Give your best effort with a prayerful Mind.
God Resides in a prayerful mind. The Universe responds to sincerity (Makoto)
Believe that even if you don’t have what you think you need, you WILL find a way! If you are fixated on “what you don’t have” you will not be blessed with wisdom and a way to solve your problems. Think creatively to get past any obstacles in your way.
Not careful, too busy talking, or looking around, and oophs we land on our laurels. After the initial shock of the jarring thud when you land, usually you have to take a few minutes to regroup before getting up. If you are on ice, like I was here, you have to navigate carefully or you’ll go down again.
You’ll also note that I wasn’t wearing the proper footwear to be walking across a frozen pond.
I’m a visual person. Seeing the results of my fall, imprints the lesson – prepare for an outing, dress properly.
Be mindful of your surroundings.
Yes, look around, but be aware of where you are, and think before you embark on what could be a tricky situation.
This little bit of a winter wonderland is in Haven Shire, I will give you the taxi to the Wind and the Willows build (by Sweecah), next door to her is Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, andbeside Snow white is Weilo Bailey’s Winter Wonderland. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Haven%20Shire/173/90/21. You can also see more pictures on my other blog http://virtualluna.blogspot.ca
When you fall down in life, dust yourself off and get on with what you wanted to do. Sometimes the fall was meant to slow you down so that you would take notice of the world around you. 
Caverns of Aleval – you’ve seen pictures now taken from this location in the last few blogs. This is a build by Asa Vordun in Second Life this is the taxi to click on to explore the place for yourself. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caverns%20of%20Aleval/243/90/21
This morning I took an online survey for a University in South Carolina on the experience of teaching,or being a student in SL, until about 2009 may of the major Universities and Learning Institutions had a presence in Second Life. Now it seems less so if I am to believe the document I read this morning.
As an artist and teacher, I have found Second Life to be invaluable for my own development and those who have ventured in with me. Some stay only a little while, others have stayed longer, some couldn’t handle it at all. It is a learning curve in one way or another for all who give it a try.
Fear of the unknown, insecure with technology, lack of time, for whatever reason, there is a time and a season. =^_^= Being in Second Life, requires a desire to be there, if you decide to visit and explore, you world will open up .. especially if you are creative person, the options are endless.
Caverns of Aleval is going through a change today, snow is falling and the land is taking on the charms of winter. Our lives also go through changing seasons, sometimes we feel the gradual change, and other times, plop, it is in our face.
PL lesson for today says. Once you Make up your mind things will begin to happen.. Once you decide, “I’m going to do it” your enthusiasm and courage will begin to rise, if you give it your best effort, God will give you aid when you need it most.. 
The attention to detail in this build is amazing. (I caught Asa doing some add ons this morning, she closed the door to this darling little home, if you peak inside, you will find it warm and cosy, simply touch the door for it to open)
Attention to detail is what we need in our lives … We need to practice mindfulness, if we want something to happen or desire a change, then we need do more than think and want it, we have to work towards that goal, being present and mindful of our journey is key. I’ve taken a close up of her work, this is virtual art at its best. Her place is welcoming and heartwarming.
I love that little tree. Share your world, share your dreams, step outside the box, make your dreams a reality. Blessings.
Hmmm ginger or garlic, what has that to do with Inspiration. It is about choices, Garlic is such a wonderful little plant. Not only does it add flavour to food it is healthy for us. The same can be said about ginger, Each one has its own taste, and its own uses (as health benefits) and depending on how it is used, will determine our acceptance of use of it.
Interestingly, both are roots (bulbs) the most known remedies and uses are of the part of the plant that is underground.
When out in the woods, unless you know what you are looking for the wild garlic goes unseen.
If my husband comes into the kitchen while I’m preparing a meal, he reacts to the smell of garlic (in the negative) and it in turn affects his pleasure in the meal when it is served.
IF he does not see me cooking, he enjoys the meal with much more gusto and appreciation.
On the surface, life can be tranquil and peaceful, but when we look, really look, often what we see changes our initial perspective.
All this to say, there are so many layers in life, and often we are only dealing with the top layers.
When Inspiration comes to us, it is because the Universe has cut through the layers and has given us a quick glimpse at the heart or core of that moment and blessed us with an option. I’ve used the word option, because. we are guided, it is up to us to make the choice of listening or doing something different.
Listen, accept the thought and if action is involved, do it. Go for it. Believe in your inner voice for it belongs to YOU, Have faith in yourSELF. me, myself and I, we are all ONE connected to the Universe, The Divine connection is always there, sometimes we simply are not listening. GOD/TAO is ever present. A L W A Y S
PL Precept #18 Each Moment Is A Turning Point.
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 
Sorry no pictures – too busy eating. Before I forget though I thought I’d best share the recipes with you of last night’s meal for the Prayer Circle evening. The meats were served on a mixed bed of Sushi rice and plump medium grain rice.
The Asian grocery store near here, actually slices the pork hocks into slices, just short of cutting all the way through the bone. This was seared in 100% coconut oil, (1 teaspoon or so) enough so that the crushed garlic and ginger wouldn’t burn and to give the meat a bit of colour. then I added some chicken stock and curry and let it simmer for a couple of hours. The curry is the cubed curry that you buy in Asian grocery stores, and you can pick your own flavour and temperature, mild, medium or HOT. While it is in simmer mode, I add sliced onion and diced celery.
The oxtails, were given similar treatment. They were seared using the coconut oil, This time I make sure the oxtails are tossed and stir fried until a golden brown, then I add ginger, black bean sauce, some hoisin sauce, and a vegetable mushroom soy, toss some more, then add cooking sake to taste, prior to adding some chicken stock.and cubed king mushrooms. This too is allowed to come to a rolling boil, then simmer for several hours,
Both of the dishes are flavourful, and provide a rich harmonizing gravy for the rice…Often when such meals are served the gravies are their own culinary dish. The reason why the rice is so important to the meal.
The vegetarian balls, are similar to the recipe provided a few blogs back, you can see a picture of the balls on that blog. This time though, I had actual mushrooms in the mix of oyster and mushroom soy, previously cooked mushrooms and carrots that had been cooked in a sauce for another meal.. they were mashed with the potatoes and chick peas providing a different flavour. I added to that minced garlic and grated fresh ginger. Used two eggs with the mix along with about a full cup of Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) They are a good size since I use the ice cream scoop to make them. They hold their shape well. Baked in an oven on a lightly greased pizza pan depending on your oven, take between 1/2 an hour and 45 minutes. When they are a rich golden brown take them out and let them cool. I store them using a muffin tin for each ball.
Obviously I do the above over a two day period. This allows for the flavours to really settle into the dishes. Then when it is time to eat, I bring the pots back into the kitchen and slowly reheat them on the stove. The vegetarian balls can be zapped in the microwave, or eaten cold. This dear reader is the reason living in a country where we have 4 seasons, I offer up these meals when it is late fall or winter and its cold outside. I can use the summer kitchen to keep the dishes cold in their pots over night.
Depending on the group you are serving you can provide along with the meal a plate of fresh veggies or a shredded slaw is good. Keep the greens simple and crunchy.
Beverage to go with the above for me is a glass of cold water, but herbal teas are offered to guests. AFTER the meal. While eating the object of such a prayer circle is to allow your taste buds to enjoy and experience all the different spices and tastes and textures.
Being mindful and exercising you brain and spirituality, is not just sitting in silence, it is learning how to bring the mindfulness into your every day life and activities. Sharing mindfulness with a friend(s) and partaking of an evening where all your senses are employed.
Prayer and “active” meditations are key to having and living a balanced life where spirituality and GOD are part of every second of your day.
after the meal and prior to bedtime, I checked on Q who was showing off her svelte figure, she can eat and it never seems to show! A great evening of sharing, eating, mindfulness. and time for creativity. Amazing =^_^=
Rev. Eugene on Mioshie
What is Mioshie? Mioshie in PL is “Divine Instruction.” It tells you the reason for receiving the particular Mishirase (sickness, misfortune, injury, etc.). The Mioshie will list all the negative mentality that you had. By praying and practicing what is written on the Mioshie, your Mishirase will be cured.
To give you an example, let say that I came down with a cold. So, I request a Mioshie for my Mishirase of catching a cold. The Mioshie will come back listing all my negative mentality that I had. It could be: 1. Don’t be stubborn; 2. Don’t overly do things; and 3. Don’t complain about others. If I can follow all these, then I will never catch a cold the rest of my life.
In order for a body to be healthy, everything needs to run smoothly. A negative mentality releases chemicals in our body that starts a reaction that eventually leads to a cold, for instance. Therefore, a person who has more positive mentality will be more healthier than not.
To request Mioshie is to know your true self. We can look at other people and know what negative mentality that person has. But, it is very hard to realize your own negative mentality.
Mioshie is the key to being healthy and living a happier life.
Mioshie is Divine Instruction given to PL members to help them learn and improve through Mishirase.
Mishirase – Divine warning from God, in the form of an illness, a misfortune, and accident,pain or suffering
Faith is something that is very personal. Believe and your faith will stand the test of time.
Let Go
Embrace the changing seasons
Go with the flow, Allow the light of God/TAO to be your guide
With every season, comes new life, new challenges and adventure
Embrace it all, Freedom comes in Letting Go.
Blessings everyone, have a wonderful day.
Mother Nature is bursting out all over with her various shades of fall colours. I started out wanting to show you the meat for making ox tail soup. I got sidetracked by the hydrangea along the fence, The closer we get to the really cold weather, the more this flower will show off its many talents. It presents a different “face” for every season.
Personally, I feel that this is something we all do, some of us are more dramatic in our changes than others. The fall winter season sees my wardrobe going to darker colours.
Where does the colour go? It is still present in my life, I just don’t wear it. Maybe in a scarf, hmmm no.. I just checked, the colours are all subdued. One of my winter warm jackets is a royal purple, in some lights it looks like a dark grey, in sunlight, you can see the purple hues …. Whatever, the object of the coat is warmth.
OK back to the oxtail soup. Have you ever experienced oxtail soup? To be begin with, do you know what the packaged meat looks like?
This is one delicious succulent cut of meat. You only need a few pieces in your cook pot to get rich savory results. (recipe is for two – four full nourishing bowls)
Choose the package of meat that appeals to you. The meat is not inexpensive, there are other cuts that are cheaper, but only the oxtails give you “the” taste. This meat is also great for doing beef and barley, My version depends on what my taste buds are wanting at the time I am preparing the soup. For this exercise I will be moderate in my selections. I myself do not use recipes, I cook like I do other artistic expressions.. =^_^=
I like a good 5, 6 good size pieces of meat, 1 onion (palm of my hand) cut into slices. 4-5 cloves of garlic, (Russian if you can find it has a nice sharp tang to it) 1 stalk of celery cut into pieces, along with a dash of hot mustard (powdered) also good is adding several slices of fresh ginger (to taste) NO SALT. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and let it cook for several hours. After about an hour, you can add diced carrots, squash, green/red peppers, if I have corn I cut it off the cob and add it to the mixture. Two hours into the making, add the barley or rice.. If you are going to add noodles, wait till about a half hour before the soup is done. Noodles that are too soggy are not pleasant to eat. Only at t his stage, do I consider adding salt (if you use salt) and pepper to taste.
Variations of this dish, is to add curry, turmeric or black bean and garlic paste. that is the delight of this soup, it has so many taste possibilities. The meat gives you a true beef broth that will take you in almost any direction your little cook’s spirit wants to go.
Remember this morning I was wanting Japanese breakfast, I was at an Asian grocery store that has baked, and cooked goods, this is what I had for lunch. I treat myself to these dumplings when I’m shopping there for my groceries.
Today- I enjoyed the visual poetry that the weather and sunshine day brought my way, and I let my taste buds enjoy themselves with the variety of goodies I “stuffed” myself with. All in all, a pretty good day… Looking forward to tomorrow.
How about you, was your day a success? Have a busy day planned for tomorrow? Whatever comes your way, listen with your heart and mind…
Many blessings, today, tomorrow and always…
photos -Q
Some days require more attention to one’s personal needs..
We find ourselves dealing with emotions that are not always wanting expression. Suddenly they are in your face so there is no escape.
Life is full of accumulations of small moments. Each moment has full impact, if you are living in the moment.
Does it seem that everyone you meet or interact with just adds to your gloom. Meet your day, head to head. Make it your own. You are the author, the writer,the artist, YOU decide how you want to “play”
Could it be that events and people in your life don’t seem to be “real” Are you “out of step” or are they in a different “play”
Your life is your own, your very own work of art……. Life is Art. you get to decide if you cut corners, if you do, it is your life you will affect, you decide whether you live in shades of gray, or whether your world will be full of colour. We can’t always control events that happen in our lives, but it is our decision, how we react, and assimilate the energy around us.
It may take some doing, but with determination, quiet meditation, you can find balance in your day. One must know unhappiness/sadness to appreciate and treasure the happy moments.
I found my creativity in SL yesterday, the virtual world this month is full of haunted places to visit. By end of day the colour was back … I was relaxed.
Blessings -Today and Always MAKE TODAY YOUR DAY!
photos- SL -by Q
avatar makeups – Style by Kira, hair, Vanity Hair, Pixivor black > sarouel pants by [Bubble} > top by Ruxy >shoes,Dakota
url for DarkDhama Haunted Manor http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Benten/80/216/29
One day follows the next. With the cooler weather, now when you are walking around downtown, the outdoor patios are taken down, the street huskers have gone inside, and the market vendors are dwindling down to the the last of the ” die-hards”. People are hurrying rather than lazily taking in the day, and some are already bundled up warding off the cold.
We can look out at the world or we can participate.
Mishirase > Divine warning, in the form of an illness, a misfortune, an accident, pain or suffering
PL teaches about “Mishirase”, which appears in our lives in the form of illnesses, injuries, hardships and natural disasters. These Mishirase that could be considered unlucky, are in actuality, warnings given by the “Universe” to show us that we are having a poor understanding of the “material/info” that we are being given, thus, we have difficulty expressions our “true” selves. God may be showing us that we are overly attached to our own thoughts and are expressing ourselves “unnaturally”
Human beings are born with the ability to experience pain so they can avoid pushing their bodies beyond natural limits. If you bend your finger too far back, you will experience pain, a warning that to continue to push your finger past the point of pain would result in a broken finger. In the same way, the “pains” we experience in life are “reminders from “God” that you are pushing something beyond what is natural.
Who belongs to the face that is looking out, or back at you? In Canaille’s picture, you see her, you can tell she is a dog, if you look really hard, you can see Velcro in the background. But the picture is of Canaille, its a face, who is she, and what does the face tell you/us. I ask only because I have been faced with seeing the face that looks back at me every day. Does the face you see, really tell you about who a person is, or was. Yes I say was, because in life, whether we want to or not, we are constantly changing, some changes we orchestrate ourselves, others are made for us.
For instance, can you tell when you look at me now that I was one of the first “Eurasians” (not even a term heard today in 2013) in television back in “my day”… I was a model, it was live TV, we had to run off stage and change behind a (barely private) screen. My hands opened and closed a weekly show, each slice of bread was a credit. I was Miss Jade East, somewhere there is a photo to attest to that. Media was different back then. I’ve written for magazines and journals that are simply non existent now. Too short for the high fashion runway, I was also considered too short for the assignments in the fashion houses, however my “look/beauty” was exotic for that time/period. I was too young to know that I was part of a ground breaking era, television was new and exciting business to be in. I simply lived it.
Living in the moment has been a super huge blessing in my life. When one lives in the moment there are a lot of advantages in life, we live the moment and we move on. Because we appreciate each and every moment, often the past is really “history” for us, and when we look back at what was, or what “personality/character” was playing the leading role, it is often with interest and curiosity, much like watching a rerun on television.
While out with a friend, she took a picture of me and later sent it to me. That was weeks ago now, I’ve actually looked at it a few times now, each time I look at it, I wonder who I was on that day. I look familiar, but I can’t say for certain it is me. Yet physically it is, I’m sure Christianne didn’t snap a picture of a stranger that happened to be in her space at the time..
When I read the Pl teaching – Let’s first Accept and Appreciate Things as They Are. Even when dealing with someone you don’t like or when you are facing an uncomfortable situation, take a moment to first accept whatever comes your way. There is always something that you can learn from these situations. I take a look at Canaille’s picture, and of the one Christianne sent me, and muse out loud to you, hmmm is this woman really me, Can I accept and appreciate all the “things” she is to me? A good meditation for me today.
Thank YOU for sharing this moment with me… sigh, OK, I’ll post the picture of me. why not… I have to stop hiding from the face that other’s see.
Drat haven’t found or learned how to make the picture smaller when I load it. (see the part of me that wants to control is being over ridden by the Power that IS..)
UNBOUNDED BLESSINGS – now and always
photo of Canaille – Q
photo of Q -Christianne M (Kemptville)
dymoonblog 
Written
on December 13, 2013