My New Year's Goal - Stop Picking Scabs

I woke up with the thought - what if I just stopped? Stopped analyzing every emotion, every speck of loneliness, every word for some profound hidden meaning. What if I didn't pick at the tiniest scab in the world until there was blood & pus & foul language exploding from it? What if I actually used that energy for something else? I could have written a dozen e-books or built the golden downline with all the time & effort I've put into trying to "figure out" men/love/life/etc - so I'm giving it a rest. My goal for 2009 is to put both feet on the same side of the door & work & love & have fun without analyzing every moment. No more should I stay or go or maybe I should change my deadline for deciding if I should stay or go - I'm here until I'm not.

This feels like a epiphany - but God gave me a little nudge last week while I was watching the Christmas Tree lot across from Gas-Up - my own little pot of gold:


The pictures don't really portray the impact - a full double rainbow over West Asheville. It says it all - this is as much paradise as any other place will be. Most pastures are green from across the road - but the greener they are, the more piles of poop there are that must be navigated - you can't have growth without fertilizer.


So here's to 2009 - may our hearts stay pure & our shoes clean.

My Response to GOP Hate Mail

I came home from work tonight to find GOP hatemail in my mailbox. No economics, no plan for health care or education reform - just hate of Obama. More old William Ayers half-truths. They even reference the Annenbergs without acknowleging that they are McCain supporters. I guess it's ok for friends of McCain to associate with terrorists.

I was already tired and grumpy from working so late on a Saturday night, so I was really pissed when I first saw what the GOP was sending out - but I reminded myself that we're not supposed to sink to their level & should just keep focusing on getting Obama elected. So I decided to send another donation to the Obama campaign as my revenge for this stupidity. But this time I had to say something, so I sent this email to the NC GOP:


Dear Chris McClure:

I attempted to use your contact form, but did not receive a confirmation. Please forgive me if this is a duplicate.

Thank you for the mail I received today about William Ayers. It reminded me that it was time to send another donation to Senator Obama, who has been too much of a gentleman to hammer Senator McCain on his friendship with ATF-hating G. Gordon Liddy.

Have a good day,
Tammy Wilson
Democrat

Maybe they should reconsider having Democrats on their mailing list. At least I'll sleep better now. Good Night.

One day I'll write ... but today I canvass ...

Some things are too important to leave to chance - please join me
my.barackobama.com

Blue, Linux, Lightweight and Awesome

I've been lusting after a mini-laptop since last summer - but whenever I would get close to ordering one there would be news about the next wave of UMPC's - so I kept putting off buying one. Then the hype for this summer's batch began and I wanted one even more - bigger screens, more power, more colors, more choices. I finally decided on the Acer Aspire One. Here it is between my regular laptop & my cell phone - reminds me of Goldilocks.

This is one more piece of the vision - true mobility. Now I just have to create more freetime!

Photos Finally!

I've been oh so slack - but here are some great sunrise photos from my beach trip in April.

There are more photos here.

And here's Pat's Unseminar 5 Blues Band:

This was a high point of the seminar - but there were really only high points. I have only digested a small percentage of the great information so far. I know I will be going back for more - in addition to all the great speakers and abundant info - it was FUN.

Where Have I Been?

I've been offline for weeks - somewhat voluntarily. My son moved out (Hello Empty Nest!) and took the cable account with him. I pretended that I would be more productive if I wasn't plugged in for hours every day so I stayed offline for several weeks to see - I am now a master at Mahjong. I did spend more time journaling and reading which was nice - but my online projects have withered.

So I am back with a renewed sense of what I am doing - and now I'm at Pat O'Bryan's UnSeminar 5 on the San Antonio Riverwalk to learn about creating a Portable Empire. I'll post some more when I get back to Asheville next week.

Yes We Did!

Yeah North Carolina! Congratulations Asheville! This is the first time I can remember our primary mattering & one of the few times I voted for the winner. I'm still up waiting for Gary, Indiana to be counted - but it looks like Obama netted several delegates tonight. I took a few minutes off work to go to the party at Asheville Pizza Company - it was overflowing with volunteers and supporters watching the victory speech. I'm really proud of how so many people from all different backgrounds came together to work on this campaign - Asheville is such a great community. I didn't think to take any photos, but I found the paper has a few up - This one is for Mr. Savage, who has all sorts of stereotypes about Obama supporters and North Carolina.

For those of you who haven't tried the Koolaid yet, here are a couple of articles that compare and contrast the two candidates:

NYT - "Combat and Composure"

Sunday's Charlotte Observor Endorsement

I had to give a little plug, even though things will calm down for a while now. Well - I'm going to sleep now - I will get back on a normal blogging schedule now that the primary is over. Good Night

More Words to Think About

I know - I'm slack .... But I ran across this quote while taking a cryptogram break from doing taxes ....

"Happiness is not a reward -- it is a consequence.
Suffering is not a punishment -- it is a result. "
— Robert Green Ingersoll

Straight Science of Mind - It's everywhere!

Words Worth Remembering

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
- Dr. King

Something to Think About

I haven't posted lately because I am torn - I didn't intend for this blog to be political at all - but that's where most of my thoughts have been recently. I have tried to keep my political views separate from my spiritual life, but being a student of the law of attraction I have to ask:

Do you really think that a person that uses the word "fight" in almost every paragraph can ever bring about peace?

New Books

I've been on a spending diet for the last few months and have tried to avoid bookstores, but yesterday I had a few minutes to spare and couldn't resist. I came home with The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year - it seems to be mainly guided meditations with a calendar format and lots of questions about how we choose to spend our time. This is something I am really working on this year - learning to say no to tasks that aren't part of my path.

I also am reading Fat, Broke & Lonely No More: Your Personal Solution to Overeating, Overspending, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places - I couldn't resist this title - it sums up several of my goals for 2008.

Both of these books are a mix of the spiritual and the practical and use the law of attraction extensively. I will post more details when I finish them.

Yes We Can!

I live in a state that did not choose to participate in Super Tuesday - but I have to show you why I strongly support Barack Obama:



Remember - We are one people and we can build the lives
and the country of our dreams. Hope is stronger than fear.

I'm Back!

I've been lost in techy land for the last couple of weeks. I have been working to set up this domain and also Google Apps. I followed the directions over and over and nothing would take. I finally gave up and transfered my domain from Yahoo to Godaddy and everything I had been working on for weeks only took a couple of hours. Hmmmm - sounds like Yahoo and Microsoft are made for each other.

Also - my law of attraction confession - I went swimming in a very cold pool of self-pity on New Year's Eve and did not shake it off for a few weeks - and I managed to attract more viruses in January than I have in the last 5 years combined. Think there's a connection?

So, I'm back - rested and healthy and healed. I will be spending alot of February working on the technical side of this blog and website - hopefully there will be some goodies on the site by March.

The Happy Day Campaign

My Minister, Barbara Waterhouse, has been on a campaign for over a year to get all of us to begin each day by claiming that "Today is a Happy Day!" Every Sunday morning over 200 people in Asheville follow her lead and yell this out - sometimes more than once. I think it worked - in his new book, The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner has declared Asheville the happiest city in the US.

There's another person who lifts Ashevillians up on a regular basis - Elder John Hayes - whose radio station WRES must be the Soul of Asheville. He especially cranks up the Positivity around rush hour - it's impossible to have road rage while singing along.

So, yes, Asheville is a happy place and a blessed place. We have things to work on like all towns, but most of us truly love this town and are willing to work together to get even better. We have a diversity here that makes us truly rich and most of the people that live here really respect each other as individuals.

It's easy to get busy and stressed out and forget how lucky we are. That's the secret to the Happy Day Campaign - remember to be happy - claim it now!

The Law of Attraction and World Events

There is a misconception that in order to have happy, fulfilled lives we should ignore problems or lie to ourselves about events going on in the world in order not to give more energy to the problems. I do believe that focusing solely on problems just increases them, but I don't believe that we have to put our fingers in our ears every time the news comes on. I just believe that we do more good by focusing on solutions.

I personally don't watch or listen to the news - there seems to be too strong of an emotional hook on most commercial broadcasts - but I do read a few newspapers. I'm very political and I like to form my own opinions about what's happening in my community and around the world. I'm not comfortable totally ignoring the news as some people advise, but I also know that there's a huge amount of good news that never makes the front page.

If there is something in our world that is tugging on your heart - then by all means do something. Just pay attention - is the world hunger group you joined actually sending food or technology into the world or do they just complain that other people should change? Is your environmental group involved in real solutions (actually doing something) or are they just another PAC? I think that if we really want to change the world our time is better spent reading to a child or planting a community garden than writing letters calling for someone else to change.

Governments Rarely Change the World - Individuals Do

Proud of Iowa

Yes! I'm so proud that a mostly white, fairly conservative state can see past race and labels into a man's heart and choose a leader based on where we want to go as a country. Our country really has come a long way in the last half century. We still have lots of work to do - but that's one of the things I really like about Obama - he says let's all roll up our sleeves and work together to improve everyone's life. I think that his vision of what our country can be comes closer to mine than any of the other candidates.

“We are one people, and our time for change has come.”
- Barack Obama

My Daily Prayer

I am reclaiming my time and space with this new year. While cleaning and purging I rediscovered this prayer that I wrote when I first started studying The Science of Mind:

My Daily Prayer

I now have everything I need
I am surrounded by Love & Joy,
Beauty & Harmony, Order & Abundance
My Path unfolds easily before me
I Give & Receive Freely & Joyfully
I am Strong & Powerful, Healthy & Safe
I am Loved and Valued for all that I am
I am One with the Universe
All my Loved Ones are Healthy, Happy & Safe
We are all Blessed
Life is Sweet
And So It Is!

So for 2008 I am making this prayer - staking a claim for what this new year will be. Even the word resolution seems to reek of compromise and settling. Let us all aim higher than resolve - Let's go for Joy and Glory and Love and Laughter - Let's go for our deepest desires.

Happy New Year - May all your dreams come true