Ronda Snow's Blog, page 23
March 11, 2014
Merry Monday – the project continues
I’m not getting the link widget thingywhatzis to work, and honestly don’t want to burn the brain cells on figuring it out…sooooo
If you want to contribute a post to the Merry Monday project, just use the comments or the contact form to let us all know about your bit of shared happiness.
Oil Pulling With Coconut Oil to Transform Your Dental Health
This is the most reasonable explanation of “oil pulling” I’ve read yet. THIS I could recommend.
Originally posted on Nat.App.Health.4.u:
An awesome tropical oil with many health benefits.
A few people commented that they use coconut oil for something called “Oil Pulling” – which is kind of like using an oil as mouthwash.
Apparently, there are quite a few studies that support this process and a lot of people on blogs and discussion boards swear by it.
I have now been doing this every morning for about 10 days… and I am impressed.
What is Oil Pulling and How Does it Work?
Oil pulling has been used for thousands of years as an Indian folk remedy.
It involves putting about a tablespoon of oil in your mouth, then swishing it around your teeth for 10-20 minutes.
There are thousands of different types of bacteria in the mouth. Some of them are friendly, others are not.
Certain bacteria can cause harm, such as Streptococcus Mutans, which is the main culprit behind…
View original 719 more words
March 10, 2014
Merry Monday – #Cosmos
I’m starting a new project and you are invited to play along. Each week, I’m going to pick one little delight. I’m going to post something that brings out my inner fangirl, that gives me a ‘squee’ of delight, something that just makes me happy that it exists and that I know about it. At the end of one year, ta-DAH! we have a list of 50+ commonplace little pleasures, a list guaranteed to bring a little light to a future dark day. Won’t you share you little treasures with the linky below? Merry Monday!
Cosmos changed my life.
Which is a lot to ask from a TV show, but Carl Sagan was up to it. Cosmos showed me there was something more. It showed me that I could be the kind of person I wanted to be: Logic, Love, Poetry, Reason, and all the things I hold dear could beautifully co-exist. It showed me another choice, another way – and made that way tangible, authentic and real. For me that other way is expressed as Secular Humanism, a drastically different view of the world than the one that surrounded me as a Jr. High student. I’d never seen science and reason presented with artistry and poetic beauty before. The original Cosmos gave me a first glimpse of what was possible, a glance at the magnificent scope of both humanity and the universe. It took a vague fog of poorly developed, barely sensed notions and crystalized them into crystal clear pillars that have only grown stronger over the years.
As much as I, a first-generation Star Wars fan, loved seeing a very Naboovian looking “Ship of the Imagination” zooming along the martian landscape, and as much as I wanted to stand up and cheer when they broke out the “Cosmic Calendar” from the original series, the part that really lodged the new Cosmos in my heart right next to the old one was the part where Dr. Tyson spoke of meeting Dr. Sagan. He told of Dr. Sagan offering to open his home if the buses couldn’t get him back home through a snow storm. Dr. Tyson said something like “I already knew I wanted to be a scientist, but after that, I knew the kind of person I wanted to be.”
Me too, in a vicarious, TV viewer kind of way.
It took decades to really understand the words and why of it, but here we are. The new Cosmos is just as wonderful, but in more of a kinship type of way. This time it is validation as much as inspiration. And it has some pretty amazing visual effects too 
Has there ever been a book, TV show, movie or play that moved you to the point of affecting who you are? What media or literature helped you to discover and form who you are today?
If there was something, why not send a mental thank you too it, and have a very merry Monday.
March 7, 2014
Scattered Life Collective 7 March 2014
I don’t know what you call them: Shared blogging? Webrings? That linky thingy?
Whatever you call them, I’m really enjoying the shared topic blogging of “Tao Tuesdays” “Merry Mondays” and of course, “Scattered Life Collective”
The collective is a project started by Cynthia Lee on her blog at spirituncaged.com. Reading her “collective” posts and those from other contributers (links at the bottom of the page) is a great way to discover new and cool things of all types – music, books, tv, movies. All sorts of things that bring out the fangirl in me. Please visit her page to read how it works, and read the other ‘collective’ entries or to submit a link to your own post. We may be scattered, but full of life just the same.
On the TV: I’ve jumped on the “House of Cards” (Netflix original series) bandwagon. Best way I can describe it is Game of Thrones meets CSPAN. I just picked it up at the beginning of the second season. My husband has watched the whole thing. It doesn’t suffer much for not having seen the first season, except for one story line with the reporter, which is interesting enough I might try to pick up the first season…but only after I get caught up with this season of “Being Human” And ALL of that takes a far back seat to COSMOS which starts Sunday.
On the Kindle: Haven’t put in much reading time this week. Still chipping away at the print copy of “Starry Nights” that my daughter recommended. Am reading through the Smashwords style guide…if you have any inkling of publishing on smashwords, this is a must read.
On the menu: Fish Fry! I personally don’t care about lent – all I know is those little old church ladies know how to cook – YUM!!! I don’t know what it is about fish fry day in Pittsburgh, but the food transcends religion and becomes a community event in a lot of ways. Double YUM
On the ipod: Fall in Love by Phantogram and Dark Horse by Katy Perry
Wishing you a good new week coming up. Looking forward to hearing about it in the Scattered Life Collective 
March 6, 2014
Michael Faraday Quote
“Nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature.”
- Micael Faraday
March 4, 2014
Tao Tuesdays – Chapter 39
Every Tuesday Amy Putkonen posts a chapter from her version of the Tao Te Ching (my favorite) and invites other bloggers to comment. I like to think about the chapter on my own, write the commentary, then go back to http://taotechingdaily.com/tao-tuesdays-chapter-39/ and read Amy’s commentary and the others that are linked there to expand that initial understanding. You are welcome to participate. Simply post your commentary, link to the chapter page above in you your post, then go there to link to your post (so we can all find it and read it too)
Sages have achieved oneness
since ancient times.
Sky is in harmony with Tao
and becomes pure.
Earth is in harmony with Tao
and becomes tranquil.
Spirits are in harmony with Tao
and become inspired.
Valleys are in harmony with Tao
and become replenished.
The Ten Thousand Things
are in harmony with Tao and live fully.
Leaders
are in harmony with Tao and become pure action.
If sky were not pure, it might split open.
If earth were not tranquil, it might crumble.
If spirits were not inspired, they might dissolve.
If valleys were not replenished, they may be exhausted.
If the Ten Thousand Things did not live fully,
they might become extinct.
If leaders do not have purity in action, they may fall.
Therefore, the basis for honor is humility.
Sages take the low position.
For this reason, true leaders refer to themselves as alone, not worthy
because this is the root of humility.
The highest position requires no praise.
The highest position does not wish to sparkle like a gem,
But rather to be humble like a stone.
All things are part of one greater whole. While things and peoples may seem separate, there is a great connectedness to the Tao, to the all-that-is-everything. Remembering our connection to the Tao is a bit like that quote from Walt Whitman’s “Oh Me, Oh Life (recently made popular by an Apple TV ad) – “The powerful play goes on And you may contribute a verse”. When Nature contributes its verse, all is most purely itself. All functions according to its nature, all is accomplished. Authenticity of this magnitude is at the core of the Tao Te Ching, as I see it. If Earth, Sky, Spirit – People – do not contribute their verse (forget our connection to the Tao) or pretend to be other than what we are, then things fracture, crumble, and dissolve into fear, anger or pain.
The gem and the stone are a lovely example. Both diamond and sandstone have their own kind of form, function, and beauty. Things only become disjointed when the diamond is told not to sparkle or the sandstone aspires to cut glass. Things become contentious and disfunctional when the gem is flaunted and praised over the stone. A sage or good leader wants things to be harmonious. In other words, they want things to get along, to function…to work. In order to do that, sages and leaders allow themselves to be humble so everyone, gems and stones alike, may contribute their verse.
March 3, 2014
Merry Monday 1
“Folks are usually as happy as they make up their minds to be”
There are lots of version of this idea out on the ‘net, and most of the time, this particular version is attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Whoever said it, I like it.
Admittedly, it isn’t true for people with a real, biological depression, I don’t mean to minimize that at all – but for most of us out here with our morning coffee, waking up with a roof over our heads and access to food…it is by and large for real. We can be as happy as we set out minds to be.
I haven’t researched it – yet – but I have heard some suggestion that repeated, deliberate focus on a particular mood or idea can “reprogram” our thought habits in a happier direction. This concept is one of the arguments in favor of regular meditation to reduce stress, improve health, and improve quality of life overall. Meditation and thinking happy thoughts won’t solve all of your real world problems, but it can help you find a way to cope with them. It won’t change the external ups and downs, but reframing your mind-set can help you roll with those ups and downs as they come.
My birthday is this month, and I’m celebrating by setting a little challenge for myself. You are welcome to join in if you like. I’d like to set it up as a blog-and-link sort of thing, patterned after the “Tao Tuesdays” and “Scattered Life Collective” that I enjoy so much. Welcome to “Merry Monday”. Every week for the next year (I’m aiming for every Monday, although that may have to flex a little around vacations and holidays) I’m going to post some small thing that delights me. What makes you feel a little happier? What makes your Monday (or any day) a little brighter and a little merrier? These sorts of exchanges are easy to use.
Blog – your choice of format, length or watever
link to this post so you and your readers can find all the other posts
link to your post so we can all come read your thoughts (if the Mr. Linky below doesn’t work, try leaving a comment, or just e-mail me and I’ll add the link manually)
If you want to use the image above, that is fine. It was listed on bing.com as “free to modify, share and use commercially”
The truly big things in life are a forgone conclusion. We all know how precious our family, health, and basic life necessities are. On a groggy Monday morning it is all too easy to forget how good life can be. Our thoughts find it all too easy to get caught up in the uncomfortable and unsatisfactory. So the task I’m setting for Merry Monday is an easy one too. Instead of some ponderous diatribe about being grateful for the big, important things in life, I’m going to post about some little delight, some simple easy to achieve pleasure. I think of it as therepeutic fangirling.
My goal is to find one thing a week that I’m just happy exists – whether I experience it directly or indirectly through media. I want to find one thing that I’m happy to be sharing time on planet earth with. If little daily meditations are a window to greater life-happiness, then maybe a once a week post will at least make Monday a little merrier. Remembering to be grateful for little delights is the gateway to remembering to be grateful for the really important things.
Being happy on purpose over little things is the gateway to being happy on purpose in general.
Today, it’s coffee. What better way to start a Monday morning project? So simple, so accessible. Whether it is high-end Italian expresso, home brew, or crappy instant from a vending machine, there is something comforting about a warm drink, and that little lift from the caffiene. I like the taste. It’s natural. There are studies that say coffee can help prevent type 2 diabetes. Makes sense that it would be ok to drink, for me anyway. It is just a tree seed that has been roasted, with hot water poured through it. Tree seeds are good. Cup number 2, here I come. I enjoy the flavor, the aroma, and the warmth in my stomach – especially on a snowy, cold morning like this one.
It delights me, and I am grateful.
Merry Monday
March 2, 2014
Tao Tuesays – a really late chapter 38
This is the chapter posted on TaoTeChingDaily.com last Tuesday. Every Tuesday Amy Putkonin posts a chapter from her version (my favorite) of the Tao Te Ching and invites other bloggers to post comment about it. Everyone is invited to participate. I like to take on the chapter on my own, write the comment, then go back to the post (here) and read Amy’s comment and the other comments linked at the bottom of the page. If you’d like to play along, post your comment with a link to Amy’s page, and put your link at the bottom of the page too.
Superior character does not display virtue
for all to see,
and thus is truly virtuous.
Inferior character
always keeps virtue in sight,
and thus lacks true virtue.
The highest virtue is without action,
Yet things always get done.
Lesser virtue creates much effort
in order to get things done.
Superior kindness
requires effort to keep its name.
Superior righteousness
requires effort to maintain itself.
Superior rules
require a response or it raises a hand to enforce.
In this way, the natural Tao is lost
and cultivated virtue is all that is left.
When virtue is lost,
Superior kindness follows.
When kindness is lost,
Superior righteousness follows.
When superior righteousness is lost,
Rules of propriety prevail.
The veneer of false sincerity thins
and chaos begins.
The great master abides in the deep truth of Tao
and does not dwell in shallowness.
She stays with the fruit and not the flower.
Walk your talk.
It is as simple as that. But then, that is the triune essence of Taoism as I see it: Compassion, Authenticity, Simplicity.
This chapter is a lesson in what not to do, in the form of demonstative hypocrisy. I know this is treading on dangerous ground to say this, but this chapter makes me think about all that is wrong with partisan politics, right wing political radicals, and evangelical christianity here in the U.S. In my admittedly biased point of view, they are are utterly the modern version of exactly what Lau Tzu writes about here. They flaunt their so-called values and rightousness, blind to the harm that very act does to others. They flaunt their virtue, sometimes to be discovered later to be an inferior character by their own definitions more than by the judgment of the outside world.
The highest virtue is without action,
Yet things always get done.
Lesser virtue creates much effort
in order to get things done.
I think this speaks to the toxicity and emotional exhaustion of inauthenticity. Going through social and religious motions without truely believing them because one was told it is the right thing to do is like wearing a mask made of lead. It is heavy, exhausting and toxic. Doing the right thing, for others and for yourself, need not be an effort or tiring. That way of Virtue, simply IS. It is just how life goes. It is simple, and natural and woven into existance. If you have to jump through particular hoops of action or belief to be considered virtuous…that is a sure sign that maybe it isn’t so virtuous after all – in my experience anyway.
I’ve had a framed poster for 25 years now…it is a woman and three wolves sitting quietly together with the caption “There is no strong as gentleness, and nothing so gentle as true strength.” That applies to so much. Here, think of strength as virtue. If an act of “virtue” is truely helpful and honestly given as an act of the authentic self, then that act needs no fanfare. It doesn’t even need to be named as “virtue” It, as the Tao, simply is.
March 1, 2014
Divergent Knight
From my other blog, Modern Oracle Tarot
Originally posted on Modern Oracle Tarot:
I recently read “Divergent” by Veronica Roth (caution – there may be some subtle spoilers here). I want to shine my fangirl flashlight on it for a minute here.
February 28, 2014
Scatterd Life Collective – 28 Feb 2014
“Scattered Life Collective” was begun by Cyntia Lee on SpiritUncaged.com. It is a celebration of life as it is, here, now, “no rules, just sharing together”. She seems to post on Fridays, and reflect on the week past. Everyone is invited to do the same and kindly asked to link back to the original blog. I first heard of the project throughwww.taotechingdaily.com. You can follow Cynthia’s format or whatever you like.
Out the Window: Sunny, a pretty, a dusting of sparkling snow…and cold enough to freeze your hindquarters right off. I swear, it snowed yesterday just exactly on our driveway. Ok, ok, I know that it blows and drifts when the wind comes out of the southwest just right, but it still looked like it had been snowed on by one of those little on-spot Badluck Scheleprock kind of clouds. Hard to believe they are calling for a foot of the stuff over the weekend.
On the menu: It’s Friday so it must be fish. I like fish. My husband and daugher are Catholic, so we do the fish fry thing during lent. I’m as not-religious as they come, but I’m also willing to eat good food, even if it is – religious that is. Much as I might disagree with their veiw of the world, those blue haired church ladies can cook! We enjoyed fish fridays so much during last lent that I keep it up most of the rest of the year too. Shhhhh…don’t tell the hubster and the youngling that it is really healthy for them, lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids and all. Tonight it is pan fried eco friendly farmed swai with sweet potato fries…fish and chips our way
On the TV: am warding off my Olympics withdrawl with one of my favorite scientists. Don’t get me wrong, I love Neil De Grasse Tyson’s work, and am totally, totally jazzed about “Cosmos” this spring…But in my not so humble opinion, Brian Cox’s “Wonders of the Universe” is just as much Carl Sagan’s legacy. Dr. Cox admits that Cosmos has been a big inspiration and influence. We’re about the same age, so I can only imagine that it is…given the profound inspiration it was to me. It showed me that beauty and awe and wonder and happiness and art and poetry and reason and logic and science all not only co-exist, they are all facets of the one same whole grand universe. And, more importantly, all of those things exist outside of religion, outside of the evangelical south. Who was it who said “there are many paths to the top of the mountain, and the only ones wasting time are the ones running around the mountain telling other people their path is wrong”? Cosmos helped me find my path when I was young, and it has been a joy to walk ever since.
Ok, that’s enough of a rant for today
On the playlist: Heard Synchronicity II on the radio. Makes me want to break out the Police. Hearing “Invisible” has put me in solid U2 mode, too. Looking in exactly the opposite direction, am looking forward to the Divergent soundtrack…new M83 yay!
On the Kindle: Am reading a print book for a change. Just finished Divergent…which was awesome…and have moved on to “Starry Nights” a youth fiction book that so far is “night at the museaum” for Musee D’Orsay. Am happy to add to the list of books in common with my daughter, no matter how interesting or well written the book may be for adults. I’ll spare you the book reviews…they are on goodreads. Not sure, but I think you can link to all the reviews from my author’s page.
This is exactly why I find Scattered Life Collective so exciting. Not only is a celebration of life’s simple pleasures, I’m hoping other people are as prone to fangirling as I am, so I can find leads to good books, tv, movies and music
Speaking of the menu…time for lunch
Scattered tho we may be, wishing all of you a lovely weekend
