more music for my soul

was at The Met to watch La Boheme 

& South Pacific at Lincoln Center

what a treat!  

Mahala's photo of Pembrokshire Castle, Wales

be your own True Self

to be nobody - but yourself
in a world which is doing its best,
night and day, to make you everybody else -
means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight,
and never stop fighting

~ e.e. cummings ~

I saw this on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHU0BTGHe3g&feature=related - music is truly a universal unifier!

don't take ANY thing personally

the trick is not just to not care what others think

but not care either what you yourself think

success comes the other way around than what most people imagine. . . .

First, you decide you will succeed. And then that's the time that the means to succeed will manifest for you.

Neat huh? Trust that this is so. . . .& even if you don't. . . .test it & see.

be careful what you ask for !

when it comes to ascension & evolution. . . .

it is an internal combustion - a burning up - a conflagration

whether stuff we wish to get rid of or whatever else - we are in the fire of it!

easier said than done !

All of life is choice and that choosing creates your destiny.

You are free to choose what you will.

~ Gurudevi Ahalya Running Deer Mahakali ~

what do these phrases invoke for you?

fire keeper, light bearer, peace maker, story healer, dream weaver, spiritual warrior, empowered being, Master of my Universe

or this definition for perfection - a combination of elements in harmony and balance

search to give

get clicking and start giving!

To enroll your favorite registered non-profit (including local groups such as schools and houses of worship), conduct your searches via http://www.goodsearch.com/ and they will donate half its advertising revenues to the designated group/s.

Grateful in Atlanta

for someone who has foresworn large cities and metropolises. . . .I love my visits and working in Atlanta : )

Yesterday we had a Yogin Christ ReikiTM Circle and it felt so good to connect with all my students and to see how much they've grown in their professional and personal YCReiki practice. It sure is delightful to be so useful!

my life !

never doubt that you are a great spiritual being. . . .having a human experience. . . .ha ha ha!

Here are some snippets taken from an article I came across with some tips that touched me. . . .hope they warm your heart too.

Sunday’s meditation by Goswami Kriyananda was on “Overcoming Obstacles on the Path.”

The first thing we have to address is our body. A healthy body is essential to having faith in yourself. You must be comfortable in your body and within your own universe to reach enlightenment.

Secondly, Kriyananda points to laziness, what he likes to call confusion, as another obstacle. We must remove laziness from our life and never allow ourselves to become exhausted. This can be done with our attitude toward our work. We must find joy in everything we do. Ask yourself the question, “What do I want to accomplish in this lifetime?”

Thirdly, scattered thoughts and daydreaming can be an obstacle. By meditating and turning inward we can find what these daydreams are really saying and make our daily life more exciting. Kriyananda said to always keep one foot glued to the earth.

The fourth obstacle was mental chattering, similar to the previous obstacle. To overcome this we must, again, meditate. Kriyananda suggests spending time in meditation and said that if for just 48 seconds you can be comfortable within yourself, you have succeeded. If your are uncomfortable with yourself, you feel inferior and your bring your self to the lower chakras, further from enlightenment. Find your dream and your joy and follow it. Don’t feel like you have to go to some far off place to find it; make your home an ashram.

The fifth obstacle Kriyananda mentioned was doubt. Many people doubt God because of the modern churches. He points out that it is all about YOU. You are truth. Can you trust yourself? If you don’t, depression can set in.

Lastly, Kriyananda pointed out memory as an obstacle. He said we often hang onto negative memories and forget the positive ones. We are strong enough to not let these negative memories or those of others affect us. Do not let other people affect your. It’s about you and your reaction to the world. Choose to reverse your karma by reversing your reaction. Do not get caught up in others’ karma.

In summary, Kriyananda says that we are our obstacle. He said to be happy and be the master of your own mind. We’re all here to learn and to love (ourselves and) others skillfully.

Filed by Ashley Mastandrea on October 21, 2008

election day !

on a global scale. . . .

http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/results

present earth changes

in case you're wondering why you're feeling the way you're feeling lately. . . .

Read up on: 2012 - The Transition of the Ages Ongoing Update and Analysis - http://www.ourultimatereality.com/2012-transition-of-the-ages.html

Or check out this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbewGohciYw

a sure-fire way to "go viral"

Marshall Kirkpatrick has a great post over at Read/Write Web about keeping momentum. In that post, he describes one technique - make yourself a public case study.

". . . .other vendors follow up announcements by publicly using their own tools to deliver high value resources that demonstrate how valuable those tools can be. This is easier said than done but it's the best way to follow up momentum from an announcement that we know of. Two of our favorite examples are Slideshare adviser Dave McClure's slideshows about what startups in general should know about and the graphic design tutorials made by SaaS design tool company Aviary.

These are the kinds of media items, built with the company's own tools, that get passed around to audiences far wider than just those who would be interested in the companies themselves. They demonstrate though, just how usefull the tools can be. Instead of marketing to one thousand people who might be interested in Slideshare or Aviary, these resources reach audiences of hundreds of thousands of people, of which a smaller percentage but larger absolute number of people will be interested in the company itself.

Got that? After a launch event, follow it up by using your own product or services to create a resource that "goes viral!" No problem, right? Of course this is much easier said than done and is done poorly far more often than it is done well - but nobody said any of this would be easy."

more fall glory

Back in September, in reply to a blog post, I wrote. . . .

Ancient scriptures say, life is measured by the breaths we take, but now the Masters say, life is measured by the moments that take our breath away. . . . What if, in the grand scheme of things, these are the dots in our life's tapestry? Then, in nurturing more of this precious moments, we can connect the dots easier. : ) Ahhh, when our Spirit is nourished, it sure is easier to capture (& sustain) the beauty in our web of life!

Today I find my breathless moments in the spectacular colors of Fall! E-N-J-O-Y! ! !

home sweet home

Labels & Lids

A label puts a lid on whatever it is that's being labeled.

From Information Architecture to Knowledge Architecture

The simple answer is that knowledge is information plus various kinds of contexts and so knowledge architecture starts with information architecture (organization, navigating, labeling and retrieval of information) and adds different types of intellectual, personal and social contexts.

A context is something that gives meaning and depth to information. Rather than try to define context further, let me tell you a story. Recently, I was at a doctor’s office and the doctor came out and told a young woman that since she had changed her appointment from the following day to today that he wasn’t able to get her charts. He repeated that information and waited for a reaction from the young woman who, since she didn’t have the context that would give meaning to that piece of information, remained silent. She didn’t know if the doctor’s information meant the doctor wouldn’t see her, if the appointment could be held but wouldn’t be as productive, or if she needed to do something. The doctor knew the context, which was twofold: Not having a chart meant that the doctor would be less effective and that he would have to work harder to elicit information from her.

The doctor transmitted the necessary information but not the necessary knowledge, and the result was a complete lack of understanding. I can only hope that the doctor was better at communicating context in the actual interview. Perhaps if the doctor had a button that she could click on (Explain, or More Info, or What Does That Mean?), the woman would have understood. In other words, if there had only been a knowledge architecture supporting the interaction.

Knowledge architecture then is the attempt to create an intellectual infrastructure that can support the organization and retrieval of not just information but sets of related contexts around information--contexts that change over time and with different dimensions of applications.

Knowledge architecture deals with a richer, more multidimensional intellectual universe of discourse and through that richer universe, must deal with the shifting chaotic world of applied information, i.e., contexts of actions.

Tom Reamy is chief knowledge architect for KAPS Group (kapsgroup), a group of knowledge architecture consultants), e-mail treamy@well.com.

Alan Cohen on the Economy

An ancient Chinese blessing wishes recipients, "May you live in interesting times." Well, we now have the answer to that prayer. Actually, all times are interesting, just in different ways.

During the last week and month the economy seems to be at the top of most people's list of urgent issues to think and talk about. Today the U.S. government is issuing a new policy to deal with the economic upsets of late. Below are some suggestions on how to get to a better feeling place about the economy, and generate practical results for yourself and others.

Here is my six-point plan. I am not an economist, and frankly I don't understand all of the complexities of the current market. I do, however, understand the relationship between thought, belief, feeling, attitude, expectation, identity, and practical prosperity.

So here is my six-point plan, which will surely work if you apply it:
1. Vision, 2. Trust, 3. Reframe, 4. Reset Priorities, 5. Circulate, Milk Every Moment.

Read the full details here - http://www.unityfc.org/alancohen.html

Autumn in New Paltz NY

intense yellows, burnt oranges, brilliant reds

the breath-taking & heart-warming pallettes of Fall in New York

Nature weilds her magic, reminding us of our innate divinity.

Love Play – A Path of Presence and Transcendence: Dr. Patti Talks to Bernie Prior, Master Teacher of Pure Tantra

Our Nature – not just our path to enlightenment

Our innate and deep attraction to the masculine and the feminine is because it’s the root of our way home to the Source, where our delight and our love and our pure pleasure and our peace reside.

Simply, what it means is that we have conditioned our minds and our response to life from the belief that we are all linear, egoic beings. Whereas that is something that we have added to ourselves over thousands of years.

So we consistently look through our past interpretations and our future hopes and dreams, yet never really knowing and understanding that each individual man and woman is already themselves and The Self. The pure Self is manifested as masculine and feminine.

And the attraction is, of course, when any of us experience love directly through that attraction, in the loving, there is neither masculine or feminine, there is only the love, and that is the Self.

http://www.bernieprior.org/

Greatness is not encouraged . . . . because greatness is relative, and that’s very hard to industrialize.

The Sudbury democratic school has been used as the model for 40 other schools around the world. One of them, Fairhaven School of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was featured in a documentary called Voices from the New American Schoolhouse. The trailer gives a glimpse at what the Sudbury model is like from the perspective of the kids attending.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgpuSo-GSfw.

Here we are - the Yogin Christ Reiki™ chapter of Columbia, South Carolina!

from L to R that's moi, Joy, Barbs, MWT, Jeannine, Pam, Maggie, Debbie, Dan, Mary

It was a drive of over 3 & a half hours - one way. But so well worth it! The gang were so eager & open hearted.

Barbs & Jeanine are close friends & biz partners & it was Barbs who first found YCReiki on the web & told Jeannine to check it out.

Jeannine went to our site but signed up for Gurudevi's Karttikeyan Yogic Method(TM) course instead & for some reason Barbs ended up missing both classes.

So they both got their gang of health practitioners together & created this class for themselves. How neat is that?!?

To learn more about Yogin Christ ReikiTM, go to http://ycreiki.blogspot.com/.

The Joy & Delight of Chanting

Chanting may be considered speech, music, or a heightened or stylized form of expression.

Devotional chanting is the spiritual practice of chanting the Name of God.

Its proper practice is neither for ritual or recreation. It is best that the chanter remains alert and awake while fully tapped into Source.

It is done to acknowledge the gifts received, to show our appreciation and to experience our connection to the Light.

So why do you blog?

From Chip's Blog: The Mechanic & The Muse

Here are seven reasons I joined the millions who communicate through a form that is part reverse diary, commonplace book and soapbox.


1. Blog items respond to a rapidly changing media landscape. I like the way blogging lets me tackle multiple topics in a day or through the week instead of focusing all my time and energy on one weekly column. It's the difference between being a beat specialist and a general assignment reporter. I can write on subjects that draw my attention. I've written about journalistic subjects and pointed readers to repositories of stories that represent best practices. But I've also written about fiction and memoir, two forms that are passions of mine. Like Cream, the '60's mega-group, sings, "I feel free."

2. When I blog, my standards are lowered, always a key element in producing writing that can be revised, even after it's published. A blog, by its very nature, is more informal than a column and less freighted with the expectations that a metro or sports column can impose. Blogging hasn't made me indifferent to revision or accuracy; it just makes the process of generating words less susceptible to the inner critic. In a recent radio interview, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins talked about his art, and it helped me understand why I like to blog.

"The real thrill is composition," Collins said. "To be kind of down on your hands and knees with the language at really close range in the midst of a poem that is carrying you in some direction that you can't foresee... It's that sense of ongoing discovery that makes composition really thrilling and that's the pleasure and that's why I write."

3. I'm my own editorial board. As a newspaper reporter, I was trained to keep my opinions out of my stories. In a blog, I can be as opinionated as I want. Case in point: my no-holds-barred reaction to the James Frey-Oprah's Book Club fiasco. I feel free to have an opinion and share it.

4. Change is vital. Wise editors realize that a reporter can burn out on a beat and so they switch their assignments, knowing that a fresh pair of eyes will benefit the writer and readers. They feel free.

5. Blogs are not new, but they're still on the leading edge of communication technology. I've always been an early adopter and I don't want to be left behind. In a time when reporters and editors are blogging on their news organization's Web site, I feel free to be part of this experiment.

6. Let's face it, a blog can also be a great marketing device. I've posted examples of my own writing, some published and others that have yet appeared in print, along with books I've written or co-authored with links that make online purchasing a snap. Like most writers, I harbor the dream that an agent or publisher may see commercial possibilities in my work.

7. To paraphrase Kafka: my blog is the ice-axe that broke the frozen sea within me. It has helped me find myself again as a reader and writer. It has set me free. Blogging is like having an office but also keeping a studio where you can experiment, take risks with your craft, and share your discoveries with others.

Some things won't change. I'll always be grateful for comments, questions, story suggestions, and most of all, your companionship.