From “Natural Wakefulness”:  “Communities of celebration evoke and then bask in the joy of human togetherness.”

This we experienced las November 10 and again last December 15 at our favorite eatery, Chickboy at Harrison Plaza. We enjoyed togetherness with what has emerged as a kind of core group for the drumming session facilitated by Francis Gspar. Friends of kindred spirit but certainly of diverse personalities celebrated the transformational joy of community. Personalities like the happy sisters Oding and Beng; the couple from China Banking Marivic and Rois; Val from SJDDios; Emil and myself and our adopted son Marc Co. Not to be forgotten is Bernice,the wife of Francis.

Gaylon Ferguson continued:  We share a common ground with our sisters and brothers, and the ground is a space for music and dance, for festivals and ritual gatherings. Communal feasts are the practice of great joy, looking up toward the space of heaven, down to the practicalities of earth, and the horizontally at the family of basic goodness . Through this practice of meditative awareness in action, natural wakefulness blossoms as enlightened society.

It is in our self-interest as individuals and as people in a community to review our reading skills. At age 70 I find it necessary to engage with social media if only to survive by learning new coping skills.

It is not only the new vocabulary. I have to familiarize myself with more often than not with the nuances of the ideas. Notwithstanding my many years of analyzing print media and teaching literary appreciation I know I have yet to learn so much.

Take for example one Facebook post about a shampoo.

Many people use shampoo in the shower. However, when doing so the shampoo runs down

the body. Printed clearly on the shampoo label

“For extra body and volume”

No wonder people gain weight

I must confess, that for just a second I was fooled. I had gotten used to reading posts about important alerts about dangerous taxi drivers, the dangers of drinking thawed cold mineral water from the plastic bottles, immigration officers tearing pages from passports etc I intently paid attention to that shampoo post.

The lesson for me is to follow a standard Buddhist warning not to believe everything that one is told but to test things for one’s self.

     My second drumming session with our friend Francis Gaspar was an experience of freedom. For some minutes I did not mind not being in control. I even allowed my body to move with the rhythm.

But better yet was the freedom I experience moving from the intellectual thoughts to what would pass as mundane thoughts but expanded. My thoughts went beyond my aches and pains to embrace with compassion the people around me. I felt I was one with the security guards of Grand Towers for whom my husband and I were hosting a party.

It was a good Christmas experience celebrating with a friend from SJDDIOS, with the happy sisters:Oding and Beng, with our adopted son, Marc, with our godchildren Marivic and Rois and of course with Bernice the wife of Francis.

A fitting quotation from Life Is a Gift says: Freedom means loving yourself enough to be true to yourself and trust your emotional guidance. It means not giving in to what is socially expected or what others demand of you or what the inner voices of fear exhort you to do nor feelings bound by past choices that are no longer serving you. It means making choices that express more of who you are. It means feeling your way into the flow. It means having faith in a loving cosmos.

Similar to the statements of Esther Hicks, Mike Dooley in Infinite Possibilities says: Whenever [emotions] are unpleasant they serve as a reminder that our present perception is not based on truth but misinterpretation of the truth.

So I give myself permission to quickly change my thoughts. The change in my feelings doesn’t happen automatically – not yet.

Slowly as I allow myself to look at the bigger picture, I see my limiting beliefs and self-doubts. I realize I have the power to choose my thoughts.

I then stretch my imagination to expand my world. It creeps but slowly my mood changes into a pleasant one.

Similar to the statements of Esther Hicks, Mike Dooley in Infinite Possibilities says: Whenever [emotions] are unpleasant they serve as a reminder that our present perception is not based on truth but misinterpretation of the truth.

So I give myself permission to quickly change my thoughts. The change in my feelings doesn’t happen automatically – not yet.

Slowly as I allow myself to look at the bigger picture, I see my limiting beliefs and self-doubts. I realize I have the power to choose my thoughts.

I then stretch my imagination to expand my world. It creeps but slowly my mood changes into a pleasant one.