Vigilance From the Inside Out

Majestic Mountain Magic

If thou wilt be observant and vigilant, thou wilt see at every moment the response to thy action. Be observant if thou wouldst have a pure heart, for something is born to thee in consequence of every action.  Rumi

As I sat with the muse earlier this morning, I was thinking about a question I’ve been holding for some time:  what science are we to believe? There is after all enough conflicting scientific information, especially in the domain of health, to make one’s head spin and to foment individual and collective confusion.

Science isn’t my wheelhouse. Not even close. Looking at scientific data and reading articles replete with same is torture for me. Yet, I want to know and to understand alternatives so that I can make good choices. ‘Good choices’ being defines as choices that are right for me. I don’t subscribe to the notion that one size fits all. Not in terms of health, nutrition, or any set/subset of ideas and ideologies.  What is best/right/etc. for me may not be the same for you in science, in health, and, yes even in politics.

To be clear, there are facts. Yes, there are observable results. From them conclusions are reached that are then labelled ‘the truth’.  I’m old enough to remember that science was used to claim cigarette smoking was safe. Few would make that argument today.

All too often, it seems to me, that ‘truth’ has an agenda: to entice us to buy and consume, to convince us to go along with and accept conclusions to be part of the crowd. Something, be it a product or a candidate or an idea, is for sale. We are the target audience.

Frequently there are conflicting scientific facts, differing approaches and studies to the same question, and, sadly agendas that compete with one another. We hold warring views of what is in the common, public interest and how best to honor that.

Navigating this environment requires our vigilance: keen awareness of how we are being and what we are doing in the world. After all we are creating that world by our thoughts, our words, our deeds. The world, other people, nature, the planet herself are responding to us. We are responding (and reacting) to one another. Conflicts ‘out there’ reflect our inner conflicts.

The world as it is now will not hand us clear answers to the decisions and choices we will face in the days, weeks, months, and, possibly, years ahead. We will argue over ‘this’ and ‘that’/’us’ and ‘them’/’right’ and ‘wrong’ until we can embrace the pure-hearted truth that there is no ‘this’ and ‘that’. No ‘us’ or ‘them’. No ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.  There is but one unified field of which we are all a part.

Navigating that road and making choices along the way demands our vigilance step by step, moment by moment, day by day.  Navigating that road requires that we be clear about what we believe at the same time we are open and adaptable to other possibilities. Navigating that road requires both strength of our convictions and the nimbleness to adjust. Navigating that road invites us to know more deeply who we are and what our true purpose is at this moment in time on the planet.

Early Morning Moon in the Sangres

Patience and Rumi Wisdom for This Day

Labyrinth in the Morning Light

What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle. Rumi 

These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them. Rumi

Before this day, the morning after election day here in the U.S., dawned I woke thinking about patience: the need to be patient as all votes are counted, the need to be patient with uncertainty, the need to be patient with myself and the swirls of thoughts and feelings, the need to be patient with each other … each and every ‘other’.

As I waited for the darkness outside to lighten so that I could venture out to walk the labyrinth in the woods outback, I was drawn to Rumi. What did he have to say about patience?

Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing. It is looking at the thorn and seeing the rose, looking at the night and seeing the day. Lovers are patient and know that the moon needs time to become full.

This day I find it difficult to see the ‘rose’ amid the thorn. Indeed, thorns seem to outnumber roses. I have no doubt that soon the sun will rise, but how will I light my day in what feels a dark time? How will I pivot to my deep knowing that the Universe is unfolding in divine perfect order, despite and interpretations I may have to the contrary?

I take my swirl to the labyrinth. Coyote, the wise jokester, howls in the distance. I chuckle wondering just what he may know that I haven’t yet discovered. I walk slowly toward the center, hand on my heavy heart, asking that heart to be open and to light the path ahead. Reaching the center, I thank the four directions, Mother Earth, the sky and all above. I begin the slow walk out, the heaviness of my load lightened just a bit.

Questions begin to form: How will I stay present to the perfection of this time and of however events unfold in the days ahead? How will I invite the darkness to inform me, to be my candle? What are the messages of the pain I feel? Of the pain I see in others? How will I remember to make choices from a loving heart and from understanding that this time is just a blip on the infinite timeline of existence? How do I live the truth that every blip matters to my/to our evolution, learning, and growth?

‘This’ time, these events, my swirls of thoughts and feelings matter. My sadness, my anger, my worry each matter. So do my love, my compassion and my patience. My curiosity matters. My care matters. My gratitude matters. My thoughtfulness matters. My questions about how to be and how to participate matter. Yours too. All our swirls of thoughts and feelings matter as does how we BE with them and what we DO in response to the world that we are in and the world that we are co-creating with each (and every) other and with Source.

I’m at peace with having more questions than answers in this moment. I don’t know how a collective pivot toward love (click here if you missed last week’s post) might unfold. I’m curious about how to create economic systems and systems of governance that work for all. I’m curious how I will navigate the coming days and beyond and what may emerge in this space in the weeks ahead. And, yes, I’m curious about who will win the Presidential election and how that result will be met with each of us.

Sunset on Election Day

Envisioning a Collective Pivot to Love

Snowy Morning in the Sangres

Everyone has their story – good and bad. We are all different. We are all the same.

One week from today will be the ‘morning after’ what feels like a monumental presidential election here in the U.S. We may or may not know the result when we wake from our slumber, if indeed we slumber at all. Yet, whether we know or not, we are unlikely to experience a huge sigh of relief that ‘it’ is over. (Yeah, that bums me out too.)

Although election day itself will be behind us, the acrimony and divisiveness will surely make their presence known. The divide may even be deeper. Each ‘side’ will stoke its core to react; some with fear and hate, others with love and care. Fingers of blame will be pointed. This is how political machines and pundits thrive. This is how the machines of war and weaponry get funded.

But this is not the way of nature nor the true way of human nature. My heart aches when I consider the very real possibility of massive violence in the streets stoked by fear of ‘the other’.

That same heart bursts with joy at the possibilities that lie within and beyond a pivot to non-violence, to understanding, cooperation and to peace. Science is discovering more and more that this is the nature of we humans. That we each are an integral part of a whole, cells in the body of life on this planet, and, perhaps, beyond. May we come to know more deeply that everyone has their story – good and bad. We are all different. We are all the same.

No path forward from where we find ourselves today will likely be an easy one. We have much work to do starting with an honest look at our own habits of separation. Collectively, we need to review history and somehow make amends for the crimes of our ancestors. From our sincere efforts a framework for living fully into the truth that we all were, are, and will forever be created equal. Everyone has their story – good and bad. We are all different. We are all the same.

It will not be easy to bid adieu to the structures and forms that have never served this higher truth. Like all creative acts the process will be messy, chaotic and require courage and commitment. Our ‘willingness to change’ muscles are sure to be tested and strengthened in the process. Then, beyond the chaos and messiness, a new world, one that works for all, can emerge. Like our precious Mother Earth, she will require diligent nurturing and care for generations to come. We can do this!

We are built for this time, this change and for the sake of humanity and the planet, pivot we must. By our thoughts, our words, and our deeds we are each creating the present moment and each moment beyond. May we think, speak, and act from open-hearted love for self, for humanity, and for the planet.

Frozen Morning Landscape

Fertile Ground

Past their peak, but there is still much beauty in this aspen grove.

What we need is not another doctrine, but an awakening that can restore our spiritual strength. What made Mahatma Gandhi's struggle a great success was not a doctrine—not even the doctrine of nonviolence—but Gandhi himself, his way of being. A lot is written today about the doctrine of nonviolence and people everywhere are trying to apply it. But they cannot rediscover the vitality that Gandhi had, because the ‘Gandhians’ do not possess Gandhi's spiritual strength. They have faith in his doctrine but cannot set into motion a movement of great solidarity because none of them possess the spiritual force of a Gandhi and therefore cannot produce sufficient compassion and sacrifice. Thich Nhat Hahn

In the midst of the muse reflecting on the insights and inspirations which have crossed my path this week I was looking to discover if there is a common thread or theme. Then, life popped in unexpectedly.

It has been my practice for most of the 370+ weeks to ignore all incoming calls, emails, etc. Wednesday mornings are devoted exclusively to musing and discovering what wants to be shared in this week’s post. Today I needed to break from that pattern to handle a time sensitive issue regarding my cousin’s estate.

The issue addressed (at least for a bit), I gently returned to the muse and the message.  Noticing the broad scope of ideas and events that sprouted to take root in my attention this week, the phrase ‘fertile ground’ came to mind. I was aware of all that screamed for attention that I mostly gently (and sometimes not) turned away. What about my fertile ground guides me to make those choices?

I’m aware of and embrace the idea that deep change is underway individually and collectively for humanity and throughout all of nature and our precious home, Mother Earth. (Beyond this earth, I suspect that the same is true – but that is perhaps a muse for another day … As Above, So Below … As Below, So Above …). What about my fertile ground has me see life in this way and to be curious about the thresholds that are before me/us in the days, weeks, years ahead?

From what fertile ground does my conviction that how we choose to BE as we walk through this change is, moment to moment, determining how that change will be? What cultivated my deep knowing that ‘by our thoughts, our feelings, our beliefs and our actions we are co-creating our life, our future – individually and collectively’?

I think that somewhere along this 70-year path of my life, I embraced building my spiritual strength (you wondered, didn’t you, what the heck the quote had to do with this muse?).  Decades ago, weary after years of political activism and hard driving in my profession, I was exhausted and fearful that I couldn’t keep up (whatever the heck that meant at the time). A seed of metaphysical curiosity sprouted as I took time off to figure out what to do with my life.

I’ve nurtured that ground (not always consistently) since it sprouted. I’d like to think that I have some measure of spiritual strength as a result. As I choose how to navigate and BE in the changes upon us, I aim to make choices from a place of spiritual knowing rather than from some prescribed doctrine (religious, political, etc.). That is the fertile ground on which I stand from which the seeds of my expression flow. That is the ground I choose to nurture and grow.

What about you? What is your fertile ground? What is your state of being in the world? What attention is needed so that you can meet the thresholds before you with strength, conviction and with love?

A Quiet Hike in Nature’s Beauty

Courage for Our Time

A Visual Feast Every Day

It takes more courage to dig deep in the dark corners of your own soul and the back alleys of your society than it does for a soldier to fight on the battlefield. William Butler Yeats (Oct 13, 2020 - This Nonviolent Life: Daily Inspiration for Your Nonviolent Journey from Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service)

When I read this quote it seemed to both echo and expand last week’s musing about true power. It reflects much of what we are witnessing in the collective move to look more deeply at history and understand the dark side of our so-called progress. To do so requires courage, especially in the face of resistance, sometimes armed and violent.

Likewise, it reflects the personal courage that I’m discovering I need to look in the ‘dark corners’ of my lifestyle and habits of consumption where their true cost is revealed.  It takes courage to dare wonder about the cost of my choices and to ask who is paying the price of my choices.

These are the kinds of questions that present themselves as I explore the territory of greater awareness in spending and investing choices searching for avenues that are more fully aligned with what I claim are my values. And, wondering if I have the courage of those convictions.

Such musings seem magnified this week in the great divide between those who would celebrate the colonization of the Americas symbolized by Columbus Day here in the U.S. in contrast to the messages from indigenous people (who continue to pay the price) calling upon humanity to awaken to the consequences not just to their cultures but the very planet that we all share.

It takes courage to read and to think deeply about Nemonte Nenquimo’s message to the western world (click here).

It takes courage to listen to 2018 presentation (click here) that Nenquimo and other indigenous leaders made at the Bioneers conference and then to think deeply and do more than sign petitions.

I know this, because I am questioning how deep my courage runs to be better informed, to reflect AND then to ACT upon these and other issues of our time. I pray that it is deep enough and that I might earnestly adopt the words and spirit of a prayer that came my way this week.

It is said to be the Dalai Lama’s morning prayer, written by Shantideva, a Buddhist monk of the Mahayana tradition who lived around 700 AD. He was a devoted practitioner who authored the Bodhicaryavatara or Bodhisattva Way of Life. Thanks to Nick Polizzi and the folks at The Sacred Science for this uplift to my week!

Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity

"May I be a guard for those who need protection

A guide for those on the path

A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood

May I be a lamp in the darkness

A resting place for the weary

A healing medicine for all who are sick

A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles

And for the boundless multitudes of living beings

May I bring sustenance and awakening

Enduring like the earth and sky

Until all beings are freed from sorrow

And all are awakened."

… Enduring Like Earth and Sky …

Power and Possibility

Hints of Autumn on a Hazy Day in the Sangres

Power over is not true power nor is power over a lasting condition. Real, lasting power is the power within.

These words came this morning as I engaged the muse, reflecting and stirring the pot of this week’s soup curious about what would emerge. I’ve felt the world try to pull me into its power struggle. Through my revolving door a wide range of emotions paid me visits.

Dancing the dance of ‘staying informed’ I watched a bit of news and the documentary the social dilemma (find it here). I listened to Shelly Acorn’s talk on the emergence of fascism  (click here) offered by Humanity Rising’s Global Solutions Summit (info here).

I felt the heaviness of the world while recognizing that ignoring current conditions was not a wise option. Seeking to restore my sense of balance and being grounded, I stepped away. Zadie Byrd and I walked. I walked the labyrinth. I took in the beautiful evidence of the changing season just up the road and on the vast expanse of the steep slopes of the Sangres. I watched a squirrel playing, magpies flitting and listened to jays squawking in the woods.

I let the tears welling inside flow forth.

I wept for the pain of the world, for the planet, for humanity. I wept for those who are suffering illness, fires, hunger, oppression, fear and so much more. I wept for our sleepiness, the lack of awareness on which the world’s agenda thrives. I wept for the gap between the world that could be and the world as it seems. And, I shed tears of personal grief, missing my dear cousin’s physical presence.

In the pause that followed, I began to remember that change necessitates letting go …

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. Arundhati Roy

I saw power (true, lasting power) and possibility dancing together. I saw humanity rising to meet the challenges and opportunities of a crumbling world. Step by step. Minute by minute. Day to day. Person to person. I remembered my deep knowing that the Universe in its infinite wisdom offers a bigger stage on which to dance than the petty power struggles which capture headlines. I remembered that we are on this planet to learn from the events before us. I remembered Gregge Tiffen’s wise words:

We are constantly in a situation of applying the condition of re-adjustment. Our Earth is one of the most difficult laboratories in the vast Universe because of the utilization of three levels of energy. We know them as physical, mental, and spiritual. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: Mysterious Investigations – October 2010)

Let us know beyond a shadow of doubt, that Power over is not true power nor is power over a lasting condition. Real, lasting power is the power within. Let us embrace that change is upon us, a new world is not only possible she is birthing as we speak. Let us hear the peaceful breathing of a new day by standing tall in our personal power and guiding that change to unfold a world that works for all. Let us dance the dance of bringing light to the darkness.

A Pause in the Afternoon Glory of Autumn

Leadership in Urgent & Emergent Times

The Lands Between … Mountains and Valley

Every time you open your mouth you are charging atomic particles, arranging them and setting them into a pattern of action. Consequently, everything you say, everything you say, is putting some energy effect into action. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Honest Performance - June, 2011)

Last night as I watched and listened to the so-called ‘debate’ here in the U.S. I was reminded of my post back in June that started with the above quote from Gregge (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/speaking-with-care). I cringed as I felt the darkness of the words, the tone, and the behavior try to pull me down into the morass of uncivility that has, sadly, become the trademark in far to many arenas of politics and, indeed, life.

I noticed the stark contrast between this event and seeing and hearing 70 world leaders come forward just a day earlier to pledge action in support of the planetary being, Mother Earth addressing the urgency of climate change. I encourage you to watch the #NatureforLife Leaders Event and consider what and whose leadership speaks to you in these urgent and emerging times.

I ping-ponged back and forth between despair and optimism, disgust and appreciation, rage and love, confusion and understanding, turmoil and peace. I recognized that I could grab the ball and stop on either side of the net. Choice. I knew what I wanted to choose, but how would I maintain it?

I spent time in the woods and on the land that lies between the woods and the valley below. I walked and shed tears in the labyrinth out back. I hopped onto a Zoom session with a group of caring explorers from around the world and heard the kind of words of leadership that are so desperately needed right now: governance that listens to the planet, the need to understand links between the climate crisis and violence, a reminder that borders are of human doing not the planet’s being.

My colleague’s words and deep, integral thinking were just the salve I needed to anchor me in the optimism, appreciation, love, understanding and peace that I was choosing.

We have work to do dear ones. Inner work and work in the world, a world that needs our thoughtfulness and care.

As I have said before, and will no doubt repeat (hopefully not ad nauseum) as we navigate our individual and collective paths ahead …

… the work of pivoting to a new paradigm in which humanity along with all of nature on our planet can thrive …is deep and personal, each of us contributing to a larger collective. … Our work is work of the heart. Commitment, discipline, and consistent awareness are required. Being counter to much of our culture, using words of peace will require acts of courage, different, yet no less demanding, than engaging in battle (click here to read that post)

May we take each step forward with the self-leadership and keen awareness that everything we think, we say, we do is contributing to the quality of life on the planet. The darkness calls us. May we be the light that we are.

Day Breaks in the Sacred Sangres

Paradox, Discernment & Wisdom

Hints of Fall on a Beautiful Morning in the Sanges

We are being asked to discover what we think are our limits and to move beyond them, understanding our limitlessness.

One of the limits I experience in myself and I observe is rampant in our culture is the need to know, to be certain. We want guarantees that things are (or will be) this way or that before we allow those things (events, situations, people, products, etc.) to emerge and evolve. Although we might discount, even laugh, at the idea of seeing the future in a crystal ball, we would sure like to peek and to know.

We would like someone to tell us the ‘facts’, the ‘truth’ (the whole truth and nothing but …) about important matters in our daily lives. Take Covid-19 as one example among many. We want the facts, without contradictions and politicizing. Then we could easily choose what actions to take to maintain our health.

What we have instead in this era of competition is controversy, conflict, confusion, and chaos mixed with finger-pointing, blame, and (most destructive of all) fear mongering.

We are asked to choose sides as our health becomes a political football with elections to be won as more important than lives to be saved or personal freedom to be restored (yes, I said restored, not protected – but that’s a topic for another day).

We are told what someone ‘out there’ thinks we want to hear. Never mind that the message was totally different to another audience yesterday. And, that it will change yet again tomorrow. But, hey, who cares? Babel is the name of this frenzied game.

But Covid-19 and, indeed, most of the important matters in our lives are not so simple. There is no one size fits all approach to any of these concerns. There is no one set of cast in stone facts that are ‘THE facts’. We are being asked to discover what we think are our limits and to move beyond them, understanding our limitlessness.

Thus, it is up to us, individually and collectively, to examine the often paradoxical and contradictory information – both facts and opinions – and discern the best answer for us. To do so requires a commitment and vigilant practice to strengthen our discernment muscle (yes, you have one, even if it is a bit atrophied!).

We do so by turning off/tuning out the noise of the world.  We take time to sit and bask in the peace and quiet of the absence of that noise. Finally, we tune in to the quiet of our mind, our heart, our body, our nature. We invite the quiet to break its silence and speak gently to the core of our being. We allow its gentle nudging to stir up what we already know and to blend that with the new. We discern.

In the quiet, as we release our addiction to knowing, we come to know ourselves. We discover what is true for us. As we follow our truth, we honor that our knowing, our truth may not hold true for others. In the quiet, we come to understand that the source of deep knowing is not ‘out there’.

In the quiet, we build our capacity to accept the paradoxes and contractions of the world’s ways. We begin to discern from the inside out rather than relying on others to discern for us. Our wisdom builds. And, from that wisdom, we glimpse our limitless nature.  

Indeed! It IS a Beautiful Morning!

Revisiting Living True to Our Roots

Gentle , Nurturing Beauty of Cottonwood Creek

Every celestial body has definitive root characteristics. The root characteristic of this particular planet is that it is a receptive womb. Planet Earth is female and produces a mothering, nurturing base. Gregge Tiffen (Learning Without Experience Is A Bell Without A Clapper – September 2008)

We ARE the Planet. The Planet is US.

As I settled in with the muse this morning, I thought about a response someone shared about last week’s post: Female energy is nurturing and we need more of that right now. It reminded me that the earth is a feminine planet. Her nature is receptive, nurturing. 

I recalled a comment I made in conversation earlier this week that current events are asking us to discover what we think are our limits and move beyond them, understanding our limitlessness. We tend to think of going beyond limits as a masculine thing, pushing beyond limits. That led me back to a post from three years ago. For me it captures the essence of the opportunities before us today. It seems a logical next musing after exploring nature’s extremes last week. And, so today, I share it again …

The visual beauty of the earth here in the southern Rocky Mountains where I’m blessed to live lies in stark contrast to the visual appearance of the devastation we’ve witnessed over the past month. Forest fires, hurricanes, floods, drought have ravaged the earth and seriously impacted millions around the globe.

Here, it’s easy to experience the nurturing touch of the Planet through my senses. Some days the smell of the pines is so strong that I can taste it. To touch a tree is to feel its strength and at the same time its vulnerability. The gentle flow of a mountain stream has been one of my favorite sounds for decades – long before I moved to these mountains. And, the landscape – from the valley floor to the top of the soaring 14,000 foot peaks – is a visual feast every day, every season. Here, even on the coldest, windiest days, I feel the receptivity and nurturing that is the way of Earth.

Likewise that same root – receptivity, mothering, nurturing – is present in the midst and wake of so-called ‘natural’ disasters. Beyond the sense that something old is making way for something new, we witness some of the best in ourselves. Neighbors help neighbors. Strangers help those in need, both up close and personal as well as from afar. These expressions represent the best of our living true to the root characteristics of our planet.

And, that - living true to our roots - is a requirement. It is necessary if we are to ever have a chance at creating lasting peace among all peoples of the planet. It is necessary if we as a species are to continue to inhabit Mother Earth. A sturdy pine does not grow from roots of tender grass. Only grass grows from those roots. Here are the root characteristics that I believe we are meant to live from:

We are meant to have dominion – loving, nurturing, receptive dominion – over the planet. We are not meant to dominate the planet or one another.

We are meant to be fed from the abundance that the earth provides. We are not meant to be gluttonous or to attempt to nourish ourselves with fake food or man’s laws disguised as laws of the Universe.

We are meant to manifest and to understand that everything we think, say and do manifests. From that understanding we can align ourselves with the true nature of the planet. We are not meant to suffer, rather we are meant to learn.

We are meant to adapt, to embrace change as a natural characteristic of the planet. We are meant to evolve. We are not meant to keep things, including ourselves, as they are or to try to return them to something that we or they were in the past.

As you go about your week, consider the roots that Mother Earth gifted you with when you came to the Planet. Are you aligned and living true to your roots?

An American Dipper doing her thing: Dipping in the Creek

Nature's Extremes

SNOW - September 9, 2020

You are to live here with a sense of the planet and you as a vital unit because, in effect, you are that vitality. Nature will not sit back and allow you to set it aside like a poor relation with you living in isolation from it. Pay Attention! … Your body is nature, and nature is you. Your consciousness is the Universe, and the Universe is you. There is no separation between nature and you. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Completion – September 2009)

Zadie Byrd and I have been back home in the mountains for six days. Weather records have been broken on four of those days. On two days record high temperatures were recorded. Yesterday nine records were broken here: low temperature, lowest high temperature, most snow, earliest snow and more. A note on our local weather website, indicated that as of 3 a.m. today, two records had already been broken.

Extreme? Yes. Extreme change? Most certainly.

I look out on the eight or so inches of snow that fell overnight recalling that in the pre-dawn hours just yesterday I wrote in my journal Life is not ‘me and nature’ or ‘nature and I’. Rather nature is ‘we’ in this cycle of life. I am Nature. Nature is me. Yesterday, I was reflecting on the changing season and on how I the darkness and deep quiet of winter call me to rest deeply as nature rests.

Today I’m aware that underneath the snow, leaves on the trees are still green. Summer is barely beginning to give way to autumn. And yet, the landscape is a winter wonderland. What is nature saying? What does she want us to ‘pay attention’ to?

What I’m witnessing here at home is not an isolated weather event. Extreme weather in multiple forms is responsible for vast devastation and suffering all over the globe. What is nature saying? What does she want us to ‘pay attention’ to?

Could it be that she is reflecting the extremes in our own thoughts, our words, our deeds? Is she inviting us to look anew at our fractured culture and our reactions to one another, especially those who are different from us? Is she saying ‘Enough ready! I’m mad as hell and I can’t take it anymore’?

She is wise our Mother, our Nature. Is she calling for us to fall in love with her, recognizing that as we do so we are loving ourselves and reconnecting to the deep knowing we share about the oneness of all life?

Is She reminding us that every thought we think matters in the grand plan of life? Is she inviting us to awaken to the reality that each choice we make and every action we take contributes to, indeed determines, the quality of nature, her health, her vitality, AND to ours, collectively and individually in the whole that is Nature?

In how we see, reflect, and respond to today’s extremes, both natural and man-made, we are co-creating the future. May we see with clarity. May we reflect with deep awareness. May we respond with love. For surely those – clarity, awareness, and love – can bring some balance to the extremes.

We Are HOME!