When you feel like you're not sure what you're doing here, have a conversation with a 4 year old... you'll get some perspective...
This morning I breakfasted in a quiet house with my son, Yoram was at Shul, Odeliya was still asleep, and so was my mom. Staying with my parents carries with it fun, family, love, and unhealthy treats... Like Fruity Pebbles. Although at least it provoked conversation...
Netanel asked me who the characters on the box were and explained to him about Fred Flintstone and cartoons and the "Stone Age"
"When Abba and I were young, this cartoon was on TV about people who lived at the same time as the dinosaurs."
"But are they really real?" asks Netanel, spoonful of artificial colors and flavors overflowing on it's way to his mouth.
"No, they were just make believe. Why?" I can tell there are gears and cogs moving around in that little brain and I am wondering if I can illicit a peak at the thoughts they are generating. Luckily, I am blessed with an articulate and precocious young man.
"Because if they were real then they'd be dead. Like the dinosaurs."
"Yes that's true."
"But are they very old?" hmmm, where is this going?
"Well, not really. I mean the show isn't on anymore, but they characters don't really get older, because they're not real."
Here it comes, I can tell because he looks off beyond my left shoulder and begins to speak.
"Sometimes people who are old can still stay young in our minds. Like Grandma and Sabi you and Abba."
"Really, why?"
"Because then they won't really get old, and when they die, I will still remember them in my mind."
Aha. Is it all four year olds that ponder the brevity of life? And more importantly, the desire to hold on to what we know...
"Netanel," I begin gently, "you don't really have to worry about death, you know."
"Why not?"
"Because we can't really do anything about it. We just have to live our lives and enjoy every minute and do what we were created to do. And when a person dies, it's sad for us because we miss the person, but it's not sad for that person, because their Neshama goes back to Hashem."
"Yeah, but I miss Saba." My grandfather passed from this world a year and a half ago.
"I know, but now Saba's Neshama is with Hashem, and now he can be really happy, because his body isn't hurting anymore."
"Yeah, and it takes a long time to turn into someone else." What?!
Netanel climbs onto my lap, his bowl now half full of soggy cereal pieces bleeding their colors into his milk.
"What do you mean, Tani?"
"When your Neshama goes up to Hashem, it takes some time before you become someone else."
I don't want to lead him, I want to hear what he thinking... I feel as if I am on the edge of an icy cliff with nothing to hold onto, what do I say to get his soul to continue talking to me?
Don't we let our mind fill with our bodily needs, our subconscious chatter, our misconceptions, failures, the feelings of that which we lack. Don't we stop letting our souls speak? And yet as children, that part of ourselves that is so pure, so connected with the Source of all knowlege and understanding, can still speak through us?
Netanel gave me just a little more, but I didn't get the whole thought from him.
Oh, how it changed my day to spend those moments with my beautiful and wonderous little gift.
What are we but indelible memories in the minds of our loved ones?...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Beauty - discovered and exposed!
What is beauty?
Is it attraction? Is it physical, spiritual? Is it something you see or something you feel?
All the dictionary definitions I found indicate that it is a feeling that is generated by the thing which is being perceived as "beautiful."
For example:
beau·ty
[byoo-tee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural -ties.
("beauty." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 04 Oct. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beauty>.)
It is a quality that causes a sense of deep satisfaction or pleasure to the person perceiving it. As the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
It also seems that a thing of beauty has a spiritual aspect to it as well. It is something that resonates deep in your soul. It is something that will resonate with me if it's component can be found inside my own soul, which is why some things are universally considered beautiful while others are very specific to the individual. I find transient things in Nature beautiful. Something about a things that change so rapidly and yet with such precision resonates with me and brings me joy. Others might be very uncomfortable by a bed of decaying leaves, but I see the potential for new life. Some may feel dismay at seeing bare leaves against a gray sky, but I revel in the contrast of it and derive pleasure at the beauty of the changing seasons and the systems and the cycles of the year.
As women, this is not a foreign concept to us. We exist in a cycle with our bodies, and in order to see the truth and the beauty in our bodies, we need to be in harmony with those cycles. It is so alarming to me to hear what people do to avoid getting a period, and yet there are so many women out there that would do anything to feel those familiar discomforts and the ability to create life which it brings.
Take a moment to breath with me, and become completely one with the beauty of your body. The beauty of a body that was created as God desired (Jewish women have the opportunity to say this every day, in the morning blessings it says, Source of Blessings, God, who created me according to His desires.") How deep is that? How excellent a thought? Who is the Ultimate Beholder if not God? And you were created, not only in His image as all humans are, but more so, according to God's desire!
You, personally and individually, you were created in this way. So stop stressing about what you're doing on the outside to make sure that other people think you're beautiful! Take a deep breath and consider that if you can find the true beauty inside yourself, if you can tap into that and access it and exude it through your actions and your words, then - and only then, can you posses the kind of beauty that is universal and cannot help but be perceived by everyone you encounter! Even while you inspire them to delve into their own souls and come in contact with their own true beauty as well!
As a Women's Wellness Educator, I can guide you through this process, and increase your awareness of your body, your wellness and your self. Want to know more? Click here for more information!
Blessings of joy and love and (of course!) beauty,
~Ayelet
Is it attraction? Is it physical, spiritual? Is it something you see or something you feel?
All the dictionary definitions I found indicate that it is a feeling that is generated by the thing which is being perceived as "beautiful."
For example:
beau·ty
[byoo-tee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural -ties. | 1. | the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). |
It is a quality that causes a sense of deep satisfaction or pleasure to the person perceiving it. As the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
It also seems that a thing of beauty has a spiritual aspect to it as well. It is something that resonates deep in your soul. It is something that will resonate with me if it's component can be found inside my own soul, which is why some things are universally considered beautiful while others are very specific to the individual. I find transient things in Nature beautiful. Something about a things that change so rapidly and yet with such precision resonates with me and brings me joy. Others might be very uncomfortable by a bed of decaying leaves, but I see the potential for new life. Some may feel dismay at seeing bare leaves against a gray sky, but I revel in the contrast of it and derive pleasure at the beauty of the changing seasons and the systems and the cycles of the year.
As women, this is not a foreign concept to us. We exist in a cycle with our bodies, and in order to see the truth and the beauty in our bodies, we need to be in harmony with those cycles. It is so alarming to me to hear what people do to avoid getting a period, and yet there are so many women out there that would do anything to feel those familiar discomforts and the ability to create life which it brings.
Take a moment to breath with me, and become completely one with the beauty of your body. The beauty of a body that was created as God desired (Jewish women have the opportunity to say this every day, in the morning blessings it says, Source of Blessings, God, who created me according to His desires.") How deep is that? How excellent a thought? Who is the Ultimate Beholder if not God? And you were created, not only in His image as all humans are, but more so, according to God's desire!
You, personally and individually, you were created in this way. So stop stressing about what you're doing on the outside to make sure that other people think you're beautiful! Take a deep breath and consider that if you can find the true beauty inside yourself, if you can tap into that and access it and exude it through your actions and your words, then - and only then, can you posses the kind of beauty that is universal and cannot help but be perceived by everyone you encounter! Even while you inspire them to delve into their own souls and come in contact with their own true beauty as well!
As a Women's Wellness Educator, I can guide you through this process, and increase your awareness of your body, your wellness and your self. Want to know more? Click here for more information!
Blessings of joy and love and (of course!) beauty,
~Ayelet
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