A Mother's Wisdom

my blog

2005-08-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

its the middle of the night and being the techno peasant that i am i
just discovered i have a blog

how did i not know that

and how did a lot of those e mails get forwarded to the blog

yikes

i thought this was stuff you each just decided to carry on your blogs

groan

do i now have to censor myself

that story about my brother was pretty personal but i guess its okay

here is something whoever is forwarding these posts can post

something i thought about

as you get older you start to become more and more opinionated like
me

i guess because you have lived so much your experiences form those
opinions

but here is something that has recently hit me

the blogs are teaching me that having opinions that are set in gold is a
mistake

for example each of your blogs has opened my eyes to see things
differantly

like dislike of technology wrong
and i am coming around a little

like dislike of out of control situations like jonathan in turkey or
the sahara
'wrong
whatevers going to happen is going to happen
as the little indian guru says in the movie reds sitting beside the
pool dangling his feet while war and pestilence occur around him

he says

vot vill be vill be
insert indian accent......
perhaps fear makes you realize what is valuable in life
which to me is this truism called
love .......

so old people get opinions and need to change constantly to stay young

heres what i learned on the weekend with jj and nick here visiting and
having a great time

tom and nick laugh a lot more than me at stupid stuff......
like the electronic invisible shield nicks uses to guide him on the golf
course
seeing the world through someone elses eyes
and finding new ideas amusing

i need to laugh more tom helps me to do this

jjs views of the world and my fears about my kids

let it go mom
groan i need to let those butterflies out of the bottle permanently my
kids are gone
and

everyones appreciation of my french garden house

i need to continue to create this is where i shine .......

and the reminder that rebecca and i are basically the same

so
my recipe
to stay young

drop the opinions especially those that are hard core like
why go to the sahara or turkey
or
finding lifes work jobs passions etc
this actually takes a long time for some people
or
finding lifes purpose is differant for everyone
and most of all keeping courage at the top of the page ........

courage to change
courage to grow
courage to admit weaknesses
courage to change opinions
courage to accept defeat
courage to continue to love
courage to find peace

these aspects i am working on every single day

and this is what my children gift me with every single day......

change and growth
you each teach me to change and grow
my children will keep me young ........

on sunday jj and i watched each others wedding videos

ahhhhhhhh so beautiful

remember this each time you make advances with your change and growth

a new life a new idea a new love

a new joy

love mommy

2005-08-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

jonathan

of course the place i asked you not to go was turkey

and of course thats where you are

of course

i dislike turkey especially istanbul

however millions and millions in your hands to buy an icecream will be
interesting the currency is completely strange

now that you are there i would suggest three things

the sultans palace where the queens crown jewels look like nothing

and the blue mosque one of the most famous mosques in the world and

the four seasons hotel for sure one of the top in the world definitely
big time wifi in the lobby

and then the giant market largest in the world

i dont like turkey or middle east countries period

there is a certain sleezy male attitude especially towards women

i did not let rebecca or jj go anywhere without me

you watch it in their eyes there is a certain desperation about money
and women its very sleezy

and that sound at the crack of dawn you know that sound i make when you
all bug me and i put my fingers in my ears
lalalalalalalalalalalallalalalallalalalallalalla

you cant really tell whether the loud speakers are shrieking la or ala
it all runs together and it starts you day at about five or when the sun
is coming up

i dont like turkey and i dont like middle east countries although bill
says dubai is the only place thats worth it in the united emirates

i suspect you will go to dubai then home right

summers over and life and jobs and work and purpose are calling

you can only do that travel stuff for so long and then purpose calls

for me i am starting two adventures this fall

anyone thats interested can call me

love mommy

be extra careful jonathan in turkey the men have no respect for women
none

and dont do bad stuff

Re: adam dow...cheque...

2005-08-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

i am sending a check in the morning

when i was thirteen a rcmp came to the door and said my brother woodrow
lamont adams aged 16 was in the hospital after an accident

drunk driving after a prom

and

he died several hours later the only spot that made him a little
differant was a small drop of blood out of his ear otherwise he seemed
perfect but dead

for at least two years i dont remember anything my mother did not want
me at the funeral i stayed at friends
i always thought about how could everyone at school seem so happy when i
had lost my brother and why was everyone so normal could they not feel
how painful it was for me
all i remember is that everything went gray

trees sky sun everything was gray for a long time
i think about two years

in the sixties no one knew what loss grief depression was like

no one knew about the affects of depression

woodrow was the brother that liked me he loved my strange ways
i loved him and thought he was so brave and adventuresome in spite of
wacko fundamentalist parents

sometimes i think about visiting his grave site

there is a spot inside of me that hurts

remember adam
remember woodrow

mommy when people hurt its important that you relate to them and stand
up for injustices and for loss and get that some people have it a lot
more rough than possibly you

the first time you feel deep loss is the start of your own awareness
about the depth of life and the awesome power that gives life and then
takes it away

my mother always made me sick to my stomach when she would say this was
gods will

yeah god and alcohol what a combination

live like there is no tomorrow but dont do drugs ecessive anything

and keep your life simple

and also

feel everything

loss
grief
pain

never stuff a feeling

feelings belong to you and you have your reasons for your depth of
feelings

feel and get it

emotional depth is one of the most powerful things in the world

it teaches you empathy

how to feel for others

feel for adams family
and for

woodrow

my brother

my hero

mommy

your blogs

2005-08-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

jj you new blog is fantastic

and jonathan and duncan so incredible

and rebecca so creative

fantastic incredible creative brilliant

now how many times a day do you think i brag about all of you

looking out the window four in the morning at a fantastic summer harvest
moon

life

its quite something

n,est ce pas

love you all huge

please come to visit me soon

i miss all of you so much

awestruck

2005-08-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

did you see the august harvest moon last night

tom and i were blown away by a most incredible event

we were invited to a private estate here in the avocado groves and a
concert was held on the green including symphony etc

under the moon and the stars

a previously unknown opera singer
named ANGEL JOY BLUE came on stage to sing summertime by gershwin

she is twenty two year old black student six feet tall attending ucla

her voice was not unlike kiri kanawa new zealands great moari singer
that at age sixty continues to wow audiences around the world

this young girl sang three arias and then after the concert visited with
the guests

something about her voice under the stars late at night singing gershwin
did it for me
that same feeling you get in life where you just go oh wow the
pleasure of being in the company of greatness

when the hair on the back of your neck stands up from a voice you
know you are experiencing something quite incredible

under the august full moon with a symphony in full swing and the voice
of an angel

you gotta love being awestruck

hope you saw the summer moon last night

as ever
love maggie
remember her name

ANGEL JOY BLUE

Adam Dow Fund

2005-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

My friend Matt's brother Adam & sister-in-law Kelly were involved in a
tragic accident on the weekend. They are a young couple, new parents
to two little twin boys. They were attempting to put up a flag pole
when it hit some hydro lines. Matt's brother Adam, was electrocuted.
He is now in the hospital, and has undergone 3 surgeries including
skin grafts, and the amputation of both his arms. He is very badly
hurt. Kelly had some burns, but is physically okay.

Adam Dow remains in the hospital in critical condition. Without our
help, they will face financial hardships. That is why there has been
a fund set up to help them through this. Any amount will help. This
is a secure site set up through PayPal. Thank you!!!

http://theradblog.typepad.com/theradblog/2005/08/the_adam_dow_fu.html

Please forward this to everyone you know...

life . sharing my son jonathan and his travels with all of you

2005-08-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

i was reading the following in my french garden house that tom recently
built for me. sort of my dream garden house that i wanted my whole life
.a room of my own .

the following......

Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with
an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by
himself.

arthur schlesinger.

We should always keep for ourselves ,a little back shop, all our own,
untouched by others,in which we establish our true freedom.

montagne

a soul can create only when alone

abraham joshua heschel

solo time ain t it grand.....

happy birthday jonathan

you are my idol..your photos and travel stories rock.

theradblog.com

how marvelous to be in malta alone on your 29th birthday

jj and rebecca and i had such a great time there in malta on our way to
the greek islands and turkey

i am sending your blog to people on my A list this morning wishing you a
great birthday big hug and kiss every person on this list gets it
jonathan time to be alone quality time by ones self

ahhhhhhhhhhh

a night in the sahara

2005-07-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

a night in the sahara

http://theradblog.com

2005-06-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

does this show up on your blog or not

please forward this post to jonathans site i cant do it it wont work

2005-05-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

jonathan re i quit

i have always told people to just quit

stop what you are doing and re think your program

so many people in life keep the insanity going . the same thing day
after day expecting a differant result.

in my life i have changed towns provinces countries careers projects
life work and yes even a mate

heres your mothers wisdom for the day

pick up zen and the art of travel and the monk who sold his ferrari by
toronto canadian robin sharma

both of these books are your travel books teaching you . hey its just a
life better have a philosophy and some balance

it makes you a better person

and you better get to california if you want to drive my ferrari i have
just about grown out of that escapist vehicle

if i had read the monk who sold his ferrari in my twenties i think i
would have had a little differant direction

you have always had a great compass jonathan

your work and your travels speak to that

you are the bomb
your mother has the utmost respect for your talent your hard work and
your freedom
your biggest fan
mom only an insider will get this

if you need a drive to seattle you know who to call

interesting

2005-05-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

there is something called the rawlinson geneaolgy forum
on the internet
you can track the line of rawlinsons

jonathan a cool thing for you to do would be visit your great
grandfathers house sixty km south of london in hazelmere

you can also go to the church and see all the marriages christenings etc
dating back to the battle of agincourt 1592

yout father and i went to the original house and it was incredible

if you tell your father you want to do this he would probably think
thats pretty cool

there is a big history of rawlinsons in england and you can track the
entire family tree

i did this in my twenties

it was interesting

also strange that the gardners pittmans and adams all came from england
as well and settled in newfoundland versus saskatchewan

there was a lord mayor rawlinson of london cool stuff like that

of course this would be a day out of town from london and a cool drive
in the country

the house was turned into a senior citizens lodge and run by the
government

the rawlinsons lost it could not pay their taxes in the early nineteen
hundreds and canada gave free land so they immigrated to farms in
saskatchewan must have felt like siberia after england

cool idea

and check out rawlinson geneaology on the internet

may 19 2005

2005-05-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

my wedding anniversary to your dad

thirty three years ago right now at this moment five oclock i married
your dad

i think it was probably the best day of my life

after all i got an incredible family out of the deal

i was thinking today and feeling melancholy about life in general that
the thing all of you should remember in spite of what happened to your
dad and i that

your father was a decent dad
tried to care for all of you
and set up things so that you all have an amazing life

these days it seems like your father is taking a step towards emotional
involvement

make sure you tell him its appreciated noted and that hey change is what
we all look for

einstein said it best

no change no growth

i know its weird but call your dad and tell him you love him for trying
to bust out of that rather tough shell of his

sometimes i think i wish everything in my life had been differant but
life has its tragedies

love mommy

invites for rebecca and duncan

2005-05-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

Fwd: this cracks me up

2005-03-22T02:32:00.000-08:00

give it five minutes to really see the cartoons

only cindy

the cats are priceless maggie

does this work or not

2005-03-04T03:40:00.000-08:00

oprah

2005-01-27T04:52:00.000-08:00

you gotta love oprah

her latest epiphany

how you spend your time defines you

she suggests ''do no waste your time as you waste yourself' she has
learneed that getting sucked into other peoples ego dysfunction will
cast a shadow on the light you need to be for yourself and others take
a pass on people with negative energy hoping to bring you to a negative
place

you gotta love oprah da blogging mama

wish i had read in my twenties

2005-01-26T00:09:00.000-08:00

the art of happiness by the dalai lama

the life of a reporter as he changes during his interviews with the
dalai lama

like his skepticism about the universe goes away ...

as well

emotional intelligence

the need to put emotion in everything you do ...

the alchemist

all of life is a journey might as well be an optimist
a beautiful story that everyone needs to read that is about to journey
to something or someone new ...
and
rent or purchase

cinema paradiso

the life of a boy
then a teenager
then an old man

growth and change ....

i was watching deepok chopra on larry king he talked about something i
often talk about

when a worm crawls into a cocoon somewhat beaten up a portion of the
dead carcass is used in the creation of the butterfly

in nature this is known as the crysalis the metamorphisis of the worm

now are we not just all like that

somedays you need to crawl in that cocoon lick your wounds and emerge as
a butterfly

much more beautiful word in french

papillon ....

da blogging mama

nighttime

2005-01-25T23:49:00.000-08:00

fear is a fascinating word

what makes you fearful

i would like to share this little story with you i once read about the
famous painter goya

he was a chronic insomniac me as well on occasion

so here is how he described nighttime fear

like something that bothers you that wakes you up at night

he called it nada nyet nothingness

it really is nothingness it wakes you up at night

in the morning it will be gone

better to get up watch jay leno send a good e mail and ignore your
nothingness that wakes you up in the first place

fear is a strange thing just nothingness
like goya said

da mama

improving your mind afterall its sunday

2005-01-23T02:17:00.000-08:00

when it the last time you expanded your brain past what am i doing
what am i eating where am i going

duh

so here it is your sunday improve your mind

its called blink

by malcolm gladwell

you will explore such topics as the idea virus
and how your thinking makes it so
and how you get in your own way

and hey improve your brain improve your life

go to amazon/com check it out and order

after all its sunday what do you have to losell

blog two

2005-01-21T03:49:00.000-08:00

if you thought about it today what would be the most important things
you would do if your doctor said

okay you have three months to live

this is something young people and old people alike should thing about

a friend of ours shannon cindy myself and others her name is larissa
has maybe days to live she is young like maybe in her late thirties

heres what i think

live your life like you might have three months so what would you do

would you worry about work i dont think so
would you worry about the mess in your apartment i dont think so
would you worry about stupid stuff

i dont think so

heres what i think you would do
live as if today is the only adventure you have
greet the day with holy cow the world is a great fascinating place
love your family
love your co workers even the ones that are not that evolved
and think about your spiritual existence
not religion
just your spiritual side
like what are your beliefs
what do you value
when is the last time you got out of your head and did something for
someone else
this is i think what you would value you and think about

so live that way today

john cheever said

do not pursue happiness
thereways lies grief

instead

enjoy

the happiness of the pursuit

be in the day

not in next week next month next year

today baby

live well da blogging mama

aging parents

2005-01-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

when is the last time you thought about what you might learn from people
that are older than you

when you are young you assume you know everything

when you are older and smarter you wake up and think about how little
you know

maybe start your day by saying

hmmm

what might i learn today

many studies have proven that intelligence levels go up just by being
curious

da old mama philosopher

mothers wisdom

2005-01-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

heres the deal

day one for all you bloggers

get off your computer and your collective fat asses and go do something
nice for someone

like

call your mother
or

give five bucks to a homeless guy and dont judge him

or

lift someones spirit

and get off your computer

and

go

do

be

and if possible carry your camera
and get on flickr and show me your photos dude

da mama

Hi Mom...the subject of your email will be this line

2005-01-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

The body of your email will be the body of your thoughts.

Ok?

JONATHAN

A Mother's Wisdom

2005-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is a blog I created for my mother. She may or may not use it to post her daily 4 am wisdom.

Enjoy.