Zazen Zen – a meditation of self-reflection

I’ve decided to end this year of blogging and self-reflect about my blog before the next season.  You might say I’m doing this in the spirit of Zazen Zen (a form of meditation that is about looking at yourself for self growth). 

My mind is spinning with ideas and perhaps considering a theme I could write about next year.  This past year, I’ve been randomly selecting words with the idea of sharing “words of wisdom” to my grandchild.  (Note: I technically could be one but my kids are more focused on school than thoughts of getting married or me being a Grandmother).  But, again I’m drawn to having a blogging year that is a little more focused.

I’ve got two ideas.

I’ve decided to become a new moon heart meditation facilitator.  I’m currently studying and will be inviting a small group of women to my home to begin student teaching in January.  Each new moon is focused on a selected card from the Goddess Deck.  I think this would be interesting how the alphabet selected words would fit in with this.

I am also interested in a Goddess Circle in California and how they have named their full moon months and year (water and flow).  This could also be another focused way to select the words.

There have been several outcomes from this blog that I’m proud about:

1) I have actually finished this.  I clearly admit I’m the Queen of not completing things, especially creative things.  And, by writing this final entry – I can’t say this about my blogging project.

2) I’ve found some like-minded people via the web.  I have found people out there in the world who may worship differently, but are tolerant of those who march to a different drum.  Or are willing to read my views with an opened mind.

3) I’ve claimed who I am.  I never have pin pointed who I am spiritually.  I am a chameleon to different people because I’ve been afraid.  Well I’m not afraid for being a CCWWW.  It’s who I am.  There is something to giving yourself a label and the power of not letting others do this for you. 

4) I’ve thought about Motherfather Spirit each week.  Not in a help me or save me way – but branching out to see the Zeal of ordinary, the wowness that is happening around me.  My eyes have been opened to things I’ve needed to learn.  I’ve embraced that which I often forget to see.

5) I have found that much of this spiritual blogging is ending up in my fiction and poetry.  The two seem to feed off each other – the non-fiction and the fictional prose.  Reflecting back on my other short stories and poems – when Motherfather Spirit has an undercurrent the piece seems to be really liked.  And, most often accepted by other people of faiths.  So – the bottom line a universal message is coming forth and it isn’t about me.  I am the vessel for this to happen.  (It isn’t about me.)

I want to thank all my readers this year and their inspiring comments.  What amazed me were the countries your came from – places I have only seen on PBS or National Geographic’s – very cool.  You have been my cheerleaders to finish this project to the end.     

I want to thank my fellow PBP bloggers.  Thank you for allowing me to read your wonderful pieces.  You have pushed me to become a better person.  You have opened my mind to new ideas and places I need to explore more.

Ritual of ending a project.

White Candle

Frankincense essential oil

Anoint your candle with the essential oil putting into the candle thoughts of thanksgiving to Motherfather Spirit and earthly people who helped you complete your task. 

Verbally thank Motherfather Spirit and all the people who helped you.  Then light the candle saying:

I light this candle symbolizing my thanks to all who helped me along the way to get ______ done.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

Allow the candle to burn down in a safe place.

Zeal Living

Plum Tree and Blue Magpies by Toshi Yoshida

Haikus by Kobayashi Issa
Don’t worry, spiders,
I keep house
casually. 

Just simply alive,
Both of us, I
And the poppy



I've been thinking a lot about magical living.  To me, its living life with zeal.  I'm not talking about a zeal where people are so focused on moving energy and being wild frenzy about letter writing and marching; I'm talking about having a zeal for the ordinary that is happening around you that is often going unnoticed.

Its the kind of zeal you feel when you sit back and watch a spider float down and every once in a while you catch sightings of its ghostly thread.  And, you sit there as the spider gracefully descends sailing back and forth in the breeze.  When the spider finally lands in the grass you say wow.

Having zeal means you can be excited by the ordinary.  You can feel the magic crackle at that very moment.  It is like walking in the woods and stopping to watch how the sun filters through the leaves and looking at the light and dark patterns it makes on the ground.  Or standing back and watching the bees hover around the roses or scraping the jelly pot for the last bits that didn't make it into the canning jars.  Or wonder how the birds flying outside your car window follow the music playing on your radio. 

Yes, this zeal to me is about ordinary times when I feel connected with Motherfather Spirit.  These little moments when I feel alive and part of something bigger.  These times I feel most grateful for living.  Zeal living is like eating the first tomato off the vine in the summer - it is something that needs to be savored.

One of my favorite poets is Mary Oliver  She is the Queen for pointing out this zeal of the ordinary.  I think she captures this moment in her poem "The Herons." 

The Heron

Mary Oliver



Herons in Snow by Shoson

This morning

the beautiful white heron

was floating along above the water

and then into the sky of

this one world

we all belong to

where everything

sooner or later

is part of everything else

which thought made me feel

for a while

quite beautiful myself.

Sacred Phrase Yum

@BEMS

As a girl, I knew Christmas season was here when I opened my front door.  A certain perfume of spices would greet me.  The other clue was my Aunt’s rusted Pinto station wagon would be in the drive behind my Mom's rusted red van.  I'd  quickly glance at the snow level on their windshields and this would indicate that today was the day.  My Mom and Aunt had been baking for about 8-9 hours straight while we were in school.  My family dining room table would be covered with goodies: Georgia Pecan Chewies,  Grandma’s favorite coconut cookies, Swedish S almond cookies and these chocolate meringues with a hershey kiss that would melt when they hit your tongue.  I could imagine my mouth filled with this thick soup of goodness.  There would be plates of jeweled colored candies dusted with a thin layer of powdered sugar.  Each gem color having its own unique taste: cinnamon, wintergreen, peppermint and clove.  The sugared treasures would last well into the spring.  I'd stand at the end of the table still dressed in my thick winter coat and hat and go: “Yum.”

~#~

Some of our most powerful memories are associated with smell and taste.  The olfactory nerve, responsible for smell, in evolutionary terms is our oldest sense.  It is one of the senses that we have in common with bacteria.  This rudimentary sense enables us to respond to chemicals around us.  (Think of opening up the jug of soured milk – what is your response?)  Another cool thing about this sense, it can regenerate.  As you age, your other senses wear out – you have to wear bifocals, you may have to wear a hearing aid – you will still have smell.  You will still be able to smell the hint of apple blossoms during the spring; and smell a chocolate cake baking in the kitchen.

It fascinates me how these smells seem to be wrapped around my memories.  Scientists believe is because of where the olfactory is located – next to our memory maker the hippocampus.  This closeness may be the reason scent is mixed with memory

~#~

In my earlier essay on Love Champions, I wrote about the heart chakra.  One of the seed mantras for the heart is "Yum.”  Yum in Sanskrit means compassion and love.  

How is it Yum – which I associate with yummy goodies and happy memories be also the seed mantra for the heart chakra?  How is it that this meditation phrase about love and heart energy is also what I’ve learned to say when I bite into a chocolate cake with Hershey frosting and think of all the wonderful women who have baked this for me. 

When I say it do I reinforce this memory with love?  When I think fondly on my Mom and Aunt’s day of cooking and baking – did I reinforce that memory each year as a child with the sacred phrase of Yum?

~#~

Yesterday I went to the candle shop at the mall.  I caught a whiff of the blended Christmas scents and for a momment I was transported back to my parent's dining room.  I was there again looking at the goodies and the plates of multi-colored jewels. 

It was a momment of love - a momment filled with comfort and a little girl's joy.  And, again I said, "Yum" reinforcing this love that is bigger than my childhood's memory.

Yorishiro – Honoring the spirits at WOW sites

Totoro.org

Yorishiro - A place inhabited by the Kami (spirit) or a place where Kami have been invited to come.

Six years ago I traveled to Japan to visit a relative.  One of the things I remember about this very different place was something I valued in my CCWWW practice: honoring my connection with earth, ancestors and the spirits of the place.  Touring the major cities, I discovered forested parks and quiet green spaces in-between traffic and noise.   These places were alive and I could immediately feel the WOW energy.  Throughout these parks people had decorated trees with flags or ceramic bowl with a single flower. 

One of my favorite movies is My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki, 1988).  The animated film takes place in post war Japan.  It follows a story of a professor and his two daughters and their move to the country.  The house is closer to the hospital where the mother is being treated for an illness (i.e., most likely cancer due to the atomic bomb).  The move away from the city the girls discover the spirits of the place – one spirit Totoro who is the keeper of the forest.

Besides the adventures the girls have with the magical spirits, one piece of the film touches me.  The father and daughters are hiking into the forest and come to a large tree.  It is an ancient tree.  It is a tree that would take two or three people together to get their arms around.  The father stands reverently and bows; and the two girls mirror the gesture.

I have found myself often reverently bowing to places and trees even before my travels to Japan.  When I hike, I often leave an offering to the place.  This past summer hiking at Emerald Lake I was so moved by the place I left my ring.  I tossed it into the lake with an offering of thanks.  I think of my Ash tree and how I would tie brightly colored ribbons in her arms.  When I go to my family farm - I hug the ancient Oak.  Their spirit reminds me that I'm connected. 

 ~#~

It is interesting that between some cultures there are similarities.  My neighbor has just set out her two potted pine trees by her door.  They are decorated with white tiny lights.  In Japan at this time two Kadomatsu’s (i.e., pine gate) are created and set out on either side of the front door.  The decoration is to welcome Kami into the homes.  The decoration is also to welcome the God of the New Year.  The elements of the Kadomatsu are chosen to symbolize what the person would like in the coming year: longevity, prosperity, steadfastness and respectively.   

~#~

Saturday Activity

Create Kadomatsu for the front porch – more to come.

Two pots - look in the garage

Fresh greenery

Xena: A Path to Queendom

“Every man gives his life for what he believes ... one life is all we have to live and we live it according to what we believe.” ― Joan of Arc

“Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind.” – Elizabeth I, Queen of England

"Xena is this warrior. She goes around saving people and righting wrongs. It's all pretty sappy, but she seems to get her kicks out of it."-Autolycus, Xena: Warrior Princess

During the Nineties, I watched several episodes of Xena: The Warrior Princess (1995-2001).  Finally, there was a female hero narrative that pushed the limits of Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman (1975-1979).  Xena was smart, sexy, strong, independent and opposite of the original Disney three.  She didn’t tolerate “power-over” (Starhawk) structure that the Disney Princesses existed as they waited for their Princes to save them.  Xena was a social changer and redefined what women could do.  Xena relied on her own skills to get out of obstacles. 

I think one of the reasons that I didn’t stick with the show was the warrior aspect.  I wasn’t into waving a sword after my experience with the “go-go purse.”  It wasn’t that I wouldn’t defend myself physically, but it didn’t fit me.  I felt a calling more like Morgana in Marion Zimmer Bradley -The Mists of Avalon.  I was more of a negotiator and interested in changing energy from snarky to love - or composing a letter that was addressing social justice and pressing send.  I also wanted a real role model – flesh and blood not fiction.  I wanted someone real who’d guide me into becoming a Queen with either path I chose.

~#~

According to Joseph Campbell there are two ways a woman can become Queen.  You can take the path of Faerie/Amazon (Xena) or Wise One/Medial (Morgana).  Either path, a Queen still begins life as a Princess (Hernández, 51).  Either path, there is a requirement for training based on trials, tests, successes, and failures.  Either path requires perseverance to grow.   To become a Queen is hard work.

~#~

~#~

My first psychic reading I was in my late twenties.  The woman asked me if I had seen Fields of Dreams (1989).  I shook my head yes.  "Well," she said, "remember that scene where the wife (Amy Madigan) gets up in the PTO meeting and defends the book that some parents want to ban."  I shook my head yes some more.  "That's you."

I must have had my "Yea Right" look.  Because she tells me this is how I will be in my forties.  I will grow into this type of person. She felt this was how I go around righting wrong with the world.  I wouldn't do it with a sword but with a pen and my voice.

I wasn't convinced.  I hated to get up in front of people.  This was why I chose policy work in public health rather than being in front of the classroom teaching.  The thought of standing up in front of people made me feel like I was going to throw-up and made my hands feel cold and sweaty.  I could barely read off index cards without 1) sounding laughable like the speed turned up on a record player or 2) lose my place on the index card and repeat the line over several times or 3) start to see blue dots in my peripheral vision. 

She then told me I needed to work on my throat chakra.  She made a recommendation that I should sing in the shower and take a public speaking course.  My throat chakra was pretty weak from how she saw it.

Then she asks:  "Do you write poetry?  I think you should write some haikus."  I didn't know where she was going with this.  "You could do poetry readings and haikus were short and sweet."  She then shared with me two places to read.

~#~

Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership.  The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others.  If a leader can't get the message across clearly to motivate others to act on it then having a message doesn't even matter." ~ Gilvert Amelio

~#~

If you don't know much about the throat chakra - it is considered the center of communication.  It isn't just about talking and listening, but how you are able to express yourself in a physical and creative sense (e.g., art, music, writing, or dance).  The throat chakra is thought to be one of our emotional centers.  You know when you get a "lump in your throat" when you are sad - you are experiencing your throat chakra in action.  The throat chakra is also where we speak the truth and take responsibility for our words. 

A balanced throat chakra is an essential quality needed in a strong leader.  A strong throat chakra helps a leader get the message across through both words and non verbal skills.  A strong throat chakra can persuade and arouse the emotions in others - empowering them to join in getting the task done.  A strong throat chakra can help a leader remain fair and impartial and open to hear other ways to solve problems.  A strong throat chakra makes a leader comfortable sharing information and talk decisions through.

~#~

Pinpointing why there was a weakness in my throat chakra had to do with how I was raised.  I was told a child is seen not heard.  Growing-up my opinions were not valued due to my age.  Additionally, I was told if you didn't have something nice to say - don't say it.  So when it came to speaking out about something that was wrong - I was in conflict with how I was raised.  It took hard work to wear these beliefs down.

As I said before - becoming a Queen is hard work.

~#~

Tools to help strengthen you throat chakra

Wearing a turquoise gem stone

Wearing blue

Color, knit, paint, play the piano - do something that expresses how you feel

Sing along with the radio

Practice reading poetry out loud

Xylophones, drums and horns – Make a Joyful Noise of Thanks and Wow

Xylophone Player by Daniel 'Nshira' Akortia

  “Hail to our mother, who caused the yellow flowers to blossom, who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.”  Hymn to the Mother of the Gods, Teleoinan, at sacred-text.com

“THE radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendor like the waves of waters.

She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and, rich, hath shown herself benign and friendly.”  Hymn to the Goddess of the Dawn.  Rig Veda, tr. by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1896], at sacred-texts.com

Growing up in a musical household, any Psalm about musical instruments playing or singing was adorned and identified as most sacred.  These were the Psalms about thanksgiving and praise.  There was a lot of scheming and plotting done in the back pews about adding musical accompaniments to the reading.  Mainly it revolved around seeing the “church ladies” wearing their Sunday Uniform get all in a tizzy.  Clashing drums and tooting trumpets weren't part of my church’s worship service – only organs playing dirgey hymns that would make you yawn.  My family felt the place could use a shake up or at least a gong?     

My first exposure to Yule celebration was from my next door neighbors.  I was a solo practitioner at the time.  My neighbors told me that they were having a party and it would be loud and they left it at that.  I assured them it would be okay.  The walls were thin that night and I could hear the songs and drumming and the recorder and guitar.  It wasn't just a little party and the songs weren't the dirgey songs of worship I grew up on.  They were joyful and full of thanksgiving.  I lit my Yule candles to their merriment and song and felt blessed that evening.

~#~

Psalm 150

1 Praise the Lord.[a]
Praise God in his sanctuary;

    praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;

    praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

    praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,

    praise him with the strings and pipe,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,

    praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

~#~

I was on my way home from work last week and caught the tail end of the NPR interview of Anne Lamont.  She was talking about her new book about prayer (Help, Thanks and Wow).  It got me to thinking about which prayer I lean to?  Which prayer does my Circle focus on?  If it was a bar graph the Help would be at 85%-98%.  And why is that?  

I tramped around the snow at my family farm Thanksgiving weekend and did some soul searching.  I watched the pheasants with their white collars look for field corn.  I said wow.  I went to the oak tree that had been topped over from the July windstorm.  This is a tree that I can’t wrap my arms around and the roots now exposed.  Again, I said wow.  My Uncle hugged me goodbye and I was very thankful of his company.   

Sunday night back home, I finally sat down to draft my portion of Yule.  I reflected on changing things up.  I decided to focus my theme on thanksgiving rather that wishing.  I thought about the play list I recommended to my circle and resubmitted my request - Copland's Simple Gifts and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G.    For fun, Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor - Xylophone.

What to Wear? My LBD

One of my friends has been in the process of designing a ritual robe.  He has been e-mailing his designs to me and several friends.  We have all been providing him feedback.  His taste is traditional with a modern twist.  It’s a long tailored black robe that has a belt. 

As a girl growing up in the late sixties and seventies, I had two uniforms to wear to church: winter and summer.  My winter uniform was a dress purchased for Christmas Eve service and new black patent leather shoes.  My summer one was purchase for Easter service and usually white and pink number, gloves, hat, white purse and new shoes – white patent leather.  In the early 1970’s my mother made me a pants suit to wear for Easter service.  I felt really hip in this light pink floral material.  It had bell-bottom pants and a tunic.  In retrospect, my mother probably got heck from my Grandma as I danced around in my new outfit for church eating chocolate marshmallow eggs.  In my Grandma’s rule book, only men wore pants to church.  If women did wear pants, it was for cleaning and gardening.   Another addition to her rule book, women could never be ministers.

~#~

Historically, clothing has been worn to protect the body from environmental factors (i.e., cold, radioactive hazards, rain) and worn to satisfy social modesty.  Clothing has also been worn to show one’s status.  In the case of Sabbath garments, these are special clothes that traditionally have been associated with ritual – a uniform per-say.  When we put on the uniform, according to Dr. Galinsky it can “affect how others and how we think about ourselves” (Blakeslee 2). 

In my recent survey of the web, there seems to be a wide range of interpretation of what ceremonial clothing should be.  There are the skyclad folks, traditional plain hooded black, natural, or white linen folks, renaissance folks that includes kilts, multi-colored capes and velvet dresses, movie folks (i.e., Lord of the Ring, Harry Potter, Star Wars), traditional witch with high-top black laced shoes and pointed hat folks, and the come as you are folks dressed for the season.  If you were to ask everyone why they choose their garment, values and attitude would be the underlying theme.  Some people dress for comfort and like the way the garment feels.  Some people have chosen their garments based on an agreed upon standard within their spiritual circle or covens.  Others, the garment displays their individual style showing the world what makes them unique.  But in all cases a phenomenon occurs, when putting on this uniform we prepare for entering sacred space and time.

I feel that ceremonial clothing should be a personal choice.  It should be a reflection of the wearer; however it shouldn’t be a distraction from the ritual.  The whole Sabbath will be turned up-side-down if the focus is on what a participant is wearing.  Example:  Someone shows up skyclad with flowers in their hair and everyone else is in hooded white linen robes.

My Circle is eclectic when it comes to ritual wear.  Only recently, I've taken to wearing a LBD with a shawled black jacket, black hose and black patent leather pumps (winter) and sandals (summer).  I find it simple and elegant for the urban CCWWW and expresses Coco Chanel (1926) intent that fashion should be functional and chic.  I find my LBD has versatility allowing me to wear jewelry, black scarf worn in Grace Kelly style or floral corsage indicating the season.  My dress also provides me anonymity as I walk from my car to someone’s house carrying my potluck dish.  My LBD, I feel is a modern interpretation of the traditional witch.  More important, when I put it on I can feel myself change mentally.  I feel ready to create magic - participate in that which is sacred.

I have found some folks are intimidated by wearing black.  The color tends to bring up bad experiences, the opposite of white (i.e., goodness) or ultimately death.  Truthfully, I use to think this way before becoming a CCWWW.    Now I see black as potential.  It’s like looking up the night time sky and anything can emerge – like a shooting star or a blue halo around the moon on a crisp winter's evening.  Without the dark womb, the night or the black loamy soil there would be no new life.  When I wear black – I feel like I’m wearing hope.  I feel the magic of new beginnings.

~#~

Things to think about when choosing ritual clothing

1. Can you move around or do you feel restricted?  Think wedding party – can you do the twist and raise your arms in the outfit?
2. Are you working with fire?  Consider your fabric choice - will it catch fire easy?  And blousy sleeves and capes can you keep these under control?
3. Are you going to carry an athame?  Consider wearing boots or wearing a belt.
4. Do you have to carry anything - matches or runes?  Consider an outfit with pockets or wear a small purse
5. Does the outfit make you feel sacred?

Reference:

Blakeslee, Sandra. Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat.  NYtimes.com 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

Activity

My Circle celebrates together with a potluck meal.  Recently, we realized that the meal was turning into a diabetic’s nightmare.  We now plan out to make sure it isn’t all desserts.

Salad out of the bag

Ingredients

1 bag mixed baby greens

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

Dried cherries (bulk food section)

1 lemon and zest

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

8 ounces of blue cheese or gorgonzola (small plastic box)

Empty greens into bowl to the top add dried cherries, pecans and cheese.  Shake in small Mason jar lemon, zest and olive oil.  Dress salad before eating.

Words Unspoken



Starhawk

“To live with integrity in an unjust society we must work for justice. To walk with integrity through a landscape strewn with beer cans, we must stop and pick them up. “ Starhawk.

“Systems don't change easily. Systems try to maintain themselves, and seek equilibrium. To change a system, you need to shake it up, disrupt the equilibrium. That often requires conflict.” Starhawk.

A couple of weeks ago my son came home and described what happened to one of the foreign exchange students.  The student is a friend of his.  My son described how his friend was in class and the teacher began blaming his country for the first and second World Wars.  My son wished he was in that class to stand with his friend.  Most of the kids in that class either laughed at what the teacher was saying or did nothing.  His friend felt alone.  During another class, he asked a girlfriend why she didn’t do anything when this happened.    Her response was - she didn’t think the foreign exchange student was so sensitive.  “He’s a guy right?”

~#~

I’m almost finished re-reading Starhawk’s Dreaming the Dark.  I keep coming back to the second and third chapters about “power-over,” integrity, interconnectedness and ethics. 

I find myself often rejecting the way things are.  But, the bottom line is: I have choices and the choices I make effects the way things are.  I can do nothing or I can raise my voice or be an agent to make change.  Or as Starhawk says: pick up the beer cans.

I really realize I can’t call myself a CCWWW – even if I practice solitary – and not be an activist for social justice.  It’s part of the belief system and tradition that I’ve signed onto.

~#~

During supper my family discussed what happened in school.  I posed a question: “If you were in that class and a teacher was acting this way, what could you do?”  Both boys came up with a laundry list of things they could have done: standing up to the teacher and talking about what our country did during WWII to Japanese citizens or how the abuse in Abu Ghraib was allowed to happen; or excusing themselves to go to the bathroom and get another adult.

I immediately drafted a letter to the school expressing my concern.  And, shamefully it has sat as a draft in a word document.  This has nagged at me: “What if no other parent said anything about the incident.” 

Researchers who study the dynamics of bullying say that most bystanders are passive.  They don’t do anything.  Most of these passive on-lookers don’t like what is happening, but for whatever reason don’t speak up.  This provides silent acceptance and the bullying or power-over behavior.  

I re-read my Green Dot entry.  I re-read my draft and reflected on why I didn’t send it.  It centered on being labeled the complaining parent.  And again, what if no other parent says anything?  Am I reinforcing the status quo?  I cut and pasted it into an e-mail to the principal and the school board.

Summer KAL Update

BEMS - KAL Summer Scarf

As you can see – this is my wonderful scarf that is being donated.  The proceeds of the sale will go to Cat Welfare.   This organization helps orphan kitties find new human friends. 

Thanks to all who contributed by giving me the next color to knit.

Solar Oak, Meryln, Maria, Jean, Diane, Criag, B, Adrienne, Tom, Amy, RC, Adrienne, Beth, Kathy, J, Joyce, Roberto, F, Z, Norma, Walter, H, Naderah, Kim, Betty, Debra, Nancy, Linda, Avonell, Rayma, Dorothea, Deb, Rainbow, Phoenix and several friends who wanted to remain anonymous........

If you participated in this KAL – please share.  Would love to see your scarf.

Changing the world’s energy one task at a time.

Next project after Yule?

Love Champions - Sightings

Runners Embrace Chance to Help Residents Recover

If the New York City Marathon had not been canceled because of Hurricane Sandy last week, Michelle Leichtling would not have found herself in a grief-stricken neighborhood on Staten Island on Sunday, trying to salvage a stranger’s soaking-wet wedding album.

Macur, Juliet. Runners Embrace Chance to Help Residents Recover. The New York Times. 4 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/sports/marathon-runners-embrace-chance-to-help-storm-stricken-new-yorkers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Mirror Mirror on the Wall Spell New Research

More Plus-Size Models Could Change Women’s Obsession With Thin Bodies

British women's obsession for thin bodies could potentially be changed if advertising showed more plus size models, suggests a preliminary study published November 7.

Journal Source:  Lynda G. Boothroyd, Martin J. Tovée, Thomas V. Pollet. Visual Diet versus Associative Learning as Mechanisms of Change in Body Size Preferences. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e48691 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048691

Durham University. "More plus-size models could change women’s obsession with thin bodies." ScienceDaily, 7 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121107200146.htm