Honoring World Water Day 2021

The Water of Cottonwood Creek Trickling Through the Snow

Water IS Life!

Honor the water today (and everyday!). The theme for World Water Day 2021 is ‘Valuing Water’. Each time you pour a glass from the pitcher, make a cup of tea, boil and egg, turn on the tap, flush your toilet, take a moment to value the water.

This morning as I mixed my ‘tea’ of Chinese wellness herbs with warm water, I thanked not only the water in my mug, but the water that sustained the plants as they grew and the ocean waters across which they travelled. I thanked the water in which I cooked my oatmeal and the water the helped grow those grains. As I write, I’m aware that I missed thanking the water that was required to make the dishes from which I eat. Look around you and consider for a moment the role of water in everything. Water is indeed life!

Gaia’s waters are connected. Streams to rivers. Rivers to lakes and oceans. Oceans to one another. The water that flows through each of us, connects us to Mother Earth and to one another. Water IS indeed life!

Last week, I sat with the waters of Cottonwood Creek near my home. In preparation for joining others to celebrate and honor water, I asked the waters ‘what shall I say?’ about you, my favorite body of water. Water’s response came in the form of the poem below. Flow with her wisdom!

I FLOW WITH THE SEASONS

No matter where you are,

Without regard to what you do,

Or even how you be,

I am the water of a nearby mountain stream.

I flow with the seasons.

As the last aspen and cottonwood leaves fall along my banks

in the crisp autumn breezes,

I flow gently along

Knowing that even with the coming freeze

I will flow beneath the ice and snow that covers me.

I am the water of Cottonwood Creek.

I flow with the seasons.

Gentle and restful

Beneath the frigid surface

I silently – to your ears – honor the darkness

And winter’s oft unrecognized beauty.

I am the water of a stream in the woods.

I flow with the seasons.

As winter breaks her icy grasp, I surface from time to time

Preparing for the spring melt, my offering of greater flow.

Yet preparation is not required

For as the trees begin to bud new leaves

I am here, ever in tune with these changes in the ecosystem of life.

I am the water of Cottonwood Creek.

I flow with the seasons.

As my frozen waters melt I flow,

Extending beyond my banks, claiming whatever space I need

For the water that flows beyond my usual bounds.

This is when I speak my fullest voice.

I do so with joy for the verdant flora that thrives in my wake.

Leaves of the trees shadow me and the creatures that come to drink:

Families of deer, a bear, lynx, mountain lion,

An American piper bobbing at water’s edge.

Even your pup who comes to take a drink of my cool water

 as you, Dear Human, drink in my beauty through your ears and eyes.

Can you taste me?

I am water in the constant, yet ever changing, mountain stream.

I flow with the seasons.

Even as I flow I notice your presence, your reverence,

Your recognition for water’s music in the symphony of life.

I am the water of Cottonwood Creek.

I flow with the seasons.

Allow awareness of my rhythm to permeate your being.

Feel me in your bones and the flow of the veins in your body,  

Breaking through the oh so human impulse to deny

These cycles of life.

I am water, moving from peak to valley to clouds and back.

I flow with the seasons.

Will you?

Water, like all of nature, the seen and unseen life, the flora, the fauna, deserve to not only experience our expressions of gratitude for the life they sustain, they each and all deserve a voice and to be heard as we go about making decisions in daily life. May we listen! May we hear! May it be so. And, So It Is.

The Water of Cottonwood Creek Flowing Free in the Morning Light

Listen Up!

A View from Down the Street

In fact, the voice box was not intended to be a communicative device for language. Originally all communication was telepathic, and the basic use for the voice was to communicate sound through mantras and chants. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Application – April, 2009)

I’m in the midst of a humbling experiment: listening to my breath. And, I’m learning to discern what the sound of my breath is saying. For instance, when my breath is noisy, I’m likely breathing in too much.  My experiment in proper breathing is busting several long held understandings, but that’s a story for another day (when the experiment is further along and I’ve learned much more, but if you’re curious, check out this website https://www.breathingcenter.com/).

Perhaps the experiment is what led to a stream of consciousness in my journal about listening yesterday morning. It started with a big question (another story for another day J), but quickly led to the observation that success, by the world’s standards, requires that we speak, write, ‘play bigger’, all of which seems to translate into share more, share louder, stand out above the crowd.  Much to my surprise, the stream continued like this:

“But, what about LISTENERS? What would happen in the world if everyone stopped for a moment or an hour, or a day to simply listen?”

Several questions emerged: What does it mean to listen? What/who do I/we listen to? What do I/we need to listen to? For the sake of what do I/we listen?

As my day unfolded, listening became a theme. An email ‘Sit Down and Please Stop Talking’ landed in my box. Although it was from someone I didn’t recognize, I was curious and clicked on the podcast to listen. The podcaster shared a recent incident about a well-known male workshop leader’s failure to listen to a woman in his audience who had been a victim of sexual abuse. Rather than listening with a commitment to hear, the podcast suggested that the leader was cramming her experience into his lens rather than expanding his view.

We have this habit of doing just that, at least I do. ‘If you could just see things the way I do, all life’s problems and conflicts would be handled.’ Who among us hasn’t had that thought in the midst of our relationships or looking out at the world’s chaos? I observed it listening to a webinar later in the day. As the host of ‘HEARTLAND SECURITY -- Discovering and Cultivating Our Sane and Sacred Center’ and his two guests were talking about the value of listening and engaging in deeper conversations, especially with others of differing views, participants were posting in the chat box questions that were essentially, ‘how do we get people to see things this way or that?’ I chuckled at the irony.

Listening is defined (by Webster) as “to make a conscious effort to hear; attend closely so as to hear” and “to pay close attention”.  Just now as I write this, I hear wind moving the trees and rattling windows in the house. I’m not listening to that. I’m listening, not to a vibratory, audible sound, but for what my consciousness wants to bring to my awareness and to share. Sometimes I do listen to the wind or to the silent voices of the pines in the woods. For me, they have more knowledge and wisdom to share than much of the babel labelled as ‘news’.

It seems as if we’ve forgotten that we have two ears and only one mouth, and that we use that mouth at least twice as much as we use our ears. We look for sources that support our views and share them widely.  We look for how to win, not how to live peacefully together on this beautiful planet that we share.  Perhaps it’s time I/we listen and look for other ways to inhabit this life. What could happen in the world if everyone stopped for a moment or an hour, or a day to listen – really listen?

A Sound Beginning

Nature sculpts interesting form.

‘And God said, …’  We now know that Planet Earth is a planet manifested by sound.  Gregge Tiffen (The Story of Infinity)

The Bible as a code book of how our planet came to be, how the planet operates, and more importantly, how we humans are to operate here is a significant contribution of Gregge Tiffen’s work after his years of intense training in the Far East followed by extensive work in human energy management.  I was blessed to know Gregge and to be a client from 1980 until his passing in 2008.

I continue to be a beneficiary of his work through his published works (you can find them here – http://www.p-systemsinc.com/publications.htm)  and recordings of the many sessions that I had with Gregge.  As my posts are about navigating life and the learning that is available on this sojourn, these are most often the source of quotes and the inspiration for them. 

Having emptied ourselves in whatever way is our custom during the Solstice and Winter Holidays, we are receptive to the new in whatever forms that may take. A new calendar year begins. Many have created goals, resolutions, and aspirations for the year ahead. It is a time of expectation and of focus.  And, first it is a time to remember that everything manifested on Planet Earth begins with sound. 

For we humans, sound most often means the spoken word.  In the midst of the chaotic babble out there in the world, perhaps we prefer to simply not speak.  Yet, our words are needed to set our course as we begin anew. Our clarity for ourselves, our courage, our conviction, and our curiosity need to be spoken as we set out on this year’s journey. This world needs our voice. And, we need the experience of learning to use that voice, sound as it is intended to be used.  After all, that is how we begin.

Whether our intention is to bring home the dog or to build a thriving business, we begin by speaking our desire clearly:  ‘Luke come.’ ‘I will build a profitable business doing work that I love.’   If our intention is health, wealth, personal peace, or adventure, play, creative expression, likewise we begin with sound. 

I’m taking this to heart as I begin this year, carefully choosing my words, both their quality and quantity. I’m aiming for ‘less is more’: fewer words and words with the qualities of clarity, conviction, curiosity, and courage.  I’m intending that my words not add to the angst and chaotic babble of the world.  For those words also represent beginnings, just not beginnings that I prefer.

What about you? What words are you speaking to begin this year?  Do your words reflect what you want to manifest in your world?  Do your words feed the world’s babble in ways that you don’t intend?  Perhaps this is a good time to invoke the old adage: ‘think twice, speak once’.

Now, let’s begin …

More snow's coming

Energy Shift!

Cool Hand Luke: ever present teacher to a not always present student.

To accept an event as your opportunity to reveal more self honesty is the issue for effective and efficient rates of progress. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: Economical Rates of Progress – August, 2010)

So often we think of self-honesty as a drag. And we forget, at least I do, that the discipline of using our will is a gift given we humans at birth. It isn’t hard, and it does require practice.

This morning I woke as if I’d not had a good eight hours sleep. I felt tired and, even though it’s my favorite morning, this Thursday had me thinking about spending the day in bed with the covers pulled over my head.  I stretched and got up anyway.  It is blog day you know.  Not only that it’s a special blog day: the 156th post, marking three years of weekly posts.

Good Morning from the Sangres!

Still dragging after making my tea, I picked up one of Gregge’s booklets from my bedside stack. The page that I opened it to reminded me that I have a ‘band’, a group of astral energy beings assigned to support me, just me, in life and learning.  How is it that I so easily forget that they are available 24/7?  More importantly, how could I remember?

About that time Cool Hand Luke woke up, stretched, looked at me with those soulful brown eyes, and took a few steps to come an put his head on my lap. Tears streaming, I knew in that instant that Luke is a messenger for my band.  I had not only the answer to ‘how can I remember?’ (duh, it’s right in front of me!). I also had an insight as to what Luke is trying to communicate when he sits patiently and just looks at me: ‘HI! Remember us? We’re here for YOU!’

Need I mention that my energy shifted immediately?  The weary me that had waked up less than hour before had shifted: Bring on the day!  Let’s get the blog done and see what else wants to be created.

At a time when our planet needs joy and all the positivity we can muster, this morning using my will to take just one step and then the next, I made that shift. No covers over my head this day!

Some might think differently, but there is no ‘one size fits all’ formula. We each need to experiment and discover what works for us.  Taking time to simply remember a few basics can be a wonderful place to start.

Remember who you are: a cell in the infinite universe of love.

Remember time is not the issue: you have all the time you need, eons of time, to learn and grow in wisdom.

Remember you are in school: earth school is not a cake-walk. You earned the privilege of being here at this time, just as you earned the gifts of learning that every challenge you face offers.

Remember that something beautiful greets you every day: if you don’t see it, look in the mirror and smile.

Treetops, sand dunes, mountains, sky!

Ever on duty!

Speak Easy

An exclamation point in the sky reminds me that every word I speak is magnified.

By the very virtue that you open your mouth, there is an affect upon you.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Honest Performance - June, 2011)

It’s your honesty in attitude that controls your voice box. (Open Secrets: An Honest Performance - June, 2011)

When I’m truly honest with me and look at results and patterns that are not as much to my liking as the day above, I can find clues in words spoken without that care.  And, that’s a story for another day. http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/voice-your-power

Today is the day for that other story that I digressed to several weeks back. I do so humbly as over the past week or so I’ve noticed an old habit creep back into my way of being: a sharp tongue voiced in reaction to some little event (usually one with little obvious consequence). For the most part (though not exclusively) these little explosions are not directed toward or in response to another person. No, they’re the curses (small but intense) that come out when the hose crinkles stopping the flow of water or some other minor annoyance.

They’ve been especially abundant over the past week. I dislike how I feel about me when I utter them. And, I know deep inside that my words have an impact not just on me.  They contribute to the noise and chaos that is roaring in our culture, adding fuel to an already dangerous fire.

That’s not how I want to contribute to our world.  And, it’s certainly not the attitude I want to carry with me in my immediate environment. I notice how one creates a path to the next and the next and beyond. I feel their impact. They drain my energy and undermine my clarity as I look beyond to the places where I want to put my energy: a project for the water and sanitation board, making the Dragonfly House ready and inviting for guests, a series of webinars to reignite my coaching, loving on Cool Hand Luke and simply enjoying each and every moment of the day.

Gregge’s words appear as I read and I’m reminded of all that I know about the power and the impact of my voice.  I take a breath. Express gratitude for the awareness. And, I ask ‘now what?’ How will I use this awareness to speak easy to me, to Luke, and beyond?

Cottonwood 'snow' on Cottonwood Creek. Ah, summer in the Sangres!

Voice Your Power

Sunrise over the Sangres

The use of your voice, in the simplest of conversations, activates an energy flow and an energy pattern.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Honest Performance – June, 2011)

This week I experienced a profound energy shift. When I looked back at the experience, I noticed that the shift seemed to have been activated by words I spoke in the quiet of the woods. 

I awoke the day of a scheduled appointment in a nearby town with a sense of ‘don’t go’ so strong that I couldn’t ignore it. The day before I’d had a touch of angst about going, but I set that aside (or perhaps I ignored it). I went through the litany of reasons not to cancel, including the probability that I’d pay for the appointment because I’d be cancelling so late. 

I thought of the many times in life I’ve ignored a strong pull to do or not do something, and the consequences of my ignorance. I decided that as soon as the office opened, I’d call and cancel anyway.

Decision made, Luke and I set out for our morning walk.  After a beautiful long walk in the cool morning and enjoying the sun as it rose over the mountains. As we often do, we ended our walk at the labyrinth. When I reach the center each visit, I acknowledge and give gratitude to the six directions and what I see as I turn my attention to each: the mountains of the east, the tree of the south, the valley to the west, the forest of the north, the vast sky above, the solid earth below. I did just that and felt the lightness and joy that a labyrinth walk brings as I walked the circles back to the beginning.

And, as it generally does, that lightness and peace was a part of me as we came in for breakfast.  As I began to think about the day, now a blank slate since I was cancelling the appointment, I noticed that the energy had shifted.  I felt drawn to keep the appointment, run the other errands that I do when I go to this particular town, and treat myself to lunch by the river.  I took a few breaths and checked in to be sure.  None of the foreboding sense of ‘don’t go’ remained.  I moved onward into the day as planned, one that turned out to be quite pleasant and an easy flow.

I can’t prove or perhaps even know for certain that my voice in the woods initiated the shift. But, it certainly seems that way to me. That is just how powerful we are!

I’m reminded to be mindful in all the words I speak, whether to the woods or to another or even to myself.  When I’m truly honest with me and look at results and patterns that are not as much to my liking as the day above, I can find clues in words spoken without that care.  And, that’s a story for another day.

Luke sporting his 'summer cut' at our favorite spot on Cottonwood Creek.