Stuff and Peace: An hommage to George Carlin!

When humans lose meaning they often fill the empty space with stuff. Then they attach meaning to the stuff; "my stuff is proof that I am successful". Unfortunately, keeping stuff can be a burden, preventing us from engaging deeply with the world.

If having a lot of stuff points to a lack of meaning in life, I risk losing my meaning when my stuff disappears. Yikes! AND many people celebrated for making a big difference in the world have very little stuff. Fascinating!

Peace and meaning is available with or without stuff. The question is will you find deep meaning in simply being and in being with other beings? How can you have stuff and not make your life about your stuff?

A Peace practice today is to look at the meaning you attach to your stuff. Who are you without it? Do you suffer because of the stuff you do or don't have?

How can you be Peace with or without stuff?

Love,

Darlene

A Peace Perscription from "Dr." Anne LaMott

O.K. She's not a real doctor, but here is a Peace prescription, from Anne La Mott's book "Grace Eventually". "The best way to change the world is to change your mind, which often requires FEEDING YOURSELF. It makes for biochemical Peace........You find energy to do something you hadn't expected to do."

Where in your life do you need feeding, spiritually, emotionally, physically? And if you had that much needed meal, how could you create Peace?

Mangia my friend. Mangia!

Love,

Darlene

A Peaceful Tiger Koan

A monk was hurrying to the Tranquility Temple. It was getting dark. Impatient, he took a short cut through the jungle where he ran smack, dab into a rather large tiger! "Ah! Thank you teacher.", said the monk bowing deeply. The tiger, being tiger and very hungry, as tigers often are, gobbled up the monk and fell Peacefully asleep!

There are many paths to tranquility. None of them include short cuts or hurrying!

Love,

Darlene

"Play what's not there!"

Miles Davis, an extraordinary jazz artist, said, "Don't play what's there. Play what's not there". He risked dancing in a zone beyond the obvious and the comfortable, listening intently, inwardly and outwardly, trusting and discerning a path to an original, joyful place.

He knew that possibility and Peace is found in going to the "not there" places; in the places found when we venture outside the ordinary. There we discover a whole new music. Like wow!

Crazy!

Love,

Darlene

A Peace Practice

What would happen if you said "I love you" at the beginning of every sentence?
What would happen if you thought "I love you" at the beginning of every thought?

Willing to find out?

Love,

Darlene

A Candle for Peace!

The ancient Celts believed that each of us has an "inner light"!

Imagine today that your inner light is a candle warming you inside and flickering when you move too quickly. Imagine it providing that extra luminosity others need to see their way through the day.

Your light is for you. It's for others. And it's also for Peace.

Move at "candle speed" and glow today!

Recovering Yourself in Peace

Thich Nhat Hanh says, "breathing mindfully in any position at any time can help you recover yourself". In the Peace of mindfullness, breathing in and out as we move through our day, or as we sit to meditate or pray, we come back to who we really are, we "recover" ourselves, retrieving our Essence from the noise and distractions of the moment. Our essence is Peace and joy RIGHT NOW and it is available in the present moment when we are still and breathe.

"If we do not have Peace and joy right now, when will we have it?" asks Nhat Hanh. How long will we wait for our external circumstances to change before we begin? Will it be tommorrow, the next day, next year?

Why wait? Peace is available right now!

Love,

Darlene