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| © Copyright 2013 Paul Hood |
Hello Everybody!
Happy Independence Day! Is there anything in your life you really want to be independent from even if you need to be interdependent? Yeah, there are times… The newsletter article this month was written by Paul. Sheryl has new unscented flower essence formulas for pets she wants to tell you about (you can use them for people, too!) And if you happen to be anywhere a reasonable distance from Chico, CA you might want to check out Sheryl's art in a special show there. The reception is Friday, July 12 and details are below.
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IN THE MOMENT
I’m not a big fan of hot weather. For almost a week I saw the reports of weather coming: 115 degrees by the weekend. I hate that. But as I kept seeing the estimates change, day by day, I got to noticing that I’d have been better off not knowing anything, especially since what I “knew” were just estimates and predictions. By Friday it was indeed 109. But what I didn’t know was that the humidity would be a startlingly low 9%. As little as I had to be out in it, it was no big deal, even though our car has no functioning air conditioner. Yet our apartment surely does. First world problems, right? Boo-hoo, it’s kind of hot. The worst part, of course: worrying that it will be hot. Sheryl reminded me that Californians don’t know weather like East Coast people do, that the high humidity in the East means your natural evaporative body cooling system (sweating) no longer works so count your lucky stars. “I’m sure it will be much worse tomorrow,” I told myself, shortly before telling myself to stop thinking that. And I had a hunch that the weather might be nearly identical anyway. It was. The dreaded 115 degrees never came. We had a leisurely Saturday morning and enjoyed indoor activities in our air conditioned cocoon of an apartment.
Heading out to breakfast our Jeep wouldn’t start. Dead battery. Whoops. I knew it was weak. I knew it for a long time. I had not considered that it would fail on the hottest day of the year (so far). But that’s when batteries do fail, when it’s hot and when it’s cold. Some people learn from the errors of procrastination early in life, some are pushing fifty and still haven’t figured it out. Lucky we could borrow my dad’s car (he lives next door) and proceed. Pretty interesting day because we then proceeded to have several different experiences at the same place of business within just a few hours: really good service, almost too good, then really bad service, then almost as bad, then good again but sort of reluctant. I thanked the first one and the last one profusely and, by the way, the “too good” guy was on crutches and working anyway. The last guy seemed so shocked that I had thanked him, and a look passed over his face indicating that I had just changed his day with a simple “thank you.” If anybody asked me if I’d recommend that auto parts store I’d have to say, “It’s great, and it’s terrible, and it’s mediocre, and it’s pretty good.” It’s like probability in statistics, the truth only becomes evident as the repetitions of an experiment approach infinity. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
By the afternoon we’d had a nice breakfast out and the Jeep was functional again. It actually seemed “happy” to have a new battery. A couple hours later and we had a power outage in the apartment. A transformer had failed and half the complex would be doing without. More first world problems-- considering that a whole crew would be dispatched to replace the transformer, working through the night to do so. Off to the movies we went, but decided against going as we stood in the lobby. The air conditioning blasted through the open doors, refrigerating the parking lot. Young women kept striking up friendly conversations with Sheryl and I, smiling, happy, and I reflected on the fact that so many people in this town are. The heat doesn’t seem to affect them. Or possibly, they love it. Our cat was happy, too. She was actually very sick with a tumor, but as far as she was concerned a dark, quiet and warm house was pretty fun and interesting, plus she got to enjoy the undivided attention from her loved ones without intrusions from the usual electronic devices like TV and the internet.
In between all that we went to Denny’s and bumped into other folks from our apartment complex waiting it out. At the next table was a beautiful child with her parents. She kept sneaking stares at us from beneath her mop of blonde hair. Mom wasn’t happy, not at all. Dad was running interference with the kid-- who was actually doing nothing at all wrong except being a slightly bored 2 year old at a restaurant at 10 at night. I’m talking about an angel of a two year old. I wanted to tell the parents how beautiful their child was, both in spirit and the obvious sense, the kind of kid you want to photograph for the sheer joyous life in her. I even caught the kid mugging it up to cheer up her mommy. The parents didn’t take the news well that the power might be out until some time in the morning. You’d think it had been the news of a death in the family. Before they left I commiserated with the mom about the raising of a 2 year old (I’ve done it twice) and she seemed to like that a little, as long as the topic stayed on how difficult it was.
I had a hard time complaining about anything after that. That family blessed me.
Back at home, Sheryl and I watched an unusual movie on my laptop in the dark. We put the cat between us on the bed and she loved it— she purred and cuddled and did not mind the heat. The movie was a series of short stories themed on being somewhere you are not, being something you are not, or pausing for a moment between here and there, contemplating exactly where you are and who you are now, right now, right in this moment in time.
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SPIRITUAL COUNSELING IS KIND OF OUR THING
Would you like a session? We work with people in person (in Chico, CA) and all over the world via telephone or Skype video.
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NEW FROM MAMA LOVE!!!
Unscented flower essence sprays for people and pets. Or pets and their people! Sometimes people write to ask about flower essences to use with their pets and forget that whatever is upsetting Fido might be upsetting them, too. Or vice versa. Our pets pick up our insecurities, worries and anxieties. They act out or even get sick where a person would act differently but if I ask for guidance about it I'll usually pick up on a dynamic affecting the family unit as a whole. If you pick a flower essence for their issues, consider using it for the entire family. I've seen it make a difference time and again. Unscented, please, for use with your beloved pets! Yes, you will find testimonials on the internet about using aromatherapy with animals but some essential oils that are great for you and me should not be used with them—I discovered that with a flea remedy I tried one day. Go lightly with using scented sprays in rooms they cannot choose to leave. Use unscented sprays for their food or for use in their beds or personal space. http://www.healingcommunication.com/mamaloveproducts/Products.html
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SHERYL HAS AN ART SHOW
Five large pieces based on our time in the Arizona desert are being shown for the month of July as part of a group show at the 1078 Gallery, 820 Broadway St Chico, CA. This gallery has a reputation for being hard to get into so we're pretty pleased about that. The reception is 5:00-7:00 pm on Friday, July 12. Come by and say hello!
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WHERE TO FIND OUR ARTWORK
In our joint Etsy shop.
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood.
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas.
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images.
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WHERE TO FIND OUR VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
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JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
We post little tidbits of inspiration and fun, information and news about what we're up to, things that don't fit in the newsletter and things that do. And it's an easy way to interact with what we post through comments and possibly discussions from time to time. Look up "Paul Hood" or "Sheryl Karas" or both. Mama Love has its own page. Our artwork also has a brand new page at www.facebook.com/paulnsherylart. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!
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THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REFERRALS!
Simplest way to tell people about us? Forward this newsletter and include a note saying you like us. It's easy!
