3D: Damsels, Dragons, and Doggies

Dragonfly takes a little rest to enjoy a fading bloom

Light always lightens the load.

Recent experiences of life in 3D on planet earth here in the woods of the Sangre de Cristo range have found me focused on Zadie Byrd, in particular calming her during stormy weather (we’re in week two of our ‘monsoon’ season – more thunder than rain, though grateful for every drop) and at night when I turn out the lights.

So, what do damsels and dragons have to do with that, you might ask? Are there really dragons and damsels in the woods out back? Well, no (at least not visible to me in this 3D body), but during this time of exploration and experimentation with Zadie Byrd I’ve been blessed with several damselfly and dragonfly visits. These amazing creatures of nature symbolize light, in particular the power of light.

And light is what I want to shed on Zadie’s reactivity. Clarity to define a path to easing her tension and reactive nature is my aim. Lightening my load in the process is my intention.

About the same time as I began to seek the advice of experts, explore options, including the possibility of finding her a new home, dragonfly and damselfly began to ‘visit’. My first sighting was a dragonfly resting in a hanging basket while I tended the flowers. I took note and welcomed it, since, after all my home is the Dragonfly House.

Then, yesterday, I observed a damsel(fly) in distress – inside the kitchen window, flying into the glass in an apparent effort to get back to its world outside that window. The rescue and relocation were simple – a nearby yogurt container and a piece of paper provided just the vehicle needed to secure and transport this amazing creature to the door. Upon release, I wished it well and the damselfly quickly flew into a nearby pine where it landed, seeming to look down and offer a nod of thanks.

Damselfly in Distress

This morning after a walk in the labyrinth, I saw a brief flash of light as I sat on a log in the nearby ‘circle of elders.’ After a few moments, I decided to investigate the end of the log where I’d seen the flash. Voila! There was a (the?) damselfly. Reminding me yet again to bring the power of light to every project, every issue, every concern.  Light always lightens the load.

Yesterday’s rescue and this morning’s encounter remind me of a woodpecker that I saw tangled in a mess of fishing line in a bush many years ago. After calming the bird and painstakingly disentangling it, it flew to the top of the bush and landed. We looked at one another for a bit, me amazed that the being could still fly and the woodpecker seeming grateful for its freedom. I saw that woodpecker frequently in the days that followed.

The muse carries me to these tales (tails?) giving pause (paws?) for reflection and to remember that amidst change, especially change from the inside out, letting go of that which no longer (indeed may have never) serves us we sometimes take several steps forward, then falter or even take a step back. This part of the process offers the opportunity to take stock of where we are, where we’re headed, and make adjustments.  It can also be a pause for gratitude for whatever gifts the event is bringing us and a reminder that while nature is in service to us, we are best served when we honor and serve the nature on which we depend.

Although Zadie Byrd can’t speak human words to tell me what’s going on, like all canine companions she speaks through her actions, her eyes, and her body language. She takes me to that place of listening with my eyes and registering with my heart, a pause (paws) that refreshes.

Source of Light - Damselfly at Rest on a Log

Substance or Sound Bites?

Morning Clouds Over the Mountains

I’m not about sound bites. I’m about substance. Marcia Fudge, Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

Distracted by a thorny personal concern as well as needing to attend to final business regarding my cousin’s estate, the muse was slow to engage and focus today. That said, the topic has been bubbling for a while: are we/am I about substance or sound bites? And how do the choices we make impact us, our relationships, and consciousness of the collective?

If you’ve been following my weekly musings for a while, you’re aware that I frequently remind us (that includes reminding moi!) that EVERYthing we do, think, say matters – even our little, snarky comments on Facebook. EVERYthing we do, think, say contributes to the collective. Through our thoughts, words, and deeds we are building (or destroying) society, the very quality of energy that we experience in daily life.

By our thoughts, words, and deeds we create the frequency of our individual vibration. That vibration feeds the frequency of our immediate environment and that of the collective. 

Scanning through my Facebook feed a few weeks back, I saw a post thanking “whoever reported me to Facebook for my comments … now I don’t have to waste my time commenting anymore.” I had a quick judgement about that wondering where the poster’s awareness of their choice to comment had gone.

Days later I saw a post that seemed to be a sincere inquiry seeking someone to adopt a senior dog. Comments flew. Judgements were spewed by people with no information about the situation that prompted the search. I see examples like this almost every time I dare to scan my social media feed. They evoke sadness and concern. They bring me to question ‘where is the substance?’ and along with it scare and compassion? Heck, even kindness!

I wonder what it would take for us individually and collectively to make conscious choices to comment from a place of substance, care, and contribution rather than from some need to add our own judgmental sound bites to the cacophony. Are we even thinking at all?

As I sometimes do on Sunday mornings, this week I tuned in to the Sunday service from Mile Hi Church and heard a courageous and heartfelt talk from Reverend Michelle Medrano on this very topic: Transcending the Soundbites: Fostering Greater Connection With Ourselves and Each Other. You can enjoy her thoughtful message here.

This isn’t simply about the impact of our choices on others and the collective, the sound bites we spew harm us as well. Reactionary, judgmental sound bites feed the story of separation and division. Taking time to think before we speak gives us the opportunity to consider our intention, the substance of what we want to contribute, and to add to the story of unity and our interconnectedness.

Media and social media thrive on sound bites. Do you? Do I? Do we?  This week let’s pivot from their game and play our own: the game of substance anchored in harmony, love, and care.

Simple Beauty

Discerning Meaning in the Walk of Life

Smokey Haze on Our Early Morning Walk

I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you. Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche’s quote popped off the screen this morning as the muse and I were searching for a quote about reality.  ‘Reality’ as a focus was inspired by a question I was asked in conversation with a wise colleague recently:

What version of reality are you loyal to?

I’ve thought about that question quite a lot since it was posed as a call to deeper awareness of those places where I’m prickly or find myself agitated. I want to allow the events of those places to be given their due, attended to rather than denied or dismissed. Such awareness is a pivot point of choice: ignore and suffer or embrace and discern meaning: What is the purpose of this – event, person, conversation, etc. – in my life? What might I learn?

The ‘version of reality’ that I aim and often claim to be loyal to is not the doom and gloom separation reality offered up by most media and the systems of the world. I aim to be loyal to a version of reality that embraces what I understand to be universal truth and law: we are all one, all one of The One.  As the heart that beats in my chest is a part of my body that walks the earth, that me (body, mind, and spirit) is part of the greater whole that simply IS. A greater whole whose reality is that it is infinity.

It is from that version of reality that I aim to discern meaning of the events I encounter (or do they encounter me?) as I walk through life. That is how I learn, how I grow, and, hopefully how I add some measure of wisdom to carry forward from life in this body to the form or formless life beyond.

The meaning I seek to discern regarding an event attends to me as a sovereign being with my biases, my history, my hopes, and my dreams (not to mention those things I fear and that which agitates me).  The key ingredients are curiosity, willingness, and commitment.

I’m curious from the inside out (What does this mean to me?) not from the outside in (What meaning does the world want me to adopt?). My willingness sometimes waivers (What? More sh__ to shovel? This may hurt! …) until I connect with the value this practice adds to my life. My commitment grows from the harmony, peace, joy, and power of being with life in this way.

Which leads me to the quote above (I know, you thought the muse would never get there … me too!). It isn’t the lie that upsets us, rather it’s the meaning we discern when we are lied to. All too often we stop before asking a question that will take us deeper in our understanding. Ours is to develop the habit of questioning without needing an immediate answer – What might this mean to/for me?  And, then, to listen.

High on my list of values is integrity and trust. I want to be worthy of being trusted AND I want to trust those with whom I associate. I value others being clear and direct with me (especially when I have a reaction that conveys a different message). Likewise, I value others who can receive my style of direct communication. For me, that engenders trust.

While our culture claims to value trust and integrity, much evidence in the world out there suggests otherwise. Thus, self-trust, trust from the inside out, becomes imperative. The self-knowing of self-trust helps us discern who and what we can trust in others and in life. Discerning meaning in my life’s events builds strength to do just that.

Barrel Cactus Blooming Forth in the High Desert of the Rockies

Today Is My Favorite

Majestic Mountain Morning

Curiosity and gratitude: elixirs for life!

The day dawns, calling forth another beautiful day here in the sacred Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado.

Settling in as I do most mornings to write, this day’s attention is to the weekly muse and what wants to be shared, explored. A stream of thoughts and images emerge. Enjoying the early morning light, I think of winter and how I am nourished and restored by her short days and long dark nights. I think of our friends in the southern hemisphere moving toward their winter while we here in Gaia’s northern hemisphere have just passed the midpoint of our journey toward the Summer Solstice (Happy belated Beltane!).

In winter there is a deep quiet in these woods, especially when a blanket of snow cradles the ground and all of nature. I embrace winter and allow her to hug me back. I declare that she is my favorite season, and in her quiet, dark beauty she is.

The earth turns and today I wake to early dawning light in these woods. Sunbeams highlight the 14,000-foot peaks long before the sun crests the mountain range and its rays reach these woods 6,000 feet below. As Zadie Byrd and I cross the threshold of the front door, the fragrance of pine trees after a spring rain greets us. ‘Hearing’ these majestic beings through the sense of smell is a true delight. Hummingbirds buzz about and birds high in the trees chime in to welcome the day. I think ‘this is my favorite time of year’.

With the later sunset of longer days, we cross the threshold again at day’s end. Pines still aromatic. Birds singing. Hummers buzzing. The sun sets over the San Juan Mountains to the west, casting a red glow on the Sangres and ending the day with a glorious show of gold.

As I take in nature’s beauty through all my senses, recognizing today as my favorite, I am reminded how grateful I am for life and for being on the planet at this pivotal time. I feel this despite the chaos and injustice in the world. I sense this time is but a phase, like a baby going through its ‘terrible twos’ while having a potent future ahead. We are in a time where humanity and our planet need our love coupled with the patience of the adults who guide that toddler.

I am also reminded of the questions generated by my curiosity: How will humanity get from ‘here’ to our potent future? How might I contribute? What/who are my best sources of reliable information? How would life be if I adopted a lighter, more playful approach to all that seems so serious? What’s for dinner?

Gratitude and curiosity each fuel my desire and my capacity to see beyond current conditions to a future where justice prevails and in which we embrace the planet as our partner. ‘Today’ is my favorite because it is yet another opportunity to employ both curiosity and gratitude with whatever comes my way. They are elixirs for life, infinite in supply, and available 24/7.

What about you? What are you grateful for? What are you curious about? Where/how will you employ these gifts to make today your favorite?

Golden Sunset

The Web and Flow of Life

Good Morning Sun!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Bit of Fresh Spring Snow on the Mountains

The Continuum That Is Life

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

Life everlasting … . … World without end. Amen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Water, Roots, Rocks - Cottonwood Creel

Making Life a Sacred Journey of Nonviolence

Neighborhood Street Signs Make Me Smile!

Fighting, cheating, and bullying have trapped us in our present situation; now we need training in new practices to find a way out. It may seem impractical and idealistic, but we have no alternative to compassion, recognizing human value and the oneness of humanity.  The Dalai Lama (2/3/21 quote from Pace e Bene Nonviolence Services Nonviolent Life: Daily Inspiration for Your Nonviolent Journey – more info here)

Compassion, human value, the oneness of humanity. These qualities sum up for me the first five days of the Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence which began on January 30, the anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination and ends on April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. I’m engaging in awareness of each day’s theme in my life with the intention of erasing tendencies I have toward violence. You can find the themes here and here.

Day 1 on Saturday seemed to appear out of nowhere. Could it really be the end of January already? Yes, and now February is well underway. The theme for Day 1 was courage, a necessary ingredient in nonviolence. The day’s message offered a deepened felt sense of unity with all that is. Oneness. I am a part of everything. Everything is a part of me. Everything we think, say, do matters.

When you discover that everyone is contained in you and you are contained in everyone, you have realized the unity of life … Then you are not just a person; you have become a beneficial force. (From AGNT’s daily mediation Day 1).

This is BEing the change I wish to see in the world. Simple to envision. Not so easy for most of us to live moment to moment, day to day from this place. Courage is needed to buck the violence in our culture and to break the arc toward violence of the habits I’ve developed along the way: seemingly small, yet costly, negative reactions to some of what crosses my path in the course of a day: a snap judgement about something or someone in the news or a post on social media; impatience with Zadie Byrd when she wants to stop and sniff and I want to keep going. Recognizing that these are acts of violence (toward myself more than others) is a sacred act.

Life’s events are just that: sacred acts giving us the sovereign choice of how we will react or respond. When I take a walk with Zadie as a sacred act of care for both of us, my impatience wanes. My teacher Zadie Byrd, like Cool Hand Luke before her, reminds me in her own way to ‘stop and smell the pines’ (no roses here in the woods you know!).

Recognizing Zadie Byrd as one of my teachers in nonviolence, brought a smile to my face on Day 2 when the theme was smiling. I chuckled as I realized that my impatience is the place where my experience of the peace of nonviolence ends. My life-long learning of tolerance – a key to experiencing the truth of unity – continues! Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us:

If in our daily life, we can smile … not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

Everything we do matters. A smile from the heart is a sacred act of nonviolence. Smile!

The ‘season’ continued with Day 3’s theme, appreciation, which flowed easily from the awareness of Days 1 and 2. It reminded me that appreciation is one of the keys to heart coherence. Day 4, caring, offered a reminder of the importance of self-care as a demonstration of nonviolence.

Today is Day 5, believing, and poses the question: what do I believe about nonviolence? Do I believe that each moment of tolerance and patience, every smile (masked or not!), every experience of unity and connection matter, and that care for myself and others are sacred acts toward creating a culture of nonviolence? I do. I believe that is true for each of us. We can do this! Indeed we must.

Teacher Zadie Byrd Rolling in the Snow - Also Makes Me Smile!

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!

Fertile Ground

Past their peak, but there is still much beauty in this aspen grove.

What we need is not another doctrine, but an awakening that can restore our spiritual strength. What made Mahatma Gandhi's struggle a great success was not a doctrine—not even the doctrine of nonviolence—but Gandhi himself, his way of being. A lot is written today about the doctrine of nonviolence and people everywhere are trying to apply it. But they cannot rediscover the vitality that Gandhi had, because the ‘Gandhians’ do not possess Gandhi's spiritual strength. They have faith in his doctrine but cannot set into motion a movement of great solidarity because none of them possess the spiritual force of a Gandhi and therefore cannot produce sufficient compassion and sacrifice. Thich Nhat Hahn

In the midst of the muse reflecting on the insights and inspirations which have crossed my path this week I was looking to discover if there is a common thread or theme. Then, life popped in unexpectedly.

It has been my practice for most of the 370+ weeks to ignore all incoming calls, emails, etc. Wednesday mornings are devoted exclusively to musing and discovering what wants to be shared in this week’s post. Today I needed to break from that pattern to handle a time sensitive issue regarding my cousin’s estate.

The issue addressed (at least for a bit), I gently returned to the muse and the message.  Noticing the broad scope of ideas and events that sprouted to take root in my attention this week, the phrase ‘fertile ground’ came to mind. I was aware of all that screamed for attention that I mostly gently (and sometimes not) turned away. What about my fertile ground guides me to make those choices?

I’m aware of and embrace the idea that deep change is underway individually and collectively for humanity and throughout all of nature and our precious home, Mother Earth. (Beyond this earth, I suspect that the same is true – but that is perhaps a muse for another day … As Above, So Below … As Below, So Above …). What about my fertile ground has me see life in this way and to be curious about the thresholds that are before me/us in the days, weeks, years ahead?

From what fertile ground does my conviction that how we choose to BE as we walk through this change is, moment to moment, determining how that change will be? What cultivated my deep knowing that ‘by our thoughts, our feelings, our beliefs and our actions we are co-creating our life, our future – individually and collectively’?

I think that somewhere along this 70-year path of my life, I embraced building my spiritual strength (you wondered, didn’t you, what the heck the quote had to do with this muse?).  Decades ago, weary after years of political activism and hard driving in my profession, I was exhausted and fearful that I couldn’t keep up (whatever the heck that meant at the time). A seed of metaphysical curiosity sprouted as I took time off to figure out what to do with my life.

I’ve nurtured that ground (not always consistently) since it sprouted. I’d like to think that I have some measure of spiritual strength as a result. As I choose how to navigate and BE in the changes upon us, I aim to make choices from a place of spiritual knowing rather than from some prescribed doctrine (religious, political, etc.). That is the fertile ground on which I stand from which the seeds of my expression flow. That is the ground I choose to nurture and grow.

What about you? What is your fertile ground? What is your state of being in the world? What attention is needed so that you can meet the thresholds before you with strength, conviction and with love?

A Quiet Hike in Nature’s Beauty

Power and Possibility

Hints of Autumn on a Hazy Day in the Sangres

Power over is not true power nor is power over a lasting condition. Real, lasting power is the power within.

These words came this morning as I engaged the muse, reflecting and stirring the pot of this week’s soup curious about what would emerge. I’ve felt the world try to pull me into its power struggle. Through my revolving door a wide range of emotions paid me visits.

Dancing the dance of ‘staying informed’ I watched a bit of news and the documentary the social dilemma (find it here). I listened to Shelly Acorn’s talk on the emergence of fascism  (click here) offered by Humanity Rising’s Global Solutions Summit (info here).

I felt the heaviness of the world while recognizing that ignoring current conditions was not a wise option. Seeking to restore my sense of balance and being grounded, I stepped away. Zadie Byrd and I walked. I walked the labyrinth. I took in the beautiful evidence of the changing season just up the road and on the vast expanse of the steep slopes of the Sangres. I watched a squirrel playing, magpies flitting and listened to jays squawking in the woods.

I let the tears welling inside flow forth.

I wept for the pain of the world, for the planet, for humanity. I wept for those who are suffering illness, fires, hunger, oppression, fear and so much more. I wept for our sleepiness, the lack of awareness on which the world’s agenda thrives. I wept for the gap between the world that could be and the world as it seems. And, I shed tears of personal grief, missing my dear cousin’s physical presence.

In the pause that followed, I began to remember that change necessitates letting go …

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. Arundhati Roy

I saw power (true, lasting power) and possibility dancing together. I saw humanity rising to meet the challenges and opportunities of a crumbling world. Step by step. Minute by minute. Day to day. Person to person. I remembered my deep knowing that the Universe in its infinite wisdom offers a bigger stage on which to dance than the petty power struggles which capture headlines. I remembered that we are on this planet to learn from the events before us. I remembered Gregge Tiffen’s wise words:

We are constantly in a situation of applying the condition of re-adjustment. Our Earth is one of the most difficult laboratories in the vast Universe because of the utilization of three levels of energy. We know them as physical, mental, and spiritual. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: Mysterious Investigations – October 2010)

Let us know beyond a shadow of doubt, that Power over is not true power nor is power over a lasting condition. Real, lasting power is the power within. Let us embrace that change is upon us, a new world is not only possible she is birthing as we speak. Let us hear the peaceful breathing of a new day by standing tall in our personal power and guiding that change to unfold a world that works for all. Let us dance the dance of bringing light to the darkness.

A Pause in the Afternoon Glory of Autumn