Time off, and this is what I've been attempting to do mostly. eat pray love The first two are usually easier than the last, I think. The first is definitely easiest. The second has become second nature with the practice of yoga & meditation. The third, sometimes not so easy. How to love what is in the now? Still no job. Not even a couple of leads lately. How to love what someone else seems to have -- might be a career full of passion, might be a pregnant glow, might even be someone else's child? How to love what will happen in the future but is not ours now? How to love myself when negative energy overwhelms my heart & thoughts? How to love what is when I make every effort on a daily basis to eat & pray mindfully? Simplicity has its role in life. Doing laundry this afternoon, I watched Love's Long Journey based on the Little House on the Prairie-like books by Janette Oke. I used to love watching Little House on the Prairie for its simple & humble life. Ma & Pa. Running through a vast, golden meadow. Bonnets whipping off into the wind. Grateful for the sunrise, a day's work and the people in your life. Hearts softened by hard work and not hardened by humble beginnings or ongoings. Blessed by a garden's abundance or the neighborly ways of strangers as well as a cohesive community.
It's a shame that some of today's young families don't value the simple & humble life. Gone are the nighttimes when family members would wind down to actually chat, read aloud or play music for each other. Now there's TiVo and lots of it! I, too, have become a slave to the pleasures of 2009. It's hard not to get sucked in. Not to mention Materialism, whose hard paddle-balled hand grasps both suburbanites, urbanites and especially their little ones. Gone are the intimate birthdays at home. Instead, the most blessed occasions are opportunities for extravagance and pretentiousness. And if you're not one to partake or have partaken in the complicated lavishness, then you just don't understand.
There's lots of education around modern-day eating & praying. Tons of websites, magazines, books, dvds even. I've had my taste of them. Love, though, can certainly be a long journey, especially in the metro-NY/NJ vicinity where time escapes pretty easily. The challenge is delving deep within for self-awareness, so that we can love others even when they can't see (or love) beyond themselves.
Great Spirit,
Help me to see the Truth of what is. Allow me the wisdom to appreciate my generous blessings as they are. Your grace supports me to constantly work at being a better woman. And in my not-so-great moments when I carry on in negativity, I pray that Your Light fills me, so that my heart may open once again to thoughts of love . . . because Inner Peace is the greatest gift. Amen.
