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    Alas and Alack (still without my computer)

    ByElizabeth

    Last week my computer crashed.  I have purchased a new one, but it needs to be configured and brought to the house.  With luck, it will be possible to recover all the the data since my last system back-up.  I have everything since May (that’s five years worth) and all my photos since the end of August (that’s most everything), and some more that is stored on email or this server or facebook.

    It is a good opportunity to reflect on attachment.  It is an even better opportunity to think about the difference between necessities and wants and how our current way of living and communicating blurs the two.

     Of course, being human and a product of this society, I am not happy about it.   I’m just trying really hard to approach this in a positive way.  I know I will fully enjoy having an up-to-date system.

    I will be mostly not blogging until I have my own computer, but hope to be back fully soon.

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    A Guest at William Penn House

    ByElizabeth

    When I arrived at the William Penn House to teach yoga tonight, there were a couple of suitcases in the room. I asked one of the interns to help me move them. A guest came to help as one of the suitcases was his. I invited him to join us for yoga class. He expressed interest though declined this visit because he had a plane to catch. He stayed to chat while I was making the room ready.

    The conversation started with snow and New York State and then Quaker peace activities–the latter hardly surprising for someone staying at William Penn House. The guest was older than me and had been an activist for a long time. I thought he would certainly know my Dad who has been doing peace-related volunteer work in New York for 50 years give or take a few. Yes, he knew my Dad and so I will send regards.

    The guest said on parting that he thought all workshops for activists should start with some type of movement practice such as yoga. I agreed. Not only does it help bring the group together, but it invites all the participants to be stronger, healthier, and more flexible to better carry out their purpose.

    My students began to arrive–the first, who came in the middle of the conversation, expressing the opinion that the guest would have been a great addition to the class. The guest went on his way, saying he would be thinking about yoga as he waited in the airport for his flight. And I brought the sense of deepened community and purpose from this chance encounter into my teaching.

    Photo of marker outside the Friends Committee on National Legislation

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

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    I Was Browsing Looking for a Poem

    ByElizabeth

    I was browsing; I was looking for a poem to read to a friend because I was not ready to write one myself.  I found several that were right for me to read, but not to share, and this one I wanted to share more widely because of the delight it is bringing me to read it:

    Karma Repair Kit:  Items 1-4

    1.  Get enough food to eat,

    and eat it.

    2.  Find a place to sleep where it is quiet and sleep there.

    3.  Reduce intellectual and emotional noise

    until you arrive at the silence of yourself,

    and listen to it.

    4.

    Richard Brautigan, The Pill v. the Springhill Mine Disaster

    I had a real fondness for Brautigan when I was a teenager.  Every once and a while, I will pick up one of his books and remember why.  If you enjoyed reading this poem, please go buy a book by Brautigan to thank him.

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