Category Archives: Deep Thoughts and Musings

I should probably include ramblings.

The Dance of Bliss and Fritjof Capra

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Nataraja, the King of Dancers, is the Hindu God Shiva performing the Dance of Bliss.  It is a multilayer metaphor for the fire of life, the rhythm of birth and death, the destruction of ignorance and creation of enlightenment. Talk about intriguing!

I first became aware of Nataraja when I read about a similar statue given to CERN by the government of India in 2004 in celebration of India’s participation in the research center.  I understand why it is of value to India; but, I think it’s so interesting that physicists and engineers working on the Large Hadron Collider would embrace it as representative of their work.

All of the elements of this sculpture are symbolic.  Each arm and its position, the hair, the skull, the cobra, the eternal fire of the universe with all it’s illusion, all balanced atop the dwarf demon of ignorance,  conjures thoughts about the freedom of the soul and how it’s achieved.

I wonder about the setting in which the traditions of the Nataraja were passed.  Was it in the home?  Did mothers and fathers teach their children about the cosmic dance, the vibration of subatomic matter? Or was it in a sacred environment in which the tribal leader or religious head taught initiates? How much detail was known and shared?  Did it include the rhythms of the earth and all of its life forms as well as inorganic matter?  Have the original meanings been preserved or have they changed over time as each generation follows the last and the earth’s cultures evolve?  Fascinating!

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A special plaque placed next to the statue explains the significance of the metaphor of this dance with quotations from Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., Theoretical Physicist:

“Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.”  

I’m constantly amazed at this world.  It’s evolving faster than a 250 mph bullet train. It’s so exciting to see things I’ve never seen before and read about things I’ve only imagined. There’s always more.  And…..today I know where to look when my curiosity is piqued.  More often than not it’s right in the palm of my hand.

Japanese Tea Ceremony And Starbucks

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The closest I’ve come to a Japanese Tea Ceremony, after a week in Japan, is still just a quick scene in a movie years ago.  My memory of it was a quiet, respectful preparation of tea by women in beautiful kimonos.

One description I read said that it was the choreographic ritual of preparing, serving and drinking Japanese Green Tea called Matcha and sweet pastries to balance the bitterness of the tea. The ritual is intended to elevate the everyday act of making tea to an art form.  The hope is that you leave such a ceremony feeling more awareness of your everyday routines and having a desire to make every moment more meaningful.

I was expecting to seeing tea houses in Japan; instead, I saw coffee shops on almost every street corner and usually several in between.  The big chains like Doutor Coffee, Starbucks, and Excelsior Caffe are everywhere.

They all offer Matcha tea as well.  It supposedly gives a caffeine kick that is lifting but more calming and easier on the nerves than coffee because the caffeine is released slowly preventing coffee’s typical insulin and adrenaline spikes.

Dana Velden describes it this way:  “The caffeine hit of an espresso can be a bit like having an express train screaming through the middle of your body; a deep, powerful, jittery roar.  I find the effects of matcha to be just as stimulating but in a more delicate, refined way, as if a thousand butterflies have descended on my body; beating their wings until I’m lifted, gently but resolutely, a few inches off the ground.  (Seriously)”  Wow!  That’s a great description.  Doesn’t it make you want to try some right away?!!!

I’ve noticed Matcha Tea on the menus of many US coffee shops, even our local Jamba Juice store.  Goggle “matcha recipes” and join in on the latest health craze to sweep the internet.  Besides smoothies, you’ll find tiramisu, cupcakes, pancakes, yogurt popsicles, etc.

Matcha tea is stronger than regular green teas because it’s a powder that includes the leaves.  Most green teas have you steep the leaves, strain them and then throw them out. That’s a good reason right there to search out organic matcha from Japan.

Smaller, independent coffee shops are thriving too.  They have a more limited selection of beans, but their coffee is stronger.  In fact, in many places American coffee is listed on their menu…..it’s much weaker than the Japanese prefer. They offer a slower pace.  You are greeted at the door and if there is a table, you are invited in.  If not, you must go.  Yes, that’s right. Go. There’s no standing room and no take-out.

Of, course, there are so many coffee shops, just go down the street two or three doors and the next one will probably have a table for you.  The cups are porcelain and the pastry and cakes wonderful.  French bakeries are everywhere.  It’s so easy to fall in love with Japan.

A Sashimi Feast

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Watching fish being cut into sashimi and then arranged into a work of art on a bed of shredded daikon radish and shiso leaf is fascinating…..we were an audience revering an artist and master.  So impressive!

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Our hosts invited us to a feast of sashimi. We had no idea what to expect except that it would be wonderful because of the way they raved about the chef.  Long trays of nigiri sushi were also placed in front of each of us with beautifully arranged strips of eel, octopus, etc.  These strips were so long we thought they should be cut into bit sized pieces; but, no, they are folded over and put into your mouth whole.  Each one is a huge mouthful. The mouthfeel is luxurious, creamy, well…..not really creamy but smooth and fresh.

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A very sour, pickled plum (ume) was included with each tray.  Ume is a digestive and generally believed to contribute to good health.  We mixed wasabi into the soy sauce we used for dipping sashimi.  But no, no, no, not the nigiri sushi because…..the rice would fall apart.  It was so nice to have experts guiding our every bite.  So much fun!  We each had a small bowl of potato salad and bowls of rice and miso soup with vegetables and tofu. What an amazing feast!

We love the Japanese tradition of presenting everyone with oshibori, a warm, moist cloth before a meal. It feels wonderful to come in out of the cold and refresh yourself by wiping your hands.  After watching everyone else doing it, we quickly fell into the routine. With each new experience, our respect for the Japanese people and their traditions grew.

There are so many different kinds of feasting.  We feasted on food, of course.  We feasted on kindness and generosity.  We feasted on the visual beauty of the time and place.  We feasted on our new and exciting experiences.

While feasting can be interpreted as gluttony, we now have our own definition.  Feasting: enjoying the moment to the fullest and basking in it’s revelatory love and light.  Isn’t that the difference between a meal and a feast after all: our intention and perception?!!!

The Spirit Of Young Satsuma

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Positioned proudly on Amu Plaza is The Spirit Of Young Satsuma monument celebrating the nineteen students who defied the Overseas Travel Ban in 1865.  They were brave young pioneers of the emerging new Japan in the nineteenth century, symbolizing freedom from the oppression and old traditions of the Shogunate.  They look out in all directions, a sculptural metaphor for venturing out into the world to learn from the technologically advanced European countries and the US.

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Many of them returned home years later to be diplomats, educators and industrial leaders. One became a pioneering settler in California, the state and the era’s leading viticulturist earning him the title Grape King.  They all had different abilities, interests and perceptions, of course. They all had different experiences.  And, they all contributed to the modernization of present day Japan.

There is so much more to the story having to do with Kagoshima’s location, it’s unique ability to trade with other countries, the foresight and bravery of it’s leaders and the daring of each individual young man and their families. It’s a monument rich with the symbolism of creative thinking and pride of accomplishment.

In a way, we’re all erecting  monuments with the living of our own lives.  Who we are becoming is contributing to the lives of our families, friends and business associates and by extension our present day world.  I enjoy thinking about my ancestors coming to Utah from Sweden, Ireland and England in search of freedom, well-being and happiness.  I love watching my children and grandchildren thrive as they pursue those same dreams.  Life on planet Earth is miraculous and delicious.  I’m busy savoring it.

My Alice-In-Wonderland Tokyo Experience

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Arriving in Tokyo, suitcase in tow, on the bullet train was an Alice in Wonderland experience for me.  A wonderful sing-song voice warns of the approaching station.  Then everyone begins collecting their belongings and lining up at the doors of the car in anticipation of disembarking.  The train pulls into the station, everyone who wants to get off does, hopefully, and 45 seconds, did you register that:  45 seconds later the train pulls out of the station.  I stood there for a few minutes in sort of a comatose shock on the landing.

And then…..the escalator going down from the landing into the station offers no clue as to the gargantuan, light and shiny, shopping mecca below.  Again, I have to take a minute to grasp where I am, who I am and what is this place…..?!!!  It’s beautiful.  It’s people are bustling in every direction so smoothly, so purposefully and so politely.

Then, slowly, because there are so many sights and sounds in every direction clammering for my attention, I make my way through the mall and up another escalator to street level. Here again, going through the doors to the plaza outside, I almost heard a symphony heralding another new, exciting panorama.  It was like the music reinforcing a glorious sunset in a movie or the exact moment HE saw HER and knew it was love at first sight. There I was in the center of the Ginza District with it’s Cartier’s, Bulgari’s and Chanel’s…..open seven days a week.

I’ve read in fashion magazines about Barneys New York.  I’ve read about the innovations Barneys offered in the way of brilliant window design and introducing New York shoppers to designers from all over the world.  So when I found myself standing in front of Barney’s New York Tokyo store it was a no-brainer, I had to check it out.  Most of the main floor was devoted to food.  There was counter after counter of fresh fish, sashimi and sushi being cut and prepared right in front of us.  All kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables:   beautifully arranged eye candy.  The french bakery smelled and looked just the way that I think heaven does.  Dazzling!

I loved staying at The Hotel Monterrey La Soeur Ginza.  Yes, there are hotels more familiar to Americans in Ginza like Marriott, Hilton and Four Seasons.  But, I loved the unfamiliar, charming, total immersion experience I had.  I thought it interesting that the restaurants in the hotel were Italian, San Michele, and french, Escale.  Though I quickly learned the french influence is everywhere in Japan.

In Tokyo, it’s obvious someone has put some thought into making the manhole covers attractive, even little works of art.  Don’t you love attention to detail. I enjoy manhole covers.  I know!!!  But, it’s a fact.  Really.

At home, our manhole covers are printed with “water”, “sewer” or one I particularly enjoy walking past everyday:  “South Davis Sewer District Established 1959” with a picture of a landmark silo in Layton.

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As I walked along the streets, I noticed there were no trash cans set out for public use. After a while, I began to look for them.  Then I noticed, there were no paper cups or scraps of garbage on the streets either.  Tokyo is immaculate.  Does everyone carry their garbage home?  Pinch me.  Am I dreaming?  Or, is my name Alice?

Taegeukgi And Big Bang Theory

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Do you watch The Big Bang Theory?  It’s possible that I laugh more watching this show than anything else I do.  There are so many recurring themes running through the relationships between Sheldon, Amy Farrah Fowler, Leonard, Penny, Howard, Bernadette, and Raj that I enjoy.  I think about them in the oddest moments.   So much fun!  Anyway…..

Fun With Flags is Sheldon’s baby.  How he conceived it is a mystery.  If the writers revealed it’s inspiration, I missed that episode;  but, I don’t think they did and I don’t think I have. No matter, but, I do find myself noticing flags more than I have before.

The South Korean Flag, Taegeukgi, is a background of white symbolizing peace and purity, and a circle in the middle surrounded by four trigrams.  The circle in the middle represents the balance of the universe.  The blue represents the negative cosmic forces and the red, the positive.  You’ll recognize the yin and yang design signifying the interplay of negative and positive forces.  Nothing is black or white…..hence, the push and pull that creates balance.

South Korean Flag rich with symbolism of us and our world and universe.
South Korean Flag rich with symbolism of us and our world and our universe.

The trigrams represent the principles of movement and harmony.  Each one represents one of the elements: heaven, earth, fire (sun), water (moon) encompassing nature, seasons, virtues, family and including justice, fruition, wisdom and vitality.  Wow!  That’s pretty comprehensive.  Is anything left out?

I’ll never see the Korean Flag again without being reminded of it’s symbolism. I love the fact that an image, a gathering of elements, can evoke such a feeling of  oneness,  of wholeness, with all humanity and the universe.

So, thank you, Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, well…..all fifteen of you brilliant creators.  I appreciate the message I receive from you often:  there’s always more than appears on the surface and….. have fun with flags and…..JUST HAVE FUN!!!

The Korean Zodiac

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In the beginning, the twelve gods of the earth, the Sibijisin, the animal guardians, are said to have established their pecking order by a swimming race.  According to some, unbeknownst to the Ox, the Rat jumped up on his back and upon approaching the bank of the river, jumped off ahead of the Ox and won first place.  Others say that the Ox kindly offered the Rat the ride.  Although there are other versions to this story, visualizing this one was so much fun.  So this is the one I’m perpetuating.

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As a result, the order of the animals is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and lastly, Pig.  Each year is represented by an animal so every twelve years the order is repeated.  We were delighted to see this sculpted homage to the zodiac just outside the museum on the Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds.

It turns out I married a dragon.  The character traits of a dragon are just as my 47 years of experience have shown me.  They are complex, dominant and ambitious.  They are eccentric and prefer to live by their own rules.  They’re unafraid of challenges and willing to take risks.  They frequently help others, but rarely ask for help.  They’re passionate.  So if you’re considering sharing your life with a dragon, hold onto your hat!

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2016 is the Korean Year of the Monkey.  Monkey attributes include being talented, clever and inventive and able to solve problems with ease.  They are the ultimate diplomats.  So, if you have an new family member scheduled to arrive in 2016, be prepared.  You might be nurturing a future politician.  So…..does that mean that during the Year of the Monkey all the rest of us may be influenced to be more creative, more clever and more diplomatic? That would be lovely!

This Is Physics

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In looking for the source of an Einstein quote, I happened on a great site:  The Quote Investigator.  Someone else looking for the source of the same quote asked them about it and they used their sophisticated programs to do the research.

It turned out that they couldn’t link it to Einstein but in the process brought to my attention another choice quote:  “It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing — a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind.”  An Einstein quote from the 1948 film “Atomic Physics” [AEAP]

The quote I wanted validated  by Einstein was:  “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it.  Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality.  It can be no other way.  This is not philosophy. This is physics.”  I found it all over the internet in different forms.

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The Quote Investigator attributed it to Darryl Anka starting about the year 2000.   As I look at the picture above with the quote superimposed over the face of Einstein, it seems to carry more credibility…..more weight, than the unfamiliar name Darryl Anka.  Afterall, I’ve heard about the genius Einstein all of my life.

I’m pleased to have found both quotes; they’re not incompatible in my mind.  They are both thought provoking and, of course, truth is truth wherever it is found.

And so…..do you want your your life to be full of joy and happiness?  (That seems to my focus lately.)  Then match the frequency of happy.  How do you do that?  Observe what makes you feel happy and do that.  Observe what makes you unhappy and don’t do that.  Using this process, over time, you will feel your happiness grow.  Way too simplistic?  Yes!  But, I believe it.

Another thing I’m convinced of is that “Joy and happiness come with being interested in life…..interested in people…..interested in learning, focusing on and being absorbed in things that fascinate you and make you feel good.”  And…..you can quote me!

The Intuitive Mind

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A friend of mine recently SHOUTED gently in my ear that the basis of his reality was intuition, love, joy, creativity and accomplishment…..and added that these five elements should also be the foundation upon which I create my own reality. The impact I felt was not because of  volume but resonance.

As we discussed what reality/our own personal lives are, I became more and more aware that the principles I espouse or maybe it would be better said, the principles to which I give lip service, are not really the principles by which I live.

Exposed!  Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic.  Because, I face that dichotomy at the end of every year.  There’s always so much talk about New Year’s Resolutions, it can’t be totally ignored.  So I do give thought to changes I would like to have made in years past and whether I did or didn’t make them.

I noticed right off that critical judgements, gossiping, regretting, fear, hate, jealousy, awfulizing and feeling sorry for myself are not included in those five elements.  My friend suggested that perhaps basing one’s life on a clear foundation of criteria would mean focusing on them, on them alone.  That would also mean sorting and eliminating everything else.  And…..so there we are…..that would mean I would have to control my thoughts.

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A few months ago, I was introduced to meditating.  I was resistant at first because my mind was so full of clutter.  Random thoughts seem to pop in and out so quickly and meditating makes me so much more aware of them.  But, gradually my whole nervous system began to cooperate.  Like everything, I guess, “practice makes automatic!”

I think the benefit of meditating is that it’s calming and quieting and in that state I can listen.  When I listen, I can even hear myself.

So what I’ve learned and what I’m sharing with you is that paying attention to my own intuition leads to love, joy, creativity and accomplishment.  Intuition is like a trail head.  It’s a starting point that leads down paths of love, happiness and fulfillment.  Wow!  It’s amazing to me that one conversation can cause such a life altering light bulb moment.  I’m so thankful for friends.

Rendezvous Of Perfection

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I’ve been thinking about perfection…..striving for it…..but, not believing in it.  I’ve had a lifetime of thinking:  “this will be the perfect Christmas”, or “all I have to do is work harder and ‘this’ will be perfect.  Things usually turn out to be lovely, but flawed in this way or that.  Perfection always lies in perception, right?  Life always enters into the mix.

Occasionally I sit back and relax, look around and soak in what feels like to me….. perfection.  Sometimes it’s for just a moment and then the moment passes and it’s gone.  Other times is lasts a while…..like when the sun is setting and the air is sweet and all of my senses are alive with deliciousness.  Or…..walking on the beach, listening to the water and feeling it as is swirls around my feet.  Or…..looking out over snowcapped mountains, breathing in the bracingly cold air and rejoicing in the sparkling reflections of the sun on all of that pristine white.  Or…..sitting around with others talking, laughing and having fun.

Sometimes the perfection is in the combination of people that I’m with; ofttimes, it’s found in the beauty of my surroundings.  But, always, it’s a commingling of sights, sounds, smells and feelings.

I’ve come to believe that you can plan for these rendezvous of perfection, but don’t bet your shirt on the outcome.  Perfection is  serendipitous.  It’s as if Perfection is a Queen who deems Herself to be created or not.

So…..my New Year’s Resolution 2016 is:  I will strive for happiness and let Perfection dance about and present Herself when She chooses.    And when She does, I will recognized Her and revel in Her and express my appreciation for Her!

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