Another World Is Probable

I had an interesting experience on Friday. I walked by the yoga studio where I used to host a weekly group meditation prior to the pandemic. I discovered the building is no longer safe to enter and has been stripped to its studs! I don’t know if they’re renovating the building or tearing it down, but regardless, I likely won’t be in that yoga studio again because someone in my community has an office space we’ll be able to use for free when meeting in person resumes. I mention all this because passing by the yoga studio had me reflect on what it now turns out is the very last time I was in that space. More in this week's post (and the picture I mention in the recording is the same as the episode art. But if you want to see the full image, go to my blog webpage.) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I keep thinking about an essay I read in the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. He writes about how he lived at the dead end of a dead-end street, two blocks long, at the bottom of a hill in north Seattle. At the top of the hill, two big yellow and black signs declared: STREET ENDS. And at the end of the street where Fulghum resided, another big sign with stripes and reflectors stated the obvious: DEAD END. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I watched a viral video of a woman in California arguing why her kids shouldn’t be required to wear a mask to school. She told the school board they don’t have the authority to make that decision, and she cited the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and for some reason, the Federalist Papers. My first response was to mock her, tell her what an idiot she is, why she’s wrong, etc. As we’ve seen though, fighting fire with fire only results in a conflagration. I kept mulling over the video and stumbled upon a passage from my spiritual teacher that softened me and offered some perspective on the situation. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

A few days ago, I visited Mount Rainier National Park for the first time with my parents. Doing so, now I understand the hype about the Pacific Northwest in the summer. It was gorgeous – the mountain views, the lakes, the wildflowers. It took my breath away (sometimes literally as I huffed and puffed up the mountain). I noticed as we drove back to Seattle where my parents live, I felt sad and a little disgusted. We went from mountains in the distance to skyscrapers. We traded in wildflowers dotting the landscape to shopping malls. After so much beauty, my nervous system started reeling and I wanted to make civilization and cars “bad” or “wrong” while trees and wildflowers were “good” or “right.” Except, how does that serve me? More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

It’s hard for me to let go of relationships, all relationships. I remember people as they were and they sort of crystalize in my mind so if they’re different people in the present, I experience cognitive dissonance. I get confused as to why we’re not interacting the way we used to. I don’t understand why our relationship has a different rhythm, or even no rhythm at all. I’ll give the person chance after chance to return to who they were, to be like who I remembered, but they don’t. What to do about that? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

On Saturday at 2 a.m. my power went out because a car ran into a utility pole, which affected not only me, but approximately 900 other people. The power wasn’t restored until about 2 a.m. on Sunday morning and that meant all my plans for Saturday – doing laundry, roasting vegetables, heck, even blending a smoothie – were scuppered. What I had planned didn’t matter anymore because circumstances wouldn’t allow for it. The experience has me thinking about the qualities we as humans need at this time. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I read a Rumi quote the other day that struck me: “Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.” Wow. What a statement. So often I’ve moved in exactly that way. I’ve let fear motivate me and have made decisions from a fear-based state. I’m not judging myself for it – it makes sense because fear is like an alarm bell and I was doing whatever I could to turn it off. Historically, that’s meant spinning out and acting compulsively. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

There’s that saying, “There’s no such thing as an original idea. Every idea worth having has been had thousands of times already.” I’m not sure I fully agree with the quote because some ideas are truly original. After all, somebody had to experiment with putting together peanut butter, pickles, and sriracha sauce to learn it’s a great combo. And at the same time, I know we’re all putting our own spin on things. It reminds me of a quote by Mark Twain. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Years ago I heard a saying, “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.” On the one hand, I appreciate the sentiment because it underscores the necessity of hard work and effort. On the other hand, I think the saying plays too much into the mindset that if only you keep trying, you’ll get what you want. Frankly, that’s not always true. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

What motivates people to change? So often I think we as a society want to believe that if people only knew the truth, they would change out of the goodness of their hearts. If people only knew that by purchasing products made with palm oil, such as shampoo, cookies, peanut butter, microwave dinners, and more, they are contributing to the extinction of orangutans, they’d stop. (Side note: Palm oil has many names like “stearic acid” and “sodium lauryl sulphate” so it could be hiding in your products and you wouldn’t know.) And it’s true that sometimes informing people does move them enough to change their behavior. But sometimes it doesn't. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

June 21 and 22 are Amazon Prime days so I wanted to take a minute to talk about the reality of this company and capitalism in general. Earlier this month, the New York Times came out with an article titled “The Amazon Customers Don’t See.” It’s quite long so I won’t detail the intricacies of the article but instead highlight a few aspects. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

One day back in 2015, I rode the bus and while looking out the window noticed the barest glimmer of a rainbow, which I tried to capture on my phone. In my excitement, I started texting everyone and my mother, especially when the bus crested a hill and I noticed the rainbow ringed the sun. It was a sight to behold. In contrast, the two women sitting in front of me on the bus didn’t notice a thing. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Lately I keep thinking about the joy in small pleasures. Over Memorial Day Weekend, I felt some FOMO (“fear of missing out” for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym) because other people posted pictures of themselves at the beach, or taking a long hike, or chilling in someone’s backyard. I didn’t do any of those things. I was housesitting for some friends and swayed in a hammock while reading a good book. I picked strawberries straight from the plant and plucked snap peas off the vine. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

All week when people have asked me how I am, I’ve responded, “I feel like I’m in the fertile soil, in the dark, waiting to sprout.” Small things are happening in my life and I’m doing my best to honor the power of change in increments, like I wrote about last week. But it’s tough to be here, in the waiting. It reminds me of a piece by Mark Nepo called “The Courage of the Seed.” More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I am once again getting in touch with the concept of little by little. How small steps can amount to big changes. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

The other day I heard a quote that stopped me in my tracks. It’s from Mother Teresa who said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Wow. That quote right? It makes sense to me because when I think about the process of judging, it’s standing apart, removed from. To judge someone or something, you cannot be with them and love requires presence. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Lately I keep thinking about my Grandma Libele. Maybe because her birthday is right around this time. Or maybe for other reasons. Who knows? However, because the universe works this way, something interesting happened to me related to her and my grandpa. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

This week I keep thinking about a post I wrote in November 2015. I’m sharing it again now. Enjoy. The other day I had a conversation with my friend and neighbor about how I'm constantly seeking love from the “other.” And what I'm still learning is how to give love to myself and be OK with my own company. A lot of it comes down to being my own inner loving parent. She reminded me while it's true it's important to love ourselves, it's also important to remember we are the beloved. That we are the divine in physical form and we are already loved and cherished more than we can imagine. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I consistently wish my life was easier. I fantasize about getting everything I want immediately without any effort. It sounds like heaven. But maybe it’s the obstacles that make life satisfying. A part of me can’t believe I just wrote that because again, I’d take a little more instant gratification and a little less hard work, thanks. However, that’s not flesh and blood life. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

On Wednesday, I had three personal calls, a work call, went grocery shopping, had my hair cut, walked three miles getting to and fro, wrote an article, washed all my dishes, and made dinner from scratch. By the end of the day, I was completely zonked and chose to bail on my evening Zoom plans. Why? Because I’m a spoonie. I like to pretend I’m not a spoonie, but I’m a spoonie. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support