Tiger Mama

I recently had the opportunity to meet a couple of Tigers. It was an amazing experience that fulfilled a dream. It was also enlightening.

As I sat and hugged and rubbed on this one tiger, the babies in the area across the way woke up from their naps. Without any hesitation or call, the female tiger pricked up her ears, stiffened her body and turned in the direction of the babies. She stood, walked to the fence line and started pacing - back and forth, back and forth. There was no sound, just an alert patrol. I know this feeling... I know it well.

If something threatens the emotional security or safety of my children or anyone I hold dear, my body goes on hyper alert. I start the mental and physical pacing of a caged tiger. Yes, I know that feeling well.

Thailand

I am going to Thailand to visit my baby girl! Her blog, a chronical of her semester, is delightful. Check it out at http://sarahnadesarah.blogspot.com/

Learning about life in a different culture has increased her awareness of herself. That's what life does... shows us who we are.

Joy

Simple gratitude brings joy abundant.

Hummingbirds

I was sitting on the front porch this past weekend when I saw a Hummingbird only a few feet from me. I sat astonished as I watched it's tiny wings move at breakneck speed. The only time I have ever seen a Hummingbird was where there were feeders designed to attract them. This unannounced and unplanned visit gave me a moment of pause and reflection.

Upon the suggestion of a friend, I looked them up on the internet and found lots of wonderful information that made me smile. Of course there would be a Hummingbird on my porch!

Hummingbird - the tiniest of all birds - brings special messages for us. It is the only creature that can stop dead while traveling at full speed. It can hover, or can go forward, backward, up or down. It lives on nectar and searches for the sweetness of life. Its long tongue lets it bypass the often tough and bitter outer layer to find the hidden treasures underneath. Hummingbird is loved by the flowers and plants, for as it sucks the nectar from the flower, the plant reproduces and more of its kind are created. It is said that Hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can, and its presence brings joy to the observer.

Hummingbirds have the advantage of seeing things from all angles and can show us how to expand our perceptions. The hummingbird serves to remind us of the beauty and wonder of the world. While their speed and sound may sometimes startle us, they help pull our attention out of the mundane so that we can acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of Creation.

Ahhhhh... Life is good.

Following my Heart

I am sitting at my desk listening to Yiruma play “A River Flows in You” feeling so… just feeling. His music does that to me. The fluidity of movement and sound sooth my soul.


I recently made a rather large decision against the better wishes of some in my family. Their “better wishes” are grounded in a deep care and concern for my well-being and their need to protect and to contribute to the enrichment of my life. I understand and appreciate them fully. I can feel the blessing of their needs … because I have the same needs, and today our strategies conflict. We seek different paths to meet the same needs. And today, I opened one of my daily readers to find the following:

“We are responsible for listening to the information that comes to us. We are responsible for asking for guidance and direction. But it is our responsibility to sift and sort through information and then listen to ourselves about what is best for us. Nobody can know that but ourselves.

A great gift we can give to others is to be able to trust in them – that they have their own source of guidance and wisdom, that they have the ability to discern what is best for them and the right to find that path by making misstakes and learning.

To trust ourselves to be able to discover-through that same imperfect process of struggle, trial, and error – is a great gift we can give ourselves.” (The Language of Letting Go, July 3)

Wow! I get to love the care and protection and concern of my family AND I get to make my own decisions. I am reminded of the Spiritual Warrior. I have a friend who reminds me of this whenever I cannot remember on my own. “The Spiritual warrior must have the commitment to love him/her self. The warrior then extends that love to humanity.”

If I can see the beauty of my own unmet needs and can stand firmly in the path I choose, a path that does not hinder or thwart the path of my fellows, then I can translate that blessing to others and give them the gift of finding their own path… unencumbered by my fear or judgment of their process.

There is a Zulu proverb that says, " Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu.” Though difficult to translate the full meaning, the proverb literary means, "a person is a person through other persons" or “I am because we are,” and is often expressed in a single word – UBUNTU.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks to the philosophy of Ubuntu and explains it as an “essential wisdom” in which “my humanity is caught up, bound up and inextricable in yours.” What this says to me today is that any decision I make – all decisions I make – have an impact on the people around me. If I carefully honor that truth with understanding and respect and care and concern, then I can walk standing upright and unafraid. And as Clinton so beautifully articulated, “We have to now find a way to triumph together."

PS Happy Monkey loves the word Ubuntu and uses it to support Trees For Life!

My Inner Guru

One of my favorite bloggers is Tisha Morris... she and I seem to be on the same wavelength these days. Really I think that we are all on the same wave length, so maybe she just has an uncanny ability to articulate my truth. Isn't that cool?

Anyway, this week's life learning for me involves my Nonviolent Communication practice, my school work in Conflict Management, and my experience walking through several conflicts entering through the front door of my home. To be more explicit, let's just say that the conflict of everyday living has turned up its volume so that I will stop and take notice!

What I can see and hear and taste and feel is that it is my thinking that causes me the most harm - not what is actually taking place. When I am able to catch my negative talk, I can bring my head back to where my feet are. Amazingly, right here and right now is so incredibly full and lovely... until my thoughts mess it up again.

It is an ongoing process... to be still and know who I am in this moment. And who I am in this moment is safe and free and all things bright and beautiful. It is my choice to give that up to react to the discomfort of others.

Today I am grateful for the volume! I want to keep learning. I want to keep living free, and if that means I get to take a detour every now and then... so be it. The sweetness of return to myself is worth the practice.

Speaking of detours, we took a Mother's Day adventure on the Natchez Trace Parkway... just exploring.... and got to see this really cool car from the 50's, a Blue Herron, some Turkey Buzzards, a great little southern town called Leipers Fork, some beautiful wild flowers...


and much to the teenager's chagrin, we sang "My Cherie Amour" really loudly. Life is good!

Gentle Kindness

Recently on a lovely Sunday stroll around the city of Birmingham, Dan and I decided to step into this lovely old church and join them for their Sunday service. We stayed for the sermon, then slipped out to make the beginning of Andy Roddick's match in the Davis Cup.

Close at our heals was a nicely dressed young man and his beautiful little girl in her smocked dress and hair bow... maybe two years old. He proceeded to grab her by the arm and pull her close as he told her she was "bad..really really bad" and spanked her. The thwack on her soft skin and the sound of his anger froze me in my steps. My heart jumped up into my throat, and I could not move or speak. I turned towards the young man and made eye contact.. I know my jaw was dropped, and I suspect my eyes were glaring. He looked back at me and said, "sorry."

I wanted to slap him across the face. I wanted to pick her up and soothe her tears and tell her she was safe and good and beautiful. I wanted to cry. But I did not. I gathered myself and walked on... with a heavy sadness.

As we approached the stadium, I saw a young man and his small son (maybe 5) walking towards us. This little boy was also crying, and the father was talking to him with the softest, kindest voice. He was soothing the boy, seemingly for not getting something he wanted. This man and his son were not dressed for church. They were not going to the Davis Cup either ...

The gentle kindness made the previously denied tears pop to the surface... tears of gladness and sweetness. I wished the other Dad could have witnessed this interchange. I wished the first Dad could have taken the priest's words into his heart and responded to his little girl with gentle kindness... then it hit me... I get to have the transformation... the lesson for the day.

I got to witness kindness... and I get to carry it with me the next time I get frustrated and angry.

I get to have this experience so I can learn to respond with gentle kindness!

And yes... the tennis match was amazing! Andy's 134 mph serve blows me away...