I Am That I Am

Sunflower Sea on a Smokey Day in the Sangres

I Am That I Am Exodus 3:14 (King James Version of the Holy Bible)

This week I’ve felt a deepening sense of the truth of unity along with a heightened awareness of how subtle yet rampant the story of separation is imbedded in our culture and, indeed, daily life.

There are the obvious divides perpetrated and perpetuated by media and exploited on all ‘sides’ ‘by profiteering and fundraising using fear of ‘the other’, anything outside of us really, as the primary reason. “Give us your money so we can fight him/her, them, it, etc.” is their constant plea.

I’m pivoting away from giving to such ‘causes’ – even groups and individuals whose views align with mine. Earlier this week I cancelled a small monthly donation to a Congressional candidate because of the onslaught of fundraising emails each of which found a new way to bash the incumbent and proclaimed that I should donate for that reason. No more. Time to pivot. Time to reimagine and create our political system anew.

Continuing a trend that I’ve noticed for quite some time, environmental, natural health, and other organizations that hold positions I agree with seize upon recent disturbing climate and Covid news to ask for donations using fear and the need to fight as the basis for their plea. No more. Time to pivot. Time to dream. Time to create structures and systems that recognize our interconnectedness.

Want my support? Tell me what you dream of creating. Share a bit of your soul. Damn the current system – BE bold in unconventional ways. Hear the deeper longings of humanity to call forth unity. Lead from YOUR heart, not from polls, advisors and others who want you to believe they know the best formula to ‘win’.

Time to recognize that we are each part of a greater whole and that all is in each of us just as we are each in all. I Am That I Am.

Time to sharpen awareness of the choices we make and language we use that perpetuate the separation story in subtle ways we mostly don’t notice. Take, for instance, the term ‘common sense’, a seemingly innocuous term we use share our views and enroll others. I might say, “It’s common sense to drive slowly on wash-boarded, curved dirt roads.” The implication being that those who drive fast lack ‘common sense’, thus separating me from the drivers that I find not just annoying but dangerous. Yet, I Am that driver as surely as I Am me.

When I check in on social media, I see posts using common sense and other such terms to promote their point of view (heck, I’m sure I’ve done so as well) to get vaccinated, eat organic, become vegetarian, invest in gold, … and the list goes on (and on). Most likely there are elements in this musing that separate rather than unify, despite my best effort and intention not to do so. This is what we’ve come to practice: division, separation. It’s time to pivot: calling forth and practicing unity, oneness, the interconnected nature of life. Time to cooperate and co-create.

During a coach training conference some years ago, I participated in an exercise appropriately named ‘I Am That’. (Yes, some of you reading this were there!). The exercise was to be outdoors for a particular amount of time and to notice what attracted my attention. It could be anything – a tree, a bird, grass, a bloom, a car in the parking lot, a bench, etc. Then, looking at it, to declare “I Am That I Am” and to simply BE with that being or object. I recall being deeply moved by a tree (no surprise that I love the woods out back!). As I stood in its presence, I felt the deep connection of being at one with the tree. My core being knew it was so.

Amidst the discord and divisiveness present in our world, I’m adopting the exercise as a new practice. I long to feel that deep connection more consistently. I long to hear the tree, the land, Zadie Byrd, the planet on which I walk, friends, and associates, as well as those with whom I’m not aligned in a way that reminds me “I Am That I Am”. I have a hunch this practice can move you/me/us in that direction as well as supporting our navigation, individually and collectively, through the mine fields of these current times.

What is your heart yearning for? What ideas and practices do you employ to honor your heart’s yearning?

Smoke Clears - A Blue Sky Sunset with Beautiful Clouds Begins

Racks & Rain: Power from Source

Rain and Runoff - The Power of Flow

The sun once glimpsed God’s true nature

And has never been the same.

Thus that radiant sphere

Constantly pours its energy

Upon this earth

As does He from behind

The veil.

Hafiz (from Why Aren’t We Screaming Drunks?)

 Zadie Byrd and I headed out quite early this morning for our walk. Before the sun rose over the peaks and its rays beamed light and created the beauty of shadow in the woods out back. The air was crisp, cool, and fresh after a (thankfully brief) shower last night. We’ve been blessed with an abundance of rain over the last week and experienced the impact of minor flooding.

That abundance and starting installation of a solar array, focused my attention and awareness on the power that emanates from Source. This power manifests in many ways and forms, all elements of the natural world of which we humans are a part: fires, floods, earthquakes, pandemics, melting polar ice caps and more.

Such events touch millions personally, often uprooting life as it they knew it only moments before. Events of the natural world likewise support our existence in ways that we often overlook or even have forgotten. Just as our consciousness impacts nature, these events impact each and everyone of us collectively as well. And they do so in every aspect of our lives. If it has shown us nothing else, the pandemic continues to demonstrate that.

I wonder what we have learned about ourselves from Covid-19 and other extreme events? Individually? Collectively? I wonder what we might learn if we ask different questions rather than racing back to a ‘normal’ that doesn’t and won’t exist? I think about such learning wondering how we might apply it more wisely to create a better world for ourselves and especially for our children, grandchildren, and generations (hopefully) to come as the world as we’ve known it falls away.

These are the questions that came to mind this week as I witnessed the power of flowing water in front of and behind the Dragonfly House as heavy rain fell for several hours here in the Sangres cresting rock dams put in place on the property many years ago for just such events.

Similar questions guided my decision to install a solar system. I was excited to observe the work and care as racks for the solar panels were installed on the roof yesterday.

The preparation over a few months and the work involved remind me that while the power of Source is always present, tapping in requires conscious choice, commitment, and investing time, money, and guiding energy all along the way.  As I learn more about the components of the system, I see each of them and the solar system itself as a reminder to maintain awareness and consciously choose how I use the power of the Source to which I am and forever will be connected. Solar system as metaphor for our connection to Source. Solar array or not, we each make this choice moment to moment, day by day throughout life. What’s your choice?

Racks on the Roof - My Journey to Solar Power Begins

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

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

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

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!

The Web and Flow of Life

Good Morning Sun!

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. Chief Seattle

Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force. Lao Tzu

Last night as I was easing into sleep the words ‘web of life’ popped into my awareness, seeming to indicate both the title and focus for this week’s muse.  Having received a generous and unexpected gift earlier in the day, I was filled with gratitude not only for the gift and the givers, but for the web of life that I am a part of. The people. The places. The events. The flow. The mystery. The web that is woven moment by moment, choice by choice, ever evolving, ever changing. Infinite.

This morning as I began my usual morning routines and practices, Zadie Byrd caught my attention, signaling that she needed something different – to be outside and go on our morning walk before my routines. I’m paying close attention to her these days, as she’s showing some new behaviors that may indicate increasing pain. My job is to observe and listen to Zadie’s flow and to mine.

Responding to what I sensed she needed took me out in the early morning light, one of my favorite times of day. As we walked, I thought about the flow of life. How at times I flow easily with what life presents. And, how I sometimes resist. I saw clearly not just what feels better in the moment, but how the energy of flowing with what life offers me weaves a web of ease, of peace, of abundance, of generosity, of acceptance. And, perhaps, even a touch of grace.

Now as I write, the phone rings. Recognizing the number, I answer the call (it’s my neighbor and I want to be sure that she is okay). As we begin to close our quick conversation, she asks the question that seems to be top of mind for many people: ‘did you get a shot?’.  Curiously, I noticed that unlike many others, she didn’t ask if I got ‘my shot’, as if there is one (or two) out there with my name on it.

When I first started being asked the later question, I bristled a bit. My internal reaction (‘it’s none of your business!’) pointed to a deeper sense of the conflict between what the culture says that I ‘should’ do and what my body and my intuition have to say about what is right for me. I hadn’t yet reached a firm commitment to listen to my body which, at least for now, says ‘no’.  

My desire is to weave threads of health and well-being that are more grounded in nature, the planet, and Universal law. I want to flow as the energy of life flows, naturally.  I want to make choices from a better understanding of the reality that we alone are not weaving the web of life.

Just as she is speaking through earthquakes, extreme weather events, and volcanos, Gaia speaks through the virus. What messages might it offer in support of humanity’s evolutionary growth? How might we question and listen from this perspective? How might we pivot toward greater consideration of our planetary home?

May we listen anew to the web and flow with life rather than endlessly trying to avoid some of its greatest gifts. May I.

A Bit of Fresh Spring Snow on the Mountains

The Continuum That Is Life

Heart in the flow of life - Cottonwood Creek 4-2-2021

Life everlasting … . … World without end. Amen

These two phrases from my youth when I was engaged in the Methodist Church came front and center in my awareness this morning as I was journaling, curious to discover what message wanted to form for today’s post.

The phrases startled me a bit until I realized that they had emerged in a stream of consciousness about life as a continuum of events, each of which is a gift: an opportunity to learn, to grow, to add to our base of knowledge and wisdom. This morning I felt their truth.

In that stream, I recognized how frequently I devalue and rush through an event, a task, etc. so that I can get to ‘what’s important’. Or I begrudge something that I need to do. I fail to recognize that whatever is in front of me at that moment is important. Whatever it is, in that moment IT is the gift.

These life experiences, events in our lives, choices we make, are the ground from which our knowledge, our understanding, our wisdom grow. Not just in this life, but in our continuum of lifetimes. This truth I have learned in my many years of exploring metaphysics. We have access to all the learning that we have garnered over many lifetimes. While we may not have awareness of this knowledge, it is in us, in our cells. Indeed, it IS us.

As I sat with this stream, I felt deep gratitude for being reminded that I grow with and through every experience in my life. I felt a wholeness of me with life that I have not experienced in this way before.

I recognized how that oneness or wholeness deeply supports me in ‘getting things done’ from the ‘no rush/no push’ approach that I adopted last summer. I have no need to ‘get this done’ so I can ‘move on to something important’. If it is in front of me to do, it is important to my learning and growth.

I sense that this is self-motivation at its core, its essence. And I know that I have all the time I need in this continuum of lifetimes. So Be It. And So It Is!

Water, Roots, Rocks - Cottonwood Creel

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Hazy evening in the Sangres

Peace cannot be achieved by violence, it can only be attained through understanding. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here we are one day beyond the mid-point of the 64 days in the Season for Nonviolence. The muse is curious that I’ve stayed with a theme and carried it forward each week, a different experience in these weekly musings, starting from a not quite blank slate.

The themes this week led me to wonder if there is a point beyond which too much of a good thing becomes an obstacle. And, if so, what is that point?

Take patience, one of this week’s themes, for example. Do I want to be patient with injustice? With inequality? Poverty? Hunger? Degradation of the environment?  Can we take patience too far?  Perhaps patience has a pivot point: being patient with self, with others, and the process while not allowing that patience to become indifference or giving up. That point we must each determine for ourselves. No wonder Pema Chodron’s words ring true: Patience is not learned in safety.

The week’s other themes included generosity, listening, forgiveness, making amends, conflict resolution, and acknowledgment/appreciation.  Is there a point beyond which too much might get in the way of creating a nonviolent culture?

Acknowledgement seems an especially important ingredient for nonviolence given our current political culture and the violence that occurred as a result of the failure of a candidate for president to acknowledge defeat. From my perspective (and I acknowledge that some will disagree), this lack of acknowledgement reinforces the wedge that perpetuates our ‘us vs. them’ political and social culture.

But admitting the reality of something is only one aspect of acknowledgement. Recognition and appreciation are equally important. What if we would recognize the good in another’s point of view or in their way of being? What if we would recognize and appreciate the fear that many have toward others who are different?  What do I need to acknowledge that will contribute to nonviolence? Who/what do I need to recognize and appreciate?

Our capacity to acknowledge and appreciate grows from generosity in our listening, in being willing to forgive and make amends and in our willingness to engage in resolving our differences using nonviolent approaches.

In reflecting daily on these themes, I continue to be reminded that the journey of nonviolence starts within. Perhaps that factor is the root of our challenge to create a culture of nonviolence. We have yet to reach the point where our collective will pivots toward nonviolence and peace. While the journey starts within, it ripples beyond to the village required. How I contribute to that pivot today?

Nonviolence in the Woods Out Back