November 20, 2025

Did you know?  I’ve started posting pics from my various travels and walks on Instagram.  If that interests you, click on the Instagram icon on my emails or at the bottom of my blog posts online.  If you wish to follow me, I am @Mma_HuLiLi on Instagram.

Since I returned from my summer on Orcas Island, I have been in a considerable process of sort, dump and reorganize.  Because I brought things from deep storage back with me, I’ve been decided what to keep, what to shed.  It’s been quite a process and it’s brought about a thorough reordering of my home.

So much so that I felt a small ceremony and home blessing was called for.  Some of you may remember a blessing for home I shared in 2017 because some of you mentioned you used it for your own space.  

There’s something about the energies of the endless of this year that makes me feel it’s a  good time to renew our spaces.  I know others of you are doing this too.  So I thought I suggest a small ceremonial blessing, perhaps preceded by a little little sprucing up, maybe using a little sage and toning and this lovely blessing for home that came to me in 2016.  If it fits what’s happening in your life, then please join me in a ritual of space and renewal and feel free to use this blessing or to print and frame it if you wish.

With love,
💗 🏠 💗 
Mayet 

A BLESSING FOR THIS HOME

Let a Fullness of the vital energies of Life On-Going

be found in Balance in this home.

We welcome here the diverse Wisdom of the Four Directions

and the Above and Below and Within

from which all Strength comes.

Let all who enter here know Respect and Kindness.

Let our Thoughts and Actions be well chosen – 

they form The Circle that returns to us again and again.

Let us exchange Blessings with the Four-Legged Ones,

that our Hearts be kept warm.

Let our Prayers lift with the Winged-Ones

to always find their way home.

Let Laughter, Song and Dance

echo through every room.

In this home we Honor our great Mother Earth

for her creativity and service throughout countless Eons of time,

in continuous and wondrous creation of All life 

including Our Own.

Let each being herein fulfill their Destiny

to live in Loving Harmony,

A Radiant Source 

of Joy.

~*~

Mayet Leilani, 

December 5, 2016

November 13, 2025

On my way to something else in my email, I somehow ended up with a note from a reader from ten years ago! She was sharing a poem she loved, in response to a Musings article I’d written about the season of lights.

Lately, I’ve been noticing how dark it is in the mornings. In summer, waking feels like entering into light — a kind of welcome. But in winter, rising can feel like stepping into the uncharted dark, as though the day itself is inviting us to explore what is unseen in life, or perhaps within ourselves. Best not to get too morose about that, I remind myself. The dark, after all, has its own wisdom.

Then I came across the poem Cacina sent me, and it gave me another thought entirely.

From reader Cacina Meadu — December 17, 2015
“I’ve always loved this poem by Patrick Overton. May it also inspire you. 🙂
Merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year!
Cacina”

Faith
When you walk to the edge of all the light you have
and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown,
you must believe that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid for you to stand upon,
or, you will be taught how to fly.
      — Patrick Overton

This touched my heart with its quiet truth.
I’ve lived long enough to know it’s always one or the other — the ground rising to meet you, or the wings unfolding just in time.

Either way, it’s a win.

And perhaps that’s what winter — and life — are always whispering:
Don’t fear the dark, stand on the brink. Step forward. The light you need will find you, or you will find yourself flying.

With love for your moment,
XOMayet

November 6, 2025

Article highlights:

• Laughter burns 3x’s more calories than exercise
• It’s better than coffee
• It’s the gateway to happiness

I just want to laugh today.  Like all the little kids when Mary brought her lamb to school. Laugh and play.  Laugh and play. To help you move in that direction too, I’ll share some factoids I searched out about laughter.  But then it’s up to you to provide the laughs. Deal?

A few surprising facts about Laughter

1. Want to see a rat laugh? Then tickle it. Rats laugh, chimps laugh and so do dogs. But rats aren’t laughing at jokes. They laugh when they’re playing, in the same way humans do, to show that they’re happy and to encourage bonding.

The rats that played more, laughed more. And the ones that laughed more preferred to be around other rats that laughed. (excerpted from article by Neuroscientist Sophie Scott, University College, London, taken from the BBC News online magazine, Oct. 26, 2014)

2. Can’t get going in the morning? Laughing shortly after rising has been shown to have better effects than drinking a cup of coffee. 

3. The levels of two stress hormones – cortisol and epinephrine – which suppress the body’s immune system, do actually drop after a dose of laughter.

4. Researchers found after watching an hour-long video of slapstick comedy that the “natural killer cells,” which seek out and destroy malignant cells, more actively attacked tumor cells in test tubes. And these effects lasted up to 12 hours.

5. It doesn’t matter if your laughter is genuine.

6. Laughter burns calories!

Unconvinced?  Especially about points 2, 5 and 6? Try these two quick videos  for proof.

Laughter Videos

Click to watch “How laughing burns lots of calories”

Click to read published article from Aug 17, 2014   A Research study was conducted at university of Exeter, Cornwall, UK. They compared 10 mins. of cycling with 100 laughs … 100 laughs burnt three times more calories than cycling.

Click to watch “Laughter is the gateway to happiness” 

Did you know? You can even become Laughter Yoga certified!  Here’s a link I found about that, right here in Oklahoma! Ellen Mercer, an Oklahoma Laughter Yoga teacher.   

A Laughter Practice

You might even consider a laughter practice like a few Zen monasteries, where every monk must start his morning with laughter, and end his night with laughter.

I tried it this week to see what I though. It was great. I’m a low blood-pressure type and can be slow to get going in the morning.  For 5 days I did a fun 6-minute practice: I started with 3 minutes of Smile Meditation where you sit quietly with a Mona Lisa smile – the Buddha smile.  Then I moved into 3 minutes of laughter, beginning by giggling, which was so silly it got me really laughing every time. 

The 6 minute practice actually cleared my mind, brought my systems up, and made me feel ready for the day.. and it worked a lot better than coffee! Try it and see what you think. I’m going to keep it up.

I did fake laughing this morning though I sure didn’t feel like it.  Nor did I feel into it while laughing.  I was tired and sort of grumpy, and I had a neck ache because I slept wrong.  I felt dull and full of sighs.  And I DID NOT want to start fake laughing.  

I made myself do it though and even against my will it worked.  The morning fog lifted, my mood changed, my neck even quit hurting.  So.  OK.  I give in. I now agree: laughter is there for us when we need it most… when we don’t feel like laughing at all.

I’m lucky enough to have three friends who consistently seek out good laughs and share them with me. So I generally get more than one good curated laugh from each of them in a day.  It really does help keep me going.

Go forth and have a good laugh, make it a belly full.  

As usual I’m sending you lots of love, but with an extra dose of mirth and joy today,
~XOMayet and LOL