DRIVING GRANNY

Driving in the traffic can be exhilarating sometimes.

If I don’t get distracted in a dangerous way, the rest is a movie.

Yesterday I was driving to fetch the kids at school, changing my usual way because one traffic lights hasn’t been working for one week at the crossing between William Nicol Drive and the high way to Pretoria. This means a huge traffic jam at any time of the day in such a high density traffic road. That consequently creates delays and stress, so when you change your way, looking for better options, the mood is not that great.

I was fine.

Listening to classical music.

Now you know me don’t you?

My Zen attitude untouched by taking a longer way to school.

Shame other people are not as relaxed as I am…

The traffic lights is green, I turn left to get into Witkoppen Road when I hear the rumble of a broken silencer from a small old Toyota that is coming from the right at the highest speed.

I am not joking: she was driving like crazy, cutting my way off so that I could see who is that mad woman?

The Schumacher driver was an eighty-year old at least woman with a cigarette stub leaning from her lips, black sunglasses, clinging to the steering-wheel like she was driving a Testarossa on a desert highway.

Jeez what has she been eating in the last fifty years? I thought, but I couldn’t help laughing, she was looking like the sprightly granny of Madagascar 2 those who have got kids know her very well.

She was absolutely fantastic.

The very same day, later on while I was parking my car in a shopping center, before chasing for food in the supermarket, I hear a terribly loud music, probably country music form the late seventies, coming from a convertible car.

Ladies and gentlemen here it is Bridget Jones’ sister, much older sister, wearing a hat with a large brim like a Holly Hobby doll dancing and singing at the top of her voice, in her flowery vintage dress…

Jeez what has she been smoking in the last twenty-five years?

But I honestly thought she is fantastic, a version of the middle age lonely woman in search for freedom and identity…the new version of Thelma and Louise. Is she Thelma or Louise?

Still deep in thought, with a big smile in my heart, off I go to fill the fridge with the shopping.

Hey Bob I did not forget anything!

I enter the roadway slowly, turning left we drive on the left side, like in England when a real gentleman speeds off, from a hundred meter distance, cut my way and looking at me angrily he shows me the middle finger.

Jeez…what have you been doing in the last 25 hours?

I meet him again at the traffic light, farther down and he looks at me chewing swearwords in Afrikaans sorry I understand the only the English ones… Looking intensely in his eyes I wave my hand, smile at him with my 32 teeth and send him a kiss.

He hasn’t been able to speed off anymore.

Love & Rainbow

Copyright2009LorenzaVerdini

BODY TALK

It is a bright hot summer day.

I actually need badly to wear my sunglasses.

Which ones? The black, the brown, the dark violet ones?

I love sunglasses. I love hats. But most of all I love books and candles. I cannot cook if I don’t light the candles on. I must have a book on my bedside table or in my car and when I am in the bookshop I am in heaven.

 

My level of energy is low today I must accept it and let it go.

 

Nothing’s wrong with my life.

 

An explosion of adjustments is happening inside, within the Intelligence that is taking care of my health. The same Intelligence that makes our nails and hair grow against our rational will, that coagulates a wound and fight viruses and cancerous cells.

 

I had my first BODY TALK session yesterday.

 

I went in the same place where we gather for the Artist Way’s Circle (see “The Seekers”): nature, silence, waterfall and the most amazing coffee shop. Full immersion in positive energy.

 

After a cappuccino that is my addiction, honestly Doc. Ela and I went into the room for our session.

She basically talks to the inner Intelligence to establish new balance  and harmony in between our internal organs that are able to heal themselves. External factors, such as bad food quality, stress, pollution and so forth, can create an unbalance that leads to illnesses. The body talk reminds the Intelligence that it is time to “tidy the mess up”, TO COOPERATE AGAIN because they are a team.

The session consists of a silent talking from the practitioner to the body, using a soft muscle pressure on the wrist and then tapping the fingers on the crown of the head ant the sternum.

Oh I was feeling so good… By the end on the session, when I thought she was still keeping her hand on my tummy, I could feel a kind of cool pressure, like if her hand was cold. It was a very nice feeling. I then realised, while still having that physical sensation that she was not there anymore because she had gone to her desk to write what came out during the session. I am feeling a healing pressure on my tummy, who is doing it? I decided not to investigate with my rational mind; there is nothing really to prove at least for me besides the physical sensation of well being.

 

Today I feel drained but I know why. I can feel the men at work in the building site of my body.

I can feel there is a kind of adjustment in cleaning out all the bad stuff that, whether one likes it or not, are collected in our bodies.

 

I trust my body, I love my body, I need my body. The way it is. As a gift to make this earthly experience something worthwhile.

 

I love my wrinkles; well they are not so many yet.

I love my safety tube around my waist. I could get rid of it with 100 abdominal a day but why torturing my body? Can’t I leave it in peace and healthy?

 

I love it because it is my body, the only one I have and will always have to be here with you in this right moment.

 

If you can’t see the beauty in it, you’d better go quickly for an eyes and soul’s check up!

 

 

Love & rainbow

 

 

Copyright2009LorenzaVerdini

RAINBOW OF WISDOM

 

Just some quotes from books I have enjoyed. The rainy season has started; we are just under a huge rainstorm. Atypical, it should happen in the evening. Still so powerful and inspiring to be so close to the force of nature and feeling to be a tiny speck in the Universe. This speck, with his soul, can do miracles.

 

 

 

 

When I go about my everyday existence, I am in charge of two worlds, the little one in me and the big one around me. My appraisal of every minute detail “out there”, the sun, the sky, the chances of rain, the words other people say, the shadows cast by office buildings, is matched by an event “in there”. INFINITE CHOICE is open at every second for me to alter the shape of the world, for it has no shape other than what I give it.

 

There is no more beautiful experience than when the world expands beyond its accustomed limits. These are the moments when reality takes on splendour.

 

From Quantum Healing, Deepak Chopra

 

No matter what happens to you in your life, you alone have the capacity to choose your response to it. When you form the habit of searching for the positive in every circumstance, your life will move into its highest dimensions. This is one of the greatest of all the natural laws.

 

 

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary projects, all of your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamt yourself to be.

 

From The Monk who sold his Ferrari, Robin Sharma

 

 

 

When Michelangelo was asked how he created a piece of sculpture, he answered that the statue already existed within the marble…Michelangelo’s job, as he saw it, was to get rid of the excess marble that surrounded God’s creation.

So it is with you. The perfect you isn’t something you need to create, because God already created it…Your job is to allow the holy spirit to remove the fearful thinking that surrounds your perfect self.

 

Marianne Williamsom

 

 

Love & Rainbow

SOUTH AFRICAN PETS

No words for this post. Enjoy it.

EVERY DAY'S COURAGE

I am reading a book that I probably would not buy myself because of its content. I got it from Paul, a dear friend who went to an open market in Greenpark where some people were selling their organic products.

She, the brand new author, was selling her first published novel. So Paul bought it and gave it to me. I took it with deep respect a first published novel must be worshipped by everybody not being sure if I would enjoy reading about the story of a small girl who is brought up in a family where the mother is alcoholic and the step father is sexually abusing her. But the story takes place in Johannesburg during the 70s and I felt I have to read about the South African society of that time. A kind of inner curiosity was rising up.

So I started this book only few days ago the book is amazing.

The story is obviously intense and touching but what I like most is the fact that the author writes in first person, being Theresa, the girl; this gives the narration an incredible rhythm because of the alternation of feelings and thinking. It is Theresa who is telling us her most intimate fears, thoughts, hopes, dreams and struggles. It is not somebody else describing her; it is her opening up her heart to the readers and showing what is her world with the difficulties of her daily issues. Telling us how she sees the adults’ world and how she is coping with it.

The book is JELLY DOG DAYS by Erica Emdon.

The reason why I started with few words on this book is because I have been thinking a lot about the concept of COURAGE. This is a story of courage.

What entangles my mind is that I cannot really define courage unless I accept that it is a big pot where there are lots of nice ingredients cooking and melting together.

So this is my recipe, please take note and invite your guests for dinner.

Stewed courage Lorenza’s way:

OPENNESS, FORGIVENESS, ACCEPTANCE, FREEDOM , LOVE everything in abundance and according to your palate.

Being open to Life is an act of courage. It is being fully part of this earthly experience, accepting that we can go beyond the limits of what is defined by our five senses. It is welcoming, heart in hands that Teacher Life is there all the time to bring Her message. Feeling this openness to Life is an act of courage.

Forgiveness can never take place without courage; those who cannot forgive are not brave, they can only stay in the midst of their resentment. Forgiving is moving on, accepting deep inside, what happened. It is not love; it is an act of courage.

Acceptance is taking things they way they are, without being judgemental. It is the way it is, I just don’t define what happens with critical thinking. I do not put the events in the cage of my left-brain, but I let them flow freely in order to let them go and move on. This is very difficult and only the brave ones can acknowledge this mental approach; for me it is a kind of spiritual path that needs lots of courage to be undertaken.

Love. Unconditional love requires courage. Selective love is for everybody, including myself. I am very ordinary when I choose whom I want to love. I am the bravest one when I love unconditionally. Loving unconditionally is the difficult way, it comes from the heart and only few can reach this state of enlightment.

But of course they have got plenty of courage.

These ingredients are all important; they mix and blend altogether into the idea of courage.

One last thought: it requires lots of courage being ourselves and this is the everyday courage. Being willing to follow our passions and dreams, expressing our talents.

Those who can run after their dreams, holding a kite, are the brave ones. Those who express themselves writing, painting, loving, singing, healing, working, cooking, giving, sharing, caring are the brave ones. Those who carry on doing what they love, with passion, after getting slaps from Mother Life, are the bravest of the brave ones.

I dedicate my post to all those who love writing and feel they wish to express their creativity.

With unconditional love.

Copyright2009LorenzaVerdini

THE POWER OF WORDS

I feel inspired to write about the power of words today. I’ll take some extracts from my journal, thoughts and poems to feed our souls.

 

22.10.2008 At the bookshop, between hundreds of possibilities, finally my eyes were caught by a small book, the older brother of two more. “THE FOUR AGREEMENTS” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

It is a wonderful book, I guess my instinct guided me well and once more I learn how important is to listen to my inner voice.

I am feeling good in reading it: easy and deep wisdom for my life.

This morning I read the first agreement “be impeccable with your words” and I was amazed how much power we use every day not even knowing it. Words are ENERGY: if we do not speak positive words we are only getting and spreading around NEGATIVITY. The way we speak, the words we say, it is going to come back to us; but it is very difficult to become self-educated because it is so easy to lose control, to gossip, to talk in a harsh way. This “agreement” also takes me back to what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says: “don’t misuse the power of words…never speak badly even when you are cross”.

I have tried today to be impeccable with my words and I will try again tomorrow and again the following day, and again, and again.

I feel naturally guilty for all the times I lost control with the children. I am neither the only one nor the last one, but still I am responsible for it. I have to go through this feeling of guilt and accept it. It is never too late to act better. It is never too late to improve my feelings. It is never too late to learn. And in this time of my life, where I am discovering so many deep and good things, I feel AGELESS. I feel I can come out of the protective shell and be myself; I know that whatever happens in my life has a deep meaning and a reason to be.

I look at my four children and I cannot find the words to express Life my gratitude for having such beautiful, healthy, clever and good-hearted kids. I feel really honoured they chose me, one day, few years ago, to share this life time and teach me UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

 

I am still trying to be impeccable with my words and must say I am succeeding much better than before. There are still daily situation where my Italian blood come out, sorry, and can’t control some swearing and bad tone of my voice: it usually happens when I deal with taxi drivers in this country (see the post Let the symphony start). But then I become impeccable again… When I feel at peace with every human being around me, I can pick up things that others will never notice…

 

20.11.2008 I saw something so beautiful this morning at school, a image that last only few seconds. A very tall white boy, from the high school, was walking along and talking to a grade nought black boy. Such a big difference in size, age, colours…but they were only one thing and it was pure harmony to see. I understand why I love this country and living here, the opposites that are ONE…

 

Words are the expression of our thoughts and thoughts can influence our feelings. We can also see it the other way around but the result will be the same. Action can be forgotten, words can’t. In the memory of our Life words keep the first place. Using words is an act of FREEDOM, is creativity on a daily basis. It is a tool to interact with others that brings immediate energy to all those around us. Words can be simple or evolved; it is the intention behind that makes the difference. Not misusing the power of words leads us to nurture the mind and the spirit.

 

02.04.2009 Today I was very impressed by the story of one of my friend’s gardener. This guy wishes to do a gardening course to have a certificate and does not know how to get it. She helps him in doing a three-day course so he’ll get the certificate he longed for. He offers her a small tree, that he has grown from a seed, to thank her, but he does not know the name of the tree because “ you know m’am, nobody has ever told me the name of things….” I am so touched; I could not stop thinking of him the whole day. This simple sentence just explains what most people here have gone through. They did not have the right to have an education but also they were not told or explained the basic things. Only orders: do this, do that. When we talk to our pets we name things…

The other side of the coin: we are under the slavery of words that express our thoughts. So, according to Tolle, this gardener is a free spirit because he simply experiences things without enclosing them in mental structures. So, once again I guess the best is to have a balance: knowing while forbidding the intellectual knowledge to be the master of our life.

 

I wish to end with a simple but profound sufi poem.

 

GOD LONG AGO DREW A CIRCLE IN THE SAND

EXACTLY AROUND THE SPOT WHERE YOU ARE

STANDING RIGHT NOW.

 

So I guess I was meant to be here, I was meant to live my experiences and make a treasure of them.

I was meant to learn a discipline with words in order to set me free. Free from bad thoughts and energy.

 

26.02.2009 I feel such bliss. I do not need explanations or logical thinking. I feel it in my core. It is inside me. It is me. Nothing can take it away. That is my treasure and secret. Yes my own deep secret.

 

 

Love & Rainbow

 

 

Copyright2009LorenzaVerdini