Einstein 17: Opportunities
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. – Albert Einstein While in the Pacific Northwest, I learned to make flower essences and that some plants have helpful energies. In this belief system: Heartsease provides gentle comfort and solace for a broken heart. Bleeding Hearts vibrations release the pain of broken relationships. Self-Heal is a mint whose name means, “that with which one may cure oneself without the help of a surgeon.” Snapdragons slay harsh and negative speech patterns. One of my most inspiring flowers is the Black-Eyed Susan. With its sun-gold petals radiating from a dark center, this perennial visually and beautifully expresses this week’s Einstein wisdom, that from life’s shadows, brightness can bloom. BTW, this flower discussion is not meant to replace medical advice but to offer fresh insights. As I was taught, flower essences have subtle, gradual and enduring effects. Use should be guided by those with substantial understanding of the practice. Read more about healing with flowers. Blessings & best wishes. Special Days This Week May 18th is No Dirty Dishes Day. Here are ways thesyndromemag suggests avoiding dirty dishes. Eat finger foods over the sink. Pour cereal and milk straight into your mouth. Read more. The 20th is National Be a Millionaire Day, a great time to pretend to be a millionaire or start working to become one. Here are 50 Ways to Become a Millionaire Fast Featured Video Keep in Mind This coming Tuesday is Primary Election day in my County, which means we’re choosing who will decide how we live. This ballot also has a lot of referendums. I recently learned that of the 39 candidates running for the judge, the Bar Association considers some Highly Qualified to decide how our laws are enforced while others are Unqualified. Wherever you vote, keep in mind, anyone can get themselves on ballots then run marketing campaigns with nice slogans and attractive images that can be as misleading as ads promoting the benefits of cigarette smoking in the 1950s. Here are ways to make sure you know who and what you’re voting for: How to Judge a Candidate Vote 411
Einstein 16: Your Miracles
There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can life as if everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein When an eleven year old’s handmade harp was stolen, the police searched. A CBS TV news story aired. Nothing worked until an odd conversation effected the girl’s mother so much that Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, a psychoanalyst and UC-Berkeley professor, wrote Extraordinary Knowing. The book shares stories of people who knew things they shouldn’t have and scientific support for paranormal phenomena like telepathy, clairvoyance and the power of prayer. See “6 Stories To Make You Believe in Miracles.” Have you experienced unusual, improbable events that helped, a/k/a miracles? What if you can make your own? Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success opened me to the idea that intentions create destiny. Napoleon Hill proposed the same in Think and Grow Rich and Louise Hay in Heal Your Body. Nine hundred years ago, Rumi said, “Live as though life is rigged in your favor.” [Here are five more of Arianna Huffington’s favorite quotes from Thrive. I really like the Cherokee grandfather story.] What if expectations can shape fate? Jim Rohn said, “A piece of the miracle process has been reserved for each of us.” If so, how can we claim our pieces? See: Make Your Own Miracles in Seven Steps How to create more miracles in your life Blessings & best wishes! ***** Mother’s Day Sunday, May 9, 2021 According to MountainTrek.com, the word ‘mother’ can be a verb [‘to mother’]. So, Mother’s Day can also be a time to remember to nurture and nourish ourselves. First, through playfulness. Here are more tips. Clean Your Room Day Monday, May 10, 2021 Here’s another way to do some self mothering, and here are 13 Bedroom Cleaning Hacks, beginning starting at the top of the room. Ever wonder how rainbows happen? Why rainbows are curved? What’s at the end of rainbows? Here are the answers. * Shop “Rose Bouquet,” this week’s Featured Art .
Einstein 15: Understanding Everything
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. – Albert Einstein Some years ago, I spent a month at Dorland Mountain Arts, a creative space without electricity [marvelous!]. During a walk in the Temecula, California hills, fire ants climbed onto my shoes and up my legs, biting and burning all the way. After handling that situation, I was admiring the white clouds and bright blue sky when the narrow path turned. Fortunately, I looked down just before stepping off the mountain. My nature walks ended when advised to be noisy to avoid surprising bears and to carry an air horn as well as make myself look as big as possible should a mountain lion approach. I loved Dorland, the people and world around it. I grew as a human being and hope to return one day. Because on Earth [here’s a fascinating photo], predation is essential, I wonder if Einstein meant that to ‘look deep into nature’ should remind that life requires care and attention. Life here offers real dangers to body, mind, heart and spirit. That said, and in negotiating the world’s hazards, Anthony D’Angelo offers heartwarming advice, “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” May 1st is May Day, a great time to find a maypole, dance in the sunshine and enjoy spring’s first flowers, especially in this post’s video. Shop “Shasta Daisies,” this week’s Featured Art. Blessings & best wishes What kind of flower are you? Take this QUIZ. ***** Deadliest Quiz In considering Einstein’s advice to “look deep into nature,” keep in mind it can be both delightful and deadly. How many human lives are lost each year to these animals? Be careful! Alligators Kill 1, 15, 50 people per year Sharks kill 5, 50, 100 people per year Ants kill 10, 20, 30, 40 people per year Deer kill 17, 38, 65, 130 people per year Humans kill 475,00 other humans per year. Mosquitoes kill twice as many. Elephants, Hippopotami, Wolves, even Horses kill quite a few people each year. Here are the top 24 deadliest animals to humans [including quiz answers].
Einstein #14: Yes. You Are A Genius.
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – Albert Einstein Years ago, a psychologist taught my class that IQ scores were based on exams taken by people near universities. Traditional intelligence tests measured what those populations understood. But folks from other backgrounds have smarts [genius] that could be a different as, say, how salmon and squirrels would answer right-or-wrong questions about trees, sky, nuts and nostrils. Thank goodness, as Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time.” Oprah Winfrey agreed when saying, “I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint.” In Latin gen became the root of the verb gignere, “beget, produce.” In Roman times, genius meant spirit guides and guardian angels which the world needs now, especially yours. Especially on National Super Hero Day, April 28. Here’s how to celebrate. Here’s How to Find Your Hidden Genius. Shop “Pink Lily,” this week’s Featured Art . Blessings & best wishes Smarty Pants Quiz In thinking about genius, here are some smarty pants questions from Brain Storms, The Smart Thinking Game: Maurice the bull has just swallowed a time bomb that’s going off in five minutes. Which of these four words best describes the situation: Awful, Abominable, Dreadful, or Shocking? Wendy has cats. All but two are Siamese, all but two are Persian and all but two are Main Coon. How many cats does Wendy have altogether? Lauren is raising pigs and ostriches. Among her animals, she has 17 heads and 56 legs. How many pigs and how many ostriches does Lauren have? Answers Below 7 Brain Games to Make You Smarter Includes remembering items in a picture and counting backwards. SMARTY PANTS ANSWERS Maurice the bull’s situation is A-bomb-in-a-bull. Wendy has three cats. Two are not Siamese, though one is. Two are not Persian, but one is. Two are not Main Coon, but one is. That equals three cats, of of each breed. Lauren has 11 pigs and 9 ostriches. Because each animal has two hind legs, 17 heads means 34 hind legs. So, the remaining 22 legs must be the front legs of the eleven, four-legged pigs. The remaining six heads belong to ostriches. CONFESSION:I didn’t get any right. How did you do? Brainstorms, The Smart Thinking Games.
Einstein # 13: Things we get for free
Sometimes one pays the most for the things one gets for nothing. – Albert Einstein Once upon a time, the lovely and speedy Princess Atalanta agreed to marry any man who could outrun her. After all worthy suitors failed, a young man arrived who wanted the pretty princess, not her kingdom. Each time Atalanta passed him, he tossed a golden apple. Each time, the nimble young lady gathered the precious fruit then regained her lead. As they approached the finish line and Atalanta raced ahead, the young man threw his last apple. In catching it, Atalanta lost the race and her single status. Perhaps another tale would better match this week’s Einstein wisdom, but I use any means to remind myself that freebies can be costly. Einstein’s words also made me wonder if – as the saying suggests – the best things in life are free. Can you think of any free ‘best things?’ Love came to mind, but it requires fidelity. Friendship costs time and caring. With Earth Day on April 22nd, I accept that a price must be paid to keep our water clean, air fresh and land beautiful. Here are 10 ways to help, including how to attract hummingbirds. *** Earth has a bit of a bulge at its waistline. Our planet’s circumference at the equator is larger than anywhere else. At the equator, you would weigh less than at the North or South Poles. People [everything] at the equator is spinning around the planet at about 1,000 miles per hour while at the poles, there’s almost no movement. Read more Facts About Earth.
Einstein # 12: The Difference Between Clever and Wise
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein I can’t add to Einstein’s words but want to share that this is International Dark Sky Week. It encourages us to enjoy starry skies and reduce light pollution. This week, those who rise before the sun can see the crescent skim Saturn, then Jupiter, backed by the constellation Capricorn. Read more. Since 2002, the third Thursday in April has been National High-Five Day. It began when students at the University of Virginia gave away lemonade and happy hand slaps. BTW, the High Five uplifted the earlier ‘low five,’ also called “slip-slapping”, “slapping the plank” and “soul shake” Read more. Whether by clever means or wise, succeed and soar enjoy high-fiving folks Thursday and star gaze all week … always! Shop “Hydrangea,” this week’s Featured Art. Blessings & best wishes. Ramadan This week’s new crescent launches Ramadan. These thirty days are best known for prayer and fasting, when Muslims eat and drink nothing from daybreak to nightfall. As a month that focuses on the inner life, these four weeks and two days offer much to any spiritual practice. Gossip and arguments are avoided. Patience, compassion, mercy, forgiveness and gratitude are highlighted. What a wonderful way. This year, Ramadan starts at sundown, Monday, April 12. Read more. Photo Credit: PNGTree.com
Einstein #11: Driving in Reverse
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. – Albert Einstein Conservation values the past and how things were once done. Progress requires a different, more expansive future. Conservative and progressive approaches have their places, like checking the rear view mirror while zooming forward. That said, consider the guide for Samurai warriors. The Hagakure teaches, It is said that what is called “the spirit of an age” is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world’s coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today’s world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. As this post’s Featured Video shows, we cannot stay where we are. The universe always sails forward, advancing, progressing. Along the way, keep asking questions. ***** Hermitage, Pennsylvania’s Avenue of Flags was created by in 1977. Tom Flynn established the park as a special place for veterans and to remind that freedom isn’t free. A democracy is a government of social equality shaped by the voters. For a democracy to work, voting must be encouraged, effective and easy. The voting changes legislated in Georgia have caused the outcry that includes boycotting companies headquartered in that state. See list. Beyond Georgia, additional situations require progress to make the United States a democracy that’s truly representative and that honors those who’ve sacrificed to make it so. Read more.
Einstein Wisdom #10: Absurd, A Vital Ingredient
Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible. – Albert Einstein How did April Fools’ Day start? Some connect it to the Spring Equinox festival Hilaria, a Greco-Roman religious day requiring merriment, rejoicing and, well, hilarity. Grief and sorrow were forbidden. Others connect April Fools’ Day to the switch from the Julian to Gregorian calendar. This change moved New Years Day from the Spring Equinox to January 1st. Those who didn’t get the memo and kept starting their year in late March were called, ‘April Fools.’ In France, paper fish were placed on their backs, symbolizing young, easily caught and gullible fish, the ‘poisson d’avril’ (April fish). Read more. The Tarot’s first card is called ‘The Fool.’ It’s number is 0, the egg-shaped glyph symbolizes nothing, while holding a space for all possibilities. In this system, ‘The Fool’ represents life in early spring, a sunlit time of innocence when the ways of the world have yet to cast shadows and cause doubts. This April 1st, why not try something marvelously foolish. As Einstein also said of invention and creativity, “If at first the idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it.” [Thanks for sharing, Marc!] Otherwise, here are 16 Fun April Fools’ Day Pranks BTW, March 31 is National Crayon Day. Start the fun early.
Einstein #9: Past, Present, Future > Illusion
The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. … the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. – Albert Einstein In trying to understand how everything could happen at once, I watched this post’s video, below. [More of my hairs silvered in the process.] What I learned is: Einstein was explaining what ‘now’ means. In the end [if endings are possible], I could accept that the past is never gone and the future always exists. Everything that ever or will occur is happening ‘now,’ somewhere. That’s a shivery thought. I want more good ‘nows!’ At 5:37 this morning, Pittsburgh time, Earth’s tilt allowed less darkness and more sunlight to brighten this hemisphere for the next 90 days … or eternally. Because the passage of time is suggested by distances travelled [from lunch to dinner, from winter to spring], the words of the starship USS Enterprise’s Captain Picard are worth remembering, “Make now the most precious time.” [“The Inner Light,” Season 5, Episode 25] By the way, tomorrow [March 21] is International Day of Forests. Enjoy one or a few. Plant a tree and start your own! Blessings & best wishes. ***** Imagine these events as always ‘now.’ In 2010, Nintendo trademarked the phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong.” Back when dinosaurs existed, volcanoes were erupting on the moon. In 1982, A Japanese company opened schools that teach people to be funny. About 1,000 students enroll each year. The Roman – Persian wars are the longest in history, lasting over 680 years. They began in 54 BC and ended in 628 AD.
Einstein #8: Truth and Beauty
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. – Albert Einstein Today, March 13, is Percival Lowell’s birthday In 1905, he started looking for a planet beyond Neptune. Lowell spent the next eleven years in lengthy mathematical and sky searches for the elusive “trans-Neptunian” planet. Fourteen years after he died, Pluto was found. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union redefined planets and stripped Pluto of that title. Interestingly, by the IAU’s criteria, Earth could also be demoted. According to that organization, a planet must: Orbit a star Have enough mass to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium [big enough to become a sphere, or round] and Clear debris from its path.. Though Earth’s highway through the sky is messy, we escape the title “dwarf planet” because of a better vacuuming system during babyhood than Pluto’s [a/k/a accretion]. Read more. For more reasons than avoiding the name ‘puny,’ obstacle-removal is important for all journeys. This week offers great opportunities to take Einstein’s advice atop this post. In addition to Percy Lowell’s birthday, March 13 is also Good Samaritan Day. The 17th celebrates St. Patrick, a man praised for sweeping the snakes from Ireland. The 19th calls all gigglers, cacklers, chortlers and belly laughers to celebrate “National Let’s Laugh Day,” Enjoy!