Happy birthday, Elaine - on what would’ve been your 34th, you deserves to have the biggest party. I bet you’re smiling with the knowledge that your and K1’s office is throwing you a huge one - complete with an “authentic Italian birthday cake” special ordered by your dad.
I wish you were here.
I miss you so much.
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Today, a flood of memories, circa 1993: the lyrics speak to me and they say
Those who laugh and crowd the path
And cut each others throats
Will fall like melting snow
Stand and fight
Live by your heart
Say what you feel
Thanks for calling and taking a trip down memory lane, APXB2… it was a welcomed surprise for an otherwise lonely Saturday afternoon.
… and yes, I miss you, too.
Continue reading…
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I’m a whole mess of jumbled thoughts, and I can’t quite bring even one cohesive set of words together about any one topic.
Continue reading…
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I’m predicting that my brother and SIL’s first baby, a boy they are naming ‘Tyler’ (henceforth referred to as ‘Nugget’) will be born today, October 2nd.
This will be my very first nephew (no nieces, either) and the second grand baby for my parents (The Kidlet being their first).
My SIL is already 2 weeks past-due and I’ve been telling her that I thought he’d either be born late on the 1st or sometime on the 2nd. I’m keeping my fingers crossed…
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Like most desks, mine can be chaotic - often covered with my son’s artwork and homework assignments, cluttered with work projects, post-it notes reminding me of errands, phone numbers and important dates, and piles of unopened mail. At my desk I organize my family, sustain my lifestyle, enjoy my hobbies, communicate with friends…
… and find a little Zen in my life.
On one small corner of an otherwise overwhelmed (and underpaid) desk, is my little corner of Zen. I find calm in (fleeting) moments of mediation when my eyes glance toward my favorite and most prized Buddha in my collection.
In these moments, I’m also reminded in subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways what the Buddha taught:
The Buddha taught that life was inherently dukkha (suffering), that it is caused by tanha (craving), but that this condition was curable by following the Noble Eightfold Path [by understanding] The Four Noble Truths.
1. Life is suffering (to live is to suffer).
2. The origin of suffering (in life we seek to discover the origin of our suffering).
3. The cessation of suffering (once the origin is discovered, we seek to cease our suffering).
4. The way to the cessation of suffering is by following the Noble Eightfold Path.
So, while I’m ’suffering’ through piles of bills, loads of paperwork and an email in-box that never seems satisfied, I’m constantly reminded by my little corner of desktop Zen that this is what life is all about - for in everything there is a reason, even in ’suffering’ through a desk-full of confusion. Life is about taking the the good with the bad, the suffering with the rewards - “like yin and yang, entwined all through“.
BTW - I’m not a practicing Buddhist (I’m interested and intrigued by the concepts) so feel free if you are Buddhist and wish correct me if I’ve misunderstand the Buddha’s basic teachings. I’m here to learn (in life and in all ways.)
P.S. Yes, I also realize I’m not so wordless on this Wordless Wednesday.
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