Simply Moments

Today is the first day of Losar, the start of the Tibetan New Year. From now until March 9th, the 15 Days of Miracles begins, celebrating Buddha when he showed his miraculous power of love and enlightenment that inspired his followers--and is still inspiring people around the globe today. But here's the cool part:  All of these 15 days are miraculous days , when the merit of virtuous actions, kindness, helping others, etc., are multiplied by 100 million.  Yeah, million .  Talk about beefing up the good karma! This is also the zodiac Year of the Rat.  I know, eeewww , right?  But not, if you're a rat like me.  I used to be bothered by being a rat.  Why couldn't I be a dragon, or tiger, or a sweet dog?  Now however, I'm happy with the zodiac sign of the rat.  They're resourceful, clever, adaptive and intelligent (as long as you don't find them in your house, then it's back to eeewww ). Even if you're not a Buddhist, you can still take a moment or

My sister sent Benny the cutest thing for Valentine's Day.  It was an adorable Lamb Chop stuffed toy with little squeakers in each hand & foot, plus a larger one in its chest.  Because it was a bit bigger than his usual toy--he's a wee miniature Dachshund after all--I had high hopes of Lamb Chop being one of the rare few that he doesn't tear limb from limb. Sadly, he totally lives up to the purpose of his breed: chasing badgers down their holes and shredding them.  Hard to believe such a small creature still has the killer instincts of his larger ancestors, but believe me, he's a terror.  He had the feet and the "heart" ripped out within five minutes!  I think it's the squeakers; he won't quit until there is no more noise and guess in his dog brain that means he has killed his prey.  In theory, at least.  Could be he just hates the squeaks and can't wait to silence them. In any case, after his rampage, he collapsed in a heap and took a two

I've always gathered quotes.  No doubt, I could walk through my house right now and in every tablet, sticky note or the back of the Costco catalog, there will be something jotted down that I've either read or heard.  I have quotes on scraps of paper that became bookmarks, and bits torn from magazines stashed in folders and stuck with big push pins to my bookcase shelves and cork board.  I have a tiny notebook in my wallet filled with things I've heard, or read while out and about.  I have a large section set aside in my journals just for quotes; I even have journals that are only quotes. There's no rhyme or reason to these collected thoughts, just, somehow they come my way and resonate, running the gamut from philosophers to movie stars, Buddhism to magic, history and politics.  I had several quotes to add into my journal this afternoon.  When I finished, I read all the quotes I have in there so far, which lead me to reread last year's bujo quotes as well.  I'

Woke up this morning, opened the blinds, turned to head for the kitchen and my morning coffee... ...and the other wee bud has opened overnight (see earlier post from January 29 if anyone feels like they missed something).  I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't some kind of night-blooming orchid.  It is such a total and unexpected delight, after five years, to have two flowers.  The first bloom is already 13 days old and still as fresh as the day it opened so I'm hopeful I will have blooms for several more days. That's all.  Just a lovely Monday surprise I thought to share...

I finished my 30-Day Yoga Challenge on Sunday, and woo hoo, what a cool thing!  My YouTube channel had two days where I couldn't connect, so I had to add those days to the end, which took me into February, but whatever: I did it!! Even though I'd been doing yoga five days a week prior to the challenge, by the end of that first week I was hammered, mainly I think because I was used to taking weekends off to recoup.  But since this was a challenge, I kept going, day after day, until funnily enough, somewhere in there, it just became a natural thing I did every morning to start my day. On Monday I was going to take some time off before I got back into my usual 5-day routine but somehow I couldn't.  It felt weird to not get back on the mat.  So now I'm doing another 30-day (well, 29-day really), though this one isn't actually a challenge but more a normal, scheduled daily yoga practice.  It's been a great way to start the new year...and each day. ~ ~ ~ ~