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Archive for March, 2008
Many of us are dealing with health issues and/or aging issues nowadays – our own, our family members’ and our friends. It’s tough to take care of ourselves when we have to take care of others, when we feel scared and anxious. The first things to go are our routines.
I’ve prepared a list of basics I hope will be helpful:
A good place to start is at the most basic level of food, water and sleep. Keep things very simple and nourishing with food. If you’re not able to sleep consider natural remedies or even medication.
Get outside in nature even if its only for 5 minutes to refresh yourself and change your energy. Move your body while you’re out there. The more you do this, the more your body-mind-spirit will crave it.
Get the support of others – friends and family members if they aren’t too caught up in their own feelings. Call a crisis line if necessary; that’s what they’re in the phone book for!
Spend a few minutes every day alone quietly. This will help you release your burdens and the burdens of others you may be carrying. In the stillness you will receive guidance.
And finally, BREATHE!…the first line of defence. Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it as long as it is comfortable, then push as much air as possible out through your mouth. Repeat this up to 5 breaths. Put post-its up or set timers for 15 minutes as a reminder.
If you are in crisis or going through a lot right now, just begin to use these basics. They certainly won’t hurt you, and will likely help.
Dear readers: Here is the address of the organization that has the Tibet petition on its site. Almost 700,000 have signed already.
You may have to type the address into your browser and/or try a couple of times to get on the site.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence
Sincerely
Ellen
PS: You may have to type www.avaaz.org only without the en/tibet to get onto the site
Here in Canada we’ve been following the Democratic primaries much closer than usual as the situation is so unique. It seems that Hilary Clinton is damned if she does & damned if she doesn’t.
The American press is making a big deal of a black man running, but not celebrating that a woman is running. I heard a US feminist leader a couple of months ago on the radio say that having a woman running wasn’t an issue, because women have their rights in the US, but that a black man was a big deal.
I knew this wasn’t right. I just didn’t believe that America was ready for a woman. This appears to be the case. It turns out that black men in the US got the vote 50 years before any women did. Also, women do have the same high profile in leadership positions in the US as in developing countries. The following observations underscore these points:
Feminist analysis of the Democratic Leadership race
Here’s some commentary about Hillary Clinton’s Campaign
Every year on March 10th, the anniversary of the initial Chinese invasion of Tibet, there are protests by Tibetans all around the world. This year things are different. The protests are bigger and bolder in China, perhaps because of the coming of the Olympics.
China’s profile is higher in the eyes of the world these days – they’re ‘on the radar’ so to speak. The coming Olympics in Beijing have raised the profile of the country even more. China wants to look good in the eyes of the world, but even though they’ve worked hard to block the information getting out, the world is finding out about the arrests, beatings and killings of Tibetans in China and Tibet over the past week.
My friend in McLeod Ganj (also called Upper Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama’s home) says
that there are hunger strikes going on there. They are all very worried about the violence and fear that anyone who makes the least peaceful protest in Tibet or China will be hurt.
What can we do to help? One thing we can do, whichever western country we live in, is to write to our federal leaders or federal members of parliament, and implore them not to send dignitaries to the opening events of the Olympics. That will send a strong message to the Chinese but won’t prevent the athletes from competing.
The following is the newsletter I wrote and sent out while travelling in India last fall; you may have missed it. It’s called ‘Am I My Sister’s Keeper’
The other 2 links are background on the protests by Tibetans in China and Tibet, and coverage of the protest rally that took place today in Ottawa, Ontario.
CBC – Tibet protests spreading to other Chinese provinces
When is Enough Enough?
Now that we’ve made the decision to modify our lives so we can travel more and work in different parts of the world, my partner and I have ramped up our financial discussions. As part of the non-pension- holding baby boomer set, we’ve often felt over the past few years that if we just had a little more, we’d be okay as we grow older. We’d be able to kick back more, not worry so much about working. We’re beginning to realize that when and if we get a little more, we’ll probably think we need a little more still!
We live so well in our country and our standards are so high. In many places people live in simple little houses or apartments, some even made out of mud or recycled materials. They have enough to eat and clothes on their backs. Because our culture is so wealthy, and we live in a cooler country, our idea of the basics is quite different from this. We have substantial houses, good quality newish appliances, entertainment equipment, more often than not 2 vehicles per family, seasonal clothes, and so on and so on.
As a society our awareness is beginning to change in many areas though, and one of these is in the area of acquisition and consumption. I believe that The Debt Diet, advocated by the Oprah Show for Americans whose debt load is out of control, is an important step in this direction.
Families are followed as they work with a team of experts to get control of their financial lives and pay off all outstanding debt. Of course their whole lives and family relationships become more balanced in the process. Watching them makes us think about our relationship with money and ’stuff’.
This month Lisa Ling did a segment on the Oprah show on middle class people who dumpster dive and collect discarded (but perfectly good) food, furniture and other household things. These people are called Freegans. This may seem a little excessive to most of us and that’s okay. We don’t have to live this way, but it shows us the possibilities that exist out there. Check out Could You Live With Less and A Trash Tour.
Lastly, another indication of our growing interest in living simply is yurts, (a type of tent).
I’d heard of yurts but hadn’t been in one until I went to a woman’s retreat on Bowen Island during the summer of 2006. The large yurt there was the meeting room. I’ve just realized that there is somewhat of a movement towards yurt living. There’s actually a yurt company right here on the Sunshine Coast. Not everyone lives in them, some people use them for outbuildings, but to me the possibility of living in yurts in rural areas is very refreshing. Click here to read more about people in yurts all over the world.
All these things and many more go a long way towards answering the question: “Is there a simpler, more conscious way to live?”.