Coyote Totems

Since we have been visited nightly for weeks, and on our way to dinner the other night a big, well-fed, coyote crossed the road in front of us, I decided to see what that animal totem might mean. Here from this website:

Coyotes, also known as the Desert Wolf, are recognizable by their thick bushy tail, pointy nose, and ears. In the winter their coat grows thick to protect them from the harsh weather. They can run up to 30 mph, and their call will be heard up to 3 miles. Coyotes can live in urban areas as long as food and shelter is available. They form loose family groups which form for short periods of time then break apart, depending on the food supply. This large group formation will work together to catch deer. Normally coyotes hunt alone or in pairs. In this situation, one may intentionally chase small prey into the jaws of another coyote so they both can share a meal. A good way to tell a coyote apart from a wolf is its tail, which they carry low while the others carry their tails high.
Coyote teaches us to laugh at our mistakes so we won't get mired in the pain of life's lessons. Coyote comes into our lives when we need to understand the balance of wisdom and foolishness.


It is also known for carrying with him lessons that are crucial to growth and change, yet always with a sense of fun or folly. Hmmm, I wonder if this applies to me, my husband, or Lucy?

I have to admit I could use a laugh, especially leading up to the midterm elections, but their howling is starting to get a little unnerving - especially when Lucy barks and then you hear them trying to imitate her. Here, from U-Tube:

Wild, wild everywhere!

For the last couple of weeks Lucy has been waking us up every night barking (loudly) at the coyotes entering our yard in the dead of night. Their nightly visits might involve the rabbits flourishing out in the open areas around our house, or from the sounds of their barks, they may be trying to lure Lucy outside. My husband says they can mimic different animals. Anyway, Lucy is doing her best to protect us from these marauding invaders that have the audacity to leave droppings in the yard - right next to hers. It's caused quite the stir at 3:00 a.m., not to mention some serious heart palpitations. It has also become a bit old, night after night. Not to mention having to keep my eye on Lucy whenever she is out in the yard.

We thought it a good time to head out of town, up to Lake Tahoe, a mere 21 miles away.  As we are getting out of the car our neighbor comes out to remind us to take all food inside. He caught a black bear standing on his hind legs looking in his sunroof for a snack the other morning.

I didn't ask about the paint job.

I was reminded of a friend's story a few years ago. Some people they were camping with in Yosemite had their car completely torn apart over 3 gummy bears.

I keep the window open near our bed to hear the sound of the stream and thought we had made it through the night without incident when my husband reported this morning that Lucy had heard something outside last night, but considered it only growl worthy.

After a bird episode on our deck a few weeks ago, involving an owl, I was beginning to think living in the middle of the city isn't such a bad idea after all. That was until a friend, who actually lives in the middle of the city - caught a bear looking over her backyard fence. Her home, located on the river that flows through town, was apparently a pit stop.

It's beginning to feel a little wild out there!

Mea Culpa, again.

I took my last post down on banking when someone suggested that I might want to research the producer of the video a little further. Well, I take that back. My husband also suggested that some of the points mentioned might be skewed in order to further an agenda. So down it goes. That's what I get for wandering into politics and economics. It won't stop me from distrusting the banks and large corporations, however.

Hmmm, interesting!

David Icke: Sound Vibration = Form

I know what I don't want...

Many of you that follow my blog know that we have moved around a bit over the last six years. We raised our family in a normal neighborhood, in the same house for sixteen years, K-12, with the same families around us. Since that time we moved to Portland, Oregon, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and then to our small place at Lake Tahoe for two years. I'm currently sitting in my favorite chair at the Lake, looking out my favorite window (picture above). And something came to mind after reading Linda's post on My Own Velvet Room.

As many of you may know, we rented our current house in Reno, where my husband is working. We simply did not want to buy another home until we know where we want to retire, which is only a few years away. This neighborhood was known to be very, very nice. Completely out of our price range when we lived here six years ago. I had often thought how pretty the houses were when we would go there for some reason or another. It is a gated community, and the houses surround a golf course. It is only in this market can one find a rental in this area. Our house is lovely, looks out over the entire city and the golf course. The problem? It is the most sterile environment I have ever lived in. There is no one on the streets except landscapers. I have never met, in five months, my neighbors on one side, the other side is for sale and has eight bathrooms. Yes, eight bathrooms. Now if that house isn't the Age of Excess poster child, I don't know what is.

A couple of days ago I had a contractor out to fix my dishwasher. Yes, you can now get a contractor to fix your dishwasher in Nevada.... Anyway, he said he had built seven houses in the area before the bubble burst. He would live in them a year or two and then sell them. You have to remember, Nevada was one of the fastest growing states in the country for twenty years. Anyway, he asked me if I liked the neighborhood, and I answered honestly by saying no. He laughed and said he felt the same way. He asked if anyone had turned their face away when I waved to them yet. I snickered and said no - because no one had ever looked my way, except to tailgate me in the 25 mph zone.

So what's my point?

I know what I don't want when we leave this house in 2-3 years. I don't want to live where people don't know each other, or in a neighborhood that has huge houses. I don't want to live where I can't be a grandma on the block as in Linda's post. I don't want to be isolated behind a gate, where my friends and family can't just drive up to my house.

I do want to have a small, cozy little home in an area of other small, cozy, well-kept homes. I do want people out in their yards, doing yard work, talking about flowers and what new herbs are at the local nursery. Walking their dogs, strolling their babies. I do want to get to know the children, and I do want a mixed neighborhood - with all age groups. I do want an environment of like-minded people, who share a somewhat common goal to live in a peaceful place, perhaps with a community garden. I know they're out there, and I have a feeling I'm not alone in my desires. I'll bet these places will grow, just as this neighborhood was once what people desired.

Maybe we have to experience, as a collective, what we don't want, in order to know what we do.

We are already downsizing - one box to Goodwill at a time. Lately we've been eyeing the furniture - what we will keep and what will go. In this new paradigm, we won't need about half of it.

The next place we buy will be our forever home. It will be carefully considered. It may not even be in this country, maybe it will be some other place our extended family might want to live. We are exploring all options. But wherever it is, it will involve a much simpler existence.

Study Time

Do you ever go through times in your life when you just can't seem to absorb enough information on a subject that interests you? No matter how much you take in - it never seems to be enough? Well, that's how I'm feeling right now. Studying, as if I were still in college and had exams coming up. Studying as if what I'm reading and learning about is of value, I just don't know why, or when. I guess sometimes we just have to go with our intuition and see where it takes us.

If I come up with anything worthy of sharing, I certainly will do so. But I may be sketchy when it comes to blogging for a while. Instead, I'll just drop in on you.

A New Website

I've pretty much distanced myself from mainstream media - especially news programs. The condensation of ownership over the last several years of all the news outlets to only ten companies is very worrisome. Only a few years ago it was 27. Now it's ten. Ten companies are deciding what they will allow us to know about our world. They have us feeding on fear, anger, and hate, in my opinion. I'm much more interested in moving forward. For that we need new information.

I've found a new website I would like to share with you. The Conscious Media Network. I have been spending large tracks of time over the last week or so listening to in-depth interviews with some the authors I've done book reviews on, people I've only heard about, and some that I am so thankful to have been introduced through this medium. (Barbara Marx Hubbard, Women Waking to Purpose, is one example.)

I can't say that I agree with everything everyone has said in these interviews. Some of this stuff is really out there. But the interviews have been done in such a way as to allow the interviewee to be able to explain their theories, thoughts, beliefs, paradigms, in a respectful and calm atmosphere without the hyperbole so common in media today. There is much to choose from. Intelligent, well educated, many of these people are at the top of their respective fields.

You can sign up for three days, free of charge, join for $5 per month or $50 per year. I used my free three days and then joined for a year. Many of you will say it should be free, but please keep in mind that we all have to make a living. This husband and wife team are providing a service. Parts of the website are completely free. It's clear they travel to all parts of the country and world to get these interviews. She also does Regina's Vegetarian Table on PBS, has written two cookbooks, and has a blog. If you're interested you can find the website here.

Now I Know I'm Neurotic

After reading through all the comments from my last post, I've found that I share virtually 90% of all of your phobias. I might not suffer to the extent you do, but they are all on my list of what I like to avoid. From dentists to flying, from freeway driving to spiders, not to mention {{shudder}} doctors, we all share similar stories - at least one thing in our lives that really gives us the willies!

Since I share so many, I think that makes me thoroughly neurotic, LOL!

Phobias

Phobias are one of those things that I think everyone has - at least one. In my case it's doctors, doctor's offices, medical equipment, nurses, or anything that has to do with messing with my body, short of having a hot stone massage. I find myself either surly, or worse in my opinion, desperately insecure, whenever I have to visit the doctor. My blood pressure rises and I have a hard time sitting still while waiting. And waiting is something you do when visiting the doctor. My phobia even as a name - Iatrophobia - a fear of doctors.

At any rate, I am of the age where one has to have preventative tests. The usual mammogram, blood tests, and colonoscopy. Somehow I have managed to dance around not getting any of these tests for two years. I've had good excuses. At one point we were not sure when our insurance would be canceled from a company that had merged with my husband's company and had a contract to pay our insurance for two years. Unfortunately that company went bankrupt six months after the merge. So for the next year we waited to be canceled. Not a good time to have tests that might preclude being able to get insurance at all. We all know insurance companies would like nothing better than to exclude you from any policy for a pre-existing condition. Our health care is now in corporate hands, not doctors.

The dreaded colonoscopy I've managed to avoid for six years. Each year I visit the doctor and the doctor writes an "order" to have it done. I would put it off and, lucky for me, I would move and then have to start all over again. But now I'm back to my original doctor, the one I had six years ago that first sent me  to have it done. I ignored last year's, telling her our insurance had been canceled, which was true, just not at the time she wrote the order. But this year I had absolutely no excuse. I was caught with no way out. I had put it off long enough, and with colon cancer in the family, it was just plain irresponsible.

Phobias are debilitating. They often have absolutely nothing to do with reality, but they keep us from doing things that are in our best interest. And there are many, many different types of phobias, from a phobia of erect penises, Medorthophobia, to gaiety, Cherophobia. You can find a complete list here. Chances are you have a problem with something on the list.

Phobias are treated in a number of ways, some listed here. But I have found from my own experience that using relaxation techniques, combined with actually facing the fear, works well for my phobias. Simply put yourself in a relaxed state and walk through the fear. Do it over and over. In my case, I walked myself through the entire colonoscopy procedure in my mind. I watched myself get up, shower, get dressed, get in the car, etc., all the while feeling relaxed and free of fear. Did it work? Yes. It worked enough to get me there and do what I needed to do without freaking out.

My point is that fear is something that is constructed in the mind, and the mind can help you release the fear. It's more a matter of controlling the thoughts and programming our brains to think the thoughts we want it to be thinking. The body's autonomic nervous system will follow the directions from the brain, and the brain will follow directions from the mind. Does that make any sense?

What about you - any phobias?

Biocentrism

This is one of those books that makes your brain stretch, flex, and yes, even hurt at times. Written by Robert Lanza, MD, one of the most respected scientists in the world, and Bob Berman, world-renowned astronomer, together, these brainiacs attempt to prove that consciousness creates reality. In other words - reality doesn't exist outside of our minds, consciousness (life) creates the Universe. Thanks goodness for that difficult class on Perception I had in college, or this book might have been more difficult for me to understand. That class taught me, above all else, that what we see, what we hear, is actually being constructed in the brain. Light in varying wavelengths enters the pupil, reacts with the rods and cones and sends signals to the back of our brains where we actually see. Yes, we see everything in the back of our heads.

They argue that time and space are only constructs. Our way of making sense of events in our lives. Biocentrism involves the science of the brain, especially neurobiology. It also has some similarities to some of the tenets of Eastern Religions, however it is not a book about religion. Rather, it is a book on the science of who and what we are. Add to that the possibility that a single consciousness pervades everything (solipsism), and you have a book well worth reading.

This book would appeal to anyone interested in the science of consciousness, physics, biology, astronomy, and the nature of mankind. It is worth your time and energy. We are on the precipice of a great understanding that will rock our world as we know it. There is no doubt that these writers will be standing in the forefront.

Hard-Wired to Share

Are we hardwired to be happier when things are equitable? Lynn MacTaggart has written a post about a new study that says just that. You can read the whole thing here.

In my humble opinion, I think that is really the only way to be truly happy. If you think about it - we are often happy when we have good fortune - there is no doubt about that - but what makes us feel bad? For me, it is seeing pictures, reading stories, watching the news, about those so much less fortunate. While we can be happy for ourselves, it is always tempered by the fact that there is so much misery in the world.

What would our world look like if it was an equal playing field? Everyone had enough to eat, a place to live that was clean and comfortable, where everyone lived in harmony and in an environment of peace?  When you suspend the ego, and desire to have more than others, who we really are can be revealed. And if you believe Lynn's post - it's something we are hard-wired to do.

The Magician

I am in the process of learning to read Tarot cards. This is something I've wanted to do for what seems like forever, but other things always seem more important. Not to mention, I have always steered clear of psychics and card readers - mostly because my Christian upbringing seems to have instilled a fear of anything having to do with divination. It's not that I don't believe in psychics, I do believe some people are more sensitive to the world we can't see, but I just haven't had much experience with them, and I've never had my cards "read."

But since I will no longer be defined by fear, I thought I would check out Tarot. Learning for myself seemed like the best approach.

No time like the present. I ordered a book by Trish MacGregor and Phyllis Vega, Power Tarot. The book suggests starting out by picking out one card, writing down the meaning in a diary, and taking time to study how it might be represented in an actual spread. Each day you pick another card, until you learn what each card represents. From the book:

"Spreads form the heart of tarot. They create the stories the cards tell and depict recurring patterns that are both visible and invisible, known and unknown, obvious and hidden."


"Some spreads work best for specific questions, others describe general situations and conditions, and still others answer questions that haven't been asked yet."


It is also suggested that one handle the deck, shuffling, holding, touching, etc., until one feels ready to start. So I've spent the last several days doing just that. I found a spot on my coffee table, and picked them up often. I was ready to begin.

So my first question: "What is the most important card to me in this deck right now?" I cleared my mind, said a positive mantra I always say, asked for the answer to my question, shuffled, felt the cards slip through my fingers one by one and finally, after a minute or so -  eventually chose one.

The card?

The Magician 

"He consciously creates reality through his will and imagination. As an alchemist and transformer, he epitomizes the ability to translate ideas into action. He relies on self confidence, power, and determination to see him through. 


The astrological counterpart of the Magician is Mercury, the planet of mental agility and quickness. He symbolizes creative intelligence, psychic discovery, new beginnings, and the realization that with desire, intent, and focus, all our dreams are within our reach."


Hmmm, sounds a little bit like my belief system already. This may prove interesting.

Widgets and Other Changes

You'll notice some changes on my sidebars. I'm looking at new widgets and playing around. You may notice that I deleted my 'favorites' blog roll. It had become unmanageable, and many were of people that I have not heard from in ages, nor have I visited them. I'll follow up on comments, and continue to read your blogs on my dashboard reader. Many of you have inspired me with your new looks, not to mention your new voices. It's really great - especially to meet new blogging friends.

Any cool widget ideas?

The Awakening

I borrowed these videos from I.E.T. Intelligent Emotional Truths. This is a new blog that I've recently found, if interested, please stop by.

I know I'm into videos these days, but they seem to express my feelings better than I can. Maybe because this last week has been spent chasing my two-year-old grandson and 3 month-old grandpuppy!

These videos help me to feel better about the world, and all that seems to be going wrong. Maybe it's meant to be this way. Maybe we are meant to want something different, and only in the extreme desire for equality, will it be able to come to fruition.





What do you think?