How to stay sane

I decided that if I were to build a time machine, it would look like this:

I am certain a vehicle such as this could take me anywhere I want to go in the universe.

I’m also pretty sure I’ve time traveled in the bath.

Two things happen in the bath. I am able to quiet my mind and the thoughts I do have are creative, not destructive.

The bath is my favorite place on earth.

I take frequent baths. Several times a week. It helps my joints stay flexible and pain-free, and it helps my mind stay that way too.

Baths help me maintain a sense of equanimity. It’s a place where I can let everything that concerns me float away. Astrologically, I’m a water sign, so it makes sense that I’m happiest when I’m submerged. I feel truly protected in the water.

Consider this bath:

• Add 1 lb. each of sea salt and baking soda
• Place clear quartz crystals that have been cleansed and activated around the edge of the tub
• Bless the water with love and gratitude
• Allow yourself to think or not think as mood dictates
• Request the company of angels (if you are so inclined)

What this bath will do is remove negative energy picked up during the course of one’s day and I can guarantee, it will make you feel like a brand new person when you get out, whether you are in for 10 minutes or an hour.

My relationship with water is special. I find that I tend to meditate in the shower and pray in the bath. I think it’s because I shower in the morning before work and I bathe at night before bed. Both of these rituals are important and contribute greatly to my spiritual life and my ability to stay sane in this chaotic world.

Time does not have to exist in the bath. This is why you can go wherever your mind will take you while you’re in there.

Tao Te Ching, verse 8

Have you ever really contemplated water or meditated on its nature? Is it possible to be as wonderful as water? Welcome to my Tuesday evening, here’s what we’re thinking about tonight:

8

The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao.

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don’t compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Beautiful day

Today is a gloriously beautiful day in Portland.  I’m thinking about going to the waterfront just to be near the water.  I would love to live on a lake or a stream.  I’ve even thought living on a houseboat would be cool.  Water and trees.  That’s what I need.  If I lived in a place where I was surrounded by water and forest I would be out of my mind with joy.

I went out for a little while this morning and there were so many people out.  That’s one of the things I love most about Spring and Summer.  There are so many people out and–especially after a rainy season like we just had–people are happy.  Truly happy people are really wonderful to be around.  Seeing smiling, happy faces brings a lot of joy into my life.

Something bothersome happened while I was out.  Not a huge deal, but it bugged me nonetheless.  I saw two separate people letting their dogs poop on someone’s yard and not clean it up.  When I saw that I thought wow, that’s really selfish.  And it got me to thinking why I get grumpy with people sometimes.

I have done a lot of dog sitting and I have never failed to bring enough bags to take care of the dog’s business.  In my case it was my job to do that, but in the case of a dog owner, that is their responsibility.  Everything that happens to the dog or the dog does is their responsibility.  That’s what really bothers me when people do that.  It’s both a shirking of responsibility and a show of disrespect.

Of course I know there are times when these things just happen and it’s not even my place to judge anyway, but I do have a negative reaction to disrespectful behavior.  My perception of disrespect anyway.  I have pretty high standards for behavior and manners.  Gentle and respectful, that’s really all I ask.

The infraction is not enough to ruin this day, but it just made me pause and have a moment of disappointment in these fellow humans. Ultimately it’s not for me to judge.  Everybody has to do what they feel comfortable with and they will have many lifetimes to learn the lessons, so if they don’t get it this time around, maybe next.

This is a day to be happy.  I have the house open and fresh air coming in.  It’s bright and beautiful and there are birds.  I am getting out my summer clothes today.  This is one of the most joyous occasions of the year for me.  Summer clothes are the best.  It feels good to wear less clothing, it’s liberating.  And most of the summer clothes are cute.

Today I am going to focus on gratitude.  There is so much goodness around.  So much more good than bad.  All we have to do is be willing to see it.  Willingness opens up universes of possibility.

Today we are happy, healthy and safe.  What more could I ask?  And why should tomorrow be any different?

Grateful 4

A couple of things have been popping into my mind recently whenever I ask myself what I am most grateful for.  Water and my body.

I frequently give thanks for water because I think about water quite a bit actually.  It might have to do with the fact that I am a Scorpio, a water sign, not sure.  Water is something I recognize as the most delicate giver of life and yet one of the most powerful forces known to man.  If water can’t overwhelm an object in its path, it is content to wear away at it slowly and patiently.  Water is absolutely amazing to me.  That’s why I think about it so often.

It baffles me why we as a species living on this planet would have such little regard for the enormous blessing that water is.  We are wasteful of it, we pollute all our waterways and we take for granted that the universe is going to provide an endless supply of clean water.  What if that is wrong thinking?  What if the supply of clean, safe drinking water–something Americans take very much for granted–were to decrease significantly in highly developed societies?  It’s difficult to predict the panic that would ensue, but I suspect it would be pretty intense.

Recently I read Masaru Emoto’s book The Hidden Messages in Water.  It was such a good reminder how much water can be our friend.  The beautiful crystals that formed after receiving loving intentions were inspiring.  Life could be so much more wonderful if we humans were to treat water with the respect it deserves.  Water is the biggest blessing of life, it is life.

World Water Day was this week.  What a great time to give thanks for the blessing of clean water.

The other thing I have been really grateful for lately is my body.  I was thinking earlier about how so many people, especially women, dislike their bodies or parts of their bodies.  What a shame that is.  Our bodies serve us faithfully, often in spite of how we treat them.  To have a body where all the major parts are in working order and doesn’t hurt all the time is a huge gift.

Again with the socio-political perspective, but as a society we are getting pretty fat.  It’s scary to see what some people put in their bodies.  I don’t eat healthfully 100% of the time, but I do put forth the effort most of the time and I do okay.

I’m at an age where I have gained enough wisdom to finally learn how to listen to my body.  If I do something it doesn’t like, it tells me.  If I’m paying attention, I can use that information to avoid certain behaviors in the future.  It’s pretty simple, I like to feel good so I listen to my body and take care of it.

I wish for all people to feel happy about their bodies, even if it struggles or has challenges or parts that aren’t perfect.  Our bodies are amazing, beautifully functioning systems as long as we continue to maintain them.  I want to be good to mine because it rewards me by feeling good.

Today seemed like a good time to have a little gratitude for some things that make my life happier.

Happy is awesome.

Cheryl