My youngest brother suffers from Huntington’s Disease, which has been passed down on my mother’s side of the family for generations. Huntington’s is a rare, inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. There are treatments for symptoms, but no cure.
Jonathan tested positive over ten years ago, but the reality of the disease is becoming more and more…well, real. In fact, I was planning to write about how he was recently hospitalized with some complications and the issues he’s facing. But I realize that all I really want to say right now is: please pray.
For Jonathan; his wife, Jessica; and their daughter, Janaya. And for my Dad, my sister, and our other two brothers. Thank you. 🙏
It’s been a while since I sat down of an evening and really couldn’t come up with anything to say. But tonight was evidently the night for it. Oh well.
Oh my! This is a poem I wrote for a class assignment in the seventh grade, eons and eons ago.
Reading it, I realize I really was an optimistic child. The handwriting’s a bit hard to decipher (check out those exclamation marks😂), so I’ve typed it below…
To Be Able to See
What a privilege it is, To be able to see. We take it for granted, But don’t you agree?: To be able to see all the world, It’s stupendous! Each little color! I say, it’s tremendous! Why don’t we all take advantage of this… This wonderful gift we are bestowed with? Just think of all who are unable to see, And open your eyes! Look at land & at sea! Look at the world, You won’t be here that long! Look around & be happy, Fill your heart with a song! Be ecstatic! Erratic! Go crazy with gladness! Open your eyes, give way to madness. Look at flowers & trees At the birds & the bees. Fill your heart, fill your soul! And look! Look some more & some more! Until you are part of the wonderful world God made for us all. Look & be happy! Go ahead have a ball.
Had great difficulty sleeping last night (dinner didn’t completely agree with me). I even got up and read my book for a while — twice! — which is quite unusual for me.
And now, here I am, writing my blog post at almost 1:00 am, after participating in the Ananda America sessions of the Next Wave Online event. The session started at 8:30 pm and we didn’t sing until after 11:30 — not what we’re usually doing at that time of the night (although it was lots of fun and a great experience). 😂
So that’s the double whammy, which has left me double pooped.
It’s thrilling to see the dynamic “Next Wave” of Ananda gaining in strength and magnetism! Today I briefly participated in the Ananda Assisi and Ananda India events; tomorrow night is Ananda America’s turn!
The Next Wave group on WhatsApp is over 300 people, from all corners of the globe.
The event itself is on a platform called Airmeet, which I think is just about the best thing since sliced bread; yeah, it’s that cool! And it’s giving us soooo many ideas for the music. 😄
I had no idea what to write tonight, but then I remembered…! My friend, Bob, had shared this great comic strip with me, and it’s perfect for how I’ve been feeling today!
I started out just being a little curious about today’s Google Doodle, but then I was so inspired by what I read that I decided to include most of the article in today’s blog (bold emphasis is mine)!
Fourth-grader Sharon Sara takes a very thoughtful approach to friendship: What you look like on the outside isn’t as important as who you are on the inside.
That’s the message Sharon emphasized in her winning entry for the annual Doodle for Google contest. This year’s theme was “I show kindness by…“and Sharon’s entry focused on the sometimes difficult experiences she’s had trying to make friends.
“People have not wanted to be my friend because of how I look, so I decided to draw what I do!” she told Google. “No matter what people look like, you look on the inside and then decide if you want to be their friend.
“Kindness means to not look at someone from the outside, but look at their personality, and being open to their friendship,” she added.
Her entry, titled Together As One, features girls of different shapes, sizes and colors, in different styles of dress, holding hands in friendship.
Sharon was asked in an interview: “What does winning mean for you and your art?” I believe Swamiji would love her answer!
“I think winning will affect my view on art by giving my art more of a meaning. When I made my Doodle it had a meaning and I really want to do this with all my art!”
It suddenly hit me today that — In the midst of all that’s been going on over the past few months — some subtle but definite changes have been taking place in terms of my physical wellbeing.
I successfully released an old (as in pretty much my entire adult life) unhealthy habit.
I’m well on my way to establishing a healthy new veggies and fruit smoothie habit for breakfast.
I moved past my stubborn resistance and accepted the wisdom of taking medication to get a handle on certain health issues.
I scheduled recommended bodywork and massage appointments.
There’s still plenty to do, but “progress not perfection” is the mantra to remember. That, and “it’s all directional”.
Close to twenty-five years ago (back in the dark ages of actual network television) I happened to catch part of a movie that really intrigued me.
At the time I was part of a small women’s group dedicated to spiritual growth and one of us had shared with the group about St Germaine and the violet flame. I don’t remember much about it now, but at the time I was struck by the way the movie makers used imagery of violet light; it seemed to speak to my heart.
Afterwards, I wanted to see the whole movie but couldn’t find a copy anywhere. Come to find out it was a made-for-TV remake of an old Disney movie and it wasn’t available on video. Darn!
I gave up on finding it but it would nevertheless pop into my mind once every five years or so. Well, this happened again recently, except now I could get on the internet and Google and — amazingly enough, I found it!
It does, indeed, have an admittedly hokey spiritual component to it. In a nutshell the overall theme has to do with the fact that we all come from one source; we’ve (almost) all of us forgotten who we really are; the key is to overcome fear and move toward the light; and the goal is to return to our true home.
Yeah, it was hokey, but I was in tears at the end — not because the movie was well done; it isn’t, really — but because the essence of the message resonated deep in my soul.
So, what is the name of this movie? I’m a little embarrassed to tell you, but it’s the 1995 Disney remake of “Escape to Witch Mountain.” We enjoyed watching it AND I was able to satisfy my decades long desire to see the entire film.
Yeah, well it’s been that kind of week…the kind where I’m not even sure just exactly what happened, but whatever it was has left me slightly reeling.
So today I felt somewhat of a general malaise, made worse by the awareness that — with Swami’s discipleship and the centennial of Yogananda’s arrival in America over — it’s time to tackle numerous big (and challenging) projects that have been waiting for their turn in the spotlight.
However, it seems clear that we needed a lowkey sort of break today. Hopefully I’ll be rarin’ to go tomorrow!
* Now there’s a song I haven’t thought of in years and years; remember it? “Goin’ up an’ down, all around, [your love is] like a see saw!”
