indigotara

"Cesar Estrada Chavez, the late founder and president of the United Farm Workers of America, had deep confidence in the ability of people to move mountains of injustice. In fact, under his leadership, farm workers moved the agribusiness mountain and won the first union contracts for agricultural workers in the grape fields.

"The Mexican American labor leader was a humble man who gave of himself unselfishly to the cause of farm workers and all workers. He championed the cause of equality for Latinos like no one else. His courage in the face of some of our nation’s most powerful industries inspired generations of all races and nationalities to fight the good fight.

"Millions followed Cesar Chavez on his journey which won monumental gains for farm workers, for civil rights, political representation for racial minorities and environmental justice. These achievements place him as one of the most outstanding leaders of the twentieth century."
 

excerpted from www.cesarchavezholiday.org
"Cesar E. Chavez, the Farm Worker Leader, honored with a California Legal Holiday" by Evelina Alarcon
Excerpts from a Statement issued in August 2000 after the Cesar Chavez holiday bill was signed into law.

 

we have not come here to take prisoners
but to surrender ever more deeply
to freedom and joy.

we have not come into this exquisite world
to hold ourselves hostages from love.

run my dear,
from anything
that may not strengthen
your precious budding wngs.

run like hell my dear,
from anyone likely
to put a sharp knife
into the sacred, tender vision
of your beautiful heart.

we have a duty to befriend
those aspects of obedience
that stand outside our house
and shout to our reason
"o please, o please,
come out and play."

for we have not come here to take prisoners
or to confine our wondrous spirits

but to experience ever and ever more deeply
our divine courage, freedom, and light!

-hafiz

was welcomed home by the brightest full moon of the year this weekend, named by various native american communities the "ice moon",  the "moon of frost in the teepee",  the "frost fish moon",  the "big cold", and the "cold weather moon", according to the skywatcher's guide.

the concept of time is culturally-specific. in india, i learned, time is very loose. people seem to have a lot of it. even when busy, no one seems in a rush. i had to adapt. when someone tells you "one minute" it means they will get to it soon, as soon as they can.  "two minutes" means they will get to it after taking care of one or two other things, possibly in 10-15 minutes. "10-15 minutes" means quite possibly within the hour. "after some time", i learned, means later today, anywhere from 1 to 10 hours. all the cells in my american body are rigged for speed. for impatience. for quick anger. loosening my own expectations of time, while in india,  helped to loosen those tendencies as well, at least now and then. i had to open myself up to more spontaneity, to the unknown, to the moment as it is.

Dear Santa Claus, I wish my English would be good enough in the future. I wish my teacher Ann always beautiful and young. I wish my family and friends would be good health. I wish my country and the world have no more war, would be peaceful. Survive the gold ball warming and bailout the economy and then, learn from the past, keep focus on the future. These my dreams would be come true. Thank you! I love you!
Your fan, Ivy

Dear Santa Claus:
How are you? I really wanted to see you when I was a child. You were just like a god. You could help us and make our dream come true. Even though now I am not a child, I still have many wishes in my deep heart. I hope I can study at university and graduate there. My family happy and everybody have a health body. And we could have a peaceable world. Everybody could have freedom. No suffer hunger and cold. No war. No darkness. I believe you will make them come true. Will you?
Sincerely! Bonnie

Santa: Christmas make me miss you so much, how are you recently. Prepare the gifts or not? The good children are waiting for you.
  
I don't want any gift from you. I just only want to be health, It is important to me. I hope my daughter-in-law's father get well, because he is in the hospital now. We are all worry about him. I hope everyone get healthy. No war. No sick. No hunger. Specially no fight anymore.

A very important thing is I don't want anyone throw the shoes to our President Bush again. I feel so embaress.

Santa. We are eager to see you soon.
love, Norah

heard my old friend mairia giudice interviewed this weekend on "tech nation". maria and her business, hot studio,  are sf pioneers in web design, and have recently created interactive online spaces for sf moma and the new california academy of sciences. it was so impressive and so inspiring to hear maria's articulate passion for creating what is intelligent ,elegant, and human-centered, creating a balanced workplace, where folks have enough time for their families, and contributing to the well-being of the community through projects like dave eggers' 826 valencia. an artful life, intelligent, elegant, human-centered by example.

in keeping with the zero waste theme, as i prepare for holiday festivities next weekend, i have decided to forego paper plates and paper cups and plastic cutlery. spent the day scouring the thrift shop for someone's  grandma's plates, glasses and silver. i found 2 dozen little plates, a mismatch of floral patterns, and 25-cent glass tumblers. i'll just box them up after for the next party. an incentive to have everyone over again for an inauguration ball in january. thriftstore tuxes and ballgowns, of course.

team obama has been asking the folks for their advice, so here's mine. let's make all the airports zero-waste zones. filtered water stations for re-filling water bottles. no plastic water bottles for sale. recycling bins everywhere for all those periodicals. big compost bins for all those snacking leftovers. all food wrapped in compostable material, all cutlery biodegadable. all food for sale grown locally, organically, fair trade. and treadmill/stationary bicycle stations to generate electricity.

think of all the jobs zero waste airports would create. now to launch a solar powered jet to get me to india...

the autumn is a blur, with a new teaching semester, organizing my new non-profit, and buying my first house. now it's nearly december and a chance to gasp for air before leaving for india in a few weeks.

it has been a very full year since i turned 44 in may, and i am feeling so much gratitude. i love thanksgiving, bringing to mind appreciation for abundance. i have been giving thanks as i send out our first fundraising appeal for the non-profit, and also reflecting on other inspiring organizations i appreciate.

the work i am doing with the non-profit is in india, because i think it is vital that we witness the struggles of our friends around the globe, and share our resources. at the same time, i celebrate local groups that make san francisco such a liveable place. a few groups i always support locally are the san francisco bicycle coalition, friends of the urban forest, the homeless prenatal program, eatwell farm, and the san francisco buddhist center. these groups are collectively contributing toward a greener,  more just, more mindful city. i am thank-full for all that they do, and for how they make my life richer.

Celebrated SB's birthday yesterday with a visit to the newly-renovated California Academy of Sciences. The museum, in Golden Gate Park, was closed for several years after our last big earthquake. It is now re-opening, with a new living roof and the old albino alligator in his pool by the door. The space was impressive, especially the stingrays, the jellyfish, coral reefs, eels, and sea anemones. The underwater world is so magical. So many colors and shapes and textures and patterns. Amazing to think that all that is going on underwater everyday, while we are up here on land just going about our business.

i was very moved tonight,  hearing mary rudge read her poem "blessing" .
here is part of it:

blessing

may everyplace you look
    stones become bread
may mangoes and papayas
    and pineapples
    fall into your hands
    may you feed the hungry
    and give them flowers
may swallows fly in the winds
    of your passing
may monkeys dance
    in the path before you
may all people be your family
may singing of small birds
    in air surround you
may poems always be in your mailbox
    coming in to praise you
    going out to right wrongs

"The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up,
because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself
and start paying attention to the universe.
Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence.
When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself.
You get to take yourself oh so very seriously."

- Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

from Your Laughter by Pablo Neruda

Take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.

Do not take away the rose,
the lance flower that you pluck,
the water that suddenly
bursts forth in joy,
the sudden wave
of silver born in you.

My struggle is harsh and I come back
with eyes tired
at times from having seen
the unchanging earth,
but when your laughter enters
it rises to the sky seeking me
and it opens for me all
the doors of life.
 

Here is my horoscope for last week, from
Rob Brezny's Astrology Newsletter,
http://FreeWillAstrology.com

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
In her book *Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,* Annie Dillard notes that there
is only a tiny difference between the lifebloods of plants and animals.
A molecule of chlorophyll contains 36 atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,
and carbon arrayed around an atom of magnesium,
while a molecule of hemoglobin is exactly the same
except for an atom of iron instead of magnesium.

I offer this as an apt metaphor to illustrate the choice you have ahead of you:
As similar as the various possibilities may seem,
the simple thing you put at the center of each option
will make a tremendous difference.

when i open my eyes to the outer world,
i feel myself as a drop in the sea;
but when i close my eyes and look within,
i see the whole universe as a bubble raised in the ocean of my heart.

-inayat khan "divine symphony"

i found this quote in a book i am reading by lama govinda on the six element practice. i was surprised to see how tantric and sufi practices overlap.

inayat khan, according to wikipedia,  founded universal sufism and the sufi order international and saw his life's mission as introducing and transmitting sufi thought and practice to the west. his universal message of divine  unity focused on the themes of love, harmony and beauty.

let your love flow outward
through the universe,
to its height, its depth,
its broad extent,
a limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
the as you stand or walk,
sit or lie down,
as long as you are awake,
strive for this with a
one-pointed mind;
your life will bring
heaven to earth.

sutta nipata
(buddhist text)

there is some kiss we want
with our whole lives,
the touch of spirit on the body.

seawater begs the pearl
to break its shell.

and the lily, how passionately
it needs some wild darling!

at night i open the window
and ask the moon to come
and press its face against mine.
BREATHE INTO ME.

close the language-door,
and open the love-window.
the moon won't use the door,
only the window.