Will what you think of as a source of happiness bring you contentment? Will it expand your and others well-being?
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.
Last night at dinner a friend noticed my necklace and asked about it.
“My friend Eleanor Drabo, who is at Eastern Market on the weekends, and is a wonderful artist and jewelry designer, made it for me,” I told her.
“Did you draw the image?” she asked.
“I asked for the basic design,” I explained, “it’s the central part of the yantra for the Goddess Durga. She’s the Goddess who had to slay the demon the the male gods made so powerful they couldn’t get rid of the demon themselves. I had it made of scrap gold–broken jewelry I’d found over the years at yard sales, a couple of unstylish single earrings that might have been a grandmother’s, and the custom ring from my former marriage.”
“That sounds like a story for your blog,” she suggested, “such a transformation.”
“It could be.”
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Well over a decade ago, I bought this and another “Christmas” cactus at a yard sale, the two for a dollar.
The woman selling them complained that they had stopped blooming. She still didn’t want to keep them even after I explained that they only bloom once a year.
I brought them home and tended them. They have bloomed faithfully every Thanksgiving or a little closer to the solstice, getting more luxuriant.
