Archive for the rituals category
December 6, 2011
Hereafter…
Twenty years ago yesterday, my Mom died.
On the anniversary of my mother’s passing, I usually light a candle and place it beside the urn containing her ashes as soon as I wake up. But because of my latest move, the urn is still at my son’s place, so the morning went by without my accomplishing this yearly ritual.
After lunch, I was sitting on the couch, gazing at my small but cozy one-and-a-half-room apartment, when I got the answer to a question that had been bothering me for weeks: where can I put that cute lamp I love so much?
Of course! The brand new IKEA Billy bookcase in the corner — it definitely lacked a dash of light.
So I rushed to the closet, grabbed the lamp away from its hiding place, and proceeded to make a niche for it on the third shelf of my darling Billy.
Once the job was done, I sat back down on the couch to admire how the once gloomy corner was now beaming with a lovely green glow. That’s when I noticed, on the shelf above the lamp, Mom’s picture taken in 1987 on her trip to Belgium to visit my brother Robert (a.k.a. Bobby Baby).
A shiver went through my body… and instantly, I said out loud:
Awwww… Maman… Maman… Maman.
Well as soon as I finished pronouncing the third Maman,
the lamp went off.
The bulb chose that exact moment to burn out.
I knew it was a sign.
Mom was saying Hi!
So I got back up, took her picture off the shelf, put it on my work table, and lit two candles — one on each side of the picture frame.
They burned all day for my Maman, Yvonne Thériault, a native of Paquetville, New Brunswick, who died on December 5, 1991.
That day, she had walked the mile-and-a-half walk to the village, in sub-zero weather, to buy groceries. Mom didn’t own a car. She didn’t have a driver’s permit. Mom was an enthusiastic walker.
On her way back from the village, she had stopped over at her friend’s house for some hot coffee and the usual chit-chat. Then, as it was getting dark, she had walked home, had eaten supper, and had retreated to her rocking chair to watch television.
In the evening, television was all Mom had for entertainment. So she would sit in her rocking chair, all alone in that house of hers by the side of a dirt road. In the middle of nowhere. In Sainte-Sophie-de-Lévrard.
Oh how she hated watching television.
She used to say, C’est plate à mort!
Which translates to It bores me to death!
And so Death struck Yvonne in her rocking chair…
while she was watching television.
* * *
Herenow…
Since posting Reality Won’t Destroy Me, I’ve decided to connect to the Twenty-First Century: I now have Internet and basic cable television. With the television channels come — to my delight — more than forty music stations. As I type away, I’m listening to Flashback Seventies on Galaxy… after overdosing on Smooth Jazz Christmas.
But the good news is, I get to publish my blog posts and communicate with you directly from my humble adobe.
Life is so darn beautiful.
Hope yours is too.
LOVE YOU!
P.S.: Thanks for all your kind words and cheers on Facebook. And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment as I really look forward to more action and interaction right here on my blog.
P.P.S.: About SUBSCRIPTIONS — I didn’t receive an email notice for my last blog post. So I went ahead and subscribed again (see subscribe icons at top-right corner of this site). If you didn’t receive an email notice as well, please subscribe again. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, please do as I should be posting on a more regular basis in the future and you want to make sure you follow my new Mountain Adventures on this Road Trip Destination Happiness. Oh yeah, baby!
November 26, 2011
I hadn’t written in quite a long while and then suddenly, here was Ray Bradbury telling me You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.
So this morning, my faithful Waterman and I chose to go back to writing our Morning Pages.
It was about time…
QUESTION: What does a girl do, on a Friday night, when she has no television, no internet, and when the only stations she catches on her radio are Radio-Canada Première chaîne, CBC Radio One, and CIME FM (antithesis of CHOM)?
ANSWER: She drives hundreds of cloves into oranges while listening to her collection of old CDs.
Once the arts-and-crafts part of the evening is over, she settles down on the couch with popcorn and grape juice to watch Christmas in Connecticut, a four-dollar-and-ninety-nine-cent-DVD she discovered soon after entering her local Canadian Tire store — where she was on a quest to find the perfect toilet bowl scrubbing brush —, a black and white movie, circa 1945, starring Barbara Stanwyck and the ever-so-handsome Dennis Morgan.
That’s it.
That’s what I did last night.
Because as of November 2, I now live in Mont-Tremblant / Saint-Jovite, where I’m not connected to Cogeco or to Sirius or to any other highly technological device. Actually, I still don’t know if I’ll ever end up being connected to the Twenty-First Century, but one thing I do know for sure is that I’m not afraid of 2012. Nope, not one bit afraid of the end of the world. For me, the end of the world happened this year. And I don’t feel like talking about it.
At the moment, I’m chilling. I’m relaxing.
I’m taking things as they come.
You see, I’ve decided — finally — that from now on,
everything will be all right,
everything will be okay,
everything will be fine.
Life is beautiful.
Oh yeah!
P.S.: I’m grateful for Van Houtte‘s internet connection.
P.P.S.: My tiny one-and-a-half apartment reeks of cloves. Good thing I didn’t decorate the whole bag of oranges. Sheesh…
P.P.P.S.: Thanks for reading my stuff after all these months. If you have the time, please leave a comment and tell me how you’re doing.
I LOVE YOU 
February 27, 2011
Here’s another slice of my 2010 Highlight Moments, but without the superfluous links and elaborate explanations which were so painfully present in part one — live and learn!
APRIL
Our housing co-op gets its ventilation ducts cleaned, and my son Vincent turns thirty-one (story of his birth).
MAY
While my son Sébastien and his wife are in Jamaica, I spend ten days at their house with Justin, their youngest son, and Molly, their Golden Retriever.
This is the gift they bought for me — “HAVE A NICE DAY”
And here is the artist, Philip Henry.
My daughter-in-law said that this drawing reminded her of the ones that I draw. Coooooooool.
Back home, I give my balcony its usual spring makeover.
JUNE
My mammography turns out fine…
my grandson Justin turns four…
and I buy my MacBook Pro…
ho ho ho!
JULY
My oldest grandson turns eight; I get a new Mac because the other one was a lemon (O the drama and the multiple visits to the Apple Store!); and my brother sends me postcards from Rouen, in France, where our ancestor René de LaVoye was born (they will be added to my POSTCARDS FROM BOBBY BABY collection real soon).
Up untill then — minus the Mac episode — the year had been pretty darn smooth.
To be continued!
_____________________________________________________
February 2, 2011
I got goose bumps when I picked this Rune on New Year’s Eve as it’s so appropriate for what I’m doing this year: writing my memoirs.
Thurisaz
Gateway
Place of Non-Action
The God Thor
With a gateway for its symbol, this Rune indicates that there is work to be done both inside and outside yourself. The gateway is the frontier between Heaven and the mundane. Arriving here is a recognition of your readiness to contact the numinous, the Divine, to illuminate your experience so that its meaning shines through its form.
Thurisaz is a Rune of non-action. Thus, the gateway is not to be approached and passed through without contemplation. Here you are being confronted with a true reflection of what is hidden in yourself, what must be exposed and examined before successful action can be undertaken. This Rune strengthens your ability to wait. Now is not a time to make decisions. Deep transformational forces are at work in this next-to-last of the Cycle Runes.
Visualize yourself standing before a gateway on a hilltop. Your entire life lies out behind you and below. Before you step through, pause and review the past: the learning and the joys, the victories and the sorrows — everything it took to bring you here. Observe it all, bless it all, release it all. For in letting go of the past you reclaim your power.
Step through the gateway now.
(From The Book of Runes, by Ralph Blum)
April 26, 2010
Yesterday, I had supper with Louis-Ferdinand Céline.
Today, I had lunch with the Dalai Lama.
Lucky moi, eh?
You see, I’ve been living all by my lonesome self for 12 years now, and it’s become a habit of mine to read while I eat my meals.
Today, for instance, I had the honour to share my sandwich and salad with His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama via his book, How to See Yourself As You Really Are.
Here’s what the Dalai Lama has to say in the introduction:
My Perspective
When we rise in the morning and listen to the news or read the newspaper, we are confronted with the same sad stories — violence, wars, and disasters. It is clear that even in modern times precious life is not safe: I cannot recall a single daily news program without a report of crime somewhere. There is so much bad news nowadays, such an awareness of fear and tension, that any sensitive and compassionate being must question the “progress” we have made in our modern world.
Ironically, the most serious problems emanate from industrially advanced societies, where unprecedented literacy only seems to have fostered restlessness and discontent. There is no doubt about our collective progress in many areas — especially science and technology — but somehow our advances in knowledge are not sufficient. Basic human problems remain. We have not succeeded in bringing about peace, or in reducing overall suffering.
This situation brings me to the conclusion that there may be something seriously wrong with the way we conduct our affairs, which, if not checked in time, could have disastrous consequences for the future of humanity. Science and technology have contributed immensely to the overall development of humankind, to our material comfort and well-being as well as to our understanding of the world we live in. But if we put too much emphasis on these endeavors, we are in danger of losing those aspects of human knowledge that contribute to the development of an honest and altruistic personality.
Science and technology cannot replace the age-old spiritual values that have been largely responsible for the true progress of world civilization as we know it today. Not one can deny the material benefits of modern life, but we are still faced with suffering, fear, and tension — perhaps more now than ever before. So it is only sensible to try to strike a balance between material development on the one side and development of spiritual values on the other. In order to bring about a great change, we need to revive and strengthen our inner values.
I hope that you share my concern about the present worldwide moral crisis, and that you will join me in calling on all humanitarians and religious practitioners who share this concern to contribute to making our societies more compassionate, just, and equitable. I say this not as a Buddhist or even as a Tibetan but simply as a human being. I also do not speak as an expert on international politics (though I unavoidably comment on these matters) but as a part of the Buddhist tradition, which like the traditions of other great world religions, is founded on the bedrock of concern for all beings. From this perspective, I share with you the following personal beliefs:
- That universal concern is essential to solving global problems.
- That love and compassion are the pillars of world peace.
- That all world religions seek to advance world peace, as do all humanitarians of whatever ideology.
- That each individual has a responsibility to shape institutions to serve the needs of the world.
* * *
Throughout the book, His Holiness offers step-by-step exercises to help us shatter our false assumptions and ideas… and see the world as it actually exists. So if you want to discover the reality behind appearances, put your 3D glasses on and read the book!
P.S. : I’m not too sure about No. 3 = that all world religions seek to advance world peace. How about you?
February 15, 2010
BABY STEP
FOR THIS WEEK
Ever since starting my Morning Walks, I stopped writing my Morning Pages. Every time I stop writing my Morning Pages, I lose contact with my Soul. And now is not the time to lose contact with my Soul — I’m on a quest for change!
The practice of writing Morning Pages — just like the practice of Morning Walks — is a form of meditation. Here’s what Julia Cameron has to say about this in The Artist’s Way:
We meditate to discover our own identity, our right place in the scheme of the universe. Through meditation, we acquire and eventually acknowledge our connection to an inner power source that has the ability to transform our outer world. In other words, meditation gives us not only the light of insight but also the power for expansive change.
Insight in and of itself is an intellectual comfort. Power in and of itself is a blind force that can destroy as easily as build. It is only when we consciously learn to link power and light that we begin to feel our rightful identities as creative beings. The morning pages allow us to forge this link. They provide us with a spiritual ham-radio set to contact the Creator Within. For this reason, the morning pages are a spiritual practice.
It is impossible to write morning pages for any extended period of time without coming into contact with an unexpected inner power. Although I used them for many years before I realized this, the pages are a pathway to a strong and clear sense of self. They are a trail that we follow into our own interior, where we meet both our own creativity and our creator.
Morning pages map our own interior. Without them, our dreams may remain terra incognita. Using them, the light of insight is coupled with the power for expansive change. It is very difficult to complain about a situation morning after morning, month after month, without being moved to constructive action. The pages lead us out of despair and into undreamed-of solutions.
So from now on, I will wake up at 6:00 in the morning instead of 7:00. I will write my Morning Pages, then take my Morning Walk, and do my Morning Stretches.
Amen!
REFERENCES: The 12-Notch Plan — Notch #2 – GOALS for February — UPDATE / Week of February 8 to 14 — Morning Pages
