mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Amazon Prime Seduction
July 25, 2012
I had a specific need for a pen with a light at the tip to assist me in dream journaling without waking very much. Since I wanted it right away I took the route of visiting my local Staples store, where this was not available. I do love bricks and mortar shopping less and less, especially when I turn up empty. My natural reaction is to hunt online anyhow, since I love having things delivered to me. Amazon, of course, had a wide selection, so I decided and placed the order. At that time I was offered a free month of Amazon Prime, which would instantly give me free shipping. Why not? I stopped the auto renew at the end of the month and proceeded to buy a book, just because I have free shipping.
The next thing they do, after you become “Prime” is give you one click ordering..to take you to the ultimate instant gratification place. You can order anything ( well almost anything on earth) with one click and it will be delivered for free in two days. The Jetsons themselves could never have imagined this. I quickly fell under the spell and ordered a couple more office things. Then I cruised the free TV shows and movies you can steam as a “Prime”. I decided that it is possible that these people will succeed in making me pay $79 a year and be completely sucked into the concept of “getting my money’s worth” by buying every single thing I buy from them. Since this is only my third day in Prime territory and I already feel the urge to go find out exactly what ALL I can have delivered for free, I say the Amazon strategy is working very well for them. The most seductive of all for me may be the free instant access to kindle books, zapped to my iPad in 60 seconds or less….be still my heart.
I have heard that many people operate in the Prime Amazon zone. I think it is funny in a way because it replicates the Sears or Penny’s catalog shopping that provided merchandise to rural America when I was kid. I believe I will resist the lure to do it, but they have another 27 days to convince me that they are all I will ever need. If they have their way I will be done…. right there at Amazon, forever.
Archetypes
July 17, 2012
I have begun an in-depth study of archetypes with Caroline Myss, a favorite author. She has recorded the lessons and homework for an on line course entitled Sacred Contracts, based on her popular book of the same name. As a home student I have already done a few things out of order, which seems to go along with my choice of the rebel in my core archetype group. I am a teacher, another one of my core archetypes, but this is balanced by the rebel not exactly following any orders ever. It is fascinating and will eventually make me follow all the sequences in order because I really do want to learn to teach this subject.
The process I am learning is based in part on the kind of Jungian analysis that takes years with a therapist to achieve big expensive revelations. The archetypes used by Jung, and also made popular by Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers, and PBS, are similar to the gods in any pantheon. They are primal forces, and active participants in the journey of the soul. When I was about 40 a friend gave me a book about analysis and archetypes and proclaimed that I am definitely Aphrodite. With this intro, I read the book and agreed with my friend. I don’t remember much about the book, but am sure I was not enough involved with the depth of the subject at that time to be able correlate what I read with my life experience. I just liked the idea that my friend saw me as Aphrodite.
Now as I honestly remember and become familiar with these players on the karmic stage I am struck with how powerful they can be. I am in the very beginning of an understanding that is changing the way I perceive time, space, and matter. I feel that I am expanding my way of looking at phenomena. Usually one needs to look back over time to notice profound change. This one I am doing on purpose. Since the purpose is to discover the purpose of my life, I thought it best to do it on purpose. I have done similar studies and reading before so I feel appropriately warmed up to the task. I love being a student, and this subject matter suits me perfectly.
Intended Consequences
July 16, 2012
When the separate fluid streams in life..your athletic stream, your family stream, your professional stream, your fashion stream, and infinitely tiny streams of all kinds are all running in different directions, you live in the delta of waste. Running from one separate watershed to the next must mean that all the others are ignored to concentrate on a single stream of activity or thought for a period of time. The downstream result of so many running but untended sources is flooding. How does a flash flood of misdirection make itself known? There are warning signs when one becomes unable to tend all the investments that have been made. There may be dramatic messages from others who either blame you or encourage you to continue to loose focus. There is cultural agreement that society is in general unhealthy and overextended which seems to act as an alibi for lack of consciousness. Stress is blamed, nurtured, managed, and released according to one’s ability to coordinate life’s diverse responsibilities.
If you been and ended your days differently, how could you asses your situation with more calmness and effectiveness? The “thesis” of the day can be set like a 500 word paper, outlined with some organizational points, and some focus is added. The end of the day can feature a brief review to notice if and how the theme of the day has been carried out or not. From Leonardo da Vinci to Ben Franklin the creative among us have devised systems to do this kind of intention setting followed by a scientific measurement of success. We can all benefit from a system that allows us to know ourselves and the different roles we play in our own liberation and happiness.
Herbal Bath
July 16, 2012
If your schedule for stress reduction activities will not permit a voyage to a pampering destination, and your budget is one of the reasons you stress, take matters into your own hands. If you own a bathtub you can create a ritual to soothe and treat your mood. Water is the emotional element, and soaking in scented water changes the way you feel quickly. Instead of leaving home to find relaxation, make an herbal bath appointment with yourself.
I have enjoyed studying aromatherapy and using essential oils for years. I even have my own copper still to distill plants, although I have not done that recently. The efficacy of botanical medicine is central to my own self care regime. Herbal bathing can be meditative, medicinal, or just pleasurable. If you have the good fortune to harvest herbs from your own or native aromatic plants, all the better. A time observing the beauty and grace of the plant combined with a formal or informal request for healing from the plant creates the setting for ritual. Roses make a beautiful addition to any bath combo. This practice does not have to be elaborate, but setting time and attention aside for this can have more positive healing results that you might imagine.
For stimulation you may try mint, rosemary and lemon verbena in combination. A restful bath might have chamomile or melissa. Your personal preference is all that really matters when you decide to use herbs in your bath. A few drops of essential oil can be dropped into a bath tub, but I like to use sachets of herbs ( fresh or dried) I mix for the occasion. Using a piece of fabric such as tule in about a 12 inch circle or square, pile the herbs in the center. Fold the edges together and tie with a ribbon or string. Place the sachet in the tub with all hot water for about 20 minutes to brew before you take your bath. When you enter the tub adjust the temperature to your liking, keeping the sachet in the tub with you. Disconnect from all your outside responsibilities. Take 20 minutes completely as a gift to your body. Soak in fresh energetic scents from the sachet while letting go of everything outside the tub. Most importantly decide what qualities or stress producers you want to cleanse from your life. Start with 20 minutes of freedom. Find other simple ways to incorporate physical pleasure and mental relaxation into your everyday life. It is worth the effort.
Your God Particle
July 12, 2012
“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” -Albert Einstein
As you dance do you hear your own tune? Entheos, or god within, as conceptualized by the ancient Greeks, is a divine power hidden from a person’s nature that allows or motivates that person to do outstanding deeds. Enthusiasm is derived from this Greek word, indicating a divine origin. The sacred eternal artist in you responds to certain internal ideas or feelings that trigger creativity. The art you create can be as mundane as a sandwich for lunch and as grand as a mosaic all over your back porch. It will be years before the theoretical physicists can interpret the findings made about the God particle. Even then, if we are not fluent in the jargon the findings may mean nothing to us.
What will you do today that will outlast you? What kind of dance would you be doing if you tuned in more to the music? Do you believe that your own personal creativity is a divine gift in which you must have a certain kind of faith? Do you look for mystery or avoid it?
Local Color
July 10, 2012
On Saturday we checked into the Windmill Inn at St. Philip’s Plaza in Tucson for a one night staycation. I have recently made an arrangement to offer exotic aquatic packages, mermaid makeovers, and Floatli training to the guests of the hotel. We will be able to offer guests a very good price to stay at this great location. Since it is impossible to know how well a hotel operates without checking in, we did. I am more than pleased with every aspect of the property. They do allow dogs, & ours loves hotels. She was impressed right from the start when she received a welcome bag of dog treats at check in.
The staff at the hotel is well trained and helpful at every turn . They have a few services we did not try, such as room service delivery of breakfast and a paper at the requested hour. There was also an in room dining menu from a local provider that we did not use, since we decided to try a local hot spot for dinner. Union is the latest cool bar with urban post industrial decor, hip cocktails, and some pretty good food. It is popular with all ages, and gets crowded in the evening. We went at about 4:30 to avoid the rush. The decor and atmosphere was pleasing, food and drinks good, but the service at the table, disappointing. We decided we might return, but will sit at the bar to try for better service next time.
hotel hound does a site inspection
sunflowers bloom in St Philip’s Plaza
trendy cool pub
beer and cocktail
On Sunday morning at St Philips’s Plaza the farmers’ market sets up early. We are happy to have many farmers as well as artisan cheese, bread, salsa, jelly, and butter makers attending the market as vendors each week. There are prepared treats from food trucks like Planet of the Crepes, and organic produce of all kinds available for shoppers. Live music usually serenades the customers, many of who bring dogs to the plaza with them. Everything from prickly pear syrup, to squash blossoms, to herb plants is on sale. For me, this is as close as I get in regular daily life to a European street market. For a foodie in Tucson this market is the best place to discover the tastiest of any season. This week we are savoring some local melons, cucumbers, tomatoes and greens.
local farmers
Fresh eggplant
herb plants for sale
purple asparagus and beans
The reason I am so crazy about the location is not just the farmer’s market. The river walk is right outside the door, and several excellent restaurants surround the property. Right across the street is Trader Joe’s in case you need to pick up some specialty groceries, wine or beer. Body Works Studio offers classes and private lessons in Fletcher Pilates method. I had a great time having my make up air brushed on for our video shoot right across the street at Heat, a new concept for looking good. The high quality, locally owned businesses, the convenience of walking to experience them, and the recreation available by walking, running or riding the river walk make St. Philip’s Plaza Tucson’s best location for discovering local art and culture. Why travel if not to discover?
B B Bunny
July 3, 2012
I want to share some choice content from long ago. This was a segment on The Twit Show, Tucson Arizona public access variety show. I met my good friend Charley Brown when we both were producing public access shows in the 1980s and worked together on a few. My all time favorite public access segment was B B Bunny, who did a couple of appearances with her dog and lady trainer. . I laugh forever at then mention of BB’s name, mostly because BB’s lady is so dead serious. This stuff was recorded on tape, often lost, and who has a VCR to play them now anyhow? I assumed BB was gone as many of the great so bad they were good moments we created. When Charley let me know he had excavated BB in a Christmas special, I ran right over to watch go wild over my favorite talent. You may very well not share my total fanhood of this act, but I do want to give you the chance. Here she is, BB uncut:
I will soon do a shoot with Charley and his adorable almost 4 year old daughter, who will be dressed as a mermaid. Technical things certainly have changed but so many aspects of an outdoor shoot at a pool have not. Many silly in jokes we had about TV production are coming to mind, including a couple of imaginary shows we had, “Narcissism Today”, and “Cooking with Narcisso and Dolores”. We acted out the parts of desperate actors upstaging each other for camera and spotlight. These shows always opened with one of us stepping totally in front of the other, hogging the shot, while saying, “Sorry Narcisso (or Dolores) couldn’t join us today”, while the one in the back struggled into the shot. For some reason, this silly joke, just like BB, always makes me laugh. I look forward to the shoot this weekend..have learned from the past…don’t start the out of control laughing until the shoot is in the can. Then we shall, indeed, laugh.
Richard Arden Morse
June 17, 2012
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Richard Arden Morse, my father, was born in Independance, Kansas in 1920. His father, Ernie Morse was a jar head, a person who drilled oil wells before the advent of the rotary bit. They were a natural part of the culture in the Cherokee Strip. Ernie grew up on the Cherokee Nation and with his grandparents who farmed outside Coffeyville, KS. When my dad was a kid this part of the world contained the most concentrated wealth in the world. Oil was to be found close to the surface. My father learned fracking from Ernie, who had an 8th grade education. He went to Oklahoma University, Penn State, and later Texas A&M, where he pioneered numerical modeling of oil fields.
Ernie Morse in Coffeeville
Richard at OU
Richard and Ruby marry Nov 1942
Mythology
June 13, 2012
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Each of us is operating inside of a myth. We hold beliefs that are common to our culture, our friends, and our family. Some people use icons, art , music, and movement to bring the beliefs into physical existence. I was first given instruction in Tibetan Buddhist mythology when The Dalai Lama came to Tucson in 1993 to teach patience. The group of us who would be in a retreat with his holiness were offered a year long training and initiation to the ideas and methods he uses. This was infinitely helpful, since the Tibetan practices are complicated and follow ancient traditions. By studying each month and going on retreat once with our teacher, a monk who was also a law professor, we had a very good head start when the time finally came to study with him.
We gathered in a hotel conference room to hear teachings, meditate, and exchange questions and answers with his holiness. He empowered us all to Green Tara, emphasizing to us that she was known for her swift action. We were to visualize her in great detail, having a postcard sized image to follow in our packets. The really difficult instruction was that the eyes were to be slightly open, gaze fuzzy and unfocused. I had not done such a visualization that required precision like that before, and found it to be challenging. Meeting her as I did for the first time when I was 42, I was not very accomplished as a Green Tara visualizer. The yoga I had done had always involved holding asana poses so long and so precisely that the mind and body required full attention to the task at hand, and therefore rose above distractions. Sitting still in a room full of people in folding chairs picturing an incarnation of the mother of all Buddhas was a new experience. I have since had the very good fortune to study with his holiness twice more, once in Zurich in 2005, and again in Tucson a few months later in 2005. Each time, although he covers the same texts, Shantideva’s Bodhisattva Way of Life, I deepen my understanding and ability to practice.
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