"Good Wood"

My typical process for enjoying a wood burning stove this winter involves going out to the shed every other day or so and bringing in a couple bunches of wood to dry. I trudge out in my baggy Dartmouth sweatpants - no one around except me and the trees and the five deer staring at me. I sing to them and they seem to like it. A couple of them even walked towards to me tonight.

When I trudge out in my sweatpants to do things like this, I’m reminded of my good friend Sue. Sue is in her fifties, highly intelligent, lives on a huge farm property in New England and is, of course, single. And she’s a little hottie! So am I! (Especially in my sweatpants:) It makes me wonder why women like us are single, and why we don’t have boyfriends or husbands helping us with rugged man-like tasks such as this. There must be a good reason – (Sidenote, I ran into an ex a couple nights ago, along with his new wife -- you remember -- the one with the "ex-girlfriend" whom he got pregnant. It was an akward encounter leaving me feeling relieved to not bear the burden of two babies and a full-time college student for a husband.) Maybe it's my attitude that leaves me to bear the burden of carrying the wood instead!

Anyway, regarding the wood – I spend quite a bit of time sitting in front of the fire writing whitepapers, and the Big Cat named Bob usually sits around with me. One night he was being a real pain in the ass; he just wouldn’t settle down. I had left the wood carrier sitting next to the fire and the next thing I know, I see Bob get in the wood carrier (which looks VERY similar to a kitty litter box). I’ve never moved so fast in my life! I got him out of the wood carrier while he was mid-squat. The wood carrier never sits inside the house anymore.

Other than that one incident, he’s really a very good cat. Really, he is!

Keeping with the “Good Wood” theme, here’s a link to a great local bluegrass band, “Good Wood” http://www.goodwoodband.org/snakeoil.html. I’m proud to say the rockin’ mando player, Christian Johnson, is a friend of mine.

Enjoy!

Synchronicities and Planning for One Lifetime

Ok, Maybe I was wrong about Obama. The Clinton/Obama bickering doesn’t seem to be helping either one of them. Time will tell as the anti-Bush campaign rolls on.

I’ve recently learned that a health concern weighing on my mind is not such a concern after all. It is amazing how fear of loss, control and even death cripple us when it arises. Suffice to say, my outlook on life in general is much lighter. Fear is like a box that keeps us pegged. Much like a foreign currency can be pegged to the dollar (which would not be a great these days). Currencies want to fluctuate in and out of the box depending on what is happening in the local economy. For those fixed to the US dollar, they are controlled and going down.

Break open that box of fear, let it go and open the mind to the possibility of healing, and dreaming, and true miracles do occur.

For those who know me well, you know I’ve explored different modalities of healing over the last two years. Yesterday, I visited with a healer in Eureka, Montana who has helped me in the past. He says anything can be healed with the mind – a tumor, cancer, bone can grow. The body’s cells are constantly regenerating and it’s our mind that sends either positive or negative messages to those precious cells.

My healer friend also helped me to let go of expectations (mine and other’s expectations of me), or trying to “fit everything into one lifetime”. In his words, “Maybe you weren’t meant for that in this lifetime”. Our society is constantly gripping onto the idea that we must fulfill a broad range of requirements during this life. What if this lifetime is really just a chapter in a much bigger book? Doesn’t that feel better? Doesn’t it help to know we can live just one chapter – the chapter our intuition tells us to follow - and it’s OK?

My point here is that letting go of this fear, breaking open the box, allows the energy of conduits to come into our lives and line up precisely what we need in this lifetime…at least that’s my belief. More to come on this topic in the near future, as I feel a “connecting of the dots” is imminent for me.

2008 - The Change is Now

Obama is leading the polls in New Hampshire

We are about to have our first African American president. When such a great change can occur, an even greater wave of innovations and change is bound to follow. As Obama would say “Ride the Wave”.

My local community here in Montana is struggling with development and change. Recycling and waste management implementation is like pulling teeth. Hard to imagine when the rest of the world is so far ahead of us – and we have these vast resources to protect. Instead, they are being abused.

Not much to write today, but I wanted to post these links to resources I’ve recently found which I find interesting for developing the mind:

http://www.getabstract.com/ – A Switzerland-based company that publishes 5-page abstracts on the latest business and leadership books.

http://www.analyzenow.com/ – advanced retirement planning tools developed by an MIT graduate and former engineer and president at Boeing.

http://current.com/items/77158622_changing_face_of_eureka_mt - The Changing Face of Eureka, MT – I predict, a great place to be.

And on Britney – I agree with the Guardian UK paper. Mental illness has turned into a spectator sport. She is not being treated like a human… BUT, she’s getting tons of media blitz and I predict she can and will turn this whole thing around. America likes nothing better than a come-back-kid. Within five years, she’ll be making more money than ever through movie and book rights.

Happy New Year!