Bhagavati (Sharon) Nani – Page 48

August 15, 2023

Buon Ferragosto!

*Italians on vacation. Photo by Michaela on Unsplash*

“Buon Ferragosto!” is what I’m seeing everywhere I look on Facebook today.

It brings back memories of Ananda Assisi’s busiest season, as well as of monumental traffic jams when we (occasionally) forgot and made the mistake of traveling on the actual day. Not a good idea.

Fortunately, the memories are mostly very sweet.

But what exactly is Ferragosto? It’s a public holiday that originated back in 18 BC (that’s a really long time ago!) and is still celebrated throughout Italy on August 15th.

The name translates to Feriae (Festival) Augusti (for Augustus, the Roman emperor). Emperor Augustus made August 1st a day of rest after laborers had spent weeks working hard on the farms and in the fields.

The custom was for the workers to wish their employers “Buon Ferragosto” and receive a monetary bonus in return. This became law during the Renaissance throughout the papal states.

Then, starting around the 5th century, the Catholic Church moved the observance of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to the same date. For observant Catholics in countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, Mexico, etc., August 15 is right up there with Easter and Christmas.

August 15 also just happens to be the birthday of one of my favorite humans: our friend and colleague in the music ministry, Jeannie! 💖

August 14, 2023

Building momentum

We had two meetings today. both of which — together with a couple of important meetings from last week — are adding to our sense of the increasing momentum and growing magnetism of the music ministry.

It’s a very good feeling!

August 13, 2023

What if?

I actually started crying when I first read this on Facebook. I immediately shared it on my feed but felt to say more about it here.

What first touched my heart was imagining how the world would be if all teachers had this understanding and routinely offered this kind of support to the children in their care.

But then I found myself thinking, what about our workplaces? What about our homes?

If your family is experiencing difficulties at home, I would like to provide additional support at work. I understand that you are not always able to share details and that’s okay. If your wife/husband/adult child is coming to work after a difficult night, morning or weekend, please text me “Handle with Care”. Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let me know that your wife/husband/adult child may need extra time, patience, or help during the day.

OR…

If my wife/husband/adult child is experiencing difficulties at work, I would like to provide additional support at home. I understand that you are not always able to share details and that’s okay. If my wife/husband/adult child is coming home after a difficult day, please text me “Handle with Care”. Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let me know that my wife/husband/adult child may need extra time, patience, or help during the night or over the weekend.

OR EVEN…what about ourselves?

If I am experiencing difficulties at work or at school or at home, I would like to provide myself additional support within. I understand that I may not always be able to deal with details and that’s okay. If I’m trying to cope after a difficult day, night, or weekend, please God, help me remember to “Handle with Care”. Nothing else need be said or asked. This will remind me that I may need extra time, patience, or help.

August 12, 2023

Puttering around at home

Today was entirely a puttering around, homebody kind of day, in which I never stepped foot outside the house.

I cleaned a bunch of (very) old stuff out of the frig; laundered four loads of clothes; washed lots of dishes; and watered all my indoor plants.

But I also had coffee and a chat with Ramesha; read my book; watched a few video clips; and dozed off for a while.

Now I’m going to watch a movie while I fold four loads of laundry.

It’s days like this when I’m reminded that, although I love people and can be quite the social butterfly (after all, my sun sign is Gemini!), at heart I’m an introvert and need days like this to restore my inner equilibrium.

August 11, 2023

Sharing the video of Jyotish’s celebration

I don’t know how Bhaktan and team captured this so beautifully on video (since I never saw them actively video recording during the event), but I’m grateful they did.

Not only for those who weren’t able to attend, but also for myself — and others who were in the midst of things — because it’s such a joy to be able to see it and hear it from the perspective of the audience.

If you watch it on YouTube, be sure and read the first comment. I’ve excerpted just a portion of it here:
“…The woman in blue introduced herself as Devi and carried an aura of peace, sweetness, and knowing as we began to chat. Upon leaving our brief talk, Jyotish looked at me, smiled, and pranam’d with hands folded 🙏 I was immediately uplifted and brought into an expanded state. A true blessing to have received his darshan. It wasn’t until a few days later that I was on YouTube learning more about Ananda that I realized they were the spiritual directors! The third woman was one of the Palo Alto Ananda leaders. Ananda is in good hands, led by God saturated souls.”

This man isn’t an Ananda member, but he totally tuned into the greatness that is Jyotish.

August 10, 2023

Wishful thinking

I’m feeling kind of wistful as I think back to the days of baby teeth and visits from the tooth fairy.

I had a consultation with an oral surgeon today about having a tooth extracted. It can’t be done by a regular dentist because I’ve been on Zometa for the past year.

Zometa is used to treat bone damage caused by multiple myeloma; it works by slowing bone breakdown and increasing bone density. Which is good news except that the increased bone density can make it harder for healing nutrients and blood flow to reach deep into the bone, possibly causing complications in the jaw bone after a tooth extraction.

So, I’m back to learning about things I never thought I’d need to know — like details of tooth extraction; all about bone density; the whys and wherefores of bone grafts; a possible tooth implant — and wishing I could hand the whole thing over to the Tooth Fairy!

August 9, 2023

Stumped

I am really, truly stumped tonight.

My mind’s a blank and I can’t come up with a single interesting idea to write about.

Oh well. 🤷‍♂️

August 9, 2023

The ONE Thing

I was turned on to the book, “The ONE Thing,” by my friend and fellow music ministry team member, Jeannie.

The funny thing is that she thought I had originally told her about it! We still don’t know where she first heard about it, but I’m evidently supposed to pursue the lead.

Why do I say that? Well, because I actually started reading it yesterday and today, and so far I’m finding it powerful enough to be slightly depressing.

But then this appeared when I opened a new tab tonight: