Names Create Spaciousness (Or Not)

Blessed Snow in the Woods Out Back

We need to exercise great care and respect when we come to name something. We always need to find a name that is worthy and spacious. John O’Donohue (The Danger of the Name – essay in Eternal Echoes: Exploring Our Hunger to Belong)

Oh, how O’Donohue speaks to my soul and kindles both memory and reflection this morning, connecting dots and opening a door to exploration as I sat with the weekly question: what do Muse and The Pivot want to point to this day?

As I re-read the essay that I’d landed in I was reminded of how my canine companion of nine, all to short years, Cool Hand Luke Skywalker, came to the name given him by his ‘foster mom’. Her story was perhaps my first conscious encounter with the importance of naming. She explained that she wanted to give him a name that “he can live into”. Given what little she knew of this pup’s life before the shelter, she was inspired by Paul Newman’s line in the movie Cool Hand Luke, “Sometimes no hand is the best hand of all.” In renaming him Cool Hand Luke, she opened doors of possibility for Lester, the name given him at the shelter.

But what about the ‘Skywalker’ part of his name?

I loved her story and Luke’s name as much as I loved the amazing dog. The importance of a name stayed with me. While observing Luke, I noticed some of his ways seemed Jedi-like, so naturally one day Cool Hand Luke became Cool Hand Luke Skywalker. I like to think that he lived into that name fully until the moment he took his last breath on this plane and that he continues to do so in the unseen world beyond the Rainbow Bridge.

I was also reminded that when ‘Sadie’ adopted me as her forever human three years ago, I wanted to give her a name to live into, one with greater possibility and potential that what I associated with the old comic, Sarge, Sad Sack, and Sadie, or Sadie Hawkins Day dances. I chose the name Zadie Byrd based on the feisty, loving, revolutionary character in Rivera Sun’s series, The Dandelion Insurrection. Ms. Byrd has her own way of living into that. Only later did I research the name Sadie and learn its Hebrew origin and meaning, princess. Perhaps she’ll become Princess Zadie Byrd someday. Hmm…Princess Leia she suggests.

Muse has patiently waited as I reminisced, eager to link my stories with recent experiences: my guidance to reflect on humility (mine and how I might tweak my engagement with it) and experiencing not having words (or that the old, usual words no longer fit) to describe something (several ‘somethings’ to be honest) in numerous conversations.

I’m coming to understanding that we/I are often so quick, and thoughtless Muse adds, to name things that we/I miss the richness of the experience. We limit ourselves to the known, the stories we hold about whatever name we’ve chosen. I’m often quick to name a feeling, an emotion so that I can move on, limiting my opportunity for reflection, deeper understanding, and, perhaps, even healing. What if the ‘sadness’ I named a few days ago was something else and had more to say had I given it space, time, and my lens of curiosity?

Perhaps that sadness held gifts like the ‘guilt’ that I carried deep inside (mostly unconsciously of course) for decades around an action against a family member when I was a child. Recalling the incident recently I discovered that the guilt named and put aside perhaps with some slight act of forgiveness long ago continued its life in me. It had gifts and insights to offer. When I dared dig deeper I discovered there had been no need to name and feel guilt at all. My action had been a blessing.

I sense we’re in a time where we need to give ourselves the skills, the time, the grace, and the spaciousness to name our experiences and our observations with greater care. How might our stories about disease, poverty, war, violence, etc. shift if in the darkness of their names and our stories we shined light? Light of possibility. Light of love. Light of care. What if we shunned the prisons that we’ve named ‘realities’ and bless them with new names?

I feel our world changing, sometimes gently, sometimes not so gently. A new age is rising. How we name the changes upon us will determine just how those changes look in our world. And how we experience them. Let’s be care-filled as we do!

Nature’s Sculpting

Invite All of Life In

Sunlight on the New Blanket of Snow

We are in a time of tremendous volatility, not just externally, but for many people internally as well. On a daily basis, it seems, the world is flipping from one timeline to another to another. The future looks dark; I blink my eyes and all is bright. A blue sky fills with clouds in a minute, then they are gone again. Multiple realities coexist on a single planet. Multiple realities coexist in a single person.

… if you have been fluctuating between elation and despair, you are not alone. If despondency colors the breaking dawn, you are not alone. If a single ray of light (like a warm hello) dispels the despondency, you are not alone. If that hope is so fragile that a mere ill glance shatters it, you are not alone. Charles Eisenstein (read the essay here)

I experienced ‘one of those days’ a few days ago. Feeling disconnected, irritable, unhappy despite a soft white blanket that had fallen on Mother Earth the day before. The foggy funk lifted for a brief moment as I watched Zadie Byrd roll joyfully in the snow. As quickly as she hopped up the dark cloud over me returned. Unlike Zadie’s ability to shake the flakes from her furry coat, my efforts to ‘shake’ the cloud weren’t so effective.

And so I allowed ‘it’ to be and allowed myself to be under ‘it’ with whatever curiosity I could muster to discover any message hidden within. I had little energy to focus or ‘do’ anything, despite several projects and tasks idly awaiting my attention. I’d love to say, ‘so I just sat quietly and listened’, but in my humanness, I tried to force some focus, get something done. Oh, how our culture values toughing it out to check some task off of our to-do list.

Failing culture’s strategy for the blahs, I turned to Nature, the labyrinth and a long, slow saunter in the woods out.

This is where my solace lives. The place where my sadness can be, and my tears can flow with abandon.  The place that is receptive, understanding, and listens as no human can. The place that knows, accepts, and allows. The place that dissipates the dark clouds when it is time for them to go.

I think about the clouds that bring moisture to the Earth’s surface just as clouds of sadness allow my cleansing tears to fall.

Cleansed by Nature’s beauty and softness, her receptivity and acceptance, and by the tears that fell as I embraced a beloved grandmother tree, the dark cloud lifted. I am those clouds, the snow and rain, and I am all the tears as well as all the trees.

I remind myself that we are in a time of great change and uncertainty, of vast opportunity, and of an invitation to invite in all of life. The bitter. The sweet. We are invited to remember what our hearts know, and our minds have forgotten: We are all one, each a part of the other. The entire ocean is in the drop. The bitter in the sweet. There is no separation in the reality that is life.

As the Muse and I settled in for this week’s journey, I thought about the plethora of inspiring quotes that have been shared this week in the wake of Thich Nhat Hanh’s passing. Many have landed deep, resonating as wisdom for this time. Responding to a gentle nudge to find a pithy one to share, I discovered a recording of Thay reading his poignant poem, Please Call Me By My True Names. The poem’s final verses resonate as a prayer for all humanity to understand that we are one.

Please call me by my true names,

so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,

so I can wake up,

and so the door of my heart

can be left open,

the door of compassion.

(listen and read it here)

In our sleepy forgetfulness, we cling to the illusion that we can allow some of Life in and keep some of Life out. Alas, we wake and remember that all of Life invites us to open the door of our hearts and invite in ALL of Life. Indeed, may we grant All of Life our gentle embrace.

Beauty Before the Snowfall

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

Bigger Than My Small Self

Zadie Byrd & Me - Our Bigger Selves

How exactly to act in particular situations is a matter of waiting on God. The answer comes straight in response to prayer from the heart. Such prayer carries with it the anguish of the soul. Gandhi (December 8, 2021 quote from This Nonviolent Life: Daily Inspiration for Your Nonviolent Journey - Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service)

THIS clay is mine to mold. Mine is not to mold another into what I wish they would do or be. Mine is to sculpt me.

Gandhi’s quote leapt off the screen this morning, immediately resonating as part of an answered prayer I found myself speaking this past week. It feels a bit like the icing on a cake, an added breath of fresh air, and a reminder that there is more to unfold in my awareness if only I ask AND (the hard part for me) patiently allow the unfolding in its own divine time.

So simple. And, not so easy. The Muse nudges me move along and share a disappointment that I experienced this week …

The event reminded me of the importance of being aware of my expectations, especially what I expect of others, and of distinguishing expectations from promises. My initial response was not of the highest order. Yes Muse. Yes, I reacted. And in my reaction, I discovered a gift: a desire to be ‘bigger than my small self’. That was, indeed is, my prayer.

In hindsight (and, yes, Muse with your help) I see that my prayer rose from deep within. In recognizing my desire to respond differently, I thankfully didn’t go to a self-loathing place of criticism and judgement, but rather, after a few tears, to the realization that I was more disappointed in myself and my reaction than I was in the expectation that hadn’t been met.

Bringing the event and my reaction home to me placed the responsibility right where I needed it to be. THIS clay is mine to mold. Mine is not to mold another into what I wish they would do or be. Mine is to sculpt me.

A slow walk in the labyrinth and a saunter around the woods listening to the quiet settled me like salve on an angry wound. I let go of any desire to keep my disappointment alive as fuel for … for what? Like the fossil fuels we must continue to move away from, the fuels of disappointment, of anger, of hurt are not the energy with which I want to fuel this vehicle in which my soul walks upon Mother Earth. If there is future action to be taken, I will wait, sans expectation, for the Divine to show me the way.

This little event showed me other places where I hold hopes and expectations that others will be a particular way or do a particular thing. It reminded me of the lesson I came to learn on this sojourn: Everyone has their story. We are different. We are all the same. With nudges from the Muse, I see what clay is mine to sculpt and I’m reminded that there is a time and place and guidance for all that I am to sculpt.

May I be bigger than my small self, for when I am, I’m content to wait on God.

Grandmother Moon, Venus, & Orbs in the Early Evening Sky

Graciousness in the Face of MIMEO

Woke to a Surprise Snow This Morning …

There is hardly a more generous gift we can offer someone than to accept them fully… Elizabeth Gilbert

To which I would add: that includes fully accepting YOU for who you are. But I digress from the exploration of graciousness that I experienced and the insights of this sixth week in the Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence.

The theme of graciousness moved me most deeply this week among the many beautiful threads being woven into the fabric of nonviolence during this 64-day period marking the dates between when Gandhi and King were each assassinated.

‘Am I willing to make gracious concessions on things that do not matter while I also stand firm in my convictions about those things which do?’ was the essence of the question posed on day 37, graciousness the theme.  Doing so invites (indeed requires) me to detach from my opinions. Say what!?? ‘But my opinions are my armor, my protection …’ I reacted. Then, taking in a breath I realized ‘… and my opinions maintain the illusion that I am separate from, maybe sometimes even better than, another.’

For me that can take the form of stewing in unspoken words of criticism or popping off a snarky comment for what I perceive is someone else’s mistake, a MIMEO: Mistake In My Eyes Only. And, although whatever I observed may indeed be in error, it is unimportant in the grander landscape of life. When I detach from my opinion, letting go of my need to be right, I open the door to allow graciousness to enter. I embrace that grander reality that we are not separate and, although we are each unique, we are all the same.

This is not in any way to suggest that we look the other way and maintain silence in the face of those values and convictions that we hold dear. Graciousness is not about sweeping under the rug or ignoring injustice, inequality, racism, poverty, dishonestly, etc. It is about speaking to those very things from a grounded, clear place with care.

To me, Meghan and Harry demonstrated graciousness in their interview this week with Oprah – speaking their truth, sharing their experience, and revealing aspects of the Royal Family and the British Monarchy that are generally hidden from view. Such revelations about influencers and institutions are likely to continue and to point us to changes needed to sustain human life on the planet. May we reveal with grace.

A commitment to graciousness invites us to speak and act on what we wish to change in the world from a place of love not fear; dialogue with rather than spewing our views at another; choosing mindful kindness over unconsciousness animosity; and seeking understanding instead of our own sense of righteousness.

This week’s themes or threads – love, kindness, mindfulness, dialogue, understanding and graciousness – add to the strong and beautiful fabric of nonviolence. Each are concepts and ways of being that model how I want to participate in life and how I dream life can be on the planet and we move step by step toward creating a world that works for all. And they point us to the theme for today: unity.

And Had a Beautiful Warm Fire to Break the Chill - Grateful!

Adaptability: A Pot of Gold!

There is definitely a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow!

In this planetary school where adaptability is one of the key teaching assignments, making adjustments is a constant demand.  Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Cycles – July, 2009)

This 313th post begins a new annual cycle, year seven for The Zone. I wonder what adjustments are ahead in this new cycle?  This week also finds me in the midst of adjusting to life without the heartbeat of my canine companion nearby.

My capacity to adapt is being engaged once again. Adapting to ‘life without Luke’ has evoked tears and laughter, sadness and relief, the stillness of reflection and movement into action.  As with all events in life these days, I aim to see my journey with Luke and this loss as an opportunity to learn and grow.

A beautiful rainbow here in the mountains late last week, reminded me what a blessing the need to adapt is. In the stillness of reflection, I came to see making adjustments, adapting if you will, as an abundant pot of gold, IF (and only IF) we embrace it with love, not fear.  For, if we face change with fear, it will be a molten pot of lead, heavily weighing us down, evoking struggle and pain.

In the presence of love, I discover that laughter accompanies tears and that sadness lives concurrent with relief. In the presence of love, the stillness of reflection brings clarity to the rearranging needed – inside and out.

In the presence of love, I discover that rearranging is mostly an inside job. I allow waves of sadness to wash over me as they appear and let them find their expression in tears. I want grieving to have its time, though I won’t allow it to drive the bus. I smile at a moment when some past time playing with Luke crosses my awareness. Without guilt, I embrace with gratitude the sense of relief and freedom I now feel. 

In the presence of love, I’m simply being with what is. I open myself to new possibilities and questions: what’s next? how do I want life to be now? what changes will serve me?

In the presence of love, being gives way to doing: putting away things not currently needed, packing some up and delivering to canine friends nearby, rearranging furniture, reviewing a manuscript, attending to projects set aside while Luke was ill, planning a short trip away.

In the presence of love, I experiment with new routines, allowing old habits and paths to give way to the new.

In the presence of love, I experience the grace of ease in the flow and I find heart rocks most every day.

Mined with love, I know that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow brings forth abundant blessings. What else could be at the end of such beauty? Love Lives!

This week’s heart rock finds!

The Grace of the Universe - A Rerun

Looking Ahead Through the Portal

This week I’ve been reflecting on change and how I respond to events that life presents, especially events which I didn’t see coming and that present challenges.  Those reflections led me back to the basics of life and law (Universal law that is) and to what is important each day:  choosing how I want to be present and how I want to respond to life.  Employing the law of magnification supports me to remember the importance of my choices and, hopefully, to choose wisely moment to moment, day to day.  May this rerun bring light to your day!

You live by the grace of the Universe interacting with you. You do not live by yourself alone. … The Universe always magnifies your action. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Change – May, 2009)

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness. Dalai Lama

The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

Whether we are aware of it or not, the Universe is interacting with us 24/7, magnifying each and every action we take in its own way.

Think about that. Let it sink in for just a moment. Everything you do is magnified. EVERY THING!

Say a kind word, offer a smile to someone experiencing challenging times, listen deeply to another view, share an uplifting post on social media. MAGNIFIED!  Take action on a project; choose to eat healthy, nourishing food; call or write your elected representatives. MAGNIFIED!

The Universe is benevolent (at least that’s my belief), but it is not selective in what it magnifies (everything – remember?). We humans were given the gift of free will, the power of choice that the Universe did not keep for itself in this grand design called Life. Make a snarky remark. MAGNIFIED!  Engage in an act of violence. MAGNIFIED!  Protest in anger toward others. MAGNIFIED!  Shut down in fear. MAGNIFIED! 

I’ve been reflecting on this law of magnification in terms of what I want more of in my life as well as the kind of world that I’d prefer to live in.  That reflection brought me right back to where I live, the simple choices I make each day. If I want to be a writer, WRITE. Give the Universe words strung together into ideas and step back to allow the magnification. Know that magnification is happening even when I don’t see it. I’m making adjustments in how I create each day to do just that.

If the world I envision is one of peace, kindness, compassion then my responsibility is to choose thoughts, words, and deeds that are peaceful, kind, and compassionate. Give the Universe THAT to magnify.

Of course, the Universe does not magnify alone.  We are its agents, little magnifiers one and all. My words each week are a magnification of something I read, experienced (usually both!), or am in the midst of considering. You read those words and are inspired to make a change in your life, or to share the post with others, or to delete. Whatever your choice, your action magnifies mine and it offers your own to be magnified.  

The meadowlark sings its cheerful song each morning in the meadow where we walk. The president tweets. Both are magnified by a Universe that magnifies everything. But we, you and I, have the freedom and the power to choose what we magnify. Imagine a world where the meadowlark’s song or the Dalai Lama’s quote is the ‘breaking news’ of the day, and the president’s tweets go mostly ignored. Do the words peaceful, kind, compassionate come to your mind’s eye?

That world is possible if we have the will to choose to put our attention on peace over conflict, kindness over anger, and compassion over judgement. It’s already emerging daily in the thousands (perhaps millions) of thoughts, words and deeds that are peace-filled, kind, and caring. May we choose that path – moment to moment, when the choice is easy and, especially when it’s not.The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

The River of Life often flows like the spring snow melt on Cottonwood Creek …

Kindness (Revised, Reprised)

Wintry Breakfast for the Hummers

The Universe always magnifies your action. … You are to recognize … that as you act, you are responsible for the validity of your actions in a positive spiritual mode. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Change – May, 2009)

As I settled in to write this morning I experienced a striking sensory contrast: as I gazed out over a snowy, wintry landscape, I heard the summer sound of hummingbirds buzzing around the feeder. Like seeing photos of my new grandson earlier this week and hearing the news that everyone in the family is doing well, the contrast brought a smile.

I’m aiming to smile a lot these days. Not sneering, snarky ‘yeah, right’ smiles (though I notice lots of stimuli for that!). I want to offer genuine, heartfelt smiles for the Universe as it does what it does: magnify everything.  I want to speak and act in ways that are kind:  kind to me; kind to Luke; kind to family, to friends, to neighbors, to strangers, and beyond. 

That’s what I want to see and experience more of in our world: kindness, miles of smiles of kindness.

What we see in the world each day is a reflection and magnification of our individual actions. The Universe doesn’t distinguish good/bad, kind/unkind, loving/hate-filled. It simply magnifies our action, ALL of our action.

Distinguishing and choosing is our job – mine and yours. When I remember that my actions will be magnified, I’m better equipped to choose more wisely.

I wrote about this idea that the Universe magnifies in a post here last May.  In that post I suggested that

The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

I continue to hold that thought as a prayer in my heart each day as I aim to be my best expression of me in a world that seems ever more chaotic and unkind.  I dream of a world where kindness leads, a world suggested by my friend, the prolific author Rivera Sun in her awesome novel, The Dandelion Insurrection

THIS! Clear, Simple, and Requires Consistent Practice

Did I mention that it’s a snowy May morning?

The Three G's of Power

A Beautiful Afternoon in the Woods

Today I sing my song with gusto, grace and gratitude. Rev. Dr. David Goldberg - Daily Guide for 7 February 2018 in Science of Mind magazine.

Power doesn’t need anything to support it other than the conviction that the Power is there. Gregge Tiffen - Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008

… security is silent and insecurity is loud. Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) – 7 February 2018 interview, MSNBC

I love life! Even the ‘dumps’ and whatever events seem to take me there have gifts to share (though, being human, I don’t always recognize them in that moment).  I especially find joy in discovering several ideas which at first seem totally separate then, upon reflection, converge to create yet another gift. And, I’m quite jazzed when I see both a personal and a global application.

So, this morning finds me pumped, inspired by three words in an affirmation yesterday: gusto, grace, gratitude. Upon reflection, I discovered just how powerful those three words are up close and personal in my own life, as well as how relevant (and much needed!) they are in the world.

The three words resonated deeply when I first read them. ‘Gusto, Grace, and Gratitude’ gained more life during a conversation with a colleague/friend across the pond.  Later, I wanted to make an honest evaluation of how I measure up to each (not against any worldly yardstick, just my own self-satisfaction).

• Gratitude – my strongest of the three G’s. I’ve come to live in deep gratitude and express it frequently. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for this day” is the mantra that begins and ends each day. I’m aware of my gratitude when I step out the door or look out the window at the natural beauty that surrounds me and when I get a gentle nudge from Cool Hand Luke reminding me to take a break. The list could go on (and on, and on …). What I’ve come to understand from practicing gratitude, is that she opens the way to all of the good in my life. She even lights the path that helps me see purpose in the ‘monsters’ that lurk in the corners.
• Grace – gaining strength in my life, in part thanks to gratitude. I’ve come to walk through life with a greater sense of ease and patience with myself and others. I aim to have a strong sense of what is right without being self-righteous and to be thoughtful in how I respond to people and ideas that I find repulsive. Remembering that we are each part of a larger whole, each with her/his unique and individual learning to do on this earthly sojourn helps me maintain (and, hopefully, express) grace.
• Gusto – at first glance, not my strong suit. Yet, as I explored its meaning (keen enjoyment, enthusiasm, appreciation, zest, relish; great vigor or liveliness), I realized that gusto doesn’t need to be loud or flashy. Like power and security, gratitude and grace, gusto is very much an inside job that finds reflection in how I walk through the world. What I wrote to begin this post sounds a lot like ‘gusto’ to me.

So, what about ThreeG Power in the world? Military might, chest thumping, and parading the weaponry of coercive force are not signs of strength or power.  Name calling and negative comments keep us mired in the muck, distracted from the business of life, peace, justice, compassion and creating a world where all are honored and valued.  

I see amazing power from putting the Three G’s into practice in our lives. Imagine what’s possible when we add gobs of gratitude, grace and gusto to mass consciousness to counter the destructive forces of fear and negativity in the worlds of politics, commerce, religion, media, et cetera. Imagine the transformation that’s possible in our individual disagreements with one another.

Which of the Three G’s speaks most powerfully to you? What will you do this week to nurture them all?

All Seeing Eye of the Majestic Pine