Posts from — March 2006

‘Imagination is everything. It is the preview of Life’s coming
attractions.’

– Albert Einstein

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where
there were only walls.”

– Joseph Campbell

http://www.evolutionarywomen.org/

I recently returned from time spent with my three grandsons. What a delightful time it was, and with each smile, giggle and game I was reminded of what truly matters most in this life.

On my late night drive home from the airport I was listening to a wonderful radio program about different Native American tribes and their customs, especially the role of women. The report emphasized that many tribes were egalitarian and women were honored for their power and wisdom. Women had an honored voice as peace-keepers, and the role of the grandmother was a special one… to teach joy.

With the images of my grandbabies floating in my memory bank and the sounds of their voices lingering in my heart I feel confidant that I fulfill this role for them. I am their playmate, their soft place to land, the one who plays hide-and-seek and draws silly pictures, the one who plays pirates and sings to them. I have story lines on my face and hands that they love to explore. No question is off limits. We have deep conversations over ice cream, and I am willing to go on the slide at the park. We walk, we talk, we bounce, and we hug. We sing, rock, and I make up bedtime stories. They sing along with my version of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” I am the first one to volunteer to change a diaper or wipe a bottom, for my love is unconditional. I treasure the intimacy… the in-to-me-see that evolves in this moment-by-moment living. It feels so good to give love, and be loved so much. Joy describes the aura of who we are when we are together and the magic connection that fills out hearts and comforts us when we are apart.

After departing the hurried pace of the LA area, gracefully enduring a delayed and very full flight, and leaving behind the Seattle traffic I felt ease embrace me as I crossed the Hood Canal Bridge that links a busy form of civilization to the peace and slow pace of the Olympic Peninsula I call home, and my heart remains with them. Their faces and the sound of their voices rest in my heart.

So if I ever wonder what my purpose is in life all I need do is remember that I stand on the shoulders of the ancestors and elder women peace-keepers of the great northwest. I am Grandma Tutu, wise woman, doula for living each moment fully, and tender crone who prepares the path for future generations. I love big and I teach joy.

His dizzy aunt ————————————-Verti Gogh

The brother who ate prunes ————————-Gotta Gogh

Brother who worked at a convenience store —-Stop n Gogh

The grandfather from Yugoslavia ——————–U Gogh

The cousin from Illinois —————————Chica Gogh

His magician uncle ————————Where-diddy Gogh

The nephew who drove a stage coach——-Wells-far Gogh

The constipated uncle ——————————Can’t Gogh

The ballroom dancing aunt ————————–Tang Gogh

The bird lover uncle ——————————-Flamin Gogh

His nephew psychoanalyst —————————E Gogh

The fruit loving cousin —————————-Man Gogh

An aunt who taught positive thinking ————-Way-to Gogh

The little bouncy nephew —————————Poe Gogh

A sister who loved disco —————————Go Gogh

His niece who lives in a motor-home ——Winnie Bay Gogh

Well, there you Gogh!

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
— Mother Teresa

“Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.”
— Ayn Rand

“Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.”
— Albert Einstein”

“We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.”
– N. Scott Momaday

“Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will carry you.”
– Sheng Jen

http://www.getunstuckandgetgoing.com/eightprinciples.php

Here I am spending a week with my grandbabies and their families. There are always things that ’should’ be done, but there is nothing more important than developing a deep connection with my little guys. Balls will drop, perhaps. Or maybe being filled by love and remembering what matters will allow me to juggle with greater grace and focus. Time will tell.

A very special friend who I know is juggling a very difficult time of loss in his life sent me this link to provide an interesting reminder that one can juggle with grace, even amidst challenges:

http://marketplace.espeakers.com/flavplayer_content.php

In Joy,
Rhonda

Improv Wisdom : Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up (Hardcover)
by Patricia Ryan Madson

A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life : Self Expression and Spiritual Practice for Those Who Have Time for Neither (Paperback)
by Nina Wise