The soaring impulse

One World

2010-02-03T13:53:00.007+11:00

One night on my very first trip to Swaziland, several years before I even became a doctor, I had a dream.

I was walking along a red, dusty road and there was a man sitting on the corner.

Naked and shivering in the cold, his ribs pushed through his skin almost wanting to escape his starved, broken body.

I knew that he had untreated AIDS, like so many countless men, women and children I have known since.

He looked at me with hazy brown eyes and reached a tired, dirty hand towards me.

In my dream, I took off my shirt and wrapped him in it. I gave him the water that was in my hand and tried to comfort him.

As i began to leave.... He stood up and embraced me.

It was an embrace unlike any I have known. It wrapped around me and filled my heart to overflowing. My soul, the interiority of my being suddenly became permeable to him.

When he let go, I had the strangest feeling, that his disease was now in me.

I have thought of that dream many times over the years that followed. We all know that HIV is NEVER passed on by a simple embrace, or close proximity with another. And yet the feeling in that dream that I too, carried his disease, was unmistakeable.

Last year I went out into one of the loneliest communities in rural Swaziland and met a young man who was 29. My age. He was lying on a mat outside his hut.

His head was covered in profuse fungal infection, his skin in scabies. He had tuberculosis and Kaposi Sarcoma all over his body (skin cancers associated with HIV). All of this because his immune system had essentially shut down secondary to the HIV virus.

I remember carefully peeling him an orange and praying with his family as their son lay dying.

And I began to remember the feeling I had in that dream.

In an instant his disease, his pain, his woundedness was mine.

We were one.

To truly allow the immediacy of human need to enter the bounds of your awareness can be a frightening thing.

It is much easier to live a bordered life. To keep the distinctions clear between those who 'help', and those who are 'helped'.

This is what allows us to give, and then forget...... Because 'their' problem, remains theirs....Their possession, their own.

Yet if we can dare to blur the boundaries between people. To allow the hurting and the discarded to pitch their tent in the private places of our hearts. Then suddenly it becomes increasingly and painfully difficult to turn our backs. To walk away.

We are embraced by the woundedness of our world. And its echo runs deep into the soft places of our own wounds.

It lights a fire within us that kindles our days and ignites our minds into torches of compassion which say always "How can I help?" "What more can I give?"

We are one.

And when we allow the veracity and urgency of this realisation to dwell within us,

Nothing can ever be the same.

Love the world into change,

Maithri

www.possibledreamsinternational.org

Who are you?

2010-01-21T13:19:00.005+11:00

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." ~ Lao Tzu

An Exercise in Renewal

I wonder if you'd try a little exercise in renewal with me....

You'll need pen and paper and a box of matches.

To begin on a blank piece of paper, write the following:

Your name

Place and Date of Birth

Nationality

Ethnicity

Religious/spiritual belief/world view

Sexual preference

Occupation

Political persuasion

Now write a subheading called “Labels” and under it list some of the labels which have been used to describe you over the course of your life. You may consider them positive or negative. For example: Intelligent, Clumsy, Graceful, Hilarious, Boring, Eloquent, Dumb, Shy, Gregarious,….etc.

Finally on the same piece of paper (you can use the back if you’d like) write a list of things which you think you ‘can’ do and a list of things which you have believed you ‘can’t’ do. You may prefer to write a list of things you’re ‘good’ at, and things which you’re ‘not good at’.

Now go somewhere safe with your piece of paper.

Take a match.

Burn it.

Who are you?

Our identity exists entirely within our thoughts. Like an artist uses a brush to add paint to a canvass, we continue to gild our own concept of who we are as individuals with our thoughts.

The problem arises in that our thoughts are inherently limited. Whats more the perception we create of ourselves in our own minds can hold us prisoner, disabling us from reaching our fullest potential.

In days gone by when an elephant trainer wanted to keep an elephant captive, they would take the little ones and tie them with a little silver chain to the trunk of tree. When the young elephant tried to escape, the chain would go taut, and their foot would bleed. The more they struggled the more pain they experienced. Very soon they would learn not to resist anymore.

The amazing thing is, that that selfsame chain which held the baby elephant, continues to hold the strong and powerful adult elephant. Even though he could now easily overcome his chains and be free, he has come to believe that the ties that bind him are stronger than himself. It is this concept he holds of his own self, which keeps him captive.

So it is with us.

There is an infinity of possibilities available to us in each moment. The greening spirit of life calls us to befriend and inhabit our potentiality. To allow ourselves to unfold into the fullness of our being like the petals of a flower. Yet many of us are standing in our own way.

The miracle is that in every moment we have another opportunity to start afresh.

To burn our attachments to what we think we are, and dream ourselves anew.

Perhaps like the elephant, it is time for all of us to realise that we are infinitely more than what we think we are.

As James Allen once wrote "As you think, so shall you be."

Warmest love,

Maithri.

Join our new Facebook Group - The Soaring Impulse

Little Sister Haiti

2010-01-14T09:07:00.007+11:00

Dear Friends,

Please take a few moments to watch this very important

video about the people of Haiti, from my dear friends

at Providence Ministries Haiti.

Please visit them and show them your support and love,

and consider making a donation to their work

during this devastating time in the lives of so many....

www.providenceinhaiti.blogspot.com

Love the world into change,

Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WLHb3ZroMo

(Double click the video to see it in full size)

Now

2009-12-29T10:21:00.006+11:00

Picture Credits

A few months ago, I was admitting a patient to hospital. With soft silver hair and ageless blue eyes, she had lived 75 years without ever once requiring hospitalisation.

But this year a routine colonoscopy discovered a cancer in her bowel. Further investigation revealed that the cancer had extended beyond the boundaries of her gastro intestinal tract and was rapidly invading other parts of her frail body.

The week prior to my inital meeting with her, she had been told the cancer was too far advanced for any further treatment. She had 6 months to live.

Part of the admission protocol at the particular hospital I was working in at the time, required that every elderly patient undertake a series of screening questions for depression.

Sometimes these questions can sound a little artificial and insensitive so I explained to her that they were simply a routine part of the admission process. I also explained that so close to a diagnosis such as she had been given, it was exceedingly normal to feel sad and depressed, and that we could defer this part of the admission to another time if she preffered.

With her consent, I proceeded...

"Do you find yourself pre-occupied with feelings of sadness?"

No. In fact I am never sad.

"Do you become teary/upset more often than you used to."

No. I never become teary or upset. Ever.

The conviction with which she responded shocked me. My immediate response was to think about whether she had come to terms with the diagnosis which she had been given. For 75 years she had lived without any physical complaint. And in a matter of months she had gone from having a clean bill of health to having just 6 months left to live. Had she allowed herself time to grieve? Was there an element of denial in the way she was answering my questions?

I wanted to know more...to gently let her know that its normal and natural to let her feelings show at such a difficult time in her life...

"You know, Ive been priveledged to meet many people in your situation, and even the strongest of them have moments where they feel sad, teary or even depressed."

She interrupted me....

"Good Doctor, I know what you're saying is true. But I wont be crying or getting upset about this situation, today or ever."

"Why is that?" I asked...

Her answer was elegantly simple and uncommonly profound.

"I dont have time."

Friends, as we approach the dawn of a new year, I am reminded of these prophetic words.

"I don't have time"

No one is promised tommorrow. Life is as transitory as the movements of a dance or the light of a soft glowing sunset.

How much time do we waste each day on superficial non-sense? We erect cities of anxiety, kingdoms of guilt and fear. And all the while the sweet waters of life fall before us, unnoticed and untasted.

Why should we waste our present moments, the precious currency of our lives, on bonding our selves to yesterday. On the endless quest for approval or recognition from those who in the end, can never live our lives for us.

Love is a child of the Now. Here to be savoured, danced, embraced.

Make love to the living moment.

Waste not a breath on fear...

We dont have time,

For anything less than love.

Happy New Year my friend!

Love the world into change,

Maithri

O Holy Night - Melbourne 2009

2009-12-27T14:41:00.000+11:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU-mdE9HO8w

Born in the night

2009-12-24T18:56:00.006+11:00

"A thrill of hope.

The Weary world Rejoices...."

Whatever you believe, whatever road you walk... May love be born in us all. Love that melts every boundary and brings us into communion with one another and our selves.

Merry Christmas dear friends from my family to yours....

Thank you for walking this broken road with me.

We are one,

Love the world into change.

(Made this video a few years back... enjoy!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVjsWVt6xzI

Maithri's Christmas List

2009-12-21T11:30:00.003+11:00

In no particular order:

1. Food for all

2. Clean Water for all

3. The end of bigotry

4. Peace. Everywhere, Peace.

www.possibledreamsinternational.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHic5rGykWE

in Love

2009-12-19T17:40:00.005+11:00

NOW

Gentleness constellates
around me,

Today Love
is an earth.

A quilted tapestry,

A rich loam
on which to plant
my feet.

Beyond
the curtained window,
A dream of sun
whispers,

The Past
is over
Now.

Maithri Goonetilleke, Copyright December 2009

Repeat the Sounding Joy

2009-12-16T15:37:00.008+11:00

Friends,

Heres my Christmas time prescription for laughter....

A few videos which have made me laugh so hard over the last little while...

First have you ever wondered what animals would say if they could talk?....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaPepCVepCg

Next are you having trouble picking a gift this festive season.....Well look no further than "The Hawaii Chair"....apparently 'if you can sit...you can get fit" ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_amg-Aos4

And Finally some of the 'end bits' of one of my favourite

UK comedy series "The Vicar of Dibley"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtN6rPzLgU

Whomever you are, whatever your path in life maybe I pray

that the joy of this season find you and warm you from the inside...out ;)

Love and Joy,

Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bJd-696aUQ

The Jesus I know

2009-12-13T11:05:00.010+11:00

"Into this world,

this demented inn,

in which there is absolutely no room for him at all.

Christ has come uninvited.

But because he cannot be at home in it -

because he is out of place in it -

his place is with others who do not belong...

who are rejected because they are regarded as weak...

with those who are discredited,

who are denied the status of persons....

With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world."

Thomas Merton - The time of no room.

At this time of year we see many representations of Jesus. Many of them make me decidedly uncomfortable.

I find the image of a pious haloed 'Jesus' in filigree robes, antithetical to the Jesus that I love. The one for whom there was never any room in this world...

The wild love of Christ... the fearless, unbounded lover, the homeless refugee who tore down every wall between himself and this wounded world.... is for most of us too vibrant, too alive, too disturbing to even comprehend.

We would far rather turn him into a prince. A fairy tale. A limp and straight laced conservative who never put a foot out of step.

But is this image true? Here is a man who was nailed to a tree because he rebelled. His teachings of inclusive love, love which could hold prostitute, adulterer, tax collector, mad man, all within the arms of its tender embrace... were so revolutionary...so singular...that in him the world looks....and sees God.

My father is a Christian minister. And he always taught us....don't try to be a 'Christian'.
Be Christ-like.

Love like the one who could do nothing else...but love.

In the work that I do in Africa, I meet Jesus every day. Often he is lying in his own wastes. Every bone in his body visible because he has not eaten in weeks. His hands cold, his eyes filled with tears.

And as I tend to His wounds, He heals me.

And I learn how I might become a little more like Him.

In love,

M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B8cg3hYfls

We who believe in freedom

2009-12-12T11:29:00.006+11:00

The photo above depicts Iranian teenagers Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, who were publically executed in 2005 for homosexuality.

They are 2 of hundreds who have been executed in the last twenty years on the same charge.

Institutionalised homophobia is rampant in our world today.

There are 86 countries in which same sex activity is punishable by jail time.

And in at least 7 countries the punishment is execution.

In 2008, 66 UN nations put forward a bill to the general assembly urging members to decriminalise homosexuality throughout the world.

A few months ago, in September 2009, the newly appointed President of the general assembly of United Nations, Ali Abdussalam Treki described homosexuality as 'unacceptable'. He went on to say "It is not acceptable in the majority of the world. And there are some countriest that allow that, thinking it is a kind of democracy.... I think it is not."

I am appalled by the global communities indifference to the persistent and unfettered violations of human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world.

How can we continue to turn a blind eye as the politics of fear steals the lives of innocent people.

I recently watched a fascinating program on Rachel Maddows show about the proposed new laws in Uganda which promote the active extermination of homosexual people.

She cited several groups in America, both religious and secular, which had published fear based propoganda, now being used by the Ugandan government to justify its "Kill the gays" bill.

As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm. If we want to create a peaceful world. A world where the human rights of all people are upheld and valued, then we can not afford to be indifferent towards fear and bigotry as it manifests in our own corner of the world.

As Martin Luther King, said "Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere."

Human rights are not optional extras which should be available to some and not to others. They are universal and inalienable. They are an anchor, a thread of dignity running through the variegated body of humanity, reminding us all of the sovereignty of every life.

We who believe in freedom, cannot rest until it comes.

Maithri

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Let the Music Play....

2009-12-11T11:31:00.003+11:00

Close your eyes.....And listen......

May the joy of this season be yours, Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySEV-bDpGaQ

Something Good is going to happen to you!

2009-12-10T11:41:00.004+11:00

My sister told me yesterday that one of her favourite things about Christmas shopping is being able to say "Merry Christmas" to the people at the checkout register.

Ours is a culture which has in many ways forgotten the art of blessing. When my muslim friends meet one another they say 'assalamu alaikum' which means 'peace be upon you.' When my hindu friends meet they say "Namaste" which means "I honour the place in you where we are both one."

When the rest of my friends meet we say "Hey dude." - which means "Hey.... Dude".

Words are powerful. They can slice through ephemera and speak directly and clearly to the soul of things. They can gild a memory or catalyse the future, evoking uncried tears, tender laughter or even a moment of rapturous silence. And yet so often we take precious little care in the words which we say to one another.

Those of you who know me well, know that one of my favourite authors is John O'Donohue.

He speaks deftly and with far more eloquence than I, about this gentle art of blessing.

Once John was sitting in a pew of an old church, when a young freckled boy with fiery red hair tapped him on the shoulder. He looked him straight in the eye and said "Hey you! Something good is going to happen to you." John describes that blessing staying with him for many days afterwards....

So to you, the beautiful soul reading these words I want to offer that same painted blessing.

Listen to me now...

Something good is going to happen to you.

Something wonderful.

My love to you,

Maithri

'Avulekile amasang ezulu
Yebo kunjalo, kunjalo, kunjalo' - "The Doors of Heaven are wide open. So be it!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfOdkEDPixY

Please Leave Tiger Woods Alone

2009-12-09T10:24:00.006+11:00

Its none of our business.

P.S Heres a beautiful christmas song from Sarah McLachlan

Sending you my love, M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB2dlEH9U0E

Light the world!

2009-12-08T13:01:00.005+11:00

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marianne Williamson”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP7Ujk6xAVc

In Harmony

2009-12-07T08:40:00.006+11:00

"He who lives in harmony with himself, lives in harmony with the universe" - Marcus Aurelius

There are many strings to a bow. Each of us is a threshold at which a multitude of abilities and possibilities meet.

Part of this human journey is learning to harmonise the seemingly disparate strands of our lives into one unified concept of self.

Sometimes this can seem like an impossible task. There are aspects of ourselves which seem almost antithetical to each other. Radiant sun and deepest shadow.

Some choose to tend to their lives like a garden, weeding out the 'negative' and cultivating the positive.

But there is something violent in this approach for in truth there are gifts in everything. Even a weed is only a weed because we call it so.

Integrating the negative into a larger concept of self is our other option. One which requires a fierce love and wild acceptance.

The soul is a harmony seeker.

It tires easily of the persistent amplification of one note above the others...

Revelling instead in the passionate dance of difference across a dream of song.

As you reflect upon the many and varied aspects which comprise your life, may there be harmony in your seeing.

May unity flower where chaos once walked,

With love, Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq2iXg-NoWU

On the importance of being silly

2009-12-06T11:23:00.010+11:00

Picture Credits

We live in a playful universe. This can be all too easy to forget in the pallid humdrum of '9 to 5' living.

There seems to be a litany of reasons for us to take ourselves and the story that we're living "oh so seriously"

We tell ourselves that 'sentient beings' should look a certain way, speak in dulcet, measured tones and shroud themselves in cloak of sombre propriety.

And while theres a time and a place for this kind of behaviour ;), the laughing universe calls to us to be free... To let go.... To inhabit our lives with tender joy and sweet abandon.

One of my dear friends, Pete, has a wonderful facebook page called "Dance Like an Idiot for World Peace" ....On it he writes:

"I think it is time that we all laid down our dogmatic books and our weapons and remembered what it is to be human by dancing like idiots."

I love this idea! What if so much of our dysfunction and conflict arises from just how seriously we take this play of life?

What if by taking time each day to be silly, to let go of self importance and self righteousness.... we could become a little more compassionate, more loving, more fully human?

Joy is always just a breath away from where you are....

Seize the day....

Dance like no one is watching!

Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

And now its your turn to dance!.... Sing it Harry! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N12XpzlMDfk

Remember to Breathe

2009-12-05T09:47:00.005+11:00

We are so accustomed to 'doing'. From the moment we wake in the morning there is a 'to do' list, a list of goals which need to be achieved, accomplished, completed....

Now goals can be beautiful things and I'm a strong believer in the ability of any one to make manifest their dreams with passionate application of their mind and spirit. But no dream maker can afford to ignore the importance of silence.

The only number in our alpha numeric system which can not be divided is zero. Everything else is divisible, breakable, vulnerable. But zero is a number which is whole.

And so it is with silence.

True silence is something which many of us rarely experience in our day to day lives.... We glimpse it here and there. In the strains of a quiet melody, in a moment of candlelit prayer or meditation.

But we so quickly forget the treasures that can be found there. We label silent moments useless, boring, or ineffectual and in so doing we make a huge mistake.

Imagine a melody. It is the space between the notes that makes the music. If there were no spaces, there would just be one long note.

So it is with our lives, its the space between our thoughts from which our life is sourced and upon which it is anchored.

There is a canvass of silence across which we create the dream of our lives.

Its important to connect to that source. To that place of quiet. Not just haphazardly, but regularly.

Before we learn to sing, we need to learn to breathe....

Listen to this most beautiful song, sung by one of the worlds most gifted singers and give yourself a holiday from doing and thinking....

Just Remember to Breathe....

Soft love to you, Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqObPtltpvA

Butterflies Dreaming

2009-12-04T10:42:00.004+11:00

I once read a story by Lao Tzu. He describes a night where he dreamt that he was a butterfly. The dream was so vividly real that in those brief moments, he was utterly convinced that he was the very form and spirit of a butterfly.

When he awoke and found to his surprise that he was once again in the form of a man, he asked this most beautiful question:

"Am I a man dreaming that I am a butterfly? Or a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?"

Dream Well Butterfly,

Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftYPxUBe_Yg

Warm Beginnings

2009-12-03T11:53:00.005+11:00

One of the greatest blessings of my life was to grow up in a house filled with music. Fluent and clear like sweet water; Passionate, warm and nourishing like a setting sun in a wild sky.

My earliest memories are of my Dad singing to us. His voice as rich as the velvet night. It made sense that Elvis Presley was my Dad's favourite singer... Because Elvis had that same kind of voice....Perhaps not quite as deep and warm as my Dad's, but beautiful all the same....;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSkQsTZfGS4

May Warmth surround you,

Maithri

World AIDS Day 2009

2009-12-01T05:54:00.005+11:00

Friends,

I just wrote these words on our website.... Please share them with those whom you care about and keep those who are suffering with HIV/AIDS in your hearts....

Love the world into change,

Maithri

http://possibledreamsinternational.org/2009/12/01/a-world-in-need/

The countdown continues...

2009-11-30T15:46:00.003+11:00

Hey guys,

Tommorrow, Dec 1st at 11am (Australian time) I'll be speaking on the conversation hour (ABC radio) about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and some of the work PDI is doing.

International peeps can listen live online! www.abc.net.au . click on radio and go to 774 Melbourne local radio and on the left is the option to listen as it airs via real player :)

Now without further ado....

Heres the Christmas song for today.... It was scandalous when I first heard it ;)...still is.... lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FICaxr-bTlo

Do you hear it?

2009-11-29T08:25:00.004+11:00

I write to you from a Melbourne soaked in warm rain. It is Sunday morning and the birds are singing from wet branches. Spent Clouds breathing their way across the skies. The world is quiet.... Listening.

Do you hear what I hear?

Peace to you, Maithri

Amazing Peace ~ Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes.

And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.

Floodwaters await in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche.

Over unprotected villages.

The sky slips low and gray and threatening

We question ourselves.

What have we done to so affront nature?

We interrogate and worry God.

Are you there?

Are you there, really?

Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension,

Christmas enters

Streaming lights of joy,

ringing bells of hope

And singing carols of forgiveness

high up in the bright air.

The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,

Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.

Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.

Floodwaters recede into memory,

Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us

As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children.

It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.

Hope spreads around the earth, brightening all things,

Even hate, which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper. At first it is too soft.

Then only half heard.

We listen carefully as it gathers strength.

We hear a sweetness.

The word is Peace.

It is loud now.

Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound.

We are thrilled by its presence.

It is what we have hungered for.

Not just the absence of war.

But true Peace.

A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.

Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.

We beckon this good season to wait awhile with us.

We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim,

say come.

Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.

We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,

Implore you to stay awhile with us

So we may learn by your shimmering light

How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language

To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ

Into the great religions of the world.

We jubilate the precious advent of trust.

We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.

All earth's tribes loosen their voices

To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,

Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.

Peace.

We look at our world and speak the word aloud

Peace.

We look at each other, then into ourselves,

And say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My Brother.

Peace, My Sister.

Peace, My Soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIjtv6wGMD4

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-11-28T15:08:00.004+11:00

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Dr. Seuss

I'm home! Home for the holidays...

Thank you so much for the love which you send to me each day.... My cup overflows with gratitude for you ...

Those of you who know me well, know that music is my first love...Its been a huge year and I'm feeling the need to relax, kick my shoes off and just let the music play...

As we approach the Christmas season I want to share with you some of my favourite songs from this season of hope, peace and good will.... Theres far too many to put in one post... So I thought I'd share one a day...till Christmas! ;)

Whatever you believe, Whatever your way of being in this world, I pray that at this time, you and the circle that surrounds you will be enveloped in the wings of peace and reminded of your inseparable connection with all of human kind.

So without further ado...

Let the music begin! and never end...

Love the world into change,

Maithri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyspjIXc1ak

Totally Like Whatever, You Know?

2009-11-27T09:09:00.001+11:00

Totally Like Whatever, You Know?

In case you hadn't noticed,

it has somehow become uncool

to sound like you know what you're talking about?

Or believe strongly in what you're saying?

Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s

have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?

Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences -- so-called

because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true

as opposed to other things which were, like, not --

have been infected by a totally hip

and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?

Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;

this is just like the word on the street, you know?

It's like what I've heard?

I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?

I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?

Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?

Have they been, like, chopped down

with the rest of the rain forest?

Or do we have, like, nothing to say?

Has society become so, like, totally . . .

I mean absolutely . . . You know?

That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .

whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness

is just a clever sort of . . . thing

to disguise the fact that we've become

the most aggressively inarticulate generation

to come along since . . .

you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,

I challenge you: To speak with conviction.

To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks

the determination with which you believe it.

Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,

it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.

You have to speak with it, too.

~ Taylor Mali ~