A Huge Thank You

In a lot of ways we consider Carriage House to be a lot like "Cheers" without the alcohol. We may not know your name but there is that neighborhood recognition of folks knowing one another and even parts of their stories. We usually know about who's having babies, getting married - the good and the bad news about many of our customers' lives.

Well, as many of you know we have had some news of our own that actually began in March and continues though today. Liz, one of the owners, was diagnosed initially with breast cancer and then a totally separate lung cancer was diagnosed in April. Currently she is in chemo for the lung cancer and it will be a long process through this and then the rest of what needs to happen with the breast cancer.

We bring this up to you more because we want to explain why you are seeing so many different faces when you come into the bakery and one not around near as much as she used to be. Life happens and you deal with it. But we have also had the most loving, amazing, supportive folks who have stepped up to work and help and those who have come into the bakery just to check in and we want to thank all of you. You are the greatest.

So many have asked what they can do and you are doing it. KEEP COMING!! We need to keep this little bakery rolling along so it can be here for us all in the coming years. Thanks for your support and understanding.

We Are Better Than This

I started my professional career as a high school teacher in an all girls' Catholic High School here in Cleveland. As you might imagine, some of your time as a teacher was spent as a referee in the battles that took place between best friends, worst enemies and the whole range of possible relationships in between. When things had really degraded to the depths of misunderstanding, I would often try to move the participants to a "higher ground" by reminding them that they were "better than this" and that they needed to "show what they were really made of". Gratefully, I found that appealing to what is best in people usually worked and I could at least get them in their respective corners if not talking once again.

WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS. We are better than the cheap shots, condescending manners, and downright mean spirited tantrums that have become part of our "discourse". We CAN disagree about a topic without becoming enemies, without the mudslinging, without the personal barbs. Degrading someone into submission is not winning, it is simply another definition of rape -- pure and simple. And that is not America at it's best.

Making someone else look small does not make us bigger. It simply makes us appear larger. But illusion is always illusion regardless of how many people believe in it.

How We Greet Others Says A Lot About Us

As an old (read former) English major, I love "etymology" - finding out where words come from and what they actually mean. Lately, I've be struck by how hollow our "hello" is. Basically, it has no meaning but is simply "a shout to attract attention" that was used by Alexander Graham Bell when he first answered the telephone.

Contrast this with "namaste", a sanskrit word which means "all that it best in me salutes all that is best in you" or "I bow to you. The light in me honors the light within you". Some people have further defined the word as meaning "the god in me greets the god in you". Now that's a greeting!!!

How about what they say in eastern Tibet? "Tashi delay" which means "I honor the greatness in you. I honor the place in you where lives your courage, honor, love, hope and dreams." Wow!!

And instead of a handshake, which is a holdover from medieval times when you offered your empty hand to show that you did not have a sword in it, they bow in respect to one another, placing their hands in what is understood in any culture as a gesture of prayer- palms together, fingers raised to the heavens in the middle of the chest over their heart.

I wish I had the courage to be totally counter cultural and simply start to greet all my customers, friends and family with the more intimate greetings of the east. I really do believe that small changes like this might bring some civility back to our culture. But... alas, I have a business to run and I'm afraid folks would surely think I had totally lost it. This might work in California but the midwest rust belt - not so much.

However, what I can do is be present enough at each juncture in my day that I look at the person I am speaking to and say inwardly to that person, "namaste" or "tashi delay". I can look at them with enough respect to say, "the light in me greets the light in you". My bet is that in doing so, the way I treat them will change.

Who knows? Maybe, I will be bold. Isn't it sad that it is a difficult choice to be more loving?

Einstein said it best. "How many people are trapped in their everyday habits: part numb, part frightened, part indifferent? To have a better life we must keep choosing how we are living."

Pollyanna Had It Right

When I was growing up, my dad would often fault me for being such a "Pollyanna" and would suggest that he had never met anyone who was so "simple minded". Truth be known, like any good dad, he was simply trying to make sure that I wouldn't get hurt by being too trusting.

But the reality is that Pollyanna had it right. Simply by always looking for the good in people and in situations, she transformed an entire town and the people in it from a curmugeon's hide-a-way into a pleasant place to live. She accomplished this amazing feat by simply refusing to see the "dark side".

It would seem to me that we could use some of that unbridled optomism, or what people are calling positivity, right now. The truth is that what we given our attention to, we create both for ourselves and for our world. So isn't it about time that we focused on what is good and right instead of what is bad and wrong.

There is a wonderful story that emerges from the American Indian tradition. An old brave was telling his grandson that within every person there is a fight going on between two wolves. One is mean, cruel, pessimistic and hopeless. The other is joyful, optomistic, loving and hopeful. The little boy asked his grandfather, "So, which one wins?" To which the wise old man replies, "the one you feed".

It's time to stop feeding that negative side of ourselves. Turn off the 24/7 news channels and the talking - or more often, screaming - heads for a while. Take a newspaper "fast" for a week or two. Vow to look for the good in everyone you meet - especially the ones who grate on your last nerve. Be Pollyanna for a little while. You will be happier and so will everyone around you.

@ 2 for 60 for Peace

I'm a baker. Not a politician. Not a religious leader. Not an academic. I'm simply a baker. And I have a challenge for everyone who reads this. Starting TODAY and precisely at 2pm every day from now on you need to stop what you are doing and for 60 seconds think of, pray for and intend peace. For just one minute out of your day. And convince as many other people as you can to do the same thing as soon as possible.

Why? Because we are better than this. All of us, throughout the world. We are much better than we are allowing ourselves to be. And I believe that most of us know it and that we simply feel powerless to change it.

There is tremendous power in our thoughts, our prayers and our intentions. And when they are joined with just a few others, we can and do change things. Imagine the power if for just one minute a day hundreds of thousands of people were focusing their intention on one thing - peace. And, if we can get this message around the world, because of all the different time zones that 2 pm prayer will be happening all day long. Imagine the possibilities.

So here is our challenge. Make sure everyone you know knows about and commits to focus the power of their intention "@ 2 for 60" for peace. I know it's simple. I know that believing that we really can change the world would be considered by some as naive. I personally believe that it is not just a place to start but it could very well be THE start the world need to get back on track. Let's give it a try. We have everything to gain.

Let's watch this grow. Write back and let me know how it's going; what cities, states, countries and continents are participating. And, just as important, can anyone sense a change. Look for it. It will happen if we believe it will.