Silence and Stillness

 

Silence and stillness seek you.

It may have been awhile since you have talked, 

But they are ready to sit with you and give you all the time you need.

Silence and stillness in these last two weeks of the year are likely the best presents we can gift ourselves.

Silence and stillness, in these last 1.5 million heartbeats that will get us to 2026, could become our new rhythm.

Will we accept their invitation?

Will we make space for nothingness, for everything, for ourselves this holiday season?

 

May you find silence and stillness in these last days of the year, brothers and sisters.

And in those moments where you become distracted and overwhelmed,

May silence and stillness find you.

Mad Dash!

The plane wheels touched down at 11:33.

I exited the plan about 10 minutes later.

James Bond-esque dodging in and out of the airport-goers to get to an Uber at 11:51.

I was now speeding toward the University of California-Davis Medical School where I was to give a talk at 12:00.

[But for a moment, I let my mind wonder…No, I was trying to catch the smugglers before they left their hideout, one that I had discovered using binoculars and a pair of tweezers. This was becoming more like an A-Team episode…]

But back to reality, here I was on the highway, in an Uber, having left my wife behind to get bags and rental car. My head pounded from a morning of stress as delayed flights ruined the best made plans.

And then, I have to tell you about another person in this story.

Her name is Ashley. She was the one who arranged for the Uber, ditching our previous Plan B which was for me to somehow give the talk via Zoom from the Sacramento airport, as we didn’t think I could make it to the talk in person.

[I had imagined my wife getting surrounded by airport security. “Ma’am, you can’t leave luggage or husbands unattended in the airport. He has been over there at Baggage Carousel #5 for the last 40 minutes, talking about who knows what and annoying the heck out of our customers.”]

Ashley was that gentle guide that you need when in trouble, when things start spinning a bit too fast.

As the Uber screeched to the curb at the medical school at 12:12, Ashley was there waiting to escort me to the building. Her smile reassured me that all was going to be okay.

A few technical difficulties later, around 12:23, the talk began.

Ashley, and the good people at UC Davis, thank you for making yesterday something I can write about this morning with a smile.

And a receding headache…

Soul Recovery Cafe' - Healing Through Community

For those looking for a new path, a way to put addiction and trauma behind them, there is a new option in town.

The Soul Recovery Café (SRC) is an incredible group of individuals working on their own recovery as they build a space for others to do the same. They are not a twelve-step program, but have members who take part in these programs (e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous). SRC brings in traditional medicine and he healing power of movement into their work. But above it all, they recognize that addiction creates isolation and their work is to build community for all who are in their programs. This community becomes the scaffold on which recovery and new paths are built.

Their director, Elise Padilla, said a few things about their work that I felt are worth sharing, principles that all of us can aspire to live by.

1.       “We don’t build programs, we build community. The community will then build our programs.”

      Too often, we focus on how to build amazing programs without thinking much about how to build the community part. SRC takes the approach that if you get people who begin to trust one another, over food, conversation, ceremony, etc. then those people will bring their talents and ideas to do the work of building the programs.

Foundations for SRC’s work: radical hospitality and loving accountability

To be radically hospitable…sign me up. What a great thing to shoot for! To have an open-arms acceptance of those in our midst. Loving accountability thrown into the mix. Loving others in a way that is honest. It is love that is not afraid of hurting feelings, but is instead focused on promoting healing.

Finally, Elise shared that she has two rules for those who work at SRC:

(1)    Keep it fun

(2)    If you aren’t working on yourself, you aren’t working with me

The first part of this, a simple reminder that the most serious of work (e.g. helping someone out of addiction) should have fun elements at its core if it is to be effective. And the second, a reminder that in all of our work and lives, we must commit to our own healing and practice that if we hope to inspire others to do the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope the SRC way of doing things brings a smile to your heart this Friday.

And if you want to join us on New Year’s Day, we will be putting on a fun, non-competitive walk/run. The 3^rd Annual New Year’s Prediction Run/Walk is free, but we offer people a chance to donate funds that will go directly to SRC, with a goal of raising $5000. The entire event is centered in celebrating those in recovery, whether they are hours or days or months or years into sobriety. Hope that you will join us!

Fall Foliage Brilliance

 An ode to the trees is warranted.

Have you seen their brilliant yellows, oranges and reds around town?

Have you thanked them for their brilliance in showing up just when we need them?

Have you shared with them a story or two, sharing your brilliant colors in return?

The trees are magnificent this year, and today’s blog is a shout out to let them know their colorful gifts to our brownish NM landscape has not gone un-noticed.

As we often host out-of-town guests for Thanksgiving, I find myself apologizing for the brownish landscape.

“See that bare cottonwood over there? Just two weeks ago, it had bright yellow leaves that were incredible. 

[Skeptical look on relative's face]

"Here, let me show you a picture on my phone.”

 

I think this moment gives us a chance to learn and reflect as well.

The trees remind us that there is a season for everything.

The leaves must fall to nourish the earth so that the cycle of life can continue. Their work has not finished just because they fell from the tree. It is continuing, a next part of their journey.

The branches must become bare as winter calls for an energetic hibernation for all creatures, a redistribution of resources to survive through the winter.

The bare branches also a necessity for us to then appreciate the first green buds and leaves in the spring, lest we take such things for granted.

 

What lessons do you see + feel + hear in this transition moment?

Our 4 kiddos in front of trees @ Tingley Beach on Tuesday.

A Spooky Surprise

We stopped at the impressive Halloween display. An incredible fantasy land of inflatables. Clearly a family that loves the holiday and wants to make it special for others.

“Let’s get out of the car,” my daughter pleaded. “I bet we can see more that way.”

So, we became the intrusive sort of Halloween gazers, now peering through the front gates to get a better look at all that was inside. Skeletons, Dragons, Eyeballs, Ghosts and Ghouls.

My daughter asked, “What’s that noise?”

I listened and heard a beeping sound. I stepped back, thinking we had triggered an alarm system. 

Were we going to have an angry confrontation, being accused of trespassing?

Moments later, the gate began to open. Should we run?

Joel and Daniel, the homeowners came out to greet us.

“Come on into the yard and look around. And thank you for visiting.”

They proceeded to give us a tour of an incredible display of inflatables. My pictures here don’t do it justice.

But it wasn’t the inflatables that inspired this piece. It was the warmth with which this wonderful couple welcomed us, rewarding our “friendly trespassing” with a private tour of their ghostly landscape.

On the ride home, my simple words to my daughter:

“There are indeed many good people in this world.”

Thank you Joel and Daniel for the reminder.

Move On...Stay Fresh

 

“The main thing is to finish it and move on to the next one…to keep your mind fresh.”

 Jeremy Storter, Graphic Artist

 

This Tuesday, we held an event on campus called All Things Art. Originally, it was an effort of our College of Pharmacy (COP) to celebrate the creative side of the staff, faculty and students. We don’t have enough space to do this in the health professions, despite a common understanding that art and creativity are vital to health.

Well, some of us saw the COP event and wanted in. We begged for it to expand to include all of the UNM Health Sciences Campus. And thus, All Things Art has become an annual tradition. It is a grassroots effort with no committees (whaaaat???? Is that possible????). 

All Things Art is a pop up show that goes up and then comes down a few hours later.

No longer confined by our student/staff/faculty titles, we become creatives. 

We become painters, photographers, poets, musicians, fly fishing tie makers, weavers, baked goods creators, jewelry and clothing makers. We become human beings showing our creative side.

This year, we added a film festival to the event, and it was a wonderful addition. Allan Stone, a film-maker on our campus, made that part happen.

And that’s where I heard the quote above, in a short film Pulse: The Beat of Art.

“The main thing is to finish it and move on to the next one…to keep your mind fresh.”

Jeremy is talking about how he looks at an art piece he has created, seeing what he did well and seeing what mistakes he made.

He warns us about being trapped in what we have created, paralyzed in the analysis of that thing.

The goal is to move on.

How much do we struggle to remain “fresh” because we are stuck on the last thing – a patient visit, a test, an academic paper, a conversation with a loved one – wishing that we could get a chance to do it again?

Your turn:

Think, for a moment. 

What is a creation of yours that needs to be stamped “finished” so that you can move on.

Stamp it!

Done!

Comma replaced with period.

Move on.

Stay fresh!

Running Thru Clouds

The wisp ahead on the trail invited me to quicken the pace as I ran my morning run on Tuesday.

“A cloud?” I wondered.

Followed by, “I must still be half-asleep, dreaming this up.”

Running thru clouds is doesn’t happen often, especially in sunny-sky Albuquerque.

I got closer.

Now in the cloud.

Giving thanks.

Twirling and dancing like the child I am.

But, in the cloud, you don’t see the cloud.

In fact, I had to stop a few strides down the trail to look back and see if there was indeed a cloud.

There it was.

 

When in a cloud today:

Give thanks

    Become a child in wonder and delight

        Trust that it is there even if the eyes tell you otherwise

             Thank those who are your cloud

                     Become a cloud for others