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

Gratitude and a Piece of Humble Pie

Mountains and Trees and Sunbeams - Oh My!

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Meister Eckhart

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie

 … friends, family, home, garden, labyrinth, the woods out back, pine trees, Cottonwood Creek, Zadie Byrd, Luke, health, computer, comfort, cool breeze, hummingbirds, flowers, neighbors, Elephant Cloud, Merc, helping hands when I need them, teachers/guides, awareness, remembering … These are just a few of the abundance of ‘things’ (including feelings, situations, etc.) that I quickly noted I am grateful for once I stopped and remembered to BE grateful.

I woke this morning with the word gratitude front and center and the message ‘return to gratitude’. Hmmmm… As one who aims to live in gratitude, I was humbled to need a reminder to ‘return’. When did I set gratitude aside? When did I forget?

Heartmath Institute’s ‘Quick Coherence Technique’ (click here for a 2 minute practice) took only a few moments to bring me to that familiar, visceral feeling of appreciation and love for all of life. My heart that had been burdened by a combination of irritation, regret, and confusion about the reactionary funk I’d been in, immediately felt lighter. I was more ready to meet and greet the day than I’d been for several days. Best of all I didn’t feel ‘grumpy’.

Grounded in gratitude I can begin to create some order in the chaos of my confusion around how I’ve handled several recent interactions with others and even with myself. I can pivot from confusion and irritation to curiosity. In the spirit of Nietzsche (see last week’s post here), I can seek to uncover what meaning I made unconsciously about the event, person (or canine 😉) that triggered my reaction.

From the ground of appreciation and gratefulness I can feed the version of reality that I want to experience and call forth in the world: the reality that we are indeed all one. In this reality the vices of separation – irritation, regret, anger, fear, confusion – are cast aside for there is no need for the false protection that we perceive them to offer.

Being grateful for the gifts of insight these irritations offered to me, I can forgive myself for the forgetfulness that contributed to the false reality of separation. As I let them go, I can be curious about what other messages the irritations may hold, what they point to in terms of what I care most deeply about.

Thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU. Let this be my prayer moment to moment, day by day, event by event.

Mountains and Trees and Clouds and Haze on a Lazy Sunday Morning

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

The Pivot Power of Observing

Good Morning Sunshine!

What assumption am I making, That I’m not aware I’m making, That gives me what I see?  The Art of Possibility – Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

I’ve appreciated this question (and the book it comes from) for more than 20 years. I remembered the quote a bit differently: What am I believing, that I don’t know I’m believing, that gives me what I see? Yet, another take emerged as I engaged the muse this morning:

 What am I observing, That I’m not aware I’m observing, That gives me what I see?

We take in billions of data points, perhaps even more, each day. As I sat looking to the woods out back this was my visual observation: dawn breaking bringing light; pine trees, close and distant; stumps of dead trees; fallen branches; rocks, pine needles and twigs on the ground; cacti and grasses in the sandy open area.

All that and more paints a picture that is beauty to these eyes of mine. The addition of gentle bird song (the ravens have yet to wake), the sound of Cottonwood Creek’s spring flow in the distance, and the sensory stillness of the morning air bring harmony and peace to the fore in this simple act of observing.

Too often in our rush through life we miss these moments, not giving ourselves the gift of slowing down to observe what surrounds us, much less allow it to permeate our being in ways that support us, sustain us, call forth and maintain our health and well-being.

Rather we put our attention on that which needs to be changed, corrected, fixed, improved: the dishes in the sink, the firewood to be stacked, the deck that needs refinishing, plants ready to move outdoors … Our lists go on (and on). Maintaining life is a constant. Self-observation offers a pivot point that can lift us up or drag us down as we engage in our ‘darn dailies’ and in the midst of humanity’s greater chaos (a colleague calls it ‘debris’ and most days that feels all too accurate).

Observation with awareness, taking time to ask the question ‘what am I observing, that I’m not aware I’m observing, that gives me what I see?’ brings us to valuable points of choice.

Blessed to live in these woods with rugged mountain peaks above and a vast valley verdant from late spring rains below I could simply ‘see’ them every day to the point of not seeing, not acknowledging all that the beauty has to offer. I aim to make a different choice. What am I observing that I don’t know I’m observing that gives me what I see? Some days I observe a vast seen and unseen network of nature operating and cooperating in and of its design. Other days, I see beauty. Every day  I feel harmony, happiness, peace.

Taking in what is outside of me prompts internal observation aimed at understanding or at least coming to terms with events in life. Observing myself in events gives meaning and adds to my knowledge. It opens doorways of possibility and choices of perspective.

Feeling let down after an appointment earlier in the week, I put my attention on just such self- observation and reflection. Observing my disappointment had me be present to my (sometimes unrealistic) expectations of others. Further observation opened me to the territory of recognizing all that I know and sense, giving me a strong dose of self-trust.

The simple act of choosing to hear and heed the call of a question in my feeling of being let down gave me the kind of gift of awareness that comes when I deeply observe these mountains, woods, indeed, any part of the landscape that I am a part of.

Deep inside I sense that is why we are here – not to tackle the ‘to do’ list, walk the dog, or even to right what we see as the world’s wrongs or write the next solve-it-all ‘self-help’ book or best-selling novel. Rather whatever events and tasks are ours to do are for our benefit, our learning, our growth, giving us knowledge and wisdom to carry beyond this life, into the next, and beyond. What could be more purposeful than that? And what would the world look like if we each carried that perspective into everything we do – from the dishes, to our activism, to our work in the world?

Dog’s Eye View of the Landscape

Friendship and Pivoting to Possibility

A Quiet Spot for Reflection in the Sangres

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”  Anais Nin

I’ve been blessed to have a dear friend visiting me here at the Sangres for several days, our first opportunity to visit in person since the 2019 winter holiday season, mostly due to Covid. Like many other friends and families, we stayed in contact through the lockdown days. Now, having her here reminded me that there is nothing like the flow created when we are face-to-face, unmasked and yearning to share at a deeper level than email, texts, phone chats, and even Zoom accommodate.

My friend departed earlier this morning. The house is quiet, still. It feels a touch empty although the energy of the laughter and exploration remains in these walls and in my heart. True friends are blessings, reminders of life’s beauty, harmony, abundance, joy.

For me, true friendship includes being challenged by my friend as well as challenging them, all the while grounded in acceptance and rooted in the reality of unity. Recognizing and honoring differences while deeply knowing that we are the same.

I was reminded of that on my early morning walk with Zadie Byrd, remembering a time when this friend challenged me to pivot from a particular pattern of thinking to considering another possibility. Accepting that challenge seven years ago, led me to purchase this home and create the Dragonfly House – a world that was in me, but only birthed in conversational dance with my friend.

That reminded me of a favorite book, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander’s The Art of Possibility. The authors beautifully contrast the worldview of scarcity and survival with that of possibility; the ‘world of measurement’ with the ‘universe of possibility’:

All the manifestations of the world of measurement – the winning and losing, the gaining of acceptance and the threatened rejection, the raised hopes and the dash into despair – all are based on a single assumption that is hidden from our awareness. The assumption is that life is about staying alive and making it through – surviving in a world of scarcity and peril…

This is the world and focus of the body. It is the world of exploitation and control, the world of mass consciousness that disregards the wisdom of nature and the deep knowing of our souls.

What if beyond that world we could begin to glimpse another and, in our glimpsing, create a more beautiful world:

… a universe of possibility that stretches beyond the world of measurement to include all worlds: infinite, generative, and abundant. Unimpeded on a daily basis by the concern for survival, free from the generalized assumption of scarcity, a person stands in the great space of possibility in a posture of openness, with an unfettered imagination for what can be. … When you are oriented to abundance, you care less about being in control, and you take more risks. … In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.

The last sentence lands deep in me, a recognition I aim to live life from the universe of possibility: setting the context, showing up, inviting life to unfold, knowing that it will, adjusting the context as I learn and grow. Ultimately trusting my inner compass to navigate the waters in and the waters out.

This time between eclipses – the lunar eclipse last week and the solar eclipse coming on June 10 with the new moon – also a time of stresses and strife on the planet and in humanity seems a good time to consider what world we are living in – individually and collectively – and to make course corrections in service to ourselves, to one another, and to our planetary home. A time to reset our context and allow the world to unfold.

A Beautiful Morning in the Sangres

Boundaries and Bridges

Full Moon Rising Over the Woods Out Back

I DESPERATELY want a movement space that knows that compassion is not a zero-sum game. Where we have compassion for people’s ignorance. Where we are allowed to be messy and to make mistakes. Where accountability is an act of love and the word “holding” is the key word in “holding others accountable.” Where the sanctity of all life and our interdependence to everything that exists is so deeply known and felt that no person will ever question their sense of belonging. Where no matter what any of us has done, that we all know that there will always be space for us here. That no matter what we have done, we will trust our circle enough to grieve the harm that we caused and to say “yes, I did that” and know that we will not be cast out of humanity. Where we can learn to respond to even the most egregious harms without letting our sights off of the North Star of healing. Kazu Haga (quote of the day for May 5, 2021 – Pace e Bene’s This Nonviolent Life)

With one hand I say, ‘stop.’ With the other I build a bridge. Veronica Pelicaric (Pace e Bene’s podcast exploring Kazu Haga’s words - https://paceebene.org/soul-of-nonviolence-podcast/2021/5/4/soul-of-nonviolence-north-star-of-healing)

Violence against the Earth and interpersonal violence are two sides of the same coin. We now unite as a planetary community to stand together for the sacred; to midwife a transition to a world in which humanity will no longer dominate but cooperate with all life. Though it is difficult to see, there is an emerging and different vision for humanity. This vision foresees a world without violence as the next chapter of our collective evolution. It shows a future humanity inhabiting this planet as a network of interconnected, autonomous communities of trust. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (quote of the day for May 12, 2021 – Pace e Bene’s This Nonviolent Life)

On this full moon eclipse day, I find myself reflecting deeply about my relationships with others and with Gaia. My reflections extend beyond the field in which I operate to the whole of humanity – our relationships with one another and how we relate to the global being, Mother Earth. Today’s quotes resonate deeply both personally and globally. They hold the essence of what I want to share, so my words will be brief, hopefully interweaving how these wise expressions are emerging for me.

I’m overjoyed that a recent encounter with neighbors to be (that is, folks who will soon be building a home nearby) offered up an opportunity to preserve the beloved ‘woods out back’ and added two lovely humans to my community of friends. The chain of events reminded me of the rewards – inside and out – of following my instincts and ‘going with the flow’. In this case, both hands building bridges. This is how I want to contribute to birthing what Charles Eisenstein calls “the beautiful world that our hearts know is possible”, a world where we live from the truth of our interconnected nature.

In other situations, as a friend poignantly reminded me a few days ago, we need to establish, honor, and yes, even enforce boundaries in our relationships with others and in our relationship with the planet. At these times we are called to consider ‘what is acceptable in my life?’ and ‘what is not?’ Integrity calls us to speak our truth, even at the risk of loss, since what is unacceptable to me may not be unacceptable to another and, using one hand to set a boundary may foreclose the opportunity to use the other hand to build a bridge. Navigating such events with conscious awareness of our interconnectedness, I don’t lose my mind to the frenzy of whatever I’m experiencing or observing. The hand saying ‘stop’ may simply invite a pause, open a heart, and with it a look to a bridge wanting to be built.

As the potent energy of this full moon eclipse lingers with us over the next several days, I invite you to pause and imagine the world you want to call forth moment to moment, day to day and to align your thoughts, your words, your actions with that dream.

The Flow of Life in a Mountain Creek

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

Matriots for Mother Earth

Morning Beauty in the Sangres

Once you acquire planetary loyalty, you are loyal to everybody. You are way out of line if you try being loyal to people before you are totally loyal to the planet.  Gregge Tiffen

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens. Baha’u’llah

As I began writing, I was experiencing one of those blog mornings with many thoughts and several themes seeming to want my attention. The beauty of the mountains captivated me on our walk this crisp morning, hinting that nature and the planet would appreciate attention. I sense these mountains, trees, and the wildlife that abound here want my attention, my care. I sense that their kin right where you live want and need the same.

Perhaps their beauty and the sunshine in these woods was more than a hint. In this week following Earth Day I’ve noticed how easy it is to honor Gaia on the day we’ve proclaimed hers and then, like the day after Christmas, to forget. As I reflected a bit more, I recalled a post I wrote several years ago suggesting that we become ‘matriots for the planet’ [read it here]. I remember thinking that I was cleverly making up a word, then happily discovering that the online Urban Dictionary defined ‘matriot’ this way: A person who loves, supports, and defends the earth and its interests with devotion.  Of country, patriot. Of earth, matriot

Last week as I listened in via Zoom to the Global Freshwaters Summit, I was awed and inspired by the activism – public and private – addressing the wide range of issues in the watersheds of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers here in the U.S. I felt gratitude that the event, originally planned as a conference to be held in St. Louis Missouri, was virtual so that I could easily attend. And, I had a sense that the planet was grateful as well that the 400 people from around the globe who participated were doing so with a minimal carbon footprint.

At the same time, I get that there is another side to this story: revenue, jobs, etc. lost in the travel and hospitality industries; people suffering as a result. We need innovative, integral ideas and creations to bridge such divides. That, for me, is the ‘stuff’ of matriotism. We need to question EVERYthing as well as ourselves.

In the rush to return to our pre-pandemic ‘normal’ will we simply ignore the impact of our ways of life on our planetary home? Or will we take account of how our systems and the choices we make reflect what nature has shown us, particularly over this past year? Author, activist, and friend Rivera Sun shared a documentary that premiered on Earth day – The Year Earth Changed – detailing how nature has responded to our human ‘pause’. Having watched the trailer, (click here to watch) the film is at the top of my ‘must watch’ list. I want to more deeply understand my/our impact on the planetary being upon which my/our life depends. I take a moment to distinguish ‘life’ and ‘lifestyle’, wondering what lifestyle changes I/we can make to demonstrate matriotism: loving, supporting, and defending the earth and its interests with devotion?

Rather than ‘returning to normal’, I wonder how we might pivot to integrate greater consideration for the planet in making decisions?  Perhaps before deciding to engage in business travel for meeting with or speaking to others at a conference, we matriots will ask and evaluate the cost to the planet of a pending decision. Perhaps we’ll learn to better compensate Gaia for her life giving support, offsetting the costs to her well-being of our choices.

I’m not advocating that we stay totally ensconced in our homes and our local communities. Indeed (full disclosure), this week I’m making a day trip to town about 80 miles away to celebrate a friend’s birthday and to pick up some auto parts and supplies that I can’t get locally. I recognize that we need each other. We need play. We need connection. At the same time, we need to recognize and integrate the planetary costs of meeting those needs into our consciousness more consistently and powerfully.

Valley of Contrasts

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