Experiments with the Truth or If walking feels too slow you are living too fast...

Ten years or so ago (who is counting anyway), when I was travelling in India , I got a tummy bug so bad, it was all I could do to hobble to the bathroom for the necessary, and to wobble out to the hall to pick up my plain rice and broth, all that I could stomach. Having been on the road for 8 months, staying at the most in one place for a week at a time, I was sick and tired of travelling.

I stayed holed up in that hotel room hiding and nursing myself better for more than a week. I could describe every feature of it in detail from the mustard colored carpet, the grey-white linen on the bed to the soft cool marble floor in the bath and the wet smell and sound of the never ceasing air conditioner, which I thanked my lucky stars for as it was as hot as hell. It was then, holed up in that hotel room hiding from India that I read all-in-one-go, Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography "My Story of Experiments with the Truth ", a dog eared and undoubtedly pirated copy bought from a dubious bookseller on a dusty street corner for a rupee or two.

One of the most important books I have ever read.

Gandhi presents us, by example of his daily existence, a conscious and thoughtful lifestyle that demonstrates the value of caring for ones self, by growing ones own food, weaving ones own cloth, cleaning ones own house, doing ones own laundry. A lawyer from a wealthy family living in a time where society dictated servants, Gandhi's communal and self sufficient existence sent out a clear and powerful message of change. I still remain impressed by the courage and strength of this singular man who succeeded by successfully challenging and changing the political status-quo with a massive peoples passive resistance, indeed his message is still with me.

The time and place and the powers at work reflected differently on his ideas then, than the things at work in our culture today, and but his ideas are no less relevant.

Does it seem to some of you in our day of the National Enquirer and Hollywood and Britney and consumer debt that some of us seem to be loosing our way? Floating soulless in the face of the fast material world, motivated to look outward towards images of increased social and financial status instead of inwards to our true value and sense of self? Gandhi's message of living thoughtfully and consciously, taking the time to pause for reflection and being self sufficient are all things that have always seemed to me to be things that restore our somewhat lost sense of self.

Slow down, take time to value yourself by caring for yourself and for others. What a simple and yet profoundly truthful message. Or is it?

So what is truth, is it fixed; or fluid and ever changing?
How does this or any truth connect with the context of daily reality?
Can we really have "Experiments with the Truth"?

It seems we have been having our own set of experiments in our household, as (anyone else?) seems when you are seven years old these things come into question, and it does take some thought and energy to figure out EXACTLY what the TRUTH really is.

Dear Son,

First....I wish you were old enough to read Gandhi.

I love you SO very much and I am watching you try to figure out how much to tell the truth and how much you can get away with 'fudge'. Even though you don't realize it you have a very odd expression in the very back of your eyes and around your mouth when you are "eating fudge'... so just like my Mom told me, and I will tell you, and you will tell your kids...here are some simple rules to help with the truth...

1)Your Mom always KNOWS when there is 'fudge' around...

2)Contrary to Gandhi the context of our family is not in flux and the TRUTH is not so very fluid.

3)The TRUTH is simply the truth, it IS ONLY ONE THING, it does not change depending on who is hearing it, and it certainly will not change no matter how much you want it to.

4)If you tell a lie you will get into double the trouble than if you tell us the truth.

5)When you ALWAYS tell the truth people feel like they can trust you, no one ever disbelieves you, you will be seen as a good honest person, someone to be relied upon... and that just feels good.

6)Telling the truth is simple, you will never get caught, and you never have to try to remember where you left the "fudge"....trust me it is much easier...

7)I will do the very best job I can to help you learn this very simple but ever so important TRUTH about life... because I love you...more than anything.

8)And because contrary to popular opinion...I REALLY don't like "fudge"...

Love you forever, Your Mom.

Beyond Amazing...

...I have been spending every night, AND ever single moment that I have with VINCENT...I can't stop thinking about him...and shhh... TBG does not even mind, (He is pretty open about things like that) ... You can too, if you check him out here...

As soon as I found out a few weeks ago that almost all of the letters written by Vincent Van Gogh to his utterly devoted younger brother Theo had been preserved and were available to read, I could think of little else. Three volumes of intimate letters full of the detail of his life and the development of his artistic talent from nothing to the genius of his later years, a collection of letters guarded and treasured by his family and left unpublished until his fame was established and his life and work better understood, a collection of letters spanning 13 years or so and covering his travels all over Europe, what a treasure.

Can you tell I am feeling a little obsessed?

Not only is his story a good and particularly interesting one, but as social commentary of the day, it is also of particular interest to me as the chronicle of a developing artist. In the beinning Van Gogh is essentially is self taught and he speaks at length about the deveolpment of his ideas and his techniques ...so far it has been amazing and I must confess I am having difficulty putting it down... (I am sure you are all yawning by now...)

The Van Gogh Museum itself was beyond fabulous, with over 200 original works it was even better than I could have ever expected... the paintings are larger than life and there are no words to describe the beauty of the colors in their luminescence.

It was heaven, the kids, having read all of our books together, were completely aware of what we were looking at and were reverent (well almost reverent...LOL), and spent about an hour drawing while we were there...they are SO cool those two kids...

Here are some of my favorites ...

*Sigh*...Are they not just gorgeous? (Feeling SO inspired...)

*I want to paint JUST like that...*

You can check out more of his work here...

And did I mention that that the canals were divine...?

If you click on the collage you can see the photos larger...*just sayin...*

It was very cool to wander amongst them with the kids, and we even took the obligatory canal cruise, which though touristy and tacky was pretty super, since it provides you with a pretty unique view, not only of all the cool architecture, but under the bridges with their centuries old moorings, and along side all manner of funky and traditional houseboats...

Now THAT would be a neat way to live...

*Hmmmm*

!!?!!

Did I mention that we saw lots of bikes...

BUT... my VERY favorite would have to be this one...

Shhhh...Don't tell Mathilde...

It was Fabulous...*sigh*

Just a few impressions to give you a sense of our week in Amsterdam...croissants and Dutch hot chocolate beside the flower market...um mm yum...

Stately sculpture canal side...
Dramatic skies over canals and windy blustery weather with blinding gaps of sunshine, and splashes of rain about every 20 minutes or so...but never enough to be a true bother...just enough for us to be always with our umbrellas...
Bicycles....
And even more bicycles...
Canals everywhere...simply wonderful...we fell in love with her...Lady Amsterdam that is...
Walking and exploring hand in hand...

*Hmmm*...super

Well just to get your buds ready for more...tomorrow...

Ixtradam...Ampstradam

Well I hope by the time we get back the kids can say it properly...

I won't promise anything, but I hope to write lots and show you all our fab photos when we get back!!

(I will say hello to Van Gogh for you!)

See you next week (next Friday or the weekend!)

Pack...*Ugh*...Pack...*Ugh*

Blog...

:-) *Sigh*

A Letter to LILY...

Dear Lily,

You were home sick with me today, and we had a very quiet day.
You had a hotspot on your cheek and a very runny nose.

It was nice even though you slept right through the afternoon and I had to miss a friends birthday lunch. More important you sleep right?

Have I told you lately how much I love you and how sweet you are even when you have a drippy nose? You are such a good and co-operative kid, and you are SO industrious. You even wore your hat inside all day today and your slippers since you are not feeling well. Today while I was working on this drawing, you left your "Petite Ours" video to check in with me, just to chat. So Sweet.

While you were with me we decided you could try my charcoals too,

....and you loved how BLACK they "colour".

...You found that fascinating.

You also found it very interesting what happened to your hands and face...

Ha....VERY interesting!

Hope you feel better soon Lily!!

Love and kisses,
Your Mom XOX

On a completely unrealted topic...

Hmmm....

Ok I have heard of the Veggie tales, which are SUPER, if you have kids and love silly songs and goofy vegetable computer animated cartoon characters singing jazzy music, with a bit of a good christian twist...

But my MOM just turned me on to this...the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra....and you can even hear them here...

Apparently they MAKE THEIR INSTRUMENTS OUT OF VEGETABLES...before the show, and then...THEY MAKE SOUP FOR THE AUDIENCE AND ORCHESTRA after the show....

*Freaky* !!!

Oh BOY.... we HAVE to see them....!!

A very special trip, a very special place and a very special person...

Ahh... I LOVE it...

*Sigh*

Kicked back at the end of the day...all is quiet, the kids are fed, homework, extra french lesson and piano practice is done, lunches are made for tomorrow, breakfast organized, and the kids are all tucked in their beds with warm hearts (hot water bottles shaped like hearts... so very sweet) tucked in between their tender little feet. Now it is time for a little bit of ME time, to catch up with you all and AHHHHH.....do a little writing and posting.

*What a pleasure*

Hi there, how was your day anyhow? I sure hope it was super and...have I said lately how very nice it is to see you here? Thanks SO much for dropping by...

On the weekend I spent endless hours searching for this ...so we could really have an authentic experience, and today I spent an hour downtown buying tickets for this...

(High speed Deutsche Bahn Train) (Gosh we LOVE that...!)

Because over the Easter break we hope to go here ...

(Amsterdam)

So we can pay a visit to this...

(A very special museum dedicated to a very special person)

So we can learn lots more about this very special person...

(Vincent Van Gogh)

And where we will be soooo privileged to see lots of these

(Paintings chronicling Van Gogh's life like this one of his bedroom at Arles in the south of France)

We have already bought and are reading 3 of these

(Books for kids about Van Gogh)...

...and we are SO EXCITED!!!

Looking on the bright side of life...

I am reading this book right now, "How We Choose to be Happy" a book that challenges much of the unconscious modus operandi by which we conduct our lives. So far the main premise of the book is that we are in complete control, and that happiness is a conscious choice.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not miserable right now or in dire need of happiness, I think I have my fair share, it is just that as normal, I am interested in the human condition, and if it is going to make life EVEN rosier, hey, why not?

And then there is a 21 day no complaint campaign, you can read all about it here, I am not sure I could do it... but is this a Happiness revolution going on here or what?

Now I do not know about you, but is it just me or are 7 year old boys really grumpy? Is it just the age, is it just the kid...or is it me, or is it just a universal truth?

So with all this self empowering happiness talk going on, I decided to take things into my own hands, and this morning when the whining reached a certain decibel level (forgetting about certain expletives contained therein) I began to whistle a certain tune...

Some things in life are bad, They can really make you mad

Other things just make you swear and curse.

When you're chewing on life's gristle, Don't grumble, give a whistle

And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life...

If life seems jolly rotten, There's something you've forgotten,

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

When you're feeling in the dumps, Don't be silly chumps,

Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life...

For life is quite absurd, And death's the final word

You must always face the curtain with a bow.

Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin, Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.

So always look on the bright side of death, Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of shit, when you look at it, Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.

You'll see it's all a show, keep 'em laughing as you go,

Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

And always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the right side of life...

Always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the bright side of life...

View it here... I just love it, and maybe not such bad advice after all eh?

*Whistling*...Always look on the bright side of life...

So now I have 2 little kids singing over and over again at the top of their lungs..

Life's a piece of SH*T, when you look at it..

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE!!!

*Well... looking on the bright side it is better than whining no?*