Hi My Sweet Friends
,
I seem to have gotten really busy lately, but I still wanted to stop in and say hi! Even though I don't always have time to write in (probably largely because, just due to my basic nature, I have a hard time just writing quick notes -- I can't seem to resist thoroughness and detail, even for what I initially imagine will be "just a quick note," but then, in the end, it almost never is!
) That must at least partly explain why so many of you have at least 1000+ posts, when I've only got 300-and-something so far -- perhaps it all balances out though, since my posts are probably usually four or five times longer than everyone else's!
I do visit these boards regularly and am reading everyone's words and thinking about and learning from you all on an ongoing basis, though!
I'll partly do a bit of "the name game" here, but not as thoroughly as sometimes, since there's so much here to catch up on, and I haven't got as much time as I'd like. So everyone, just know that whether or not I address you by name, I'm reading your posts, witnessing your growth, thinking about you, and glad to see you here!
PP wrote: wrote:how's the chai????
PP, first of all, I want to say thanks for that lovely zero-calorie cyber chocolate chai you made me when I last wrote in, even though it wasn't even actually your day to serve the drinks! It was excellent, thank you, and the additional chocolate sprinkles were a wonderful added touch!
Wow, I didn't know so many people have an allergy to cedar, but it's really good to know -- I'll have to read up on that!
I keep trying to get time to continue reading A New Earth, and I really want to get to the sections on the pain body that you were talking about -- I remember reading about it in his previous book, The Power of Now -- I especially could relate to his discussion of the collective female pain body that women experience during their monthly cycles -- that is one area I can definitely use more work on to disconnect further from the pain body. I'm glad for all the conversations about the ego that I've seen in various places on these boards lately -- perhaps I'll jump in more on those after I've gotten more caught up in this book and thought about it more...
Even just the parts of the book I've read so far have been contributing to a major shift, a leap in growth, that I've been feeling myself making lately. After our NYC friend's visit, out of necessity, it seems that my palm-healing skills have suddenly improved in response to the extra demand -- my hands suddenly now get much hotter than they used to, without my consciously doing anything differently, among other things. I've seen all of you here spiritually growing so much lately, and I'm feeling the same thing happening to me in parallel as well. It's wonderful to see and experience!
11 million people watching Oprah's and Eckhart's class, wow, that's great! I wish I'd been able to attend the "7 Steps to Stillness" class -- that sounds like it was really helpful, and I've seen from your posts on various threads,
PP, that you really seem to have made a lot of progress with meditation lately, and that this class was part of it ... does anyone happen to know if Donna D. made a recording of the class that one could purchase after the fact?...
Hi
Sarah, good to see you here! Glad to hear you're starting to get over that nasty virus; I hope you start feeling better and better as you continue to recover from it. Sounds like all of us have been working with weight issues off and on at some time or other -- there are so many different diets and different things work for different people -- since so many of us are currently working on weight issues, as I mentioned a few pages back, Ron and I have been on the Ornish-style 10%-fat, mostly-vegetarian diet since mid-November, and during that time, I've lost about 24 pounds, and he's lost about 40 pounds. It's gotten to the point where I can honestly say I'm almost downright skinny right now
, for the first time since I was age 25 or so!
One of Ornish's cooking recommendations that's seemed to make a lot of difference is not adding any additional fat to food that isn't already naturally present in the food itself -- for example, using water or broth instead of oil to saute things (I was surprised just how well it actually works, so now I do it all the time!), and using egg whites in place of whole eggs, and applesauce in place of butter or oil, in baking. A couple of other adaptations we've made in this regard that really help are using butter-substitute sprays (the brand, "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" is really popular here in the U.S.), and salad-dressing sprays, which are typically only one to two calories per spray -- we've found these to be fairly decent-tasting substitutes for the higher-calorie butters, margarines and salad-dressings. I too have found that I've been losing weight even though I've been only exercising sporadically (though I'd certainly like to exercise more once I manage to find the time
, since it just makes me feel a lot better generally.)
Oh yeah, one more thing that's been helping us is finding really good spices to replace the flavor of higher-fat ingredients! Monday was my birthday, so we mail-ordered a bunch of really fun, unusual spices to experiment with as part of the celebration -- ground lavender, ground rose petals, ground sun-dried tomatoes, lavender-violet-and-vanilla-bean sugar sprinkles (mmm, heavenly!
), granulated honey, smoked paprika, and some others, including one called "Ras El Hanout," apparently a middle-eastern phrase meaning something like "specialty of the house," that is a diverse, subtly-balanced mixture of many different spices, including curry spices and ground rose petals. It tasted divine in some split pea soup we made the other day!
Lilly, I love hearing your stories of the joyous outings and meditations you've been having lately -- just something about your energy -- so frequently, these posts from you feel like walking out into the sunshine in a springtime field full of wildflowers and just breathing in the fresh air! Thank you for that!
I'll have to download that free EFT book I saw you post about somewhere, by Craig someone -- I wrote the name down in my journal at one point so I'd remember!
Hi
Liz darlin'! It's good to see that you're still around on these boards after all, and spreading around your joy and light as usual! Great job on your wishboards and your weight-related successes too!
Petra, dear Petra -- know that I'm reading all your touching, funny, poignant posts regularly on this thread and thinking about you and your family, empathizing with you, and sending good energy your way along with everyone else here. Wow,
Corsica, how cool! I Googled it too, and I read about its Mediterranean climate and saw pictures of its gorgeous beaches! And since it's a tourist destination, I'll bet there
will be some cyber cafes there so you can get online and stay connected that way. And of course, all of us here, and all the Celetials, will be connected with you heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind too all the while anyway, so you'll never be alone regardless!
If you're going to have to be spending some time living in a tent, Corsica's sure the best kind of place to do it, eh?!
I love your current avvie of you and the kids, by the way!
Gypsie dear, I too hope you get that beautiful home, and I agree with you, any time we face adversity, there's always an opportunity in it for growth -- a wise thing for us all to remember!
Well, all right, my friends, it's getting a bit late here, but it's been great talking with all of you as usual, and you all take care!
Much Love to All
,
Aqua Deb
but I had to come knocking on ya door sweet girl, I was asked by something during meditation...
Happy Birthday!!! 
as Children of the most high and sit on our throwns in the Kingdom of Heaven 🪽 
