Jumping and running through the surf of the brisk February surf on our Atlantic shore this month has yielded a few precious finds: shiny granite bits, coral pieces and other small shells.  However, I was trying in vain earlier this week to find some fun shells at the “white line” underneath where the surf breaks onto the sand.  When I realized it was time for my sons and I to leave the beach I found the best shell as we stumbled through the thick mounds of dry sand many yards away from the water.  If I hadn’t kept my eyes toward the ground I would have missed the smooth shiny olive shell (note:http://www.squidoo.com/lettered-olive-shells) that was beautifully intact.

How often have we assumed that what we’re looking for is somewhere exotic and apart from the place we’re at?  Or forget geographical thinking: how about seeking happiness in a change of circumstances rather than finding happiness in whatever circumstance we’re in?

The simple lesson I was reminded again of when I picked up that nice olive shell was that I need to remember that there are extraordinary treasures hidden right where I dwell physically and where I reside in my state of mind.  It’s not to halt the explorer spirit but just help temper that impatient traveler within by knowing that there’s still new adventures to be found locally.

R.V.S.B.

BROKEN BITS: AN ANALOGY OF ANTHROPY

It’s an alluring tease to pick up a big shard of what clearly was part of a beautiful shell if it were in its entirety.  We can’t help but look around immediately just in case the missing pieces are nearby and available to help restore this lacking bit in our hand.

People that we encounter in our lives are many times just like that conch shell bit that showed a mere glimpse of what it once was or could be.  When we may be slighted by someone we just met it can be so easy to take it personally.  However, if we paused for a moment and noticed the details, we might recognize that this person is unfortunately incomplete at the moment and has the potential to be whole and content–it’s just that at this time they’re very much just a piece of who they can be and therefore may come across with impatience, judgmental and other abrasive attitudes.

Whenever I find these phantom shells with edges broken and jagged, I resist the urge to collect them and instead toss them back into the breaking surf.  I know I’ll find a complete shell like it one day and even if that day never comes I believe that they exist and that gives me hope.

R.S.V.B.

This particular New Testament Bible passage has always fascinated me–especially when I was a Greek Orthodox girl in an elementary Roman Catholic school where the nuns outnumbered the lay teachers.  I didn’t understand or know many of Christ’s teachings during those years but that one stuck with me because it told me that Christ loved us kids no matter how noisy and unruly we could be.

Taking this thought a step further, this passage came to my mind again in recent weeks as I’ve had the honor to witness my youngest child take his first steps and continue at an unbelievable pace.  My son is almost a year old and the progress he makes on a daily basis makes me feel like as busy as we adults can be, it doesn’t seem we’re making the same advancement as this little guy.  He greets each day with an awe-inspiring smile in the morning, ready to receive whatever the adventures du jour are.

So in simple framework exegesis, we can agree that this short passage alludes to the impatience and annoyance that Christ’s inner circle initially felt at people crowding him with their babies and children beckoning for touch/acceptance/blessing.  They tried to shoo them away and Jesus immediately “rebuked” them and then called the young to him directly while declaring that it should be understood that we must try to be like our children in order accept the gift of the kingdom of God.

While in church with my children, I must remind myself to not get trapped by the concerns of sticking to the current status quo in regards to how well we sit, stand and whatever other physical ritual we have in our worship time.  What is most important for our children to know and understand?  That they are loved and accepted.  That they are desired and destined for greatness in their individual development.  That love is God’s gift to us all and we are able to receive it and share it.

These restless and tiresome years with the little ones are so fleeting and one day they’ll have more challenges than we’d care for them to have to encounter.  However, we can learn from them right now how to accept that there is nothing we can do to earn or win the love of God.  It just Is.  Love without fear, doubt or rejection–let’s be like a little child with the kingdom of God at our fingertips.

R.V.S.B.

As I ran through the dark streets of the neighborhood that I reside in, I could hear everything including the crickets screaming out in their respective songs.  No moon in the sky and so I could make out many stars sparkling.  I felt the cool evening air filling my tired lungs, my skin and muscles tightening and relaxing as I tried to find my run’s rhythm pace.

It’s been so long since I ran free like this-alone and quiet-and yet so rich in the experience of the run itself. The human body in its most free mode of land-locked flight. No one could reach me and my heart soared in the raw feeling of this temporary escape.

By the end of my run I felt refreshed even though my physical heart was thundering in my ears, my thighs weak with the weight of soreness throughout.  I felt the breeze in my scalp like a gentle massage helping any troubles from the day tumble away. My heart within was singing its own song rendition.

I advocate this type of running.  To each his or her own of course.  However, if you can’t remember the last time you ran unfettered from wires and wireless signals, I recommend you try it once in a while as a detox for your body and spirit.

RVSB

Four More Years: Yes,  He Can!

We can acknowledge that history repeats itself in our human society here on Earth.  Those who weave a successful future usually have studied history well and focused on what worked well so that they can ensure a positive outcome in their own lives.  Enter here: President Barack Obama.  This man has played the cards of political fate with such precision that he is securing his legacy as our POTUS (President of the United States) and tenure for four more years until 2016.

I was unable to watch his State of the Union address earlier this week but was able to read the transcript.  You can go to this link for its entirety in text form: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/stateoftheunion2011.htm

Whatever your political bend is, you must realize and note that President Obama is effectively taking a page out of President Reagan’s playbook of how-to when the Executive Branch no longer holds dominance on Capitol Hill.  House Speaker John Boehner will be Mr. Obama’s Tip O’Neill.

As the media mix of cable networks, radio and freelancers that blog like myself churn away with our opinions and rebuttals, the fact remains that the American people overall only care to cling to a positive, unifying message.  The mad cocktail-gone-bad that has been our economy for the past several years has left many in our nation overall depressed and disillusioned about what’s ahead.  This has helped to spark more passion in our political parties—so much so that we had a change in power in the House of Representatives was quickly reversed this past fall after the Democrats had it only since the infamous fall of the GOP in mid-term elections 2006.

I noticed that President Obama’s tone of rhetoric changed shortly after the mid-cycle elections, perhaps he was grounded by the returns that election night or maybe he just understood that it was now his time to truly shine as a leader despite what the balance of powers was between the Executive and Legislative branch.  For those watching closely, Mr. Obama did ram through a few costly and liberal-themed things immediately after becoming our current POTUS.  This was a smart calculation as he was able to establish some items before there were any repercussions from either Democrats or Republicans.

Further, by weathering the political upheaval this past fall with a tactful concession, he is able to cover over any long-standing effects that will be due to his decisions since he was sworn in.  In part, by applauding and accepting that American wanted to be heard, he has encouraged us to look forward to trying to change our current predicament of a slump economy in need of jobs and debt removal.

His State of the Union address this week speaks directly to all of us Americans who are choosing to ignore the Wall Street hyper-talk and economic rumblings of demise.  He is able to capitalize on the recent Tucson, Arizona shootings tragedy in a positive manner by rallying the nation to embrace what we ought to strive for as one of the major world powers.

I offer these lines from President Ronald Reagan’s first State of the Union address to the nation on January 26, 1982 : “A year ago, Americans’ faith in their governmental process was steadily declining. Six out of 10 Americans were saying they were pessimistic about their future. A new kind of defeatism was heard. Some said our domestic problems were uncontrollable, that we had to learn to live with this seemingly endless cycle of high inflation and high unemployment. There were also pessimistic predictions about the relationship between our administration and this Congress. It was said we could never work together. Well, those predictions were wrong. The record is clear, and I believe that history will remember this as an era of American renewal, remember this administration as an administration of change, and remember this Congress as a Congress of destiny.”Read more: State of the Union Address: Ronald Reagan (January 26, 1982) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/t/hist/state-of-the-union/195.html#ixzz1CIwQgnAS

Couple those words with our current Commander-in-Chief: “What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.  I believe we can. I believe we must. That’s what the people who sent us here expect of us. With their votes, they’ve determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties.  New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans.  We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.”

Amazing isn’t it? Not much has changed but that is to our advantage because it means we always can choose whether to tackle our future or not.  President Barack Obama is a great example of a man who although has faults and maybe even some fraudulence to his character, he embraces what has worked throughout the centuries—a positive message repeated in simple terms will often mobilize the masses to accomplish great things.

God Bless America.

RVSB

So there’s a show or two

on who can cook the fastest,

make up the most gourmet meal:

quite the challenge we think.

But let’s remember reality:

what about those parents

single or together

who have to whip dinner

in imposssible time flat?

To them I tip a hat

and say: you’re AWESOME!

You can take random items

make them dance together

to feed your family!

No offense to “Cake Boss” types

or the “Hell’s Fire” minions…

the category is just above you,

moms and dads have it tough

and everyday are the unsung heros

of the “Iron Chef” mentality.

R.V.S.B.

As often is the case when I work in my garden, the physical reality of what is transpiring with my plants illustrates the current state of affairs in my life and perhaps others around me.

In the weeks following my severe pruning of the jasmine, I have strung up trellises made of twine that provide a nice framework and extension of the fence.  Before I left for a 3 week trip around Thanksgiving I “highly suggested” to the new vine growth that they cling to the new trellis by initially wrapping them into the bottom portions.  When I returned in early December I entered my garden and immediately noticed that the jasmine had taken the suggestion to heart and had several upon several vines growing throughout the trellis.

If left alone, unbridled energy can paralyze and stagnate what could otherwise result in amazing productivity in life.  Apathy breeds inactivity which in turn can depress and hurt a soul–many times starting a vicious circle that is difficult to stop or reverse.  In turn, too much output can also lead to burnout and imprisonment by an intensely mundane grind.

My jasmine has a crazy life force that compels it to grow so long and extensively in this humble corner of my garden (the other jasmine plants in my garden don’t come anywhere the growth of this particular plant). Providing a few different trellises for it to grow upon has now assisted this plant to effectively climb both upward and sideways.  When it blooms in coming months, I’ll have countless blooms in fragrant unison making an unbelievable wall of perfume.

There must be a balance and a basis for our life as Creation continues to propel us forward.

R.V.S.B.

While we look ahead at the clean time slate of 2012 today, we’re able to “close the book” on whatever we missed in 2011.  We learned more this past year that the year before that and hopefully we’ll enjoy the new adventures ahead.

Many of us may be currently in a grind. The sort of mundane, mind-draining kind where you begin to resent getting up in the morning and having to face the day once again.  It may seem too easy to say, but we really can change that.  We can decide to walk away and do something different.

This past year I can admit to those reading that I did find myself slipping into ruts from time to time and pushed myself so hard to try to control everything in those backward slides of mood and life happenings.  However, I also learned that when I made the decision consciously to change my reaction and thus attitude to whatever was going on, it made a positive difference.

We may not have control of everything swirling about us, but we do have our will to react how we decide is the way.  So someone cuts you off on the road. You can yell at them, cuss, make a nonverbal gesture or you can simply shrug and wish that poor person well since they must be having quite the day, life or just are downright rude.  I’m not proposing how you should respond to that road rage-inducing occurrence, rather I’m illustrating that you do have the choice–you decide, no one else.

In a world that seem so overrun with situations out of our control and scope of influence, we really are more powerful than we realize. We can either let our life run on automatic and complain about the bumps and wrong turns in our journey here or we can take the manual route and actively engage with the seen and unforeseen adventures that inundate us.

May your loose ends from 2011 be thread into the new strands of 2012.  There is so much more ahead, I wish you and your loved ones good health and happiness in this new year.

R.V.S.B.

Okay, to be fair, the above thought process may seem a bit advanced for a toddler/preschooler…however, the emotions and visual recognition of the theme are not.

I think I hit my limit earlier today when I took my children to a local museum and observed both a mother and a grandmother totally engrossed in their handheld devices as their two boys were playing with a train set that required coordination of assembling more tracks. After witnessing these boys ask multiple times from their “mom” and “nana” to assist them and outright invite them to play with them, I knelt down with my baby carrier and assisted them myself as I often do with my own children daily.

It makes me sad not just for the children ignored by their parents while they’re pecking away at their awesome technology. I grieve for these parents that will one day reap what they sow because children aren’t stupid, they notice EVERYTHING–especially about their parents’ behavior as it relates to them.

I’m not saying we can totally disavow ourselves as users of our present-day mode of communication. What I am urging is moderation and especially careful usage when raising young children who rely on their caregivers to give them nourishing time as they grow in these critical years that shape them for the remainder of their lives.

Please, don’t take me as a self-righteous judge of all parents…just ask yourself if you can dial it back a little if you find that you check your device more than 5-10 times an hour. Do you really need to check Facebook that often? Can that texting or long phone call wait until naptime?

I’m not saying it’s easy and I’m guilty of sometimes relying on my device too much…I used to be able to hide texting but now my one child is at an age that he notices a lot and I’d rather just go without than teach him that this is the only way to socialize.

To those that say the devices help them feel connected to the world, I say remember that you are in the world with your children now and you’re their teacher as to how they should interact with everyone in the world. These handheld devices are great tools but they should not replace the precious time with our children, tomorrow they’ll be adults and perhaps our caregivers as well.

R.V.S.B.

As I wrestled last week with my very hyper older son while trying to hold on to my squirming infant son in our Greek Orthodox church pew during worship service, I thought: Why bother? The same question pops into my mind when in the middle of a grocery aisle with two restless little souls while trying to decide which dry food good is healthier for my family’s pantry. It seems there are a couple items I’m quite passionate about when raising our children, one rooted in spiritual sustenance for their souls and the other being physical fuel for their bodies. I’m guessing that I’m not the only mom out there in any given country that feels the same way.

WHAT’S IT ALL FOR? Sense of Incense and Icons

So back to last week: As I chased the rabbit in my mind who was screaming “why bother?”, I reminded myself to look around and remember why I do bother, along with my husband, to go through our weekly ritual of attending our Greek Orthodox church. I cannot speak for other faiths such as Jews, Muslim, Hinduism, et cetera—but in my faith, besides the obvious theological tie to the miraculous belief of the Trinity and Christ’s Resurrection…I appreciate the hope of things to come and that while we’re going through the rumble-tumble ride that life can be, we can find ways to help and love each other. There are so many things about our world and the creation beyond our atmosphere that I don’t know that I’m in awe of the God force behind it all and I’m grateful for the chance to live and participate. If I can share this with my children in a way that inspires them to embrace life, love and respect for others then I will be at peace at the end of my journey here. This can be a tough philosophy to re-enact when dealing with a temper tantrum or a tired-tot meltdown, however, I encourage perseverance if not to help you remember what’s important to your belief system in your practicing faith. My husband and I do agree that ultimately if our hearts are not in it, then it does our children no good and it would be a moot point for us to attend church if we are only bitter shells of ourselves in the congregation.

FOOD IS FOOD, RIGHT? Discerning What’s Best

The ridiculous part about this food subject is that many of in the “civilized” world have way too many choices. It’s sort of like how women hundreds of years ago didn’t have so many choices when it came to family planning but now are sort of paralyzed sometimes in whether or not to have children. When it comes to planning our family’s menu day to day, I make countless choices in the lead up to the final product that arrives on the table for the main meals and snack times. For my own crazy methodology, I like to seek out organic and locally fresh ingredients when possible. Organic and even local can mean very high prices: in those instances I may purchase conventional or just skip that type of meal until later. It helps to educate one’s self on the foods you and your family prefer to eat so as to know if you want to make a concession or not. But don’t peg me for a purist, either. I often tell family and friends that in the end there’s a reason I give thanks and pray before every meal, especially when eating out at a restaurant: I can’t control every single ingredient sometimes and as we’re finding out in recent news, I may unknowingly purchase something under a false label or omission of vital information (Google search the recent news on meat labeling for items such as poultry and pork-evidently many of those meats are injected with solutions like water, broth and other things to plump them up and they’re not currently mandated to be labeled as such). Let’s not forget-for some of us, fixing food is our way of loving our family and friends, so it’s worth the hassle even with the “bewitching hour” for parents (I highly recommend Crockpots!)

FOOD AND RELIGION, IS THAT ALL? The Countless Other Things

As a lover, mother, daughter, sister, friend and wife that I am these days, there are many other things that I strive each day to share and instill in my children. I know that I’m not perfect and many times can be hypocritical in my beliefs—sometimes even changing my views on what I thought was my solid opinion beforehand. What’s most important must be how we love each other and when it comes to our children that’s truly what they need the most is our unconditional love, all the rest of the countless other things we try to give/share with them are just the details of life that make us all unique.

RVSB