The obvious double-standard in regards to allocating taxpayer dollars for corporate bail-outs.

One of my favorite things about the holidays (other than some much-needed days away from the corporate grind) are the special rituals, observations and spiritual celebrations. For years, I have participated in the Meditation for World Peace at the Theosophical Society (Wheaton, Illinois, USA). It is my understanding that this event happens all over the planet (6:00 on the morning of December 31 in the Central Time Zone).

A few years ago, several members of the church I attend (DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church) created a Solstice Service. Participation has grown rapidly; it seems to fill a need that many people have within an otherwise "head-heavy" place like a U.U. church.

While my family members don't give a squat about these kinds of events (well, maybe my mother does--a little bit), they are important to me. I get some kind of "energy" from them. Something that goes beyond any temporary pleasure I might get from the stuff piled under the Christmas tree. I have come to the point where I really resent the materialism that overshadows the holiday season and seems to be a flimsy substitute for true community and affirming relationships.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a gift in the form of an E-mail invitation (I don't think it came from the Gaia community). It was an announcement about a sacred holiday observation circle on December 11 (also at the Theosophical Society). Now, some of you who are more spiritually advanced than me could probably describe this much better, but I'll do my best. About 50 people were gathered in a circle. The "leader" lit some sage and walked around the circle while smudging(?) us. Then she invited the Spirits of the Four Directions to come in. We recited a kind of prayer in unison, and then various people around the circle shared readings and stories, including a Hindu woman, a Buddhist and a Muslim fellow who sang a passage from the Koran. Then we did a couple of those Dances of Universal Peace followed by drumming. We finished by thanking the Spirits and the Earth and then the circle was opened. In the lunchroom downstairs, we enjoyed many snacks and lots of fellowship.

I don't have the freedom to do much "spiritual stuff" like out-of-town seminars and retreats, vision quests, Native American sweat lodges, trips to Sedona and so forth. So, I feel especially grateful that, right in the heart of plain-vanilla, conservative suburbia, there are some minimal-cost, spiritually-empowering happenings nearby.

The co-dependency thing. The fine line that one might have to walk between caring about a loved one and caring for them. Knowing how to "be there" for someone, but without trying to run his/her life. Knowing when it's best to listen compassionately and when it's appropriate to take action -- even when the other person is not sure which response he/she wants or needs.

Hmmm, that's interesting... I was just blogging a little on this subject a couple of weeks ago. Well, I'm kinda new here, so maybe it's not so unusual.

Autumn is my favorite season (I tell people that throughout the year). This might sound crazy, but I don't like hot weather. By August, I feel like I got mildew growing on me. Fall means cooler weather, hiking on nature paths with crunchy leaves and beautifully decorated trees around me. I like the whole pumpkin and Indian corn scene.

Last Saturday evening, I enjoyed a hayride on a farm with about 50 other people from a singles group. There we were, snuggled together on two hay wagons with Farmer Ken driving the big tractor. We sang old TV theme songs and carried on with general silliness under the stars. Although I don't care for marshmallows (burnt or not), I love sitting by the bonfire, either chatting with friends or sitting in quiet contemplation.

I like peace and quiet, so I look forward to the end of the noisy summer season and the start of the relative tranquility of autumn. There's something nostalgic about Halloween and Thanksgiving. My birthday occurs between them (Nov. 7), so maybe that has something to do with it. So far, I haven't experienced any major losses (deaths, end of employment, etc.) during the Autumn. During election years, the political circus finally comes to an end on that Tuesday after the first Monday in November--which helps to increase my level of serenity.

Now if we can start cooling down to more seasonable temperatures here in the Chicago area, I can really get into my favorite time of the year.

Oh, yes, now we call it Patriot Day.

I arrived at work a little late on the morning of September 11, 2001. I was still a bit annoyed by the delay caused by a traffic accident a couple of blocks away. Why was there an upside-down pickup truck blocking the intersection? And why were my co-workers gathered around a small portable TV set in one of the vacant office cubicles? When I realized that they were not watching a movie, but rather, they were witnessing a terrible reality unfolding, I thought about the accident down the street. Did a driver hear this news flash on the radio and get distracted?

The building where I worked was being emptied out. Most of the employees had already been transferred or laid off. It just all seemed so weird. What was happening around me? Shortly after the planes started flying again, I made another trip to the company's new headquarters to assist with the relocating process. I remember lying in bed in my hotel room thinking, what if there's another incident--or even a copycat threat? Oh my God...if they ground the planes again, I could be stuck in Jackson, Mississippi over the weekend! I pulled the covers over my head.

A few weeks later, I purchased the Alan Jackson CD (there's that "J" word again) containing the song, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning." I never heard of this singer--actually, I don't really listen to contemporary Country & Western music anyway. I played that song a couple of times a day for a while. While I listened, I would translate the conventional religious lyrics into concepts that are more meaningful to me and thought about how this tragedy could finally be the catalyst that makes us set aside our shallow materialism and petty differences and begin to come together as a real community.

Maybe a little bit of that warm, fuzzy bonding happened here and there, for a while. But deep down inside, I already knew it wasn't going to last. Despite the "NEVER FORGET" bumper stickers, people soon began to re-focus on the next crisis, political scandal, or popular fad. Remember what troubling thing the news media was reporting on right before 9/11? Shark attacks.

In this Gaia community, it seems like a number of people actually do remember. And they seem to do it without trying to make a political statement. I may not always know what to do when I remember past events, but I try to do something. So I will stop here and do what I've done every year since that September day in 2001: I'm going to listen to that Alan Jackson song.

Another good day is winding down. Started out at dawn with my Yoga and Tai Chi exercises down by the lake. On the way back up to the house I picked a bushel of veggies from my garden and then spent the rest of the morning with a couple of clients who came over for Reiki treatments. After lunch on the deck, I did my afternoon meditation and then prepared the sun room for two more clients who needed some aromatherapy treatment. Because they made significant progress, I had plenty of time to pick up a few things at the organic grocery store before going to my cranial sacral massage session...

...whoops, wrong fantasy! Take 2...

I dragged myself out of bed and hurried off to work, stumbling into the office right at 8:00. Just another 8 hours of cubicle dwelling, keyboard pounding, annoying phone calls, e-mail replies that still didn't answer my questions, and the irritating noise of a co-worker eating potato chips from a crinkly bag. But nobody actually hassled me, so I guess it was a pretty good day.

Even though it's chilly, gray and drizzly outside, rainy days and Mondays seldom get me down. I'm a cool weather person, so I slid open the patio door and made myself some dinner. My tiger-striped cat Sally (click photos tab) likes to sit on a kitchen chair and look out of the sliding patio door screen. She prefers warm and sunny, so she puts up with the early autumn weather, because she likes to lie on that chair next to me as I sit at the table.

It got me thinking. Like how much I appreciate this time of the year. Here in northern Illinois, we have seasons. And being near the center of a large continental land mass, those seasons can sometimes express themselves with intensity. I figure that, as a Gaia member, I'm supposed to embrace every part of Nature, and that if Nature presents things that are not to my liking, it must be because it's bumping up against something in my life that is out-of-sync.

Summer is one of those things. It's my least favorite season--for a number of reasons. In the area where I live, when it's warm and sunny, it gets really noisy. The roaring exhaust pipes and squealing tires of young dudes in fast cars flexing their gasoline-powered muscles, the thundering sound from car audio systems that vibrate the house from a block away, the screaming sirens of emergency vehicles and police cars. Kind of like the exaggerated sound track of a movie that's been filmed in an urban slum setting. In reality, I live in a pleasant-looking neighborhood deep in the heart of suburbia.

Today, though, the peace and quiet is such a sharp contrast--and a welcome relief. Absolutely no distracting, unnecessary noises. Just the sound of light rain and a little bit of swishing traffic ambience in the background. It's amazing to think that it's just another weekday with the same motorized, rush-hour stampede.

There are a couple of other reasons why I have an emotionally complex relationship with Summer. One has to do with "equalization," and the other has to do with loss.

More about this later.

After Thomas Edison invented the first few things on which he has patents, he expanded his business and hired people just to tinker around and come up with more ideas. Wow, that would be the ultimate career for me--putting my creativity to use and getting paid to tinker all day long!

What keeps me from doing this today? That kind of job disappeared long before I was even born. Nobody's going to pay someone to do that kind of work nowadays.