HOW WELL DOES MY GARDEN GROW

Posted on April 14, 2014 by hafong

Today is full of sunshine and promise of things to come. It looks like spring could spring into action any day now! It is time to think about my garden. How well it grows depends very much on how I tend it.

Will I have the patience and the consistency of maintaining it regularly – the watering, fertilizing and weeding throughout the season? Will I succumb to the setback of cooler than usual temperatures, bugs, and weeds? It’s a challenge all right.

Last year’s garden started out on a bright and green foot as you can tell by the picture. In the end, it was not so great. We got little for our harvest in the fall. But still – we had some fresh vegetables for the table.

It does no good to be discouraged. One has to have heart in life. I will tend to my thoughts as I will for the garden. I will be conscious of those nettles in the brain as well as those in the vegetable patch. They can take over if you don’t pay attention. Learn from the past mistakes and move on. Harvest and be thankful for whatever you can reap.

NEW BEGINNINGS

Posted on April 6, 2014 by hafong

It’s Sunday morning, a new day, a new dawn, a new week. The sun is shining bright, its warmth melting the remaining snow. It is finally spring at last! My geraniums are germinating, their little heads pushing their way through the soil. For me, it is always a miracle to see this birthing. And I have a part in this process.

Let me rejoice and greet this day and new beginning with gladness and gratitude in my heart. Let me be generous and forgiving in my soul. And lest I forget, be ever so humble. There but for the Grace of God, I could be in others’ shoes.

TIME IN THE DESERT

Posted on February 11, 2014 by hafong

Time in the desert moves slowly but surely. Silence is all around me. I can hear the echo of my heartbeat. Peace is all around me. I gaze down at my own private Grand Canyon. How lucky am I in this place at this time.

The sun warms my face in the daytime. It lights up the world and I can see for miles around. At night, the moon is bright overhead. The stars twinkle merrily in the velvety dark. I can see the belt of the Orion. How expansive and rich is the universe!

I inhale and exhale. I am grateful in the desert.

SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS

Posted on December 20, 2013 by hafong

Sometimes life sings to me. This morning I am hearing John Lennon’s So This is Christmas. I hope it is a good one. I hope the war is over and there will be no fear.

I am choosing to have a good Christmas – full of good cheer. Sometimes it is a matter of intention, no matter where in life we are. What better time of year than now to reset my intention button, polish up my halo and shine this little light of mine.

At the top of my Intention List I have put Generosity. I am talking about generosity of gifting through the heart. I am doing generosity aerobics to exercise and stretch my heart muscles. They protest at times and I have had to quiet their noises. It takes practice and practice but it’s well worth the effort.

So this is Christmas. I am full of gratitude. Another year is almost over and a new one about to begin. I wish you all a very peaceful Christmas and may we all have a good year.

A THOUSAND NAMES FOR JOY

Posted on November 14, 2013 by hafong

I am reading Byron Katie’s A Thousand Names for Joy. I am always in perpetual pursuit of happiness. Perhaps it is the ultimate book for me because it is about living in harmony with the way things are.

I love the word joy. The very letters seem to jump up from the page, dancing with life. No doubt the way I see things has a lot to do with my Chinese background. Some of the Chinese characters are pictures of the objects they denote.

Sheba is one of the thousand names for joy. She is joy whether she is leaping off the page, or laying contently with her stuffed toys. She needs no reason. She is just joyful with what is. She is my teacher in life. Be with what is. It is not easy but I am learning to sit with that, too. I am sitting and staying, Sheba. Thanks for being in my life.

THE HARD AND ROCKY PATH

Posted on November 5, 2013 by hafong

The snow flakes are floating gently down as I sit here, tap, tapping on my keyboard. I have been tapping out the words this last hour on my novel. The words come but they do not fall off my fingertips with the ease that I desire.

Am I experiencing writer’s block or is this heart block? I am sorely vexed with bad and unkind feelings towards my neighbour. There she is already, shoveling the snow off her driveway and pushing it between the Junipers, into our yard, even after many requests for her not to do so. What neighbour would do that to another? What woman to another woman? Where is the respect?

I fingered my rosary, the one that Ollie gave me, breathing in and out as I touched each bead. I was so happy to run across Kay’s post yesterday on gratitude. She was using her singing bowl and rosary to meditate. That reminded me that I do have four rosaries gifted to me on my baptism. It was time to find them.

I was drawn towards the rosary with large, blue beads. I held it in my hand. I felt the coolness of the beads and then something else. It was Ollie’s presence, her goodness. I was quite sure of it. I knew then that I can breathe in this bad energy and not harm myself. And breathed out out what is good.

Compassion Road is such a hard and rocky way. The traveler needs roadside assistance every step of the way. I am glad to have read some of the Dalai Lama’s My Spiritual Journey. We are all human beings is his message. We all hurt. I do not want to be hurt. In the same way, the other person does not want to be hurt. Knowing this, I can do no harm unto another.

Compassion is a very, very hard road to travel. I clear my space with good energy. I hold the rosary close to my heart. I breathe in what is here. I breathe out white healing light to the universe.

GIVING THANKS

Posted on October 12, 2013 by hafong

I love October mornings like today. The morning air is crisp and refreshing, the sun bright and the sky, an incredible blue. How can one not feel thankful for Nature’s generosity?

I give thanks to the Heavens above, my arms reaching up like these bare branches. The golden leaves are floating down on my head, blessing me, surrounding me, protecting me.

And I know that everything is copacetic still….even if I am feeling some discomfort, even if I feel a slight dissatisfaction, even when I am unhappy with myself. I sit still with the feelings of it all. This, too, will pass.

To everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a reason and a season for everything. It is as it should be. And I am thankful in this season of harvest and colours.

ORDERLY ORDER

Posted on July 8, 2013 by hafong

Order is in the order for me today. I rise, stretch and do my 18 heavenly qigong moves to the sunrise. It is so fresh and still in the early morning. I have to thank Sheba for rousing me out of bed. She is quite insistent. Get up! Feed me!

And so I did. And so starts another day. I breathed and moved in the light of the rising sun. I felt my breath slowing down, saw the robin on the fence and heard the stillness of the universe. My breath deepened and my heart stopped its fluttering, my eyelids dropped.

All is copacetic. I am relaxed and in the flow. I feel the order within me. I am not behind. I have time…to put one foot in front of the other, to do one thing at a time, to walk and not run. I have time to breathe, to stay here now, at this time, to be with me.

I am taking miniscule steps towards order, finding places for things, finding pleasure in the doing, finding kindness for myself. And I am grateful.

EASTER SUNDAY

Posted on March 31, 2013 by hafong

It is Easter Sunday and God is out in all his glory, shining his light and love upon us.

Sheba and I basked in the sunshine as we walked the streets this morning. I have recovered from working nights nicely but still….

It is difficult to pick up the threads and rhythms of your life as if you are a normal person. I do believe that we, shift workers are not quite normal. Perhaps I should only speak for myself. I admit it. I am not quite normal. That is not a bad thing unto itself. It just means I am quirky, eccentric, weird, remarkable….But I am not flaky nor crazy. There are subtleties.

With Easter comes the end of my official written journey in the desert. But I have fallen in love with this arid climate. I will stay and live in my desert. I have not suffered nor deprived myself of anything here. On the contrary, the desert has been very kind to me. It has taught me many lessons. It has tempered this stiff stubborn Chinese neck of mine. I am a wee more forgiving, a wee more kind and opened to possibilities.

I am blessed.

ATTENTION, INTENTION, GENEROSITY, GRATITUDE

Posted on January 4, 2013 by hafong

I have come to the conclusion that Sheba has a divine purpose in my life. She is here to show me how to live….that is that I must start each day with attention, intention and joy. I must leap forward each morning with generosity of spirit and gratitude in my heart for all that I am and all that I have.

Every once in awhile, I catch glimpses of how perfect and wonderful our universe and my life are. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces falling into place. I feel a stillness in the air and I know that I feel God’s presence. He comes to me every once in awhile, in those magic moments and I am awed and gratified.

THANK YOU for all that there is and all that I am.

onethousandandtwo

Looking at Infinity

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