Mumzy's the word

Had a drink with a woman on Friday and learned that her grandchildren call her "Mumzy." According to her, it is a common nickname in England for a grandmother.

I did a Google search and found a boy rapper in England named Mumzy - a boy. On http://www.newparentsguide.com/ it was not listed at all. (Although it did list "Lola" as a grandmother nickname from the Phillipines, which I love!!)

Digging a little deeper, it turns out that there are lots of Mumzy's out there. Some in UK, some in India, some right here in USA. I doubted it a little as an "English" thing because I called my grandmother "Grandmom," which I understood to be an English tradition. She felt she was too young to be a "Granny." I didn't understand that when I was four, but now that I am two years away from how old she was when I was born - 42 - I totally get it. I'm surprised she didn't have me call her by her first name, Melva.

Austerity vs. Abundance?

This Sunday I gave a little talk at church about yoga as a spiritual practice. One of the values of the yoga system is called tapas - which is a Sanskrit word that can be massaged to be translated as "austerity" in English. After church, a restauranteur friend of mine said that she felt a little embarassed because just two nights before we had a seven course meal at her restaurant. She said, "I like the idea of a feast!" And I agreed.

I think that austerity has merits - we should be good stewards of our natural resources, for instance, and not take more than we give. AND we should feel gratitude for our abundance. Abundance is also good. And gratitude is the most powerful value of all, I feel. It is not listed as one of the niyamas in yoga - the second limb that teaches us values to cultivate in ourselves. The nearest is santosa, or contentment.

I believe that we live in an abundant universe and that gratitude is the key to enjoying it. By feeling content and grateful for what we have, the universe will provide more. There are many flavors and textures and colors and beautiful sights, smells, and sounds to behold in this world. What a shame it would be to cut ourselves off from beauty. I would rather feel grateful for it - and feast!

AIT

I am enrolled in a course called Attention and Integrative Therapies. One feature is that each day of the week represents a value to be practiced all day. Today is Friday and the theme is Forgiveness.

A trick with forgiveness is being able to separate the feelings of hurt from the idea that you accept what happened. To heal the hurt, we must forgive. But forgiveness does not mean that we condone hurtful behavior. I struggle with this and am looking forward to a weekly exercise at understanding through the next six months.

Affirmation for today: I am trying my best to forgive (others and myself).

How are you doing on forgiveness?