Tagged

I've been tagged by Seventh Sister at Shimoda's Dream to list five ways I raise my vibrations:

1. Listening to music, baroque chamber music, blues, jazz, classic rock. There is music for every mood if you look for it.

2. Art museums. There is something absolutely magical about the way some people see and translate light and color, and the knowledge that a painting or sculpture was actually touched by one of my hero-artists is positively electric.

3. Making jewelry or knitting is a very zen, centering practice which induces total peacefulness in my soul. Creating something of beauty is as high as I am able to reach. Cooking does this for me, too. It is another way to serve my highest self and others, and the impermanence of it makes it all the more intense.

4. Walking by the ocean. The vastness, the immortality of it, the changing colors, the smells, the aliveness and negative ions never fail to comfort, heal and inspire me. (I am a triple Cancer, a serious water sign. I'm sure that is no accident.)

5. Reading fiction so excellent that I devoutly wish I had written it, and also the words of great souls like His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. It makes me realize that my petty annoyances are trivial and not worth my energy, and that I am here for a higher purpose, although I sometimes lose sight of that fact.

Many of my favorite authors are Japanese, although I have only read them in translation. I am very drawn to all Asian cultures and their highly developed aesthetic, as well as the inconsistencies that only serve to make them more fascinating.

I am supposed to choose five blogs that inspire me. I try not to tag anyone who has already done it, or Seventh Sister would be on my list. Her posts about growing up in rural Texas are breathtaking.

1. Good Thomas at his blog of the same name is a beautiful writer who is unafraid to portray emotion, and his pieces about the intensity of everyday love are staggering. His marvelous creativity should be celebrated from the proverbial rooftops.

2. The Thinker at Theory of Thought is a teenager with an amazing mind and spirit, and an innate understanding of psychology way beyond her years. She has never written an uninteresting post, and someday, we can all say that we knew her when.

3. Ian at Or So I Thought is a professional writer with a fine mind and great wit who is a most reliable source of interesting material and a distinct viewpoint which is always presented with kindness and respect for the views of others.

4. Ms. Little Pea of Little Pea is a sheer delight. She has an indomitable spirit and a strong mind, and is able to imbue the most everyday occurrences with her great sense of adventure and her irresistible charm.

5. Chani at Thailand Gal - I try not to repeat myself when I play tag, but she epitomizes the raising of vibrations. She always inspires by her goodness and fluidity with words which make her a force of Nature, although she would deny it.