The post for today is all about contrast and how it shows up in our lives.

A quick online search for the definition of contrast resulted in this:

The state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association: "the day began cold and blustery, in contrast to almost two weeks of uninterrupted sunshine".

The person who wrote that example must have lived in Colorado.
In the spring.
During the month of June.
When spring becomes summer.
Or, when winter bypasses spring and goes right into summer.
During the month of June.

What’s the point of this?

In Colorado the weather changes in a heartbeat.
On a dime.
Or, like Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour (that’s 16 outfit changes).
Google that!

The other point of this post is how contrast can be FUN!

For all you eye rollers out there keep reading…seriously.

Contrast shows up in myriad ways.
For example:

On Thursday, June 6 my friend Peter and I went to see Brit Floyd at Red Rocks Amphitheater. I purchased tickets last year when th...

“There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

Winston Churchill said that and from my perspective he was right!

The other evening after attending a 2-day training session from which I was somewhat brain tired my wife said to me “the water tank for the horses needs to be filled” as she made her way to an online meeting.

Usually this is not a big deal since we fill said tank every couple of days. BUT….this time I was in the middle of a mini-project attempting to get plastic sheeting over a raised garden frame to protect newly planted tomatoes and peppers all the while fighting the wind that threatened to blow the plastic sheeting over to the next county with me still holding on for dear life.

SERIOUSLY!
The wind here could lift a 1,200 pound hog if it had wings.

Looking at her with my best incredulous facial expression I said “I’m in the middle of something” while thinking YOU MUST BE OUT YOUR MIND WOMAN!

So much for practicing equanimity.

Getting back ...

Let’s face it - just reading the word cancer conjures all kinds of gremlins in our minds.

Remember this gnarly-looking gremlin from my Inner Critic post last week?



Well, it’s screaming BIG TIME whenever the ‘C’ word is mentioned.

Hell, I had a small basal carcinoma on my forehead a few years ago. Thankfully, it was caught very early by my dermatologist and he removed it with clean and clear results. Living in Colorado where the altitude at our home is above 6,800 feet the sun is very strong. Whenever I go out the most prominent feature on my face, my nose and my forehead look a bit ghostly white from sunscreen. Eventually my skin absorbs said sunscreen and I go about my day whether it’s taking the furry family out for a hike or working around our horse property.

Oh, and, I always wear a floppy wide-brim hat to protect my face.

Ode To Cowboy Hats
No cowboy hats on this dude.
Tried it before.
Not a good look - it was crude.
Some guys have a cowboy hat head.
No, no, no, not me.
End of story I ...

Hey, You!
Yes, You!

It’s me!
Your Inner Critic, aka, the snarky ‘what in the actual HELL are you doing?’ troll or gremlin voice in your head.

Oh, you know this voice SOOOOOOO well, dontcha?
Dontcha! Dontcha!DONTCHA!!

“Why, if you knew half things you think you knew, you’d be half-assed.”

You know whose voice that really is?
Anyone who criticized you during your formative years.

Let’s list those buggers.

Your father.
Your mother.
Your brother.
Your sister.
Your teacher.
Your classmates.
Your friends.
Your neighborhood bully.

Those blasted trolls are still running your life by telling you all that downer shit, only, you hear them as yourself.

I can’t do ________.
I can’t have _________.
I’m not good enough for ________.
I’m not worthy of _________.

Oh, oh, ANNNNNND, you hear it from your current friends or people you hang out with.
Because.
Misery.
Loves.
Company.

Will it ever end?
When will it end?

The answer to that question lies within.

When you have had enough.

There’s a fantastic book titled “Taming Your Greml...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in our lives. To honor this very important part of healthcare, I’ll offer mental health resources available to all of our communities.

If you need it, help is out there. You are not alone.


Did you know that according to the National Institute of Mental Health it is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (57.8 million in 2021).
Reference: Mental illness

That’s a hard number to digest! It’s no wonder we’re feeling out-of-sorts with all the lunacy (my word) for the current state of events: threats to democracy, dignity, and human rights around the world; and the lack of ethical and moral leadership in our country!

How trauma can be passed down
Mental health is known to begin with our family of origin. That’s right! Our parents, grandparents, and on up the line of our lineage may be a source of our mental health.
It’s no ...

Have you ever wondered what it’s like living with Post Traumatic Stress? Actually, I hope you never have to personally experience it.

Do you know anyone who lives with Post Traumatic Stress also known as PTSD? Perhaps a family member or a friend of yours lives with PTS. Do you know how to help someone when they are triggered?

I can tell you from personal experience exactly what it’s like living with post traumatic stress and how my meditation practice has helped me overcome trigger points over the years.

First, let’s dive into what Post Traumatic Stress is.

The information below is borrowed from The Mayo Clinic, specifically, this website: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967#. The bold items indicate my personal account of post traumatic stress.

Causes
You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you go through, see or learn about an event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation.

D...

During a recent trip to the east coast I had a revelation that opened my eyes and my heart.

Ya gotta know the beginning before we get to the juicy part…

I was born in Brooklyn, New York and then moved to Holbrook, Long Island with my family when I was 14. That was a lifetime ago and yet - I still identify with those roots.

“Yeah, I’m from Brooklyn and Long Island.“ stating it like I’m wearing a badge of honor or some such shit.

That is up until quite recently when my wife and I visited the East Coast. We went to Vermont for the total solar eclipse (phenomenal and breathtaking) and then down to Long Island for a few days of visiting places that I haven’t seen in many years.

We had a great time visiting the Long Island Music Hall of Fame https://www.limusichalloffame.org to see the Billy Joel – My Life, A Piano Man’s Journey – The Ultimate Exhibition!  https://www.limusichalloffame.org/billy-joel-exhibit

My wife and I are fans of Billy Joel and really enjoyed the exhibition, which...

You know all about the hero’s journey because you’ve seen it a million and one times.

For clarification let’s take a moment to spell it out.  

Joseph Campbell was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. Campbell's best-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.

The hero's journey is a common narrative archetype, or story template, that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, learns a lesson, wins a victory with that newfound knowledge, and then returns home transformed.

This is important because we’re going to apply the concept to your life.

Before we do let’s look at some examples from the literary and entertainment industries.

Books and movies that are grounded in the hero’s journey include:

“Harry ...

The Art of You

Do you know how many books start or have in their title “The Art of”?

What if there were over 2,000,001 books with the title?

That’s a whole lotta books. Okay, so there's not quite that many.

I did a Google search and found 445 books that have “The Art of“ in the title.

It’s still a lot, which is quite surprising and some of them are really well-known.
Here's the top 10:
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Peanuts: the Art of Charles M Schultz
The Art of Racing In The Rain (Damn good book!)
The Art of Stone Painting
The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
Home comforts: The Art and Science of Maintaining House
75 years of D. C. Comics. The Art of Modern Myth Making
The Art of War
The Art of Seduction

Fascinating that “The Art of Seduction” follows immediately after “The Art of War”.

Pillage, Plunder, and Seduction?
“Sorry, m’love, but me arm is ‘anging out o’ the socket and aah’ve got a wicked ‘eadache.”

Apologies to the Monty ...

Why is it that we look outside ourselves to fill the endless void?

We live in a world that espouses materialism and without the next biggest baddest thing our lives are lacking.

We are bombarded by commercials that tell us our clothes aren’t really clean unless we use their mega formulated laundry detergent. Or, the clothes still stink even after washing them. 

Our dishes aren’t really clean unless we use the one cleaner that was used to clean 8,428 ducks!!!! 

We’re obsessed with being freaky clean. Don’t let those germs in!

Or if we don’t have the next shiny new ultra high-tech car or truck, well pal, you're just not hip (that’s Boomer speak for cool).  

It’s no wonder you feel hollow. Face it.  You’re basically screwed for life. 

Unless…

DUCKS!!!

Not really. 

But, we have an answer at the Enlightened Squirrel Healing Arts Center. 

What if we could show you how to be okay with yourself as you are right now?

Notice I didn’t say good or great or magoo. 

You begin where you ...