Finding Connection In A Complex World

We live in a world of many points of view.  We are a planet of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheist and many more.  We are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Independents, Libertarians, Green and Apolitical.  We are men, women, gay, and transgender.  These are the things that set us apart.  What bring us together are love, compassion, understanding, happiness, courage, integrity and decency.

If we peel the onion of segregation we find an all-encompassing heart.  Underneath it all most of us want the same things; food, shelter, safety and love.

Read more

A Wednesday Love Poem – 1

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms,

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers.

Thanks to your love a certain fragrance,

risen darkly from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride,

so I love you because I know no other way than this:

where “I” does not exist, nor “you,”

So close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

So close that your eyes close and I fall asleep.

-Pablo Neruda

Letting Go Requires Love

Today I read Theresa Brown’s “A Dying Patient Is Not A Battle Field” on CNN.Com.  Theresa is an oncology nurse in Pennsylvania. She is a leading contributor to The New York Times’ blog Well and the author of “Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between.”

In this particular piece Theresa discusses the end of life of a cancer patient who encouraged by family and doctors decides to continue a losing battle with his illness.  The end result was a more brutal death than if the patient had chosen to go home and live what was left of his life the best way possible.  Theresa writes if the patient had been given clear information of the consequences of continuing chemotherapy he would have chosen to go home.  Most people knowing there is almost no chance for survival would move forward with chemotherapy especially when their bodies are already so weak and fragile.

Nurse Brown, you are so right and wise.

In the last couple of months of my husband’s life it had become clear to me that the end was coming.  In the last couple of weeks it was clear the end had arrived.

Read more

Eat, Pray, Love

I haven’t seen the movie yet but I did read the book a while back.

I remember when my husband passed away the great urge I felt to take off to a place I had never been where no one knew my story.  But I didn’t.  My connection to my home and all the people coming in and out of my house at that time kept me here.

In the book, a memoir, the writer goes through a nasty divorce and then a complicated relationship.  It is then she decides to take off for a year and eat, pray, love and write about it all.

Read more

How To Achieve Bliss

Think simplicity.

Twice in my life I have experienced complete bliss.

When I lived in NYC, many years ago, I had a house upstate NY in an area which at the time was mostly economically depressed but had amazing mountains, lakes and streams.  I was living in a very abusive relationship which lasted eleven years.  My refuge was going upstate.

I had a friend there who had been born and raised in the small town where my house was.  He built custom made furniture and lived alone in the woods.  He planted and cut his own trees to make beautiful tables, chairs, and beds.  He led a simple life with his dog who only liked two people; him and me.

One night, my friend invited the man I lived with and me to come to dinner.  It was winter, and the night was really quiet.

Read more

Video Blog – 7

Learning from others and creating a community.  Learning to embrace different experiences without judgement.

Video Blog – 1

Why I started the Love Project Inc.

This work came out of my need to relate with others who are on a path to truly be who they are and who have the courage to look within and connect with love for themselves and others. It is my hope to form a strong community of people who seek out true contentment.

The Life That I Have

The below poem was read at Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky’s wedding last night.  I wanted to share it with you.  I feel its depth, love and longing.

The Life That I Have

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

Leo Marks, composed the poem in 1943 in memory of his girlfriend Ruth, who had died in a plane crash in Canada.

Breaking Through Without Tony Robbins

Late last night after a long day that involved welcoming my sister and nieces arriving from Brazil, I watched Tony Robbins’s show “Breakthrough” which I had previously recorded.   I was interested in seeing what the promos of the show had been advertising for weeks; people with great obstacles being taught and/or shown how to overcome them.

I don’t know much about Tony Robbins.  The extend of my knowledge amounts to talking to a few people that have taken his courses, skimming through his books, and catching minutes of commercials or infomercials on TV.  The reason I never gave him and his teaching more time than that is because I’ve never been too interested in mathematics when it comes to emotions.  Smile and say life is great three times and you will be happy.

Read more

Steve, Charles And George On Love

Next Page »