The Living Room

Being in the present

Posted on November 22, 2010 by marita

by Marita

“If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Posted in Quotes & Mantras, The Armchair | Tagged Thich Nhat Hanh | 2 Comments

One of the most famous artworks of the 15th century – and one of the most renowned religious paintings of any century – is the Altarpiece of the Lamb. Called The Ghent Altarpiece due to its location in the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, its creators were Hubert and Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390 – 1441);

Jan v Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece

The following is a wonderful article about the history and the the restoration of the masterpiece Altarpiece of the Lamb from this week’s New Yorker

The flip side

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Room to Read | Leave a comment

Hakuna Matata

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Glerikud

Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase

Hakuna Matata! Ain’t no passing craze

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Posted in The Armchair | 6 Comments

On decision making

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Michaela

Sweet choices, hard decisions

There was much talk about the difficulty of making decisions lately, so I thought this was a good time to contemplate on the the subject of choices and making decisions.

This is what it comes down to – making a choice. To go left or right, to do this or that, to move or to stay, to engage or withdraw, to be joyful or miserable. We are making choices each waking second of our life. We make conscious choices involving our intellectual capacity – or reason – and we make unconscious choices based on our conditioning or acquired preferences. Even if we leave the choice to someone else – we make a choice. There is not a single instance in our day, when we are not making a choice.

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Posted in The Window Seat | Tagged choice, Control Letting go, Decision making, Future | 2 Comments

x-mas is on it’s way

Posted on November 22, 2010 by johngraham123

Two photos that I took on a trip to London

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Posted in Photographs, The Armchair | Tagged Christmas, London | 2 Comments

LoL

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Michaela

100 degrees of separation…

Posted in What's the craic ? | Leave a comment

On Mood

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Michaela

Across murky waters

Maggie in a recent comment gave me the idea to write about mood and I am quite happy to reflect on the subject. I am not an expert, but I know a little bit about the impact of stress on body and mind, as well as the relation between spirituality and medicine, and mood is central to this evolving field. As usual, I will not keep within the boundaries of my current understanding or knowledge, but rather use what I know as a starting point to enquire deeper into the subject.

Mood per definition is a prolonged emotional state. It is not an emotion, but it is rooted in it. Mood is the subtle feeling in the background and it is like wallpaper or carpeting. They can make a room pleasant or cold, make you feel warm and welcome or wanting to leave. Mood is the air that surrounds us. It is an energy emanating from us, affecting and influencing others and this is how we create our world.

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Posted in Toaster & Fridge | Tagged Anger, Chronic stress, emotion, Energy, fear, Mental Health, Mood, Spirituality and Medicine | 3 Comments

A quote from Cowboy Bebop

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Glerikud

by Glerikud

– The flow is more important… Not power. You have to be like the water…
– What’s going on?
– I’m not tensing up anywhere. I’m just using your excessive force. I control the flow of power… And to do that, I have to relax the whole body to be able to react to any movement. I become like water.
– Water?
– Yeah. Water can take any form. It can flow along slowly or beat down aggressively, right?

Posted in The Armchair | 3 Comments

An oyster in it’s shell

Posted on November 21, 2010 by dreamfable

by Dreamfable

About 100 years ago Evelyn Underhill wrote her famous book about mysticism. According to some still the best introduction one might find. I remember, when I read it a few years ago, it shook my world and I believe many people here will recognize what is written.

Let us then start at the beginning: and remind ourselves of a few of the trite and primary facts which all practical persons agree to ignore. That beginning, for human thought, is of course the I, the Ego, the self-conscious subject which is writing this book, or the other self-conscious subject which is reading it; and which declares, in the teeth of all arguments, I AM.

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Posted in The Armchair | Tagged Evelyn Underhill, I am, Mysticism, self | 10 Comments

The wisdom of Rumi

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Michaela

Your seat is reserved

choosing God’s path
you’ll be agile
and filled with life
beaming once again
back to heavens
your seat is reserved
way at the top
shame on you settling
like a shadow
on lowly dirt

From: Rumi ” Dancing the Flame”
Translated by Nader Khalili

Whenever I read this stanza, I say to myself ” how can I not to”. How foolish of me to believe that a life of misery, driven by guilt, shame or any other manifestation of fear, is what I have been born to live. How foolish, wanting to settle on lowly dirt.

It is here now. And all I have to do is to see it as it is. Accept it, without the fear fueled by the past, or the anger rooted in my expectations.

Look up at the sky, take a breath, listen…..oh, just listen.

It is everywhere, it sings to you, speaks to you, points you the way, holds you safe, loves you, fulfills you. So how can you not to ?