Speaking with Care

Cooperation, Sharing, Joy is the language I imagine the humming birds ‘speak’.

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)

Words. Words matter.

Sounds. Sounds matter.

On this planet where manifestation begins with sound, the words we speak create our world. Given the cacophony of babel present 24/7, is it any wonder that our world is in chaos? Given the language we use, is it any wonder that poor health afflicts so many or that our society seems more divided than ever? Or, as I suggested a couple weeks ago, how pervasive war is (you can find that post here).

I’ve noticed words and tone used – my own and others – on many fronts this week. Reflecting on my awareness, Gregge’s quote added an important dimension to my reflection and to projects I’m engaged in. Our words, regardless of whether they are heard, ripple out into the infinite Universe living forever.

Is it any wonder …?

I was reminded of how the words I speak affect me this week when I noticed feeling quite awful after uttering a few snarky words about another person. Ick! The effect was immediate, as if I’d made the comments about myself. Of course, having spoken them, some landed right in me just as everything we speak does.

It was easy to contrast that icky feeling with the impact of an uplifting conversation which inspires me to act or think more deeply. I experienced such a conversation with a long-time colleague and friend who is doing amazing work in the political arena (check out the Bridge Alliance, if want to be inspired).

It was easy to contrast the ‘ick of my snarkyness’ with how I feel when I sing to my cells (you can find one of many versions here), talk with flora in my care or to Zadie Byrd (or sing her name joyfully), and when I speak to the varied life forms in the woods out back. And, who among us isn’t uplifted by a smile and friendly ‘hello’ in passing as we walk through daily life?

Through words we create, we influence. We create the quality of the body we inhabit as well as the immediate environment in which we live, our home, our community. And beyond.

Words matter. Sound matters. Our spoken words today are creating what will emerge tomorrow and in all the tomorrows beyond. We ARE that powerful and with awareness and practice, we can master that power.

What do you say? What energy are you putting into action with your words?

Home Sweet Home to some creatures of these woods …

Sprouting Seeds of Change: A New World View

In the Flow of Life and Change

… 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. Read last week’s post here.

If you threaten someone’s worldview, they will often react to you as if you were threatening their physical body. … a worldview can function like a force field … Paul K. Chappell, A New Peace Paradigm: Understanding Our Human Needs

We live in a worldview that separates from our wholeness – body, mind, and spirit.  This paradigm separates us from one another and from nature, the planet that birthed and sustains us. Is it any wonder that that masks and ‘social distancing’ are this paradigm’s answer to slow the spread of Covid 19, and that strengthening one’s immune system is not front and center to the strategy and conversation?

My point is not to get into the controversy over the effectiveness of masks and other approaches, but to invite us to look at the challenges and deep work required to sprout and nurture a new worldview. As I discovered (again, for the first time) this week in a blinding flash of the obvious, the worldview of separation is so deeply embedded in our being that we are often unaware of how it guides our choices. It, like water to the fish, is transparent. For the fish, awareness may not matter; for us, awareness is required.

My discovery came from a story that a member of the faith community, an activist herself as well as a counselor to those on the front lines of activism and service.  It deepened my understanding of why the drive to succeed at all cost has never felt quite right. It invited me to look back at my years of workaholism in a new light.

She told of a conversation in which she was counseling a young man who had been loading food all day on an assembly line. He was so focused that he forgot to eat, hydrate, or go to the bathroom. He slept only three to four hours over five or six days. In our culture we tend to praise and admire such dedication. We might add some words suggesting some self-care.

We rarely look more deeply to the root, the worldview from which these choices arise. We accept, even honor, the dedication and commitment. It seems required in times of urgent need such as these.  I too acknowledge and honor those who serve in so many ways. In acknowledging, we might say something like ‘I had no choice … it had to be done.’ Who among us has not spoken those words?

But the minister took a deeper look. She saw a deep awareness that (and I’m paraphrasing/semi-quoting her words here) ‘this system of individual performance without connection to mind, body, spirit is white, male, supremacy, domination, capitalist thinking … it is the disconnection from mother … and, we will not move from this place in the consciousness that created it.’ 

The connection of our performance-based approach to so much of life and this worldview seems obvious in hindsight. The minister’s story resonates deeply in my being. It shines new light on the choices I’ve made to withdraw and live quietly connecting with myself and nature. And, on how blessed I am to be able to make those choices.

It reminded me of the challenges of making personal change. And, more importantly, of the historical context of how difficult birthing a new paradigm, a new view of the world is.

The seeds of a new paradigm are sprouting all around as the old worldview fights to hold on to its old, outmoded ways. Chaotic and messy is the nature of creation. Pivoting to the new is not easy. It will often seem as if we are going against the flow of life. It is work of the heart and work in the streets. We can do this. Indeed, we must.

Nurturing Seeds Inside and Out

Pivoting To the Language of Peace

Stairway to Heaven - The Ziggurat

One of the key words Gandhi used in expressing the meaning of nonviolence was ahimsa, literally ‘non-harm,’ the refusal to hurt others. It's the rock bottom of nonviolence. A second key word was satyagraha (a combination of the words for ‘truth’ and ‘holding firmly’) sometimes called ‘truth force,’ holding on to what is true and good, striving to bring about more humane conditions for people and society. King called it ‘soul force.’ Dr. Gerard Vanderhaar (daily quote for June 3, 2020 This Nonviolent Life – Daily Inspiration for Your Nonviolent Journey, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service - https://paceebene.org/

I feel my ‘inner radical’ waking up, emerging as something both new and familiar. Not to re-engage in the political activism of my distant past (that system is broken, yet, until we change it, that IS the system), but to call forth the shifts and changes needed, individually and collectively, to bring new collaborative, cooperative systems forth.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me … let this be the moment now (Sy Miller and Jill Jackson Miller – 1955)

Words seem inadequate to express the depth of sadness and grief I’ve felt this week witnessing the discord and rage playing out across the United States. Sadly, I’ve seen it before both here and abroad.

Likewise, words don’t seem up to the task of lifting us out of the morass to a view above the fray. Above the fray we can imagine a different world: a world of peace; of harmony, of beauty and joy; of love. A world of understanding that we are one. A world where justice is not a system, but a way of being. A world in which ‘ahimsa’ is our way of life. Let this be the moment we pivot to peace.

Yet it is with words that we create our world. Our words beget action. The dissonance and outrage being lived out today stems, in part, from our failure to use words wisely, thoughtfully, with awareness and care. Rather than words of peace and nonviolence, we humans have declared ‘war’ on most everything: other cultures and countries, disease, poverty, racism and a host of other ills.

Surely by now we understand that war is not the answer no matter what the question. As so-called leaders declare war on each other and incite us to follow, WE must lead with a resounding ‘NO!’ We must render the words of separation, of competition, of violence null and void. We must toss them onto the trash heap of outworn concepts and ‘facts’ that science no longer supports. Separation has defined far too much of the history of humanity. We must weave science and spirit together again in our consciousness as surely as they are wed in the universe.

This is the work of pivoting to a new paradigm in which humanity along with all of nature on our planet can thrive. The work is deep and personal, each of us contributing to a larger collective. Our work is as simple as being thoughtful with each and every post or comment on social media. Gulp! And, simple is not easy. 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.

The world we’ve known with its illusion of separation is falling apart. Rather than putting Humpty Dumpty together again, it is time to pivot to a new story.  Infinite possibility awaits our discovery and calls us forth to weave the world from a place of new understanding and new knowledge, using wisdom past and present to guide us step by step to a culture of peace.

My ‘inner radical’ agrees with author/activist Rivera Sun who declares that radical is the new sensible. As part of my pivot, I’ll be joining some of her summer trainings and offerings (you can find them here). I’ll continue to engage with nature and listen deeply to call forth wisdom from my past and discover what new wisdom emerges at this pivotal moment in time. We can do this. It is our time.

Mountain Morning Majesty

Mitigation with Love - Round Two

Mitigation with Love - a great crew of professionals caring for the land

Pivoting from fear to love, from resistance to acceptance, from grudging to gratitude are acts of personal mitigation that start within and grow to impact all that is around us. 

Shortly after I purchased the Dragonfly House almost six years ago, I had some mitigation done on the property and shared the experience in an early post of The Zone. You can read it here.

Mitigation is on my mind once again this week as I engage in another round of stewardship to protect my home and the old growth trees of these woods I love, and, to ease the touch of angst I feel about drought conditions and this year’s early start of ‘fire season’.

As I discovered six years ago, mitigation is both personal and impersonal, internal and external. This week’s events reminded me that it is also a path of discovery and personal growth.

Defined as ‘lessening the force or intensity of something unpleasant’; ‘the act of making a condition or consequence less severe’; and ‘the process of becoming milder, gentler, less severe’ (thank you dictionary.com), life presents many opportunities for us to engage strategies of mitigation.

We mitigate numerous forms of danger, pain, pressure, tension, unpleasantness in every spoke of the wheel of life. In doing so, either love or fear is usually our incentive, and that incentive lives in the background as the foundation of our strategic choices, whether or not we are conscious of it.

Mitigation can start as a fearful reaction to an event or condition. Fear and its allies (anger, victimhood, etc.) generate resentment, resistance, confusion, and stress. Love, on the other hand, generates appreciation and acceptance and allies like creativity, ease, and flow. I experienced this difference contrasting two events this week. It was palpable.

I consciously took the property mitigation project on with love: a healthy respect for the drought-enhanced potential for wildfires, along with my love of all nature, especially these woods where I’m blessed to live. Despite loving each tree and wanting no harm to any, I accepted the reality of the fire danger and that sacrificing young trees would protect many older ones. I spoke my appreciation to each tree before the sawing began.

Although my heart held some sadness, I was at peace. I soon discovered that with love and care as motivators, the noise of the chainsaws was not as jarring as it might have been. Later, as I took my first look at the altered landscape, I felt an unexpected lightness and openness rather than the shock I expected. I was reminded that clearing creates space and opens the way for the new. The mitigation experience was becoming deeply satisfying, serving as a reminder of the beauty and power of action grounded in love.

In stunning contrast that I didn’t see until afterwards, the second event did not emerge as an expression of love. I found myself reacting unlovingly to Zadie Byrd exhibiting extreme fear as a thunderstorm approached. I reacted to my seeming inability to ease her discomfort as well. Double trouble! Although I love this new canine companion dearly, I allowed fear to take the wheel. The resentment, frustration, and stress I felt was painful for us both. In loosing awareness of my love, I was unable to accept her experience and meet her there with an open heart. 

Have I mentioned that our animal companions are amazing teachers? Be a student!

Only in hindsight did I realize that I could choose differently with love and acceptance of the reality of her experience. In that pivotal moment, I knew what to do, who to call for support, and, most importantly, how I needed to be with her in stormy weather. From that place, a plan is forming for immediate support and to mitigate her fear response in the future.

When you accept the reality of what is you increase your capacity to deal with it creatively. Myra Jackson

And, it seems that my pivot to love is already having an impact. The weather began to shift while I was writing this post, so I took a break and moved into action. Although my actions weren’t that different from the earlier event, I shifted my way of being to act from love and I accepted the reality of Zadie Byrd’s rather than resisting it. We weathered several hours of dropping barometric pressure and stormy conditions much more peacefully.

Pivoting from fear to love, from resistance to acceptance, from grudging to gratitude are acts of personal mitigation that start within and grow to impact all that is around us.  Indeed, our animal companions, along with the trees and all of nature, do teach us much about life. Be a student!

Storm? What Storm?

Optimistic By Nature

Morning in The Woods Outback

Every thought leads to the next thought. … Optimism infuses your life with an aura of dignity and invites in harmony. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Air of Optimism)

Harmony. Ahhhh … As I look into the woods out back as the day dawns, I hear the early morning songs of avian awakenings and I watch a humming bird hover outside my window, perhaps curiously wondering what is this wall that separates her from the blooming plant just inside. Zadie Byrd sleeps peacefully nearby. Harmony.

I feel the optimism in that harmony deep in my bones and deeper still in my being. I feel the dignity that optimism imbues. These woods, these creatures reflect the true nature of life. I ask for guidance to do, to be likewise.

In these woods I witness cycles – timeless yet timely. Sunrise. Sunset. New growth. Death. Movement. Stillness. Flow. Surely these must represent the essence of optimism.

Nature is intimately partnered with us in the physical experience, and that is perhaps the greatest boon of our incarnate existence, as nature is directly connected to and informed by the Universe. Gregge Tiffen (Life in the World Hereafter: The Journey Continues).  Harmony.

It occurred to me that my optimism is grounded in nature – what I know and what I can learn from nature’s teaching. Harmony.

Yet, I (indeed we all) live in the world, a world in which harmony is hidden and disharmony appears to reign. Divisiveness is wielded as a tool to maintain control. All around are the cries of polarities that, ignorant of harmony and nature’s ways, invite me to choose sides, to select who or what I should depend on to sustain my life. Pessimism fuels their games.

When I look beyond the headlines and drama screaming for attention, I see that world dissolving. In that dissolving we are called forth to create anew. To ‘do’ life differently. To ‘be’ and express the true nature that we are: harmonious, beautiful, joyful, loving, intelligent, alive, peaceful, powerful beings in an abundant Universe. To live from optimism.

At first I thought ‘no one is optimistic by nature’.  Then as I realized the nature of optimism, it became clear to me that our true nature is indeed optimistic. Yet, while optimism is our true nature, to live optimism requires attention, awareness, and nurturing. Moment to moment we are called to awaken to this, our true nature. When the world succeeds in distracting us with its pessimism and fear, we are called to reawaken to the optimism that is our true nature.

Be willing to awaken while the world dissolves before your eyes. Call yourself forth, call yourself by your true nature. Susa Silvermarie 2018

Optimism thrives on curiosity. Optimism requires courage.  Optimism is not something to ‘do’, it is a way of being true to self and true to nature.  How will you rise to the call of optimism this moment, this day, this week? 

FLOW! Crestone Creek at Colorado College

Life! The Adventure Continues ...

Early Morning Beauty in the Sangres - The Adventure Continues!

Living well is, after all, the most important task that lies before every one of us. Gregge Tiffen (Life in the World Hereafter: The Journey Continues)

Gregge continues: … As most of us go about our everyday lives, what we experience is really more “doing” than it is living. There’s a big difference. In just doing it is impossible for us to know that we are a part of Omnipotent Intelligence. Yet eventually each of us comes to a time when, as a result of events or experiences, we reach out to the Universe – whether we call it God or something else – as the source. When we do, we awaken that part of ourselves that recognizes the fundamentals of life, and we start to feel alive. We then manifest that feeling into action, and that action moves us to embrace the infinitude of the Universe by becoming an aware, living part of that reality.

That “feeling alive” that he speaks of is what I think of as ‘being’. And, most of us are familiar with the ‘doing vs. being’ distinction.  Some suggest that we are either being or doing. I believe however that, whether with awareness or not, we are always in some state of being.

Who am I ‘being’ when I ‘do’? For instance, when I’m engaging in tasks of converting from winter mode to spring/summer mode here at the Dragonfly House, what am I feeling? Am I approaching each task as a burdensome chore that must be done and checked off my list so that I can do something else? Or am I connecting with my gratitude for living here and joyfully engaging in each task as an opportunity for my unique creative expression?

Watching a short video preview posted by Gregg Braden (view it here) I realized (in a ‘duh, of course, moment) that, just as our understanding of death (read last week’s post here) is foundational to our stories, so too is how we define life. Braden shared a common chemistry textbook definition of life: Life is a behavior pattern that chemical systems exhibit when they reach a certain level of complexity. Say what? Sounds classic, brain-based, and very limiting to me.

If I/we accept such a definition (and Webster’s first 10 are in a similar vane!) how likely am I/are we to see daily life as a joyful, adventurous, creative, generative, process? Is it any wonder that our culture finds itself in a morass of confusion and conflict? Our creative power is sucked out of us by such definitions that become prevailing stories in a culture. Ugh!

What’s possible if I/we embrace life as vastly different and far beyond behavior and chemical processes – something that science is rapidly discovering (AND that you won’t see reported in the daily news)? What if life is an infinite continuum – a spiral perhaps – encompassing many dimensions; forms, seen and unseen; formlessness; physical, mental, spiritual planes of existence?

I smile and feel tingles of joy just thinking about expanding our stories in this way. This generative perspective allows new discoveries to create new stories rather than forcing such discoveries into old paradigms.

Isn’t it time for scientific discoveries such as those of the HeartMath Institute to be mainstreamed? The folks at the Institute have been researching the heart/brain connection for almost 30 years, developing tools for creating heart coherence, an important key to health and well-being. Here’s a great offer!

YES! IT IS time for NEW stories, NEW paradigms, NEW systems that honor the adventure that life is intended to be?

A New Story for Zadie Byrd — A Brief Moment Off-Leash

Back to Basics: Life and Death

Circle of Elders - Honoring those whose journey continues in the world hereafter …

To die will be an awfully big adventure. Peter Pan by Sir J.M. Barrie

This morning as I woke, began moving about and thinking about this week’s post, I pulled Gregge Tiffen’s book, Life in the World Hereafter: The Journey Continues) off the shelf. I hadn’t looked at it for quite a long while and wondered what it might offer in terms of pivoting – both personally and for this weekly post.

The week for me has been a bit of a roller coaster as I’ve explored some current stories and events, curious about the stories underlying them.  In many I found what seems to be much of humanity’s current story: competition, finite life, I’m right/you’re wrong, directives as to what to do, etc.

When I opened Gregge’s book, these words popped out at me:

The Law of Free Will does not terminate with death. We have choice both now and in the hereafter. I can’t help but feel that one of our greatest human defects is that we don’t recognize our power and the potential it affords us.

That took me back to basics and to other words of his wisdom:

If we understood death and the reason for it, if we knew what to expect in the hereafter, we could appreciate the life we have and make it a deep and satisfying adventure.

This Gregge Tiffen wisdom started for me as an idea on a page many years (okay, decades – but who’s counting) ago. Over my years of exploration, experience and study it became a belief. It is a belief on which I base many (hopefully most and, with awareness, heading toward ALL) choices in life. A new story about death is the beginning of truly living.

Amidst so much talk and attention to ‘death’ today, it seems useful to examine our stories about just what death is. Where did your stories originate? Are they still valid for you? Do they support you in living a full, satisfying life (whatever that me mean to you individually)? 

Perhaps one of our points of pivot is our stories about life and death. Perhaps now is a good time to take stock of them.

Is your story that life is finite? That you and I – body, mind, spirit – are here on the earth for x number of years and then we ‘die’? We are done, gone. Period. End of (our) story.  Imagine for a moment what life choices one is likely to make from such a story. Is this what we observe as we watch the world unfold each day?

Or is your story that life is infinite, a continuum of cycles, in form and formless, on this earth plane and beyond? Therefore, there is no ‘death’ other than of a physical body at the end of its cycle. Imagine what life choices one makes from this story and how deepening conviction in this story can expand our choices in life. A new story about death is the beginning of truly living.

Like life itself, our beliefs (our stories) about life and death evolve over time as we each experience our unique journey and become more aware of our story. I believe Peter Pan is right! What are your stories?

Long Live the Free Box!

Sacred Fare for Cultivating Health

Sunset in the Woods - Waiting on the Full Moon to Rise

Health is the state of natural harmony producing optimum performance. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: The Hidden Wealth of New Worth – April, 2011)

A different morning pattern emerged today. ‘Walk first,’ I heard as I rose and began to move about. Usually I sit and, on blog day, write the post before the morning walk. But the nudge felt right. We geared up and headed out.

The morning air was crisp; the sky, a bit hazy. Still. Quiet. We walked slowly. That is Zadie Byrd’s way. I’m grateful. She reminds me of my pace and to stop, observe, use my senses as she tunes her nose into the corner ‘doggie-net’ to discover who has already come by.

Although today’s musing was but a bundle of seed thoughts in my mind, I relaxed into the patterns of our walk, knowing that one of the seeds would sprout, wanting to be shared. No rush!

What emerged once we returned home and I settled down, pen and journal in hand, was what has been a theme for many of us these past few weeks: maintaining health.  I was reminded of Gregge Tiffen’s definition of health that I wrote about several years ago (read it here - http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/healthy-thinking)

Creating and maintaining our health is a personal, individual path. That’s true today amidst the pandemic, and it will be true beyond this event.  The choices we have are, perhaps, more pronounced today, but boil down to choosing between love and fear. Which will we feed?  Will we tap into the raging fear or find a fare that better serves us? How might we reorder the letters of ‘scared’ to create this as a sacred time and feed ourselves a fare that cultivates health of body, mind and spirit? How can I acknowledge fear when it is present, without giving it my power?

These are the questions I’m asking myself from day to day. And, then I’m listening and observing and exploring.  What dietary fare does my body need and want this day?  What supplements?  What dietary advice is out there that will support my health?

I’m struck by what an individual journey diet, exercise, rest, and such are. There is no ‘one size fits all’.  It has me wonder, beyond current events, how with a better understanding of our individuality we can create a true ‘health care’ system rather than our current disease management system that seems stretched beyond its capacity.

But I digress. I find myself doing so frequently these days, putting attention on ‘from this, what else is possible?’ personally, locally and globally. While there will be an ‘after this’ that I’m curious about, today I want to put attention on our health, yours and mine, and share a bit more about the path I’m choosing.

I’m aiming each day to remember that there is a Universal hand in this experience and all events. That the qualities of the Universe (spirit, God, or whatever you choose to name it) are ever present and available: abundance, beauty, harmony, joy, love, light, life, peace, power. Where one is present there be them all. Find one wherever you are.

I’m being gentle, VERY gentle, with myself as I aim for more awareness and mindfulness in my choices. As I carefully choose food for my body, I’m choosing information and spiritual food that will support my mental and spiritual health. I limit news to reading (not watching or listening) what is current in my community so I can adjust as warranted. Beyond that, I scan for trends that may inform my choices in all domains of life and feel that politically curious part of me with a scan of headlines and staying informed about social, economic and environmental issues and movements that I care about.

But my main fare in keeping this journey sacred is spending time in the beauty of nature that surrounds me (I am so very, very blessed!) and reading or listening to thought leaders presenting thoughtful, uplifting ideas and tools to consider and practice. Among the many that have move me this week is Sounds True founder, Tamy Simon, interviewing Michael A. Singer (author of The Surrender Experiment). Find it here along with many other good listening experiences on Simon’s podcasts) https://product.soundstrue.com/resilience-in-challenging-times/?_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJjaW5keUBzdAWNjZXNzem9uZS5jb20iLCAia2xfY29tcGFueV9pZCI6ICJKTURnYXEifQ%3D%3D.

If you’re challenged to dance with fear and transform it, my colleague and friend, Kathy Wilson has written an informative series over the past three weeks in her newsletter The Journal of Spirited Coaching (click here for a list on her website) http://www.warrior-priestess.com/Newsletters/#archives

All that we take in must be digested and either absorbed for our health or eliminated. That’s true of our food as well as the fare we feed our hearts and minds. Be care-filled in your choices.

Smells Good Enough to Drink on a Warm Spring Day!

The Power of Our Thoughts

His Holiness, The XIV Dalai Lama

The history of humanity is, in some respects, the history of [human] understanding. Historical events, wars, progress, tragedies, and so on, all of these reflect the negative and positive thoughts of [humankind]. All the great personalities of history, the liberators, the great thinkers, all such people reflect positive thinking, whereas tragic events, tyranny, and terrible wars have resulted from negative thinking. Therefore the only thing that is really worthwhile is to increase the power and influence of positive thinking and to reduce the occurrence of negative thinking. If you let anger and hatred run loose, you are lost. And no sensible human being wants to be lost.  Tenzin Gyatso, The XIV Dalai Lama

Seventy years ago this day my consciousness accepted this vehicle to navigate life on planet earth. What a journey it’s been. What a journey it continues to be! What a journey it is in this moment!

Just over six and a half years ago (346 weeks, but who’s counting?) I began this weekly practice of sharing ideas, musings, challenges and such. I’ve written, though not published/shared, throughout the decades of my professional life, especially my almost 30 years as a coach. 

I share this to provide a context for the essence of today’s message, which was written almost two decades ago on September 13, 2001 when our country was gripped in shock, fear and grief as a result of the events two days earlier.  I can imagine that similar fear swept the country in the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and in the depths of the Great Depression as well as other tragic events.  I find myself longing for leaders that utter positive words of conviction as Franklin D. Roosevelt did in his first inaugural address:  So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. (emphasis mine!)

Yet as I look deeply at my longing, I realize that I have a responsibility to go within. To find my own conviction, and to act from that alone as, like each of you, we navigate multiple new terrains. The Dalai Lama’s words above strengthen my belief in the power of our thoughts as the starting point that sets direction.

His wisdom echoes the message that I wrote just after 9/11. It’s title: Most Important Now is What We Think. Here’s what I said then and what I believe even more strongly today:

Our strength as a nation and as a worldwide community lies in our beliefs. Each of us contributes our individual thoughts to that belief. While governments will take the actions deemed appropriate and necessary, our individual thoughts are part of the collective consciousness that will set the direction. We will move either deeper into hatred and anger or out of conflict and into peace. Each of us has the opportunity by our thoughts and intentions to bring light into this darkness. By our thoughts we each have a role, a responsibility, to determine whether the responsive actions that are certain to come lead to a world of hope, peace and freedom or to revenge which fosters more hatred.

As individuals, our greatest challenge today and in the days ahead is to wake up, to become aware of and to choose our thoughts carefully. We need courage, stamina and time to go beyond our reactive anger and to explore what we believe, what we want for our country and for the greater global community of mankind of which we are a part.

How can you meet this challenge? First, don't get sucked into the drama and repetition of media reports. Take from the media information that you need to make intelligent decisions for yourself, your family, your business. Then turn the media off. Don't let anything outside of you determine how or what you will think. Give yourself time to be clear about your beliefs and your thoughts. Take time to go beyond your anger and the desire for revenge. Take time to go beyond even your thoughts and prayers of comfort to those most directly impacted by the events. Take time to have bold, courageous, clear thoughts about the good that may follow.

Each thought you think is a powerful thing. Today more than ever in recent history, is a time to become aware of that reality and to take responsibility for thinking thoughts that contribute to the peaceful world we all desire. The collective thoughts of all of us will establish the direction of the future. What thoughts will you choose?

Our opportunity as we navigate the current pandemic is to find the information we need to make decisions on a daily basis without getting hooked into the media fear factory. That requires not denying when we feel afraid, but rather acknowledging and working with our fear until we can put it to rest. The choices that will serve us best, individually and collectively, are those flowing from positive thoughts grounded in love and care, not fear.

We can do this, my friends. Indeed, we must.

I gain strength from all of nature, especially these mountains

A Deep Bow of Gratitude

When times seem rocky and prickly, focus on gratitude

Remember how much power you truly have. It is important that you handle this power wisely. It becomes obvious that maintaining harmony in your individual space contributes to the harmony of the planet. Gregge Tiffen (It’s Springtime!  Flow with the Power of Nature – March, 2007)

Before rising I spent a few minutes in that peaceful state of tuning into my heart and feeling gratitude. I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, just feeling grateful and putting myself in a state of heart coherence (https://www.heartmath.com/quick-coherence-technique/).

A bit later as I settled in to discover where the muse would take me this day, an unfamiliar alarm sound blared through the room. As I moved toward the sound and realized that it was my phone, a voice reminded me that as of 6 a.m. this morning all Coloradoans are ordered to stay at home … except of course, those who are exempted.

Reminder noted, I settled back in and the muse said, “LOVE.”

“What shall I say about ‘love’?”, I wondered.  “Gratitude” came the reply.

Amidst the wide array of thoughts, feelings, ideas, even rants and reactions that I might explore, gratitude for those who don’t get to stay home because their work is critical is top of heart and mind. And, along with that a recognition that I’m privileged that my ‘job’ is to stay home and do what I do – connect with others, assist where I can, listen, write, walk the dog, love nature, love life, maintain my center.

I’m grateful for the many, many thought leaders and teachers who are reaching out virtually to offer clarity, tools, and perspectives in this blessed time.  Among those who I look to are Gregg Braden, Lynn MacTaggart, Bruce Lipton. I’m grateful for uplifting posts on social media and the occasional belly laugh from a crazy canine or feline photo. I’m grateful for activists who are creatively adapting to events and continuing their quest for social, economic, and environmental justice.

My deepest bow of gratitude though is for those who are not working in the comfort of their homes: the doctors, nurses, technicians, lab folks, janitors and all who keep our medical facilities operational; the public servants who keep the water flowing and our waste going to treatment facilities; the guys on the trash truck that just came by; EMTs, fire fighters, public safety folks; transit workers; the workers in the grocery; the postal workers; the delivery men and women and those who pack the goods we order; and all others who I have surely forgotten.

I can be where I am in the comfort of my home, because they are doing what they do. They are on the front lines of this pandemic and, indeed, they are on the front lines of maintaining our lives each and every day.  Today and for every day beyond may I give them my deepest bow of gratitude. And, may we as a society not only give them our gratitude, but may we demand that they be compensated well and honored for all they do.

Grateful for the woods, the mountains and the curving road out back.