Ener-Qi

Energy and Qi are very inclusive words that are definitely related, if not arguably the same thing. When i think of Qi i think of life force related to a living organism. It can be excess or deficient depending on the being's health or state of being (ie. malnurished, dormant, sleeping, laughing, scared, etc.) Yes, i do, too, think that Qi exists in lightning, sunshine, water, and more natural creations, but i wouldn't say that all electricity running in cables is Qi or that it takes Qi to run the car battery. Now oil, for petrol, does come from the ground, so maybe it gets sticky there. I think i would consider Qi to be exclusive to being emitted by something that is or once was alive. Energy, on the otherhand includes Qi, but can be applied to artificial conductions, as well. hmmmm......

Just one of my favorite pieces of writing to share....

Sooner or later a person begins to notice that everything that happens to her is perfect, relates directly to who she is, had to happen, was meant to happen, plays its little role in fulfilling her destiny.
When she encounters difficulty, it no longer occrs to her to complain—she has leaned to expect nothing, has leaned that loss and frustration are a part of life, and come at their proper time—instead she asks herself, why is this happening? . . . by which she means, what can I learn from this, how will it strengthen me, make me more aware? She let herself be strengthened, lets herself grow, just as she lets herself relax and enjoy (and grow) when life is gentle to her.
Strengthened by this simple notion, simple awareness, that life is perfect, that all things come at the proper moment and that she is always the perfect person for the situation she finds herself in, a person begins to feel more and more in tune with her inner nature, begins to find it easier and easier to do what she knows is right. All chance events appear to her to be Intended; all intentional actions she clearly perceives as part of the workings of Chance. Anxiety seldom troubles her; she knows her death will come at its proper moment; she knows her actions are right and therefore whatever comes to pass as a result of them will be what it meant to happen. When she does feel anxiety, she realizes it is because of that thing that she’s been meaning to do but hasn’t done, some unfulfilled relationship she’s aware of. But…. She perceives the anxiety as a message that she’ll have to stop hesitating if she wants to stay high…

Resonance causes an object to move back and forth or up and down.

I've always heard (don't know if it's true) that it's possible for a group of soldiers to cause a foot bridge to break by walking in cadance over it. I'm not sure about this one, but i do think that resonance can cause many kinds of creation and destruction in our every day lives. I'd like to think and understand more about resonace-- it produces amazing things. I've now read that it exists when i tune into a radio station, push a baby on a swing and other practical activities of the day. You might hear me say that I "resonate" with a certain idea or person, meaning i feel "intune" with them. This is similar to the right frequencies causing the right vibration, or resonance. Resonance is very fascinating... i definitely want to keep learning about this.

Suggestion: watch these Youtube videos (listed on Wiki) under "Resonance": super cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cswMKTBdAp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkox6niJ1Wc

"Good, good, good... good vibrations..."

Vibration themselves aren't good or bad, they just are. What they might cause, however, can differ greatly depending on who or what is on the receiving end. Vibrations make up all kinds of Energy whether it's the atoms in our cells that fuel our muscles to petal our bicycle, or the energy miraculously found in the wall outlet when we turn on a light, or.... the list goes on and on. Of course, I like to think of the healing and enjoyable aspects of vibration, like vibrational massage or the vibration I feel in my body when the base of some of my favorite hip-hop or reggae music is playing on large speakers (hopefully when I'm wearing earplugs, so the vibration doesn't rock my eardrums too hard!) But, vibrations can be equally as scary as they are pleasurable when they cause destructive earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. Vibrations are happening all of the time, they are life, and as we know life is most definitely filled with the good and the bad.

Yes, but of course. Sacred Geometry is about patterns and spacial relationships like spirals and "the Golden Mean" that repeat themselves infintely in nature. These can be measured even on the most minute constituents of Nature, like DNA. This is related to physics because vibrations and the transformation of Energy depend on the structure, distance and space they have to travel in or around. Spacial geometry accounts for the matter that gives physical properties the structure to play out and Energy to resonate.

CP Violation

So, C stands for Charge and P for parity. According to Wikipedia, our favorite cyber-knowledge source, "CP violation is a violation of the postulated CP symmetry of the laws of physics. It plays an important role in theories of cosmology that attempt to explain the dominance of matter over antimatter in the present Universe." Basically, and i do mean basically, CP violation is when, instead of every particle having and equal and opposite antiparticle--or mirror image (which would inturn cancel each other out, and where would that leave us?), a rare and rebellious thing happens with something called a B Meson which decays and breaks the pattern of symmetry and leaves room for the existance (not the cancellation) of some particles.

A Symmetrical world?

I wouldn't say that our world is always symmetrical, but is rather constantly re-creating itself to be more and more balanced... harmonious. We see in the drawing of Yin and Yang that the two sides are both equal and different, either way they hold a bit of each other's difference as their own and create a balance in this way.
Many things in nature that are asymmetrical have a purpose behind their asymmetry such as disguise in nature, an ability to catch prey, or to make room for something else (like humans' left lungs being smaller to make room for their heart). Even assymetrial style (paintings, haircuts, architecture) can often be as pleasing or more so to the eye, because it often discreetly balances it out with some other object or flare, bringing elements more into the picture. I like this. Symmetrical balance is nice and certainly does occur naturally in our world, but i'd say we encounter assymmetry most often: a little bit of this sided with a dash of that in just the right spot and it all works out. I think asymmetry accounts for a lot of give and take and therefore structural balance and complimentary existences.

extra cred: BaBar review

This website was a great one-stop-shop to many of the questions one could have about this amazing particle and anti-particle making machine down at Stanford. The News Release put sent out in May 1999 was a easily-read overview of what they are setting out to do, all of the global help that has gone into it, and the MILLIONS of dollars it has cost. What can I say? WOW! I really feel like such a non-scientist. I am intimidated and wide-eyed at the idea of this machine. I really don't understand it all, but I think it's awesome that other people do! I can see that this is monumental for many scientists: one described the observation of a "new massive particle" as "a very beautiful result."
This was the most helpful summary for me:
"It is thought likely that in the first moments after the big bang there were equal amounts of matter and antimatter produced. If they had stayed equal, then the Universe today would be very uninteresting because all the matter and antimatter would have disappeared by the process: matter + matching antimatter = radiation

...so no galaxies, no stars, no planets, and no people would be around today!"

Gravity: is it running right through us?

According to an "Earth Science" website:
Gravity is a force of attraction that exists between any two masses, any two bodies, any two particles. Gravity is not just the attraction between objects and the Earth. It is the attraction that exists between all objects. Gravity keeps the Earth in its orbit around the sun. Gravity keeps the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and inhabitants from drifting into space. Gravity pulls the rain to the rivers, and ultimately to the sea. Gravity guides the development and growth of plants and affects the way our bones and muscles develop and function. Gravity controls the fluid in our inner ear, giving us a sense of direction and the ability to balance. The specific mechanisms used by plant and animal cells, tissues, and organs to sense gravity is not fully understood. And the role of gravity in biological functions is only partially understood.

*** could we think of gravity as the "string" that holds us in balance between heaven and earth-- what connects us to both-- that the force and function of gravity has just as much to do with our energetic connection to what's above as what's below?

"Luke, use the FORCES."

After doing some searche on "the fundamental forces," i'm a little perplexed why many lists do not include the word "nuclear" with the strong and weak force. is this implied/assumed? why?

It was helpful to see that each of the four forces act on different kinds of particles:
Gravity (the weakest): acts on all particles
Electromagnetic: acts on electrically charged particles
Weak force: acts on quarks, leptons (includes electrons)
Strong: acts on quarks, gluons, baryons, and mesons --- how on earth have they distinguished between these?! it's amazing.

I came across a description of the "Uncertainty Principle" which i liked. I tried quite hard to figure out its relation to the Forces, but can't grasp it. It has something to do with their ranges (the strong and weak forces having the shortest and the Electomag and gravitational having Infinite ranges). But i don't understand what "range" refers to.
see: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/forces/funfor.html

"The Uncertainty Principle" says:
"The position and momentum of a particle cannot be simultaneously measured with arbitrarily high precision. There is a minimum for the product of the uncertainties of these two measurements. There is likewise a minimum for the product of the uncertainties of the energy and time. This is not a statement about the inaccuracy of measurement instruments, nor a reflection on the quality of experimental methods; it arises from the wave properties inherent in the quantum mechanical description of nature. Even with perfect instruments and technique, the uncertainty is inherent in the nature of things."

Hmmm... How has e=mc2 affected me?

Well, a guess at a very early age, whenever that was that i first heard of this equation... 5th, 6th, 7th grade (surely much before i could come close to even understanding what each of the letters represented), it put an idea in my head of ENERGY. As a kid i'm sure that we hear "oh you have a lot of energy today" or "the sun gives the plants energy to grow." This equation that was known by most of us at an early age as the "catch-all" knowledge of a famous and very smart man with crazy hair named Einstein, put energy on the map for us as something that is very important, has something to do with life, can be measured, and can be represented in what looks like a simple equation, with just three letters and a little 2.
now, i know a little bit more about what's behind it.... but, it still give me much to ponder....

Connectivity

One way that i choose to look at connectivity is from a western astrological perspective. as a symbol, i visualize the astrological wheel which has twelve zodiac signs around it. as most of us know, even if we aren't into astrology, each of these signs represents a certain archetype of human behavior. none of them is better or worse than the other, but just like the spokes on a wheel, all necessary for the others to have purpose and work as they should and for the world to continue to change. within this cirlce of signs are an infinite number of relationships between different planets that have been charted as being in the sky, as such, the moment that you were born. i like to think of human being as being actual imprints of the relationship of the stars and planets, balls of energy just like us, at a certain moment in time. our lives are dynamic creations as we take what we were given and manifest our own unique life from it.

astrology seems too simple or unbelievable for some, because they don't want to be boxed into certain categories. i could go on a long rant about this, but simply put: i think everyone should use whatever mechanism makes sense to them to feel and see the connectivity that exists between us all. nothing is set in stone and nothing is only one way. we are infinitely-faceted creatures, and whatever way you look at us, you're going to see something different. astrology reminds me of my connection to the heavens, to the elements (earth, water, fire, air), and to fellow human beings-- no matter how different from me they may seem, i see that we are all a part of the same wheel. I think of connectivity (and astrology) as layers and layers of webs connecting us to the smallest microoranism and to the farthest astral shift occuring millions of light years away. we are all one.

*Synchronicity*

.... is what i yearn for in my days. i love that feeling when the unexpected seems so perfect and the connection you make between them seems so re-affirming. along the lines of paulo coehlo's Alchemist, i think i often consider moments of synchronicity to be good omens. like if something stands out as beautifully coincidental, it's really telling me that i'm exactly where i should be, i'm on the right path. even if something doesn't seem to have a huge impact on my life, but makes me stop and laugh and think "wow, that was crazy," i like to take it as a little gift from the universe that i'm being reminded that we are all connected and i'm exactly where i should be.

on my first visit to barcelona, i was walking down the crowded calle ferran of el barrio gotico with my mom and exchanged a quick double take with a girl. we both stopped and turned around and then realized that we had been next door neighbors in college. her name is Lark. just moments after that co-incidental sighting (we could have been anywhere else in the city, but were right there at the same time), my mom and i turned the corner and walked down La Rambla only to look up an see a Hotel Lark stand out to us on our right. weird, no? didn't really mean much, but it made me happy and i knew that barcelona was a place that was right for me to be (i ended up moving there the following year and having even more eerie moments like this).

in fact when i lived there i was a nanny for a little girl named ruby. (how i got the job was totally serindipitious, but that's another story). anyways, when i moved back to the bay in 2005, i searched for abother babysitting gig, and the first one i got was for a special little baby named ruby! Ruby 1 and Ruby 2! i must be doing something right!

i think a mother's intuition can serve as a good example of being open to synchronictic moments... my mom used to tell me the story of when i was a little girl, just old enough to sleep in my own bed, she woke up a couple of times in the night to run into my room and catch me in a fall, midway from my bed to the ground. what caused her to jump out of bed at just the right second when i was sound asleep?

i feel like i've experienced a lot of synchronictic moments in my life often involving meeting a new and very special person by being at the right place at just the right time. one time, in 2001, i was at a dance club in san francisco where i knew absolutely no one, except my friend that i came with, and was complaining to her about how uninteresting everyone looked. then, i spotted this sparkly girl who i knew i had to talk to. she had the same reaction and within minutes we were talking each other's heads off. her name is Jeannine and it turned out that she was from philly and had just moved to sf a few weeks before. eventually it got out that i had gone to uc santa cruz and that she had visited santa cruz the year prior and stayed at this girl elizabeth's house who was friends with the boy, nevada, whom jeannine was dating and planning on moving to sf to be with. elizabeth was actually one of my best friends from santa cruz and was living in the apartment below me in san francisco, and nevada was the boy i had a crush on, soon to be my boyfriend for a year. he and jeannine had had a falling out (i had never heard about her) and she decided to move out to sf anyways. these crazy connections between us gave us all the more reason to listen to our intuition and be friends. it was one of the most magical nights i've ever experienced, and to this day, while some of the friendships we had in common have come and gone, we remain one of the most important people in each other's lives. aaah, i love that story!

i think that if you recognize the omens that present themselves to you, more synchronicity will follow. it's being open to it that makes it exist, right? it's fun if you let synchronicity into your life... besides being entertaining, it often gives you little answers where you are least expecting them.

Is the Universe Weird?

Uh..... yea! When you never know what could happen next... things do feel a little funny. Actually, i'm laughing about it all the time. Like when you see someone walking down the street who is TOTALLY proceeding to the beat of their own drum, maybe they have bright pink spraypainted sneakers on and a tree on top of their hat with a water pistol in their hand, or something. I mean how weird is that? You've got to laugh and, if you're like me, be thankful that you've just seen such a crazy sight that brings unusual delight to your day. Weirdness is what jolts us out of our minds: so full of assumptions and ideas of what is normal. Who's to say that YOU or I aren't the weird ones? I'm sure we are. What's funny me about things that seem weird, is that they probably totally make sense to the person or animal that is doing them. There is often a reason for peculiarity.... like why do some dogs walk follow their tail round and round in a series of cirlces before they plop down on the ground? I don't know, but i'm sure they do.

Causality

It was interesting doing some wikipedia searches on causality and reading about how the thinking and reasoning about causality by scientists and theorists have continued to change over the years. ... that the older assumptions that A causes, and must precede, B (or in otherwords that B exists because of the existance of A) and that both "must be in spacial contact or connected by a chain of immediate things in contact." These historical assumptions could be renamed "Probable laws of causality," because it looks like once you throw Chance in there, "Laws of Causality" go out the window. Something totally unexpected could cause B, just as A had before. Or B could be produced just milliseconds before A was assumed to cause it. As Bohr concluded in his debate with Einstein, there is always going to be a place for uncertainty in quantum mechanics. I think this would go for human (and all animal behavior for that matter). There is always going to be a place for "we just don't know what exactly is going to happen or what exactly caused this to happen."

Uncertainty: it keeps us on our toes!

Just like the Taoist belief that "the only thing that is constant is change," the only thing that is certain is uncertainty. I LOVE this about the universe. In fact, if it wasn't for this nature of things, we wouldn't be here now. It's those moments of chaotic veering from the norm that often brings along the most amazing creations. Even if we know for ceratin that a healthy sperm will fertilize a healthy egg if they come in contact, we can't know for certain that the zygote will survive to full term and eventually be a crying baby. and even if we knew all of the chromosomes that went into creating that baby, there is no way that we could be certain just what s/he would turn out like-- how all of those elements of physical and behavioral (and perhaps even karmic) characteristics would combine to form this perfectly unique creation.
i LOVE that even in our most certain moments, there always exists an "ounce" of uncertainty, and when we feel completely uncertain, with no answer in sight, there's always a little part of us, that "knows"-- whether we know how, or are willing, to access this information is yet another variable.
Moments of beauty come from not knowing exactly what to expect and being pleasanlty astounded by the turnout. Of course, being uncertain all of the time can feel very vulnerable. Sometimes, uncertainty can be followed by tragedy or unwanted change-- when things seem to be going one way and then an out-of-the-blue situation changes everything. This is life and without this ever-fluxing, ever-diverging nature of creation our senses would be left untantilized, our stories uninteresting and our ideas nothing more than what people were expecting to hear.