Mercy

My alarm clock is set to WRR, the classical station here in Dallas. On Sunday mornings, there's a variety of religious (Christian) programming. That can usually make me jump out of bed to turn it off quickly, but lately I've been staying in bed to listen to Dr. Stan Copeland of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church.

He's a "good ol' boy" from East Texas and he's funny and self-deprecating. He preaches from the Bible, and his message this morning was about forgiveness and mercy. As I listened, I thought about the Buddhist tenet of compassion. It's the same message of tolerance and respect for all human beings. It's a simple enough concept to understand, but practice can be difficult!

There are so many things that divide us: money; class; culture; ethnicity; Dallas or Fort Worth (kidding!). Religion is often the most divisive element in the world. I like to think about our similarities instead of our differences. We really are all one. Hinduism calls it "The Self." Jung called it the "collective unconscious." Joseph Campbell posits that, if one light bulb burns out, is the light gone? No, the light is still there - waiting for another light bulb to illuminate. We're all the light - every one of us - though we seem like individual "bulbs."

It's really hard to remember our similarities, as our differences can seem so much more apparent. But I think it's interesting to think about, and hope that anyone who reads this thinks so, too.

Peace.

Inspired by how Obama's inspired America

It's been absolutely forever since I've updated this blog. A lot has happened, and not happened, to me, and I've been out of touch. But now, I feel that opportunities are arising - not just for me, but for many of us who have heard the call of service to our communities. If President Obama has any effect on us long-term, I hope it's that more Americans stop worrying so much about acquisition of wealth and think more about spreading it.

My dream as a Life Coach is to help people connect with their innate humanity and live more meaningful lives. We've lived in a culture of consumerism for so long and it's not healthy for us or the planet. So many of us have heard the call, but there are so many causes. What will we choose? The poor, the homeless, abused and hungry children, lost and helpless animals, the environment, and the list goes on. I'm just one little human being! What can I do when there's so much to be done?

I want to help people find their place and their passion - to give some guidance to help them help others. My contact info is on the blog - if you want to talk, please contact me. Together, we may possibly change the world!

Susan

The Dark Empty Sky

We should always live in the dark empty sky. The sky is always the sky. Even though clouds and lightning come, the sky is not disturbed. Even if the flashing of enlightenment comes, our practice forgets all about it. Then it is ready for another enlightenment.

-Shunryu Suzuki, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"
From "365 Buddha: Daily Meditations," edited by Jeff Schmidt. Reprinted by arrangement with Tarcher/Putnam, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

Meditation

Sleeping, sitting, walking,
Nothing good or bad befalls me.
I sleep, I sit, I walk,
And I am happy.

-Ashtavakra Gita 13:5

From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom, 1990. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston. www.shambhala.com.

Islamic Fashionista

Rabia Z designs women's clothing, striving to combine her religious and cultural values with a modern sense of fashion. In Islamic tradition, women's bodies and hair are covered to convey the virtue of modesty. However, most women still want to look feminine and pretty. Rabia Z targeted this niche market by offering beautiful fabrics, flattering cuts, and lots of designer details.

She's been very successful because she perceived a unique need and filled it. It came out of her own desire for modern clothing after deciding to cover up in 2001. On top of that, she is fulfilling the general human desire to contribute to her community. As she says in the video, the world sees very little but negative images of Islam. She is showing a positive side that I think most of us, especially women, can relate to.

Ran across this video on Current TV - if you haven't run across this cable channel devoted to "viewer created content," you're missing out. I almost always learn something new, or get a different perspective on a topic. Click on the title above to watch.

Peace.

Waste

I recently ran across this little product and, somehow, it's bothered me beyond all reason. It's an ice cube tray for making ice for water bottles. Now, I realize that many real sports people use reusable bottles. However, most everyone else buys bottled water, drinks it, and throws the bottle away. So, to my mind, we have materials being wasted to produce an accessory for a product that's designed to go into landfills!

A few plastic recycling facts from www.earth911.org:

• In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 23 percent.
• That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills.
• According to the Beverage Marketing Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006 that number jumped to 28.3 gallons.
• It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to manufacture a year’s supply of bottled water. That’s enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars.
• Eight out of 10 plastic water bottles become landfill waste.
• Plastic bottles take 700 years before they begin to decompose in a landfill.

I'm sticking to Dallas tap!

Approaching a Problem Creatively

I'm reading Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It's a marvelous story of a man who unexpectedly finds his bliss, then goes through an extremely "up and down" (literally and figuratively) journey to accomplish his goal.

So, I was interested to see an article in the New York Times (http://tinyurl.com/4x2jsf) about U.S. women's colleges seeking to attract women from the Middle East to their schools. Their problem: Enrollment in women's colleges has declined within the U.S. Creative Solution: Think differently about recruitment - "If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain." (http://tinyurl.com/4ty65n)

We get so stuck in our same mindsets that it can be really hard to imagine creative solutions to challenges. These colleges, instead of focussing solely on their traditional recruiting methods, went outside of themselves to find new solutions; and, in doing so, are creating educational pathways for women who might not otherwise have access. It's a winning situation for all!

That's my bliss - through helping others, I help myself.