A beautiful little surprise out in the barn

2 minute video this morning:
https://youtu.be/v_KIdBgAcXY

Open the I

Words are powerful.  And the word I, one of the most powerful. We use it, we believe it, and we have a pretty well defined idea of what it means.

We usually identify the I with:

Our physical form; our personal circumstances, past and present; our habits; our thoughts; our likes and dislikes; our achievements and failures.

But what if we were to open that “I” a little bit?

What if we were to expand it to encompass:

The elements that we are made of: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and so on, which originated in stars; the physical laws that shape those elements and everything in the universe. What if we were to expand the “I” to include the circumstances and conditions that gave rise to us and everything that came before us; the unexpected accidents and coincidences that happened and continue to happen and shape our lives in a definitive way.

What if we included air, water, soil, sunlight, bacteria, without which we could not possibly exist? And all the rest of the things that we don’t even know about, or understand, yet are foundational to the universe as we know it, and therefore to our own existence?

Some days, it seems clear to me that these things are no less “I” than the ones enumerated earlier. And yet, we’re not used to thinking of ourselves this way. But if we did, how would that change our perception of death? And how would it change our perception of life and our role in life?

Peace

If you need a little beauty in this time of pandemic

The orchard, this morning:

And a little 2 min video:
https://youtu.be/IvWzn70LEDk

Join Sena's meeting today at 3pm, by Zoom or phone

Please join this important meeting, co-hosted by Sena, this afternoon at 3. You can join by Zoom or by phone - details below:

Sunrise CT's virtual climate strike is THIS afternoon at 3pm. Below are the details on how to join the Zoom call for our climate strike. If possible, please join from a device where you will have access to chat and the ability to open other tabs. Additionally, when you join the strike, if you can have near you a piece of paper and a marker, we would appreciate it, because we will be doing an activity in which those materials will be necessary.

See you at 3!

The Sunrise CT Team

Topic: Sunrise Connecticut Climate Strike

Time: Apr 24, 2020 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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What we bring forth

"Jesus said: If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." (Gospel of Thomas 45.29-33, as quoted in Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels).

I adore this saying. It is so meaningful to me on two levels: personal, and societal.

On a personal level, I can feel its truth.
Many of us have tried to conform to roles and expectations that we just could not fit, and after long suffering, we can understand what it means that "If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you".

What is inside us, what is authentically and genuinely us, will not suffer to be buried forever. Sooner or later it needs to come to the forefront. And it will. Whether it be through a mid-life crisis, a breakdown, mental health issues, or other, milder ways, the truth that we carry inside us about who we are needs to be set free.

Now, does this mean that we should bring forth our hatred, spite, jealousy, and all kinds of other potentially harmful things unchecked and uncontrolled? I don't think so. Because to me, these things, are reactions to something else rather than fundamental to who we are.  I think that it's important to see them and acknowledge them, but then, we must dig deeper and find what else is there. In the end, what you bring forth is a personal decision. When we find that which is genuinely us, which is foundational to who we are, that is what we bring forth.

Another way in which I love this quote is on a societal level. I find it particularly applicable right now, during this pandemic. In many ways, Covid is giving us a time-out from habits and routines that have become deeply entrenched. It is giving us time to rethink, re-evaluate, and consciously decide how we want to move forward as a person, as a society, as a world.

Socially, environmentally and existentially, right now we are at a crossroads. We can "bring forth" our better judgement, our compassion, our understanding, and our care for each other and future generations. If we bring these things forth, they WILL save us. If we do not; if we instead chose to return to our old ways which have brought us to the brink of environmental collapse, where we are today; if we chose to ignore this chance and return to wastefulness, rampant consumption, and unsustainability,  then, I do believe that these things indeed have the potential to destroy us.

My teacher, Bert, said that we have a duty to share our gifts and our understanding. This, here, is my understanding right now, and I wanted to share it.

Peace

Happy Earth Day everyone!

I want to share this excerpt from a speech that Sena gave today at an online event called Interfaith Earth Day of Hope 2020:

Peace

Sharing this from my journal

Something I wrote a short while ago:

The trouble is that we cast everything in terms of our own reference frame, which is what gave rise to many of our problems to begin with. If we want to change our patterns, we must try to change our reference frame at a fundamental level.

But how?

First, we have to be able to see it.

Second, without blame, shame, or any of that, pay attention and see if we can notice its workings, as an observer. Just a neutral observer.

After we've done this hard work for a long time, there will be openings in which something fresh can arise.

So, take heart! Deconstructing our reference frame is no easy work. One of the hardest things is that we have to allow ourselves to relax enough so that new patterns can arise. But it can be fun, and an adventure, and what do we have to lose?

And on a totally different note:

These are three pots I planted yesterday with little flowers I dug up on the side of the road near our house. Even though I have a field of vegetables and a full orchard out there, I need to have something beautiful close to me. That's why I'm a huge fan of container gardening. It's so easy and accessible, and you can make it whatever suits you.

I truly believe that planting something, nurturing something, even the smallest thing, can be a great form of therapy, especially now that we are in quarantine and deprived of essential contact. So maybe you want to try it? You can even grow scraps from your food: you can sprout beans, seeds, potatoes...then once they've sprouted, put them in some soil, care for them, and watch them grow.

Peace

RIP Virginia

Our neighbor, Virginia, passed away this morning. She was in a nursing home, and caught the COVID virus. I think she was 94 years old.

Virginia was one heck of a lady: tough and straight forward; she is the reason why we are on our land today. She rented part of her land to us back in 2005, and at first wasn't too sure about us. She didn't like hippy things, and with the home birth and everything (Aiyana was born in the house we rented from her, the day after we moved in), I think she thought we were not straight laced enough. She didn't like that we didn't mow the lawn on time and stuff like that.

But when we started farming, her opinion of us rose dramatically. She liked people who work the land, and she loved the fact that we cared and respected this land that has been in her family since the mid 1800's.

Eventually, we bought our own 5 acres from her brother, adjacent to the property we were renting from her, and settled down where we are now. Over the years, she has praised us a lot, and been very supportive of everything we've done with the farm. She always told us how grateful she was that we kept our house (as opposed to demolishing and building a modern one), which used to be her grandmother's.

Last time I saw her was a year ago, when I went to visit her in the nursing house she had recently been moved to. I told her about the land, and her trees and flowers, about what was going on at the farm, and she ate up every word of it. She missed home, of course.

May she Rest in Peace. For me, she will always be a part of this land, and so she will be remembered and live on.

Peace

Aiyana's pursuits and flowers everywhere!

Aiyana gathered branches pruned off the peach trees in our orchard, and spent hours making bouquets and putting them all around the house.

I actually love how she's been spending this quarantine time. She's been doing her school work diligently; and in addition, she's been taking up a lot of creative pursuits: cooking, painting, making natural beauty products, and sewing. She's been listening to a lot of audio books too, on her phone (although I can't really speak to their quality). Right now, as I write this, she is outside, weeding some flower beds for me, which she is getting paid for (she needs a source of income to pay for her horse...hey, life ain't cheap).

 Peach blossoms, forsythias, and a wheel of freshly made cheese.

 Bunchie

Peace

Bloom

When a flower opens

It gives everything

No holding back 

No expectations 

There may or may not be a killing frost

There may be insects and disease

There may eventually be fruit 

And yet the flower doesn't concern itself with all of this 

When the moment is right 

It does its part 

Giving itself fully, extravagantly 

Such a beautiful way to live! 

...

Plums are in full bloom 

Peaches are almost fully open 




Violas


Hyacinth


Peace 

Link to Marie Claire Magazine, Changemakers issue, featuring Sena

As I mentioned before, Sena, is featured in Marie Claire Magazine April 2020, Changemakers issue, alongside 4 other amazing young women, all environmental activists. Read the full article here: https://www.marieclaire.com/career-advice/a31097928/female-environmentalists-2020/

Some pics from the article, all courtesy of Marie Claire Magazine.

Peace

Happy Easter if you celebrate, and Happy Day if you don't

Because the smallest

And the most vulnerable things 

Will prove to be our saviors

In the toughest of times 

-RM

Peach trimmings left behind from our orchardist pruning the peach trees this morning.

Peace 

For my mom and anyone else who likes farmy stuff

My mom says that she checks my blog every morning, and that seeing pictures of the animals, flowers, and other farmy stuff, makes her happy. So here's a 37 second collage I put together for her and anyone else who's interested. I hope you enjoy it:

https://youtu.be/0zWCPaW-Xlo

Thank you, Bernie!

You have changed the conversation in this country. You have shown more courage and integrity than anyone I've seen in politics. You have inspired and given hope to many of us.

Many hearts are broken now; I don't see my teenage daughter cry too often, but she cried when you suspended your campaign. Because you gave her hope.

Our kids need hope; hope for their future, that they will not be left with insurmountable environmental problems that will threaten their lives to a level unseen before.

Know that your ideas have taken root and will live on in many people's hearts and actions.

Peace

Attune

Though at the edge of all uncertainty
Love waits to show the way
Yet how to know her?
Attune yourself,
And you will see

And another amazing Morcheeba: Enjoy the Ride

Peace

Ed's making ventilators!

This is what Ed and his team at Fraunhofer USA have been working on over the past 3 weeks: making ventilators. Ed is amazing at making useful things, a true engineer:
https://youtu.be/yS52pn0Hl6Y

Peace

The journey in between

Because of Feynman.

Peace

(Image source: Pixabay)

Another kind of fear

Right now, many of us are afraid of getting sick, or our loved ones getting sick. We are afraid of losing our jobs and not being able to provide for our families, pay our bills, or live the same lifestyle as before. We are afraid of what society, the economy, politics, etc. will look like when this is all over, and what that will mean for us. And, underlying all these fears, there's another fear, less obvious and less easy to pinpoint - a sort of existential anxiety.

Now that most, if not all, of our daily structures have been turned upside down - our jobs, our schedules, our daily routines - some uncomfortable questions rises: Who are we without these things? Who are we outside of these things? Just who are we, and what is our role here?

Are we fully defined within the confines of these societal structures we have just lost? And if not, what else is there?

How do we feel about ourselves now that we're not as busy or "productive" as we were a few weeks ago? Do we feel less valuable, and if so, how do we define value?

These are tough questions, but also fun questions, I think, and liberating as well. Uncomfortable as these questions may be, I think we should be at least a little bit grateful for this opportunity to face them as a society. Because once we face them honestly, I do believe that there will be a new level of clarity, a sort of freshness to help us move forward when we are ready.

Peace

I want to share something that moved me very much recently...

I want to share something that moved me very much recently, and that reinforced the ideas that: one, to give is our deepest wish and privilege; and two, goodness, kindness and beauty survive, and indeed are made stronger, in the harshest conditions.

A few days ago, I received a phone call from a man named G. He left a message saying that he heard I was going teach Physics and he was wondering if I was interested in him sharing his materials with me. He is a retired Physics teacher.

I called him back, and before we got into anything, he warned me that he has a degenerative condition which makes him cough uncontrollably. With that out of the way, we started to talk about Physics, his career and mine.

Soon enough, the first coughing fit came on. It sounded absolutely awful. A very violent cough that lasted for too long. We continued talking and he had another one, after which I said that I felt so bad for him, and that it sounded like the cough was so exhausting. He said that it is exhausting, and you could hear it in his voice, and his whole demeanor.

He said that he has a kind of fibrosis in his lungs, which makes it hard for him to breathe, and on top of that, he's got this awful cough. He coughed again, at which point, I felt bad for keeping him on the phone, as it really sounded like the cough was weakening him a lot. 

Still, he wanted to share with me what he had, and described his materials in quite a bit of detail. I told him that I'd be grateful to have anything he wanted to share, and that it would help me a lot in preparing my curriculum as a teacher. We got off the phone with the understanding that he'll be sending me his lecture materials and labs.

I was very moved, and have been thinking about him ever since our conversation. I am particularly moved that despite this terrible physical challenge he's dealing with, and despite the extra anxiety the current Corona situation must be creating for him, being elderly and with a lung condition, he took the time to reach out to me, a complete stranger, and help me out by sharing his life's work, which will undoubtedly be of great use to me. I told him, and I truly hope, that it gives him some satisfaction and comfort, knowing that whatever he is passing on to me will be put to good use and greatly appreciated.

I am so grateful to G., not only for the materials he's sharing with me, but also for the reminder that  goodness and kindness survive in the harshest conditions.

Peace

What scares me

What scares me a lot is when I hit those states of mind and of being where I just cannot see the beauty any more. It's like a light is extinguished and I can't see or feel anything other than my own heaviness.

I found this to be triggered by being around certain people or somehow getting into certain moods, especially fear, which suddenly take away my ability to see and feel, and everything becomes drab and I am numb. Maybe you've experienced that too.

What helps me in those situations is going outside to get some fresh air, music, reading something authentic, in which I recognize that I'm not alone, and being around certain people that can handle heaviness, that have their own experience with it, are not afraid of it, are not ashamed to allow it, and can also laugh about it.

I just wanted to share that.

Here are some pictures from today of my work from home space and a beautiful azalea.

A few small things to bring beauty and light to your day

Many people are overwhelmed by the suffering and uncertainty that's taking place all over the world right now. I think it's really important to keep those who are suffering in our hearts and minds, and to do whatever we can to help, even if that means just staying home.

But let's not forget to also keep our hearts open to all the beauty that is around us everywhere, with the arrival of spring, and to all the goodness and kindness demonstrated by people all around the world, especially those working in the medical field right now.

I hope these pictures and this link to Morcheeba's Rome wasn't built in a day bring you some lightness today.

Peace