Tuesday, April 24, 2012

I can really...

...use a nice glass of mimosa right now. I miss having a nice drink with my husband while talking about everything. I sometimes wonder if I'm limiting myself too much. I should do as much as I can since I've been through cancer thrice. I know I'm not ready to go, but I have a feeling that if this cancer recur I wouldn't be so lucky. Anyway, I just have to keep going and enjoy a nice drink of mimosa!

 

Friday, April 20, 2012

I think I will start...

...a collection of tea cups! I love going to TJ Max and Marshalls browsing through various types of tea cups...I choose the tea cup I want to use each time I have tea or coffee based on how I feel at that particular time. I've decided long ago that I will stop matching and start a more eclectic kitchen with various types (and colors) of cups, plates, silverware...


Thursday, April 19, 2012

I'm thinking of...

...getting rid of dusty window coverings and moving towards wood blinds for my bedroom. I really like the espresso-colored wooden blinds with tapes in sage color...just the right colors for my bedroom!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I can smell...

...sweet scents from my herbs on the kitchen counter. I just love the smell of herbs, especially Thai basil and sweet basil. I just wish I have a window over the sink...I have an island instead. Mint is a specially useful herb that one can use in almost anything including drinks. My favorite is ice water with mint and sliced lime or lemon.



I'm wanting...

...a fingerprint door lock for my front door. This latest biometric entrance technology with 150 storage capacity can replace any standard door locks and according to the instructions, it's an easy-to-install lock. I am really loving this! This will be on my to-do list the next 3 months.

I'm dreaming of...

...a nice warm bedroom design in sage color. I need to visit a home decor store where I can find materials to decorate my bedroom. The image below will be a wonderful idea booster... I like the duvet and the stick-on mural on the wall but I think I will replace it with a few branches in a large, tall vase.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

on desire...

Merriam-Webster's definition of desire is to long or hope for and to express a wish for/to. We naturally, for some reason, want too much either from relationships, jobs, education etc., which often results in disappointments and negative feelings. If we can't get what we want, we become disappointed; however, when we have too much, we grow tired of it resulting in boredom or loneliness. Often, we don't appreciate what we already have; therefore, taking it for granted. Next time you desire something or someone (relationships), ask yourself why you think you want or need it. Eric Fromm, a well known Psychiatrist, argued that man's main task in life is give birth to himself and to become what h/she potentially is. The main reason for people's sadness is probably reaching the end of the line and realizing that they have not reached their potential, living the rest of their lives in regret.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

on karma...do unto others

Karma in Hinduism and Buddhism means the total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny. In general, it is believed that the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma. Karma means "deeds" or "act" or "cause and effect." This means that whatever we do now, in this present life, will determine what happens to us in the future. This validates the sayings, "what goes around comes around," "you reap what you sow," or "everything comes full circle." In essence, we make what happens to us happen. Luke 6:31 "do unto others as you would have them do to you" is perhaps the best definition for Karma. So, in this lifetime, if you love and care for people, you also will be loved and cared for. However, if you inflict pain or damage to others, great pain shall be inflicted on you.

Monday, April 09, 2012

on death...

Yet another young man died this week...although I've only seen him once or twice, I feel sad for him...I hope it is true that we somehow end up somewhere nicer than on earth...I hope then that he is now somewhere where he can truly be happy.

In What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula stated that "when the physical body is no more capable of functioning, energies do not die with it, but continue to take some other shape or form, which we call another life." We need to, however, worry about Karma. According to Buddhist teachings, some people are "stuck" and re-create the same old patterns with their present thoughts and attitudes. To change our Karma, we must change our minds and attitudes--what you do and what happens to you is the same thing. This means wholesome actions lead to wholesome states while negative actions lead to negative states.

In metempsychosis, the soul is immortal and passes through cycles of incarnation in birth and release from the body at death. Similar to Buddhist theory, the behavior of the individual during a particular life can determine the form the soul take in the next life. In Phaedrus, Plato argued that after the death of the body, the soul passes through the realm of the ideas, which is why it is possible for us to possess particular kinds of knowledge, such as the consciousness of virtue and perfection, through the process of anamnesis or "recollection."

Whether or not there is life after death, it is important that we as humans pay attention to what we do and how our actions affect the people around us. Things we do that we may not feel is a big deal, can scar a person for a long time.

Thursday, April 05, 2012

the best things in life are free...

It was great seeing a "fairy lantern" for the first time during my hike in California. This flower is so tiny and grows under other bushes and trees making it easy to miss. I would love to see a fairy but I'm not sure they really exist. In this lifetime, I feel blessed to have seen what I have seen and to have had the opportunity to do the things I've done. If God is to ask me what I like most about being alive, I wouldn't know what to say because there are just so many wonderful things on earth that I would probably miss after I am gone.