Saturday, September 29, 2007

Compassion


Compassion provides us with a concrete way to make the world a better place, and this alone is entirely worth its development. Everyone recognizes the innate value of kindness. This is not news. After death, a compassionate person is lauded: "Her kindness touched all who met her". Very seldom do we read on a tombstone how clever someone was, or how rich or successful. Kindness evidently touches a universal truth in us all.

Compassionate acts are generally considered those that take into account the suffering of others and attempt to alleviate that suffering. It is a skill to be learned and practiced. It doesn’t come all at once.

Start by imagining the suffering of someone you know or love. Understand their pain, the emotions they go through, and why they might act the way they do. By doing this a number of times, you will begin to develop a skill that can be applied to others - for every person you see, try to understand what they are going through. Try to learn and understand more about their background, and why they choose to do what they do. Once you've developed this invaluable skill, learn the other half of compassion - acting on your understandings, and helping others, alleviating their suffering, acting with kindness…..just holding a door open for another can bring a smile, right!

The more we practice compassion, the more we become mindful of the needs of the others in our world. And our own lives become graced with simple happiness.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Two delights

There is a short piece on the radio that I am really liking. Iris (e-reese) Bahr's weekly work arrives about 4:45 pm on Mondays, just when my commute home becomes most tedious.
Here is a description: "Social Studies" is a three-minute, rapid-fire satire about power, politics, and popular culture, seen through the lens of Svetlana, a Russian prostitute to Hollywood stars and political heavyweights. Here is the link to listen to some of her previous offerings:
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/ss
You might want to give "Tofu Forum" a test drive.

I also want to bring to your attention a delightful site that has simple, sweet games. All the games are written by Ferry Halim. He lives in and codes his games from Fresno, CA. "Bees" is one of my favorites and at least one of his games usually helps wash the stresses of the day away.
Here is the link to his site:
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

I have added these two sites to my 'Links To Share' section.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Is inflation giving you a scare?

We have been hearing a lot about the 'subprime meltdown', the recent action of the Fed, (lowering the prime rate 50 basis points), and the rising price of gasoline, bread and milk etc.
Actually, inflation is tame today, but its effects sneak up on you after a long period of time (like grey hair and extra pounds). The purchasing power of our dollars gradually erode with time.
It is important therefore to think hard before you buy something. Practice abstinence: when items are priced higher, you’ll be spending more, so try every excuse you can to avoid making impulse purchases. Or change your shopping habits so you buy at lower cost places.

A good strategy is to be debt free and when you need to shop, pay with cash. A better strategy is to use a credit card. But you must pay off your balance each month! This is most important because the rates that the card companies charge verge on usury. Also chose a card that gives good rewards.....like 1% to 5% cash back.

One last suggestion is to buy TIPs and I-Bonds, which are types of bonds that offer inflation protection. Some good points about these investments: even in the case of a deflationary environment, you still receive the face value of the bond while interest rates keep at zero or higher; these bonds do not correlate with typical asset classes like stocks and bonds, so they offer diversification; and they pay out more when inflation rises.
You can buy them directly from the government at:
treasurydirect.gov
(There is a limit of 30 thousand dollars a year)
And: there is no commission because you are buying them without a broker.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Rain and a little thinking

There was an early season rain event yesterday.
Everything is cleaner now. The air is scrubbed and my car is rinsed.
There was a mud flow for the folks that live in the burn area near me, but fortunately the damage was slight. Most just have more laundry to do.

I am so new to this that I don't know where to go next.
I am still 'putting on the bones', setting up the page.
I am thinking about whether I want to have a different theme for each blogging day. For example: simple ways to keep your house clean or keeping clutter off of the desk. And another day for tips on shopping and cooking frugally, etc.

I am adding a links section today. These are sites that I like a lot. Amazingly, the first 2 sites are about technology! Both are somewhat tongue in cheek, and they feature the newest and coolest tech goodies. I will add more sites as the days go by.

I also wonder what tone I want to strike here.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Has this occured to you too?

There is a flow in the universe, and it is called Tao. The Tao is never stagnant and is incredibly powerful and keeps things in the universe balanced and in order. It manifests itself through change of seasons, cycle of life, shifts of power, time, and so forth.

Friday, September 21, 2007

A thought


We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that
holds whatever we want.