Dona Nobis Pacem ~ A Revolution of Words

Blog Blast for Peace
June 4, 2008

Today I join Mimi Lenox and many other bloggers in the 4th Blog Blast for Peace ... and invite YOU to join the wave today on your Blog. Just click Mimi's link and read the directions for getting your own Peace Globe to personalize and publish. Then follow the directions to share with others through her official sites ... and visit others blogging for peace today.

Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that 'Peace is in Every Step' ... a choice in every instant no matter what's happening around and/or within us. You can see and listen to him here in a brief presentation and/or spend more time as he speaks on the following topics:
Mindfulness: Living in the Present Moment
Peace is in Every Step
Breathing Meditation

How much simpler might life be
if we each made PEACE a central priority in our lives ...
remembering to
stop
B R E A T H E
smile ...
notice & take in
the elements of our natural surroundings
and say 'thank you'
as we move through the day's activities
remembering that everyone is 'living their lives' ...
dealing with challenges,
coping with adversity,
pursuing their dreams
in much the same way as we are.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I've written of this before, but believe that it bears repeating. Don Miguel Ruiz suggests adopting the following Four Agreements:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Click for my 2nd Blog Blast for Peace today
at Small Reflections.

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Thought for Today
"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding." Ralph Waldo Emerson

HF #44 & OSI: Week 13 - Reflection

The prompt for Week 13: Reflection

Thanks to Scylla at Law & Motherhood for this cool Haiku button

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Henningsen Gardens - Taos, New Mexico


Mirrored images
captured with my digital
camera ... I sat

on the bank & wrote
reflecting upon the week
filling pages with

memories & thoughts
with my pencil on the page
precursors of my

Small Reflections 'blog'
late October of last year ...
2007

in addition to
Sacred Ruminations. Now
each 'reflects' who I

am as I explore
a transition from 'closet
writer' to Blogger.

Gradually my
comfort level grows with each
piece I choose to share

and your responses
left in comments as you stop
by for a visit.




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Click for Volume #43
(3 challenges in a single post)
at Small Reflections
and for others participating this week:
One Single Impression

~ ~ ~

For a Mr. Linky to other Haiku Fridays
go to A Mommy Story or
Playgroups are no Place for Children.

To see more previous Haikus,
click on the Haiku Friday label below this post
or in the sidebar under About Me.

Thought for Today
"Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action." Peter Drucker

My One Single Impression Directory

Directory
of My OSI Posts

Week 22: Faces at SacredRuminations and Small Reflections

Week 21: Rest
Collage: Cuties at Rest (at Sacred Ruminations)
Recovering after Taos (at Small Reflections)

Weeks 18-20: (under construction & hopefully published soon)

Week: 17 Melody

Week 16: Transience or Permanence

Week 15: Pets - One of a kind, Charly

Week 14: Freedom

Week 13: Reflection
of Taos & Blogging (at Sacred Ruminations)
of One Single Impression Prompts (at Small Reflections)

Week 12: Bleeding
Review of THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant

Week 11: Warm
Sunsets (at Sacred Ruminations)
Puppies (at Small Reflections)

Week 10: Deserted

Week 9: - Flowering
My Garden at Sacred Ruminations)
Personal Growth and Blossoming (at Small Reflections)

Week 8: Color
Images of the Mind Revealed (at Sacred Ruminations)
Comeback of my Apricot Rose at (Small Reflections)

Week 7: Glory/Glorious
Sunrise (at Sacred Ruminations)
Glory (the film at Small Reflections)

Week 6: Stranded
In a Hurricane (at Sacred Ruminations)
Polar Bears (at Small Reflections)

Week 5: Laughter
April Fools' Day

Week 4: Spring -
A Colorful Offering from my Garden (at Sacred Ruminations)
Tennis Leaps (at Small Reflections)

Week 3: Circles - Easter Sunday (at Sacred Ruminations)

Week 2: Kindness

Week 1: Change - Introducing Molly & Ms. Kitty Coping with Change

BYB #5 and more ... on Sunday

The French Open tournament
begins today ... for two
weeks there will be tennis matches
to record & view!

Those who've read my blogs a while
know I'm a tennis fan
during major championships.
I'm grateful I can

DVR the matches while I'm
busy, and when time
permits, watch them at my leisure.
Thus my simple rhyme

focuses attention on this
'blessing' ... I can see
matches since the 'Tennis Channel'
seems 'unblocked' and free!!!

~ ~ ~

Gentle rain the last two days has
watered everything
saving me the time & effort.
Sunny now ... birds sing

joyfully and hop around
the yard in search of food ...
Is it any wonder I'm in
a marvelous mood?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All I need to figure out
is what to do about
the gopher who's 'tunneling' a
'home' out front. No doubt
I cannot ignore this rodent
(or the family
who might reside with him) in the
tunnels under the
beautiful hydrangea
I've shared here previously.

If you have suggestions won't you
please enlighten me?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'
check the BYB Sundays Blogroll near the bottom of my sidebar here
at Sacred Ruminations or click on the logo at the top of this post.

* * * * * * * *

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Daily Meditation from
Keepers of the Wisdom
Reflections from Lives Well Lived
by Karen Casey

"I know this: It's not just experience in age;
whatever you can do best will bring itself to light."
Eva Wines

"Perhaps you don't feel that you do anything well. Often times, we make only half-hearted attempts at whatever we do. Then, we have ample evidence that we're not doing so well. We can change that experience, though. A bit of effort and a measure of patience will nurture noticeable improvement. But what does it mean that whatever we can do best will come 'to light'?

We get urges to try our hands at something every now and then. Mostly we ignore them. If we're attentive, we're aware that the urges repeat themselves. They are coming 'to light.' We then must make the choice to follow them or not. What's in store for us, if we actively acknowledge them, is fulfillment like we'd never known before. It's not accidental that we are called to do certain things. No one else has exactly the gifts we've been blessed with. We must offer ours to the world for its realization, and ours, too."

"I can point to many accomplishments in my lifetime.
What brings me the most pleasure is undoubtedly
God's special assignment for me."

Thought for Today
"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." G.K. Chesterdon

HF #42 & One Single Impression - Week 12

The prompt for Week 12 is: Bleeding

Thanks to Scylla at Law & Motherhood for this cool Haiku button

~ ~ ~

In a novel the
author imagines the life
of Dinah based on

a brief Biblical
reference ... providing a
glimpse of women's lives

from an era when
mutual support evolved
within The Red Tent.

Mothers, sisters, aunts
gathered regularly to
take 'refuge' and 'bond'

while menstruating
or giving birth ... following
ancient tradition.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Click for Volume #41
at Small Reflections
and for others participating this week:
One Single Impression

~ ~ ~

For a Mr. Linky to other Haiku Fridays
go to A Mommy Story or
Playgroups are no Place for Children.

To see more previous Haikus,
click on the Haiku Friday label below this post
or in the sidebar under About Me.

Thought for Today
"It is terrible how much has been forgotten, which is why, I suppose, remembering seems a holy thing." This quote is taken from the novel's prologue as Dinah introduces herself as both narrator and protagonist as she 'fulfills an oath to her mothers to remember and honor them.'
Spark Notes.com

Belatedly BYBS#4 & almost Wordless Wednesday

ALMOST

(This makes #27 for me and you'll find
#28 at Small Reflections today)

Now you see it
(the post behind the deer)

Now you don't ;--)

Do you have old photographs like this?

I'm not finished yet, but
look at the amazing transformation thus far!

Yes, I'm aware it's Wednesday (not Sunday) ... but I'm 'catching up' and I'm almost Wordless today as I share the latest thing I learned in my Photoshop Elements class. I'm feeling grateful for the learning opportunities available in today's world and delighted to be blogging as time permits. FYI ... I signed up yesterday for the intermediate class to follow this one later this summer and will most likely take the advanced class after that. Retired life is good indeed!

For the 4th time thus far ... (albeit belatedly)

Find others participating
in Wordless Wednesday this week
and for those who 'Blog Their Blessings'

check the BYB Sundays Blogroll near the bottom of my sidebar
here at Sacred Ruminations or click on the logo above.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

~ ~ ~

Thought for Today
"Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back." Chinese Proverb

Haiku Friday #40 - Photoshop Lessons Learned

Thanks to Scylla at Law & Motherhood for this cool Haiku button

Tuesday was the first
day of my Photoshop class
and we learned to fix

'Red-Eyes' in 3 ways
each a tad bit different
but all effective.

In addition we
learned to zoom & crop photos
... saving them 'resized'

This woman holds a
sheet of commemorative
stamps and Thursday I

learned how to 'select'
and 'enhance' that portion to
adjust the colors

without altering
anything else ... that seems a
useful thing to know.

Thursday I learned to
modify a photograph
highlighting someone's

head & shoulders then
'feathering' the edges and
changing the background

experimenting with
various colors and shapes
using diff'rent 'tools'

playing with a few
possibilities like these ...
and taking an old

'ragged-edged' picture
like the one below to 'fix'
and 'restore' ... Nifty!

All these techniques seem
very 'cool' and practical ...
well worth getting my-

self out of the house
and to 'class' by 8 o'clock
2 mornings each week.

~ ~ ~

Click to see more 'illustrated' lessons
shared at Small Reflections today
in Volume #39
showing features introduced
in Photoshop Elements
this week.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For a Mr. Linky to other Haiku Fridays
go to A Mommy Story or
Playgroups are no Place for Children.

To see more previous Haikus,
click on the Haiku Friday label below this post
or in the sidebar under About Me.

Thought for Today
"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." James Joyce