I found this while I was hunting and thought what a wonderful sight...You could either go to the site which is here
http://www.slideshare.net/renn/beautiful-bridges-around-the-world-presentation
For those who can watch the embeded slideshow..Enjoy this.
Have A Wonderful Work Week.
Peace
Rashmi.
The Columbia River, heading to the Multnomah Falls, OR, USA.
Silently, I carve my destiny,
As a river in mutiny
Through immovable obstacles
And nature's unyielding cackles
Eroding them with persistence
Letting go of resistence
Journeying to the Source
Of Her Existence.
Listening to those around us
Those that see our soul,
In their words of experience,
We Will ourselves, our Wisdom.
People and Nations rise and fall,
Strong ones rise again,
Brush the dirt off and move on,
From them,
We Will ourselves, our Strength.
Watching with admiration,
The tenacity, gentleness and discipline,
Of those that know success,
We learn what we need, while
We Will ourselves, our Goals.
The ones that earn our Respect,
The ones that walk the talk
Doing the Right thing, no matter the cost,
From them,
We Will ourselves, our Character.
As we move through life,
Realization dawns, that
Our mind is a lever,
Our intentions form the load,
Our actions are the effort,
Resting on the fulcrum of our Will,
Nothing will seem impossible,
Where there is a Will,
There will always be a way.
Our Will is the strongest muscle,
Our Mind could ever hold.
No matter what the adversity,
Our Will, will carry us through.
P.S. This is an old Poem, wrote in May 2006. As I was looking through what I have written I realized I hadnt shared this with you.
Two days ago, I read the News again in spite of my forced exile from the News on TV and newspaper... Here's what caught my attention.
http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/marriage-divorce/the-non-divorce-20477/
and on MSN
It seems like it proved something I overheard when I was about 10 or 11 years old. There was this man, who I didnt like right off the bat. I thought, he was an Arrogant, Male Chauvunistic Pig, whose Head I would have very easily bitten off without dwelling on it afterwards, was of the opinion that if marriages had to work the wife had to be a housewife without any means to financial independence. And he practiced what he preached. He got his girls married when they were barely 18 before they could get their degree and yes they all became Home makers and yes they stayed in their Marriages no matter how difficult it was. Sure I was very Mad as I listened to him mainly cause it wasnt fair.. I wondered, if by that same logic, would he agree that A Marriage would work if the Man was the house-husband and the wife worked to put bread on the table. I didnt talk much to him, cause my Teenage Invicibility and Opiniated Judge had already judged him as a Man of Weak Intellect and hence not worth arguing with.
I was remided of a statement I evesdropped on while my elders talked. This was the mid 1980's in India, Divorce wasnt a very normal part of lives then. This man was a matchmaker for my Aunt and he said a few things that at the time didnt make sense to my very Mills and Boon, Nancy Drew, Agatha Cristie, Photo-romance, Archie comics, Fantasy ridden, teenaged mind.
1. Unless it is an extreme circumstance, dont make a match between two different classes, religions or castes.
2. Dont marry the Eldest in a family to the Youngest in another.
3. Matches work between Eldest(groom) and Middle or Middle(groom) and Youngest.
4. Matches between the Eldest in each of the families works too as long as there are no class, religion or caste differences.
Of course, he didnt say these in points, it was what I gleaned from many conversations the elders had. So Peck Order amongst the siblings was a factor to predict the marriage working or not.
After I rea
1. I am having my cuppa, and life couldn’t be better, no matter what the weather.
2. My daughter wants to know why there isn’t an Acoustic Toothbrush, when there Acoustic and Electric guitars, Acoustic and Electric Pianos and there is an Electric Toothbrush without its Acoustic Pair?
3. I am going through some kind of Identity crisis or Insecurity crises or midlife crisis, so please do disregard anything that oozes of negativity from me.
4. Its suddenly warmed up and some bulbs have been fooled into blooming.
5. Sunday was so rainy that I wanted to curl up and die and yesterday the weather was calm and to a degree I felt calmed too…Am I crazy?
6. I got all the series of Tanya Huff’s Blood Book. I finished reading two of the six parts…I like the Heroine of the Novel, Victoria Nelson, PI and her ties with the Two men, or rather One Man and One Vampire in the story. Pythogoras Revenge is half way through.
7. I haven’t watched or read news in 5 days now, yet Haiti is on my mind. Its time we invent a Mind/Memory Eraser.
8. Life for me is pretty bleak right now... My muse, mood, thoughts and action are erratic.
9. Sometimes incentives work wonders with children, although it’s a very fine line between an incentive and a bribe.
10. I think, I cant think anymore thoughts…*giggles*
The photo was taken by Danette our wonderful host for this challenge
Lighthouse Rhyme-time
My heart, I wholly gave
Unwittingly, to a knave
We rode the beautiful wave
Living in our legendary cave
Darkness within, I couldn’t stave
My mind, hoarse from insane rave
You shone the light, I did crave
Trusting that you would save
Me, from my untimely grave.
The house is empty and quiet today... I enjoyed having the kids home, yesterday.
Someday(hopefully in the nearest future) I want to write down the patterns I see within our collective history. Whoever said - History repeats itself, wasnt lying.
Yesterday, the topic of 2012 came up again in a conversation and I didnt say it aloud but I thought - Does anyone see that Prophecies that dont come true are more than the ones that did? Or that a Prophecy is true only after the Fact? Or that generalized predictions about disasters, disease or discord can be taken to any land and made to fit into the life and landscape of those people? I listened and then changed the topic... I do believe in Self-fulfilling Prophecies - You tell youself and repeat the same thing, hypontizing yourself to the idea day after day, after a while, you will begin to believe it and it will colour/influence the way we go about our life. Thats how most of us end up feeling like we amount to nothing or we think we are the center of the world, cause we tell ourselves that and then go on to prove it to ourselves. We or our Egos like being RIGHT more than seeing things for what it IS. Thoughts do Manifest.
I became a Barber yesterday and clipped my son's hair for the first time, I messed up on one side(it has a little less hair than the other) but when I apologized for making the error, my Gentle 8 year old told me "Its alright momma, its your first time". Yes, I teared up.
We had such winds blowing intermittently the last 3 days, yesterday it died down and I felt good, not listening to it howl at night.
I stopped reading the book- Poet Game, it didnt hold my interest as much as Pythogoras Revenge...
We discovered we are Vampire Lovers. I watched Dracula with Sir Anthony Hopkins as Professor Van Helsing and my children watched part of it as we folded the laundry. My children were fascinated with the idea that teeth can grow into fangs and people can transform into hideous looking characters. I didnt make much of it, but later when we went to the library, they picked books about Vampires. So I gave a boring explanation(which I feel they must have slept through, standing) that its fiction, not REAL so that they know that they dont need to be scared. Last night I had two extra little people in our bed in the middle of the night. *giggling*.
I need to come up with an idea to write about the recent Creative Challenge, my muse is very fickle, he has no idea of fidelity. I dont know why I think my Muse is a HE.... hmm.
I am going to patiently ignore this someone in my life who I really dont want anything to do with but they think they are important enough to come and knock on me.. should I be annoyed at their self-importance or shoud I feel flattered they thought of me? Oh the decisions that plague me.
Isnt it funny that the person you dont want to meet or talk to, is the person you will meet at the shopping mall or restaurant? What is the Universe thinking?
May your Tuesday be filled with Tickles. Have a fantastic Day.
Peace
Rashmi.
Good morning/Evening to all you wonderful folks who are listening in today. I hope you have all had a fantastic Monday. Mine has just begun and as usual I have a Monday Morning Moan for you.
I was reading Tracy's Post this morning and I thought about how I seem to receive messages when I need it the most or when I need re-enforcing my goals.
Here's the message on her Blog
http://stillwandering.multiply.com/reviews/item/712
I am, for most purposes a Practical Person, at least, I like to think so. There is this portion where Practicality abandons me. My life is riddled with details... I have a tendency for Perfection and so I hone in on the details. When someone tells me this has to be done. My thoughts arent about getting it done, it goes to how it has to be done, what that entails, how to get the littlest detail done with finesse', what could be the obstacles and how to encounter it that and at the end of all my thoughts, it takes so long to get it done that I lose my motivation to get it done. I need an assistant to come in and do it while I make out what details need taken care off. Whatever I am familiar with I can get done with minimum annoyance cause I have done it before and now have what I consider the best way to get it done, but something NEW, well, thats another story.
It does limit what I would do and what I wouldnt...When I look back I think "What on earth was I thinking?" cause in that later time, I am no more emotionally invested so I can actually look at it objectively and see all the critical mistakes I made. Hindsight always being 20/20.
My husband on the other hand (this has been the point of my envy) is the kind that takes in the BIG Picture. He cant/wont be bothered with details and he is the Doer while I am the perpetual Thinker whose thinking never ends...So here's an example of how we work. When we used to look for a place to stay(given we had to move around a few times due to his job) he will look at whether the place is worth the money and if it satisfies our need in terms of reasonable distance from work and a safe locality to live in, while I look at stuff like how far is the nearest school and store, how does the house smell, how does the house feel as I walk in, does the Kitchen have a gas stove, are the faucets leaking, are the rooms big enough to accommodate the people/furniture I presently have, which way are the doors and windows facing within the home, do those allow light to come in, do they have a working mesh to keep the insects out, are the mechanical stuff in working condition, what kind of accessories are used, what colour the walls are etc.. at the end of a seeing a house, I would be talking all about how it felt, what its pluses are, what needs work, what needs to be looked into and what its flaws are and my husband would have just one sentence - I liked/or didnt like the place and its affordable/not affordable. I must have been a weaver bird in my previous birth, I need to know where every reed goes in the weave while my husband will look at the nest and go, Yes! or No Way! I wish I could be like him, my life would have been absolute bliss.
So, over these two years, its been my on-going effort to let go of the details and do things. Just do it without an expectation of how it should be done. Move with it as it happens. I have succeeded a few times. Its come to light that when it comes to letting go of my expectations for the illusionary Perfection, I am a slow student.
Have a wonderful Day in spite of my Moan Folks.
This is Rashmi Reporting for Monday Morning Moans.
This week I am combining the creative challenge and the writer's block. I thought they went well together, complement each other.. Hope you enjoy this read. The picture below was part of the Writer's Challenge. It was taken by Scott Neighbour and titled - Clayburn.
Her reflection in the mirror as she enters her home, doesnt look bad, yet Ria wonders, is this all? She had a perfectly productive day yet she has a nagging feeling that she cant seem to satisfy. Definitely there has to be more to life, she thinks, else she would not feel this thirst that has been building over time. No, not thirsty for water, that she has plenty. But a thirst for what she expects life to be. Her thoughts continue their rant - If I could figure a way to receive his love, if I could get my mentor to give me her approval, if that ad I have made is received with a good rating, if I could get that promotion, if the money I saved would be enough to buy that house..if.. Life would be so Fantastic and I would be so Content.
As these if's floated their excuses for why she couldnt be happy right now, she remembers the words she heard from her grandfather - "You have to die the old you to become the New You". Transformation of life, doesnt happen from the outside in, it starts with the inside out. It starts with an awareness of our wants and needs, we need to quench. Life becomes what it is and has meaning only because of our search for the metaphoric water, as we are dying of thirst. This Thirst is a shape-shifting Thirst, for it comes in many forms - an expectation, an acceptance, a realization, a destination, a journey. We must feel ourselves dying with this thirst, only then would we reach for it like we would water. Yes, its the dying that makes living worthwhile.. Irony? It does seem to be, yet it is a perfect example of life's duality.
To have, we must Let Go of what we are holding, cause we cant have more when our hands are full ; To Receive you must Give, cause you cant receive with arrogance, the water pot needs to be lowered to fill up water; To become All of You, you need the events that carve your parts. Its that quiet thirst that drives us to seek quenching. Each time we quench we receive a Brick, like a badge of honour to build our foundation and walls. We could receive whole bricks or chunks of broken ones, all of that adds to quality, beauty and spirit of the structure we become. Yes, its my thirst that drives me, thinks Ria, as she sighs and climbs into her bed. Tomorrow is a new day, with new pathways, all I have to do is build my thirst and lay the bricks. Sleep claims her tired eyes, as she sinks into her dreams.
Somedays are Classical/Instrumental Days.. today is one of them. So here's a sample of what I have been listening to this Evening.
El Condor Pasa
Swan lake Waltz
March Slav
Traumerei
Bolero
Moonlight Sonata
Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons( I seriously hope spring will be here soon, I am done with the cold rainy weather)
Standchen Serenade - Franz Schubert
Hope you guys enjoyed this.
Good night.
Peace
Rashmi.
Got this email from my Friend had to share the chuckles and ounces of truth somewhere in them.
How to Stay Young.
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5.Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
Lohri is celebrated by Punjabis to mark the end of the Month of Paush(Sagitarrius) and the entrance of the Sun into Maagh (Capricorn). The region of Punjab, in NW India is the breadbasket where wheat is the main winter crop . Wheat that is sown in October is usually ready for harvest in March or April. In January, the fields are at their midpoint of growth, making the farmers hopeful with its promise of a golden harvest. This is a period of rest for the farmers before the harvest.
At this time, according to the Hindu calendar, the earth, farthest from the sun, begins its journey towards the sun, thus ending the coldest month of the year, Paush, and announcing the start of the month of Magh. Hindus call this period of time for the next six months as Uttarayan or Northward Journey, and according to the Hindu Time cycle this is the Day of the Gods(One year for Man is One Complete cycle of a day and night for the Gods).
On this day, we light a bonfire outside our homes and celebrate by making offerings of puffed rice, popcorn, peanuts, sesame and jaggery to Agni, the Lord of the Fire asking him to Cleanse and Bless the Land with Prosperity, to bring in Honour and prosperity while wiping out poverty. The Prasad(the same offerings) are also exchanged between friends and family. The special meal for the day is usually Makki-di-roti (corn or millet flat bread) and Sarso-da-saag(Mustard Leaves cooked with spices and herbs).
Tomorrow People from other parts of India celebrate the festival with different names and rituals but the significance is the same. In the South its called as Makara Sankranthi or Pongal.
To all the Indians and Thai(its called Songkran there) a Very Happy Lohri ! And a Very Happy Sankranthi!
Peace.
It will be seven months since my mother's passing in 3 days. Time passes quickly while the missing passes like a snail.
I need to form a discipline about writing and righting the way I use Time. And the Irony - That I am saying that at the age I am.. Shouldnt I have got it right by now?
I am reading Pythagoras revenge by Arthuro Sangalli and The poet Game by Salar Abdoh. Pythagoras revenge, is interesting up until now. It made me think about all the brain teasing math we used to work on while at school, some of which I remember. Poet Game is about a spy and its beginning to give me the James Bond feel in the Arab world. I need to finish it in a week so I can return the books to the library before I am fined.
I dont really enjoy shopping (unless its books and stuff I will never buy) and I hate it more when I shop for clothes. I never find stuff that fits me or my children right, its always too loose or too tight, too short or needs some alteration of some kind.. I miss our Tailor back home, guess I have a secret crush on him.. and sshhh dont tell anyone that.
I need to get my planters and seeds ready. This year I hope to grow some veges too, apart from herbs, flowers and chilles.
The weather is gloomy. I dont know, how it knows how I feel. I need something playful and exciting in my life right now and my husband, is at work... Hrmph! (folds the hands and stomps the feet)
Reading about Obama and the Bills that dont seem to go anywhere and I was thinking about the proverb back home "Gumpinalli Govinda" Which translates to "Singing in the Choir" meaning.. no matter how good your intentions, thoughts, deeds are or how intelligent or better human being you are, when you get in a group of 10 or more everything Dilutes to the point where all that is good and noble disappears.. Hence the Proverb "Satthare swarga" translating to "We see Heaven only when we die" meaning - if you need something done, you need to do it alone.
I read this news yesterday - http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100111/sc_livescience/couchpotatoesmayhaveshorterlives
and I am thinking, I should walk as I read, I will cover many miles, while living long enough to see my children make something of their lives. Hmm.. now walking as I sit and type at the puter is a tough one.. how do I do that? Or who knows come 2012 and everything will be done according to some, so I dont need worry do I?
I read this about Swineflu Vaccine yesterday -
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26580082-912,00.html?from=public_rss
and thought, "And no one thought of it before?"
Called my Dad this morning, he was not feeling so good and I wondered what part of my thoughts was manifesting while I listened to him talk...Thats the only thing I can do, Listen to his words and hopefully interject something to make him laugh at himself and the situation he is in. I do wish for a magic wand of happiness.
I have so many wishes for myself that I can bet the Poor around the world will Ride. For my friends who have known Johnoh, I wish you peace and acceptance. For Johnoh's Family I wish strength. I never Knew Johnoh but from all the words I read, I Feel the warmth and affection. May he rest in Peace.
Wishing you all a Productive Day.
Peace
Rashmi.
P. S. Simona asked a very thought provoking question in the blog that she wrote about Johnoh - How would you like to die?
I would want to die while I am still able to do all the stuff I do, die in my sleep. I dont want to be taken care of or in the hospital. I dont want to see the ones I love suffer my pain. I want to die like a Samurai, no regrets, no fear, no bitterness, live like I will never see a tomorrow, did what I did as rightly as I could, loved and cared for the ones who are in my life wholeheartedly and gave whatever I could give, in whatever way I could give.
I wrote this blog a few years ago... this is sort of how I would like to look back on my life - Reflections on my Deathbed .
While my Before met my After, my Now looked on. Now was Now Here with NoWhere to Go. Yet I stood with Before and with After completely oblivious of my Now which was NoWhere else but right Now HERE.
Over the years I have learned to look with love at my NOW which was my Before, knowing it will soon be my After. In my Now, I am learning how to hold it with gentleness, to treasure and cherish it, as it lay between my Palms, and Slips of Time.
Walking the Talk.
Betwixt and Between,
The Me who Thinks,
And the Me who Does,
Is an invisible Chasm,
My thoughts fail to cross.
Every sensible knowing,
My tongue picks up,
Are those that escape,
And seem to have,
Fallen through the Cracks,
Amidst few ungaurded Neurons.
Most times
My thoughts walk up to the edge,
And Free Fall into that deep Ravine,
Never to be retrieved,
Leaving me in waiting,
For a Thought Pole ,
With a line, long enough to touch
The bottom of that Invisible Chasm.
Still waiting
A Nomad in the Mind.
1. Its raining, dreary, I want more coffee to stay awake or wish I could just sleep.
2. We walked to the bus-stop in what seemed like the light of the twilight zone.
3. My children are proud to be tall enough to manage heating up stuff in the microwave...but that also means they are soon not going to like being tickled by the tickle monster.*sigh"*
4. I was reading the TOS petition and wondered why I hadnt read that before or why it didnt matter to me before.. I knew they had the right to use what I wrote, but I thought that was a good tradeoff for a free service. Hmm.. rethinking that now.
5. Tomorrow(rather tonight India time) is my brother's birthday hes going to be 33 years old...I think of how times have changed. There was a time I would have Died for him and now I see that feeling has Died instead. Is it because I have more to live for?
6. While it is painful to sit and listen to stuff other's assume about us, we cant catch another's tongue, so I guess building a Thick Skin is the best way to go.
7. I just finished reading part 1 of the Series of books by Tanya Huff -Blood Ties ..I wanted to read it to see how much of the stuff is actually part of the TV Series. I like comparing the Novel with the Movie/TV series to see the difference. I did the same with Mistress of Spices and Memoirs of a Geisha. Most times I like the book better than the Movie.
8. My Muse went for a walk and forgot to return to me. I have no ideas for poetry swimming in my head.. I have shot down at least 4 of them even before I wrote the 2nd line.
9. I am making Kichdi for lunch today, cause its rainy and if I make it spicy and soupy, it will be filling soulwise and tastewise.
10. Having the house to myself makes me productive. Isnt that weird?
