The Anne Report, Time That Walks, reminds us that we can allow time to walk in our lives, not run. The Main article, Wabi-sabi Yourself, contrasts this Japanese doctrine with our western doctrine of perfection. The Healthy Living article, Vegan Mac and Cheese, offers a great recipe for this tasty dish. The Anne Talk is Anne's video, How Life Led Me to EZosophy. The Featured Product this month highlights Anne's Four Books. Click here to learn about Anne's newest book, Words Make a Difference.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

Living EZosophy, May 2, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

Anne's Websites:

  The Anne Report

Time That Walks

Dear ,

I spoke about time, as mentioned in my latest book, at a small gathering. One Hispanic woman responded, "In my country time walks. In this country times flies." I'm ready for walking time! Yep, let's get it going slowly.

Jim and I are in S. C. enjoying seeing the twins. They are wonderful. I became a grandmother at the tender age of 64. The grands are nearing the three-year-old mark, and I enjoy the vibrancy and energy they have at this age.

I think this will be my new prayer:

May time walk in my life. May I live with the zeal, vibrancy, and enthusiasm of a three year old and the wisdom of an elder.

Last week I mentioned going through family photos. Yes, I’m still stuck there! The task took over my life for several days; it was a process. I went through thousands of family photos to use in a video for my Aunt Mary Anne's Celebration of Life. I have my mother's picture collection, my hard copies of pre-digital photos, and digital photos. It was fun to reminisce, yet sad to see pictures of all my relatives who have passed away. I looked through the photos and thought of the exuberance of so many lives, along with the transient nature of life, and gave thanks for the blessings of life. We often fail to appreciate the gift of just being alive. Nothing like looking through the photos of previously incarnated relatives to bring that lesson home! My father's birthday is two days from now, but he crossed over in 1995. Thank God I'm alive. Not that death isn't quite a treat; I'm just glad I can appreciate the treat of life at hand.

That's it for the Anne report.

Anne

  Main Article

Wabi-sabi Yourself

The Japanese appreciate life in a broader perspective than most westerners. They have a tradition called wabi-sabi. This tradition celebrates that which does not last, the transient, and that which is imperfect. Wabi-sabi encourages one to embrace the unheroic.

Westerners live under an unspoken doctrine called perfection. This doctrine espouses the idea that we have control over everything, and we have the power to make everything perfect, according to our expectations. It is a tradition of resistance rather than one of the acceptance of what is. Nature abundantly displays wabi-sabi. New leaves emerge as diseased trees decay. No two things are alike, but when we look down the mountain at the winds and turns, at the trees and the trails, we are transfixed by this tapestry that turns everything into harmony and beauty. The scene is breath taking. We don't get upset about an overturned tree, and we can't even see the insects working to convert the decay into nourishment. We just see beauty. That's wabi-sabi.

Can you see the beauty in this gnarled root?

The following quote uses emotional wabi-sabi. Linda McQuinn, a member of the Houston Theosophical Society and a reader of this newsletter, submitted the following at my request. She outlines how she turns "bad" into "unbad." Here's Linda's take on it:

Have you ever had one of those terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days? You know – the kind where absolutely nothing seems to go right, or feel right, or fit right? Everybody has bad days. Next time one of those days comes along, try a somewhat different approach. Embrace it. Indulge it. Go with it. Make it the very best bad day you can have. Give it your all! Wallow in self-pity, bemoan lost loves and opportunities, be angry about everything that doesn't go the way you want, yell obscenities at the other drivers. Don't fight your bad day, embrace it, give it your best shot at being a terrible, horrible, no-good very bad day. And, at the end of the day, be done. Know that tomorrow is a new day, full of promise and hope, and know that it will be a better day.

I once had a client who came to see me because she was depressed. She thought of herself as a very positive person. I gave her a homework assignment to be depressed two hours a day until her next appointment. She called to say she could not feel depressed two hours a day; too much pressure. She cancelled her next appointment because her depression was gone. Giving her permission to be depressed allowed her to feel depressed, then to go about her life. Her resistance was a problem, but when she embraced her depression, she could move on to her new life. Retirement brought on her depression, but allowing herself to feel her reaction to change became the vehicle that moved her through.

As a member of the New Thought community, I found that the wabi-sabi approach works for extricating myself from any guilt I may harbor about my physical condition. Most New Thought people espouse the idea that we create our illness through a series of choices, which include eating poorly, pushing ourselves, and negative thoughts and emotions. Scientists have found that genetics does not hold the iron clad decisiveness about our health they previously thought it held. Scientific evidence shows we have tremendous sway over our health. If we can change such factors as our emotions, food intake, unhealthy surroundings, and increase our exercise, we can heal ourselves. Yes, sometimes we can change the outcome, and restore ourselves to health, but I've seen many sincere people who have failed to reverse physical conditions. They've done everything they could, but they still have an undesirable physical condition. They believe they don't have enough faith to heal themselves. They see their condition as a reflection upon themselves. They feel guilty. I have healed a serious illness in a short time, but I have also seen conditions hang on that I couldn't do anything about.

One day I went to bed because I had a bad cold. I tried emotional clearing, herbs, hot drinks, but to no avail – I felt miserable. I got in bed and just went with it. If I was going to make myself ill, due to some subconscious decisions I made, I was going to enjoy the situation. A friend called and asked what I was doing. I replied, "I am enjoying my cold." We laughed and, of course, when the cold ran its course, I was back to work. I wabi-sabied that cold.

The EZosophy philosophy is much like the acceptance principle in the 12-step program. "Change the things I can and accept the things I cannot change," but wabi-sabi takes us deeper. It reminds us that we have cut ourselves off from much of the beauty of life. We overlook natural beauty because our judgments cloud our vision. It's time to wabi-sabi our guilt, and our outlook, and to look on life's imperfections as a part of the Great Perfection, because when we do, we find that life is EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

Anne Quotes

"Check into your life. Do you want to be in your life right now? In this very moment? If not, what is your resistance? The degree to which we resist being present in our lives, in this very moment, decides how much life force, presence, or light is available. When we step into each moment, demanding things be different, we hold the moment hostage. We say to the moment, "If you don't behave like I want you to, then I'm out of here."

"I learned years ago that do the best you can do was not always the most liberating thought. Why? If I do the best I can do, I'll spend every waking hour being productive. But I want recess. I am good at so many things. I don't want to take the time to excel in everything. I want to relax sometimes. I want time off."

"We are highly prejudiced and regulated by our thoughts, especially the bizarre ones. We think about complex situations that will never occur. We ask our friends' take on these illusory scenarios. We drag the past into our thoughts to give them life. Our minds are on a treasure hunt for something that will never make sense or for something that will finally make things better. But words can't deliver; they can't give us what we want. While chatter doesn't matter, it can have a profound effect on us. Our chatter beats us down. Chatter drains our energy."

  Featured Product This Month

Anne's Four Books

Click here to check out Anne's newest book, Words Make A Difference, a book of affirmations, action plans, and deep insights into the human consciousness that transforms and heals the soul, the local and global community, and the planet. Travel with Gillis on a journey through deep psychology, metaphysics, and nondualism.

---

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn about EZosophy.

---

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Healthy Living

Vegan Mac and Cheese

My friend, Linda McQuinn, read The Accidental Alchemist series, as did I. It's a neat story about a woman who never aged: she was an alchemist. She was also a vegan and a great cook. I drooled as I listened to tantalizing descriptions of the different treats she cooked throughout the book. Linda knew I did not have the recipes offered at the end of the book, since I listened to the audio, so she sent the recipes to me. Here's one of the recipes I've tried. It's tasty and a change from regular mac and cheese. Use any kind of noodle you prefer.

Cashew Cream Mac and Cheese

Prep time: 40 minutes.
Serves: 4

1/2 pound small pasta, cooked to directions

For onion mixture:
1 med. onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 t olive oil
1/4 t salt

For sauce:
1 c unroasted cashews, soaked in water overnight and drained
2 T tomato paste (I substituted 3 T of puree since I didn't have the paste.)
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 t smoked paprika
1 t turmeric
1 T yellow mustard (dry or prepared)
1 T nutritional yeast (optional, add 1/4 t salt extra if not using)
1 T corn starch
1 1/2 c water
(I added quite a bit more salt than the recipe called for, so salt to your taste.)

Preheat oven to 375°.
Sauté garlic and onions with 1/4 t salt for approx. 10 minutes. When translucent and slightly browned, remove from heat and set aside.

Combine sauce ingredients in a blender. Add half the cooled onion mixture to the blender mixture. Blend for a few minutes, until creamy. (I accidentally added all the onion to the mix and it worked out fine.)

Combine the cooked pasta and the sauce. Put in a 9" baking dish. Sprinkle with remainder of onion mixture. Bake 15 minutes.

Jim and I loved this version and, while it doesn't taste like real mac and cheese, it is delicious. We love the nights when I cook something offbeat. It seems like an adventure. I teased Jim that when a new dish is the most interesting thing in one's life, you are getting old … then I wabi-sabied myself and we enjoyed our meal.

If you have any healthy living tips for the newsletter, send them to me at anne@annegillis.com.

  Anne Talks

How Life Led Me to EZosophy

  Anne Art

Click the image to see a larger view.

Click the image to see a larger view.

  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Sunday, May 14, 2017 (Mother's Day)
10:30 AM Service
"Light Your Way Home"
Unity Circle of Light
Creekside Forest Elementary School
5949 Creekside Forest Dr.
The Woodlands, TX 77379

Sunday, May 21, 2017
11:00 AM Service
"Living in Ease and Peace"
Carmel Temple
1208 Pennsylvania St.
South Houston, TX 77587
713-944-0014

Call or Email Anne Now to Schedule Her for Your Meeting.

You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.