Off to See the Wizard

Wherever you are, you are there.-Buddhist Saying

I always loved this time of year. As a kid Easter in my book was second only to Christmas. Halloween was too scary and the other lesser holidays, (Valentine, St.Paddy’s etc) really did nothing for me. Easter was the promise of a new dress, Easter baskets, furry bunnies and little chicks. What little girl wouldn’t love that? Throw in a unicorn and a rainbow and its really all any girl could ever want in a holiday. The only bad thing in my kid perspective was that every year at Easter time The Wizard of Oz was shown on TV. Because nothing says Christ has risen like a scary witch. I have no idea why they chose April to always show this movie every year but I would start to feel the thrilling panic rise in my chest all the way to my throat that soon the movie was going to be on and you absolutely had to watch it. There would be discussions at school and there was just no missing it since you would be taunted with “YOU HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR TO GET A CHANCE TO SEE IT AGAIN!!” There were no On Demand or DVD, heck there were no Beta max or VCR even!! (It was practically Little House on the Prairie times! Our children really have no idea what we lived through.)

Year after year watching through my fingers wondering why on Earth Dorothy just didn’t ask Glinda to stay with her the entire time? I would never leave her side if I were her! Let me in your bubble! I’m coming with you!! Then when she tells her she could have gone home all along but she didn’t bother mentioning that because she knew Dorothy wouldn’t have believed her? Are you kidding me? And Dorothy isn’t even mad! I was outraged for her! She wouldn’t believe you? Try her! If your house fell into a Technicolor world of flying monkeys, witches and munchkins I am pretty sure she would have taken what you said for face value. Dumb witch. I think I hated her more than Green face for the sheer betrayal factor.

I remember one year when it was going to be on being at my cousin’s house and my parents and my aunt and uncle were going out to dinner and the babysitter was coming. That in it self was enough to start my heart beating. My mother and father would not be in the actual house when  scary green  came on the TV? I don’t care if she is the kindly old Good to the Last drop! Maxwell house lady now, she still is freakin scary and I need my parents at least in the home if not the very room that I am in while I view this movie. My eyes were wide as the music started and our parents came in to say goodbye. I admitted to my aunt I was a little afraid to watch it, my cousin didn’t seem phased in the least, which I could not for the life of me understand. (UH, HELLOO?! Green face scariest person ever is about to terrorize this girl and her PUPPY for the next two hours and we have to watch it without parental supervision?!) My aunt very matter of fact said, “Don’t you know the secret to the Wizard of Oz?  (No apparently my parents enjoy my terror year after year too much to let me in on the little secret.) Then she told me, probably what every other kid already new hence my feeling of isolation in my fear, “The Scarecrow needs a brain but he is the one with the big ideas, the tin man a heart but he is the one who needs to keep the oil can handy because he is always rusting up from crying, the lion needs courage but he protects Dorothy and she has her slippers that take her home. They all are already everything they are looking for. Its not scary.”

REVELATION! Oprah ah ha moment before Oprah was Oprah! The relief flooded my body and I watched that year from a whole new shift in my perception. They all have everything they need and they have had it all along. They just didn’t know it.

There have been many books written about the theories, symbolism and hidden meanings of the Wizard of Oz. From the political, (yellow brick road is the monetary system the US is built on and OZ is the abbreviation for ounces which is the way gold is measured.) To the New Age and even Buddhist perspective where everything in the movie from the Cyclone to Toto has a bigger meaning. All of the interpretations are at the very least interesting. Here is what I know…Should Dorothy have let Toto run through Gulch’s garden? No, but maybe subconsciously she needed a catalyst to propel her on her spiritual path. She needed something as drastic as a cyclone to get her on her ‘Yellow Brick Road’ to her truth. And Glinda was right, like any self respecting teenage girl Dorothy would never have listened if Aunt Em said, “Listen to me, I know your living in a black and white dirt farm with no parents but really all you ever need is here.” Dorothy would have told her dear Aunt Em to stick her basket of eggs where the sun don’t shine.

So if not for seemingly the worst thing that ever happened to her, literally getting thrown into another world from a cyclone! Maybe she would have ended up married to Zeke, bitter and unfulfilled. (Like so many dirt farmers in the 30’s were. If only they could have now the real meaning of the story! Enlightenment for all!) Inevitably she was able to change her perspective and saw herself as the whole person that she was meant to be. At one point she even says, “I want to get out of OZ ALTOGETHER” A Whole person. She needed the journey to realize everything she needs is already found not on a farm or in OZ but within.

I think of this story often as my children enter adulthood one by one and I hold myself back from giving them all they ever need to know according to me. Its there Oz now. I’m like Glinda, watching from afar knowing they already have everything they need but if I told them that, they would never believe me.

Courageous Kids

Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.- John Wayne.

Every Tuesday I teach yoga to middle school students. Every week there is a different theme to the class and today's class is COURAGE. What does it mean to be courageous? One of my own personal favorite story of a courageous act from a group of kids is from my daughter MaryJane.
 MJ's soccer team was in the finals of the Waldbaums Cup  when she was in the 8th grade. She had been playing on this team for years. Same girls, same coaches, same parents. As she said they were all great athletes, (most anyway), but they played on the C team because although they liked to win there was still alot of singing and twirling and laughing out on the field at any given time. Not exactly a killer instinct. (which I like.)
 So MJ is in goal and its double overtime the girls had been playing their hearts out and with 20 seconds to go at the end of the second overtime the ball was kicked to the goal MJ was tending. It was a great kick she jumped up arms outstretched but the ball skimmed the top of her fingertips and sailed into the goal. They had lost. Everything was still for about 5 seconds and then MJ realized what had just happened and sunk to the ground her hands over her face, she was crushed. Her team mates who had been standing for those 5 seconds in their places with their mouths open ran over to her and knelt down hugging her. They were quiet for about 20 more seconds and all of the sudden you hear them start to collectively say something. One Dad looks over and says, "are they singing?" and sure enough they get a little louder and you hear that Chumbawumba song, "I GET KNOCKED DOWN BUT I GET UP AGAIN, YOU AIN'T NEVER GONNA GET ME DOWN." That same line, over and over until they all get up and start jumping up and down singing at the top of their lungs smiling and happy and laughing. Next thing you know all the parents on the sidelines are laughing at our beautiful, goofy, C team players. Proud of how far they came but so much more proud of how they were handling their loss. They lined up and shook hands with the other girls who had won who kind of stopped their own celebrating to look over at our singing girls. When the teams lined up to receive their first and second place trophies the other team clapped for our girls as loud as our girls clapped for them. All the parents left hugging all of their daughters team mates telling each girl, including the goalie, how well they played and how proud they were of them. We had the end of the season party at our house and we had so much fun.
We moved shortly after that so MJ didn't play with those girls again but she still talks about them and remembers that team as one of the most fun and happiest times on a team.

I like to open up each yoga class with a quote. So while searching for a courageous kids quote I found this great resource for parents about teaching kids to be courageous. Its called Lion's Whisker and its filled with inspirational stories for every age. They write about 6 kinds of courage physical, social, emotional, moral, spiritual and intellectual. it is a great website to look at by yourself or with your family with links to speeches about life that will provoke great family discussions. Check it out. And if you want some motivation at the end or beginning of your run, download that Chumbawumba song. You can't help but have a smile on your face when you hear it and it will remind you to get moving and don't give up.
Lion's Whiskers

Teach your Children

And you, of the tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth, they seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well, their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix,the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,

So just look at them and sigh and know they love you. -CSN

My youngest daughter turned 13 last week. Its official, I have only teenagers and adults now. What a strange and wonderful feeling. I have spent a lot of time writing about my role as a mother. It has been the most pivotal role of my life. Profoundly continues to shape and mold all that I still am yet to be. As much influence as I have had in my children’s lives they have equal if not higher billing in mine. My Kung Foo Masters, each of them.

Kelly is a brilliant, funny, beautiful, strong willed, kind kid who brings so much joy and just as swiftly can bring you to your knees. A fiery personality she has not always been so easy to mother, but as I always say, nothing worthwhile is easy! And she is definitely worthwhile.

I go back to the beginning of my mothering career when Beth was born and the Gulf war was soon raging. I was afraid for her future. What did we do? Bringing a new life into an unstable world. What was the world going to be like for her? Then I remember thinking that I am sure since the beginning of time mothers have thought this about their children’s lives. The fact is life is hard. It was when they came to this new world and had to physically build the country from the ground up. As it is today as modern technology presents a whole new slew of “problems” we could never imagine our children having when we grew up. Time moves on and again, it is how we deal with what is thrown at us that matters.

I received an email from my Dad today from a friend of a friend who is currently living in Japan. I don’t think they would mind if I put it on the blog as its message is a hopeful and positive one that even when the worst thing you could imagine happens life moves on in love and light.

Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,

First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am
very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you
all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed
to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is
even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We
share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined
up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm,
friendly, and beautiful.

During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes.
People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens,
or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has
water running in their home, they put out sign so people can come to
fill up their jugs and buckets.

Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in
lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an
earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be
in the old days when everyone helped one another."

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes.
Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.

We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is
for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet
come on.

But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do
not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are
so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this
peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct,
of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of
me, but of the entire group.

There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some
places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun.

People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking
their dogs. All happening at the same time.

Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No
cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are
scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole
sky is filled.

The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see
them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.

And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack
to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity
is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no
idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to
door checking
to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if
they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or
panic, no.

They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes,
for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls,
shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai
that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far
this area is better off than others. Last night my friend's husband
came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is
indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over
the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events
happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My
brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening.
I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much
larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet
magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,

With Love in return, to you all,

Anne

So all you who have worried about the future, please don’t.  It is what we make of it. We can cry and complain or we can see things through a different lens and find the beauty in everything that happens. I am happy and confident that I am preparing my children and myself to know that they will not go through life unscathed but hopefully learn to deal with what they do go through with grace.

BLOGS I FOLLOW

I added a link to Frank Bice's blog at the bottom of this page. Frank is an inspiring person who speaks of making your cross your gift. By seeing things through a different lens you have the ability within you to live a joyful life through faith, hope and love no matter what your circumstances. During a football game in college Frank suffered a spine injury that rendered him a quadrapalegic for life. Yet he still considers himself one of the luckiest people on earth because everything he had hoped and prayed for in life has come true. Truly an inspiring story. Check it out!!

Satsang

It is impossible to be hurt except by your own thoughts.-A Course in Miracles

I went to a Satsang on Tuesday night. It was amazing. A Satsang is translated as a 'truth group'. A community of people who come together to discuss heartfelt topics. (sign me up!) This Satsang gathered at the Kula Yoga Shala in Jupiter, Florida. A really great place where different yoga teachers hold all kinds of classes on a donation basis. So whatever your practice is worth to you is what you pay.

This Satsang meets on Tuesday evenings and it is dedicated to A Course in Miracles. It was so timely that I went for the first time that night. (oh that's right there are no coincidences!)

Recently a very good friend of mine said to me, "Are you still writing that blog?" At which I skipped just a little beat but quickly recovered answering "Why yes I am!" For a split second my feathers were ruffled that such a good friend didn't know something that was so important to me, (writing) was and will always be a part of my life. But the moment passed and I thought that I had let the feeling go as quickly as it came but I thought about it again the next day, (so clearly my ego had gotten the best of me.)

I know that everyone is busy and I write this not to feed my own ego, (I thought!). I write this blog because if something resonates with me than I am sure that it must resonate with someone else out there as well and we learn from each other,(truth). TAKE NOTHING PERSONALLY!

The discussion at the satsung was The Attainment of Peace. The gist of the course if your not familiar with it is that the Holy Spirit is in all of us and forgiveness is the path to truth and truth is love. The ego is the source of fear and everything that stems from fear, (like feeling offended) Everything the ego is, is an illusion. It is not reality. This is not something we need to learn but something we need to remember!

Eckart Tolle has an iPhone app and a podcast discussing the Course. Marianne Williams made a career out of explaining the course. Its pretty interesting. I left the evening forgiving myself for being human and seeing things from a different lens. On the TODAY show they showed a web video of a father and his baby. The father is tearing up a rejection letter and the baby is laughing so loud and hard at him doing this it makes you laugh right along with them. What a lesson! The baby knows! The rejection letter and the feelings that come with it are the illusion. Laugh in the face of fear and move on to love.

Baby Laughing

Course in Miracles Quotes