3D: Damsels, Dragons, and Doggies

Dragonfly takes a little rest to enjoy a fading bloom

Light always lightens the load.

Recent experiences of life in 3D on planet earth here in the woods of the Sangre de Cristo range have found me focused on Zadie Byrd, in particular calming her during stormy weather (we’re in week two of our ‘monsoon’ season – more thunder than rain, though grateful for every drop) and at night when I turn out the lights.

So, what do damsels and dragons have to do with that, you might ask? Are there really dragons and damsels in the woods out back? Well, no (at least not visible to me in this 3D body), but during this time of exploration and experimentation with Zadie Byrd I’ve been blessed with several damselfly and dragonfly visits. These amazing creatures of nature symbolize light, in particular the power of light.

And light is what I want to shed on Zadie’s reactivity. Clarity to define a path to easing her tension and reactive nature is my aim. Lightening my load in the process is my intention.

About the same time as I began to seek the advice of experts, explore options, including the possibility of finding her a new home, dragonfly and damselfly began to ‘visit’. My first sighting was a dragonfly resting in a hanging basket while I tended the flowers. I took note and welcomed it, since, after all my home is the Dragonfly House.

Then, yesterday, I observed a damsel(fly) in distress – inside the kitchen window, flying into the glass in an apparent effort to get back to its world outside that window. The rescue and relocation were simple – a nearby yogurt container and a piece of paper provided just the vehicle needed to secure and transport this amazing creature to the door. Upon release, I wished it well and the damselfly quickly flew into a nearby pine where it landed, seeming to look down and offer a nod of thanks.

Damselfly in Distress

This morning after a walk in the labyrinth, I saw a brief flash of light as I sat on a log in the nearby ‘circle of elders.’ After a few moments, I decided to investigate the end of the log where I’d seen the flash. Voila! There was a (the?) damselfly. Reminding me yet again to bring the power of light to every project, every issue, every concern.  Light always lightens the load.

Yesterday’s rescue and this morning’s encounter remind me of a woodpecker that I saw tangled in a mess of fishing line in a bush many years ago. After calming the bird and painstakingly disentangling it, it flew to the top of the bush and landed. We looked at one another for a bit, me amazed that the being could still fly and the woodpecker seeming grateful for its freedom. I saw that woodpecker frequently in the days that followed.

The muse carries me to these tales (tails?) giving pause (paws?) for reflection and to remember that amidst change, especially change from the inside out, letting go of that which no longer (indeed may have never) serves us we sometimes take several steps forward, then falter or even take a step back. This part of the process offers the opportunity to take stock of where we are, where we’re headed, and make adjustments.  It can also be a pause for gratitude for whatever gifts the event is bringing us and a reminder that while nature is in service to us, we are best served when we honor and serve the nature on which we depend.

Although Zadie Byrd can’t speak human words to tell me what’s going on, like all canine companions she speaks through her actions, her eyes, and her body language. She takes me to that place of listening with my eyes and registering with my heart, a pause (paws) that refreshes.

Source of Light - Damselfly at Rest on a Log

Taking Time for Satisfaction

Labyrinth Rocks Seem Satisfied

It is the nature of stone to be satisfied. It is the nature of water to want to be somewhere else. Mary Oliver

Just as I was about to begin my search for a quote about satisfaction this morning, I had a little niggle for ‘a quote from Mary Oliver’.  So, I searched for just that. The little treasure found reminds me of two of my favorite things here the Rockies: beautiful conglomerate rocks and flowing mountain streams. Each seems quite satisfied with their nature, one solid and still, the other fluid and in motion.

The idea of satisfaction is with me as this week marks the anniversary of my cousin’s death last year and finds me approaching completion of the details of her estate, tasks that fell to me as the ‘personal representative’ named in her will.  With only a few details remaining, mostly to be done by her attorney and CPA, I began to take stock of the process, my engagement in it, and the changes in my life since receiving the call that Marty had departed her body for the world hereafter.

Taking stock offers the opportunity to choose whether to be satisfied with my participation or not and to declare that satisfaction or examine the source of any dissatisfaction. In doing so I find that I am satisfied, self-appreciative for my walk through the process. Not only the legal matters of executing her wishes, but also the honoring the promise I made to myself at the outset: no rush, no push, no stress. My pace. My way. Self-care is not an option.

Yes, there were difficult choices, surprises, obstacles along the way. I’m satisfied for how I met each and every one. There was learning, discovering, growing along the way – not all of it cushy and fun.  I’m satisfied with my openness to the lessons that crossed my path.

The year has been one of change and transformation for me. Her death was an unexpected jolt. I opened to receiving in many new ways. As the door closes on this chapter, I find myself in a field of new opportunities for stewarding not only financial resources but also my very life force energy. Fresh potential exists for creating more ease in life’s choices about where to focus my energy and attention.

Just as a new world has emerges for me, so it is with each of us in this time where the old and tired is falling, making way for the new and offering pivot points of choice. Will I/will we cling to the old? Or will I/will we lovingly send the old on its way and participate in creating and embracing the new? How will we choose?

I aim to make my choices from a place of satisfied, rock-solid conviction that the universe is a friendly place unfolding perfectly. And to do so with the fluidity of a mountain stream, knowing that flow and change are the nature of nature in an ever-changing cosmos. I AM the rock. I AM the water. What about you?

Cottonwood Creek - In the Flow of Life

Substance or Sound Bites?

Morning Clouds Over the Mountains

I’m not about sound bites. I’m about substance. Marcia Fudge, Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

Distracted by a thorny personal concern as well as needing to attend to final business regarding my cousin’s estate, the muse was slow to engage and focus today. That said, the topic has been bubbling for a while: are we/am I about substance or sound bites? And how do the choices we make impact us, our relationships, and consciousness of the collective?

If you’ve been following my weekly musings for a while, you’re aware that I frequently remind us (that includes reminding moi!) that EVERYthing we do, think, say matters – even our little, snarky comments on Facebook. EVERYthing we do, think, say contributes to the collective. Through our thoughts, words, and deeds we are building (or destroying) society, the very quality of energy that we experience in daily life.

By our thoughts, words, and deeds we create the frequency of our individual vibration. That vibration feeds the frequency of our immediate environment and that of the collective. 

Scanning through my Facebook feed a few weeks back, I saw a post thanking “whoever reported me to Facebook for my comments … now I don’t have to waste my time commenting anymore.” I had a quick judgement about that wondering where the poster’s awareness of their choice to comment had gone.

Days later I saw a post that seemed to be a sincere inquiry seeking someone to adopt a senior dog. Comments flew. Judgements were spewed by people with no information about the situation that prompted the search. I see examples like this almost every time I dare to scan my social media feed. They evoke sadness and concern. They bring me to question ‘where is the substance?’ and along with it scare and compassion? Heck, even kindness!

I wonder what it would take for us individually and collectively to make conscious choices to comment from a place of substance, care, and contribution rather than from some need to add our own judgmental sound bites to the cacophony. Are we even thinking at all?

As I sometimes do on Sunday mornings, this week I tuned in to the Sunday service from Mile Hi Church and heard a courageous and heartfelt talk from Reverend Michelle Medrano on this very topic: Transcending the Soundbites: Fostering Greater Connection With Ourselves and Each Other. You can enjoy her thoughtful message here.

This isn’t simply about the impact of our choices on others and the collective, the sound bites we spew harm us as well. Reactionary, judgmental sound bites feed the story of separation and division. Taking time to think before we speak gives us the opportunity to consider our intention, the substance of what we want to contribute, and to add to the story of unity and our interconnectedness.

Media and social media thrive on sound bites. Do you? Do I? Do we?  This week let’s pivot from their game and play our own: the game of substance anchored in harmony, love, and care.

Simple Beauty

Gratitude and a Piece of Humble Pie

Mountains and Trees and Sunbeams - Oh My!

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Meister Eckhart

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie

 … friends, family, home, garden, labyrinth, the woods out back, pine trees, Cottonwood Creek, Zadie Byrd, Luke, health, computer, comfort, cool breeze, hummingbirds, flowers, neighbors, Elephant Cloud, Merc, helping hands when I need them, teachers/guides, awareness, remembering … These are just a few of the abundance of ‘things’ (including feelings, situations, etc.) that I quickly noted I am grateful for once I stopped and remembered to BE grateful.

I woke this morning with the word gratitude front and center and the message ‘return to gratitude’. Hmmmm… As one who aims to live in gratitude, I was humbled to need a reminder to ‘return’. When did I set gratitude aside? When did I forget?

Heartmath Institute’s ‘Quick Coherence Technique’ (click here for a 2 minute practice) took only a few moments to bring me to that familiar, visceral feeling of appreciation and love for all of life. My heart that had been burdened by a combination of irritation, regret, and confusion about the reactionary funk I’d been in, immediately felt lighter. I was more ready to meet and greet the day than I’d been for several days. Best of all I didn’t feel ‘grumpy’.

Grounded in gratitude I can begin to create some order in the chaos of my confusion around how I’ve handled several recent interactions with others and even with myself. I can pivot from confusion and irritation to curiosity. In the spirit of Nietzsche (see last week’s post here), I can seek to uncover what meaning I made unconsciously about the event, person (or canine 😉) that triggered my reaction.

From the ground of appreciation and gratefulness I can feed the version of reality that I want to experience and call forth in the world: the reality that we are indeed all one. In this reality the vices of separation – irritation, regret, anger, fear, confusion – are cast aside for there is no need for the false protection that we perceive them to offer.

Being grateful for the gifts of insight these irritations offered to me, I can forgive myself for the forgetfulness that contributed to the false reality of separation. As I let them go, I can be curious about what other messages the irritations may hold, what they point to in terms of what I care most deeply about.

Thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU. Let this be my prayer moment to moment, day by day, event by event.

Mountains and Trees and Clouds and Haze on a Lazy Sunday Morning

Discerning Meaning in the Walk of Life

Smokey Haze on Our Early Morning Walk

I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you. Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche’s quote popped off the screen this morning as the muse and I were searching for a quote about reality.  ‘Reality’ as a focus was inspired by a question I was asked in conversation with a wise colleague recently:

What version of reality are you loyal to?

I’ve thought about that question quite a lot since it was posed as a call to deeper awareness of those places where I’m prickly or find myself agitated. I want to allow the events of those places to be given their due, attended to rather than denied or dismissed. Such awareness is a pivot point of choice: ignore and suffer or embrace and discern meaning: What is the purpose of this – event, person, conversation, etc. – in my life? What might I learn?

The ‘version of reality’ that I aim and often claim to be loyal to is not the doom and gloom separation reality offered up by most media and the systems of the world. I aim to be loyal to a version of reality that embraces what I understand to be universal truth and law: we are all one, all one of The One.  As the heart that beats in my chest is a part of my body that walks the earth, that me (body, mind, and spirit) is part of the greater whole that simply IS. A greater whole whose reality is that it is infinity.

It is from that version of reality that I aim to discern meaning of the events I encounter (or do they encounter me?) as I walk through life. That is how I learn, how I grow, and, hopefully how I add some measure of wisdom to carry forward from life in this body to the form or formless life beyond.

The meaning I seek to discern regarding an event attends to me as a sovereign being with my biases, my history, my hopes, and my dreams (not to mention those things I fear and that which agitates me).  The key ingredients are curiosity, willingness, and commitment.

I’m curious from the inside out (What does this mean to me?) not from the outside in (What meaning does the world want me to adopt?). My willingness sometimes waivers (What? More sh__ to shovel? This may hurt! …) until I connect with the value this practice adds to my life. My commitment grows from the harmony, peace, joy, and power of being with life in this way.

Which leads me to the quote above (I know, you thought the muse would never get there … me too!). It isn’t the lie that upsets us, rather it’s the meaning we discern when we are lied to. All too often we stop before asking a question that will take us deeper in our understanding. Ours is to develop the habit of questioning without needing an immediate answer – What might this mean to/for me?  And, then, to listen.

High on my list of values is integrity and trust. I want to be worthy of being trusted AND I want to trust those with whom I associate. I value others being clear and direct with me (especially when I have a reaction that conveys a different message). Likewise, I value others who can receive my style of direct communication. For me, that engenders trust.

While our culture claims to value trust and integrity, much evidence in the world out there suggests otherwise. Thus, self-trust, trust from the inside out, becomes imperative. The self-knowing of self-trust helps us discern who and what we can trust in others and in life. Discerning meaning in my life’s events builds strength to do just that.

Barrel Cactus Blooming Forth in the High Desert of the Rockies

The Pivot Power of Observing

Good Morning Sunshine!

What assumption am I making, That I’m not aware I’m making, That gives me what I see?  The Art of Possibility – Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

I’ve appreciated this question (and the book it comes from) for more than 20 years. I remembered the quote a bit differently: What am I believing, that I don’t know I’m believing, that gives me what I see? Yet, another take emerged as I engaged the muse this morning:

 What am I observing, That I’m not aware I’m observing, That gives me what I see?

We take in billions of data points, perhaps even more, each day. As I sat looking to the woods out back this was my visual observation: dawn breaking bringing light; pine trees, close and distant; stumps of dead trees; fallen branches; rocks, pine needles and twigs on the ground; cacti and grasses in the sandy open area.

All that and more paints a picture that is beauty to these eyes of mine. The addition of gentle bird song (the ravens have yet to wake), the sound of Cottonwood Creek’s spring flow in the distance, and the sensory stillness of the morning air bring harmony and peace to the fore in this simple act of observing.

Too often in our rush through life we miss these moments, not giving ourselves the gift of slowing down to observe what surrounds us, much less allow it to permeate our being in ways that support us, sustain us, call forth and maintain our health and well-being.

Rather we put our attention on that which needs to be changed, corrected, fixed, improved: the dishes in the sink, the firewood to be stacked, the deck that needs refinishing, plants ready to move outdoors … Our lists go on (and on). Maintaining life is a constant. Self-observation offers a pivot point that can lift us up or drag us down as we engage in our ‘darn dailies’ and in the midst of humanity’s greater chaos (a colleague calls it ‘debris’ and most days that feels all too accurate).

Observation with awareness, taking time to ask the question ‘what am I observing, that I’m not aware I’m observing, that gives me what I see?’ brings us to valuable points of choice.

Blessed to live in these woods with rugged mountain peaks above and a vast valley verdant from late spring rains below I could simply ‘see’ them every day to the point of not seeing, not acknowledging all that the beauty has to offer. I aim to make a different choice. What am I observing that I don’t know I’m observing that gives me what I see? Some days I observe a vast seen and unseen network of nature operating and cooperating in and of its design. Other days, I see beauty. Every day  I feel harmony, happiness, peace.

Taking in what is outside of me prompts internal observation aimed at understanding or at least coming to terms with events in life. Observing myself in events gives meaning and adds to my knowledge. It opens doorways of possibility and choices of perspective.

Feeling let down after an appointment earlier in the week, I put my attention on just such self- observation and reflection. Observing my disappointment had me be present to my (sometimes unrealistic) expectations of others. Further observation opened me to the territory of recognizing all that I know and sense, giving me a strong dose of self-trust.

The simple act of choosing to hear and heed the call of a question in my feeling of being let down gave me the kind of gift of awareness that comes when I deeply observe these mountains, woods, indeed, any part of the landscape that I am a part of.

Deep inside I sense that is why we are here – not to tackle the ‘to do’ list, walk the dog, or even to right what we see as the world’s wrongs or write the next solve-it-all ‘self-help’ book or best-selling novel. Rather whatever events and tasks are ours to do are for our benefit, our learning, our growth, giving us knowledge and wisdom to carry beyond this life, into the next, and beyond. What could be more purposeful than that? And what would the world look like if we each carried that perspective into everything we do – from the dishes, to our activism, to our work in the world?

Dog’s Eye View of the Landscape

Friendship and Pivoting to Possibility

A Quiet Spot for Reflection in the Sangres

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”  Anais Nin

I’ve been blessed to have a dear friend visiting me here at the Sangres for several days, our first opportunity to visit in person since the 2019 winter holiday season, mostly due to Covid. Like many other friends and families, we stayed in contact through the lockdown days. Now, having her here reminded me that there is nothing like the flow created when we are face-to-face, unmasked and yearning to share at a deeper level than email, texts, phone chats, and even Zoom accommodate.

My friend departed earlier this morning. The house is quiet, still. It feels a touch empty although the energy of the laughter and exploration remains in these walls and in my heart. True friends are blessings, reminders of life’s beauty, harmony, abundance, joy.

For me, true friendship includes being challenged by my friend as well as challenging them, all the while grounded in acceptance and rooted in the reality of unity. Recognizing and honoring differences while deeply knowing that we are the same.

I was reminded of that on my early morning walk with Zadie Byrd, remembering a time when this friend challenged me to pivot from a particular pattern of thinking to considering another possibility. Accepting that challenge seven years ago, led me to purchase this home and create the Dragonfly House – a world that was in me, but only birthed in conversational dance with my friend.

That reminded me of a favorite book, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander’s The Art of Possibility. The authors beautifully contrast the worldview of scarcity and survival with that of possibility; the ‘world of measurement’ with the ‘universe of possibility’:

All the manifestations of the world of measurement – the winning and losing, the gaining of acceptance and the threatened rejection, the raised hopes and the dash into despair – all are based on a single assumption that is hidden from our awareness. The assumption is that life is about staying alive and making it through – surviving in a world of scarcity and peril…

This is the world and focus of the body. It is the world of exploitation and control, the world of mass consciousness that disregards the wisdom of nature and the deep knowing of our souls.

What if beyond that world we could begin to glimpse another and, in our glimpsing, create a more beautiful world:

… a universe of possibility that stretches beyond the world of measurement to include all worlds: infinite, generative, and abundant. Unimpeded on a daily basis by the concern for survival, free from the generalized assumption of scarcity, a person stands in the great space of possibility in a posture of openness, with an unfettered imagination for what can be. … When you are oriented to abundance, you care less about being in control, and you take more risks. … In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.

The last sentence lands deep in me, a recognition I aim to live life from the universe of possibility: setting the context, showing up, inviting life to unfold, knowing that it will, adjusting the context as I learn and grow. Ultimately trusting my inner compass to navigate the waters in and the waters out.

This time between eclipses – the lunar eclipse last week and the solar eclipse coming on June 10 with the new moon – also a time of stresses and strife on the planet and in humanity seems a good time to consider what world we are living in – individually and collectively – and to make course corrections in service to ourselves, to one another, and to our planetary home. A time to reset our context and allow the world to unfold.

A Beautiful Morning in the Sangres

Boundaries and Bridges

Full Moon Rising Over the Woods Out Back

I DESPERATELY want a movement space that knows that compassion is not a zero-sum game. Where we have compassion for people’s ignorance. Where we are allowed to be messy and to make mistakes. Where accountability is an act of love and the word “holding” is the key word in “holding others accountable.” Where the sanctity of all life and our interdependence to everything that exists is so deeply known and felt that no person will ever question their sense of belonging. Where no matter what any of us has done, that we all know that there will always be space for us here. That no matter what we have done, we will trust our circle enough to grieve the harm that we caused and to say “yes, I did that” and know that we will not be cast out of humanity. Where we can learn to respond to even the most egregious harms without letting our sights off of the North Star of healing. Kazu Haga (quote of the day for May 5, 2021 – Pace e Bene’s This Nonviolent Life)

With one hand I say, ‘stop.’ With the other I build a bridge. Veronica Pelicaric (Pace e Bene’s podcast exploring Kazu Haga’s words - https://paceebene.org/soul-of-nonviolence-podcast/2021/5/4/soul-of-nonviolence-north-star-of-healing)

Violence against the Earth and interpersonal violence are two sides of the same coin. We now unite as a planetary community to stand together for the sacred; to midwife a transition to a world in which humanity will no longer dominate but cooperate with all life. Though it is difficult to see, there is an emerging and different vision for humanity. This vision foresees a world without violence as the next chapter of our collective evolution. It shows a future humanity inhabiting this planet as a network of interconnected, autonomous communities of trust. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (quote of the day for May 12, 2021 – Pace e Bene’s This Nonviolent Life)

On this full moon eclipse day, I find myself reflecting deeply about my relationships with others and with Gaia. My reflections extend beyond the field in which I operate to the whole of humanity – our relationships with one another and how we relate to the global being, Mother Earth. Today’s quotes resonate deeply both personally and globally. They hold the essence of what I want to share, so my words will be brief, hopefully interweaving how these wise expressions are emerging for me.

I’m overjoyed that a recent encounter with neighbors to be (that is, folks who will soon be building a home nearby) offered up an opportunity to preserve the beloved ‘woods out back’ and added two lovely humans to my community of friends. The chain of events reminded me of the rewards – inside and out – of following my instincts and ‘going with the flow’. In this case, both hands building bridges. This is how I want to contribute to birthing what Charles Eisenstein calls “the beautiful world that our hearts know is possible”, a world where we live from the truth of our interconnected nature.

In other situations, as a friend poignantly reminded me a few days ago, we need to establish, honor, and yes, even enforce boundaries in our relationships with others and in our relationship with the planet. At these times we are called to consider ‘what is acceptable in my life?’ and ‘what is not?’ Integrity calls us to speak our truth, even at the risk of loss, since what is unacceptable to me may not be unacceptable to another and, using one hand to set a boundary may foreclose the opportunity to use the other hand to build a bridge. Navigating such events with conscious awareness of our interconnectedness, I don’t lose my mind to the frenzy of whatever I’m experiencing or observing. The hand saying ‘stop’ may simply invite a pause, open a heart, and with it a look to a bridge wanting to be built.

As the potent energy of this full moon eclipse lingers with us over the next several days, I invite you to pause and imagine the world you want to call forth moment to moment, day to day and to align your thoughts, your words, your actions with that dream.

The Flow of Life in a Mountain Creek

Pivot to a New Health Story

Glorious Crestone Peak

I don’t believe that humanity can vaccinate our way to health. Nature will not allow it. …

Health is the state of natural harmony producing optimum performance. Gregge Tiffen

The Sangres are glorious this morning. Fog and low hanging clouds drifting about change the scene moment to moment. Springtime’s clean, cool, crisp air after yesterday’s record-breaking snow and rain. Sun’s rays come, then disappear. Zadie Byrd is perky yet patient as I stop to take a photograph. Mind begins to clear. Heart and soul take in the beauty as nourishment.

Love. This is it.

With some encouragement, my earlier heaviness lifts. At the same time, I invite curiosity about what messages that heaviness, even a touch of angst, might be carrying to remain.  What the heck woke me from a peaceful sleep before dawn?  What drew me to open the computer before opening my journal and picking up my pen?

I felt as if something had happened overnight or was happening in the moment. And I felt a need to know. Nothing caught my attention as I quickly scanned the headlines, not that there isn’t an abundance of jarring events being reported. ‘Close the computer. Open the journal. Be quiet. Listen. It’s blog day after all.’ That wasn’t my inner voice speaking. It was my rational mind. I wasn’t able to do so and allowed my attention to drift through the subject lines of my inbox.

One, caught my eye – ‘Covid Vaccine Update’ via _____ (a political organization whose views mostly align with mine). What!? Why was a political organization sending a vaccine update? Like so many updates and news flashes from groups these days, it was a request for a contribution to their campaign to encourage everyone to get vaccinated for Covid. While they certainly aren’t the first to jump on the vaccine bandwagon, they are the first to ask for financial help to fuel their campaign.

Somehow that crossed a line for me. Anger flashed. How dare they! Now, ‘close the computer …’  I did. I opened my journal a penned a bit about my disappointment with humanity and my grappling with knowing who and what to trust in this seemingly post-fact world. I was also bristling about the push to vaccinate, the subtle and not so subtle pressures that I personally feel as someone whose body (and soul) has so far guided me to decline. Why is it that this very personal health choice has been dragged into the political arena? Who benefits from the further division this creates?

Unlike some, I don’t believe that I have a moral obligation to receive the vaccine in order to protect others and ‘stop the pandemic’. I have reservations about the ‘science’ that is being reported. And questions about science and results we aren’t being told. Where, for example, is the science, the education about the impact of the food we eat to be found in mainstream reporting? What about air quality? Water quality? The list goes on.

Most of all, I don’t believe that humanity can vaccinate our way to health. Nature will not allow it. Health by vaccine isn’t true health. It is merely the absence of certain symptoms that cause distress, and yes, even death.

For me the moral issue is to take a stand for a new health story. One that pivots from the disease avoidance and management approaches of current systems to creating a culture of health, as Gregge Tiffen suggests: natural harmony producing optimum performance for all. Creating a Culture of Health requires new stories across many sectors – agriculture, environment, infrastructure, social/economic justice and more.

First though creating a culture of health requires us to look beyond current definitions and practices to dream what natural harmony producing optimum performance for all may look link. There are people and organizations doing just that. Find them. Support them. Join them.

Blanca - Glorious as well!

Magic and Magnification: What Are You Energizing?

Season’s First Dandelion!

Your attention is a magnifier. Jan Engels-Smith (www.lightsong.net/)

What are you energizing? What am I energizing? We are each and all paying attention to something 24/7 (yep, even when we sleep) and in doing so we energize whatever that something is. So, what ARE we energizing?

On many fronts we are collectively energizing the very things that we rail against. When we put attention on that which we don’t like or what we fear rather than on what we want and how we want life to be, the former is energized.

What inspires you? Put attention on the source of inspiration and the possibilities it calls forth rather than on the fear so rampant in our culture. Magnify that which represents the life you want to live and the world you want to be a part of by giving those possibilities, those dreams, those ideas and ideals your attention. Call them forth in thought, in word, in deed. This is the magic we have available 24/7.

Want justice? Focus not on the vast injustices present in society, but on what true justice looks like to you, how it feels, what and who inspire you in this domain, and what part – small or great – you can play?

Personally, I have a growing concern about and interest in food systems and how they impact our health. I hold a deep desire that all have access to food which not only nourishes and fuels our bodies, but also feeds mind and spirit. While I’m aware of the devastation being created by many practices in corporate agriculture, my attention is focused on what is possible, indeed what IS being created by regenerative practices, restoration of water sources, and the emerging (and new to me) field of agroecology. I found this recent presentation to Humanity Rising’s Global Solutions Summit (https://humanityrising.solutions/) both inspiring and informative: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJdpu1QWYi8).

I’m deepening my awareness that I ‘vote’ each time I eat. I want the dollars that I invest in food to support the people, businesses, and systems that show care for the land, the waters, the environment, and the well-being of all creatures, including we humans. I aim to magnify positive progress and possibility. In the process I know there are pivots to make – new choices about what I eat, how and where I shop, and probably letting go of a few tasty favorites.

In working the magic of magnification it is important to align what we think, what we speak, and the actions we take from the inside out. That is the great opportunity of learning, of life, and of this moment in time. Doing so is at once simple. AND, it is not easy.

Aligning thought, word, deed with values requires attention, practice, commitment, and consistent awareness. It is a process not an end goal, and while there are vast, diverse resources for support, most are not found in the mainstream. One needs to seek and search – inside and out.

Yesterday was the beginning of a new cycle of the moon, the sixth new moon of the year. Ancient wisdom and indigenous teachings point to the new moon as a time to set new intentions and to recalibrate, reenergize those which are ongoing. The energy of the new moon and the first few days thereafter call us inward, if only briefly, to look at what we are energizing in life and to refocus our attention on what is important to us as well as to let go of what is not. It invites us to ask: What am I energizing in this moment?  And, what about the next …?

Mountain Magic - Beauty Abounds!