A burst of energy - thank you, Jessica.........

Today Jessica told me she'd bought some indian flute CD's - the sounds that only it seems, Native Americans and other 'indians' from around the world can capture not in song, but by bringing the sounds of the soul; nature, and the 'elements' to us in a mellow and haunting sound that many of us who are the 'pale faces', seem to get caught up in some kind of confusion - we call it quandry, because we try to impose some type of intellect on what requires no 'education', but rather simply listening to the soul in all of us.

A friend wrote 'you're not a body, you're a soul'. We are a body; that is our physical being, but who we are - our soul; our personal temple, is really who we are.

If you search through this blog for ideas, you'll find some of what I'm adding here, on the side-bar and in various posts and summaries written by 'experts'.

Someone wrote: "An expert is just a drip going steady" - it makes sense now doesn't it.

Ultimately we are the 'expert' of our being; our soul, and after all the research we do; all the methods we employ, we still revert to our individual concepts of life and how we think it should be and unfold.

For example: I put music on this blog that soothes me; that appeals to me, but maybe it's because it's piano music and the artist sounds remarkably like 'me' - he was born in 1940; died in 2004, but I truly wish I'd known him because I often play the piano with this music - I play the harmonic because I don't want to infringe upon his creative gift; only want to join in and harmonize with what I think would have caused him to smile had we both met and played side-by-side.

One needs to remember, there's no need to be 'the star'; we can simply chime in and add to the depth of the music - we can become the expansion of a belief and methodology that another has initiated - playing 'second fiddle' is great if it brings a new 'sound' that compliments and complements the efforts of another.

While both Jessica and I make a concerted effort to find solutions to our individual medical needs; to enhance our health, it has to be an individual goal yet it doesn't mean we're isolated in our quest.

I find joy in the most simple of things; I'm not high maintenance, and indeed, I don't require huge sums of money to satisfy me.

I enjoy a simple breakfast of cottage cheese; 1/2 of an avocado sliced on top and a few slices of fresh tomato with a big bottle of chilled water, and a cup of green tea.

I make a sandwich that's truly delicious to me. I get a 12-grain dark bread; spread it with cream cheese; add tomatoes, sunflower seeds, alfalpha sprouts, swiss cheese, several slices of avocado, romaine lettuce, and feel like a 'queen' as I take each bite; savor it, and enjoy it as if it were the most fresh and delightful meal I could relish. Two cups of green tea; refreshing - and sometimes I put a side of sauted mushrooms to enjoy.

My dinner is often a plate of grapes, carrots, celery, sliced cucumbers, a small piece of a favorite cheese and a fresh tasty apple with a fresh pear for dessert.

My late-time snack might be a mixture of black-berries and peaches; a little half and half, and a tiny sprinkling of mint for that special touch.

I love drinking water; adding a bit of lemon juice often brightens up the flavor - I can almost feel my body reacting to the cleansing and energy from juicing that I love so much.

My favorite things to juice are apple juice; cucumber, celery with a dash of celery salt and lemon juice - it's cooling; refreshing, and makes me thing of the beautiful garden I used to watch over with such love - watching tiny sprouts turn into hardy plants that produced food I could eat from the garden as I weeded, is a fond thought and memory.

I can eat a bowl of sugar peas just as they are. I love to bite into a fresh tomato just as one often bites into an apple. I eat 3 or 4 carrots; the crunch is satisfying, and the sweetness is like candy to me.

I will often stuff green peppers with a few mushrooms; fresh tomatoes, and cottage cheese for a single 'dish' meal.

I think our bodies do talk to us; they tell us when we are in need of a certain food or mineral/vitamin, and all we have to do is listen.

I remember my husband telling me to 'listen louder' - it has multiple meanings because it can be about hearing what the body wants for food as well as what people are trying to say to me, and if I'm not 'tuned in', I don't give them the benefit of being a good ear and friend when they are in need.

It doesn't take huge sums of money to eat properly; it doesn't take social status and career success to be in harmony with life; nature, and our interal well-being. It doesn't take being a celebrity; a big house or material wealth, to find the serenity that all of us tend to seek.

We're told we're pleasure seekers; some require a vast income and material wealth to find happiness and pleasure, but I see things in a different light - the painting I used for this post, makes me feel calm and humbled by the beauty of a woman and a simple piece of pottery that embraces not only the need to create a vessel for practical use, but to do it with love and make it artistic as well as functional.

Now, I'm going to take a breather from blogging; time to focus on my own progress in my quest for optimum health, and to ponder my life - go to the Grand Canyon, and see what nature has given to us over the thousands of years of 'change'.

I thought of the mountains; the glacier, and I wrote a simple piece of prose that summed up the purpose of the glacier.

"A cap of snow; a collar of ice - the glacier (sure) of itself, and it's prevailing elegance and eternal attestment to the power of nature - to the magnitude of size, while being silent in its presence on the landscape of what is considered magnificent".

I hope you will think on these things; enjoy the blog while I'm gone, and possibly even decide to create a blog of your own - telling your own story; sharing the things that have inspired you - being candid about the set-backs, and telling the rest of the world what kept you going in the face of adversity; feeling fatigued - feeling lost at times - wondering about your purpose in life, but still finding the strength to get up each day, and add something special to the lives of those around you and building your legacy that no one can alter; no one but you, and create your destiny and your desire to improve on those things you find important.

We all saw Christopher Reeves turn into the real 'Superman' after he was paralyzed. We saw the joyful Michael J. Foxx turn from a light-hearted comedian, to an advocate and activist after he was slapped hard with Parkinson's Disease. We see Patrick Swayze turn from the energetic dancer; actor - handome and viril man, to a man who persists in his career as he battles inoperable cancer.

One only has to read the book, 'THE ESSENTIAL GHANDI', to not only gain from the words he wrote, but the life he led, and the inspiration he was to millions across the globe.

Take the time to read the writings of Kahlil Gibran; the man who inspired me in my early life - the book, 'THE PROPHET' - you can even find it on line now, and his writings have guided me for 47 years now.

Continue to seek the words from the sages; those who've proven the power of the human will and commitment; the power of confidence, and yet at all times peaceful. With that, this is my last post until I return in September, 2009.

Remember to ask yourself - are you a rock; are you an island - as Simon and Garfunkel said, "A rock feels no pain, and an island never dies".

Decide who you are; once you've made that decision, rejoice in it - let no one define your destiny or goals. Now, the rest of the posts will give you some history; some reference points, and some research that will help you should you be dealing with depression; CFS, adrenal fatigue - thyroid imbalance, and once you've brought the physical into harmony with the spirit, you'll greet the day in a new and very positive way - I'm certain of this because it's worked for me.

Remember to enjoy the 'sounds of silence'; the most deafening; and like the title of the first song you're hearing on this blog, it was Beethoven's 'silence' - the years he composed after being totally deaf, that we often find some of his best works because he was guided by the internal belief in himself and his comptency.