Mojo Monday ~ What Every Salmon Knows

Photo by Michelle Fairchild - Battlecreek 10/22/14

What people have forgotten
is what every salmon knows.

~ Robert Clark

This past week I used a vacation day so that I could be a parent chaperone for a field trip for my twin daughters 3rd grade class.  It turned out to be a rainy day, but seeing as how we desperately need the rain here in California there weren't too many grumblings.  Instead we wore hats, jackets and carried umbrellas.  The first portion of our outing was to the Coleman National Fish Hatchery. The hatchery was established in 1942 to help curb the loss of natural salmon.  Our guide was soft spoken Jack Blanke who had many interesting facts and figures to share with us during our tour through the hatchery and the two mile nature hike that followed along Battle Creek.

Photo by Michelle Fairchild ~ Coleman National Fish Hatchery

We observed the Chinook Salmon, as well as Steelhead Trout in the various holding tanks.  The fish start out as tiny eggs and are fed and cared for until they are released.  While they are young they have their adipose fin clipped and a wire clip is embedded into their nose.  When such fish return to the hatchery years later they can be identified and it will provide biologists with useful information.

Photo by Michelle Fairchild ~ Spawning room Coleman National Fish Hatchery

An unexpected part of the tour for myself and my daughters was the spawning room.  Male and female salmon die naturally after they lay their eggs.  The fish actually quit eating during their journey to the spawning pools and their bodies absorb their own intestines to survive.  At the hatchery they speed up and mechanize the fertilization process.  The process begins with an elevator full of water and fish rising up so that staff can more easily grab them.  One of the workers then jams the fishes heads into a box with an automated hammer, that is intended to kill them quickly. A number of the fish do not die from the hammer and instead have to be beaten over the head with a club.  All of this took place while we watched.  It was after they were "dead" that a pair of workers would pick up both a female and a male fish and essentially force out the females eggs and the males milt.  One worker injects the female fish with a device that blows air into her, forcing her eggs to come flowing out, while the another worker presses on the male to eject his milt.  The eggs and milt mix in the tub.  The dead fish were then dropped down chutes, and then routed to a refrigerated trailer sitting outside the building, which would later be transported to a processing plant. The meat is primarily distributed to food banks and prisons.  Local Native American tribes in the area also have rights to put in requests to transport whole fish from the hatchery free of cost.

I personally was relieved to leave the spawning room.  As a person who gave up eating meat and adopted a vegan diet six years ago, seeing animals, even fish killed, was not a pleasant experience.  My daughter Maya was especially sensitive to it too and her teacher tried to explain that the fish would have died anyways.  That sound reasonable, though iI kept thinking about the difference between laying ones eggs and dying peacefully in a river or being killed by a slam to the head with a hammer or a club.  I tried to make some peace with it by looking at the bigger picture and how the hatchery is responsible for hatching over 13 million fish, and in doing so helps to ensure the populations of salmon and steelhead continue to thrive.

If I haven't bored you to tears with the account of the salmon tour and you are still bravely reading on I want to share with you an essay from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo.  Not having read from this book in awhile I opened it and flipped to the latter dates of October.  I have to wonder if it is synchronicity or coincidence that is just so happens his essay for October 30th called The Art of Facing Things is about salmon.  Maybe this particular essay wouldn't have caught my attention if not for the recent outing, but I decided there might be a message in it that I should take note of more closely and I wanted to share it with you.  

"Salmon have much to teach us about the art of facing things.  In swimming up waterfalls, these remarkable creatures seem to defy gravity.  It is an amazing thing to behold.  A closer look reveals a wisdom for all beings who want to thrive.

What the salmon somehow know is how to turn their underside-from center to tail-into the powerful current coming at them, which hits them squarely, and the impact then launches them out and further up the waterfall; to which their reaction is, again, to turn their underside back into the powerful current that, of course, again hits them squarely; and this successive impact launches them further out and up the waterfall.  Their leaning into what they face bounces them further and further along their unlikely journey.

From a distance, it seems magical, as if these might fish are flying, conquering their element.  In actuality, they are deeply at one with their element, vibrantly and thoroughly engaged in a compelling dance of turning-toward-and-being-hit-squarely that moves them through water and air to the very source of their nature.

In terms useful to the life of the spirit, the salmon are constantly faithful in exposing their underside to the current coming at them.  Mysteriously, it is the physics of this courage that enable them to move through life as they know it so directly.  We can learn from this very active paradox; for we, too, must be as faithful to living in the open if we are to stay real in the face of our daily experience.  In order not to be swept away by what the days bring, we, too, must find a way to lean into the forces that hit us so squarely.

The salmon offer us a way to face truth without shutting down.  They show us how leaning into our experience, though we don't like the hit, moves us on.  Time and again, though we'd rather turn away, it is the impact of being revealed, through our willingness to be vulnerable, that enable us to experience both mystery and grace."

• Sit quietly and meditate on the last time you opened yourself to the life coming at you.
  
• In recalling this, try to focus on three things; the way that opening yourself caused you to unfold, they way that being hit squarely changed your life position, and where leaping like a salmon landed you.
  
• Breathe steadily, and invite the lessons of opening, being changes, and landing into your heart.
  
• Breathe slowly, and realize that you are in this process now.
  
• Relax and turn the belly of your heart toward the day.

Here is a brief video of the salmon attempting to jump and vault a controlled waterfall.  You can excitedly hear children cheering on the salmon as the launch themselves.  We kept hoping one would make it.  What we finally learned is that at this time of year the volume of water is increased to such a level that the salmon will never make it to the upper level.  This forces them to look for an alternate route, which happens to be a man-made fish ladder that directs them into the hatchery pools.  During the non-spawning season the water flow is reduced and fish can then naturally swim up and 

down stream.

I also ponder some additional questions and ask them of you too.

Is there anything that you are avoiding or not willing to face?

When things are difficult and challenging how do you handle them?

Do you think your methods and ways of dealing (or not dealing)
with challenges are healthy for you
or could you benefit from learning some new coping skills?

Suggested reading - Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart

Mojo Monday ~ Believing

There is something about this time of year that encourages many adults, even those who no longer believe in magic, to suspend that rational way of thinking.  The holiday season is a time of Santa, elves, flying reindeer, and speed traveling around the world in one night.  It is a time of encouraging the young ones to continue to believe in wonder, mystery and magic.  

In one of my all-time favorite books The Book of Awakening, author Mark Nepo writes about the topic of believing.  It is one of the shorter essays in the book, but is nonetheless a deeply contemplative sharing.  It begins with this quote: "Believing is all a child does for a living." ~ Kurtis Lamkin.

Here is how it continues:

"Picasso once said that artists are those of us who still see with the eyes of children.  Somehow, as we journey into the world, more and more gets in the way, and we stop questioning things in order to move deeper into them and start questioning as a way to challenge things we fear are false.

As a child I used to talk to things -- birds that flew overhead, trees that swayed slowly in the night, even stones drying in the sun.  For years, though, I stopped doing this freely because of what others might think, and then I stopped altogether.  Now I learn that Native Americans do this all the time, that many original peoples believe with their childlike eyes right into the center of things.

Now, almost fifty, I am humbled to recover the wisdom that believing is not a conclusion, but a way into the vitality that waits in everything."

* When you can, talk with a child about how they see the world.

I am so moved by this short essay by Mark Nepo.  Is there anything particular about this passage that resonates with you?  

As a child did magic and creativity play a big role in your life?  Was it encouraged or discouraged? 

Imagine you have a magical pair of glasses that can allow you to return and look at the world through the eyes of your former child self.

What do you see when you look around yourself right now?

What do you see when you walk outside and look around?

Try communicating with any animals you see - cat, dog, squirrel, birds, or maybe even wild turkeys perhaps?  What do you want to tell them?  What do you think they want to tell you?

Now try communicating to the trees, bushes, flowers, and grass your thoughts and feelings.  Now share a message with the sky, the dirt, the rocks and water if there is any nearby. If it isn't too cold out take off your shoes and stand on the ground in your bare feet. What does communing with our earth mama feel like?  Do you hear any messages in return?

Considering how we are also about to end one calendar year and begin another one anew, is there anything that you want to believe as you enter into a new cycle?  Are there some beliefs in magic and wonder that you want to recover and feel deep in your soul?

Mojo Monday ~ Giving Thanks

“Embrace your ordinary life, whatever its wrapping,
for in the embrace you will hear the whisper of Gratitude.
Listen for her in the ordinary activities of your day,
in the ordinary encounters with loved ones,
and in the ordinary challenges that greet you each morning.
She speaks from the depths of you, in the voice of your ordinary life.” 
~ Patricia Lynn Reilly

Yesterday my husband and I hosted a Gratitude Gathering at our home with some dear friends.  We all prepared delicious vegetarian or vegan dishes for a pot luck.   (I sensed that the wild turkeys that wander our neighborhood were saying their own words of gratitude for us non-meat eating folks yesterday.)   There were fun stories and plenty of laughter around the table.  Our 7 year old twin daughters Aubrey and Maya also made their first sweet potato pie all by themselves for the occasion, though they were quite thrilled when our friend Patty showed up with a vegan pumpkin pie, their favorite.  

I was so incredibly grateful that everyone, save for our friend Sandy, who had to work, was able to attend.   A few of our friends live up in the mountains and if the weather had been snowy they might have had to cancel.  It ended up being a stunning clear day, nearing a high of about 69 degrees.  Following our meal we played for a bit in the backyard with our Frisbee chasing dog Shanti and then we all went on a little walk to a nearby river trail.  

In fact one of the things I am feeling so incredibly grateful for right now is having discovered that a river trail was re-vamped just a block from our home. The trail in the short time we have begun using it has come to feel a bit like it is our own private sanctuary.  It was wonderful to share it with our friends and we all oohed and ahhed at the stunning views.  While sharing in a rose petal and lavender ceremony of gratitude a large gaggle of geese flew overhead in their traditional "V" formation.  

Here is a short little slideshow to share some of the beauty of the day:

This picture slideshow created with Smilebox

Right now I am so incredibly Grateful for family, friendships, fur-kids, bountiful food shared with love, the beauty of nature and living so immersed in it, our comfy home and our spacious yards, including our big mama oak tree and majestic redwood.

What are you grateful for at this point in time?

In what ways might you honor or celebrate your thankfulness this week?  

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.
It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing,
and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” 

~ Melodie Beattie

Mojo Monday ~ Autumn Is...

Autumn Beauty Collage - photos by Michelle Fairchild

I find beauty and things to delight me in every season.  Our natural world is an artists dream.  Just look around and you can see how Autumn knows how to put on a show.  She is vivid and rich, the hues of yellow, orange and red sometimes shocking even in their glory.

Already this season our family of four, while on a weekend jaunt out of town, stopped in Suisun City at Larry's Produce.  I am almost reluctant to share about it publicly, thinking it might be better to keep it a secret.  The market is already a wonderful place to pick up produce during the late spring and summer months, but it becomes even more festive in my eyes in the fall when the pumpkins, squash and gourds arrive.  Here is a sample of the delights to be had at the outdoor market.

Larry's Produce - Photos by Michelle Fairchild

Living in Northern California in a more rural area there are also farms that transform into festive destinations in the month of October.  Just this past Friday I went on a field trip with my daughters 2nd grade class to a local farm where we went on a train ride, a wagon ride, picked pumpkins right off the vines, bounced on a trampoline, shot corn cobs out of air cannons, wandered through a corn maze and watched little piggies race.  

Hawes Farm - photos by Michelle Fairchild

Not only are the images about Autumn stunning, but so can be the words of writers who wax poetic about this season and its golden abundance.   Here are some delightful reads for you to enjoy.



In my exploration of all tings Autumn I also came across this sentimental creation by Cathy Cullis called Fragile Things.

fragile things

autumn leaves      seedpods

feathers      rain clouds

fading photographs

poems

my heart

Fragile Things by Cathy Cullis

Have you experienced any Fall fun yet?  

Here is a list of some ideas to get you going.  

Consider writing your own poem about Autumn or simply a list that begins with Autumn is...

Grab your camera and go for a drive or a walk and capture some of the fall color in your area.

Pick up some pumpkins and colorful gourds at the store and create a display on your porch, dining room table or altar.  

Is there something you love best about this season?

Mojo Monday ~ The Story of Time

Purely Pacific Northwest from John Eklund

"The Milky Way drifts across the sky. Aurora tumble and roll. 

Clouds flow like rivers or undulate like smoke."

This video is photographer Oregon-based John Eklund’s time-lapse depiction of the Pacific Northwest.  John has this to say about his work, "I choose to shoot locations that appeal to the way I would like to interpret the story of time."  "Here is the Pacific Northwest, there are endless opportunities to depict the magnificence of the world around us.  I have discovered that when time is the storyteller, a special kind of truth emerges."  

The video Purely Pacific Northwest is composed of 260,000 shots John took of Mt. Shuksan, Crater Lake, Mt. Bachelor, Mount St. Helens, Oregon's Badlands, Painted Hills, Cape Kiwanda, Mt. Hood, Lost Lake and Cannon Beach between July 2011 and August 2012.

I am in awe of this video.  There is something about nature, our planet, the stars, the cosmos above, that leave me with a sense of wonder and wow, but also a greater sense of peace.  It reminds me that we are all a part of something so much bigger and greater than ourselves.  It also gives me a comforting reminder of the way we are all connected on this planet.  

Connecting with the beauty of nature has always been a grounding touchstone for me.   Is the same true for you?     

Consider getting out, taking your camera and going for a walk in your neighborhood or a nearby park or if you have more time on your hands, take a little drive and go exploring to find some fall color.  Perhaps your adventure might even call for a hike in the mountains.  

Come back and share photos after your outing.  

Do they tell a story?  

How did you feel during the outing?  

Here is a photo slideshow from the world of nature my family and I have been enjoying the last few days in beautiful Northern California.  

Slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Mojo Monday ~ Breathe

and remember

Mojo Monday ~ A Peaceful Place

This week's Mojo Monday was going to be about one subject, but fresh inspiration struck as I lay underneath our majestic oak tree, feeling very content to see blue skies, sunshine and listen to the various bird calls and tweets that fill our back yard with sound.  

For many years now I have found myself entering into a peaceful zone when I garden and work outside in the yard.  When I was single I spent many hours in my yards and I filled them with flowers and colorful garden art.  My yards in the past were small to modest in size, yet I still managed to spend hours and hours wiling away the time and enjoying digging in the dirt.  When my husband and I bought our first home together we were fortunate to find an older home, built in the 50's, in a neighborhood where most homes have very generous yards and with existing trees and plants.  Our back yard, sometimes referred to as the Fairchild Park by some family and friends, is home to a majestic oak, a giant redwood, a cherry tree, a plum tree, a pear tree and a pomegranate tree.  We have also added a dogwood, a miniature Japanese maple, a red bud and other various plants and a stone patio.  

This past week our neck of the woods saw rainy day after rainy day.  I don't normally complain about the weather and I usually appreciate each season for its own unique beauty and the gifts it brings with it for our natural world.  However I was beginning to long for some sunshine.  Saturday morning arrived sunny and gorgeous after a long rain all night.  My morning began with taking care of some overdue chores like cleaning bathrooms, cleaning a cat box, getting some laundry going and cleaning the kitchen.  After several hours of chores I began to feel grumpy and irritable and I looking longingly out the window.  When I finally headed to our backyard to do some yard work there were still vestiges of the doldrums hanging on.  As I began to plant some new flowers I'd been given for my recent birthday, and as our whole family worked together to finish clearing up some downed limbs into the green waste can or our wood pile, all the gray feelings dissipated and my disposition grew as sunny as the day.  


After hours of hard work I grabbed a refreshing beverage, a magazine to peruse and I went and lounged on a patio chair.  Ahhh, "Now this is the life!" I thought to myself.  I also ticked off in my head the many of the ways I am so incredibly blessed in this life.  

Now before life in the Fairchild household begins to sound unbelievably idyllic and peaceful I feel it only fair to share that there are times when I am in the "zone" of gardening and my twin daughters will scream, cry or begin to fight over some game they are playing.  Shrieking children do not really fit into my peaceful garden world and this can be a struggle for me.  Whining and shrieking children have the same affect on me inside the house too.  In my perfect world I would be grooving to good tunes, painting, writing, gardening, dancing, swimming (let's ignore the fact we don't have a pool) and enjoying a peaceful environment. We can't always have that perfect peaceful world, especially when we share our space with significant others, children and pets.  

When I really begin to struggle with a chaotic (and messy) living space that sets my nerves on edge I try to take deep breaths, remind myself of what is really important, remind myself that this particularly annoying situation won't last forever and if all else fails I can choose to do one of several things.  1) Engage the children in laughter, dance or some such fun to change the energy and mind set in the room.   2) Go outside to soak in the natural world or at the very least look outside.  3) Take a brief time out in my bedroom or my art room.  4) Retreat to the bathroom and hide for 5 minutes.  5) Grab a book, run a hot bubble bath and have quiet time reading for an hour.     


I have also contemplated for many years the following quote:  "peace. it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.  it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." 
~ unknown

When I consider this quote I know that I have a ways to go in being able to remain in the peaceful mind set no matter what is thrown at me.  


Do you have a peaceful place?


Is it a place that you can count on to help you relax and/or feel rejuvenated?


If you are feeling anxious, stressed or unsettled are there things you do that help you to relax, unwind, or feel better?


What if you are in a funk or feeling grumpy?  Are there things that lift your spirit and help to center you again? 

All photos from the "Fairchild park."

Mojo Monday ~ Time

One afternoon after having picked up my twin daughters from school and arriving home I began to shuffle through the piles of paperwork they had in their folders.  Only in kindergarten, each day they usually still come home with a stack of completed worksheets, art, newsletters, homework packets and various event and activity announcements.  Since school started in August we have already sold Ducky Derby tickets, raised donations for a Jog-A-Thon, purchased school t-shirts, put in an advance order for a school yearbook, ordered reading books from Scholastic to raise money for their class, donated snacks a couple of times for the classroom and I’ve gone on two field trips.  I actually love seeing their completed work and “ooh and ahh” over their art and the field trips with my daughters were wonderful.  I wouldn’t have wanted to miss them for anything.  Yet on this one particular day, as I saw requests for parent volunteers for the upcoming Harvest Festival, the sign-up sheet for parent conferences and yet more announcements, I felt like I was either going to cry or hyperventilate. 

In the midst of this new role of kindergarten mommy I still work a 40 hour job Monday through Friday and I still pursue my writing and art interests.  The last two are simply a big part of who I am as a creative person.  There are at times other events that come into play.  The most recent was preparing for my mom’s 70^th birthday party.  It didn’t help that I went through a melancholy state prior to the big event.  Fortunately my creative and artistic sister-in-law sent some much needed inspiration my way and before I knew it I was in full blown creativity mode putting together photo posters, a memory/photo book, and a slide show.  It was all fun and I loved the reason for doing it.  There was however also a moment, much like the hyperventilating/crying episode, where I told my husband in the kitchen, in the midst of the mayhem of a dog, a cat and two very busy and talkative five-year-olds, that I felt more like a human doing than a human being. 

The act of going through loads of family photos to create a memory/photo book also made me take a good long look at the passage of time and how it all flows and moves and spirals along.  There was nostalgia and this thought that in some regards the passage of my mom’s 70 years on this planet went by so quickly. The same goes for my 42 years.  It seems like my five year old daughters were just babies and I do know that, in what may seem like just a blink of an eye, they will be teenagers and then adults.

Perhaps it was divine intervention or synchronicity working its magic, but I happened to receive a newsletter from a Buddhist publication called Tricycle Magazine.  Honestly I get so many emails that some days I just go through and delete anything that isn’t from a human being I actually know.  This time I happened to take the time to peruse the newsletter and a book by Lama Surya Das called Buddha Standard Time: Awakening to the Infinite Possibilities of Now was featured.  The synopsis caught my interest and I ordered a copy.  I felt a little desperate to learn how I might better handle time.

The very day the book arrived I read the introduction that night in bed.  I had to laugh out loud when only on page five the author writes this (note the bold section is my emphasis, not the authors):

“One of the main obstacles to making peace with time is that we tend to experience it linearly: we keep moving forward, doing and accomplishing things, rather than just being.  We are human beings, after all, not human doings.  It costs us dearly to live only on the linear axis of time.  We lose connection with our deeper and most authentic selves, too often mistaking mere movement for purpose and meaning.  We adapt to a fast and faster tempo that keeps us feeling busy, but rarely with a sense of accomplishment.  Staggering forward on a treadmill of events, we gather momentum until we lose any sense of how to stop.  We are expert adapters, but the complexity and speed of our world require something other than merely adapting to its pace.”

In the introduction the author also shares these thoughts to which I found myself shaking my head in agreement:

“Many of us feel that the modern efforts to save time have backfired, bringing onerous new problems of their own. Our technological advances and constant availability have blurred the line between leisure time and work. No sooner do we wrap our minds around a new computer program than it becomes obsolete. We can end up wasting precious minutes stuck on the phone with someone on the other side of the world, trying to figure out how to reset the computer brain in our dryer, or stove, or espresso machine. It takes time to learn how to do online banking, connect with friends on Facebook, master the complexities of smartphones and GPS units, and download a best seller to our e-readers. When Excel crashes and the work is lost after we’ve spent an hour entering data for a deadline, our blood pressure skyrockets. There’s even technology to fix stress created by technology. I recently learned of an experimental Google feature called Email Addict that shuts you out of your inbox, forcing compulsive e-mail checkers to give it a break.

Don’t get me wrong. I think we’re living in an amazing age, as miraculous and futuristic as anything out of Star Trek and Jetsons episodes of my youth. I love being able to talk on my laptop face-to-face with someone on the other side of the world or to download a book or piece of music in a minute. The problem for a lot of us is figuring out how to disconnect from all this intensity for some peace and quiet. And how much of the time-related stress in our lives comes from trying to accommodate every single person who wants a piece of our day? Do you suffer from the “disease to please,” striving to satisfy all those who make a claim on your time? Many of us are torn between the desire to be generous with our time and the need to conserve our own energy. It takes only a few seconds to read a 140-character Twitter message, but the cost of the total distraction lasts far longer. The thinner we spread ourselves, the more we skitter over the surface of our lives, never going deep. And since we can be tracked down just about anywhere, anytime, it seems there is literally no escape.

In the pages that follow, I’ll teach you how to wean yourself from the addictions that sap time and energy, to clear out all the debris and distraction—in much the same way that a snow globe becomes calm and clear when you stop shaking it and allow the flakes to settle. You’ll see, for example, that we can stay at our desks or in a traffic jam and, however momentarily, genuinely give our attention to the present moment as a way of finding inner peace.

I want to show you how to coexist peacefully with the inevitable, the inexorable march of time. As a Buddhist, I’ve long studied the question of how to live authentically and joyfully in the present moment, and how to remain mindful, centered, and harmonious no matter what challenges come my way.”

In my own head I am shouting “Yes! Please show me how to find inner peace and coexist peacefully with time!”

As I’ve delved deeper into the book here are some excerpts I have highlighted and would like to share:

“If we cultivate clarity, detachment, and equanimity, we can learn to remain still and calm amid the torrent of commitments, no longer our over scheduled lives to rob us of the time we need to recalibrate and connect to the natural world, ourselves, and each other.  For time moves on whether we are hurtling through life or savoring it.  The big transformations can take place outside our daily awareness, until a stark reminder catches us up; hearing the new crack in the voice of a teenage son, perhaps, or seeing the unwelcome surprise of a gray hair, or wondering how it ‘suddenly’ became winter.”

“In my lectures, I always advise people to spend some time outdoors every day, even if only taking on e deep breath out of the window or star gazing on their way to their front door…When was the last time you felt the supportive, accepting vital energy of our earthly mother?  Was it when you were a child, lying on your back in the grass?...Nature is the original fountain of knowledge, beauty, sustenance, and spiritual inspiration for all people everywhere,,,And then when you get a chance, go outdoors and find a quiet place to experience that moment of grace.  It is a choice to go through life with a cell phone in your hand. Disconnect yourself from the wondrous gift of our technology often enough to remember that natural wonders have always existed and have always brought solace.”

“Don’t discount the possibility that you are putting unnecessary pressure on yourself…Ask yourself, Will it really change anything if this gets done a little later, or tomorrow?  If not, relax and work out a realistic schedule. IF so, keep going, but intersperse the task with brief exercise, meditations, breath, or phone breaks, and don’t worry that they’re keeping you from your work, because they’re not: they’re enabling you to complete it.”

“One study indicated that in the busiest, most fast-paced modern American cities, people were the least likely to stop in the street and exhibit basic helping behavior, whereas slower-paced cities, such as those in the South and Southwest, exhibited more such altruism.  It’s been theorized that cognition narrows through making haste, and also that as the speed of life increases, ethics becomes a luxury.  As Rumi, the sublime Persian poet and mystic, wrote, ‘Come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love.’”

Creating a sacred space is another suggestion of the authors and he describes his own practice this way.  “For over forty years, I have always kept a little altar or shrine of some sort, made out of furniture, logs, stones, cardboard boxes, crates covered with cloth, or whatever was handy and fitting.  Such a space helps focus my meditation as well as my energies and daily home life.  Now I have a meditations room in my home and I sit there first thing every morning for an hour, and sit there, however briefly, at night too…On the altar, I like to see a peaceful Buddha statue and some flowers or fruit offerings, incense, perhaps a crystal or special mirror to remind me of the timeless, ever-shining innate light of Spirit.  Sometimes, during the day, I just cruise by, wave, and say hi to my teacher’s picture and the icons on the wall – just to cheer myself up.  It’s like putting myself through a little karmic drive-through car wash, and I come out brighter every time.”

In the closing chapter Lama Surya Das shares these thoughts:

“When you make peace with time, and are not hurried and harried, you will find that room mysteriously opens up for new possibilities.  Each moment is a doorway to the divine state of grace.  Patience is a facet of the jewel of love, allowing enough time to create intimacy in relationship rather than experience them as ships passing in the night, which rushing through life is likely to give you instead.  Mental calm, centeredness, and clarity provide a healing, nourishing pause in the frantic activity of our lives.”

Last, but not least, the final chapter closes with the author’s Ten Tips and Pointers for Befriending Time.

1. Rest in the breath while letting go of all thoughts, concerns, plans, worries and preoccupations.
2. Be mindful of the physical sensations you feel right now.
3. Feel the good earth beneath your feet or the seat that cradles you.
4. Chant a mantra or sacred phrase again and again, with pure, undivided concentration and focus.
5. Make eye contact with another being, and feel compassion and loving-kindness for whomever you are with.
6. Smile at someone, hug someone, or help someone.
7. Go outside and make contact with nature through the sky, clouds, trees, a flower, a body of water, the earth between your fingers, or any other manifestation of the magnificent natural world.
8. Read sacred words from the world’s wisdom traditions and scriptures.
9. Take a bread, a sacred pause, an “honorable rest” – whether for Sabbath or just for an hour or two – at least once a week, if not every day.
10. Listen to music, sing, dance, create, pray, and play.

Now breathe, smile, and relax…You have time.

So has the wisdom of the book sunk in yet?  Am I feeling more at peace with time?  Am I likely to hyperventilate any time soon?  The first step I have taken, which is the author’s first recommendation, is to turn to nature for my grounding.  I have always loved nature.  I have always found some peace in just gazing at a scenic natural view.  When life gets busy, even doing this can get cast aside.  There are times like today when I went for a walk through the neighborhood with my daughters.  We marveled at some of the giant leaves lying on the ground.  We stopped and watched some birds at a neighbor’s giant bird feeder.  I pointed out some mushrooms and a gnome almost hidden in another neighbor’s woodsy front yard.  When we returned home the three of us raked leaves in the back yard.  It is cute what can entertain and amuse five year olds.  After creating piles the two of them then had a ball jumping in the leaves.  My heart was happy at watching my daughters enjoy such a simple pleasure.

And sometimes, when time feels more fleeting, I am merely reminding myself to stop, take in the view of the sunrise, or my backyard bathed in the golden light of an autumn evening, or marvel at a gaggle of geese flying above, and simply gaze.