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.