'Tis The Season To Nourish Your Inner Santa

The sun sets on another day in the vast San Luis Valley.

Santa is the outgrowth of the natural child in humanity’s mind that bears good tidings.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

First a Confession:  I love Santa! And, I BELIEVE!  After all, there's a certain canine who consistently brings good tidings to my life. 

Just who is the jolly fellow that we remember this time of year? Most every culture, religious or not, has such a sacred icon.  Yet in the hustle, bustle and hyper-commercialism of this season, one can lose sight of just what Santa Claus represents. That is to our detriment individually and collectively.

One of my personal early season rituals as I bring out the lights and a small, festive tree that’s travelled with me for 10 years is to bring out Gregge Tiffen’s writings about the season. I like to start with Santa as I did as a child sitting on his lap early in the season.  Today, I do so as a point of reflection and a reminder of what the jolly ol’ soul represents. And that provides just the reminder I need to nourish my own inner Santa.

Through Gregge’s mystical eyes, Santa represents faith. Not faith in things or people outside of us, but faith within.  And, in these times, that faith needs nourishment more than ever.  We need to nurture and nourish our innate ability to know what is right for us moment to moment, choice to choice and to trust that what is, simply is and is unfolding as it should.

… when you have the willingness to accept who you are, you become aware of an internal flame that burns with a fire that is unquenchable. It’s your acceptance that dispels fears and inadequacies. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

As I have written before, we live in a world that at every turn gives us choices to pull us away from who we truly are.  The world fears our power, and it invites us to put our faith in systems, institutions and even other people.

Turn down those invitations of the world that are not true to who YOU are.  RSVP to yourself. Take time during this season and beyond to recognize that YOU as a point in an infinite and benevolent Universe need only have faith in you and that Universe of which you are an integral part.

To whatever it might mean to you, in reality or symbolically, give yourself a period of time as a gift to yourself in which your faith is renewed. This gift is not faith in others or in the world around you but in yourself as the continuum of good operating in your life at all times under all circumstances.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

This is the greatest gift of all.

It’s the faith that you are what you are that brings about miracles. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

Spending time in nature’s beauty, singing, quiet time by the fire, laughing, and putting on a fun hat are some of the ways I renew my inner Santa. What about you?

Blanca Peak shows off her winter finery on a crisp sunny date in the Sangres.

Chasing Thistles. Removing Quills.

Yes, it is August. And, yes, that is SNOW.

If God bids me to chase thistles, I would gladly do it.  Dionysius

If you transpose ‘God’ to mean ‘universe’, you will understand this to mean that whatever the universe is asking me is my greatest joy. Trust that the universe is intelligence and therefore wisdom, harmony, understanding, and love, so you can’t go wrong. Gregge Tiffen (Echo – Sept. 10, 2012)

I’m coming to understand that the universe doesn’t distinguish between what we might think of as ‘major’ events and those we probably consider minor.  All events are opportunities to learn and to be our best self no matter how great or how small we think they are.  In this intelligent universe every event holds the bidding for that which is being asked of us in that moment.

Two events among many this week stand out as reminders that what the universe places before me is where I’m being asked to put my attention. They reminded me as well that, indeed, the universe IS intelligence.

Shortly after arriving, weekend Dragonfly House guests with reservations for a two-night stay informed me that they would “be out of here tomorrow morning.” I was a shocked and started to go down the path of a fearful (how will I replace the lost revenue?) reaction. I stopped me. Turning off the tap of negativity, I tapped into knowing that this event is meant to unfold in exactly this way.  I wished them a good night’s rest, reminded them of breakfast timing, and I let go.  Within a few hours of bidding them farewell the next morning, I had reservations in both guest rooms for appreciative guests who needed accommodations at the last minute.  Memo to self: Yes, things do unfold for the best.

Yesterday Luke had his first (and I pray his only!) encounter with a porcupine, returning from a foray into the woods during our walk with a face full of quills. He was clawing and rubbing his face on the ground, obviously uncomfortable, yet not seeming to be in pain.  I moved into action more calmly than in hindsight I could imagine, first removing a few that I could easily grab with my fingers and a gentle tug.  The easy ones out, we began to walk toward home. Two B&B guests who had arrived earlier in the day crossed our path and followed us. With their help, only two pesky quills remained, one lodged just inside Luke’s upper lip.  Luke wasn’t so keen with the removal process despite my consistent efforts to keep him calm. Our local vet came over, but our efforts to get the quill removed from his mouth were nil.  After consulting we decided to leave it for a day to see if the quill would come out on its own.  Yes, it did – within the hour. Second memo to self: Yes, things do work out.

Later, when it was time to lay my head on the pillow after each of these events, I did so with gratitude for the event and with satisfaction for having met each, consciously or not, with the knowing that, indeed, the universe IS intelligent and I benefit when I tune into that intelligence.

The beauty of an early morning start to our first walk of the day.

The quills ...

Life: The Great Experiment

Opportunities As Vast As the Valley, As Beautiful As the Sunset

View your whole day as a fantastic learning opportunity. Welcome the next moment with love and excitement. Today’s experiences are different than yesterday’s and tomorrow’s will be different from today’s.  Gregge Tiffen (Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008)

Life isn’t so much a singular experiment but rather a laboratory where we are each given full access to opportunities to learn:

•       to live in a physical body that is with us for only a blip of time;
•       to use mind and discover what emerges;
•       to discover spirit, that part of us that is infinite, had no beginning and has no end. It simply is.

Here at ground level on Planet Earth humanity seems to have lost sight of this enormous learning opportunity. Despite the wisdom of the ages coming forth through many voices, we have forgotten why an individual consciousness enters a body for a period of time, then moves to another realm, equally exciting and important for learning, but of a different sort.

For most of us, our experiences in school were more about being controlled and forced to learn ‘facts’ that we never used. We weren’t taught to think, to be independent, to embrace life with joy and wonder. 

I wasn’t encouraged to experiment with life to discover what would happen, learn from it, and adapt as the next experiment unfolded.  But slowly, step by step, day by day, moment to moment, I’m waking to this purpose. As I prepare to embark on an experiment to experience life away from home for an extended period, I’m doing so with excitement and curiosity. There are new landscapes to see and new people whose paths I’ll cross. There will be a few familiar places and faces, an opportunity to care for a friend’s beloved pets while she travels.

And, there are a few trepidations. What if …?  Each gives me the opportunity to choose. Is this something I need to attend to or something to let go? I’m discovering lots of opportunities to let go; to trust.  After all, it is “fantastic learning opportunity”!

How grand is life when we come from this perspective – life as a “fantastic learning opportunity” in which we welcome each moment with love and excitement?  Does it seem like a fantasy as you navigate yours world today?  What is front of you right now? What happens when you look at it from this lens?

A Morning Walk Starts Another Beautiful Day!

Anchors for Adaptability

New Year, New Winter Storm

Life is apparently going to be more complex than we could have ever imagined. If we do not have something real to anchor ourselves we will possibly be swept away at sea. Gregge Tiffen (The Significance of Beginning – January, 2007)

Even though I’ve created a life that’s pretty simple, the need to be flexible in the midst of changing conditions and events is ever present. I’ve come to believe that learning how to be adaptable is one of the key curriculums that our dear planet earth offers us.

You may have guessed that this first week of 2016 did not start out as I planned. In reflecting on my own need to adapt, I noticed with appreciation that I’ve increased my adapt-ability in the last several years. I wondered about the anchors that keep me from being ‘swept away’ when the unexpected occurs.  And, I thought of friends who are navigating a much larger challenge than what redirected my energy and attention this week. What keeps us from being swept into overwhelm and losing the opportunities life presents for learning?

I came to the realization that my anchors are the foundation on which I base the choices that I make.

You see, we live in a vast sea of pure, raw energy, so vast that it is infinite. This is the Universe. Events occur. I choose to step into an event or not using this energy. Play or don’t play. This is my choice point, a new beginning. I often make the choice to participate or not on the spot with seemingly little awareness of the internal analysis that occurs.

That’s exactly where I landed this week when my friend’s husband experienced an injury requiring surgery. The nearest hospital is 60 miles away and winter weather is upon us.  Their pup Odie is Luke’s best romping buddy, so it was easy to offer ‘Odie-care’, allowing my friends to focus on getting medical needs met. 

But, having two dogs (even two good, well-behaved boys) required Luke and me to adjust our routines and asking Odie to adapt as well. As you might expect, Odie and Luke are proving to be highly adaptable – canine teachers once again.  The choice also required adjusting my plans for and expectations of what I would accomplish this week. I’m fortunate to have the flexibility to do that with most of the projects I’m engaged in. Mission accomplished.

Master Teachers of Adaptability -- Sir Oden Jackson, Flat Stanley, & Prince Cool Hand Luke Skywalker.

So what is my ‘something real’?  It is a rock solid foundation that anchors me in the swirling sea of life’s events. My personal foundation, anchors if you will, is based on keen self-observation, strong self-belief, and faith in the ultimate good of the Universe.

When I make choices from this foundation, they tend to serve me well, if not immediately, then certainly long term. Even decisions that don’t work out as planned turn out in my favor in the long run.

This week I invite you to take a deep look at what anchors you in the sometimes stormy sea of life. How rock solid is your foundation?  How might you strengthen it in the year ahead?