We took our cat, Mae, to the emergency vet hospital on Sunday night. She was passing blood through her bladder. It was alarming to both of us. Her behavior before that was a little off. We thought maybe she was stressed from us being away the week before. But after seeing the blood, another thought came to my mind. I wonder if it’s cancer?

Her brother Buddha died from cancer in 2020. It was a quick connection in my mind. Would this be the last time we held Mae?

While they were caring for her at the vet hospital, we sat quietly waiting for the bloodwork and exam to be completed and the news to be shared. Breathing in and out. Staying hopeful but definitely concerned. In short order, we were called to an exam room where we met with the doctor. She told us that Mae had a urinary tract infection and we would receive medication for her treatment. She would be much better in 24-48 hours. The relief was palpable.

We returned to the waiting area. We were different people than the two who walked back to that exam room. An older woman with her dog had been sitting there before and was still there when we returned. She noticed the difference. She said something like…”I didn’t want to say anything earlier. You looked very concerned.”

I thought…how sweet. To have observed and allowed us to be without interrupting. And then to notice and say something when the coast was clear.

If only we could more often be so aware of others and allow them the space to be where they are. No fixing, no lifting the mood, no distracting from the moment. Just sensing and allowing them to be.

Bravo to the woman in the waiting room at the vet hospital on Sunday night with her little dog that could not stop scratching. I hope you are peaceful and at ease.

Paula

One more post about my trip to Pennsylvania.

Seeing the sunrise is special. I saw this from the back porch one morning, resting with my tea in hand. Isn’t it something?

Just sitting there and this happens! Right in front of my eyes. Exquisite. I sat a while longer and something else happened. This.

Rain comes when it will.
The sun rises at its own pace.
Clouds thicken and break apart.
Birds call back and forth.
Church bells ring announcing the new day.
Early Saturday morning on the back porch.

Sigh.
Grateful.
Paula

If you read my previous blog, you know I was recently in Pennsylvania visiting my mom and sister. They are experiencing a drought. While we are literally swimming here in Southeastern NC, they have gotten so little rain my sister has not mowed the grass for five weeks. Yes, five weeks.

And guess what? A miracle happened. Flowers grew while the grass stayed stunted. I mean look at this!

You may call them weeds, but to me, they are incredible flowers. My mom looks out the window every morning admiring this view. My sister might mow the rest of the yard this week but has decided to leave the flowers for now. They’re too beautiful to mow.

So, what’s the message? What is the wisdom? You decide.

Much love always
Paula

There are always chances to practice going with the flow. Two examples.

I was in Pennsylvania this past week to do a project with my brother and sister. We reinstalled pavers and built elevated planter boxes so my mom could continue to garden without having to get down on her knees. The first day when we arrived, we looked at the project together and made a plan for how it would work out over the next three days. Who would do what, when and how.

Early the next morning the plan shifted a bit. Instead of picking up all the lumber, we would start with the corner posts and layout. Once that was done, I could follow the next day with the pavers before the boxes were built. The next day there was a brief shower in the morning so laying the pavers was not going to work. We switched it up again and finished the planter boxes and hauled the soil to fill them. Pavers and final trim on the boxes happened on day three. No complaining, no one attached to ‘their’ plan, just going with the flow. It worked out perfectly.

Second example: I was scheduled to fly back to Myrtle Beach on Monday afternoon. Nope. Flight canceled, presumably due to Hurricane Debby. No re-booking options for many days. Now what? My brother was planning to drive back to Charleston on Tuesday. He moved his plans to Monday afternoon after taking care of a few loose ends on our project. We left around 3pm on Monday. We made it to Mt Airy and got some needed rest. Traffic was light and the sun was shining on the six-hour drive to that point. On Tuesday around 11am, Renee picked me up near Fayetteville and my brother hopped on I-95 to Charleston. Yes, my car is still at the airport in Myrtle Beach, but I am home safe and my brother had company on most of the 10-hour trip back to Charleston. Win-win.

So, this is a reminder: go with the flow. It really is more peaceful, even with an impending hurricane. And it all worked out perfectly. Really it did.

Grateful
Paula

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions. Hafiz

Oh, dear Hafiz. 14th century Persian poet. Master of the mystical and the mundane. Simple and extraordinary. Speaking truth and lightness.

Who doesn’t want to be living in better conditions? Fear is by turns uncomfortable, all consuming, exhausting, frightening, stressful, and debilitating. In a word…awful. Hafiz is saying, treat yourself to better conditions. You have that power.

I mean, look around! Fear is making you ill. It’s ruining your life, stealing your joy, keeping you down and robbing you of your peace. Fear does that, you know. It doesn’t really care who you are, what you’ve done or which room you’ve chosen up until now.

But see, you have to believe you’re worth it. That you deserve an upgrade to the finest room in the house. Where you can breathe more easily. Where you can find comfort and ease. Where you can know yourself as whole.

Worthy is the finest room in the house. It’s on the top floor with the best view. It’s filled with light.

Sign the lease with gratitude. I’ll join you there.

Paula

It is interesting the way most of us walk in the world. We believe we have to protect ourselves, make our own way, take advantage of our good fortune and opportunities, make and save enough money, prepare for the rainy day…all to gain some sense of security. We most often consider our own security and comfort ahead of the needs and comfort of another. Even when we seem to have enough, we want a little bit more. We don’t want to fall behind…and we prefer others don’t get too far ahead of us either.

This way of living creates anxiety, worry and doubt. It’s not a comfortable way to live. Always worried about having enough and being enough. Not wanting to make a mistake. Not wanting to fail. It’s exhausting. There is another way.

Maybe we shift our perspective inward to realize what it might be like to live with an open heart.

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.” Author unknown.

What is that precious thing? What would you call it? Do you have it for yourself?

With great humility
Paula

I was reading the 78th Verse of the Tao Te Ching today. It speaks to the softness and yielding nature of water. The ability it has to easily find a way around an obstacle or through a tiny crack.  Always seeking equilibrium. Patient. And yet, the Tao informs us, water dissolves even the hardest substance. It finds its way over land and rocks creating mighty canyons. It is relentless in its flow. It is persistent. In its gentleness it overcomes what might have seemed insurmountable.

The Tao suggests this is a path we should consider as well. In the midst of turmoil, heartache, hatred, violence, things that are hard and seem insurmountable…we might become like water. We don’t try to push or fight but rather we flow easily and with great persistence and patience. We allow our softness to do the work.

What is the softness? Why, it is Love Itself. Working Its magic, in Its own way and in Its own time. It is paradoxical that softness could be the answer in the hardest of times. Almost unbelievable. But that is the nature of faith…to believe in the unseen. And in this case, to believe in the power of Love.

Here is the verse as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell.

Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible
nothing can surpass it.

The softness overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.

Therefore the Master remains
serene in the midst of sorrow.
Evil cannot enter his heart.
Because he has given up helping,
he is people’s greatest help.

True words seem paradoxical.

And so it is.
Paula

This is just too good not to share. Eckhart Tolle summing up his philosophy of life:

What’s going on right now, and can I be with it?

Nothing more to say.
Paula

We’re not here just for our own self, we are here for others. We are an integral and essential part of the whole. Nothing we do is in isolation. Nothing we accomplish is ‘on our own’. If all our decisions and actions serve only ourself without consideration for the other, we have missed the proverbial boat.

I was attracted to this quote by Brittany Packnett: “Train yourself toward solidarity and not charity. You are no one’s savior. You are a mutual partner in the pursuit of freedom.”

Solidarity. Now there’s a word. Train yourself toward boots on the ground pursuit of freedom, justice, equality, kindness, respect, mercy. Remind yourself that you are partner in all these pursuits. All of them.

Then I read the article that contained this quote. The title is How to Spend Your Privilege. Please read it here.

With great humility
Paula

Summertime is hustle time. There is so much to do and get done. Go, go, go. Everything is moving…and fast. Sometimes it’s exhausting. It’s all just too much.

It reminds me how important it is to slow down. Not just important, but how exquisitely luxurious it can be.

I wrote this while we were on a short vacation back in April.

Birds sweeping and chattering
Sun hanging low in a bright blue sky
Ants crawling aimlessly it seems
In the early morning
With warm tea on the front porch.

Sigh
Paula