Dappled Air

I don't watch movies when they first come out, I watch them when they make it to the TV screen and this is one such movie that I found absolutely delightful. It is called " the Invention of Lying ". I like they way they portray a world where everybody says the truth and how one guy discovers that he can stretch the truth and everybody believes him. The movie made me think of how much what we believe to be the truth is based on what we have been told and have blindly accepted. How often do we really try to understand if it is really true or if we just simple accepted someone else's belief. Doing that will change our world view and our life.

In today's news from Ontario, the government announced that sex ed will now start in Grade 1. Now there is a big controversy going on. I am surprised, because after all we are in the 21st century on hone hand and on the other hand we are still in the dark ages when it comes to sex ed. Looking back over the years I have these key memories about my twins (boy & girl, now almost 32 years old) growing up. We were visiting my parents in Switzerland when they were 3 years old and happened to come across a TV show in the afternoon where a woman gave birth. My daughter was very intrigued, my son could not care less. For the next few days our daughter gave us very graphic replays of what she had seen. It was all very natural to her. Then her attention was captured by something else that was it for giving birth. The twins went to kindergarten in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and they had sex ed. So for the next 3 months my daughter drew mommies with babies in their tummies. Then one nice ...

Yesterday I had my hair trimmed for spring and learned something interesting from the hairdresser. I requested to only have my hair wet cut rather than washed and cut and casually mentioned that I hadn't used shampoo for a long time and didn't want to start again. I am very happy with my baking soda and apple cider vinegar system. As the hairdresser was cutting my hair, she inquired as to why I wasn't using 'drugstore' shampoos. I mentioned that I found that my hair seemed to be coated with something and I did not like the feel of it. That's when I learned that 'drugstore' shampoos have wax in them, where as the more expensive 'salon' shampoos did not. She said, that she did not know that until she became a hairdresser herself and then could experience it first hand. So, I stick with my inexpensive natural system rather than switch to the expensive salon system. I would love to hear from readers about their thoughts and experiences.

The last of the ice in the lake March 16/10 After a pretty nice winter, that means no huge snowfalls, spring is arriving about 1 month ahead of schedule. There could still be some more snow on the way, but it will not last as the ground is already thawing. The ice is out of most lakes and the first snowdrops are up. I wonder what this weather will mean for the rest of the year? The lack of a heavy snow cover could spell trouble for people on wells this summer. The fishermen are out in full force already, last year on April 1st the official opening of the fishing season, there was still ice in the lake. The ducks are swimming around, maybe the ducklings will arrive early this year. I am sorry that I haven't been able to update my blog more frequently, but I have just been swamped with work. Then this week I came across this really cute idea to say "I'm sorry" in a 'geeky' kind of way. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I saw it or snagged it.

I don't know where time goes. In a blink of an eye another weeks has passed and we are already in the 3rd month of the year. So it is high time to write another blog article. I seem to go in waves when I have lots of ideas and then suddenly .... nothing. I am finally cleaning out my todo file and came across this, I don't even remember where I got it from any more. The five Universal Laws of Nature The law of Balance. There are two sides to everything. The law of Growth. Everything happens for a reason – evolution. The law of Connection. All things are interconnected, nothing is independent. The law of Attraction. What you appreciate grows. The law of Hierarchy. There is an force greater than the force we know. All things are humble to something. They remind me of the saying: everything I needed to know I learnt in Kindergarten. Well, the best teacher for everything I need to learn and understand is nature.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner I was asking myself: When I look in the mirror can I really say to myself: that I love myself? Yes, it sounds so easy, but to truly mean it and feel it is a totally different story. I once read that before we can really love another person we have to love ourselves, warts and all. The reason is that once we love ourselves, loving another person is the icing on the cake. That's when I remembered Louise Hay's Book 'You Can Heal Your Life' where she talks about doing 'mirror work'. It is very simple and quite effective. Last night I created this card as a reminder. Here are some links about Louise Hay: You Can Heal Your Life - the Movie A Place for the Heart Lessons from a recovering doormat Simply Blessed Louise Hay Facebook Page

How many times have we rushed only to find that we are moving slower not faster? This morning I came across this subject when I randomly picked a page in my inspiration book called "Creative Sparks" by Jim Krause. The page I picked said this: Sometimes it's way faster to go a little slower I remember trying to catch a bus and walking really fast only to realize that all I did was tire myself and did not really move much faster. Then when I relaxed and just focused on getting there in time I moved more smoothly and even faster. What I learned is that we are our own worst enemy. Rather than blaming outside circumstances, we should be blaming ourself and instead learn to relax and just go with the flow. As I always say it's the little things that make life special, it's the icing on the cake that makes the cake special. Have a wonderful week.

After 8 years of listening to Hawaiian music online ( KKCR-Kaua'i & Hawaiian105 -Honolulu) I started to understand some words. Now after 10 years I decided that it was time to get a Hawaiian Dictionary. Given the fact that I live in Nova Scotia it wasn't that simple. I didn't want to buy one unseen, so I went to the local Chapters bookstore to see what they had available. That's when I found out that there were none in the store, but I could order through the instore kiosk or online. I checked what was available and ordered 3 to be sent to the store. So when I was notified yesterday that they had arrived it was time to have a look. This morning I showed up at the store with picture ID and opened the bag and looked at each dictionary to find the one that I wanted. It turned out to be quite easy. The first one was not indepth enough, the second I didn't like either, but the 3rd one was exactly what I had in mind. Now, I can start off the New Year with my Hawaiian...

I have been so busy that I haven't had the time to put up new posts, but I have been taking pictures. I don't leave the house without my camera any more, because just when I think there is nothing new to capture, you guessed it, there is something. I took this picture a week ago. There was no snow in sight and it looked lovely even with the green grass. Now a week later it is a totally different story.

I don't really keep track when the ice forms on Oat Hill Lake. I seem to remember that last year it was at the end of November, this year I just noticed today that on the Western end of the lake, the shallowest part, the ice is starting to form. Also when walking on the grass, the earth does not have any give any longer and is freezing up also. I remember one year the lake was still open on February 14, but eventually froze up and the ice was thick enough to skate on it after all.

Thanksgiving is in the US is tomorrow, in Canada it is in October, and I just came across an interesting article on the Chief Joseph Newsletter site. He talks about being grateful for what we have and taking care of ourselves first. This month this seems to be a reoccurring theme. At the EFT Level 2 workshop earlier this month we had a big discussion about being selfish and that the word has such negative connotations, even if we don't mean it to be. We could not come up with another word that would convey what we wanted. But we all agreed that the best analogy was the safety demonstration in an airplane that tells parents to strap on the oxygen mask first before helping their children. Yes, taking care of ourselves first makes sure that we are in top shape to help others and is not selfish. The same goes for gratitude. Appreciating what we have, rather than griping about what is lacking is the way to go. What we focus upon is what we attract and by showing gratitude for what we ...

I haven't gotten around to posting for some time. Too much happening all at once. So I dug through my list of emails I send myself with interesting information to put on my blog and this is the one I picked. I was so pleased when I came across this video with a compilation of different interviews of Will Smith that show his world view. He's right up my alley.

Sometimes I wonder if we really discover new things, or if the information has been around all along and is just being rediscovered. I once read that we don't learn new things, it is just that we remember what we knew all along. I am not sure, but am open to the idea. What brought on this train of thought? Well, recently with all the talk about the Law of Attraction and the movie the Secret, I came across talk about Napoleon Hill and his book "Think and Grow Rich". Considering that he was of my grandmother's generation and his book is as accurate today as it was when he wrote it, one really has to think. That brings us right to the point that thoughts become things . What we focus our attention on we attract. Here is the bio of Napoleon Hill from Wikipedia. I vaguely remember downloading the book "Think and Grow Rich" ages ago. Not sure if it is still on my computer. At that time I did not get it, it was just to foreign a way of thinking for me, but that wa...

On my daily walk in our neighbourhood I came across this skeleton in a yard and just had to take a picture of it as I thought it was quite creative. Growing up in Switzerland there was no Halloween celebration, I only discovered that it existed once I moved to Canada. In Switzerland we had Carnival (Fasnacht), but that was in February, where you would get dressed up which I always disliked. I just don't like getting dressed up. Halloween was for the kids and my son sure made the best of it. I remember one year he came home with 2 black garbage bags full of stuff. It lasted way into the new year. Here is how Wikipedia explains the origin of Halloween . Have a happy and safe Halloween

I just finished reading the latest book by Dan Brown called the Lost Symbol. I liked the Da Vinci Code but did not plan on buying the new book. One day while shopping at Costco I saw that they had the book at a good price so I bought it. I had not read any reviews of the new book and so did not know what to expect. My verdict is that I really liked the book. I probably prefer it to the Da Vinci Code. I have never been to Washington DC, but the way the story is told you can easily visualize and imagine how it would look. The author has a very visual writing style and I like that. I also liked that I could not really guess the outcome of the story. There are so many turns and changes of direction that made it difficult to figure out who are the bad guys and who are the nice guys. The part I liked the most of the book were probably the last 100 hundred pages. I like the way the storyline explained concepts. They went right along with my New Age outlook and left me uplifted. I did not expe...

Until I came to Canada I had no idea what a touque/toque was or had even heard the word. It seems it is a typical Canadian expression that came to English from French. Now what on earth is a touque? A touque is a knitted winter hat. My husband always uses this term instead of hat and it still sounds funny to me after 35 years. Well, hubby put on his touque today for our walk around the lake as it had gotten chilly and a strong North wind was blowing. So him using this strange word gave me the idea for this blog post. In case you are wondering, no I haven't dug out my touque yet. The Urban Dictionary has a couple of definitions for touque: A Canadian must have. Ok eh! Like it was so cold that we had to wear touques eh! Every time someone says toboggan, I remind them that a toboggan is what you ride down a hill on, a touque is what you wear. The WordWeb Online gives this defintion for touque: A kind of warm cap winter wear, usually made from a knit bag with closed tapered ends by p...

I haven't posted for a while and I realized that as I took another picture of a tiny tree seedling. This year it seems that just about every seed that fell on the ground sprouted. The maple tree seedlings are especially abundant. I had to pull them out by the handful. If you let them grow too long they get too big and are hard to get rid of. I don't want maple trees growing all over the place. these maple seedlings grew in the cracks of a wooden bench I don't recall them sprouting like this in other years. I wonder what this means? Are we in for a cold winter or just plain crazy weather? this blue spruce seedling is also growing in a crack of wood

At yesterday's weekly EFT get together a discussion ensued on how to handle "evil" people. I am currently reading the book "Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. It is his interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. Imagine my surprise when today's verse offered the answer. I found it in the 62nd verse. Here are the parts just literally jumped out at me. "Where you perceive negativity, alter your view to see pure love and kindness that's mistakenly being directed to seek a sacred place in the material world." "Practice forgiving, and avoiding judgment, when you see reprehensible or evil-minded ways." "Take Lao-tzu up on his advice for dealing with those who appear to be wicked people by mentally separating the individuals from their toxic behavior. Remember that they are Divine creations of the Tao who simply believe that ego should control life. In your thoughts, erase the vileness, the wrongdoing, and the addict...

Today I discovered very visibly why it matters what soil vegetables are planted in. This is a picture of my freshly picked carrots. They taste great and grew well, but because the soil had large compost pieces in it the carrots could not grow straight down. So every time the growing carrot encountered an obstacles it started to grow sideways and that's the reason why my carrots grew in spirals. Now my plan for next year is to move this soil to another part of the garden and replace it with more root vegetable friendly soil. I would love to hear from other gardener's about their experiences.

I just realized that I haven't posted for 2 weeks. I don't know where the time went. I have discovered Ho'oponopono and bought the book "Zero Limits" by Joe Vitale and Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. While learning all I can about it, I took a break from other things. Then this morning while going through my emails, tweets and RSS feeds it just started to come together. It started with a tweet from Whitley Strieber about Placebos and how the pharmaceutical companies suddenly realize that there is much more to drug testing than they thought. What we think and expect from a drug influences its effectiveness greatly. If I don't think it will work, it won't and if I believe that it will work, it will. I recall a quote I once read by Henry Ford that said: "If you believe you can or if you believe you can't, you are right." the article is from Wired Magazine: Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why Then I came across thi...