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Created by Water, Beauty & Distaster

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January 5, 2015 | Taurus Daily Horoscope | Beauty for the Soul

You may experience an intense appreciation for beauty today. These feelings could drive you to seek beauty for beauty’s sake, or you may find that you are learning to recognize the inherent beauty found everywhere and in all things. You may discover that beauty has a particularly profound effect on your spirit and senses as you move through your day. 

The drive I take into the foothills of the Cascades to train my horses multiple times per week, is one of the more scenic in the Seattle area. The mountains and their balancing rivers are magnificent, humbling and hold differing types of beauty based on your proximity and place.

Yesterday’s horoscope was a safe generalization to appeal to a large global audience and certainly made me mindful about beauty. However, as I drove to the barn, I encountered water across the roadway. It had only risen further, near impassable, upon my return. I followed the slightly smaller Toyota for fear of being stuck on the other side. It was a horrific and historic day for many in the Norhtwest. Record rainfall created landslides burying homes and removing others from their foundations.

This area of magnificent beauty is moments and inches away from massive force and change on an almost daily basis. Every year there are stories of lives lost in the water within minutes of Seattle. Seasoned, Coast Guard caliber talent. It knows no skill level in these times of severe weather.

Water has always been an element of peace, calm and reassurance for me. It is a common factor in my dreams and and common component of my most treasured experiences. I learned to ‘swim’ before I could walk and was on water skis before I was a teen. It is a balancing and defining component of the geographical places I have hold most dear in my experiences. Sydney Australia. Cleveland Ohio USA. Glenwood Iowa USA. Seattle Washington USA.

As I consider this centering natural element and the recent destruction including those still missing in the Java Sea, I am reminded of our mortality and our smallness as creatures of a larger Earth and Universe. I am reminded about the daily and hourly strife faced by so many around the world.  It is water that defines our survival. It is the defining element of our search to sustain life in another world.

We should never take it for granted. We should not let it waste needlessly. (TIP: we save the water we run to get to hot water when cooking or cleaning.) We should support organizations like www.water.org (they have rights to use my Twitter account for their tweets!)

We should appreciate the magnificent beauty that is water and the fine balance between this beauty and natural disaster. I hope you are more aware, reminded and will help create awareness in others. Don’t get a glass of water at a restaurant if you don’t plan to drink it. 

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Sitting in red Husk-ER clothes amidst 8,000+ Husk-Y fans this past Friday night was an amazing experience of talent, resilience, and intense athleticism! (…as well as a highlight of our year, selfishly). After losing to a team ranked 11 points below in a home court advantage sealed by a 34 win streak, the Huskies and their fans were stunned and quiet at the outcome. Our Lady Huskers brought everything they had. The following night BYU would demonstrate their un-ranked talent in a new sort of winning way. To them the floor did not exist as the ball rarely hit it.

Attending Husker volleyball games at the Coliseum was a highlight of my undergraduate college experience over two decades ago.  (A different kind of great in comparison to its neighbor, Memorial Stadium (football).)

I am thankful I played the sport in high school (even if my spikes were barely over the net let alone laser driven into the opposing front line!) In the past few years I have come to understand the importance of sports for girls from an early age. It builds leadership. It build confidence, courage, the experience of losing, the experience of feedback, team and communication in high pressure situations.

It was a highlight to cheer for #10 Alisha Ostrander. She is from the small towns (consolidation) where I grew up in Western Nebraska. She is also a cousin. As with all of the team, they were intently focused, gracious and very team oriented in support.

A More Informed Voter

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With every election in the state of Washington, each registered voter receives a booklet (see pic) outlining all of the candidates, bills and any other info specific to that election. I have been a registered voter in five states across the many years since I turned 18: Nebraska, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, and Washington. I was even able to submit an absentee ballot during the historic ‘hanging chad’ election of 2000. Only in Iowa did a comparative support accompany your ballot. While the internet research was an option used, it was difficult to navigate an unbiased source for bills and candidates, in any of these states.

In the very Democrat state of Washington, you receive detailed information about each candidate and a pro/con statement about every bill.

While the best voters do not rely solely on this booklet and actually meet and talk to each candidate running for office, I feel like this information fosters a more informed voter. I feel less tied to ‘D’ or ‘R’ and more interested in connecting to position, commitments (I know, these can be lies), and technical information like years in office.

Day 5 of Gratitude

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  1. Our family of animals: Leela, Mowgli, Diva, Mr. Lewis and Dhann. They make my heart warm with joy and peace. 
  2. Seattle Summers. They are just about perfect. 
  3. Being able to work with a fellow T’bird on our business and thinking about the future workplace!

Day 3 of Gratitude

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1. Sunday of Summer Break when teaching a Summer course. 

2. Booked a trip to see the Lefler’s in Denver and getting an ‘ok’ deal on a nice hotel. 

3. Working with leaders to accelerate business for good – the ‘social enterprise.’

Day 2 of Gratitude

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1. My Dyson and my husband – together they do amazing things!
2. Super spicy beef biryani for dinner with kefir to calm it down (unless the claims that it is lactose free are false…)
3. Keeping up with Master Chef, Hells Kitchen and SYTYCD thanks to our Hulu married to Roku!

Day 1 of Gratitude

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  1. Being comfortably able to run the dishwasher and bake bread in the ac-free house – the annual one-week Seattle heat wave has ended.
  2. Feeling back to myself after weeks of labyrinthitis – within a day of starting the first of many acupuncture sessions.
  3. Living in a mostly civil democracy where war and the collateral damages are not a daily reality. Thoughts go out to the families of those who were on the Malaysian airliner today.  

Thank you to my friend Beth Kuchta James for this challenge!