i'll try to get it done quickly because someone told me tonight that i often am posting really late.
sunday was a wonderful half day meditation retreat with two really really sweet teachers from Santa Clara University. it continued today and 3 more weds. evenings. it is so much fun and i think maybe there is a relationship between the classes and my energy level and accomplishment around the house.
sunday night i forget i had theatre tickets. that involved several phone calls to readjust and make sure that jackie could come along to the new dates as well.
monday was erev sukkot, the festival of booths. i picked up the lulav and etrog from Alef Bet Judaica where Nurit is the proprietor (i am 3 days older than she is!). the lulav is the collection of the palm (for spine), myrtle (for eyes) and laurel (lips) plus the etrog (a citron) are used for some blessings ins the sukkah, an open structure which reminds us that the Israelites wandered in the desert living in temporary housing.
tuesday was a work holiday (the joys of working for a synagogue) but i went to the sukkot morning service. it was a small but dedicated group (i got 10 extra points for calling that the John and Yvonne would attend). service was fun and a bit silly and we all went for breakfast, to Bill's, one of Linda's favorites.
in the afternoon i got a lot done around the house in terms of laundry, sheets, getting to the post office, faxing final estimates to the insurance company to complete the homeowner's claim...it felt very good.
today was first staff meeting in a long time. overall it went well. got a lot done overall but it felt busy because we are down one staff person the rest of this week. then the meditation class where we did some sitting, some eating of chocolate, some reading of Thich Nhat Hanh, and then we rummaged in the kitchen because the teachers really hadn't had dinner. the orange salad with candied walnuts and pomegranate seeds was totally fabulous!!
home late and ketzl is now outside for a bit.
the weather is amazing...cold in the morning but it's been warming up so nicely.
tonight is also the Presidential debate. it is difficult for me to watch. i'm listening to the rerun on PBS in the background. one candidate is so distorting things. guess who?
some interesting insights from the readings and discussion at class tonight:
when one works hard to confront a negativity or sadness, it has more power. we give it more power. if one says, as one teacher explained we could have a conversation: good morning, my little sadness. you are my friend. we will have a cup of tea and spend the day together.....when you do that, it leaves more room to appreciate the good things that are not the sadness or the pain. we are all grieving something...one of the teachers had debilitating repetitive stress like having barbed wire covering her arms. when she appreciated the small steps in which she could start doing new things, she was not so focused on the ongoing limitations. it's about the balance and perspective on what is going on. pain/loss/suffering is all part of life. it is not their existence but how we react to them...and when we do with mindfulness and awareness and breath, it changes their grip on us and allows us to heal where we are able.
i'm looking forward to the coming week, to next week's class and to sharing "Mindful Grieving" with them.
tomorrow is the havurah gathering in the sukkah at Shir Hadash. i hope it's fun. this weekend is "No on 8" in a lot of places. 3 weeks from yesterday is election day. and we continue to watch the markets going rather wacky. we live in interesting times, that's for sure.
