It's Your Time to Bloom

"And the day came when
the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom."-unknown

What I Know About You

There's something I know about you that you may or may not know about yourself.

You have within you more resources of energy than have ever been tapped,

more talent than has ever been exploited,

more strength than has ever been tested,

more to give than you have ever given. -John Gardner

Being Watchful

Audrey Hepburn by Mark Shaw

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."-Frank Outlaw

Winds of Change

"Any surfer worth his or her salt knows you can't paddle out without first knowing the wind conditions. Strong onshore winds make the ocean's surface too choppy and give the waves bad form. The mind is a direct parallel. When our breath is fast and forceful, shallow or panicked, our thoughts are usually all over the place. So remember to check in with the condition of your internal winds, your breath. This kind of observation will often calm your breath on its own, smoothing it out, making the waves of thought
more clear, and ultimately, more surfable. But even if it doesn't, don't worry. It's not personal. The winds are mysterious things. They come and go with the seasons and are always, always changing. Accept them as they are today."-unknown

Immeasurable

"Nobody has ever measured,
even poets,
how much a heart can hold."
-Zelda Fitzgerald

If One Could See Clearly

image via flickr

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly,
our whole life would change.”
—Buddha

A Single Light

"From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven, and when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, the streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from that united being."
Ba'al Shem Tov

Have A Good Time

A Broken Heart

Photo courtesy of ffound

The Pages of Our Lives

I read this on one of my favorite blogs "Synchronicity" at http://pono12.blogspot.com/

"We are never old, that is we never cease easily to be young, for all life at the same time: youth is an army, the whole battalion of our faculties and our freshnesses, our passions and our illusions, on a considerably reluctant march into the enemy’s country, the country of the general lost freshness; and I think it throws out at least as many stragglers behind as skirmishers ahead–stragglers who often catch up but belatedly with the main body, and even in many a case never catch up at all. Or under another figure it is a book in several volumes, and even at this a mere installment of the large library of life, with a volume here and there closing, as something in the clap of its covers may assure us, while another remains either completely agape or kept open by a fond finger thrust in between the leaves." ~ Henry James

Your Mission

"There is one great truth on this planet:
whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do,
when you really want something,
it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.
It's your mission on earth." -The Alchemist Paolo Coelho

A Consciousness

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

― Thornton Wilder

Class of 2010

Saturday, May 15, 2010 Commencement day Claremont McKenna College

Athena's graduation day

Literature honors, CUM LAUDE

Senior thesis: "Miles from Home: A Collection of Travel Stories"

It was a beautiful and clear southern California afternoon. All the tables and chairs were set up for a champagne and dessert reception following the ceremony.

A large tent provided a perfect venue for the ceremony.

The band played "Pomp and Circumstance" as the graduates marched in.

We arrived early to find the best seats.

Athena with her other Posse Foundation Scholarship friends.

A milestone day for us all.

Athena and her proud dad

Mat, Courtney and Athena (old room-mates), Nate and Stacy

Lots of good friends

Many hugs

lots of laughs

a chance for everyone to celebrate with family and friends

Athena with cousins J and Celina

Brent and Athena

Nice ice sculptures "Yay class of 2010"

The CMC mascot "Stag"

Party time!

End of a happy day!

Last celebratory champagne toast in a packed up dorm room. Mat and Athena say adieu to Claremont McKenna.

Lovely Claremont Village which is the college town...

Farewell for now dear Claremont... one chapter ends as another begins.

A Good Friend

Courtney and Athena college room-mates - Graduation 2010

"A good friend is a connection to life-
a tie to the past,
a road to the future,
the key to sanity
in a totally insane world."-Lois Wyse

Sharing

“The miracle is this--
the more we share,
the more we have.”
-Leonard Nimoy

Courage

"Courage is the discovery that you may not win,

and trying when you know you can lose." -unknown

This Precious Moment

"We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust,
swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity.
Life is eternal.
We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other,
to meet, to love, to share.
This is a precious moment.
It is a little parenthesis in eternity."-The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

Graduation Day

Today our daughter Athena graduates from college. I have been getting teary-eyed this past week thinking about this milestone in her life and in ours. I wondered "Where did the last four years go?" and even beyond that, "What happened to the last twenty one?" How did the time pass so quickly?

It feels like a blink of an eye that I held her in my arms, the little newborn Athena. Then in another moment watched a five year old wave goodbye to me on her first day of Kindergarten.

Vivid images fill my mind of all the growing up years. The birthday parties, school field trips, family vacations, and the myriad of little moments that make up life, a home and a family.
All the living that has brought us to this point today.

I read a blog post this week that was titled: "Things I Forgot To Say". It made me wonder if there were things that I forgot to say to Athena. You know, some important thoughts, feelings, lessons about life, and in general things to prepare her for the next adventure.

I realized though that from the time she was born to this moment I have told her so many times that I love her, that I am so proud of who she is and that I hope she will always follow her bliss.

Can a mother ever be content that she has said enough?
I wonder and I hope.



Here' the view from her dorm room. We are making the final move and packing the last of her things this weekend.

Athena shared with me an email she received this week from a Buddhist Monk in Australia. I hope she keeps this sage advice close to her heart. The email said this:

"All the happiness, peace, love i.e. everything you ever want is already here, in the present moment. All you have to do is be still enough to appreciate it. "

"We love you Athena and are so very proud of who you are and all that you have accomplished. We are wishing you a wonderful life as you go forward.

Follow your bliss."

Athena, Barb and Mike Christmas 2009

Let Me Tell You a Secret

"Giving is the secret of abundance."
-Swami Sivananda