The Parish Family Blog

Off to A Sacred Path II

Many thanks to Ann for the prompting back in June to attend A Sacred Path 2.  Readers of this blog may not know this, but Ann McMaster married Sharon and me 18 years ago.

I will have some extra time waiting in the airport on this trip, so expect to see more posts here soon. You know me, can't be without my laptop for too long. I'll be logging in and posting more contemplative entries, most likely. I found some writings of Sharon's I want to share with you - our readers. 

Hope you're still listening ... are you?

Love you
Tom

Admit It.

Admit it.
It's good to let go.

-- I found this green-and-white sticker buried on Sharon's desk. It had fallen between some books and papers. Seemed appropriate for me, on many levels.

Love,
Tom

Renunciation - What Does It Mean to You?

On my walk this morning I listened to Gil Fronsdal's Zencast 69 - Renunciation.  Renouncing our resisting and clinging so our state of mind is not contracted anymore. So letting go of your belief of something having to be a certain way is not renunciation if you're still feeling tinges of resentment and anger or loss or fear.  These are the nits that are so beautifully released using the tools you gain in the More To Life program. Oh how I see this now over and over, in so many ways.

How to make the release sacred? How does mindfulness help bring this release to grant a freedom to the world around us and the world we encounter? In our freedom we offer freedom to the world.

If you listen to this one, let me know. I would like to share insights with you.

Tom

Sharon's 50th Birthday October 26 - Suggestions?

Alright, friends - it's been very quiet lately on the blog. I reae I haven't posted much myself. There is a lot going on, though, on the home front.

I'm looking for creative ideas around the celebration of Sharon's 50th birthday. I feel certain we'll have an event here at the house in Austin. All comers are welcome and if you're from out of town, you'll have a place to stay.

So what should we do? I heard a rumor about a special ceremony with the London More To Life community on October 26th.

Tell me your thoughts - what comes to your mind?

Let it flow here or via email to me at tom.parish@gmail.com.

Tom

PS - I sold the 4WebResults domain. So if you go there and you don't see my picture - that's why. I'm using my gmail account now: tom.parish @ gmail com

Jensen Walker - Photogapher with a Heart and a Warrior Spirit

Jensen Walker is a very good friend of Justin's.  He and his wife, Jean, visited Sharon and me many times over the last couple of years. We were excited about his visits because we just loved his passion for life and his amazing photographs.  Jensen took WOW1 this summer, and during that event I had a chance to get to know him even better and become even more impressed with his integrity and commitment to his own growth, his relationship with others, and learning about life.

As a results I asked him to come to my studio so I could interview him about his recent trip to Israel.  I've just posted the podcast at my show, TalkingPortraits, so please give it a listen if you're interested. Talking Portraits is also in iTunes if you want to subscribe to it.

Enjoy
Tom

PS: All is well on the home front. Lily has been busy getting into the swing of things for school. There are volleyball games each week and, as I said earlier, a lot of homework.  I'm starting to work with video more in my media projects, and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm also preparing for Sacred Path 2 the first week of October, and as that nears I can feel a change stirring as I look more closely at what my path is now (and has been).  I also found Sharon's notebook on Sacred Path that she spent so much time creating. There are some gems in there that I want to share on the blog soon.

Movies This Weekend

Netflix has arrived. We have some great movies to pick through this weekend.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Sketches of Frank Gehry

The Motorcycle Diaries

I purchased a copy of Pink Floyd: Pulse (2-Disc Series) and it finally arrived. You'd have to be a Pink Floyd fan to appreciate this one. They remastered the audio on this epic concert, filmed in the UK.  I just love these guys.

And there is the House Concert on Sunday at 4pm (remember, there is a $15 donation for the musicians). Hope to see you there.

Tom
PS - While we're on the topic of media I want to mention two Podcasts I have coming up on my TalkingPortraits Podcast site (www.talkingportraits.com). One is with Cliff Barry that I recorded almost one year ago. Cliff is my ShadowWork teacher and a very wise man. We talk, in part, about what the story of the Garden of Eden has to say about the way we perceive ourselves in relation to …well, Reality…. 

The other one is with Jensen Walker (WOW 1 graduate this year). Jensen is a very good friend of Justin's. I just love this guy's passion and excitement about this work as a photo-journalist. We talk about his recent trip to Israel and the challenges he faced. Very exciting.

And finally, with a little luck, I'm hoping to snag an interview with Tom Morley in the UK. He recently took Evolution of Mastery, another More To Life advanced course. His website is at http://www.instantteamwork.com/welcome_first.html and he's one creative person I'm curious to learn a lot more about. He's also a drummer, oh yeah! We have to coordinate a time when he's available. Both Sharon and Justin kept urging me to connect with Tom, thinking the two of us would have a lot in common. I'm excited.

I'll post a note when these Podcasts are ready.

Waving at the Moon

Just back from a long walk this evening. The moon was on the rise and the weather was cool - yes, really cool (for Austin).  I think we're finally past the worst of the Austin heat. I'm ready for a change. I was listening to Zencast #65, "Life Balance."  I found myself waving at the moon, feeling happy and hoping Sharon was out there somewhere. I had a wonderful day, a connecting lunch and sense of today being enough just as it was.

Moving along to other news. Gerry Tischler, Sharon's mom, brought over a microcassette that Sharon had recorded some 10 years ago before going to the UK to teach an Advanced course with Brad.   I have digitized it and circulated the file to the family. It's so so sweet. Sharon is talking to Lily (then about 4 years old) so she'll be ok while Sharon is gone. She sings to Lily too, and passes along many little gems in life about remembering what you have gratitude for each day, even when it's hard.

The quality of the tape isn't very good, but the beauty of Sharon's voice and the feelings I get from listening to it are priceless.

Tom

House Concert at the Parishes's Sunday 4pm

I'm sending this note out to all in Austin but wouldn't it be cool if someone came from out of town! Well, I'm a bit tardy in getting this posted.

Andrea Whaley and Sharon had a very special bond. I believe Sharon formed that during Andrea's senior year at the Austin Waldorf School.  So it's a pleasure and an honor to support Andrea and her amazing friend Rachel with a House Concert event. There is a $15 suggested donation at the door - it all goes to the Andrea and Rachel.

Here's the official invite - ya'll come on down now:

Lily and I would like to invite you to our home this Sunday afternoon, Sept. 10th, at 4:00 pm.  We are hosting a house concert for Andrea Whaley and Rachel Loy.  We'll begin with refreshments, gather everyone together and sit down for an hour or so to listen to these talented young women.  We really appreciate Andrea and Rachel for their musicianship, songwriting, performance style, harmonies, and quality of entertainment.  Lily and I think anyone who hears them will come away inspired.  We have a long-time connection with Andrea, who graduated from Waldorf three years ago.  So do join us; we look forward to seeing you!

All the particulars can be found on Andrea's webpage: www.andreawhaley.com.

Please visit the site and learn more about the artists, house concerts, listen to their music, view photos, CDs, donations, and more. And make your way on over to our house on Sunday.

Our address is 8708 South View Rd --- You can't miss us!

RSVPs would be nice.  Contributions of finger foods and drink would be welcome, but not necessary.

Tom & Lily

Missing Sharon in Those Quiet Moments

I was told that grief would come and go in many mysterious ways for me this first year without Sharon. In particular, that I would miss Sharon during special events and holidays more than I might imagine.

I believe I see how this is true. It's Sunday evening on Labor Day weekend. I'm not hearing Sharon talk with me much lately (though she did during the trip last week to San Francisco).  At home she's been very quiet. The chimes are quiet too.  I had dinner last night with Justin and Juliet, Jensen and Jean, Jenny and Lily (aka Jily), and we had a quiet moment for Sharon in our prayer before dinner.  She's here and she's quiet, and yet it seems we all miss her today as much as we did three months ago.

This afternoon while I was out on errands I received this email from Steve Crossland who lives across the street. His two daughters go to school with Lily, and we've all grown up together in many ways over the last 7 years in this home.  I thought what Steve said mirrored my own experiences, so I am sharing this with you.

Hi Tom,

I just did a massive cleaning up of my Contact database last week. I was going through each Outlook Contact one by one, updating, adding, deleting, categorizing, de-duping, etc. Then I came to the name Sharon Parish.

I was caught off-guard. I just sat and stared for a minute or so, and felt the sadness, then the tears. Then, eventually …what do I do with Sharon? I couldn’t just “delete” her, so I left her in under the “Family” category.

Then I thought about sending an email to her. “What the heck,” I thought; all I have to do is click “New” and send a message to her. I could tell her how we all miss her and hope she’s doing ok there on the other side. Maybe in some cosmic way, she’d get the message. But I didn’t send the message. I’m not sure why. Maybe I just think she can feel our love already.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know I’m still thinking about her and you and Lily every day. You know we’re always here for whatever you might need.

Steve

 

I wish I could send Sharon an email. Let her know I love her even more and someday I'll join her.  Ask her to touch in with me if she can so I know she's ok too. Sharon - we love you. All of us.

 

Lily, Wendy, Sharon, Tinker, Gerry and Grandma Simmel

Sharon learning to 'spin fire'. On her 50th birthday, Sharon was going to treat everyone to her new talent of spinning fire. For now she was just practicing with 'no fire'.  It was a great challenge for her to set aside time and focus on such much hand, eye, and body coordination that was needed to do this well. Justin and Juliet were coaching her along the way.  Notice those green shoes. Those were her favorite shoes to wear all the time at home. I love you, Sharon.

Love

Tom

Zencast Podcasts - Sharon and I Were Listening

I've been wanting to share this thought with you for weeks now.  Whenever Sharon and I were driving to Gold's Gym, we took our iPods to listen to during our workouts. We would go twice a week together.

I started listening to the Zencast Podcasts sometime after the first of the year (2006). Sharon would take my iPod and listen to these shows. Afterward, we'd talk about each episode. These were the kinds of conversations we loved because they would help us learn more about each other, ourselves, our life with others and explore the growth of our spiritual lives. I miss our talks.

There are 60-plus audio Podcasts and a few video ones. Zencast episodes that I particularly like include Zencast #67 (Being in the Moment), #25 (Mindfulness of Breathing), #21 (Being Present), and #6 (Mindfulness and Peace).  They're all good, though there are some hits and misses with the sound quality on some of them.  But overall, the quality of the content is like a LifeTalk.  (This is an example from the Life Training community.)

The two videos on the blog site that are must-see are An Interview with Kusala Bhikshu, Zencast #63, Parts 1 and 2.  Rev. Kusala talks about why and how he came to practice Buddhism.  He also plays some blues harmonica, and even goes on calls with the police, just to be a centering force.

You can subscribe to Zencasts if you have iTunes. The website is http://amberstar.libsyn.com/.

As I prepare myself for attending A Sacred Path II in October, I find these shows bring me a quiet peacefulness and happiness in my life.

Tom

Labor Day Weekend - Getting in the Groove for Fall

The weekend is here and it’s Labor Day weekend. I’m on a return flight from San Francisco where I spent three days working with my team to create 14 audio Podcasts, two video Podcasts and no telling how many blog entries. The event was for a client which has a large annual user-community conference. This year the client decided to approach the event totally differently and, as a result, it was full of energy and excitement. We were able to capture a lot of that excitement in the Podcasts and blogs, for all the user-community around the world that didn’t get to attend.  We took one of the videos and put it on YouTube to experiment with using that as a distribution platform for content.

Later -- I’m home. Here are some pictures of Lily from the last couple of weeks.  She’s in high school now and her homework load has increased drastically. She’s holding up well, but come the weekend she does tend to sleep in. Check out this shot of Chantey, George Nelson and Wendy sleeping in with Lily last weekend.  How cute is that!

The mighty trio - George Nelson at the top; Wendy, lower left and Chantey, lower right.

One of Lily’s fascinations, which I totally share with her, is robots. So we have one of those new Lego Robots that you can assemble in so many ways, and it can be hooked up to your laptop to program it for all sorts of amazing feats. There is a Bluetooth connection for wireless commands.  These pictures are of Lily getting the first version of the robot together. Talk about focus – reminds me so much of Sharon. We’re hoping to get some experience in hooking it up to her Apple laptop this weekend.

September is on its way and hopefully so is Fall. I’m ready for cooler weather. San Francisco was a delight.

So long for now from Lily and Tom.
Tom