Sunday, May 28, 2006





















...for java

the black dot

tell me what you see



yes, ma'am
i, too, saw "a black dot".
what do you expect?
it was right in the middle of the white space
besides
i am trained to look for, connect, press on the dots
i am programmed to see what's right in front of me
i am predisposed to watch the swirling vortex
thus inevitably get swallowed by it
whole

the black dot
it is so crisp and clear and, well...dotty
how could one not notice
right?

wrong?

a friend of mine sent me the following e-mail
a much-needed reminder
of how i tend to look at things

i know, the story's a bit long
but so is my share of dots!



The Tiny Black Dot

During some of my presentations, I take an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white paper and make a little black dot in the middle.
Then I show the sheet to people in the audience and ask them what they see.

The majority will say that they see a black dot. Very few, if any, will tell me that they see a white sheet of paper with a tiny black dot.

We tend to look at our lives in very much the same way. We have our health, enough food to eat, a job that pays the bills and allows us some leisure activities, but we don't focus on that. We don't appreciate that.

Instead, we concentrate on the tiny black dot - the 10% in our lives that we don't like ... or the things we wish we could change.

By concentrating on the 10% that represents our problems or things we don't like, we develop a negative attitude and feel lousy. Plus, there's a universal principle that comes into play: we attract what we think about most.

By focusing on what is lacking in our lives, we create more experiences of scarcity.

Think about your life. Are you paying too much attention to the 10% that isn't what you want it to be ... as opposed to the 90% that's going well?

I'm not saying we should ignore our challenges or things we'd like to change. But if we paid a lot more attention to the 90% that IS working, we'd have a better attitude and we'd get better results.

When it comes to your job, do you concentrate on all the positive aspects of your position, or do you gripe about
your salary and your co-workers, or the fact that someone
else got the promotion you wanted?

What about the basic necessities of life? Do you feel gratitude every day for the food you eat, the clothing you have, the roof above your head... or do you take all of these things for granted? Worse yet, do you complain that you don't have more?

And let's not forget your body and your health. How much time do you spend thinking about what IS working? Your body is a miracle, make no mistake about that. There's nothing "ho-hum" about your body and its day to day operation.

Albert Einstein once said that there are two ways to live your life - one way is as though nothing is a miracle - the other is as though everything is a miracle.

Most of us walk around with a ho-hum attitude about the miracle of our bodies. We treat this amazing creation as if it's no big deal.

Consider this: your heart is only the size of a fist and yet it pumps blood through your body. Every day, the heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood and beats about 100,000 times.
That's just in one day.

In one year, that amounts to 36,500,000 beats. And in most cases, the heart just keeps on beating 36,500,000 times a year for many decades. Stop for a moment and recognize the enormity of this miracle.

And, of course, you don't have to change any body parts or beat your chest manually to keep your heart going. It automatically beats and sends the blood through your body with no effort on your part.

Now, let's consider your brain. The brain and spinal cord are made up of many cells, which include neurons. There are about 100 billion neurons in the brain. 100 billion! Neurons are nerve cells that transmit nerve signals to and from the brain at up to 200 miles per hour. Isn't this amazing?

Of course, your ears ... your eyes ... well, I could go on all day about the miracle of your body and how we take it for granted. Just one final example to drive the point home.

When you get a cold and have difficulty breathing for a few days, I bet you'll often tell everyone that you are congested and don't feel well. When the cold clears up in a week and your breathing returns to normal, you probably don't say: "My breathing is perfect today! I'm able to get all the oxygen I need!"

Why does it make sense to complain about your breathing for the one week it is impaired ... while failing to acknowledge the other 51 weeks when your breathing is full and healthy?

Stop taking this incredible body for granted. Appreciate all the things that ARE working! You're a walking miracle, and part of an extraordinary universe.

Some of you may feel that ignoring the black dot is not the answer - and that you need to focus on the black dot to improve certain conditions in your life. Well, if you choose this route, here are three strategies you could use:

1. Worry about the black dot.
2. Complain about the black dot.
3. Take some proactive steps to eliminate or reduce the black dot.

The only strategy that makes sense is #3. Yet many people select strategies #1 and #2, which only makes them more miserable.

Be brutally honest with yourself. Are there any areas of your life where you're ignoring the large white sheet and seeing only the tiny black dot?

Do you see the faults of those at work or at home, and seldom affirm people for their positive contributions to your life? If you're like most of us, you have an abundance of blessings, yet you're often blind to them.

If you've been staring at some tiny black dots recently, take responsibility for that. And recognize that nobody is forcing you to keep your eyes on the black dot.

You've developed the habit of focusing on the negative and your life (and the lives of those around you) will be greatly enriched if you start to shift your vision toward the white sheet.

You have a choice. You can keep staring at the black dot and telling others about all the things that are wrong in your life, or you can begin to appreciate your many blessings.
Sounds like a pretty easy choice to make, doesn't it?

-- Jeff Keller
(c) Attitude is Everything, Inc.

thanks, nelo.
may you and i see more of the white paper in our lives
:-)

and a belated happy, happy birthday to my dearest marjorie.
definitely one of the whitest of the white blessings in my book!
;-)



what do you see
what do you see
do you see what i see
what do you see

what do you see
what do you see
do you see what i see
do you see me?









Dance
********
peace
love
joy
~iKat
********

Friday, May 26, 2006

normal day


normal day, originally uploaded by iKat Kreations.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

~ Mary Jean Irion

quote from my angel of a cyberpalJen Gray's website
she totally rocks...yes, even on a normal day.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

you wear me out but i love you anyway*

"Motherhood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own." -- Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons




*one of our favorite lines from Olivia by Ian Falconer

Monday, May 22, 2006

circle


circle, originally uploaded by iKat Kreations.

Zero Circle
by Rumi


Be helpless, dumbfounded
Unable to say yes or no.
Then a stretcher will come from grace
to gather us up.

We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty.
If we say we can, we're lying.
If we say No, we don't see it,
that No will behead us
And shut tight our window onto spirit.

So let us rather not be sure of anything,
Beside ourselves, and only that, so
Miraculous beings come running to help.
Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,
We shall be saying finally,
With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.
When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,
We shall be a mighty kindness.



...the sun doesn't always rise in crimson. The wind doesn't always blow from the south. The rains don't always fall on the plains. And the song bird sometimes loses its song.

And so must you allow for your own rhythms in time.

Always in love -
The Universe

and gratitude to andrea for the rumi wisdom

Sunday, May 14, 2006

happy moms' day mamay!


happy moms' day mamay!, originally uploaded by iKat Kreations.

yup! that's my mommy.

i think she was seventeen here and the year was 1961.
this was taken during the holy week celebration called santa cruzan
and because my mom was one of the hot babes in their barrio (village)
[i can almost see my inang - grandma
frowning down on me with the language : p]
she was always asked to be santa elena which would roughly be the equivalent of prom queen.

but i'm sure she'll agree when i say

mom, you were beautiful then
even made more beautiful by the bond i now have with you called
"motherhood"

i love you, mamay.

happy mothers' day!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

grainy


grainy, originally uploaded by iKat Kreations.

Relationships-of all kinds-are like sand held in your hand. Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers. You may hold onto some of it, but most will be spilled. A relationship is like that. Held loosely, with respect and freedom for the other person, it is likely to remain intact. But hold too tightly, too possessively, and the relationship slips away and is lost.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

chains


chains, originally uploaded by iKat Kreations.

“It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.”

Winston Churchill

Thursday, May 04, 2006

split in two and cracked all over

"The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable."
- Kurt Vonnegut

Monday, May 01, 2006

Mighty River


last night was special
last night i witnessed something beautiful and powerful
last night i was flooded with intense feelings of both joy and sadness

and i know i will never be the same again

Canon 300E

There's a mighty river flowing
There's a mighty river flowing
In this place
And it's full of passion
Full of power
Full of glory
It's full of grace

~ Hillsong
















Dance
********
peace
love
joy
~iKat
********

All hail to Queen Kathreen

i'm a queen! i'm a queen!

well, according to super-creative and generous talent, Ellen, anyway.

isn't that the cutest royalty you've ever seen?! nobody has ever done such a fabulous caricature for me. i can't stop grinning from ear to ear.

thank you, your highness and i welcome the other new member of the royal blogroll.

wooohoooo!!!

(such a fitting ending for a very heartwarming funday. will tell all tomorrow. ;-))








Dance
********
peace
love
joy
~iKat
********