fulfilling beliefs.

During this inward time, a memory came to me. As a teenager, I loved classical music. My mother did not like music and I was not allowed to listen to music at any kind of volume. I did not have my own stereo, so I spent hours laying on the floor with my ear pressed against the household stereo listening to my dad's classical records. Even now I'm realizing that we--my sisters and I--played Disney albums (e.g. Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book) fairly loudly, so maybe it was just me who couldn't listen to music I liked except with ear pressed to speaker. Looking back at it as a mother, it's hard to believe trying to thwart your own daughter's passions--esp for something as benign as classical music.

At this same time, I started playing the piano again. I'd had lessons when I was younger until I wanted to quit them. (That's another story.) My mother hated for me to play. Fortunately, my father loved it. He even got her to tune the piano; I was the only one using it at that point. Yes, I came by it honestly, not supporting myself in what I love. And, again, it is time for me to love and support myself.

This evening Jasmine was off at a Halloween Carnival and I was inspired to check up on unschoolingmiracles, an e-mail list I love but have not visited for many months. And, lo and behold, I found what I needed to hear. Both of the following are quotes from Arnold Patent's book, The Journey; the second was posted as what a member started her day off saying.

There is no one as powerful as a person who feels loved and supported.

I absolutely adore who I am!
I am totally enchanted with every aspect of my life!
I fully appreciated the richness and support each event of my day brings!
And, I consistently allow myself to feel the Love the Universe showers upon me, and all else, in this beautiful, infinite day!

Some people I respect on the list are also into Lola, so I followed a link to her website. It looks about right for me now. If so, I'm sure I'll get back there soon.

Jaz has been busy with a Brownie service project, a dance performance, getting ready for Halloween, learning about Gypsies, learning to knit, watching Shakespeare plays and numerous other things. This morning I turned her onto a You Tube video of a child singer. She spent the morning curled up in a blanket watching You Tube videos of child stars; a perfect way to spend a blustery day. She's preparing her own post with videos that inspired her and this evening she stretched as I read to her. She then made a list of things she wants to do tomorrow; stretch and exercise, practice singing, work on a story she's writing, etc. Suddenly she is ambitious.

Allowing music and dance

Exercise is easily entering into the rhythm of my life and I am so glad. It was past time. Today I jogged/walked around the park a few times after our homeschool group met and this evening danced Gabrielle Roth's 5 Rhythms. I haven't done this in so long and it was wonderful. The 5 Rhythms are Flowing, Stacatto, Chaos, Lyrical, and Stillness. Dancing these 5 rhythms in that order is always an amazing experience. I feel so refreshed, alive, and lighter when I'm done. At times in the past, I danced them often. I also play the rhythms on the piano or guitar, which is extremely freeing. I haven't done that in a while either. Here's some clips so you can experience it a bit:






I just found out a friend of mine here is into dancing the 5 Rhythms and there's this lovely space to dance just a block away at the Curley School (a historic old school remodeled as artist live/work apartments) that hardly gets used. I'm going to see if I can get something going. And Jasmine loves dancing the rhythms, too. Yes, thank you. It's lovely when our interests intersect.

I've been hoping music would enter the rhythm of my life easily also. And I guess it is in a way. I've been drawn to read Hazrat Inayat Khan's Music. It is confirming for me what I want out of playing music. I've always been drawn to playing music, but I don't have the natural talent of hearing a piece of music and playing it. I've always improvised, allowing the music to just flow. I love doing it, it is so healing although shutting off my inner critic sometimes is not so easy. BUT--and it's a big but--I have never thought of myself as a musician or having any musical talent because I don't play songs. AND I've always yearned to be a musician or take my music more seriously. AND because I don't take my passion seriously, I think it's a "waste of time" to play.

Lately, I've been realizing that maybe the reason I don't have anatural talent for playing songs I hear is that is not the type of music I'm to play. And truth be told, even though I prefer playing the soundscapes I do, I could easily get caught up in the world of playing songs. It's probably--OK, most certainly--just the way it's supposed to be.

I've also been reading, realizing, and accepting that playing improvised music is the perfect thing for me to do. The Hazrat Inayat Khan book is so meaingful to me right now and isn't it amazing that it's been on my bookshelf for something like 4 years and I never read it until now. Here's another fabulous piece I read today from Hazrat Inayat Khan's Music:

The music of the universe is the background of the small picture which we call music. Our sense of music, our attracion to music, shows that there is music in the depth of our being. Music is behind the working of the whole universe. Music is not only life's greatest object, but it is life itself. Hafiz, the great and wonderful Sufi poet of Persia, says, "Many say that life entered the human body by the help of music, but the truth is that life itself is music". What made him say this? He referred to a legend which exists in the East and which tells how God made a statue of clay in His own image, and asked the soul to enter into it; but the soul refused to be imprisioned, for its nature is to fly about freely and not to be limited and bound to any sort of capacity. The soul did not wish in the least to enter this prison. Then God asked the angels to play their music, and as the angels played the soul was moved to ecstasy, and through that ecstasy in order to make the music more clear to itself, it entered this body. And it is told that Hafiz said, "People say that the soul, on hearing that song, entered the body; but in reality the soul itself was song!"

...this legend reveals to us...that the only reason why the soul has entered the body of clay or matter is to experience the music of life, and make this music clear to itself.

Really, I thought it was to worry about getting the house clean. LOL

A magical moment I want to share from our homeschool park day--the three teenage girls spontaneously organized games for the younger children. Here they are playing Red Rover, Red Rover.



....and sometimes a girl's just has to dress up as a medival princess.

The Best Day Ever 2

We've been often getting watermelons in our CSA shares for months now. I cut up the whole watermelon into chunks putting it in one big container and then cut up the rind in another. Then I can just grab some melon for breakfast or some rind for a salad. This morning, as I cut up a watermelon, I remembered that today is the best day ever, and instead of being a task, I appreciated the abundance and wonder of the watermelon.


I watched the rest of Hamlet (a very long movie) with Jaz and finished up several half-finished blog posts while Jasmine organized her CDs. And then lunch and off to the park for Girl Scouts. We got there early and I sat in the sun to read while Jaz played. It's so nice to be out.

I remember it was the best day ever and felt the tenderly beautiful kiss of the sun, while I read this from Music by Hazrat Inayat Khan:

Some Sufis who adopt a certain method of progress on the spiritual path...are known as dervishes. [They] have great powers of wonder-working and of insight. The are dreamers and lovers of God. The worship God in nature, especially in human nature. Among many ways of spiritual development they have one called Suma, which is listening to music. They listen to music in an assembly of the initiated...[and] address on another saying, "O king of kings, O sovereign of all sovereigns'' and are mostly clad in patched robes or in rags. They are the ones who are really entitled to enjoy the beauty of music; whose spirit and soul are responsive, with open centres, who make themselves into a medium of resonance for the music they hear: wherefore music touches them differently from any other people: music touches the deepest part of their being. Thus moved by music, they manifest various states. Anyone among them who is moved by the spirit may manifest ecstasy, Wajad, in the form of tears, sighs, or dance.

But one can learn from this the theory of the whole process of their spiritual development. By making God their Beloved, and by seeing God in the sublimity of nature, they created the presence of God....

At the community center where Jasmine's Brownie Troop meets, there is a small workout room with a weight machine and several treadmills, stationary bikes etc. As I ran on a treadmill, I remember it was the best day ever and instead of watching the readouts and thinking about how much farther to push myself, I enjoyed running into my best life surrounded by love. And when 3 other people showed up (the weight machine can only handle two) instead of grumbling to myself about not getting to use the machines I want when I want, I remembered these women are Queen of Queens and enjoyed their presence.

After girl scouts, I sat and read some more while Jaz played.

The musicians of India devote twelve hours or more of the day to the practice of different rhythms, improvising on them. And in the end they produce a psychological effect which is not music but magic; a magic that can thrill a person and that can penetrate the heart of man. It is a dream, a mediation; it is paradise. When hearing it, one feels one is in a different world....Instead of being played before thousands of people, only one or two or three persons of the same quality and nature come together to enjoy that music thoroughly. If a foreign element is present the musician does not feel inspired.

Once a musician was invited to play the vina. The musician came and was welcomed. He uncovered his vina. Then he looked here and there, and found some discord. He covered his vina, saluted and began to leave. Those present felt disappointed and begged him to play; but his answer was, "No matter what you give me, I do not feel like plying." This is a very different thing from making a programme months ahead....A singer in the East never knows what he is going to sing before he starts singing. He feels the atmosphere of the place and the time and then begins to sing or to play whatever comes to his mind.

It is the best day ever to sit under trees during a beautiful sunset watching the children play and reading exactly what I need to. Thank you.


This evening, I was in the bathroom. Usually I notice it's a mess, but as I remembered that this is the best day ever, I felt grateful and my soul opened up to the love and beauty always around me.

The most common thing I noticed with my thoughts is that I'm nearly always thinking, I "should" be doing something other than what I'm doing. If I'm cleaning the house, I "should" be getting some exercise, if I'm helping Jasmine with something, I "should" be cleaning, or if I'm blogging I "should" be playing music. On and on ad infinitum. But when I remember it is the best day of my life, I realize that it's all just perfect the way it is. To quote from Hamlet:

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"

The Best Day Ever

I woke up this morning eager and excited to take a bike ride out into the desert. Yeah! I am allowing more physical exercise to enter the rhythm of my life...and it felt wonderful!

I came home and started cleaning the front porch but got distracted by making breakfast for Jaz etc.....and a little brownie finished the job thoroughly all the while singing happily. Life is good.

......And more raw food prep--a dehydrator full of favorites, apple coconut granola, coconut green apple wraps, burgers, and chocolate mint cookies.....And more Shakespeare Hamlet.... And a bike ride to the park with conversation for mom and play for Jaz...And new books from the library including Felt It! Stitch It! Fabulous!--a fun book on how to take old wool sweaters and felt them and turn them into something else. So if you have old wool sweaters wanting a new life check it out. It looks fairly simple.

I'm getting ready to do a knitting project. Jasmine wants to learn to knit so we are finding projects for the both of us. I plan to knit a wool hat and then felt it. More felting books will arrive soon. Thank you for awesome library service.

...And last but not least I remembered today and told myself often.

God's will for me is perfect happiness
I accept God's will
I deserve the best
I am entitled to miracles
There is nothing but love

The miracle being that I remembered to remember.

...and somewhere today I read this--I think it is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson-- but for the life of me I can not remember where. "This is the best day of my life." And when I realize it is so, it is. This is the best day of my life because I remembered that God's will for me is perfect happiness and I accepted it. I remember that I deserve the best and am entitled to miracles. I went on an awesome bike ride and am ready to start adding exercise back into my days. The weather is lovely and I am ready to live a life of joy and give that to my daughter.

Tonight as I sat down to blog, I was called to read about the astrological transits currently affecting me from Robert Hand's Planets In Transit: Life Cycles for Living. Here are quotes from a few of these many transits.

"Make whatever changes are necessary so that your lifestyle more accurately reflects your intrinsic reality. Both your body and mind must be in shape for the impending emergence of your energies into the outer world, where everyone can see them more clearly."

"One thing is clear. At this time in your life you must make changes at the most fundamental levels."

"This is one of the most important transits of your life."

"Now is the time to make sweeping changes, not only is your consciousness, but also in the circumstances in which you live....If you are flexible, you will be able to start a whole new phase of life....You will have a new birth of awareness, and you will be able to deal with your life unhampered by old patterns of thought that have limited you. "

Yes, it's true, tectonic change is going on for me and I am so glad. I don't want to live the old way anymore. Thank you, stars and angels for helping me to know this with no uncertainty and make the changes in my thinking that take me to my best life.

Movies, movies, movies

My mom has been sick and Jasmine now has caught it. What a perfect time to watch movies. Yesterday evening she got her grandma to watch The Taming of the Shrew with her. And this morning she wrapped up in a blanket and watched Much Ado About Nothing with her mom. I shelled fresh local pistacios from our CSA share while sharing my daughter's passion for Shakespeare with her.

Jasmine felt better this evening, and continued preparing her Halloween costume--a gypsy. She watched Latcho Drom, a documentary about gypsies, and made angle bracelets out of bells and beads.

Latcho Drom-"safe journey" in Rom-follows the path of gypsy migration from Northern India to Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain. A stunningly beautiful movie, it has no dialogue or explanation, but lets the action and music speak for itself. Since Latcho Drom is one of my all-time favorite movies, I am posting excerpts from it.










This evening, Jasmine picked Lives of the Presidents as a bed-time story. No, the learning never stops.

The Greatest Love

I laugh when I hear the fish in the water is thirsty. ~Kabir

When you want only love you will see nothing else. ~A Course in
Miracles

Love Is

Love is not a treasure hidden away in a dark cave,
To be found by patient searching,
Or stumbled upon by accident.
Love floats in the air
Like the molecules of oxygen
Hungrily consumed by our bodies,
To be inhaled into our hearts
And manifest in the eyes and ears
Of those we see around us.
See not the body, this outer shell,
But know the one within.
For here is your soulmate.
The one you seek.
Found in every one you meet,
No matter who they are,
Or what they know,
Or how they understand it.

Love is within your grasp.
Reach out and take it.
For as you give it, it is returned.
Say the magic words I love you
And it will appear.
To stay? It doesn't matter.
Enjoy the gift and treasure it.
For if it goes away,
Another will appear to fill the void.
Just say the magic words.
--Ivey Brown www.angelfire.com/al/harmonyinlife/index.html

Celebrating Our Strengths

Today, as we left for a potluck celebrating our homeschool group resuming meeting for the year, we heard a harsh rasping cry right out the back door. Jasmine took pictures of our visitor--a ring-tailed cat. These members of the raccoon family are native to the southwest, but not to the low desert. They are found in the mountains. Since the nearest mountain high enough to get into the pinon-juniper eco-system is 70 miles away, we have no idea how this one got to our yard. My mom's hypothesis is that it came in a construction worker's truck (they are tearing up the street in front of our house-AGAIN)

Jasmine hid my camera so she could be the photographer of our homeschool group's celebration. And she specifically asked if I would give her photos credit on the blog. So here goes--Jasmine's perspective of the homeschool group's initial meeting of the school year.

Although I have a vastly different homeschooling philosophy than the other moms in the group, I enjoy them immensely. Today the conversation turned to a Christian conference that several women had attended. One of the talks that really impressed them was about women learning to look at their own and others strengths rather than their flaws. This is a key component to unschooling and I believe it is extremely important, but I forget it daily. Thank you for reminding me to look at my and others strengths instead of our flaws.

In celebration, I am going to write about our strengths. I see deeply into the nature of things and when I find a truth I want to follow it (ex education, sustainable living). I am willing to make changes in my life. I am sensitive to energy and know alot about a person when I first meet them. I feel music deeply in my soul. I am intelligent and love researching my passions (ex astrology, permaculture, living foods). I am a visionary; I can imagine the world differently than it is. I am conscientious and aspire to parent the best I know at the moment. I am drawn to mystical spirituality. And I do want the best for all humanity.

Jasmine is passionate, a consummate dancer, creative, strong-willed, caring, intelligent, thinks deeply about the process of life, love, and how and why people behave as they do. She is confident, alive, adventurous, and enjoys meeting and learning about all different kinds of people.

Jasmine is still deeply into Shakespeare--she watched Taming of the Shrew twice today-- and the book I am reading to her, Suzanne Fisher Stapes's Haveli. This YA novel follows the life of Shabanu, a daughter of a nomadic tribe living in the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan, who is given in marriage to a rich landowner as his fourth wife. She is deeply loved by her husband but persecuted by the rest of the household. Shabanu holds to her own center even through the harrowing experience's she faces. Jasmine declares this is her new favorite book. Shiva's Fire by the same author had been her favorite since I read it to her a year ago.

Finding Rhythm

I've really been finding a rhythm to preparing raw foods--sprouting, soaking, dehydrating etc. I'm enjoying seeing this emerge and realized I am craving rhythm in other areas of my life. In thinking about this post I realized that when I let rhythm come into my life and don't try to force it, it happens beautifully. When I try to force it--which is the norm for me--it never really takes hold and flourishes.

With Jasmine's learning, I have allowed the natural rhythm of her learning unfold and love watching the process. OK, I admit. Sometimes, I worry, "Is she reading at grade level?" "Am I doing enough?" But the universe always leads me to books, blog posts etc that soothe my worries and I am reassured and watch the process unfold. Tonight Jasmine asked to play with Math flashcards, wanting me to drill her on them. She is awesome. She loves math and asks to do it.

And of course through it all, the rhythm of her dance...

Now can I do the same for the rest of life? Allow the rhythms to emerge rather then trying to force them, rather than "I will do this--exercise, clean house, blog, play music, do art etc--every day". This has never really worked for me and instead of realizing that I tend to beat myself up, "should" on myself, and generally make myself miserable. Maybe there is another way. Intend and allow new things coming in my life--like giving birth instead of pushing and killing all the joy, beauty and wonder.

I intend to allow the rhythms that nurture Jasmine and me to come into our lives.

It's fun thinking in rhythms. The rhythms of the seasons. Here in the Sonoran Desert, we have just had a major shift and the weather is gorgeous. Time to play outside and enjoy the sun. And even the larger rhythms like astrological cycles. I'm doing a chart reading tomorrow and I haven't done one in a long time, and so am aware again of these larger patterns in our lives.

Because I belong to a CSA, I'm eating much more seasonally. I've been craving our winter vegetables, esp greens and this week we got baby swiss chard and baby braising greens. Isn't it wonderful.

I'm so thankful this post came out as it did, inspiring rhythm in my life instead of "shoulds".

And now in celebration of the rhythms of life, let's go....

.....into the garden......

This crazy wonderful pomegranate is loaded with soon-to-be-ripe fruit and grew 1/3 it's own size this summer and is flowering and setting another batch of fruit. I have heard pomegranates bear two crops in our ecosystem. What a trooper!!! I guess it didn't mind all the wildflowers I planted around it.

loaded with almost ripe fruit

....and producing beautiful flowers

.....and setting them into new fruit

The fall corn is starting to tassle...

...and the winter lettuce is up and going.

A time of Transistion

I'm changing the way I think. I have lived with so much negativity. No wonder I had so many addictions-- and still do. I believe our true addictions are to thought patterns and feeling states. Other addictions are just us trying to get away from us for a little while and have some peace.

I want--I mean I intend--to remember the stars are always singing to me, that everything is perfect, that I have complete control over my own happiness, and that I deserve that happiness. God's will for me is perfect happiness.

This has taken consistent effort and still I forget everyday, often for most of the day. But more and more I am remembering and every day, at least for a moment, I remember life is wonderful beyond understanding.

Some inspiration for this journey that has been particularly helpful lately comes in the form Ho'oponono from Joe Vitale's Zero Limits. One repeats to the Divine whenever seeing something less the perfection in each person, place, or situation, "I am sorry, Please forgive me, I love you, Thank you." I say "Please release me" instead of "Please forgive me". ACIM teaches that God-or the divine-does not forgive because God does not see anything but our perfection, the rest is created by us. I say this when I judge myself or others, or situations or places whenever I remember. ACIM has a workbook with a daily saying. It is extremely profound but I usually cannot remember the saying--I guess due to some resistance in me. Because even with Michael Brown's Presence Process which includes a saying per week, I could not remember this line without much thought for days--"I choose to experience this moment." But the Ho'oponono saying is easy for me. And very powerful.

Arnold Patent's book, You Can Have It All has also been very instrumental in the changes I'm making. I'm especially inspired by his theory that when anything in our lives is not as we like it, it is due to a lack of self-love. The solution to everything is to give ourselves love. This is similar to ACIM's "There is nothing lacking in any situation but Love". For some reason, hearing it from Arnold Patent, it sank home.

I am so thankful for the e-mail group that suggested all three of these books. I haven't been on for months, but their advice is priceless in my life.

Some lessons from A Course in Miracles have been helpful lately:

God's will for me is perfect happiness

I accept God's will

There is nothing to fear

Only Love exists.

A New Vision

My friends, Nina and Peter, are excitedly planning a Thanksgiving feast and get-together. My mom spends Thanksgiving with her siblings in Washington and last year Jazz and I had a great time at Nina and Peter's Thanksgiving to-do. Well, this year I practically had to invite myself. The issue--it seems to be my switch to eating living foods. Yesterday Nina publicly expressed more than once how high and mighty I am because of it--and not in a nice tone of voice at all. The truth is I talk about it much less than is ideal--except here. I tend to not talk about amazing things I experience but keep it to myself, just to avoid situations such as this.

It's been bothering me and I've been doing all the usual things--seeing the situation as a mirror that has something important to show me etc. And because the conversation about Thanksgiving included talk about alcohol and getting plastered, I'm thinking of alternative Thanksgiving plans. Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center has a Thanksgiving potluck and spiritual ceremony every year. I've wanted to go ever since I learned about Living Foods three years ago, but haven't gone yet. This could be the year. So I was on-line checking out Tree of Life and also checking out what Raw For Life from Phoenix is doing (a very affordable 4-day ThanksLiving Retreat at Eden Hot Springs) AND I found Laura Fox's Vision Garden.

Several things on her site inspired me so deeply that my petty concern over someone's unkindness seem just that--petty. There's so much beautiful living and loving to do.

Here's a piece from What is Visionary Stewardship?

You can become a Visionary Steward by:

a. Selecting a part of Earth Life to take care of. What do you love most? The rivers, oceans, lakes? The animals? Certain types of plants? The air we breath? Human organizations? Children?

b. Get into a meditative state and ask your Source for a Vision that is aligned with the Highest Good of this part of Earth Life you are choosing to care for. Be sure to have pen and paper handy before starting.

c. Write out the Vision you receive. Make a picture of it, or tape the words somewhere you can see them every day. Spend five minutes each day imagining and feeling ‘as if’ this vision is a reality now!

....and from Waking up Humanity

Brothers and Sisters of the Light, Beings Divine, Friends,

We have a mission and a purpose.

We have the powers of Creation embedded into the fabric of our very being, with and by and through the power of Universal Divine Love.

It is time for us to take it to the next level, to take ourselves to the next level of our abilities and our willingness to leverage them on behalf of a sleeping humanity and our beautiful mother planet, Earth.

Not with fear, not with resistance, not with judgment or blame: With the pure power of our Creative Essence and… Pure Joy.

I have been having many conversations with God/Source/Creator of All Creators/Pure Love/Well-Spring of Our Collective Being lately....I tell God, “I have compassion for Humanity, God. I want them to be well. I want them to be safe. Please wake them up.”....

The response from our Divine Creator, our Source called by many names, is that I am — and we who know are — to SPEAK and share WHAT TO DO. Creator has said many are feeling a need to do something, but they don’t know WHAT to do......Please DO NOT HOLD BACK AT ALL! Remind everyone of our powers of creation, daily!

Become inspired to find new ways to do this! I anybody can shift it, we can....The entire Universe is watching as humanity decides. Yes, as Humanity decides it’s own fate. Will we stay in slumber, attached to outmoded paradigms and ideals based on scarcity, hate, separation and unknowing?.....

Or will we FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER, ACTIVATE OURSELVES, and WAKE UP to the higher priority structure.....calling us to LIVE fully, to be true to what feels REALLY GOOD to each of us, from a soul or spirit perspective– from a HEART perspective — to share our gifts without hesitation and without allowing old paradigm structures getting in the way of our giving of our gifts. And, yes, to do all this with JOY! Silly joy. Giddy joy. Off-the-hook, outrageous, uncontrollable joy-bliss-mirth-fun.....

Love, Laura

...and from We are the ones we have been waiting :::::: for

Music is the core of the awakening consciousness movement. If it’s true we have the power of creation in us as the seed of who we are then we ought to use it.....We can sing our way home, om, together. .....and MOVE our bodies to the rhythms of the very life which sustains us, which we are. This is what I propose..... Let’s dance.

Let’s dance this planet back into harmonic synergies of light, just because we CAN. And together, it’s more fun.

Love, Laura

I'm starting to play music again--a bit. But now I'm ready to a lot.

....And to add some life this post--living, growing life. Here's pictures of my sprouting project.

Broccoli microgreens

.....and lovely vital wheatgrass.

Learning, learning all the time

I've been wanting to add more nature study to our days, but the fact that I am not absolutely crazy about the ecosystem I'm living in...and it's been so darn hot, it just hasn't happened. But now with the cool weather, I've been riding my bike more and appreciating the desert more. So.....

But Jasmine took it into her own hands. She is taking pictures of birds. Today she got good ones of two of our common desert residents, the cactus wren and the curved-bill thrasher.

Cactus wren

....and Curve-billed Thrasher

She's also decided to enter a writing contest and is working on her story "How the Banana got it's Shape".

....and is engaging in one of her latest passions--Shakespeare. We just watched Twelfth Night and ordered several more Shakespeare movies from the library. Just can't stop that girl from learning.

....and on the soundtrack of our life Bela Fleck's Africa Sessions, the soundtrack from August Rush, Kimba Arem's Self-Healing with Sound and Music by, lots of Stargirl on CD, and the birds, those lovely glorious birds singing their joy to the world.

Learning Math the Natural Way

I've posted about learning writing and science the natural way and some about Jasmine's process toward being a proficient reader. Today, I was inspired to post about learning math naturally. Yesterday as Jasmine was cutting up fruit for the fruit salad she made for her royal banquet, she was playing with multiplication. "Mom, what's 4x4?" "What?" "16. Mom, see I'm getting 16 pieces out of each apple and 12 out of each pear!" I love watching her play with math with such joy.

The multiplying fruit

Jasmine has always loved math and enjoys playing with it. I was good at math as a child and so have not passed any math anxiety on to her. Math is never "hard" at our house--maybe a "challenge", but challenges are always presented as something fun here. Jasmine sometimes begs me for math problems and fairly often spontaneously comes out with math gems like above. I play games that include math with her sometimes and very occasionally ask her a real life math problem such as "I paid $15.00 for this gas but I only put in $14.15. How much will I get back?" (After some thought, she answered that one correctly.)

I recently read A Mathmatician's Lament by Paul Lockhart and it's been on my mind, probably inspiring this post as much as anything. If you have math anxiety or have children learning math, please read this. It will open your eyes to what math education could be.

A musician wakes from a terrible nightmare. In his dream he finds himself in a society where music education has been made mandatory. “We are helping our students become more competitive in an increasingly sound-filled world.” Educators, school systems, and the state are put in charge of this vital project. Studies are commissioned, committees are formed, and decisions are made— all without the advice or participation of a single working musician or composer.

Since musicians are known to set down their ideas in the form of sheet music, these curious black dots and lines must constitute the “language of music.” It is imperative that students become fluent in this language if they are to attain any degree of musical competence; indeed, it would be ludicrous to expect a child to sing a song or play an instrument without having a thorough grounding in music notation and theory. Playing and listening to music, let alone composing an original piece, are considered very advanced topics and are generally put off until college, and more often graduate school.

As for the primary and secondary schools, their mission is to train students to use this language— to jiggle symbols around according to a fixed set of rules: “Music class is where we take out our staff paper, our teacher puts some notes on the board, and we copy them or transpose them into a different key. We have to make sure to get the clefs and key signatures right, and our teacher is very picky about making sure we fill in our quarter-notes completely. One time we had a chromatic scale problem and I did it right, but the teacher gave me no credit because I had the stems pointing the wrong way.”

In their wisdom, educators soon realize that even very young children can be given this kind of musical instruction. In fact it is considered quite shameful if one’s third-grader hasn’t completely memorized his circle of fifths. “I’ll have to get my son a music tutor. He simply won’t apply himself to his music homework. He says it’s boring. He just sits there staring out the window, humming tunes to himself and making up silly songs.”

In the higher grades the pressure is really on. After all, the students must be prepared for the standardized tests and college admissions exams. Students must take courses in Scales and Modes, Meter, Harmony, and Counterpoint. “It’s a lot for them to learn, but later in college when they finally get to hear all this stuff, they’ll really appreciate all the work they did in high school.”

Of course, not many students actually go on to concentrate in music, so only a few will ever get to hear the sounds that the black dots represent. Nevertheless, it is important that every member of society be able to recognize a modulation or a fugal passage, regardless of the fact that they will never hear one. “To tell you the truth, most students just aren’t very good at music. They are bored in class, their skills are terrible, and their homework is barely legible. Most of them couldn’t care less about how important music is in today’s world; they just want to take the minimum number of music courses and be done with it. I guess there are just music people and non-music people. I had this one kid, though, man was she sensational! Her sheets were impeccable— every note in the right place, perfect calligraphy, sharps, flats, just beautiful. She’s going to make one hell of a musician someday.”.....

Sadly, our present system of mathematics education is precisely this kind of nightmare. In fact, if I had to design a mechanism for the express purpose of destroying a child’s natural curiosity and love of pattern-making, I couldn’t possibly do as good a job as is currently being done— I simply wouldn’t have the imagination to come up with the kind of senseless, soul-crushing ideas that constitute contemporary mathematics education.....(more)

I'm definately thinking about math education differently after reading this.

Living our Truth

Today we finished the sequel to Stargirl-- Love, Stargirl. We both liked this one even better. Stargirl is homeschooled. In Stargirl, she goes to public school and experiences the idiocy of the social scene with grace and aplomb, but in Love, Stargirl she's back to homeschooling.

Jasmine likes to study deeply human nature and the whys and whats and hows of people's behavior. The themes of fitting in and being true to oneself, conformity and individuality have been big for Jasmine this year. Stargirl and Love, Stargirl definitely dive deeply into these topics and she adored them.

She also requested that I read her Max Lucado's You are Special and If Only I had a Green Nose. Both these books deal with how to be true to oneself in a culture that encourages conformity.

I'm rereading Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Homescale Permaculture and learning things I didn't on my last reading. This is a simply amazing book; if you garden or think you might want to garden someday, read it. I'm preparing for a series of three 1 hr talks I'm going to do on sustainability.... and researching Shakespeare movies to order for Jazz from the library and of course playing with living food. And through it all, I'm still "shoulding" on myself, thinking I "should" be cleaning the back patio instead. Is this true? Or could I possibly be true to what is calling me in the moment? YES, that's a resounding Y-E-S.

And on the same theme....We attended an incredible library program with musician Mark Holdaway this afternoon. This guy is absolutely passionate about the Kalimba and inspired the whole audience with his passion and love of what he does. He plays and sells kalimbas and teaches others who want to learn at Kalimba Magic. It was wonderful to see the effect of someone being true to themselves and their passion on others. Jazz is ready to buy a kalimba.

Mark Holdaway after program with instruments (picture by Jazz)

Audience members can't wait to touch these beautiful instruments

(picture by Jazz)

A Royal Banquet

Jasmine has been planning a tea party ever since she checked out Come to Tea: Fun Tea Party Themes, Recipes, Crafts, Games, Etiquette and More from the public library several weeks. She's been copying down recipes and planning menus. She finally decided on a Royal Banquet of Beef Chow Mein, Fruit Salad and Refrigerator Cookies and picked a date, and invited the guests. Planning, preparation, cooking and cleaning have joyously been done. Decorations made.


...and a schedule planned. First is crafts, then dinner, and then PLAYING.

Everything went beautifully. The girls enjoyed themselves immensely.

Doing crafts in the garden

Some eagerly shared results

Artwork by Jasmine

....and then dinner with entertainment....

....and then mom was so busy with washing up no more pictures were taken, but much fun was had with chickens and wall-walking and playing hide-and-go-seek. You never know what those royal princesses will be up to.

Looking at Responsiblity

I guess Scott Noelle keeps nailing it on the head for me. Here's another Daily Groove that I affirms where I am.

Two Kinds of Responsibility

The word "responsibility" can be confusing because its meaning changes depending on the"active worldview" of the person using it.

The old worldview is one of scarcity and competition, where one seeks empowerment through controlling people and conditions, and by being "right." In that worldview, responsibility means obligation, duty, and/or blame.

The new worldview is one of abundance and creativity, where empowerment comes from within and is expressed through partnership. In that worldview, responsibility is the *ability to respond* creatively, and it's an acknowledgment that each individual creates his or her own experience of life.

Today, pay close attention to how you feel when you're trying to be a "responsible" parent. If taking responsibility makes you feel heavy, burdened, guilty, ashamed, or resentful, then it's time to upgrade your worldview!

All my adult life I've struggle with "being responsible". I think I need to "be responsible" and when I don't do what I think is responsible, I feel guilty. It creates a downward cycle--sometimes to depression--for me. It's caused me untold amounts of pain. I'm realizing more and more deeply every day that the only thing I need be responsible to is my own inner self and Creative Source. Every reminder is a cause for celebration and gratitude. So here's to Scott Noelle and all the guidance I receive. Amen

Aiming for Bigness

Again, today, Scott Noelle's Daily Groove e-mail was particularly inspiring--enough that I'm posting it.

Small Body, Big Spirit

Mother Nature doesn't aim for mediocre. She imbues every child with HUGE creative potential.

Children are born *knowing* they're supposed to be BIG -- innately powerful, free, and continuously expanding to new horizons.

Today, no matter how physically small your child may be, notice and appreciate his or her BIGness in spirit. That spirit is easy to see when your child is expressing pure Love and Joy. But it's no less present when s/he's "misbehaving." In those trying times, remember...

Our children are always doing the best they can to stay connected to their BIGness -- in a world that expects them to be small.

In getting the links for the above, I ran into Scott's article Transforming Anger. I get it. Today I get it. I've read it before but today it sank in deeper and I did it. I remembered that my anger is here to uplift me--and everything else for that matter--and used the energy to say "I'm not going to let that little condition get in the way of my joy".

I've been working on an Astrology Chart for a friend. Something I haven't done for quite a while and I checked how the transits are influencing my chart. Wow! Two pretty major planetary events have been occurring this year. One is the Saturn-Uranus opposition and the other Jupiter-Neptune conjunction. These both happen often enough that you've experienced one in your lifetime--unless you're a lot younger than I. But having two at a time is quite rare.

Everyone is influenced by these transits but where in your life and to what degree depends on where and what they trigger in your chart. Both have triggered major planetary configurations in my chart--and two of the three midlife crisis transits. That's right--I'm 41! I've haven't been thinking in terms of astrology for quite some time and--well--I didn't remember. And these wonderful life-changing transits have been happening and delightfully I was able to appreciate the immensity and importance of the changes occurring in my life without consulting astrology.

While I'm busy playing with an astrology chart or two and blogging, Jasmine is preparing for a Royal Banquet. She wrote invitations and picked out an outfit and took pictures of them for me to post.

This weekend was fabulous--I went to Phoenix with friends and Jasmine and Grandma planted a new garden full of alfalfa and clover for the chickens. And Grandma helped her sew a doll dress. Of course I got to spend the next day putting away and dealing with all my veggies.

Chicken Garden

New doll dress

She also discovered ironing with a passion, begging to iron anything in sight.

And learning happens........One of Jasmine's favorite things to do is to take out a stack of field guides (e.g. butterflies, insects, flowers, birds) and peruse them.

Blessed Silence

The cooler weather is finally here. While most of the rest of the country is gearing up for a winter of more inside activity, we are breaking out of hibernation and into the sun. Today, I turned the air-conditioner off and heard the birds chirping and chirping. Have they been chorusing so loud everyday but we never heard them over the air conditioning fan? Well, I didn't listen to music even though I started a cleaning frenzy in the kitchen I wanted to hear the birds.

Maybe it's something to do with throwing open the doors to the fresh air after months of having them closed that's doing it. I think I'm definitely spring cleaning. It was hot last week. Over 100 every day, I think, and now blessed coolness and freedom from the sound of the air conditioning.

Yesterday was the first fabulous day. We spent it outside enjoying the sun (instead of hiding from it). I wanted to celebrate the weather; get out and do something special, but I wasn't inspired. This is not my ecosystem; I'm homesick for water and trees. Jazz suggested the packing a picnic and a blanket and heading to the plaza. It was perfect!

We spent most of the day there. I laid in the sun. I read Hazrat Inyat Khan's Music. Jasmine climbed her favorite tree. We ate lunch. We went to the library and somehow the book Stargirl fell off the shelf and into my waiting arms. Jasmine played. I sat in the shade and read Music. The Universe is so good to me. I always read the right thing at the right time.

Then we found a shady bench and watched a minor accident through it's whole incarnation (trading insurance, police showing up etc.) and started Stargirl. Jasmine went and got an ice cream cone and ate it and then made mudcakes. It was perfectly perfect. When our water was gone and my throat was dry, we trekked home to eat mango passionfruit coconut Popsicles. Decadent and perfectly perfect. Amen.

Admiring flowers in the Plaza

Jazz watched Romeo and Juliet all day the day before and begged me to watch it with her last night. My passionate actress has been speaking in something like Shakespearean English and acting extra dramatic. Is this why Ashland Oregon is calling so loudly to us? The Shakespeare Festival?

But back to today and spring cleaning, the bees started invading the house, so doors got closed and I turned on a great album we've been listening to a lot lately, Miles From India. It's a collaboration between members of the Miles Davis Band and some great musicians from India. Jazz and I both love it.

Later, we listened to the whole book of CD, C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew while Jazz began tackling the back bedroom and I finished up in the kitchen and...

....and prepared for a day with the girls. I'm going to Phoenix tomorrow with three wonderful women to shop the farmer's market and whatever else hits our fancies. When have I done this last? Spent a day with friends without Jasmine. I think it was the orientation for Prescott College over 4 years ago. I'm excited. And Jazz gets to spend the whole day with grandma.

Tonight I finished reading Star Girl to Jazz......Wow! That's all I can say for now but I'm guessing I'll write about it in a post soon. I've been thinking about her--Stargirl---all day.

....and in between it all, ART happens.