Words
I've scribbled the alphabet for meaning since I can remember.
It is often when we are closest to our goal that we rub against the very fear of our own achievement.
Unattached + Connected
I cannot read one more Top 5, 10 or 13 things I need, should, must know, do, have, or be. I just watched a 60 minutes clip on Mindfulness that explains how Technology is annihilating mindfulness and most of the large tech company gurus attend the largest Mindfulness Conferences. Perhaps this makes the Innovaters more present at making us less present? Between Google’s mindfulness and Oprah’s ridiculous farm photos of her organic love to find out that she is being paid off by Monsanto, I am done. I cannot keep up anymore. I live on Kaua'i and I am noticing my own phone, Facebook, Instagram addiction - the constant dose of faux oxytocin connectivity that keeps me from actually doing something. It’s so bad; I was sitting on my computer, chatting on the phone, skimming an article and posting it online. “Are you on Facebook?” my partner asks. “Nooo,” I reflexively answer. I mean I wasn’t on on. By the time he had asked, I was already not looking at Facebook, so no, I wasn’t on Facebook. “Did you just post an article with seven exclamation points?” he asks me, again, very clearly, as an undeniable notification dings from him – catching me redhanded. “I just heard that." “Well, it’s up …” We laugh, yet when the conversation ends. I am not smiling: Too much. I scold myself. Time to tune back to the basics. Yes, I said tune. Not turn. First, I went back to turning my phone on to airplane mode at night and now I don’t turn off airplane mode until I have done what I need to do to get my day going. A little meditation. Perhaps, a little writing or journaling. A little breakfast. Some days I even walk my dog first. I know: I was shocked, too. It’s making a difference. Let me clarify: I got a little more serious about that meditation thing and stretch back into your body Self thing, called yoga. I flip through this great book and do a mudra. I stretch. No matter what. Just a – Hey look, I have a body, let me show some appreciation. I clear my mind + connect with my precious body before I do anything else even when I don't want to. It’s really making a difference. Then, I sip my coffee and scroll Facebook. I’m still connected, but I am not attached. That’s good enough. Take a breath. Enjoy your body. Love your mind. And enjoy your Holy Days – whatever, wherever they may be. Allove, Kate On Kauai: JoElla’s Luscious Yoga or Isabelle’s Grooving Nia classes to get the body moving Love yourself a lomilomi Write Your Story Nui says chasing crabs gets the cardio of joy pumping, too. Not on Kauai: Listen to this or this Read these Look up Look at this Smile Yes, I am thinking of consolidating and overhauling my sites. Thanks for noticing. Have suggestions? Or maybe there is something you would like me to see? Let me know in the comments below. Much aloha for you. It's been quite the fall, and I will post soon about that, stretching in to sentences and galavanting stories, later. For now, a quick infomercial especially for my fellow Kaua'i residents. I am newly nestled in to a more dense and lush (translate: wet) part of the island, and we all know the vigilance that is needed to keep the molds and dampness away. Plus, many of you may have heard that staph is skipping across the island quite rampantly. If you have staph, I encourage you to immediately seek professional care. If you simply, proactively get a small cut, I encourage you to get Red Thyme essential oil immediately on it and generously - which is what I have been telling everyone, so I thought I would put together a little list: What are the essential essential oils on Kauai? Here they are for me and you can see they are well loved: Thyme (Red): anti-viral, anti-fungal, wound care, anti-parasitic, and a strong immune stimulant. Whenever I have had a cut, I douse a few drops on, endure the raging burn as it slices through and cleans the wound. I keep it in my car and on me when I hike. It is the best for questionable cuts when applied immediately. It is also fantastic to put in your spray bottle or diffuser to get rid of the mustiness and the mold. I put a few drops in the water I mop with and use it to wipe the walls down a few times a year. Turmeric: anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant, clearing and balancing. There are many more properties both physical and etheric with this wonderful plant also know as olena, here on island. I like it because it is cooling for the summer, a great blood cleanser (many of us just pop it in to our smoothies), and as dog owner I learned it is fantastic for wound care. Last year Nui, my dog, got bit by a centipede, and her paw swelled up and she was yelping in pain. I know for me I could have done a turmeric poultice, but that does not work so well on dogs. Just imagine me trying to wrap the golden orange turmeric in a makeshift wrap because I did, futilely. In a moment of clarity, I put some turmeric oil on her paw and within in 5 minutes she was walking on her paw again; the heat receded and she was on her way to fine. I was shocked. Of course, I prefer fresh turmeric for many reasons, but now I keep it in essential oil form to for her and for humans (it's not as brash as thyme), And lastly, one which I am sure everyone already knows, Lavender: Lavender is the essential oil to have if you are only going to have one, She was the one that is so well known: anti-bacterial, anti-stress, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and just plain lovely. You may not know that there are a variety of Lavender, and I often have more than one. Lavender Stoechas is steam distilled of the flowering tops of the plant and is the strongest of all Wisdom of the Earth's lavenders. If you are interested in this trinity of essential oils for your medicine cabinet as the wet months of winter approach, email me kmbrenton@gmail.com by 11/14/14. I know it is a short turnaround time; I am placing a personal order and wanting to get me some Clary Sage and Red Thyme refills! *Shipping charges will apply to order, if we order together I will share the shipping savings. Future individual orders will be subject to full shipping charges. **If you are interested in other oils or want to know more about how an oil may serve, just ask: kmbrenton@gmail.com I know there are so many oils on island; I have studied with lead teachers from Wisdom of the Earth and worked with the makers of these oils - and they are simply of the highest caliber. They consciously harvest, and they have stayed smaller in their channels which has - over the years - maintained the quality and the integrity of the oils, in my opinion. I figured - why not share the love with the rest of the community? Also, if you are looking to place the above trinity in your diffuser, you may want to pick up something to complement and still have them infuse the air around you at a therapeutic level; here are two I recommend to pick from and act as a pleasant balancer for diffusing: Since quality oils are more expensive I often double up, meaning I get oils that do more than one thing for me. All the oils cover an expanse of offering. Let me explain.
Peppermint: Great to pep up a room in a diffuser, stimulates mental clarity, cooling, hepatic, asthma, sinus congestion, and in the summer here on Kauai, you place a few dabs on your wrist, your neck and or place some on your feet and you are immediately cooler. So it's an oil that covers more than one season and reason for me. Cardamom: Delicious exotic scent, first of all. And: nervine, circulation, heart tonic, anti-parastitic, anti-septic, refreshing stimulant (less brash, less yang than Peppermint) yumminess. I often use this in the same way as Peppermint during the summer months, or to balance a morning latte and too much hustling and bustling. So those are my most beloved, most used go-to oils. I have a crew though and go to them for different reason at different times. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Again, If you are interested in this trinity of essential oils for your medicine cabinet as the wet months of winter approach, email me kmbrenton@gmail.com by 11/14/14 40 Days of Inspiration Reality is a sound; you have to tune in to it not just keep yelling at it. - Anne Carson Day 37: Tune in.
Aia nö i ke kö a ke au
whichever way the current goes: time will tell. Keep moving forward; time will reveal where. DAY 36: Keep up with the Flow. 40 Days of Inspiration He kêhau ho`oma`ema`e ke aloha.
Love is like a cleansing dew. It is. We never think that our house will not get dirty, especially in Hawaii, each footprint leaving its mark. Some leave no trace so light and careful; some drag in gravel and grime, but all create a story. Love is like the washing water; we do not begrudge the previous pathways, we simply wash away, ready for the new. DAY 35: Give Love. 40 Days of InspirationHere we are, the last seven posts 60 days after the 40 days started. After traveling through six states, countless kitchens and numerous mindsets, I returned to this yesterday, my first morning back on Kaua'i: Totally appropriate, The Buddhists will tell you, you have to kill the Buddha. To my mind, that means eventually, the very thing, person, belief structure, the anything other that your you-ness must be annihilated from your dependency until you can live on the sheer cliff of knowing your divinity, Too much? Well, I did just land back on Paradise and I am waxing a bit philosophical over my Americano at Small Town Coffee before I drop back into my regularly scheduled programming. If you aren't ready to just realize you are a Super Nova, perhaps you can at least find one kind thing to say, five extra dollars for a lattee/wheatgrass, a loving stroll outside, or dancing to your favorite tune. Theses are precious moments for me - the in between - and as I woke in a nest of sweet, welcoming from a dear friend (and first roommate on Kauai), thinking of all the things I had to figure out, here was the last piece of advice I got: DAY 34: Try Laughter.
40 Days of InspirationToday a song. I love Cas Haley's voice, so distinct, you know it is him. Often times we hear songs like this and think of another. How does it change when it is directed to you? Yup, to you from you. How does that sit? The more we appreciate who we are - I think, maybe - the more we begin to understand who we are: the good, the bad and everything in between. DAY 33: Sing. |
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January 2019
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