January Month in Review (& Blog Shares)
February? Already? Here’s my monthly review post, format courtesy of Mon at Holistic Mama. This is when I share some more personal notes each month for those interested. If you’re not (interested, that is), come back later in the week or weekend, when I hope to kick-off a new series with a post on the varied roles symbols play in spiritual and metaphysical paths (and how each of us can use them too.) Hopefully (no promises) I will have my blog re-org ready to roll out by then too…
A thought…
It’s all in the eye of the beholder. Which is not an original thought, but this came home to me in a new way this month with the words “your kids are so energetic.” Our neighbor at our sometimes-home in Utah, who is practically our kids’ third grandmother, says this to us all the time, and to her it means “your kids are so vibrant and full of life.” But this was also recently said to me by someone else at a playground, and I got the distinct impression in this case that it was actually a euphemism for “your kids are completely wild and unruly.”
Ah well, they are all these things, and it’s OK with me.
A sound…
Rain on the roof. Not unusual in other parts of the world, but an EVENT here in southern California. At least the kind of rain we got this month, which bordered on a deluge some days. All our garbage cans washed down the street one day, along with all our neighbors’. It was very bonding walking through the street after the rain sorting it all out. And I do love the sound of rain on the roof…
A taste…
Curry, after reading Mistress of Spices, which I loved. Pop over to Book Club Mamas to read my thoughts on it.
An image…
I almost put Haiti, because I don’t think any of us will ever forget some of the images we have seen this month from there. But if I were to focus on a personal image for this month, it would have to be train tracks. My husband has discovered he can get extra pieces cheap on e-bay, and got a bunch for the kids for Christmas. He’s now become somewhat obsessed with building new tracks each weekend with them. This is the main living space of our house, so it’s not very convenient, but they do all have a great time:
A scent…
Dirty rags on the washer. Not a pleasant smell sorry, but a well-intentioned one. As part of Hip Mountain Mama’s One Small Change project in January, we attempted to give up paper towels, but ran into some hurdles. Mostly, that there are certain spills you don’t want hanging out on rags on top of your washer for long (at least if your washer is in the middle of the house, as ours is). The top two are: 1) Anything dairy, and 2) Bathroom ‘misses’ by three-year old boys. And since we tend to do all our laundry once a week in full loads to save water/energy that way, it doesn’t make sense to do a small load of just rags mid-week. So the goal has been modified to minimize paper towel use, and in that, we succeeded:-)
A word…
“I can’t explain anything to you about spirituality. I only write and research based on what I experience. And the same has been done with every spiritual doctrine ever created – it is based on someone’s experience. No one’s experience is better than your own.”
Amen! From a new blog (=new to me) that I’ve been visiting, Love Hate Flow.
A touch…
Also the rain, this time the feel on my skin. Which I spent a lot of time in, due to aforementioned garbage can incident, not to mention multiple school drop-offs and pick-ups each day.
A gift for me…
Movies. Netflix yielded some good ones for us this month. Heres’ my favorites in order of preference:
The Invention of Lying
500 Days of Summer
Julie and Julia
Funny People
A post you may have missed…
First off, thanks to all of you that added your funny stories to my Keep Your Sense of Humor post. If you need a laugh, check them out.
Some new blogs (again = new to me) or posts that I’ve enjoyed this month (always too many to limit here, but have to):
Of course I’ve mentioned Jan’s meditation challenge at Awake is Good a couple times this month, and as a series it ended up being an amazing compilation of resources and inspiration on meditation. So browse through it if you are interested in meditating and haven’t been there yet – you can access all the posts in her January archive in the sidebar.
Stacy at Mama-Om also did a wonderful series this month called ‘Practicing Peace’ in which she shared many of the mindfulness and meditation practices she uses in her daily life and with her kids.
Another ‘spiritual mom’ blog that I’ve been enjoying (OK, don’t like that label, but have to use something!) is Nicki’s at Touching the Universe.
I thought this post from Karen Maezen Miller at Cheerio Road was the best I’ve read on what non-attachment is and isn’t: A Rose-Colored Carpet
I also loved this one, Karma is Love, at Waking Heart.
And for what it really means to move Beyond Karma, Kaushik has done a moving and insightful set of posts on the Dark Night of the Soul.
Or for something a bit more metaphysical, you can never go wrong with Akemi’s posts in her Starseed series, which she added several installments to this month.
Happy February and Namaste-
Mommy Mystic 
Time flies. I miss my kids being little. Raining in Florida too. Image of kids playing on wood floor–delightful noise! The quote about spirituality is spot on.
Thanks for the link–I’m honored.
k
Great post. Many blessings for Feb.
Mommy Mystic,
Ah, another California person – hi sorta neighhbor from wherever! I was grateful we had the rain for the resevoirs and the hillsides. Thankfully too, no trees were down on our street.
I liked this month’s round-up. I haven’t been to your blog long enough to have seen any of the others, and this was fun to read.
You are totally right about how the eye of the beholder. Perspective is everything.
I love the sound of rain when I am inside, warm, safe and dry.
And the word – talking about how the experience of spirituality is personal, is also so true.
Glad I have you on my links- you make me think, plus, it feels good here.
I love the word about spirituality being our own experience. So true. Yet we still compare. May we all trust our own experience.
Ahh, yes… it’s February, and today is Groundhog Day. Seems like you left a pretty interesting month behind. Hope you have a good one this Feb. The force is getting stronger and I’m inclined to think that anyone who is on the path can feel it. =)
Peace and respect,
Ryhen
Thanks, Lisa, for the link! I enjoyed your whole month in review… nice to get a “peek” into your everyday.
Best,
Stacy
Hi Lisa.
I love your mix of being mystic and very practical.
Love the non paper towel try-out period and your sensibility about moderation. No point in smelling the house out, I agree.
And that is why I too love kids, you get to play again with things you like as well, like your husband and his train tracks.
In the end it is in daily life that we can find the divine, like rain on the roof, children’s delightful energy and the love that rises up in us because of all of that.
xox Wilma
Thanks all, glad you enjoyed, and thanks for letting me know:-)
“And the same has been done with every spiritual doctrine ever created – it is based on someone’s experience.”
Doctrine goes beyond telling about one’s own experience to affirm, “Here are certain important truths about grand-scale or ultimate reality” – and then it purports to provide specifics concerning the existence of God or the divine.
I wonder why people need doctrine.
Hi Lisa. My kids got the “Most Energetic” award at kidmunity theatre one summer and I felt the same way you did. Good life force is what I call it. I’d like to see a picture of your kids every month. That snowflake shot was priceless. Looking forward to your symbols post too. That sounds interesting. All the best to you.
Hello there 🙂
The train track looks like sooo much fun! I am going to buy us one for sure. The kids might get a go too.
I love that, your kids are soo energetic. I always take it as a euphemism too as I find it exhausting but actually, the free spiritedness and sheer joy they exude is what other people experience. TBoy especially has this special way of making an impression on people. Mothers of little children he meets tell me how much they talk about him at home, even if he was only with them for a short time. He’s infectious in an energetically great way it’s just exhausting for me because I’m with it all the time, and I like lots of still time that Tboy just isn’t into.
Will check out your film list too.
Truth is in the eye of the beholder I so fully believe. Especially as no one knows what the truth really is.
🙂
Thanks Brenda.
Ruth – Your Tboy sounds so like my eldest daughter when you describe him. I know, as a parent, the kids’ energy can be overwhelming. And our house is perpetually a disaster. But I do know that this is just a sign of their strong ‘lifeforce’ as Brenda put it above, and joy, as you put it. The train tracks are fun, if you can get enough of them. There are alot of used ones online, and they hold up well. A great indoor activity on bad weather days…
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your thoughtful shares. I especially connected with Nicki’s Touching the Universe blog, so thank you for that. Her post on birth emotions and, actually, her exchange with your comment there brought some healing to the surface for me.
You’ve inspired me to keep better track of posts I love over the month and share them. I keep saying I’ll do this, and so far, I haven’t. Do you have a system for keeping track?
Cheers!
Alexis
Hi Alexis, I do try to start a draft post at the beginning of the month and paste posts I like from other blogs, as well as personal notes that I might include in my month-end review post (when I do one.) Of course some months when I am a bit swamped (like this one!) it falls by the wayside…we can only do what we can do, right?
Lisa, I appreciate the quote from Love Hate Flow. It is a bit of synchronicity for me as I explore and reclaim my own spiritual expression through experience as opposed to doctrine, books, the academia. Also appreciating how you review the month according to senses…ahhh, our source of experience. And thanks for the link. Peace, Nicki.
Interesting article. Always good and interesting content here.
Rgds,
Mark