Peace of Spring Memories, llvl

Yesterday, I remembered the Spring coats April used to bring. Mom would sew wonderful light wool coats in marvelous colors. Locally, it’s very difficult to buy wool like that, these days. (Not that I’m allowed to buy any more fabric… I love fabric, I just shouldn’t be allowed to despoil it!) One of those many times I turn to ask Deb what she remembers… Mom never made Tom Spring coats! (bet he’s jealous!)

But in thinking about them, I thought about the reality of Spring. We didn’t expect Spring to turn to Summer immediately. I don’t think I’m remembering wrongly. I think weather changes were more gradual then. There was such excitement in the unfolding. We certainly got tired of winter, but embraced the cool blustery days.

Is there, I ask myself, a certain urgency to accepting things as they are, realizing that if we insist on the world being as we want it all the time (as if we can insist on weather!), we’re growing unwilling to make the changes (the cutbacks) to arrest global climate change. We’ll pay a huge price if we don’t. And we won’t be the first ones to pay it. So, I’m going to look for the right clothes for the weather we’re having… and keep thinking about ways to respond to climate change that aren’t simplistic and kneejerk… things that are meaningful… I guess the first step is waking up, paying attention.

But maybe I at least have a Spring colored scarf! That will help me do the work I have to do… ah well. today i’m wearing stripes… because I’m off to Head Start with my Sweet Pea to read a book entitled Stripes of All Types for their PA 1 book of the year.

New Beginnings Peace, llvl

It seems to me that Spring is a season of delight and expectation, balanced by (equinox remember) deep disappointment. It’s still cold and it’s still grey. Never mind that a look at the almanac is pretty clear that cool, grey, rainy weather’s the norm for April. We want it to be warm, and somehow damp and 55 isn’t cutting it for us. And that many of those flowers we’re long for aren’t really due until may. And when they show up early, as fun as it is… it probably means the weather’s a bit out of whack.

And I’m longing as much as the next person. But part of writing this blog is being honest with myself about what is true. And that’s that the way we live, particularly those of us in the first world, particularly those of us in THIS part of the first world, want what we want with no thoughts about impact.

So, can we enter Spring differently? hmmm. I probably need to think about this, write about this. Living la vida local isn’t all sweetness and light. It’s paying attention to what’s real and true. And doing what’s best for the community. Ah those challenging places in between… Here it’s not so much about finding Peace, perhaps, as making Peace… How will we do that?

April (Tax) Fool Peace, llvl

Some days it’s just about churning through the work. I’m lucky enough to be going away with my sweet pea for vacation… but I’ll be away over the 15th… sooooooo. Taxes due today. Really hoping there won’t be any unpleasant foolishness! eek.

But getting things done — that year’s worth of stuff sorted and and stuffed back into the right categories — gives a body pleasure. Nope, I’ve tried doing it month by month. Takes a bunch more time and causes a lot more anxiety. Not worth the effort, but thanks.

And it’s not like I’m actually responsible for DOING my taxes. Thank goodness for Kim, my April best friend. And that makes me a lucky woman, that I can do that…

I might wish that my taxes would pay more for social services for people rather than corporations (although I certainly use any tax breaks I get). Looking at the not-quite 10 cents a day I pay toward SNAP, I’m trying to balance that out in my charitable life…

But the bottom line (taxes are all about the bottom line) is that I live a very good life. And I’m grateful indeed.

Here’s to making Peace with all those pieces of Paper!

Labyrinth Kid Peace, llvl

Labyrinths are magic for kids… and as Lenore says, as long as they’re in their socks, big deal if they run like crazy. And they do. In and out and in and out. It’s rarely silent either, but… it’s fun to watch. They all settled down for a comfortable little conversation. Who knows what that earnest young man is talking to the toddler about?

Meditation tools… they work their magic in many different ways. I find simply stepping onto the mat is soothing to me and I’ve almost always got some insight by the time I’ve wandered into the center and out again. For me it’s a great period of self-reflection, breathing in, breathing out. But that’s not the way kids work, usually… however, there remains something healing about the right turn, left turn, into your center and out, whether it’s walked slowly and deliberately or at breakneck speed. And sometimes, quiet happens.

I wish you all labyrinth Peace… and hey! Peace of the last day of March!

Circle Singing Peace Sabbath, llvl

Yesterday I sat with 15 people and we sang together. No one knew what we were going to sing until a leader started the song. Every song started slowly and tentatively until we’d really learned it and then it would soar and weave until it died away.

This morning, I can’t actually remember anything we can sing, but I can clearly call to mind (heart, body and soul) how it felt to sing.

We started the process with listening. Wonder as the singing started, and then with attention as we learned the song line by line. And then, the great unfolding. Oh, to sit still and sing, sing, sing. It was lovely…

When I lived in California and A Communion of Women met weekly, we sang. Chant after chant. Chants and songs I’d written, chants and songs others had. It was healing! And back here, I haven’t done that much. These songs were songs most of us didn’t know and we went and went and went. Those songs were songs we didn’t… sometimes that meant that the singing was extended, sometimes it meant it was curtailed, and still we sang.

Often my focus is on the world’s Peace, or my community’s. Yesterday, the work was inward facing… and I loved it. Thanks Wendy Luella Perkins for your visit from Ontario. Thanks friends for the singing Joy/singing Peace. What a way to bring in the Sabbath.

Balancing Peace, llvl

I suffer (and therefore so do you) from intensity overload. I have focus but it tends to be all consuming. But working on an issue or a problem is more than simply laser focus. It’s about the down moments not just the exhilaration.

Peace doesn’t get made without being able to laugh at the missteps… and the successes.

Peace (Life? Love?) is an experiment. So let us do the work, but let us be filled with wonder when things move in the right direction. Let’s not be afraid to fail, because our failures make us smarter. Peace isn’t all or nothing, it’s what you have to work with now.

Finding the balance. This is our one precious life. Spend it wisely… and have a whole lot of fun. Because things will go wrong, you will be sad, you will screw up, and the fun and the great Possibility are what will enable you to come back to the Work of Peace. Find your balance, the trail is steep…

Team Peace, llvl

I read a great (and depressing) article in the Atlantic the other day that said that no one’s giving Venture Capital to people over 35. While I know I may have had good ideas at that point in my life, I would never had been as daring or as far sighted. And, you know, good ideas are not grand dreams!

And I was far more competitive.

And thanks to some great therapy and some great years, I’ve moved to a far more complementary working style, a collegial one, wherein i’m responsible for my work and I look for the ways your work props mine up (and my work props yours up) and then we go calmly (and sometimes excitedly) about changing the world. I’m excited that you’re so smart rather than being worried about your being smart in areas that I’m not. (although I continue to be jealous maybe envious of your talents in those areas in that wow how does he/she do that kinda way.

But when team work works? It’s amazing. And I’m grateful and pleased and proud. And happy to acknowledge the places you make life different and better and wonderful. And I don’t have to stew about the things I can’t do, because you’ve claimed them. You toss them off and it would take me 12 years to get them done. Thank you for being you and for letting me be me..

Not only Peace happens, but progress… and wow, isn’t that what we’re looking for? Let’s keep the water flowing over the dam, shall we?

Community Peace, llvl

We hear, we say, it takes a village. And it seems this is true. But what’s also true is that, with hard work and clear statement of the problem, there is a village. Community forms around causes. Communities are generous and like doing good.

Yesterday, sitting in the studio at WKOK, talking about the need for weekend backpack programs and my faith community’s decision to raise money for them. I was doing the ask. I asked for people to donate. And they did. I asked for people to provide a matching grant. And someone did. At the end of the day yesterday, $1,695 was in the bank. Since November 2013, with our push just starting, we’ve raised $15,000 (until yesterday, most of that came from within the congregation) If you figure it will take at least $250,000 to feed the elementary schools we’re 6 percent there. We may need to get to 20 percent before we get to writing a grant… and of course, and sadly, this isn’t a one time deal… this is an ongoing need.

What was clear at the end of the one-hour program was that people were willing to step up and support their village. You just have to ask. And when you do people respond. Do we need more people? Why, yes, we do. Do we believe that more people will participate? Why, yes, we do…

Am I overwhelmed, grateful, excited, bouncing off the moon? Why, yes, I am. Stepping up and working together is how we will make Peace in this place and make this a Valley Where No Child is Hungry. And that is a confirmation of what I’ve always believed. People want to help. You just have to show them how. And when you do, they break your heart open in joy. Oh, Hallelujah! If you want to donate, go to Love Flows: The LOVE Project (Let Our Valley Eat) and make a donation… or if you’d like to be a matching angel… write to me (find me at contact us). And in the meantime, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Let’s go! Kids need your help. You are the best!

Cusp o Peace, llvl

Back and forth and back and forth… can’t you make up your mind? Oh right… you’re the weather, you don’t have to. And yet, the Sun’s changing what the North Wind refuses to acknowledge… here comes Spring, cold weather notwithstanding…

Even as I huddle against it (and superstitiously leave my snow shovel outside to ward off the snow… don’t laugh — have YOU had to shovel around L-burg lately, I don’t think so!), I notice the determination of the crocus (playing through!) and the tips of the complacent willows (so turning colors, here!). The sun is implacably moving north and life changes.

So, I’m frantically looking for spring colored clothes to wear that are not ALL black but still manage to envelop me in warmth… because 20˚ is after all 20˚!

But something’s coming, something good! I think Deb Slade has once again done her magic and shown the promise in the water! Thirteenth week. One-quarter of the year (or will be at the end of the week) through this Living the Vida Local… I’ve been seduced by my local Peace, how about you?

Serendipitous Peace, llvl

What makes these things possible? Presence? Discipline? Sheer, unadulterated Luck? All of these? I don’t know.

I know I am humbled and grateful.

I would love to believe it’s my little village, but it’s not. Villages and Cities are filled with wonderful interesting people everywhere. It may be true that it’s easier to see one another in small towns… I can believe that. And I don’t know that it matters.

I’m here and for whatever reasons, I’m connected to amazing people. People who when we notice that children are hungry step up. I’m grateful every day for the team I get to work with. Caring people and very, very smart. And not just smart, but ingenious. There we are… making things happen. Things that need to happen. Things that matter. You don’t have to be the best at what you are, what you dream… you do need to be disciplined and consistent. You do need to be, dare I say it, earnest about your dreams and your determination. Earnestness translates; it sells. And selling is what we’re doing.

No one is going to feed hungry children unless you offer them the opportunity and give them a place to pay. It’s that simple… I didn’t always understand that, but there it is.

I believe fervently that we can do work that makes our hearts explode in our chests wherever we are. Yes, sometimes it’s that overwhelming. Yesterday was one of them. I adore this artist. If you’ve followed my work, you’ve adored her as well… She’s the woman who did the Peace mandalas for last year’s musings. A wonderful artist. She lives here. We show up at the same events — last night at Steve’s Musical Mash-up. She’d been there last week and we’d talked about mandalas, about the LOVE project, about doing a project together. We brainstormed words and phrases (while listening to our neighbors play astonishing music).

And then this week she came back. She’d played with words and found three that work. She taught me how to look into her designs and then she told me how her designs move. In and out; around. The designs are gorgeous and her explanations completely germane to the work we are doing. And so we will go to work… And this will be one more way to step up, to be socially active, to feed children… and one more way to think about what matters. And for us, it will be one more way to use our arts… to explore them… to apply them… to collaborate… for good, for community, for Peace.

Oh may your lives be this joyous and filled with magic! I am awed and grateful that mine is.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

The Priestess Is In