Impermanence

Hello errbody! I haven't been blogging the past few weeks because I've been very busy wrapping up the quarter. I will start on the ergonomics post & my TMJ friendly cooking video in late June...so please stay tuned! 

I felt compelled to take some time to make a quick post in the midst of a hectic finals week (I'm making up 2 quarters worth of work due to being ill) because I was very touched by something I read. Last night & this morning I tried cramming 100 years worth of Iranian/Iraqi/US conflict in my head ...felt cracked out on Urth's Caffe's Spanish latte @_@...& my muscle spasms did not make the situation any better. I cursed a lot in my head while I was racing the clock...panicked a bit....laid on my bed to take a break... and checked my twitter. Michelle Branch (my idol!) re-tweeted Sara Bareilles tweet about helping Alice complete her bucket list . I clicked on the link and it led me to Alice's blog http://alicepyne.blogspot.com/

"Hi, I'm 15 years old and live with my parents and sister in Ulverston. I've been fighting cancer for almost 4 years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one :( I'm hoping to write in here as much as I can and I'm also going to show my bucket list which I'm trying to get done before I have to go. Hopefully, I'll update as I tick each one off the list :)
If today was your last day on this earth, how would you spend it?"

So it's 7 AM...I have a final in an hour...and I find myself bawling my eyes out by reading a few lines from Alice's "about me".  I am so touched by the simplicity of her bucket list.  I hope that we can reflect on our lives more, stop lingering on the superficial, senseless stressors of our lives...breathe...and learn to appreciate the things that matter the most (easier said than done, right?).  While I bitch & stress to myself about taking a final, I forget that it is a blessing & a privileged just to be able to attend a university and to just even have the mental & physical capacity to even take a final, graduate, and have parents who support my passions.  Yes, I do have some limited abilities due to my chronic pain, but it I am not terminally ill.  Alice's strength and genuine heart is inspiring.  Thank you, Alice for reminding the world about the meaning of impermanence.  

Make Alice's bucket list come true by signing up to be a bone marrow donor http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/index.html

Alice's bucket list:
  • To swim with sharks
  • To make everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor
  • To go to Kenya (I can't travel there now but I wanted to))
  • To enter Mabel in a regional Labrador show
  • To have a photoshoot with Milly, Clarissa, Sammie and Megs
  • To have a private cinema party for me and my BFFs
  • To design an Emma Bridgewater Mug to sell for charity
  • To stay in a caravan
  • To have a purple Apple ipad but I'm not really allowed to put that on here and mum is trying to borrow one
  • To be a dolphin trainer (I can't do this one either now)
  • To meet Take That
  • To go to Cadbury World and eat loads of chocolate
  • To have a nice picture taken with Mabel
  • To stay in the chocolate room at Alton Towers
  • To have my hair done if they can do anything with it
  • To have a back massage
  • To go whale watching


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One of my favorite quotes about impermanence from Thich Nhat Hanh:

“Nothing remains the same for two consecutive moments. Heraclitus said
we can never bathe twice in the same river. Confucius, while looking at
a stream, said, “It is always flowing, day and night.” The Buddha
implored us not just to talk about impermanence, but to use it as an
instrument to help us penetrate deeply into reality and obtain
liberating insight. We may be tempted to say that because things are
impermanent, there is suffering. But the Buddha encouraged us to look
again. Without impermanence, life is not possible. How can we transform
our suffering if things are not impermanent? How can our daughter grow
up into a beautiful young lady? How can the situation in the world
improve? We need impermanence for social justice and for hope.
If you suffer, it is not because things are impermanent. It is because
you believe things are permanent. When a flower dies, you don’t suffer
much, because you understand that flowers are impermanent. But you cannot
accept the impermanence of your beloved one, and you suffer deeply when
she passes away.If you look deeply into impermanence, you will do your best to make her happy right now. Aware of impermanence, you become positive, loving and
wise. Impermanence is good news. Without impermanence, nothing would
be possible. With impermanence, every door is open for change.
Impermanence is an instrument for our liberation.”

Thanks for taking the time to read!  Good luck with finals! <3
Remember to take breaks & stretch.  Staying on the computer too long can hurt your neck!

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