when other people lash out at you

when other people lash out at you
it usually isn't as if they got up that day,
and thought:
wow, today is a great day to lash out
at
so and so

if you are partners, they may be festering old wounds,
and the slightest provocation sets them off

or, they might have lifelong issues
and you do something that triggers that

or, they might have a shitty habit of
lashing out
whenever they don't get their way

but basically:
they are just blind, trapped robots,
doing what their programming makes it
inescapable that they do

so,
the solution:
curiosity

what's bothering them

that's all

feel your hurt
feel your pain
be the victim for two or three minutes,
then
put your attention out:

what's going on with them?

can you ( or I) listen into them
and discover:

what is their real pain

and wonder,
again curious without the usual fix-it kit,

how could they
get
free of it
a little
or
free of it
a lot
or
free of it
completely

if you do,
two people gain:

you,
because they'll probably lash out
less
or none

and them,
because they don't have to be a slave to
that pattern of
avoiding their pain any longer

pretty good,
eh?
(yes)

Cat and Cow and Brain ( Yours)

Hey, you with a brain and a back.
It's easier to stand on four legs. Like a table.

Get into the crawling position.
Slowly
Slowly
Slowly
Rock your belly forward
and bring your eyes up to the sky or ceiling
and bring the back of your butt toward the back of your head

this is the cow,
about to moooo:

Belly down
But toward back of head
Back of head toward the butt


Now the cat:
Move everything the other way:

Eyes and head down
Belly in and back, as if you are lifting the midback toward sky or ceiling
Crotch rotating toward your nose

So:
Belly up
Head toward genitals which are rotating toward the head

Back and forth,
five times:
Normal
Sensing the lower back
Sensing the mid back
Sensing the upper back
Sensing the whole back

Take a break, crawl around, lie down, whatever

Now,
Get fancy,
after you are sure sure sure you've got the "normal" cat and cow

Try this for starters,
I'll have a harder one a little later:

Do the cat and cow as above
the same five times,
but with the chin tucked toward the chest and the eyes down.

So in the cat part, the head will be the usual place,
and in the cow part it will be opposite of what it is "supposed" to be

Rest, crawl, cavott

Now, arch your head up and look at the ceiling/ sky and
have the belly and pelvis go through five times as per above
of
the modified cat and cow

Then rest

Then do it the easy/ normal/ feels good way

Now, get up on your feet and notice how tall and connected to the ground you feel

Good.

Hugs not drugs

My son has a thirty day goal:

Hugging his gal for a nice long 30 second hug every day.

This seems sweet, sane and a good use of having goals.

Maybe for thirty days, I'll each day ask a person I don't usually ask for a hug, if I can hug them.

If they say "Yes," good.
If they say, "No," good. I've done my part.
And I might make the goal to keep asking until one new person a day shares a hug with me.

This sounds crazy good.

What crazy good thing would you like to do for thirty days?

Hafiz

After all these years, 

the sun never says to the Earth, 

"You owe me"

See what can happen with a love

like that!

2

How did the rose

ever open

its heart

and give 

all the Beauty

to the world?

It felt the encouragement

of Light

against its Being

Otherwise,

we all remain

Too

Frightened

3

Running through the streets

Screaming

Throwing rocks thru

Windows,

Using my own head to ring bells

Pulling out hair

Tearing off my clothes

Tying everything I own

to a stick

and lighting it

on

Fire

What else can Hafiz

do tonight

To celebrate the madness,

The Joy

of seeing God

Everywhere?

renderings of Danil Ladinsky's renderings in the book, The Gift