Monday, March 26, 2007

outta sight, outta mind?

where is my craved word?
why must it always be thus?
I act, you react
~

Friday, March 23, 2007

vernal haiku...

ah spring, dearest friend
won't you come, sit for a while?
i've really missed you.
~

Book report, Lucid Dreaming and breath control...

T and I are into reading all this self-help stuff lately. T is reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne



... I thought you guys might be interested in this from that book:

Regarding Stephen LaBerge's research at Stanford University on Lucid Dreaming.

LaBerge finds the best way to learn or facilitate lucid dreaming is to ask himself, Am I Dreaming? while he's dreaming.


"[He] has found the best way to remember to ask this question is to ask the same question while awake, many times each day.
When people do this, he says, they frequently find that they are not dreaming but are not fully awake either - they are sleepwalking through their daily activities, only partly conscious of what they're doing. In this condition, their subconscious mind is often dominant, but not in a healthy way. It's often racing from one thought to another. Very frequently, these thoughts are fearful and anxious, because people, neurologically programmed for survival, are constantly looking for the next threat. Posing the question, Am I Dreaming? however, snaps people out of their anxious daydreams and reawakens them to real life."


Why am I telling you this? Not because I think we need to learn Lucid Dreaming (though I bet SE wishes she could... then she could go back and re-start that dream she was shaken out of last week... hehe). Anywho... it's because I believe most of us "sleep-walk" through our daily lives. How many times have you driven to work and you weren't able to recall the specifics of the drive? We do it every weekday, every week, every year....... over and over.

As part of the exercise that LaBerge prescribes is to try to remember to touch the frame of every door through which he walks as he asks himself, Am I Dreaming?
When not asleep, this door-touching exercise wakes you up to life, by making you conscious of even the most simple acts... like, walking through a door.
Are you sleepwalking through much of your existence? Try LaBerge's exercise, try touching door frames.
You will probably find that it's not that easy.... we are most often going through the motions of our lives, with very little conscious attention to the details. Most of us are struggling (consciously and unconsciously) with worries of the future and of past actions that we cannot change. We rarely notice the only truly real time... the NOW. Touching door frames is just an example and a good way to get started, but you can do it with so many "mundane" things. While brushing your teeth, filling out paperwork at the office... I was doing it while at lunch, (fork to mouth, read, take a sip of tea, fork to mouth.... Am I Dreaming?). You may be surprised at the details you notice that are NOT so mundane after all.

"The ancient yoga masters were also extremely concerned about the common human condition of sleepwalking through life. They devised their own system of overcoming it, a system that has endured for centuries, because it works on so many levels. The system they devised for learning to control the uncontrollable, and to become conscious, was the control of breath.

The control of breath is the foundation of advanced meditation. It is the doorway to consciousness."

And I guess that's a discussion for another day!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

useful PC utility...

Is your mouse calibrated?
You should do this every few days.
More often if you spend a lot of time on computer.
I was shocked to see that this works!

To re-calibrate your mouse, click and hold on the Y below.
Then drag the Y toward the G.
If it doesn't work, you might want to clean your mouse.

Y ou dumb ass. You'll believe anythinG

Friday, March 09, 2007

...fertile virgin?

Mnemonic - a memory aid. "One common mnemonic for remembering lists consists of an easily remembered word, phrase, or rhyme whose first letters are associated with the list items."

While taking a class which requires lots of memorization... one might make up poems or such to remember a list of things. We had several mnemonics to remember lists in our Anatomy and Physiology class.

One mnemonic was:
"Oh, oh, oh... to touch a fertile virgin; gives virgin some happiness"
for the 12 Cranial Nerves:
I - Olfactory (Sensory)
II- Optic (Sensory)
III - Oculomotor (Motor)
IV- Trochlear (Motor)
V - Trigeminal (both)
VI - Abducens (Motor)
VII - Facial (both)
VIII - Vestibulocochlear(Sensory)
IX - Glossopharyngeal (both)
X - Vagus (both)
XI - Spinal Accessory (Motor)
XII - Hypoglossal (Motor)
The mnemonic for their functions was:
"Some say marry money but my brother says big boobs matter more"

We're learning some Eastern Philosophy now and I'm trying to come up with a mnemonic for the 12 main Meridians (acupuncture, acupressure, shiatsu, etc).
The Main Meridians are:
1) Lung 2) Lg. Intestine 3) Stomach 4) Spleen 5) Heart 6) Sm. Intestine 7) Bladder 8) Kidney 9) Pericardium 10) Triple Heater 11) Gall bladder 12) Liver
My mnemonic so far is:
"Luke likes stopping speeders. He silently blames kids, people traversing garish lives. "

This used the first two letters of each word. Can you come up with another one for me??
The more risque the better. I'll bet Ct4s can come up with a great one!!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

pensive moments

am I ever missed?
just the way that I miss you
time crawls slowly on
~

Sunday, March 04, 2007

"...with both hands."

"Hold a true friend with both hands." ---African Proverb

Things change and life moves forward. People change and drift apart. Allegiances are fleeting. Alliances are made and broken on a whim.
It sucks but it seems that it must be true. I had thought that true friendship lasts forever but it appears that I was an idealist or maybe just confused.
Maintenance of friendship... real friendship, takes work on both sides and I guess some are unwilling or unable to invest the time and effort required. Or perhaps they are too unhappy with themselves to put forth that effort. Superficial friendships or, better yet, acquaintances are easier but are they satisfying?
No matter what I think about my own personality I know that I am a loyal friend. That doesn't keep me from being hurt. I guess not everyone appreciates the virtue. Perhaps I'm too loyal... if there is such a thing. Still, I have no plans to change, at least in that respect.

So few people have the capacity to hurt me. Most of the ones that could... don't even THINK of doing such a thing. I'm blessed with several wonderful friends. Why then can those few make me cry? And why would they want to? And why do I still care about them?
I find it hard to believe they aren't aware that their actions are so hurtful. Do they care?
Or are they just so wrapped up in their problem lives that they just don't think of any one's feelings but their own?

"It is lack of love for ourselves that inhibits our compassion toward others. If we make friends with ourselves, then there is no obstacle to opening our hearts and minds to others." ---Pema Chodron

Friday, March 02, 2007

Yes! Come in!

Yes, I know it's not officially spring yet but I awoke today to warm temperatures and high spirits and a desire to sow some "wild oats".
Okay, that last part isn't rare... but it's so nice to see spring-like weather.
What's it like where you are?

scratching at the door
asking politely. come in!
welcome home, Springtime
~

Morning (Spring) by Maxfield Parrish

buy this at allposters.com