Deepak Chopra Quote

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” I believe he’s right on, and the questions are what is stillness and how can it be achieved?

Starting from a young age, my personal life has been punctuated with movement and chaos. Somehow, I’ve been determined to rediscover stability, sanity, awareness, understanding of the ebb and flow of life, faith that I am part of a greater force, and gratitude, so that I could embody more moments of stillness or calmness and peacefulness. I think the process for this is active in that it ultimately combines all of these elements and, for me, requires many practices involving meditation, exercise, dance, music, reading, writing, art, mindful breathing, growth mindset, pausing, space, etc. The gamut! I find that accessing stillness is a daily journey.

Perhaps the space in and around this Intersection can be interpreted as stillness.

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Choral Art Form

Individuals forming a group with a single, unified vision, making something beautiful, singing out, and expressing the “The Power of the Collective Voice”. (Title of Nick Storring’s article in the Fall/Winter 17/18 issue of InSudio Magazine.) Similar to the composer and conductor Eric Whitacre, my favorite part of this Virtual Choir video is the magical moment when the 2 women connect and the “music blossoms”.

Civil Rights Icon

Sequentially, in referencing Rep. John Lewis and the January 15, 1918 episode of “The View”, he said, “I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward. I want to continue to be part of an effort to make America one, where we lay down the burden of race, burden of hate, and create one society, one people. My philosophy is simple - when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something, say something, to speak up, to speak out.”

Truly a powerful mission and way of life. Regardless of whether themes are similar or not, each of us embodies a rich history of unique circumstances and experiences and must find ways to express ourselves, speak up and speak out. And, in doing so, sometimes the past needs to be acknowledged.

I Have Something To Say:

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On The Record

Such a well done, compelling, captivating, and important movie! Relating to the power of the #MeToo movement, Drew Dixon said it’s time to acknowledge the plunder and burden of black women and not just focus on the plunder and burden of black men. Brava to her and the other featured women for standing up and expressing their truth and acknowledging the breakdown of the black male/female dynamic. (Regardless of race, I still think women are the most disenfranchised group on this planet.)

The Guest House

Gosh, not feeling so peppy today. This is one of my favorite poems by Rumi:

“This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

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Peppy

I woke up this morning feeling this way. Perhaps it’s because of the scrumptious dinner I had last night with my dear son at one of my favorite, newly-reopened restaurants, the bustling street, embodying a deeper understanding of the collective state of affairs and my role, affirming that all is in divine order and unfolding in accordance, however strangely, and/or passing through various limiting transits per astrological chart and sensing I can move forward. Whatever, it’s a welcome state for the day.

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Haircut

This afternoon I zoomed over the Golden Gate Bridge super psyched for my 2PM Marin hair appointment. Five months between haircuts is an anomaly for me, and I was in full anticipation of a different style (other than baggy all over) and feeling like a renewed woman. After parking, donning my mask, and activating the meter, I excitedly walked to the half-opened door of the salon only to be told by another stylist that mine had gone home because Gavin Newsom issued a new mandate to close salons. Utterly stunned, I checked my phone and read the text message from my stylist 19 minutes prior saying “So sorry, I cannot do your hair, just found out, and it’s immediate.” Hmm, a text message notification while en route. What happened to a phone call? Immediate? Really? I sat in my vehicle looking at the 3 open stores (2 clothing and one optic) flanking the closed salon and observing the irony as, in the optic store, a customer was a foot away from the salesperson presenting and adjusting glasses. It took me a while to process my multitude of feelings including dismay, disappointment, and anger at the messy state of affairs, nonsensical directives, and not getting my hair taken care of. For the entire shelter-in-place, I’ve been at greater risk in Whole Foods and other stores deemed “essential” then I would be at a 2 stylist salon. I acknowledged what I was feeling and experiencing, reminded myself the importance of resilience, adapting and changing to curtail the stress, and that, regardless of restrictions, I am free and still have the power to choose how to respond.

When I got home, I checked the internet and the quote in one news outlet was, “We are moving back into a ‘modification mode’ of our original stay-at-home order,” said Newsom. “This is a new statewide action, effective today.” Could she have kept my appointment and cut my hair? With less than 20 minutes to go, I believe so as he said today and not immediately which, by the way, would have been unreasonable. Fear is so predominant and prevalent now. Maybe that was in play along with wanting to do the right thing to be safe. And, maybe also in play was divine guidance and protection. Still, it remains a mystery when I will actually get a professional cut.

Viruses Are Not Actually Living Organisms

A friend shared Dr. Zach Bush’s Facebook post, and I’m passing it on because it’s really good. I LOVED the full interview/ podcast. Finally clarity, and integration of science and nature for transformation of humanity and the world. It corroborates my thinking that the “manufactured war” on COVID-19 combined with “Warp Speed Vaccine” is misguided. In listening to the podcast/entire interview, along with the stark scientific information, I was surprised and touched by the positivity.

https://www.facebook.com/ZachBushMD/posts/1569972916513144