Day 52

Jess and I went to Madison, yesterday, to help prepare for the arrival of the Dalai Lama.  I give Jess TREMENDOUS credit, as she worked the graveyard shift from 7PM to 4AM and then got up ad 7AM to drive three hours to Madison and work all day painting and cleaning.  I wasn't the one insisting that we go either.  I knew she'd be tired, but she insisted.  It was a GREAT DAY, despite the exhaustion she was battling.  She did have to go to the car, at one point, and take a quick 1 hour cat nap.  I woke her with some delicious food prepared by the Tibetan women who staffed the kitchen.  Included in the food were some wonderful chocolates that come with a blessing: http://youtu.be/vJ74EKFFqbE

What is Intention?

"Intention is a thought, a blessing, a prayer, any act of consciousness that comes from the we not the me.™ To be intentional is to lead a purposeful life, to create meaning through decisions and actions that do no harm and benefit others™. At the core of intention is love. Any individual who is giving back to society through any number of mechanisms; undertaking a spiritual mission, working with not for profit and some for profit organizations, comes from a conscious thought that is intention. Consumers are making intentional choices every day by being more environmentally and socially aware of the interconnectedness of the world around us."

Day 8

What a LOVELY space at the Deer Park Meditation Center, in Madison, and what a GREAT way to start an AMAZING day!  The chanting was beautiful and, at times, haunting.  It was the most tranquil, unpressured, fully present, in the moment, 2 1/2 hours that I have spent in a long time.  The lesson was spot on.  In the end I didn't want to leave.  The calm and focus of the practice was an inviting respite.  The ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I felt is still with me.

Day 7

Getting ready for our mother/daughter adventure to Deer Park Meditation Center in Madison  DAY TRIP!!  We've been getting those late winter crazys from being snow bound so we're going to spend a morning with the Llama, then lunch on State Street,, take in a couple of art galleries and some State Street shopping, a stop at Trader Joes, do some people watching and then back home.  What will the day bring! ADVENTURE!