diary of Maria Radloff

[ GO HOME ] At Work At Home Life Happiness Knowledge Eats Fun Stuff Leisure Animals Dear Diary Contact

whatsup

Sweet Ron Paul

Nothing could be sweeter than putting Ron Paul on a bottle of soda. Apparently our country puts limits on how much sugar we can import, thus making it more economical to use high fructose corn syrup in our carbonated beverages instead. God bless the corn growers of the U. S. of A.

Ron Paul soda

2008-06-14

Expectations

I went to sit Zazen last night (thanks Don for coming with, you're a trooper) and on Friday nights they have Zen Philosophy class afterwards. It was a group of about 10 of us and we discussed, drank tea, and laughed a lot.

The big topic of conversation was expectations and if they exist within us when we're born, or whether or not they come from conditioning. We mostly agreed they show up based on our experiences and we also mostly agreed they are detrimental.

My feelings on expectations is that they are like playing with fire. There is some enjoyment or gratification in having them, but it's easy to get burned by them. I fluctuate between expecting people to do what they say and having no expectations at all. Both suck. I'm always let down by people that don't follow through (the irony is that I'm one to also have poor follow through, but I always communicate). But I also hate not having expectations because it feels like not caring if something happens or not and I tend to be somebody that cares deeply, so that leaves me feeling empty.

Don and I wrapped up the night with some wine and Italian food at North, so all expectations got set aside and I got to just live in the moment...my saving grace.

2008-06-07

Going and flowing

As I'm completing a chapter of my life, I'm reflecting on how it started, what I've learned, and what is to come. Transitions are never easy...and for me, the decision is the hardest part. I've never done well with decisions, nor change - especially if I'm not the one causing the change.

I like the parable my Zazen teacher told me, which I believe came from a Richard Bach book. It's about the creatures living at the bottom of a river. They all hold on to rocks, branches, whatever they can find, so they don't get ripped away down the rest of the river. They bang on the things floating through, but the little bumps and scratches are more tolerable than losing control and the fear of the unknown of the rest of the river.

Well, apparently one little river creature chose not to live like all the other creatures in the river. He explained he was going to just let go and see where the river took him. All the creatures tried to save him by telling him he'd get hurt, wipe across the rocks at the bottom, and get all torn up. To the adventurous creature - that was a small price to pay for an extraordinary life.

So he let go. And he got torn across the bottom of the river. And it hurt. But eventually he floated up to the top. And it was easy. And good.

So here I am, ready to let go. And flow...just like an Ashtonga yoga class. How to proceed? Move to Cave Creek!

I'm dropping a chunk of responsibilities, committments and time-sucking activities from my life, to be replaced with freedom, passion and simplicity.

I'm not sure what really lies ahead quite yet, but I'm pretty sure there will be some yoga, some dog walks, some reading, some cooking, some extraordinary conversation, some teaching, some learning. And for sure some more blogging, as writing is my favorite creative outlets. I look forward to sharing parts of my life again, but I am also very excited about the personal, private moments that will be the little sparkles of ah-hah moments of discovery.

-Back in the saddle,
M.

2008-06-08

Giving my life definition

I have decided that I am dedicating my life to two words. Well, not actually to the words themselves, but to the discovery of their true meaning...if those definitions really exist at all.

I think people all have their own definitions of these words, but if any of them were truely accurate, there wouldn't be much room for discussion. And honestly, I think these two misunderstood words create many of the problems in this world.

So I am going to take a journey and try and figure them out. And share my discoveries. If you'd like to pre-order an autographed copy of my book, you can send a request my way. In the meantime, I'll just try and post some highlights. And...maybe soon...the actual words.

What's your eco-sense?

underwear survey

Office Talk About Matching Underwear

So the four of us at the Holy Click! office had a discussion about whether or not it is important to wear matching undergarments. Because I feel it is really important to always be fashionably coordinated, I had to take a stand for the matching sets. Everyone else seems to think it is ridiculous and over-the-top. Help a girl out and take my survey!

Let's see what I'm up to

Twitter Updates

2007-06-03

Yeah, I spend a lot of time at the library

I'm reading 4 books at once. And I love them all, so I can't even say which one I like best. I'm leaning towards the one about Aristotle...the book really defines what a good life is, and how happiness is really the end goal.

gaming