The End

I have been trying to write for a few weeks now, but because of the chaos on the home front after the move, I can't. But I think this is just the good excuse of a reason to why I haven't. The more I think about it though, the more I try to reflect, or to dig down deep, the more I realize that...there's nothing there. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
I'm also too quiet inside my heart... I try to stir up conversations with ones around me, but they don't really peak my interest. There's no fascination. No amazement. Usually my mind has a million thoughts running through it, especially reflective thoughts of things such as how are Cocoa Puffs made, to say, contemplating the existential universal purpose of dust bunnies. But now, there's nothing there.

So I tried to look within these past few days, deep deep deep, and the only thing that I found was an echo of nothingness. I'm...empty.

So out of curiosity, I googled the word: empty. The first thing that came up was:
empty — Determine whether a variable is empty
Determine whether a variable is considered to be empty. A variable is considered empty if it does not exist or if its value equals FALSE.empty() does not generate a warning if the variable does not exist.

*Pinch* - ouch! I guess I still exist. Phew!!

Then, I looked it up in the dictionary:
emp·ty
adjective

1.

containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents

2.

vacant; unoccupied

3.

without cargo or load

4.

destitute of people or human activity

Bingo! ...and I'd have to agree as I feel just like that. Having none of my usual contents, I'm unoccupied, without cargo and destitute of any human activity (meaning I feel more like I'm running on auto-pilot/robot).
There were also a whole bunch of suggested images for the word "empty". Empty rooms, empty bottles, empty roads, empty beds, empty chairs, etc. But none of those resonated with me, just this one:

Ironically, it feels sorta good to be empty. Yes there is no happiness, but there's no anger either. There is no joy but also no resentment. There is no love but also no painful longing. There is nothing. But, what there is, is a clean slate. For everything. So then let me be empty. So that I can again be full.

Managing Oneself

Totally in line with my belief system and personal research on the subject:

http://robbinsmadanestraining.com/Documents/managingoneself-1.pdf

Sheesh!

I've been on some sort of roller coaster these past few days, were my mood changes from childlike excitement paired with impatience, to a great sadness, that's so profound and heavy that it becomes completely overwhelming. What peeves me about both these emotional states is that 1) they are irrational, and irrational = crazy. And 2) (obviously) I don't know what's causing them. And that sounds nuts, well, because it is. I feel like I'm in the process of something, some sort of transitional phase, yet, I have no idea what the heck I'm transitioning to. Probably into a two headed monster, because that's surely what it feels like! *wobble-wobble*

All I do know is that I'm fully determined and committed to actually practice my truth by living it and walking on its path (the vaguest destiny, like, ever!). I also know that I don't want to wear uncomfortable fancy shoes anymore. Metaphorically, I'd rather it be barefoot (with a very sexy pedicure of course). I no longer want to be part of the rat race because just the thought of it makes my muscles cringe. I literally get knots in my stomach thinking about subway commutes, rushing, overcrowding, deadlines, spreadsheets, presentations and tight pantyhose- agh! I need to be aligned to my essence, and frankly, the 'modern mystic' in me is saying: act from a sense of purpose and healing. Ha! Easier said than done. I don't know how Zen masters do it, swifting by, day by day, one moment at a time, feeling unity in a 'we are all One' mental state and yet completely detached at the same time. Puhleaze, what do they know?! They've never been in love... (or stuck in traffic, or cradled a colicky baby for that matter).

Relativity and objectivity, and the practicality of Love

Lately in the past couple of years, through the learning curve of experience, I've come to the flexible conclusion that it is all relative - whatever "it" and "all" may be. At the end of the day, the quality of my experience no longer depends solely on feelings, emotions, sentiments, or frou-frou things. The quality of my experience resides in the facts: the facts of the matter. And so for me today, it is more important that the facts are right, and then, emotion can come afterwards. I realized that my emotions and feelings are only sentimental opinions or reactions to what the matter of fact is. I can't harbor loving emotions or feelings if the facts are screwy. When facts are iffy, there's nothing concrete to work with.

This is quite the change for me, because before, all my life until a couple of years back, if i didn't FEEL it, it didn't exist for me. No matter what it was. Today though, if it doesn't make sense, then there is no point.

Food for thought: Does it matter what you have, or who you have your what with?

I guess I no longer practically believe in the famous power of love in a relationship. In the words of wise Tina, "What's love got to do with it?" It also very well may be that our definition of love is overly marketed, advertised and romanticized into some unrealistic, esoteric Hollywoodian magical benevolent force. I saw from personal experience, that no matter if you have that flame burning for someone so intensely and not know your head from your ass from how badly head over heels you are, or if practically, instead, you offer tangible results, there is always the possibility of failure or whatever the situation may be. Real life is not about walking into the sunset with your beloved hand in hand on the back of an unicorn, with birds chirping all around. Its about what you build together afterwards, at sunrise. So then, it makes sense to say that Love itself is relative, because emotions themselves are relative to the situation at hand. For me, at the end of the day, what you have accomplished in your life is the standing fact. What you yourself have built with your own blood, sweat and tears. Emotions come and go in life depending on the egocentric trial and errors that you and your beloved commit. Love does not "conquer all". First of all, we don't even know what this famous bucket word: "all" means, and second, lets not forget the other famous saying, "Love is blind". So how can both these sayings co-exist in the same situation? If you're blind sighted, how can you conquer all? You can't. Because it's not about that at the end of the day. The objective depends on the facts of the matter. So get your facts straightened out. Then, you'll have a better aim at conquering your all. Because the fact of the matter is, it matters what you have and who you have your what with.

Twin Flames and Soul Mates

What's In A Life?

"You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope" - Thomas Merton

Transformation: the ins and outs of it

The world has gone bonkers these past few weeks. Life as we know it (at least in my immediate circle) is changing faster than the speed of light. From all the people I know, I only know of ONE relationship that is not under pressure, the brink of collapse, or close review - and with that I mean any kind of relationship, be it social, familiar, professional, or personal. The stats are maddening. And what do I do to pull it all together in my mind's eye? ("Cind tara arde, baba se piaptana") I went and got prettified at the salon and spa. A little hair color here, a little massage there, a touch of nail polish here...a bit of wax there....now, I can think clearly, because as we all know, beauty inspires more beauty. *smile*

...And boy, thinking is all I have been doing lately. About two weeks ago a very awkward moment snuck up on me from nowhere, a sort of blast from the past, that has determined me for the past ten days to be reflecting and introspecting even deeper into my own life (more...?? Like, seriously...), while my girlfriends are suddenly calling me to give them "a therapy session" on the issues that they are going through, and, ironically, even my own parents both need to hear it from me. ALL. AT. THE. SAME. TIME. Indeed the world has gone bonkers and I became its therapist. Now there's a thought! So yes, I whine and complain about how exhausted and tired I am from all of it, but my little secret is that I actually adore the results of all this "inner" hard work. Yes I adore it. I absolutely love having to clean through this kind of messes! It gets my bearings going, my blood pumping, and fulfills me greatly. Organizing the mountain of paperwork on my desk....? Not so much. In any case, the epiphanies that come from it all are wonderful and amazing, and in all shameless vanity, I feel they justify the few wrinkles on my face with some pride and decency.

An introvert by nature, I'm an observer. I need time to regroup, withdraw and reflect. I drill down. I do root-cause analysis. I like to find patterns in human nature and to watch the mechanisms of the mind unfold before my eyes. I also enjoy dancing on tables in bars once in a while and manage to convince my girlfriends to join me, so hey... self control is totally overrated sometimes. There definitely is a time and place for everything. I bring up a good point, because I've been observing, reflecting and analyzing for quite a while now, which means I'm due for another memorable night out with the girls soon (note to self).

So, I'd like to bead a few more pearls on a string by jotting down here a realization I've had these past few days of intense observation and root-cause analysis.

The innate, fundamental mechanism of contraction and expansion
Even though I was aware of this, I truly realized today that everything around me exists due to a basic transaction of: contraction and expansion.  You can see it in the way your heart beats in your chest, or the inhaling and exhaling of the air as you breathe. It is innate and fundamental. Ingestion and excretion. What goes up must come down. What goes around comes around. This basic transaction is in my opinion what must be the root of all existence (as far as my brain can wrap around it). What happens if your heart stops after contracting, what happens if you no longer exhale, what happens if you no longer eat or if you no longer poop? There is a process of unraveling, and life ultimately stops (and at the point of death that energy transfers through in a different form, ultimately continuing this specific rhythm of life and death, but at this point the conversation is way too woo-woo and 'out there' for my taste, so I need to keep it simple). These small transactions of contraction and expansion, this natural rhythm, must be the basic necessity for life to exist. It is from this concept that I think everything that we deal with in our daily life today stems from, and its keeping this basic transaction in a healthy equilibrium that keeps life healthy and purposeful. I could drill down even more and talk biology and start discussing the recreation of cells in our bodies and explaining this concept through that, but again...who am I kidding. Now...my name isn't Dr. Oz for good reason! So I will keep it simple: to me, relationships are the most obvious form of this mechanism. By the simple fact that you exist, you are in a relationship with everything around you. You are first and foremost in a relationship with yourself, as you are with your boss, your children, your parents, your significant other, your neighbor, and your pet fish (or dog, or cat, or lizard). In order for these relationships to flourish, they need to stay alive and healthy, and you need to respect them by making sure the basic transaction of contraction and expansion is in check by: giving and receiving. You get groceries by giving money. You keep a game of tennis going by passing the ball back and forth. You show up every morning and give your work in exchange for receiving your salary. What happens if you show up but decide not to work? You will no longer receive a paycheck. What happens if you show up and work, but your boss decides not to pay you. You will quit. What happens if one tennis player keeps hitting ball after ball, and the other doesn't return them. There is no game. What happens if you don't want to pay for your groceries?

Giving and receiving is a basic transaction that keeps everything moving along. Promise what you can give, not what you can't. That's why, one should always spend what they have, not what they don't have. (Which is why one should know thyself, and always function from a place of truth.) The concept of credit doesn't work in finance, as credit generates interest, and in turn, that only generates more debt. Debt is an ultimate fail, and it is painstakingly obvious in the world today in any newspaper I open, or any news channel I turn on.  I know, shocking revelation from an business graduate. But like in economics where you only get an equilibrium when supply and demand meet, the same stands true for everything else around us. All else is relatively based on variables, thrills and frills - totally and utterly irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. The world is totally out of sync in the mechanism of giving and receiving. Some give too much and receive too little, others receive too much and give to little. It is the reason why the world has gone bonkers. The fundamental mechanism of creation, of health, of life, is totally and completely out of sync.This is why globally, the financial institutions are failing, governments are failing, societies are failing, and locally, communities are failing, businesses are failing, and personally, relationships are failing and... we are fat. Sigh. We have lost the respect and the rhythm of this transaction of giving and receiving with self, with our intimate relationships, with our familiar relationships, with our social relationships, with our business relationships, even with our planet. It is all a big glob of a mess.

(I'm exhausted)

Now, I can't change the world. But I can start with myself first and foremost (I swear this is the last piece of chocolate I will bite into) and with my immediate environment and the relationships I am in. What is dysfunctional has to go, and what is functional has to stay. What is destructive has to go and what is constructive has to stay. What is unhealthy has to go and what is healthy has to stay. What can be changed will be worked on, what can't be changed will be let go. Yes of course (!!!) there will be ups and downs in life, but as I like to say, may they all take place between the sheets *wink*.

On Marriage and Commitment

"The expectation that instant soul mate recognition should then lead to a life of delirious bliss, leads people off to something that is not necessarily possible for everybody. And the fact that we hold that as the ideal, means that when we have any sort of relationship that's less than that, we feel as though we've somehow failed in the Jerry McGuire fantasy of completion through the other, and that can cause suffering and pain in people"

Dilemma - "We're all in this miasma"

The Journey's Holy Grail

Some days its easy, others...meh, not so much

But for me, just becoming aware of these points was half my battle. Putting them into daily practice going forward however, is more of a relative notion, it is a life long journey of trial and error, without clear quantifiable measures of success, other than the achievement of living with inner peace even if just for a moment or two, here and there.

Yin Yang

"Only two things can reveal the great secrets of life: suffering and love" - Paulo Coelo, El Aleph

I'd also like to add wine, pearls, and dark chocolate to this list *wink*

For me personally, experiencing everything that comes with the notion of falling and being 'in love', allowed me to feel unique moments touched by grace, and through that, it enabled me to discover dimensions within my own self that I didn't even know existed. It was what initially provoked me to unknowingly start off on this spiritual journey I had embarked on since over half a decade ago. Discovering the ability of unconditionally loving someone else other than myself - irrelevant of the circumstances, served its expanding, bright, and strong purpose as the initial guide that opened the path to everything else that was to follow. 

Then, through experiencing limitless emotional (and loads of professional and financial) hardships due to the unfortunate unraveling of events within another relationship and in the world economy in the years that followed,  I've gotten the opportunity to feel what there is to feel in a contracting, dark, passive and cold environment. In my own personal way I've wholly experienced both the Yin and Yang (Yin Yang are not opposing forces/dualities, but complementary opposites), which truly makes me appreciate my journey even more because it is complete this way. 

** I also think that it has been my own inclination or personal tendency to receive and interpret these experiences in a spiritual manner, because like with everything else, there's always free will. Events manifest in our lives, but it is up to us how we decide to react to them. I could have interpreted these moments either in a purely physical, or  financial, or administrative or whichever other way possible. They would have equally materialized in my life and existed because that's the way it was meant to be, but different reactions would create different personal results. I am still in the process of things, but am very content with the way things have worked out so far, as the gains I truly needed in my life were spiritual in nature. 

The One - The Journey Back To Self

Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist', is a book that I came to be familiar with when I read it in the crowded NYC subway rides on my way to work during the summer of 2005, right at the start of my journey of self discovery.


“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” 
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


“I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things.” 
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


“If I can learn to understand this language without words, I can learn to understand the world.” 
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


“The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day in itself, brings with it an eternity.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


And too many years later (7 to be exact), I finally understood the message: We ourselves are the famous 'The One' - the answers are and have been within us all along.

Camila - De Mí

Internal Shift - the kind of lasting change

It doesn't matter what new address you have on this planet, you will always take yourself with you wherever you will go. So whatever personal issues you have pending, they will always come along following your footsteps. Because until you actually face your own self  and reach that place within, you've been wandering around in no-man's-land, reaching geographical destinations on a pathless journey.

No matter who you spend your time with, you will always see yourself in the mirror created by the relationships with those around you. So whatever personal issues you have pending, they will always come along for the ride to remind you of their presence, always being reflected in every new relationship you enter. Because until you resolve them, you will always see them mirrored back at you through all the social, professional and personal relationships you are part of.

Changing residences or changing the people you surround yourself with will get you nowhere closer to your real destination. That's because you will always see those experiences through your mind's eye and not through your essential truth. You have to open your mind, and through insight and self awareness you will create the real change.

Just be careful and make sure of how exactly you go about opening your mind, so that you're careful enough that your brain doesn't fall out. *wink*

On being a woman today...

We must not forget this! As wives and mothers and super achiever career women, this is possibly our greatest and most repeated struggle within each 24 hr time slot.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Absolutely inspiring...

Ordinary Abandon

So I gave once more to you,
Only what's left...
My insipid flesh undone,
In decadent perversion surrendering to your lewdness.
That sacred I once honoured as Divine,
Today was an act of ordinary abandon.....

written September 2010

Mindsight - TEDxBlue - Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.

I have finally found my own personal passion as an actual interdisciplinary field. I'm completely fascinated by the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology, as "brushing my brain" is probably what I do more often that brushing my teeth! *wink"

With every end comes a new beginning

"Hope dies last" they say. I know this from personal experience, because it was precisely only hope alone that carried me on many days that brought nothing more to the plate other than discouragement. Having hope means putting your faith in something and believing in it past reason. Its a level of loyalty and trust that you have for something that is so special to you that you have no room for doubt to nest in. I'd also have to say that hope gave me a sense of confidence that it was just a matter of time...and confidence feels good so feeding into that hope also fed into my confidence.

Someone once told me that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different outcome. And surely, speakin' of the devil, they were spot on. There comes a point when you have to learn when its time to cut your losses because even hope has run its course. What was once a source of inspiration and beauty, now inspires exasperation. This brings me back to one of my financial education influenced 'aha moments' that I've mentioned in a previous entry in this blog: "Time is our most liquid asset. Review your investment portfolio and spend it wisely. The best R.O.I. is a life best lived". Also, like another friend of mine told me: insistence is admirable, but persistence gets old. It turns into a very exhausting, unfulfilled and unhappy situation. That's when the time has come for the natural process of putting matters to rest and allowing hope to die, and thus making space for the process of letting go and moving on. Its a process that starts off with feelings of painful loss and great sadness, that are soon to  be followed by an immense feeling of freedom and excitement for new experiences. When this happens, that excitement injects vitality and zest back into your life, and during what used to be the daily routine of waking up to what would turn out to be another day of unfulfilled hope, now you wake up in high spirits and your eyes sparkling bright and full of liveliness. As Elizabeth Gilbert wrote, "It is time for something beautiful to give way for something else that is beautiful."

Myself +

Among my girlfriends, so far I'm the second one who has become a mother in the last decade. The first one who took the leap is used to the idea of a big family as she herself is one of three children, and went on to do the same. Now at 30 years old she is a proud mother of three beautiful kids. She is also what I call a hero. I'm reminded of that every time we talk on the phone, as focusing on a conversation while you also have three kids running around the house and remaining intact, is a superhero skill in itself. I have another friend who took the plunge and is now pregnant, and slowly getting accustomed to the rest of her life being herself + one. Or two. Or three. Or who knows...

Growing up, I have never ever seen myself as a 'mom' type of woman. I saw myself as being mothered, smothered, babied, and spoiled. That's as close as I got to a baby...by acting like one myself. But then one day, out of the blue, when I was at the top of my game in the single and fabulous lifestyle, I met a man that turned on the switch. And I say that because I truly think it has to be a switch. How can I go from solely focusing on Friday night drinks with co-workers, Saturday night dancing with friends, and Sunday laziness, to "Oh my God! Look how cuuuuuuute that baby is! I want one of those too!" every time I'd see a mom + walk by. Yes, of course I had turned definitely crazy. But that's what love does to you, it makes you lose your marbles and at the same time, provokes you to completely change your focus off of yourself alone, to yourself +. Its like you're oh so happy all of the sudden with who you are that you want more of it and just want to multiply that that feeling - because that's what love does, you love the object of your affection so much that you're also in love with who you've become when you love them. That's at least what happened to me: slowly but surely like a turtle, not only did this wonderful man turn me on, but he also turned my baby switch on. And in time, I became myself + one. For now. Who knows, maybe I will lose my marbles again at some point... *wink*

When Twin Flames are In The Flesh

Its when you make your way inside my mouth kissing me furiously, and I let you devour with your insatiable thirst...
When we stop and put our foreheads together, and I'm watching your guilty mouth as I gasp for air, you have me completely. And when you reach for me again, wrapping your palms around my neck to pull me close for another kiss as my breath feels powerless in your hands, I completely surrender to you... I'm at my weakest, no longer in control or within reason because from there on, the path taken is guided solely by your intent.
...as I could spend the rest of my days trusting in you my lifetime.

Of me

Despite the fact that we go around and talk the talk, even walk the walk in our omniscient rhythm, one day, when we feel strongest and omnipotent, it comes over us, a bucket of cold reality that leaves all stripped to utmost humility. And standing there bare, or better said, barely standing, you see your know-it-all arrogance as a fool that only served to entertain your ego into illusions of false power and control. Ironically, from the depths of humility I was able to find a different kind of strength - that of honouring my own truth.

Quantum Leaps

The process of being true to yourself without fail is a most demanding task. Firstly, it involves having to know what exactly it is you want, what it is you desire, what it is that makes you happy, so that then you can go ahead and honour all that in truth. But knowing all that, becoming aware of it, identifying it, is the messiest work in itself, as the process that takes you there takes huge amounts of introspection, speculation, trial and error, and most importantly, risk. And with risk come leaps of faith... There is absolutely no room for fear, for shame, for worry or doubt. You simply leap forward, come what may. It requires infinite amounts of faith and trust. But how can you have faith in and trust the unknown? You don't. You simply have faith and trust in yourself and any higher power you may believe in.That's it. Allow your steps to be guided by this, and you will see that at the beginning you'll just start slowly pacing forward, but then as you have more faith, and the more trust you gain as you honour yourself in acting in truth time and time again, you will one day see yourself leaping, no longer pacing. Leap after leap, so you will soar...

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” 

― Paulo Coelho, Alchemist

Twin Flames

...sometimes quite pleseantly, we are given nice little treats, like when you happen to look into somebody else's eyes, and you see your soul as their soul. You simply see home. This truth is within all of us, and we should intuitively know it and believe it, but at times, we are sent a personal reminder of it in somebody else, in their eyes, as they are here too as you are, but also happen to be holding that key that unlocks your door, and looking at them, you truly see it, feel it and know it past your beating heart and past your bones, because in that moment, through the meeting of your eyes, is the meeting of two souls..simply witnessing each other and experiencing truth.


Update June 9, 2012 (funny, we all describe "it" the same way):
“It was the pure Language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. He was more certain of it than of anything in the world. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one's dreams would have no meaning.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Namaste - Realistically Contemporary

It is not surprising that with all the situations taking place around in the world for the past two years, unfolding events in many peoples lives have been causing financial havoc, lifestyle changes, standard of living differences, and ultimately yet not surprisingly: STRESS. I too have been affected by all this ridiculous mess, with what initially started out as a personal decision to take some time for reflection,  reorganization, and spending more time as a mom than a fancy white collar and pearls employee, that turned into a downward spiraling of loss of control due to the economic scenario.  Hindsight is always 20/20 so of course now that I look back, intending to take those initially 'planned' 12 months off to spend with my son before he started school, was a huge risk, but my and my son's timing was absolutely perfect that's why I took the leap of faith. But the world was ticking to a completely different stopwatch and I was soon to find out. So just like everyone else, I too had to learn to scramble and hustle in this new economic mumbo-jumbo that's been shamelessly going on for what seems like ages. It was so infuriating to say the least, to read in the New York Times that some suddenly poor people out there in 'the land of hope and dreams' America now don't have the money on hand to afford the regular sized packs of toilet paper sold at Walmart, and that toilet paper producers have had to re-package their lots with a smaller number of rolls per pack to make it more affordable, while apparently at the same time, the latest über designer high fashion staples are not only sold out, but have unprecedented waiting lists. The gap is clearly wider these days, leaving the hard working class infuriated, humiliated and quite honestly: insulted.

Unfortunately, this has been going on for quite a while, and global stress from worry has become chronic. Just turning the page in the newspaper or turning on the TV, gives me a shot of adrenaline from the latest headlines. Coincidentally enough though, alongside these events, there's also another silent movement going on in the world, one that's more calming and peaceful in nature, as it is focused on enlightenment, awakening to consciousness, and living in the present moment. Despite the fact that I'm very practical and realistic in nature and don't easily attract to anything that may sound overly esoteric, I personally think its perfect timing for all these new age theories to take place, because on really difficult days, one may realize after looking at their bank account, that the present moment is really all they have, REALLY. So yes, I find that these not so new but very popular theories do give a practically needed sense of fulfillment and richness, if not of the material kind, then of the spiritual kind. And hopefully, applying them long term, who knows maybe an internal shift may actually take place within each of us and ultimately society as a whole, so that when this whole economic turmoil will turn around, we will use our material riches in a more conscious manner, one that's less detrimental to the environment and to those around us, as we will hopefully be guided by love, and not by greed. Right. I can't help but to chuckle as I type out the last sentence picturing myself hugging the trees at my local park, as the realist in me totally senses a woo-woo tone to what I just wrote, but frankly, the truth of the matter is, that it is greed itself which got us to where we are in the first place, so we might as well try to operate from a different standpoint as a society and see where that takes us. And hey, if having our actions guided by love will bring us to a place of rainbows, butterflies and unicorns, so be it, as I'd take that any day over my current bank account balance.

Namaste *wink*