Renee Rothberg's Blog, page 56

Kindness to the animals we care for: muzzles for dogs

In the book Pond a Connected Existence, caring for pets in listed as a sustaining activity for people. We are drawn to animals that can be domesticated, and they in turn learn to depend on us. The intertwined existence of people and domesticated animals requires careful observation and empathy by people who care for them.

A few days ago on one of my many lovely walks in L.A., I saw a woman walking several dogs of varying sizes. As I approached them, I saw that the largest dog had a rubber band...

Life is struggle: meeting with people unknown

Unwanted, unacknowledged, untended, underfed, unappreciated, unloved, unnoticed, undervalued, undone. The life of the drunk man who sneaked on the bus today and sat by me.

Wanted, acknowledged, tended, fed, appreciated, loved, noticed, valued, empowered. My life.

I was riding on an L.A. Metro bus waiting for my soon-to-arrive stop, when the bus stopped to let people off and he sneaked in from the back door and sat next to me. His breath reeked of alcohol, he was dirty, and he was hoping to avoi...

Clarification about the previous post: Unreleased energy leads to laziness

A friend of mine read the previous post and took issue with how judgmental the tone was about people who are “lazy”.

My friend is one of the least lazy people I know, but sometimes she doesn’t have the energy to train for a 10k run that she thinks she should do. The reasons she doesn’t have the energy to train are far from laziness. She doesn’t train for three reasons: 1) Her life is so full with work, family, volunteering in her community, and volunteering outside her immediate community that...

Unreleased energy leads to laziness

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know that Spiritual Presence has been pushing us all to spend more time in nature. Being in nature connects us to elements in life that balance and elevate us at the spiritual level. Being in nature stimulates our intellect, restores our emotional well-being, and strengthens our physical and concentration abilities. Being in nature also provides an opportunity to breathe more deeply, breathe less restrictively (letting go of rest...

Entertainment

Music, art, slapstick, drama, literature, dance, and other forms of entertainment. All are created by people for people. Experiencing entertainment is soul-fulfilling. Creating entertainment is soul exercise because the soul requires the stretch of the imagination and the melody of the breeze. Any form of entertainment that is awakening for the soul is soul exercise.

Music naturally fills the body and reaches the soul, especially for the people who are generating the music. Listening to others...

Resistance to major change

Oh if life were so easy

I would be the person I was meant to be

I would take on challenges and handle them with ease

I would be open and funny and clever

I would look fabulous and sing on key

I would not be cranky or defensive

And I would not get upset over silly things.

But life isn’t easy

So I let myself off the hook

And often don’t try

And blame others

And wallow in misery

And even give up

Sometimes.

Perhaps there is a place where

I can find respite from my too-difficult me

Where my mind shuts up

And my gu...

Personal resistance: resisting manipulation through personal choices

I am currently visiting in the States. I am happy to be here and I am viewing all with a sense of newness and interest. There may be too many cars, but I focus on the trees. There may be too many sales, but I focus on the interesting designs of buildings and clever business presentations. I have been in several large supermarkets and department stores with food sections, and in them, I have lost my vitality. (Where I live, I shop in supermarkets and stores that aren’t so overwhelming.)

Too muc...

Try limits—when eating or drinking nutritionally bereft foods

Food is meant to be a pleasure and not a battle. We are meant to eat so that we can live. We are meant to eat nutritious foods so that we can live healthily.

We are meant to desire nourishing foods, and we can, if we reject processed and non-nutritious foods that suppress the desire for proper foods.

Moving beyond survival, the eating experience can be sad and disappointing or can be full of joy and laughter. Much depends on our attitude and on our desire to be well.

There are nutritionally bere...

Vegetable support: the foods that sustain

Many foods nourish us, but vegetables nourish, ground, and calm us. They provide the nutrients that enable us to move forward.

The importance of vegetables cannot be overstated. Our bodies need them and function less well without them. They are sources of happiness, creativity, expressiveness, achievement, satisfaction, and vitality. Eating vegetables doesn’t guarantee that a person will be satisfied with his or her life, but eating vegetables enables being capable of being satisfied. The more...

Liquid relief

According to my post “How important is water?” (see January archive): “Water is the most important life-sustaining substance that we put in our bodies.” That post gives information about the timing of water drinking.

There are other liquids that nourish us, and we should drink them too. They are soup (thin soups that can be drunk), tea (green, red, black, oolong, white, jasmine, chai, and cardamom), beer (in non-addictive amounts), and drinks made from soybeans and brown rice. These liquids ad...