Two Bucks and a Raven

A Buck and the Bell

What does Nature say?

A few days back in the early morning the temperature at dawn was only a couple degrees colder than the normal high temperature for that day. As I opened my journal and picked up the pen this was the stream of words that came. “Mild morning – 30 degrees, house chilly, no fire last night – VERY unusual. Fire going now – warming and lovely.”

“I feel Nature’s confusion … ‘tis the season of winter,

And no snow on the ground

Chilly not COLD

Other than an occasional blast (for a day or so)

Then warming with low temps as high as the normal high and

High temps reaching towards records.

My heart feels the inward pull

Of the season – ‘Snuggle in, Rest, Read, Contemplate.

The warmth and sun pull me out.

Like a see-saw, tug-of-war on the playground of Life. DoBeDoBeDoBeDo…

I don’t know how to be in these woods in this season without snow,

The Earth without her white blanket. Is She patiently confused?

What might She know that I do not yet ‘hear’, my untrained senses trying to make sense of the season that doesn’t match my mountain experience?

But is more like the experience from another place, another time this life,

Sea level in Houston or the Llano Estacado in Lubbock – warmer winters.

I break my writing flow to tend the fire. The beauty and warmth of the slow burning logs and multicolored flames draw me in and

I feel a wave of warmth, of depth, of gratitude for all that makes possible my comfort.

Logs added with a full heart, I notice the sky – brilliant orange, red, pink on the horizon and I step outside to the distant sound of Raven – ‘the Magic is Love’ –

Yes, Raven, I remember . These words of your ‘Caw’

Will not be forgot. And I will listen as you speak for other wisdom you may impart.

Flowing in the morning stream is a joy that settles and soothes

Offering a way of Being in the Doing of this day.

I move with gratitude,

Still curious about the confusion that sits in me …

What does Nature say?”

When one asks a question it’s polite to listen to/for the answer. Raven brought this home to me on our morning walk shortly after this journal entry and its ending question: What does Nature say? Raven was raucous, louder than usual and flying about in the treetops and near the ground seeming to want to be heard, not seen.

I noticed. And I didn’t take my observing deeper or connect it to the question I’d posed less than an hour before. Rather rude to ask and not listen. Later, when I finally made the connection, Raven seemed to be sounding a ‘caw’ to heed Nature, to listen with all my senses. Duh! Ask and it is given. But you must be aware and willing to receive. Sometimes it takes a brassy Raven’s ‘caw’ to open me up.

The following afternoon after a lovely walk with Zadie Byrd (who has her own ways of getting my attention and teaching), I headed into the woods out back to walk the labyrinth and commune with the pines. As I approached the labyrinth, a handsome four-point buck was in the outermost circuit grazing seeds fallen from the bird feeder above. I stopped. He looked up and after a few moments looking may way, turned his eyes and his muzzle to the ground, apparently finding the seed more interesting and nourishing than me.

After a few more moments I slowly eased closer, step by step, present to his gentleness and grace. Aware that he was aware of my presence, yet not threatened.  After a bit he began walking slowly toward me through the inner circuits of the labyrinth. My gaze focused on him, his on me; each of us seeming to say, ‘thank you for sharing … we are safe here.’ I let him know that I am listening, and I sense he was conveying a reminder of the importance of increasing my capacity to adapt. Deer thrive in part because of their capacity to adapt to changing conditions. And gentleness is a part of their way.

As if to confirm (or perhaps to see if I was continuing to listen) and to remind me that adapting and change require rest, he returned yesterday with a friend. Just before heading out for a walk, my eyes were drawn to the woods where two bucks were resting, heads up and observant, about 15 yards apart.

This winter the variety of birds in the woods and at my feeder is abundant, each carrying their messages in response to my query.

I’m listening. What does Nature say?

Resting with Awareness in the Woods Out Back

Digging Deep

Morning Fog Over Blanca Peak

In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity. Albert Einstein

The sun will come up tomorrow … This song from Annie popped into my head this morning immediately following the fortunately fleeting and rather silly thought: Stop the World, I Want to Get Off. (Perhaps there’s something about movies I need to pay attention to …)

I don’t, of course, want to ‘stop the world’ and ‘get off’ despite this time of turmoil and angst. For that angst and turmoil is ripe with opportunities to learn and to grow, to dig deep inside, into your core to discover more of who you are and who you are uniquely designed to be.

Being ripe with opportunity is the nature of crisis. Our task is to choose to feast on the ripe fruit of what is at hand and discover points of learning, points of pivot. Crisis demands adaptability: a willingness to change. Do what you must to navigate, to survive, to thrive. In no way does embracing opportunity minimize or, as some might suggest, deny hardship or despair: the very issues of survival that are faced each day across the globe. Opportunity invites us to embrace challenges as our teachers. As surely as those who stand before us to share what they know, life’s events have within them the potential for learning knowledge that becomes wisdom. That wisdom we carry forward in our BEing FOREVER.

The knowledge that becomes wisdom does not cease to exist when this physical body takes its last breath. That wisdom lives on in consciousness, that part of our BEing that is infinite.

As surely as this is true, then we must have within us and available to us, the knowledge and wisdom of our past. Pause, let that sink in. Each of us know more than we are aware that we know.

We, you and me and all who are walking this earth, were made for this time. Perhaps we have faced crises, turmoil, or upheaval akin to today’s life conditions.

As I reflected on this idea, I began to wonder and ask: what about today’s world feels familiar? What do I KNOW that will support me in navigating this time? What pivots do I need to make to honor and align with my wisdom?

What about you? In the deep quiet of introspection, meditation, dreamtime, or walking in nature I invite you to join me in beginning to ask and discover:

·        What inklings of familiarity do I have about this time?

·        What does my heart KNOW that will guide me?

·        What hunches have I ignored that I need to pay attention to?

·        What pivots do I need to make for the sake of my learning, growing, and Being all of who I came here to be?

Notice what arises as you simply take the bold step into curiosity. Let’s see what this wild and crazy life has to offer as we wind down the current cycle and prepare to usher in a new one that will dawn very soon.

The Sun is definitely shining on the Ziggurat this beautiful morn!

Revisiting Living True to Our Roots

Gentle , Nurturing Beauty of Cottonwood Creek

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

We ARE the Planet. The Planet is US.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An American Dipper doing her thing: Dipping in the Creek

Discovering and Creating The Ways Between

There’s always a Way Between … Think about it until you see it clearly. Shulen, the Old Warrior challenging his apprentice Ari Ara (Not This, Not That), a young orphan girl, in Rivera Sun’s novel, The Way Between. https://www.riverasun.com/

The Way Between must have been with me early one morning a few days before the Summer Solstice when this flow of words landed on the journal page in front of me.

I love being awake to watch the day dawn.

Dark mountain against the lightening sky.

First sounds of life

Winged beings flit about

Singing, not quite – testing their voice in preparation to

Greet the Day.

Hummingbird buzzes.

And, yet these woods are oh so quiet in their waking.

Gentle

in the cool morning air,

reminding me

Gentleness is the way – MY way.

Gentle with self.

Gentle with others.

Ah, ‘others’ …

Solstice Sunrise in the Woods Out Back

That particular morning I was thinking about creatures that we label as ‘pests’ – ants, mice, mosquitoes (it’s THAT season here in the mountains) - and, how often I mindlessly swat a ‘skeeter’ or squash an ant that, perhaps with at least equal mindlessness, has dared to crawl on my arm while I’m engaging in a Feldenkrais lesson. I think about this as I observe myself and others in our relationships and our conflicts with one another. I think about it in relation to working with my canine companion, Zadie Byrd, when I become frustrated or confused. I know that there are better ways.

Discovering and creating those ways, then practicing and following them with conviction and commitment is a sure path to creating a more peaceful and just world. This, my heart knows. These better ways? Most start with listening – listening to others, to nature, to self, listening within.

Shulen’s quote above is from a scene where he has told his apprentice in Azar, The Way Between, to put an end to the bullying she has been subjected to by another orphan. She is challenged to not fight (she’s committed to peace and, besides, she’d likely loose) or flee (report the perpetrator to the Head Monk at the orphanage). She must find The Way Between for this situation.

She does so, first by connecting to and acknowledging the boy’s pain and by listening to his angry, heart wrenching story. Then,

The moment opened like a door. Ari Ara saw his leap coming in slow motion. She stepped through the possibilities between fighting or fleeing and entered The Way Between. As Brol sprang at her, Ari Ara turned his momentum in midair. Softly as a snowflake in Shulen’s hand, she leveraged his flying weight into a flip and brought his body to the ground. ‘It ends here, Brol,’ she warned him in a low voice as his shocked eyes stared up at her. She held his gaze for a moment, until she saw something shift in his face. Then she stepped back and strode out of the monastery without another word. Rivera Sun, The Way Between

Ari Ara came to this strength and capability, not in a moment of sheer luck, but with months of study and training, of trials and tribulations. (Get the book, read the story, be inspired).

My own dive into exploring nonviolence and peace this summer is deepening my understanding that peace and nonviolence won’t happen ‘out there’ in our chaotic, violent world until we each create peace within and craft our lives and our systems from that place, from finding and creating The Way Between in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Listening. That is the opportunity, perhaps the necessity, of this time.

Acts and approaches that exemplify The Way Between abound in our world, often are ignored by a media seemingly trapped by the dark aura of violence and chaos. We are steeped in this culture by our language (think ‘war on poverty’); by products designed to rid us of pests of all kinds; by books, movies, games, cartoons and more. Activism can be as simple as unplugging from the systems and products that brought us to this place: being more mindful of what and from whom we purchase goods and services, and where we invest our time and our money.

I’m imagining a world where we relate, create, and make choices from The Way Between: a just and caring economic system, love for our precious planet, wellness and health systems that honor the body’s intelligence …

These are the pivots inviting us forward. What are you imagining? What are you wanting and willing to create?

Sunset - Day is Done, Rest for the Days Ahead

The Power of Giving Thanks

Sunset on another beautiful day in the Sangres

The power of giving thanks gives life its vitality! The power of giving thanks comes through your awareness that you are always in a position to receive all the elements the Universe has to offer. Everything is available to you.  Gregge Tiffen (The Power of Giving Thanks, November, 2007)

 Several Thanksgivings ago, sitting quietly by the fire on a cold morning, I began to write in my journal. The words that came surprised me and took me to an unexpected place: gratitude for being me.  As I ease into Thanksgiving Day 2018, I remember all that I have to be grateful for.

 I’m grateful that these words, penned three years ago still ring as true in my heart today as they did on that cold morning.

 I am grateful for how I live my life, the choices I make, the insight and curiosity I experience, my love of quiet and of nature’s beauty. I’m grateful that I take reasonably good care of myself. I’m grateful that I take time to ease into the day and enjoy the morning quiet with Luke curled up near-by. I’m grateful for my introspection and for how I see the world unfolding perfectly in this human experiment/experience despite events that are horrific beyond my understanding.

 I’m grateful for how I’ve faced the challenges in my life, even those events where in hindsight I saw a different way for me to be. Each offered a gift and I did my best to accept it.

 I’m grateful that I enjoy my own company as well as being in the company of others. Both are so very important, yet we humans so very often shun being alone for fear of being lonely, forgetting that in our aloneness we hear Your voice and feel Your presence.

 Thank You for always being with me/in me. Thank YOU for allowing and guiding me to be me. I feel so close You, God, in these quiet moments and I am so very grateful.

 Thankfulness and gratitude are often expressed for things external to us – our family, our work, our homes, our pets, our friends.  Yes, I am grateful, deeply grateful, for these many, many blessings in my life.  This week I’m especially grateful for Cool Hand Luke Skywalker as we and our annual ‘anniversary’ hike to celebrate his adoption eight years ago.

 When we give thanks for being who we are, we tap into the vitality of life. That vitality includes deep peace and the personal satisfaction of allowing myself to express gratitude for me.

 For those here in the U.S., as you list what you’re grateful for this week include gratitude for being you. And, if the Thanksgiving holiday isn’t on your national calendar, take a moment to be grateful for the same. In whatever form you give thanks, may it bring you peace, joy, love and all that your heart desires.

Good Afternoon to you too!

Soul Speed

Snow! Blessed Snow - A Spring Storm Brings Moisture to the Peaks

Honoring the tempo of our lives makes us more productive, less stressed and happier. Rev. Sally Robbins (Science of Mind Magazine - April, 2018)

Let us look to Nature for guidance as our code book for everything we need to know or to understand. Gregge Tiffen (Tax Time: Are You Taxing Yourself? – April, 2007)

In last week’s post (here if you missed it - http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/listen-up) I shared that I’m learning to listen to my breath and respond to the messages it provides. One message has been to ‘slow down’ what I thought was my already slow pace. To become more aware of my breath required that I move more slowly and deliberately. And, on our daily walks and hikes, I needed to slow down in order not to over-breath.

You won’t be surprised that I resisted at first. Hey, I’ve got things to do, and if I slow down there might not be enough time. Yikes! Scarcity. Our fast paced culture thrives on our fear that there is and never will be enough – time, money, ideas, love, opportunities, food, etc. The culture tells us to speed up, chase, grab what we can – not what we need.

Nature operates differently. Fast is necessary in some cases - think coyote chasing rabbit for dinner. Before the chase, coyote ambles slowly across the terrain, waiting and watching. Chase successful, coyote gets what it needs, eats, and takes a nap. The trees in the woods out back don’t rush to grow tall to get more light than they need. They grow slow and steady – their pace like that of the tortoise in a famous race.

Rev. Sally Robbins quote above comes from a daily message in which she shared a story about a South American tribe on a long journey. They walked several days then stopped and camped for several days, explaining that “we need to stop and rest so that our souls can catch up with our bodies.” 

Perhaps the turmoil of these times is a reflection of just such a separation. In our race for ‘success’ have we left our souls behind? Perhaps this tribe understood something that we’ve lost in our modern, 24/7 connected culture. Perhaps reflecting more of nature’s ways in our daily lives could help our souls ‘catch-up’ with our bodies and make this world a kinder, gentler place.

For me, I sense that at long last, I’ve found my true pace, the one that’s just right for me: my soul speed. There’s plenty of time and energy for all that’s important in my life. My thinking is clearer, deeper; my energy, stronger. And, I feel my natural gentleness shining through. Could this be the soul’s way of saying ‘thank you’ for inviting it (me!) to catch-up?

Sacred Blanca Peak Glistens This Spring Morning

'Tis the Season - Nourish Your Inner Santa

Winter Sunset

NOTE: Originally posted 8 December 2016 – and brought forward to this season as I take a break and travel to be with family.

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

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. This year Luke and I are taking a leisurely road trip to the northwest. How are you tapping into your inner-Santa?

Moon Rise over the Sangres - Super Moon 12-2-17

Practicing Gentleness

Winter Icicles, Shadows, and More

The Universe loves you enough to agree to your request to be here now.  Gregge Tiffen (Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008)

Sadly, the world is not a gentle place. It seems more extreme, more violent, more ‘in your face’ than ever in my lifetime.  The pace of change in the world’s systems and its rules seems to be at warp speed. We are a nation and a world divided by these rules, who they serve, who they seem to punish. We aren’t gentle with one another or even with ourselves.

And, in the ever abundant, loving, infinite Universe, this world offers us vast opportunities for learning and growth.   I’ve been reflecting on that as I observe events triggered by political ‘leaders’ and how these events land in my experience.

I’ve come to the conclusion (duh!) that it is an important time for personal stability and clarity so that we aren’t caught up in the spin and we don’t become victims of what’s happening ‘out there’.  Yes, we are IN this world. No, we are not OF it unless we allow ourselves to be entrapped in its energy.  And, boy does the world want to entrap us as a means of control? Yes, I think so.  I’m reminding myself of these things frequently, so (spoiler alert), it’s likely to be repeated often in these weekly musings.

This week, my path to that stability is practicing gentleness although, interestingly, I didn’t start with that as my intention.  To the contrary, my plan for the week was to be a disciplined task master and ‘get things done’. 

I discovered gentleness along the way, when something happened on the way to the ‘to do’ list: a question from my coach – “What are your priorities?” Rather than trying to ‘figure that out’, I sharpened my self-observation and noticed what my daily choices were telling me.  I noticed that self-care, Luke-care, and my home environment are what matter most to me right now. 

 From that awareness, I allowed myself to experiment with different choices:

•      longer, slower walks with Luke;
•     taking more time to prepare and savor nourishing food;
•      engaging in household tasks with joy and appreciation for my home;
•      not rushing from one thing on the ‘to do’ list to the next
•     and, more importantly, not feeling guilty about my slower pace;
•       taking time to rest and read during the day;
•       reading news sources rather than listening to them.

Yea Mom!  We haven't been on this trail in a long time. Thanks!!!

That’s when I began to experience gentleness from within. Yes, business matters. Yes, political involvement matters. Heck, even the projects on the ‘to do’ list matter. And, their place is not at the front of the line.  They will have their time there when it’s time. That time is not now.

Now is the time for stability, clarity and gentleness to counter what the world is dishing out.  That is the foundation on which I can stand and a place where I can breathe easily with conviction and courage as the world’s craziness swirls just beyond.

This week I invite you to reflect, explore, experiment, and find your gentleness within. Bring it forth to stand confidently IN the world.  Your gentleness matters, as do you!

A Sky Reminder of LOVE!