Pivoting Into Autumn

Our Ancestors

The wise leader solves the problem of water first. Lao Tzu

The question before us, then, is not only how we will mobilize to redress the immediate harm done by the current militarism and violence. The question is also how we will plant the seeds of a peaceable economy. There is no more fundamental place to start than with how we grow food, how we feed ourselves and one another, how we relate to and care for the land. Woody Tasch – A Call to Farms

You’ll learn how to be a good ancestor. The answer is in the land, in the mountains, which are the sources of life. Dr. John Hausdoerffer

Tomorrow, September 21 is the International Day of Peace and day 1 of Campaign Nonviolence 12 Action Days (check it out here). I think of this as I reflect on the threads woven into this week past, threads that carry forward from last week’s post about living into a desired future (find it here).

Last week we were approaching a new moon, a time to set and renew intentions. In the wake of that new moon, I experienced two long-held intentions stepping forward with opportunities for attention and action.

The opportunities rose perfectly timed to redirect me from stepping into a commitment of time and energy that was interesting, but around which I felt little excitement or passion, and which, in hindsight, was only minimally aligned with my values.

Food and water. Now we’re talking passion and alignment. Both water and food are ingredients for building a culture of peace. They go hand in hand as elements of Nature that our culture all too often views as resources to be tapped.

The desired future that I want my daily choices to create includes sustainable, just, and accessible to all food systems, along with clean, pure water that sustains ALL Life. I believe that future will rise as we repair and restore our relationship with Nature, as we listen to that which sources Life and align our choices with our planet home.

Ancestry is a related thread in the fabric of life this week, inspired by Dr. John Hausdoerffer in his webinar, Kinship with Mountains, (enjoy it here). If you’ve been with me for a while, the title alone clues you into why I was drawn to the event. Hausdoerffer speaks beautifully, questioning how Life could look when we “recognize Earth as our kin and Mountains as our ancestors.” I wonder, as does Hausdoerffer in his forthcoming book, What Kind of Ancestor Do I Want to Be?

Are my choices aligned with that? What pivots are indicated?

As summer gives way to fall here in the northern hemisphere and we approach the autumnal equinox with equal hours of daylight and darkness, I feel myself musing these heady questions from a deep, heart-centered place. What do I value and what actions align with that? As my priorities shift what old habits, beliefs, ways need to fall away?

It seems a different pattern to be in these questions in the season of harvest. Perhaps my harvest of opportunities this week is nourishment for navigating what lies ahead and the questions are integral to receiving that nourishment. Perhaps they will linger and be the focus of winter morning musings by the fire.

Perhaps I’m experiencing the speeding up of time in a changing world, on a changing planet. Perhaps I feel an age-related urgency.

I pause to observe Zadie Bryd licking her paws, then rubbing her face, as she lays nearby. I wonder what she’s experiencing in her body and whether there’s something I need to know or to do to support her.

The observation and questioning in that pause brings clarity that, no matter the project or priority, my prayer is that I step into the flow of Life with heart-felt love and care, being the kind of ancestor that will leave this world a better place.

Our Kin

Upping Our Vibes: Grounding in Higher Consciousness

Daily Reminder Above My Desk

The level of consciousness is the most crucial aspect in health. I’d wager it will improve relationships, improve our self-esteem, lift us up to really live, all without drugs. Our level of consciousness is that part of us that is unsullied. It is waterproof, fireproof, age proof, bulletproof. If the mystics say that our primary purpose in life is growing in consciousness, then the intention broadcast marks very significant progress in science and medicine. It is revolutionary. As conscious humans, we have a responsibility. We cannot remain Homo dubitat for much longer. We must act and overthrow the programming of our cellphones, unplug from the TV. We are being called to become alert, awake, in charge. Nisha J. Manek, MD (Bridging Science and Spirit)

Early this morning as I settled in to focus on today’s post, I was clear – or so I thought – on our direction. Then I read something that offered a mindful detour to which Muse didn’t seem to disagree. Amid the detour, life called for my attention. It was time for morning walks and breakfast. Then a series of distractions rendered Muse incapable of settling me down until late morning.

With life’s details handled and the detour set aside, my original direction returned, clearer than before: our intentions and the level of consciousness from which they rise are key to powerfully navigating the events of life.

My clarity rises from a recent experience during a consultation with a specialist veterinarian when she made a strong declaration that momentarily took me aback. She was, she said, 100% certain that because of ‘x’, ‘y’ would follow. In other words, ‘Y’ was the only possible outcome.

After a moment, I realized that her certainty was not aligned with my understanding of how life works. I asked her to pause, and I challenged her perspective. “What about intention? What about miracles? Where in your certainty is the space for that?” I probed calmly.

The vet paused for a moment before a thoughtful response. “You’re right,” she said acknowledging that while ‘y’ seems to be the most likely outcome given ‘x’, it is not a certainty. Our consultation continued from her new perspective, a shift from certainty to possibility.

The moment was powerful for me, standing in my truth as I was seeking advice and making decisions based on advice from trusted professionals. I stood in my power and in the truth of what I understand about intention and consciousness.

I did so not from a stance of fear, denial, or defensiveness, but rather from a place of strong conviction, of heart-centered, coherent love, care, and understanding. From MY truth.

I deeply believe in the power of our beliefs and our consciousness to affect the trajectory of most anything. Countless research by Lynn McTaggart, Bruce Lipton, and others bears this out as does the research of Dr. David R. Hawkins (Power vs. Force). Nisha Manek deepens my understanding further in her outstanding study of Dr. William Tiller’s work, Bridging Science and Spirit.

Key it seems is the level of consciousness or frequency from which we are operating. Is my conviction and my action grounded in love, in reason, in gratitude, trust, and/or reverence for all life? That is the consciousness from which so-called miracles rise.

Or am I operating from anger, fear, grief, hopelessness? That is where miracles are stymied, and the world’s predictions of doom and gloom can manifest.

In a sense the choice is for life and all that generates life or for death. The paths of life and life generating are not always easy or clear. Sometimes choices for life seem to counter the mainstream and the experts as my experience reminded me. Choices for life may even be unpopular in some circles, though this truth may be hidden. But as we ‘up our vibes’ to higher frequencies our choices become clearer and easier with practice. Choice by choice. Step by step. Day by day.

‘The Thinker’ - a Favorite Tree Stump in the Woods Out Back

This New Moon Day - Attend to Intention

Mountain Morning Beauty This New Moon Day

Setting an intention is like drawing an arrow from the quiver of your heart. Bruce Black

Be mindful of intention. Intention is the seed that creates our future. Jack Kornfield

Our intention creates our reality. Wayne Dyer

I woke up this morning with a clear message this ‘blog day’: Attend to setting clear intentions for yourself on this powerful new moon/solar eclipse day! I was clear as well that this is the message to be shared in this week’s Pivot. Muse nods in agreement bowing to the power in you, in us all.

Ancient traditions recognized the new moon as a time of new beginnings, a tradition and practice that continues to this day. For many years I have recognized each new moon as a time for reaffirming intentions previously declared and for creating new ones, examining how I want to be in the world, my desires for self and others, how I want the world to be and my role in bringing forth that reality.

And so this day I invite you not to ‘take time’, ‘make time’, ‘spend time’ (old phrases long past their useful prime) but to give yourself the gift of attending to becoming clear about what you intend IN your life, FOR your life, for the environment that you inhabit (home, hearth, community), for our world, for humanity, for our planetary home.

Take stock not just of your desires and goals but of how you intend to BE in the world at this potent time of change.

Create intentions that will anchor you as the winds of change blow stronger. Intentions that will support you to BE the change you want to see in the world. Intentions grounded in love that will buffer you from the fear that some will try to perpetuate. Intentions from the ‘quiver of your heart’.

May the winds of change be guided with love as they cleanse and clear and open us to the new.

Light and Shadow in the Valley

Sea of Expectations

A Colorado Blue Sky Day

Expectation is resentment waiting to happen. In contrast, friendship liberates. John O’Donohue

The attachment to our expectations is the obstacle … Myra Jackson

We swim in a sea of expectations. Befriending our expectations means releasing our attachment to life unfolding in the ways we expect. It is indeed befriending all of life.

Exploring the idea of expectations and indeed examining some of my own has been ‘up’ for me in recent weeks. I’ve long had curiosity about how expectation weaves into life and has been an occasional thread woven into these weekly musings. One explored the distinction between expectations and promises (read it here).

Settling in with Muse this morning I recalled O’Donohue’s words that caught my attention some time back. While he was writing about relationships in particular and our expectations of others to be/do certain ways/things, Muse guides me to consider that perhaps expectations might become our friends.

In response to my quizzical look, Muse winks and prompts, awareness as a first step. We swim in a sea of expectations. Our lack of awareness of what we expect in the details of life is where the potential for resentment hides. Curious, I took a few minutes of self-inquiry: what do I expect in life/of life? In less than 10 minutes I’d listed 26 expectations, many of which are multifaceted (e.g. I expect my health care provider, my attorney, etc. to have my best interests) and all of which underlie daily life, actions, choices.

Until I took those few minutes to bring them to awareness it seems that my expectations were lurking in the darkness, resentment waiting to happen, ready to kindle a spark of anger should an expectation not be met.

Let’s say for example the internet connection is down, my computer crashes, the car won’t start. Or it’s raining on a day you’d planned a picnic … you get my drift here of all the things we expect to go a certain way without being aware that we expect it UNTIL something doesn’t.

What is your habitual response? A fiery reaction of anger? Springing into action to ‘fix’ the ‘problem’? Curiosity that the Universe seems to be redirecting you? Do you perhaps journey through all the above?

While I strive for the later (curiosity), I’m inclined to leap into action. Muse reminds me that sometimes the fiery Aries tiger reacts, suggesting that the trigger is that I’m attached to things being a certain way, to MY expectations being met. And to a tendency to ascribe some fault to myself when they aren’t. What did I do wrong? What error in my thinking ‘caused’ this?

Just as developing and maintaining friendships requires the nurturing care of awareness and to not being attached to our friend being/doing certain ways/things, perhaps expectations can be nurtured as friends with the same awareness and releasing of attachment to them. Muse says it more clearly: Befriending our expectations means releasing our attachment to life unfolding in the ways we expect. It is indeed befriending all of life.

As we put a cap on this week’s musing a few thoughts and queries dance into awareness:

• Gratitude is a key to releasing my attachment to how and what I expect life to be.

• What is the relationship between expectation and intention? Is there a pivot from expectation to intention?

• Innovation, calling forth and being open to the new, requires releasing any attachment to the details of how life unfolds.

It seems a door has opened … fodder for musings another day.

Last Light of Sunset

Easing into 2022 with Rest

A White Christmas Labyrinth!

How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterwards. Proverb

The only real rest comes when you’re alone with God. Rumi

As I began to update what has become my ‘Auld Lang Syne’ final post of the year, the online countdown clock indicated that it’s 2 days, 14 hours, 41 minutes, 56 seconds until the new year is rung in here in the Colorado Rockies. But, hey, ‘who’s counting?’ wonders the Muse.

As was the case at the end of 2020, many – perhaps most – await the turning of the clock to 2022 with bated breath, wishing to bid adieu to another tumultuous year. We want to turn the page. We long to dive deeply into the fresh start that began with the Solstice promise of our personal newness and culminates as we replace our 2021 calendars with new pages of promise and possibility that the coming year has the potential to bring forth.

It is, as always, up to us – individually and collectively – to bring promise, possibility, and potential to fruition. As sure as the sun’s light is returning day by day here in the northern hemisphere, we will have opportunities to do just that in the hours, days, weeks, and months ahead. What if we trusted the opportunities to come forth at just the right divine time rather than pushing to ‘make’ them happen?

While this year held much tragedy and darkness, lights of love continued to be shined in dark corners needing our attention and care.  May we each be a part of shining the light of love in all the days ahead. May we tap into the countless sources of light available beyond the chaos of the mainstream and its ways. May we receive whatever light we need as we add our unique rays to loving constellations of light and life.

Although the onset of a new year signals the end of the holiday season in our culture, Winter has only just begun. The dark, the cold invites me inward (more snow would help the cause!). The Muse smiles a happy, knowing smile. The season that began fewer than 10 days ago has a 12-week run before it gives way to Spring. Yet our cultural habit of a new year is to make plans and spring into action with goals and commitments to DO more.

What if we took more time for rest and renewal as Nature does in the season of cold? Inward to rest, to renew. Inward to commune with the sacred and to gather all that is necessary to burst forth in Spring. While certainly there is life and livelihood to maintain, jobs to go to, businesses to tend, political action to be voiced, stories to be told, I wonder how the world might be if we began the calendar year in greater alignment with Nature?

What might be possible for us individually and collectively if our first goal for the new year was intending rest and renewal of body, mind, and spirit?

As I reflect on saying ‘Goodbye’ and refrain from saying ‘good riddance’, my year end reflections first written at the end of 2016 seem as apropos (with a few additions) today as they did five years ago.

At year end, we tend to look back on joys, sorrows, what we accomplished, where we may have fallen short. Hopefully our review list includes acknowledging all that we discovered about ourselves and learned from the opportunities and events life presented.

As 2021 ends, many will breathe a sigh of relief that it is finally over along with a breath of hope for better days in the year ahead.  The world we live in is chaotic and uncertain. It IS! Those who put attention on that world forgetting that it is the world we live IN, NOT the world we are OF may look ahead with dread or fear.

That need not be.

Within each of us is a seed of understanding who we truly are. Nurturing that seed grows our faith in our capacity to be resilient in the face of the world’s chaos. In this year ahead, I have a sense that we will need to tap into our spiritual strength in ways we may not have done before.

This seed of faith is within us all. It is not faith in anything outside of us. Rather it is faith in who we are, each as an individual, integral part of an intelligent Universe. It is a reminder that life is so much more than we experience and observe in our daily routines.

As you ring in 2022, I invite you to join me in nourishing your seed of faith in each of the 365 days ahead and to remember how important your presence and your ray of light is at this moment on the planet.

With that intention top of mind and heart, I’ll be participating in a global event 7 Days of Rest and Sacred Renewal during the first week of the new year. The event’s introductory words drew me in with their reminder of the power of intention and clarity and the potent possibility that alignment and collective action call forth:

7 Days of Rest is an annual, open co-creative event inviting individuals and groups around the world to initiate and join local and online events for the healing and thriving of Earth and all her inhabitants. During the first 7 Days of 2022, we unite in seeding the New Year with a sacred field of intention and blessing for a thriving world for all of Life.​ Together we co-create a collective space for renewing ourselves and our sacred bonds with each other and with all of Life. Through rest, deep listening, wisdom sharing and compassionate action we amplify the emerging global culture of peace, health, cooperation and wise governance.

I’m deeply grateful for this discovery/resource (the website -click here - is chock full of nourishing offerings daily!) and I’m looking forward to diving in daily with each of the daily themes. Join me in whatever way best fits your schedule, your life, and your intentions for the year ahead.

Happy New Year!

I hope you’ll join me in participating in this global gathering!

Making Choices Without Choosing Sides

Sunflower ‘Volunteer’

So, while I really appreciate your support, I'm asking you not to take sides. Charles Eisenstein

Yesterday’s email with its subject line ‘Peace: Important plea to readers’ marked the second time over three or four days in which individuals whose work and lives typically align with my values used the clear, direct language: “don’t take sides”.

The first, a recorded message mostly addressing earth changes and their impact, inspired me to think about the difference between making choices and choosing sides. Eisenstein’s email confirmed my hunch that the Wednesday muse would explore just that. The topic seems a logical (although logic is rarely my primary aim!) extension to last week’s muse that suggested:

It’s time to pivot: calling forth and practicing unity, oneness, the interconnected nature of life. Time to cooperate and co-create.

As I suggested last week, more and more it seems that the world wants us to choose sides rather than simply making choices that are best for each of us based on what we know, what we have yet to know/learn, and what we sense. Sadly in the collective many have taken the bait.

Sharing a point of view that differs from others is seen by some as divisive rather than collaborative. Or, in Eisenstein’s case, when the point of view he expressed was attacked, many of his supporters took up the banner to defend, attacking the attackers. His email yesterday was an impassioned plea to his readers to “abstain from that pattern… Respectfully disagree with their views if you feel so moved, but don’t make it about the personalities.”

Eisenstein’s plea reminded me of a kinder, gentler time when then presidential candidate John McCain challenged a questioner at a town hall who labelled Barrack Obama an “Arab”. “No he isn’t …” McCain said urging his supporters to stop hurling abuse against his rival for president and saying that he admired and respected Obama. Such a move is a powerful choice. If a side is chosen by such an act, it is the side of love, of harmony, of peace, of something bigger than the campaign for president.

All this combined with a deep concern about the toll our divisions are taking on each of us individually, all of us collectively, and on our home, Gaia, Mother Earth stirred my pot of curiosity to wonder just how I might make choices without contributing to the divisiveness. Or worse, being a part of the source. That led me to begin exploring the distinction ‘choosing sides and making choices’.

Distinguishing choosing sides and making choices is, at least in part, a matter of perception and of intention.  What do I aim to accomplish when I choose sides? What is my intention when I make a particular choice? All too often in our ‘on demand’ culture, we leap over considering our motivation. We need to make our point or join the chorus of the herd (but not heard) and move on to the next thing.

Not only that, it’s also far easier to attack, for example, the fossil fuel industry and blame ‘it’ for environmental crises, than it is to look in the mirror of our own habits and consider our role and what we might change in our individual choices. It seems that for the mainstream media, it’s easier to blame the unvaccinated (or another country, or ….) for the pandemic rather than look at the bigger picture of nature/viruses/the planet and recognize the interconnectedness of ALL things and then to make choices aligned with creating health for all.

Blame is the game of the world of division. Responsibility and respect are the badges of honor in a world moving toward restoring unity and connection to our awareness.

May we take time and make the necessary effort that enables us to make responsible and respectful choices for ourselves, for one another, and for our planet home. May I. If a side must be chosen, let us choose the side of power with not power over.

Old Juniper Greets the Sun

A Formula for Ending the Pandemic

Cottonwood Creek - A Feast for the Senses

There was a forest fire in the mountains. Birds and beasts fled as fast as they could. Among them there was a little bird that thought she would try to put the fire out. She dipped her wings in the river, then flew over the fire again and again, sprinkling drops of water. The other birds laughed at her and said it would only exhaust her and come to nothing, but she continued anyway. That was all one small bird could do. A heavenly deity felt sympathy for the little bird and sent a great rain that put out the fire. —Anonymous [Daily Inspirational post for 15 April 2020 from Pace e Bene Campaign Nonviolence - https://paceebene.org/campaign-nonviolence]

One morning earlier this week, I woke thinking about what I (and WE) can do to end the current pandemic. A list emerged which I shared with a few friends, and I was gratified for the positive responses. I wasn’t thinking about my ideas being a blog post, yet when I read the quote above this morning, my thinking shifted in a flash. We each need to be the little bird with the faith that what we do WILL make a difference. Indeed, as I’ve written about in various previous posts, EVERYthing we do (and think and speak) matters!

Like me, you're probably already doing much of what I've come up with in my 'formula'. And, I’m sure you have practices and ingredients to add (Please share what you’re doing!).  

My belief is that, if we take action with strong purpose and intention, we WILL extinguish this Covid-19 ‘fire’.  Science tells us this is so. Your heart knows this truth just as the little bird knew.

Yep, it's a big job. And, each and EVERYone of us has a role to play. 

Do these with strong purpose and intention …

1.      STAY HOME!

2.      IF you must go out - cover your face, wear gloves, and use sanitizer frequently. Think of the postal, grocery and other essential workers as your most endeared family member or friend who you would never put in harm's way.  Do only what you absolutely MUST do. Go Home -- sanitize what you bring in, wash the clothes you were wearing, take a relaxing hot bath or shower. Rest.

3.      BOOST your IMMUNE SYSTEM! This is where our true power is! (a) be curious and find a regimen that feels right for you (mine; Vitamins C & D, Zinc, Magnesium + a healthy diet that includes some comfort foods - yes, chocolate - and lots of veggies); (b)get outdoors -- soak up some rays and move your body ... find beauty wherever you are! (c) maintain a positive attitude -- fear, stress and negativity work against the immune system. If you feel down in the dumps, fearful, or stressed be curious about the source; work with it, read something inspiring or to help you understand and move through it. Get help from a coach, a counselor, or a friend. (A few of many resources: Brene Brown's work -  https://brenebrown.com/;  Dr. Gerald Jampolsky's Love is Letting Go of Fear; recent articles on fear from my colleague & friend Kathy Wilson -  http://www.warrior-priestess.com/Newsletters/#archives)

4.      Embrace the pandemic event as an opportunity to learn, stretch, grow and to create life anew. Be inspired by stories of how the earth is responding, e.g. canals in Venice, pollution reduction in China, India, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. (https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/04/coronavirus-pandemic-earth-pollution-noise/609316/)

5.      Stay informed without excessive exposure to news. What do YOU need to know in order to make wise choices for you?

6.      Ban drama, complaining and judgement of others from your environment (the ‘judgement’ thing? THAT is my biggest challenge!). Note: This does not mean denial or avoiding important conversations and decisions.

7.      Discipline your thoughts, words, and deeds. As my friend, author Rivera Sun (www.riverasun.com)  says "Be Kind. Be Connected. Be Unafraid." Our thoughts, words, and actions live forever as energy in the Universe. What are you contributing?

8.      Keep a gratitude journal. What are you grateful for today?  Share your gratitude.

9.      Laugh! At feline and canine videos, at silly posts, and, heck, even at yourself.

10.   If you've completed all these and still need entertainment - watch your favorite sports reruns, an inspiring movie; read an uplifting book; discover a new inspiring podcast (check out Sounds True's resiliency tools -  https://product.soundstrue.com/resilience-in-challenging-times/); love on your pet(s), Zoom chat with a friend. Find joy!

BONUS! Become an activist! Find a cause that you care about and become an active participant in creating a more beautiful world, one that cares for the earth and offers true economic and social ‘liberty and justice’ FOR ALL.  

We CAN do this! Humanity and our Dear Mother Earth are counting on it.

Onward and upward (with wings)!

REST! Gentle, easy rest.