This yellow rose was given to me by the owner of a restaurant we went to in Sarasota, Florida
called the Coolinary. We were on a Jazz Pub crawl. Yes, you read that correctly. The jazz club
we belong to has an annual week of jazz. The kick off was a Sunday afternoon outdoor venue
on the grounds of a mansion known as Phillppi Estates.
Jazz streaming from the gazebo while you sip your ice tea and enjoy
low humidity, temps around 72 and Spring-like breezes.
A dixieland jazz combo followed this event on Monday.
Wednesday was the Pub Crawl and so on through the week.
For those who aren’t familiar with a pub crawl let me describe it.
There are tickets you purchase for this. It provide a trolley –
yes, an old fashioned trolly which takes you from pub to pub.
You park your hop on and off you go. Each pub plays a different styles of jazz.
There are 12 pubs so you can walk from one pub to another.
Your ticket also provides entry into these pubs; otherwise, you would have to pay at each pub.
You do not have to drink. Personally, I would not be able to walk if I did have drinks at all of them.
Perrier works well to quench a thirst. You can eat if you’d like as well.
That’s where the Coolinary restaurant comes in. We decided to try their food.
They’re menu: is created and driven by a healthy, clean eating philosophy. All the meat served in their restaurant is GMO, hormone, steroid and antibiotic free. They proudly support local farmers. In addition, they have gluten free food.
While we sipped on a glass of wine and waited for our dinner the owner
came to our table and presented me with this yellow rose.
I was thrilled. A BIG SMILE and a blown-to-him kiss followed.
Who doesn’t like an unexpected gesture like this?
During dinner we enjoyed jazz from a bluesy singer called Synia Carroll.
Since jazz is still on my mind and in honor of my rose, here’s Louie Armstrong.
Drying roses or flowers remind us of the impermanence of life.
Our bodies and mind change over the years.
We become weaker. Our health declines despite our efforts.
But, there can be beauty at every stage of our lives.
Mother Nature provides great lessons about these stages
if we’re willing to see them.
Flowers wilt as they age. The petals become brittle. The colors fade.
When the time has come for precious flowers to leave us,
they play a symphony of shades of various colors for us to further enjoy.
Too often our fear of endings grasps our emotions.
We banish them to the disposable world
and, their beauty ends too soon.
Focus on the beauty of life’s changes.
Inevitably, we are all ephemeral.
Namaste
I honor the place in you
in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you
which is of Love, and of Truth,
of Light and of Peace.
When you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me.
We are One.
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Today, March 8th, has been designated as International Women’s Day. Violence against women and girls is continuing to happen everyday all over the world. We must continue to fight for all women to be treated with respect and equality. International Women’s Day focuses on ending violence against women and empowering them.
Over time and distance, the equal rights of women have progressed. We celebrate the achievements of women while remaining vigilant and tenacious for further sustainable change. The following article is from an interview given by Eve Ensler for the New Yorker magazine.
WARNING – Adult Language Follows
Eve Ensler – author
The Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler believes in speaking up. She says when we name the things that make us uncomfortable or afraid, then demons are faced, silences are broken, and freedom is won.
I believe in the power and mystery of naming things. Language has the capacity to transform our cells, rearrange our learned patterns of behavior, and redirect our thinking. I believe in naming what’s right in front of us because that is often what is most invisible.
Think about the word vagina. I believe that by saying it 128 times each show, night after night, naming my shame, exorcising my secrets, revealing my longing was how I came back, into myself, into my body. By saying it often enough and loud enough in places where it was not supposed to be said, the saying of it became both political and mystical and gave birth to a worldwide movement to end violence against women. The public utterance of a banished word, which represented a buried, neglected, dishonored part of the body was a door opening, an energy exploding, a story unraveling.
When I was finally able as an adult to sit with my mother and name the specific sexual and physical violence my father had perpetrated on me as a child, it was an impossible moment. It was the naming, the saying of what had actually happened in her presence that lifted my twenty-year depression. By remaining silent, I had muted my experience, denied it, and pushed it down. This had flattened my entire life. I believe it was this moment of naming that allowed both my mother and I to eventually face our deepest demons and deceptions and become free.
I think of women naming the atrocities committed against them by the Taliban in Afghanistan or women telling of the systematic rapes during the Bosnian war or just recently in Sri Lanka after the tsunami women lining up in refugee camps to name their nightmares and losses and needs. I have traveled through this world and listened as woman after woman tells of being date raped, or acid burned, female genitally mutilated, beaten by her boyfriend, or molested by her stepfather.
Of course the stories are incredibly painful. But I believe as each woman tells her story for the first time, she breaks the silence, and by doing so breaks her isolation, begins to melt her shame and guilt, making her experience real, lifting her pain.
I believe one person’s declaration sparks another and then another. Helen Caldicott naming the consequences of an escalating nuclear arms race gave rise to an anti-nuclear movement. The brave soldier who came forward and named the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison was responsible for a sweeping investigation.
Naming things, breaking through taboos and denial is the most dangerous, terrifying, and crucial work. This has to happen in spite of political climates or coercions, in spite of careers being won or lost, in spite of the fear of being criticized, outcast, or disliked. I believe freedom begins with naming things. Humanity is preserved by it.
Eve Ensler is a writer and activist living in New York. Her play, “The Vagina Monologues,” has been translated into 35 languages and was performed more than 2,500 times in 2005 alone. Ensler is founder of V-Day, an organization supporting efforts to end violence against women and girls worldwide.***** One Woman – A Song for UN Women: https://ganxy.com/checkout
Your brain functions better when you do things outdoors.
Is there anything more invigorating than a walk in the park or a visually pleasing outdoor area?
Gardening, walking on the beach and exercising outdoors, all contribute to positive thinking and clarity.
Exercise in the open air with the warmth of the sun, the sound of birds singing in the trees and a light breeze blowing through your hair can raise your levels of happiness. It revives the soul. Looking at natures scenery while noticing its beauty all have an effect on our emotions and bring us peace of mind.
Negative ions which have been found in particles near waterfalls, river rapids and in breaking waves at the beach can act as a natural anti-depressants, according to a study conducted at Columbia University.
Today, take a little time to nurture yourself with some time outdoors. Find clarity with all the beauty before you. Unpleasant thoughts will fade away and you’ll feel energized enough to face anything before you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Peace of Mind
One day Buddha was walking from town to town with his disciples. After a short walk they happened upon a lake.
Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Get me some water from that lake.”
The disciple walked up to the lake and noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water. He also saw a bullock cart crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, turbid.
The disciple returned and told Buddha “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”
An hour passed.
Again, Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink.
The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time, he found that the lake had clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above looked fit to drink. He collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.
Buddha looked at the water; then, he looked up at the disciple and said, “Do you see what you did to make the water clear?”
“You let the lake be and the mud settled down on its own. You were able to get clear water.”
“Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen effortlessly.”
Buddha says having ‘peace of mind’ is an effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and to your the environment.
Namaste
I honor the place in you
in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you
which is of Love, and of Truth,
of Light and of Peace.
When you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me.
We are One.
Five year old Jenny was a pretty blue eyed, blond, angelic looking child.
She was sweet, loving and caring to everyone she met. Her mother and father
were very proud of Jenny’s big heart and giving nature.
One day, Jenny was shopping with her mother. They were passing a glass case when Jenny noticed these beautiful plastic pearls.
“Can I get them Mother?” Jenny asked.
“It is a very pretty pearl necklace but it is expensive. The cost is $2.50.” she calmly told Jenny.
She could see the disappointment Jenny’s face.
Feeling her sadness she said, “If you would like to do chores to pay for the pearl necklace I will get them for you today”.
“Oh, yes,” Jenny said.
“Well, we can make a chore chart when we get home”, her mother told her.
Jenny agreed and her mother purchased the pearl necklace for her.
As soon as the chart was up on the refrigerator, Jenny started to do her chores. A week later was her birthday. Her grandmother gave her one dollar as her gift. Soon, she had paid for the beautiful pearl necklace.
Jenny adored her little pearl necklace. She wore it all the time; except when she showered. She wore it to the store where it had been purchased and everyone admired it. She was smiling each and every time someone commented on its beauty.
Jenny’s daddy loved her very much; as much as Jenny loved her pearl necklace. When it was bedtime he would read her one of her favorite bedtime stories.
One night when he finished the story, he said, “Jenny do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you.” She said hugging him tightly.
“Well, then, give me your pearls.”
“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls,” Jenny said. “But you can have Rosie, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too.” “Okay?”
“No, darling, that’s okay”. Her father said as he brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Good night, little one.”
A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, “Do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you.” She hugged him tighter than the night before.
“Well, then give me your pearls,” he said.
“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls, Jenny said. But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She’s my favorite. Her hair is so soft, and you can play with it.
You can braid it and everything. You can have Ribbons, if you want, Daddy,” the little girl said to her father.
“No, that’s okay,” her father said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. “God bless you little one, sweet dreams.”
Several days later, when Jenny’s father came into her room to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was quivering.
When her father asked, “What’s wrong princess?”
Jenny said, “Here, Daddy.” She held out her hand and when she opened it her beloved pearl necklace were inside. She let it slip into her father’s hand.
With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and with the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue velvet box. Inside of the box was a strand of real pearls. They were glistening with shine. He had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the plastic ones so he could give her the real ones.
Instead of a story that night, Jenny’s father told her why he had asked her to give him the pretty pearl necklace:
He explained that in life there will be things that she will want to hold onto. These could be things that are harmful or will keep her from having a happy life. It could be a partner, a relationship, a friend, a habit or obsession. These things could bring her danger and could be impossible to let go of. He wanted her to believe that with her own inner strength of love of self she could let go of these things and still be whole.
When something is wounding – let go. Something more precious could and will come along. She needed to have faith that within her all things were possible. Because, the most important part of who she was could always be found deep inside.
Namaste
I honor the place in you
in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you
which is of Love, and of Truth,
of Light and of Peace.
When you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me.
We are One.
Art is the outer vesture of love. Art, like love, is a force of oneness with the infinite. When we create a piece of art, we are really re-creating or reflecting some beauty of the Infinite.
![spa-660x440[1]](https://insidethemindofisadora.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/spa-660x4401.jpg?w=300&h=200)
