Upcoming.........

Take a deep breath, people. No, deeper than that. Aaaaaand - release.

We're in for a very bumpy ride.

The catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is only the beginning. The dominoes are beginning to fall.

Those of you who follow this blog know I strive to be positive. Not dorky-smilyface-it'sFine! positive, but a grateful approach to the daily world.

My attitude doesn't cut into this. Think butterknife on a squash. No dent at all.

This is not about the personal, either. This is global.


So in light of this (and mutterings of doom are everywhere these days, aren't they?), what can you do for yourself?

If you have a creative practice, spend as much time as possible doing it. Music, art, theatre, dancing. It's your throughline in difficult times.

Eat as well as you can. Exercise. Meditate. Do your best to take good care of your physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual selves.

Look for small opportunities to do good. Open the door. Smile and say hi to the checker. Pick something off the floor for someone who dropped it. All those small acts which feel like too much, sometimes, but which add up.

If you can, look for larger opportunities, too. It's better for you if you can actually do something rather than write a check. But! Write that check, if that's your life right now.

Be where you are. Love the people you love. Hold hands. Send cards. Talk to Mom (or Dad, or annoying Auntie Whomever).

For those of you who pray, pray. Don't ask for anything: just be with Her/Him/Them/It.

Let's encourage each other through this.

where to begin....

My father died.

I'm handling all the fallout: paperwork, bills, the will, etc. Which is why you haven't seen me in a while.

I'm returning to regular blogging as of this post. I am not sure what "regular" will be yet.

You can expect, this week, a schedule, and a blog about my beliefs: nothing like death to bring one back to basics.

Be well!

going away

Hi all --

I've been following my father's declining health from afar for much of 2010 (which is why I've been so absent from this home of mine), and I'm leaving to go see him and deal with medical and legal details tomorrow.

I hope to be back to regular blogging soon.

May blessings continue to be yours!

Duffi

Please contribute to Haitian relief at www.hopeforhaitinow.org. $53M US so far and still counting. Our neighbors need us.

Blue Moon!

This is a very powerful Moon! Ask for what you want, and prepare to receive! (Yes, too many exclamation points, I know.) Be as specific as you can. Get outside - here in the MidAtlantic of the US it's frakkin' COLD, but I'll be outside, even if for a tiny minute - and rejoice in what you have. Then ASK! and see it as already happened.

And be grateful.

aw crap

more cancer.

Yes, it's a time of joy and presents. My area just got a veritable dumptruck of snow, and it looks really gorgeous outside. DD and I finished our tree last week, and it's beautiful! I've got a tiny part-time job, which will end this week (and yes, I like working, it makes me happy). My favorite rocker is home with his loved ones, enjoying (I trust) the holidays and the time away from the road.

But.

My prayer list is full of newly-diagnosed cancers. (I belong to an online Buddhist community which maintains a prayer list.) The writer of one of the newsletters I read just got a diagnosis of leukemia. Suddenly, I'm surrounded -- again.

Those of you who know me personally know this story in all its particulars. The very brief version, for my new friends, is that between July of 1998 and March of 1999, my family lost: my mother, my mother-in-law, my stepmother, and my mother's brother, all to various forms of cancer -- initial diagnoses, metastases, and brand-new versions of something thought cured.

So we (DH and I) were stunned into stupor; and I became sensitized to cancer. Now I can see it, when it's about to manifest in the body, and sometimes as it metastasizes. It's a very small portion of my practice.

And whenever I am surrounded again, as I am now, I shrink in dread. Is it happening again?

Time for me to ground into the daily: do dishes, vacuum; and meditate. Back to the middle, to balance. Recognizing that life is a roller-coaster, and what I control is my reaction.

more! more!

Hello all,

As the year winds down and the new year winds up I'll be posting more frequently. There's a lot stirring in the cosmic soup!

In Moon traditions the New Year begins this next New Moon. This is the 13th lunation of 13, and the first lunation of 12. I find myself very excited to switch calendars and start with the first lunation. I feel like this is an exciting year coming up, with lots of AFGOs* and much joy, both expected and unexpected.

This is a great time to get a Year Reading, setting out patterns for the year and pointing to places in yourself where you want to work and want to play. I will be offering Year Readings for $55, if you book by December 31st at 12noon EDT (December 31st,this year,is the Full Moon (and how cool is that?)).

Spend some time these next few days thinking about the year past: what would you like to release? What would you like to keep? In the day before the New Moon, which is December 15th, starting gathering thoughts and feelings about what you want to manifest this coming year.

And, as always, do that which gives you joy: outdoor time, breathing, dancing, playing. Be especially with music at this time. Not just the Christmas music, but the music that calls forth your deepest self. The Deeper Self likes to play, too, and for me sometimes REALLY LOUD rock music brings me out.

Dance and play!

*AFGO: from an acupuncturist that I used to see: Another Fucking Growth Opportunity. An event, series of events, or a person; difficulties from which growth comes.

the rollercoast

Hello all,

The David Cook concert was cancelled! Waah! OK, I'm over the disappointment. I believe that the Universe will give me the opportunity when it's time. Cook tweets a lot -- yes, I'm on twitter, as duffimac -- so it still feels to me like he's "around." So it's fine.

I'm working more, and the readings leave me feeling blissed out. There's nothing, for me, like doing what I'm supposed to do. Bringing through that information and passing it on -- that's part of why I'm here this go-round.

The bliss also gives me energy to do housework. How weird! But delightful.

And to top it all off, it's snowing! Totally beautiful outside.