2012.02.11 13:00 - Tai Chi Housekeeping and Grace

The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray. The comments are by Bruce Mowbray.

In this session, Korel, Eliza, Stevenaia, Zon, and Bruce discussed frustration, roles, creating "space" for options, Tai Chi housekeeping, and grace.  Immediately following this session, three of us moved on to Pila's I Ching workshop, where we continued our in-depth exploration of energy flow.

Bruce Mowbray: Howdy, Kori.
Korel Laloix: Heya
Korel Laloix: Sorry, cooking so in and out.
Bruce Mowbray: Yum yum!
Korel Laloix: What you up to today?
Bruce Mowbray: Howdy, Eliza.

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: House cleaning.
Eliza Madrigal: Greetings :)
Bruce Mowbray: Too cold to go outside -- wind chill of zero (F) today.
Eliza Madrigal: brrr
Bruce Mowbray: on steroids brr.
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Korel Laloix: That sounds very not fun.
Eliza Madrigal: I know little of these things
Korel Laloix: What you on steroids for? If you don't mind me asking.
Bruce Mowbray: It's actually dangerous. . . for pets and folks whose cars break down in the country.
Korel Laloix: Cold is bad.
Bruce Mowbray: Not ME, Kori. The BRRRR.
Eliza Madrigal: imagine so
Korel Laloix: OH OK.
Bruce Mowbray: ;-) - - I was on steroids for the first time when I was in Halifax, though.
Bruce Mowbray: Prednisone - for brain swelling.
Korel Laloix: OH OK.
Bruce Mowbray: (not related to ego-swelling, of course).
Korel Laloix: Sounds bad.
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Korel Laloix smiles
Korel Laloix: It is below freezing here, so I hate that.
Bruce Mowbray: No steroids work for my ego-swelling, of course.
Eliza Madrigal: oh that one could get a shot for inflamed ego ... laughs
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, we Ohioans ganged up on you southerners and send the cold stuff down there.
Korel Laloix: Thanks.. not.
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: ♥
Korel Laloix: And there is a steady wind here as well.. very not fun.
Eliza Madrigal: quite warm here :) raining for days and days... enjoy it
Korel Laloix: But I did do my run this morning...won my category.. mainly because it was so cold I wanted to get it over with... lol
Bruce Mowbray: Yeppers, it's the wind that makes the chill factor so bad -- and tonight it will get down to 11 degrees (F) PLUS the wind.
Eliza Madrigal: ::::applause::::::
Korel Laloix: That and the fact that there were only four of us... grins
Eliza Madrigal: (for Kori)
Bruce Mowbray: [`·.] APPLAUSE!! [.·´]
Eliza Madrigal smiles
Bruce Mowbray: Just "running" to the mailbox was enough for moi.
Korel Laloix: It was not fun.
Eliza Madrigal: brb kettle whistling
Korel Laloix: Never ran that bundled up before.
Bruce Mowbray: kk.
Bruce Mowbray runs for coffee.
Korel Laloix: Having some mulled wine.
Korel Laloix: Lovely to warm up with and cook with.. smiles
Bruce Mowbray LOVES mulled wine. ♥
Bruce Mowbray: OH WAIT!!
Bruce Mowbray: This is MY session.
Korel Laloix: Had some in Germany when I was there.
Bruce Mowbray: How dumb can I get?
Eliza Madrigal: haha... is your calendar off too?
Korel Laloix: But recently found it again here.
Eliza Madrigal giggles, what is with this day?!
Bruce Mowbray: Crazy, huh?
Bruce Mowbray: Bleu and I thought the guardian meeting was this morning.
Bruce Mowbray: and I also installed my art project in the dome a day early.
Bruce Mowbray: whew!
Eliza Madrigal: you could have gotten a lot accomplished with just the two of you :)
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Eliza Madrigal makes note to take a look
Korel Laloix: I don't keep track really.. my SL schedule is so erratic when I am not at work.
Eliza Madrigal: I find schedules pretty liberating, in theory, haha
Korel Laloix: I keep a very tight schedule most of the time when I can.
Eliza Madrigal: structure is a good 'idea' :)
Bruce Mowbray: Do either of you have a topic you'd like to discuss today?
Eliza Madrigal: um.... hmm...
Korel Laloix: Several things been on my mind.
Eliza Madrigal listens
Bruce Mowbray also listens.
Korel Laloix: Nothing really deep though... and more of a personal flavor.
Bruce Mowbray: What's been on my mind is frustration.
Eliza Madrigal: :) am sure that is a topic we all can relate to
Korel Laloix: I know that feeling.. anything in particular?
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe that's why my days are "off" recently.
Korel Laloix: Could be.
Korel Laloix: Having a continued personality conflict at work that makes things frustrating.
Bruce Mowbray: I'm very frustrated with the medical delivery system, but I get even more frustrated when I think about it, so probably not the best topic for discussion.
Korel Laloix: Probably not then...
Bruce Mowbray: Although, I wish I could do better with frustration in general -- than just forgetting about it.
Eliza Madrigal: systems can be pretty frustrating... feeling "heard"
Bruce Mowbray: I get all tangled up in it, frankly.
Eliza Madrigal nods
Korel Laloix: I think we all do.
Bruce Mowbray: NOT feeling heard, actually, Eliza.
Eliza Madrigal: yes same point
Korel Laloix: Some are just more frustrating than others.
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Eliza Madrigal: feeling heard fully is like some miracle
Bruce Mowbray: I wish I could handle it better than having to "dump" it all on good friends who are compassionate enough to listen to my tales of woe.
Korel Laloix: Out of cumin.. rats.
Bruce Mowbray: Oh dear..
Bruce Mowbray: sorry about that, Kori.
Korel Laloix: A point of prayer for me.
Eliza Madrigal: aw
Korel Laloix: The frustration thing, not the cumin... smiles
Bruce Mowbray listens for Kori's point of prayer.

--BELL--

Korel Laloix: For more grace when frustrated.
Bruce Mowbray: Perhaps if I could remember to "drop" for nine [or 90] seconds when I first start to be frustrated. . .
Eliza Madrigal: ***GRACE***
Eliza Madrigal: mmmmmm
Bruce Mowbray: But really, probably the best thing for me would be to just go inside the frustration itself and sit there.
Bruce Mowbray: sit there with grace, of course.
Eliza Madrigal: grace to let yourself off the hook when you give in to frustration sometimes too
Eliza Madrigal: restart :)
Bruce Mowbray: oh yes.
Eliza Madrigal: I have been frustrated with myself lately
Bruce Mowbray is frustrated that he handles frustration so badly.
Bruce Mowbray: (chasing his tail, again).
Eliza Madrigal: with the way I see myself compartmentalize
Korel Laloix: Stuffing some pablano chilis with buffalo and amaranth spicy mixture.
Eliza Madrigal: I click into roles sometimes as into vehicles
Korel Laloix: I have a lot of very different roles as well.
Bruce Mowbray: Compartmentalization . . . roles. . . (robot like, Eliza?)
Eliza Madrigal: and leave a lot out of view, then get mad when people don't see me or hear me clearly :)
Korel Laloix: Some require more frustration than others.
Bruce Mowbray: Wow. Wonderful self-perception.
Bruce Mowbray: I guess compassion for myself would be in order, too.
Eliza Madrigal: yes
Korel Laloix: My job is mostly nice.. but we have some clients and staff that are really dysfunctional human beings.
Eliza Madrigal: grace
Korel Laloix: I love the word.
Korel Laloix: It means so many things.
Eliza Madrigal: me too... just typing it there is a yumminess :D
Bruce Mowbray: From earliest childhood, I have regarded the universe as "gracious."
Korel Laloix: When I was changing my name, I thought about the name Grace.
Eliza Madrigal: "saying grace" before meals, a "gracious" host
Eliza Madrigal: Lovely Korel... in SL or RL?
Bruce Mowbray: Grace appears in many forms, on many levels.
Korel Laloix: RL
Korel Laloix: Grace under pressure.
Eliza Madrigal smiles
Korel Laloix: And in the religious sense as well.
Bruce Mowbray remembers how graceful most animals are.
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Korel Laloix: Or aren't.
Korel Laloix: The cat that has us is not graceful at all, unless he is hunting.
Bruce Mowbray can't think of an un-graceful animal at the moment, though.
Eliza Madrigal: feel grace is the sense of presence or trust which would allow one not to do the sort of compartmentalizing I described
Bruce Mowbray: ungraceful cats?
Korel Laloix: Ones that are overfed and wanting a warm lap to sit in.
Eliza Madrigal: to have compartments and roles but move fluidly from one to another, like music changing patterns
Bruce Mowbray: so, is "flowing" through situations without locking oneself into roles -- Is that a form of grace?
Korel Laloix: I don't want a fluid transition.
Bruce Mowbray: yes, that's what I meant.
Korel Laloix: I like to flick a switch and be there.
Eliza Madrigal: well there are different kinds of music
Bruce Mowbray: Why not, Kori?
Bruce Mowbray: ok.
Bruce Mowbray: Flip a switch and be there.
Bruce Mowbray: Mmmmm.
Korel Laloix: When I walk through the door at work, I want to be there, not work my way into it.
Bruce Mowbray: [or flick a switch]
Korel Laloix: Same with classes.
Korel Laloix: yes.
Eliza Madrigal: ah, I see
Bruce Mowbray: Do you wake up quickly in the morning, Kori?
Eliza Madrigal: yes there is a kind of liberation to that also
Bruce Mowbray: spontaneity.
Eliza Madrigal: what is needed coming available in the given context
Bruce Mowbray: in-the-moment.
Eliza Madrigal: yes!
Korel Laloix: Sleep is a bad topic with me, but generally yes.. but have to have coffee very shortly afterwards... smiles
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, steve.
stevenaia Michinaga: waves
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Stevie.... nice topic... Grace
Korel Laloix: osiyo
stevenaia Michinaga: mmmm, so hard for some
stevenaia Michinaga: in what sense?
Korel Laloix: I try to be gracefully with my mother.
stevenaia Michinaga: (grace)
Korel Laloix: I usually fail.
Bruce Mowbray: Grace -- as in movement among different circumstances without getting locked into roles in any of them.
Eliza Madrigal: I think why it is bothering me so much lately is that I realize that the things that I can't integrate or work through things I leave 'out' but also don't feel it is appropriate or useful to bring all baggage into every situation, haha
Korel Laloix: I try to be graceful in argument, I usually succeed.
stevenaia Michinaga: aww, gracefulness
Eliza Madrigal: *are things that
stevenaia Michinaga: Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.
Bruce Mowbray: When I said that I regarded the Cosmos as "gracious," I meant that often in spite of ourselves things happen for the "best" -- almost as if there were a larger Goodness at work.
Korel Laloix: Another reason to flip a switch... so you can leave the baggage in your last mindset.
Eliza Madrigal: agree Bruce
Korel Laloix: There is a larger goodness at work.
Eliza Madrigal: well easy to leave it out of mindset and then the next, and the next
Eliza Madrigal: hehehe
Korel Laloix: But that is the view of my Faith.
Eliza Madrigal: Natural Goodness would describe my faith pretty well too
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Korel Laloix: So chocolate you mean?
Eliza Madrigal laughs
Korel Laloix: Or coffee?.. smiles
Korel Laloix: Or both?
Eliza Madrigal: yes when appropriate...hahah
Bruce Mowbray: I am often mystified and amazing by multi-tasking. . . (wondering how Cosmos seems to manage it all so well!)
Korel Laloix: Just remember, the lack of chocolate is the root of all evil.
Korel Laloix: Or something like that.
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: works for me, Kori.
stevenaia Michinaga: indeed, so spend your chocolate moments with the best

--BELL--

Eliza Madrigal: ever unfolding
Bruce Mowbray ponders "grace" as "unfolding" in a "natural" way.
Korel Laloix: UNfolding?
Eliza Madrigal: continuity
Eliza Madrigal: of openness
Bruce Mowbray: yes, like a flower blooming... or a tree putting out branches.
Eliza Madrigal: on a practical level : "just keep swimming just keep swimming..." hahah
Eliza Madrigal: (forgive Finding Nemo reference) :)
stevenaia Michinaga: thinks of Tai Chi as ever graceful... eventually
Eliza Madrigal: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: and it should extend to everything
Korel Laloix: SHould....
Eliza Madrigal: think that continuity of openness quality may be what is meant by "Love never fails"
Bruce Mowbray: I spent most of the day housecleaning -- and that is always so much more pleasant (and efficient) if I do it as a Tai Chi sort of exercise.
Korel Laloix: Will have to think about that.
Bruce Mowbray: I feel one can have a Tai Chi gracefulness about just about anything one does.
Korel Laloix: I have done Tai Chi, but Ru is a Yoga teacher so am getting into that now.
stevenaia Michinaga: I try to do dishes like that - otherwise they break
Korel Laloix: lol
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Bruce Mowbray: Good point, steve.
Korel Laloix: Glad we have a dish washer.
Eliza Madrigal: there is an extensive book about yoga coming out (word)
stevenaia Michinaga: yoga and housecleaning?
Bruce Mowbray: Perhaps that's one reason why I've been tripping over things and getting tangled up recently -- I need to remember my Tai Chi.
Eliza Madrigal: that's a good idea actually "the yoga of housekeeping"
Korel Laloix: Or your chocolate.
Bruce Mowbray: absolutely Tai Chi housecleaning.
Eliza Madrigal: extreme sport
Eliza Madrigal: I actually do love cleaning
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, the famous Vacuum form of Tai Chi
Korel Laloix: absolute chocolate Tai Chi Housecleaning....
stevenaia Michinaga: similar to the Sword Form
Korel Laloix: Has title appeal at least.
Bruce Mowbray: How better to bring grace to your vacuuming?
Eliza Madrigal giggles
Korel Laloix: Maybe naked?
Eliza Madrigal: I used to pray when cleaning houses when I was first taking college classes
Bruce Mowbray pictures himself doing 'Grasping Swan's Tail' with vacuum.
Korel Laloix: Bozho Zon.
Zon Kwan: hi
Zon Kwan: bozho ?
Korel Laloix: HEllo
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Zon
Eliza Madrigal: I need to pop away for a bit...
Bruce Mowbray: Wow. . . Prayerful house cleaning. . .
Bruce Mowbray: kk, Eliza.
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Zon.
Eliza Madrigal: Thank you for a helpful session.... wonderful... grace grace grace grace grace
Korel Laloix: I keep things so tidy in my room I really don't have to clean as such.
Korel Laloix: But the kitchen is a different matter.
stevenaia Michinaga: oh?
Korel Laloix: Grandma is not the most tidy person in the world.
Bruce Mowbray: come back when you can, Eliza.
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe grandma put the cumin away somewhere creative -- and maybe that's why you can't find it.
Korel Laloix: Actually I just had maybe a teaspoon full left.
Korel Laloix: So not as much as I wanted.
Korel Laloix: Will make up for it with some ground smoked chillies.
Korel Laloix: Lovely.
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Korel Laloix: Wish you could all smell this... wow
Bruce Mowbray: yum yum. . .
Bruce Mowbray: I love the smell of a house with a crockpot cooking.
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, food cooking a long time is wonderful
Korel Laloix: This will be a cast iron skillet in the oven in a bit.. slow cooking, so the same thing I think.
Bruce Mowbray: oh yeah.
Korel Laloix: More mulled wine.
stevenaia Michinaga: brb
Bruce Mowbray: kk.
Korel Laloix: Any other topics for today?
Korel Laloix: The term Grace Period is a bit strange to me.
Bruce Mowbray: Perhaps if I went into otherwise frustrating situations asking myself the question, "How could I make this more graceful?" then things might not be frustrating anymore.
Bruce Mowbray: Grace Period. . . like "time out"?

--BELL--

Korel Laloix: Or at least a step in a better direction.
Bruce Mowbray: or a period of time when errors are forgiven?
Korel Laloix: Like with credit cards and the like.
Bruce Mowbray: Actually, frustrations are easier for me to handle when I make plenty of room around them. . . (option room?)
Korel Laloix: That is a good plan I think.
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, credit card grace period. . .
Bruce Mowbray: I do that very easily with others...
Bruce Mowbray: especially when someone is really in a tough situation...
Bruce Mowbray: I can help them to make lots of room around the problem.
Bruce Mowbray: But doing that with myself -- well, I'm often too near-sighted to do it for myself.
Korel Laloix: hard to see it sometimes... Not fixating on the problem can be... a problem.
Bruce Mowbray: Recently, a neighbor (32-year-old) came to the farm -- and asked me to take him to the county jail.
Bruce Mowbray: (He was on heroin -- badly addicted -- and knew he had to get clean...)
Korel Laloix: That is one way of doing it.
Bruce Mowbray: So, we talked about it for three hours in my living room . . . and I created a BIG space for both of us to consider all options.
Korel Laloix: Thankful I never got into that.
Bruce Mowbray: I insisted that all decisions in the matter be his -- not mine.
Korel Laloix: Sometimes it helps to talk for sure.
Korel Laloix: Very good move I think.
Bruce Mowbray: so "plenty of space" also meant plenty of time... for him to get his priorities straight. . . and decide.
Korel Laloix: That is sometime the most difficult part.
Bruce Mowbray: I ended up taking him to the jail. . . right after he returned the car he had stolen to its owner.
Korel Laloix: wow
Bruce Mowbray: Four months later -- he is clean, and in love, and living in a new home....
Korel Laloix: Hope that turns out for the best.
Bruce Mowbray: Looking great, too.
Korel Laloix: Hope that lasts.
Korel Laloix: You did good.
stevenaia Michinaga: I must be off, see you all
Bruce Mowbray: Seems to be, Kori.
Korel Laloix: Ru is back.
Bruce Mowbray: Bye, steve.
Korel Laloix: I must be going as well.
Bruce Mowbray: Bye, Kori.
Korel Laloix: Take care all.
Bruce Mowbray: You too, Kori.
Bruce Mowbray: Happy cooking.
Korel Laloix smiles
Bruce Mowbray: ♥
Bruce Mowbray throws another log on the fire.
Bruce Mowbray: (or two).