Heaven on Earth

I really wanted to share some thoughts about this book, Heaven on Earth, A Handbook for Parents of Young Children, by Sharifa Oppenheimer.
I believe this can be an interesting read even for people whose children are grown-ups or people who don't have children, because the writer shares her vision of Life, a vision that allows peacefulness, gentleness, harmony with the world around. A vision that insists on the importance of rhythms, on the creativity that lies in each of us, on the communication we should have with Nature. Of course for people who have young children, I believe it is a mine, a treasure trove brimming with ideas and tips and constructive advice.
I've been reading this book passionately, underlining passages, writing notes, saying 'ah yes', 'that's right', 'this is true' and so on!
For one thing, Sharifa reminds us that bringing up children relies on ourselves. If we want our children to be more relaxed, creative, healthy, we need to listen to our own rhythms, to resort to our own creativity. I could not agree more with what she writes about simplifying, one of my key hobbies! :) As she points out, 'the less "stuff" we have to deal with, the more time we have to be at ease'. I do love chapter 9 too, entitled 'Creating your Family Culture'. I guess that's something that started the day I knew I was pregnant for the first time. Still, this is something that takes time and involves knowing oneself. Sharifa Oppenheimer writes: 'The quality of our family culture pivots entirely upon the awareness we bring to it.  Let us bring as much consciousness to this process as we can'. Yes, that is indeed something I want to dig into, something I want to expand and let bloom...
Well there are so many passages I couldn't agree more with! I've been so happy to read about the writer's opinion concerning the excessive amount of time spent watching TV...about the importance of the senses and movement for children...about the necessity to stop hurrying!
Reading this book has been like meeting a true friend. Knowing it is there on my shelf is indeed like having a friend nearby whose advice is gentle and safe. And it also feels good to read so many things I've had in mind, and to see that I'm not the only one out there thinking along those lines!

Val

To leave ...for a better return

I've been away for a week on vacation. A busy vacation, with lots of errands, but still, a vacation away from home.

I do love my home sweet home. One day I'll write a post about it: it is a place I have looked for and chosen, a place I have fallen in love with and written poems about.

But leaving...ah, leaving has always been a great favourite of mine.

Packing, planning, and most of all, anticipating. 

These days, it also means forgetting a share of worries, leaving them behind for a few days.

So I was away, somewhere in the Alps near the Italian border. In a place where my ancestors lived, for I am the proud descendant of Alpine people, people who lived a hard life in a stunningly beautiful but equally hard region. My ancestors were not rich, they had to work hard and face difficult weather conditions. In my great- grandmother's times, people either lived a hard life or died at a young age. Living in a mountainous area like that means restricted agriculture too. So it wasn't the land of plenty, and it wasn't easy. In the old days, there was no heating system in the house, no water, and the water to be picked up was freezing, it came from the nearby torrent. I must say I'm fascinated by these stories I've heard, fascinated by how hard life was compared to now (I'm speaking in terms of material comfort).

Anyhow, I hadn't been in that place for ages. And it was nice to see it again.

Within a few days, we played in  the snow under blue skies.

I fell in awe again in front of my beloved high mountains.

It was time again to marvel at the purity of the roaring torrents and the peacefulness of their quiet creeks.

And their soft pebbles.

And we admired the first flowers. Spring there starts a little late, with flowers piercing through the snow.

We walked, we wandered a little bit. Everywhere, there is beauty.

 

 

There was even time for bathing in warm springs...a luxury under the cold blue skies...a memory revisited since my early childhood.

No vacation there is duly completed unless you've eaten a 'fondue' in a little, cozy, local restaurant. We've sacrificed to the ritual...it was one of my kids' favourite moments...one of ours too.

My grandmother has long been dead. But my memories are well alive. The laughters of my kids echo in the same beloved snowy fields, in the same narrow streets. Just like the sound of the fountains in my grandmother's village echoes in my mind. Forever.

Memories are roots. They keep us firmly grounded. They nurture our children's sense of belonging. They form our family's narrative. They are us. Remains of the past, they spring up again in the lively force of our present and future. Long gone, they yet allow our days to unfold surely and somehow wisely. Just like leaving allows us to return with new eyes and renewed spirits. To see our present days anew.

Val

A Pace of Grace

This is a short post. I'd like to share the book I'm reading now.
The book is A Pace of Grace by Linda Kavelin Popov. I am still about halfway through it, but I have found something related to my previous post, Music of the Mind. In her book, she offers a four-part program which contains ten rules for health. In my previous post, I described ourselves as a piece of music. Well, our bodies are something like instruments that make tunes. And in order to succeed in playing a beautiful tune, maybe our bodies need to be healthy:) When you have time, please take a look at her homepage , in which you can see more about this book. 

To me, it's not easy to put into practice the rules 100%, but when I did some of them, I felt that I could have peace of mind. So..well..I'll keep trying as much as possible from now on:)

Sachi

Music of the Mind

So many things have popped into my mind since I read Val's previous post "Magical encounters" and I was unable to focus on anything.  Today, I would like to write only about the book called Music of the Mind, by Darryl Reanney.

I read this book about five or six years ago.  I don't think I could understand it properly; I just had my own interpretation, but since then, this book has become one of my favorites.  It is about an adventure into consciousness; however, there is essence of music, as the title suggests, with a beautiful sense of poetry throughout the book, which caught my heart.  It is very difficult for me to describe the book briefly, but if you would allow me to tell you  what I personally took from it, I would be happy to share my thoughts:

The structure of our consciousness is like the Universe. So, we are the Universe, so to speak, which is comprised of an energy wave that resonates with everyday events, with people we meet, with books, music, movies, and etc., beyond time and space, repeatedly and timelessly, like the ocean waves.
The more we experience and involve ourselves with others, the more we learn to vibrate beautifully.  The resonance occurs through the experience, and it takes form through our words and behavior.  We choose beautiful words or manners, as if we are playing beautiful music.  We are a piece of music and when we succeed in playing a beautiful tune, the universe shines brightly.

Isn't it intriguing to imagine that we are tunes ourselves?  Even when we are down or in a dark mood, we are still simply piece of music.  The important thing, I think, is to enjoy the music.
Well, my music now is kind of a "water, light, and wind" tune. How about yours?:)
Sachi

Growing

I've been drawn for ages to books on personal development, telling stories of personal trials and crusades, travels of the mind and growing of the soul.

Recently I've read the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It is a delightful book, I've had fun following the ups and downs, pros and cons of Gretchen's quest for happiness, or rather, her year spent on how to allow her own personal happiness to grow and expand. I share with her the opinion that happiness profits from being taken care of. Some people will think happiness follows a different path and needn't be directed. They will think that the minute you think of happiness, it is already half gone. Well, not for me. I've read various books that have given me an insight on happiness. I think one life is not enough to gain much knowledge about life itself: reading books (for example on  happiness) helps me gain a little time, a little insight from people who went through things I haven't, who have different opinions. I am all the better from their effort to share their experience and thoughts.

One thing struck me in G. Rubin's book: one passage about growing. It has been written about, it has been studied: some people derive a huge amount of happiness from growing, that is expanding their knowledge, developing their conscience. I do! I do get such satisfaction from accomplishing something, from the feeling that I have made some progress, taken up some challenge, or simply seen the end of a task. I also get consolation from thinking that growing old can mean growing wiser, growing better. Unfolding. Expanding. Learning. Improving.

The Happiness Project is now sitting on a precious shelf of mine. I am grateful that it has allowed me to distinguish more clearly one of the things that prompt me to be happy: the opportunity to grow.

Soon I'll share some thoughts on another book I'm finishing (see photo above!) and that has delighted me in many, many ways.

Peaceful, beautiful day to you all!

Val

Magical encounters

Sachi's last post made me think a lot, about unconditional love, this love we get and feel from our children, our family, our friends when we are lucky to have real ones, but also from Nature. But right now, my mind is turned towards a kind of magic that has always, always rhythmed my days. The magic of music.
This magic has played many, many tricks, eased so many tensions and brightened so many days in my life. I hardly spend a day without music. I am so ecclectic that my musical tastes range from country to classic via rap. There is a music for every moment, every mood. Through hardship and writing, I get carried away by electro music or opera; bluegrass cheers me like nothing else; rock is a regular companion; there's pop rock for cleaning up the house or dancing with the kids, and there is jazz for cozy evenings...and then, there are the magical encounters. A piece of music that suddenly plays to your heart's secret longings; a song that briskly echoes your mind's ramblings; a tune that makes unrealized feelings rush out, and tears flow.
Last week end I was coming back from a place of both love and pain, one of those places we have to go sooner or later, in one way or another. I was driving, and suddenly there was this music on the radio...

Brothers in arms - Dire Straits

I hadn't heard this song for ages, for years actually. And with the notes, another era of my life came back. A real little 'Madeleine de Proust'. The magic transportation to times when I was safely tucked in life between a mother and a father. The magic times when family was still family. This song means a lot to me, it is also so bitter-sweet, so sad, and yet it transpires with some undergound hope, some nostalgic wisdom. The words reminded me of Sachi's beautiful ideal and aims, too. An aim that I myself tend to forget these days. There is I realize too much anger in my life, too much to my own taste anyway. Life brings wrath in unexpected ways, and if we want to keep our existence beautiful and peaceful, we need some regular reminder of how anger can invade our days in mean, tricky, disguised ways. When I stop and think of it, I know perfectly where my anger comes from; but in my daily life it sometimes crawls back under false pretence. It is not a glass broken by mistake or the fact of being late at work that actually makes me enraged, it is this place of love and pain I have to visit regularly.
And with only one song, the lesson is taught again. We 'have just one world, but we live in different ones'. We get so foolish, so often. My own little personal grief makes me live in a world where anger invites herself whereas I should dwell on this unity Sachi has mentioned times in her posts. This togertherness that means we're all now and ultimately on the same boat. We live under the same sun, whether we are ill or healthy, whether all our loved ones are with us or not, whatever the age, the income, the country, the beliefs.
On another trip to this place of love and pain, I heard this song.

Là où je t'emmenerai (The place I will take you to)

Another happy magical encounter. This song is about the pledge a man makes to his beloved. It is a song of love and dedication, of genuine gentleness, a song I sang softly to my babies when they were very little. It is about loving someone, and protecting, and caring. And it reminded me on the way home, to my beloved sweethearts, that love should always come first. Caring before feeling angry; protecting before feeling resentment; moving forward instead of going back; dedication before vindication; peace before sadness. Music sometimes helps me remember that there is peace and beauty within myself, I just have to allow them in my life, my life as it is. We just have to remember that love comes first and must not be overshadowed by pain. Just like there can be war within ourselves, there can be peace, too.

Wishing you a beautiful day of love and peace. Sound a little hippie there? Well, I like the sound of it ;)
Val

Unconditional love

I have been inspired by Val’s devotion to her lovely kids. I have noticed that she is radiant as sunshine when she talks about her kids. We mothers, have these feelings: strong unchangeable love for our children :)

I’ve heard before that real love never increase or decrease, and I remember I felt it’s perfect. Val describes her feeling as “Shining diamonds that I like to polish”, and I think it might be like saying "love", which shines brightly when we give it out. When I think of this, I feel peace of mind.

I also feel this love in nature: trees, plants, flowers, breeze…etc.
In Japan, cherry trees are in full bloom now. Their flowering period is so short, but they always  brighten me up. Let me share some photos here. Love is everywhere, right? :)

The first one is Shidare-zakura and the second one is Somei-yoshino: both are Cherry trees.

A little pretty something

One of the things I'm doing every day of my life is working/slaving/toying/crafting/fidgeting/building, well, making things large and small, usually small, that look beautiful to me. Things that look hopefully beautiful to the ones I love.

A day that goes away without the possibility of making a pretty little something is a day that doesn't sound too good to me. A day with too many worries, or too much work, a day that doesn't allow me this moment of pause when my mind elaborates in concert with my hands.

I have like many of you a busy life, I can't scheme huge plans all the time. But I can do this pretty little something very often.

And it boosts my energy. Brings a smile to a dear one. Adds a little light in a corner of my home. Gives a positive touch to my surroundings. Eases my feelings. Comforts my babies. Cheers up my man. It means a little satisfaction. A little touch of beauty in a world that rushes and roars too often.

It is sometimes the smell of pancakes whipped up at the last minute. The flickering light of a scented candle. The touch of fresh clean linen. The look of a clean counter top. The innocence of a small bouquet. The vivid colour of a fruit salad arranged in a tiny cup. The neat look of a meal  lovingly prepared for the whole family.

Sometimes it takes on the grandeur of a project coveted for months. Like, say, the celebration of a birthday. Why on earth should I spend evenings preparing a simple birthday. Craft late into the night? But there is no complication in that. Only fun. Passion. Expectation. Love. Beauty.

I have a blast preparing the birthday of my kids. While I am sure the real meaning of an event like that is the time we spend together, the affection and tenderness, the gratitude for being all together alive and well, I reach a climax of happiness making this event as beautiful as I can. Again, the real beauty is what we share and have. I think it lies also in the devotion we show to our loved ones, in the efforts we make to show how much we love them.

It is about simple things from the heart. Shining diamonds that I like to polish.

That's how I find and see beauty in the big and small events of my life. There might well be no small events, because a simple evening with an improvised 'tartine' of grilled cheese eaten while watching a surprise movie is a beautiful treat. A treat as valuable as any other treat I'll prepare for my family. Or for friends. Or out of kindness for someone who's not friend or family. My day shines when I can manage to do something beautiful, maybe helping an old person pick up her bag, or hold the door to my neighbour, or saying a nice compliment to a workmate who can't repress a smile. Beauty!

And there are those dense, more solemn moments. I cherish celebrations, they make my heart race, they create dancing lights in my kids' eyes. That's why I can give the appearance of working when I am actually having so much fun. Like for this birthday, recently. Based on the theme of Harry Potter. Soon to be a post for our craft section.

I'd love to know if you do pretty little somethings...sometimes...all the time...every now and then? I wish you to enjoy a pretty little something today, whether you do it or someone does it for you!

Val

Beautify and Pacify

Beauty and peace…
These are things that we already have because of our nature. We simply forget about them. We have made ourselves complicated by comparing ourselves to others, desiring too much both spiritually and materially, and so on.

I would like to invoke Wabi-Sabi and Zen here.
Well, in my understanding so far, in a Wabi-Sabi world, there is beauty in simplicity. Getting rid of having too many things will help us reach this beauty. Also in a Zen world, concentrating deeply inside ourselves and trying to move the ego out of the way will bring us to reach the state of emptiness and nothingness (mushin in Japanese). Reaching this state, we feel PEACE of mind and also LOVE or supreme devotion, which is what we really are.

I have written other blogs and in the blog I wrote about what I had learned or recognized.
I feel those are also some of the keys for beautify and pacify. So let me share them here again.
“In looking at things through my heart’s eyes, I can change even negative things to love. It helps to see the problems behind the negatives and to understand and accept them.” 
“It’s likely that we came into this world to experience both good and bad, to confirm that we are love itself, and to deepen it. Without objects, we can’t see the love.” 
“Nothing is worthless. Like lights and shadows, everything plays a role in making this world beautiful.” “Looking deep inside myself is always important to keep this idea working.”

There is a chance to find the beauty and peace everywhere. Sharing is absolutely food for enlightenment. So when Val offered me to share this space with me, I felt so honored and pleased. At the core, we are all oneness, regardless of any nationality, age, or gender. I am so happy to share and also to learn from both Val and you.

Lastly, let me add something else.
English is my second language and I still have some problems in writing in English, so please forgive me for my writings being unnatural or difficult to understand. Thank you.

Sachi

Know yourself

I really don't know where this blog is heading to, but I love the idea of writing about how and where I find  beauty in life.

If I ask myself what is beauty, I won't be able to give a proper answer. Because Beauty, after all, will be different for each of us. Different, and yet with a common grasp of the basic things that mould and shape our lives. Call them love, friendship, emotion, passion, growth, motivation...

But really, beyond this common grasp of things, it all gets haywire, ecclectic, blurred, it is all funky, isn't it? If we want to find beauty in our lives, we've got to know what matters for us. And that is the trouble sometimes, beause we don't always know what really matters for us, until it is gone, or until a great shock makes us realize it, or until we get much older.

It takes, I believe, some serious thinking. And it also requires to follow one's instinct and inspiration. It calls for reading, discussing with other people. It takes curiosity and imagination.

This is something I want to pass on to my kids. 

I try to be very ecclectic in the way I raise them.. We listen to many different sorts of music, we dig classic and hip hop and country and this and that. We tune in to English-speaking radios and sometimes other languages too, so that we are aware of the music of other languages. We read comics, novels, articles, magazines. We talk and talk and talk about various changing subjects. We try to learn and get interested and open to other ideas and forms of knowledge and interest. I try not to shut my kids away from the world, I strive not to be 'anti' or 'pro', even if I, too, have my strong opinions :) I like to remember and tell my kids (well, the eldest at least) that there are, for example, several religions, and also the possibility of no religion, and that it is okay, as long as it resonates with what you feel, and as long as it does not hurt anyone. I like to remind my kids that they are allowed to enjoy and like things that I don't like or enjoy, because well, we are family, but we are all different too. And we are all entitled to be just what we are. Not what anyone else woud like us to be.

And so day by day, I find beauty in knowing myself better, and in doing my best to help my kids know themselves better too.

I picked this image from this place, and I love the way it inspires you not to give up on yourself. Not easy sometimes, but worth the effort.