React!!! Or Not?

A Fishy Surprise in Cottonwood Creek Nearby

You’re always in a position to decide if you want to have any reaction to what’s going on. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Air of Optimism – May, 2011)

I fell asleep last night with this quote on my mind, sensing that it would guide the muse this week, a week of choices about reacting to events – right here at home and events in the world.  In the midst of having a crew here working on the house (cracks repaired, a new coat of stucco she’s receiving), I’ve been observant of my sense of being surrounded and of the sounds (voices, sanding, scraping, hammering, etc.) and of how I respond, both internally and externally.

I’ve been challenged to keep my cool and react with care in trying to have the crew understand that they can’t smoke outside due to a fire ban in our county (not because I’m a b____ who doesn’t like cigarettes).  I created a place for them to smoke and ditch the butts, so they wouldn’t inadvertently drop one in the dry grass.  They aren’t smoking on the property, but I don’t think they get the danger or understand the ban. So, I’ve practiced letting go. That’s challenging given that fire is a fear I’ve experienced for much of my life.

This week I also experienced a small set back in my breathing practices. I was bummed and, upon a bit of reflection, realized that I was pushing too hard (in total contradiction to the point of the work, which is to breathe less) and making up a story about what my daily ‘pause times’ should be.

And, then there are events in the world:  breaking trust and agreements, seemingly endless armed conflict and inhumane treatment of life on many fronts and in many forms, threats to the future of the internet that I depend upon … and so much more.

As if to confirm today’s topic, first thing this morning, I cut my finger while slicing a lemon for my first of the day cup of warm lemon water. There was a time in my life when such an event would have triggered an angry outburst (directed at nobody but me, of course), huffing, puffing, and wasting loads of energy. How could I be so careless …? While I’m sure that I haven’t lost the ability to react in that way, this morning I smiled.  With thoughts about today’s post swimming in my head, I felt no emotional outburst – inside or out. I grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding and squeezed lemon in the cup before pouring on peroxide on my finger and applying a bandage.  As I sat down to let my thoughts flow onto paper, warm lemon water at my side, I had a sense of knowing, of gratitude, and of peace.

Little events like my cut finger show us where we are in relation to life, if we dare look. Seemingly insignificant, they offer clues to our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with the world we’re navigating.  With each event there is the possibility for awareness and learning.  Willingness is the ingredient that each of us must add.

That awareness and learning can take us to recognizing points of choice.  I and only I choose my reaction to a cut finger, noisy construction, setbacks in projects, and the decisions of our elected officials.

I’m discovering more and more that the foundation for these choices is squarely placed in my relationship to myself.  The bedrock of that relationship is my growing understanding and sense of peace about how the universe really works. When I embrace the concept that every event is here for me, there is no room for being the victim or at the effect of these events – even though I have no control over them.  My challenge is to be at choice.  Sometimes that’s ‘easy, breezy’ and seems to happen quite naturally.  When fear and anger creep in, choice can seem limited.

Three questions I find especially helpful in getting to a place of choice when my ability to choose seems illusive are these:

• What is the meaning I am making of this?
• What am I afraid of?
• What is the outcome I desire?

What about you? How are you maintaining your sense of choice about reacting (or not) to events in your world?

Sunday Visitor - First Western Tanager of the Season

Much Ado? Or Not?

A Blessed, Snowy, May Day!

Nothing is hidden from the Universe. … We cannot hide anything from anyone else whether we think we can or not. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: Sight Seeing – May, 2010)

Until each of us digs down deep, diminishes our fear and our personal greed, they will dominate our lives and allow us to be dominated by others.

I have a theory. It’s contrarian, not what most people seem to be thinking and saying (surprise!). And, it’s a theory. It might be accurate. It might not. It might be both, or neither. Here goes:

We are putting way to much attention on what technology giants (Facebook, Google, and the list goes on) and others (government, business, etc.) should be doing to protect us and too little attention on the choices we make (about what we read, engage, believe etc.) and what we do individually as a result.

Said another way: the ‘ado’ or fuss we put on ‘them’ might be better placed (or at least its distribution shared) on ourselves and our choices. Yes. (Gasp!) I’m suggesting that there is a different way to look at this and other situations in life. What if we looked at each event as an opportunity to consider (gasp, again!) our role in the situation’s creation and our individual responsibility for the choices we make. Our true power lies there – not in what ‘they’ say or do to compel us to behave in ways that benefit ‘them’.

We might also consider that the ‘Facebook breakdown’ is one of many symbols of things falling apart. Our systems are crumbling under the weight of greed, fear, dominance, and confusion; failing because their foundations are not naturally aligned with Universal Law. The pine trees out my window are not fighting over the moisture in the snow that’s gently falling. They are simply there, receiving what is being offered. (I add the gratitude.)

With our thoughts and our actions we contribute to our world. We are a part of and we use the very systems we blame. Life is tricky, it is. I contribute to the culture of greed when I have a thought about lack and trigger fear about not having enough. I contribute more when I act from that fear. In a culture steeped in more ‘stuff’ than we need, we find ourselves wanting it to be cheap or even free.

If it’s accurate metaphysically that nothing can be hidden, what do we gain by putting so much attention on events like this? What are we allowing ourselves to be distracted or diverted from? Most importantly, what is the best choice for each of us individually in how we navigate these events in our chaotic world? What choices will help us build a society and systems that are true to our nature?

Our true power is swirling in this muck. Until each of us digs down deep, diminishes our fear and our personal greed, they will dominate our lives and allow us to be dominated by others through events aimed at stoking the fire of fear. Competition to establish who dominates will continue between nations, businesses, interest groups and individuals. Confusion and chaos will continue to reign.

The exciting part is – the choice is ours with every choice we make. I’m deepening my curiosity about how to live more aligned with the pines – receiving what is offered and being generous by allowing my bounty  to simply fall to the earth.  Live like a tree! What’s yours? How might we do THAT?

Snow Resting in the Pines

Soul Speed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sacred Blanca Peak Glistens This Spring Morning

Smart Cells

Gentle Observation

The universe does not make ninnies. The universe has created you in Its image as strong, dependable, creative, self-assured, intelligent, harmonious, and complete. This is true for everyone. These qualities reside in every cell of everyone’s body!  Gregge Tiffen (Tax Time: Are You Taxing Yourself? – April, 2007)  

No, this isn’t a post about smart phones or any other ‘smart’ technology – other than the ‘technology’ of you and every other human being on the planet. You – yes YOU – are imbued with each and all of the qualities that are this universe! So are your family, your friends, those you love, and those whose behaviors you loathe.

This week as I began my 68th sojourn around the sun has been a reflective one, looking back at the cycle just completed to celebrate victories and to acknowledge where I want to invest in growth this year. So, I wasn’t surprised when today’s quote leapt off the page both as a reminder of how blessed I am/we are and a way to identify growth areas for investment.

Like apps in technology, these universal qualities are in our cells available 24/7 for us to tap into and use. The key is to sync ourselves with our cells. We listen. We observe. We choose. We act.

Unlike those same apps, these gifts of the universe never go out of date. The only upgrades required are those we choose as our own individual understanding deepens, expands, and grows. These upgrades flow naturally as we call forth, experiment, and apply each quality. How we define and express them changes as we change.

As the world presents us with new opportunities to use our ‘apps’, we have the Free Will to apply them – or not.  We choose whether to be bound by the culture’s standards or to define each quality in a way that expresses our individual highest and best.  ‘What are the culture’s standards,’ I wondered. And, more important, what is my aim?

'Strong’ in much of our culture means physical strength and/or weaponry to show force. The strength I aim for is the internal strength to stand with courage in the face of force. ‘Dependable’ often means doing what society thinks you ‘should’ do. The dependability I aim for is the discipline to follow through on my commitments to myself and to others. Our culture tends to think of ‘creative’ as artistic or talented. The creative I aim for is remembering my status as co-creator with the universe of all my experiences; thus, recognizing in every moment that I am creating that moment.

‘Self-assured’ can look like ego driven self-aggrandizement. The self-confidence I aim for comes from within, from applying what I’ve learned about how the universe and the world work. It then manifests outwardly in calm clarity that is both intelligent and harmonious.

In the world ‘complete’ is often measured by how much we have, we do, leading to a sense of incompleteness, scarcity and never enough. The complete I aim for is comfort in knowing that there is always ‘enough’. Right where I am is the perfect place in this moment, and it will lead to the next and the next, infinitely.

This week I invite you to tap into the ‘apps’ granted you by the universe. Embrace them. Define and sync each to YOU. Then, step into the world each day as the unique and beautiful you that you are.

An Old Stump in the Woods -- What wisdom does it hold?

Unity IS ALL That Is

Blessed Snow on the Peaks!

If there is one thing that causes the downfall of mankind in all forms (consciousness, mind, body, spirit, soul, or what have you), it is human’s great desire to separate or divide. Within the statement ‘United We Stand; Divided We Fall’ is the whole key to spiritual awareness. Gregge Tiffen, The Collected Works of Gregge Tiffen: Earth and Second Earth 

Sadly, even spiritual truth is used to divide, set apart, separate. United We Stand has its roots in the American Revolution, when a band of colonists separated from the British Empire and went on to colonize what is now the United States. In doing so, they tromped over any indigenous peoples’ ‘rights’ by virtue of their presence in this land for thousands of years. The colonists separated themselves as ‘better than’ the so-called savages.

Throughout history, man has declared unity in many ways. And, throughout history, mankind has fallen short of experiencing the unity that somewhere deep inside we each know as potential because it is the Law, Universal Law.  In an effort conquer, our institutions, laws, systems, habits, thoughts, divide everything. Divisions of time separate us from the reality of infinity. Divisions of money separate us from the abundance and wealth that is imbued in this amazing universe. Political subdivisions (cities, counties, states, countries) attempt to unite in order to control within and conquer beyond their borders.  All defy the truth that Unity is ALL that is.

In unity there is truth, pure, infinite truth. Unity is the foundation for mutual understanding, cooperation, acceptance, peace. Unity calls forth the best in us, our authentic selves as one critical part of the One. In unity we understand and accept responsibility for what we experience on this sojourn called life, understanding that there is no ‘other’ to blame. In unity we are strong within, not needing to flex our muscles to prove that strength.

Clinging to separation, we suffer conflict, competition, conquest. We create a win-lose world where there is always someone to blame so we can avoid taking responsibility.

Separation is a construct of man. Unity is of the universe. With every breath we take and decision we make, we are choosing one or the other.

Separation is in our face, constantly asking us to choose this product or the other, this candidate or another, this friend, this belief over that. Separation wins wars, but has no potential for lasting peace. Unity lies patiently (or perhaps not) within each of us as potential.

As the curtain falls on my 67th sojourn around the sun, I’m aware of how much of my life has been lived in that trap. I’m also aware of moments, sometimes fleeting, where I’ve experienced unity with every fiber of my being.

As I prepare to raise the curtain on a new trip around the sun, I’m aiming to expand my capacity to experience that I am ‘one of the One’ and to live and write more fully from that foundation of truth.

Unity is infinite, forever. Unity is everywhere, yet nowhere. Unity is, whether we choose to be aware or not.

A Cheerful Mountain Bluebird Greets the Day

The Political IS Personal

The Dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park on our Welcome Spring hike to the Zigurat

We are in a constant battle by trying to stay alive as a mental individual who is capable of thinking, while our society is basically trying to keep us from thinking by overloading our circuits. This keeps us from identifying our target areas and computing the information that is important to us individually. That is dangerous and that is what is going on. Whatever causes us to shut down is our enemy. Gregge Tiffen (The Collected Works of Gregge Tiffen: Earth and Second Earth)

I’m taking a turn toward politics in this post, something that I rarely do directly. Yet politics as a force in our culture is never far from my thinking. Political decisions at every level of government create policies that impact every area of our daily lives. These policies either empower us or not. Sadly, mostly they do not.  

This morning I woke with chilling clarity about the current blatant attacks on education, on people who are educated, in short on those who dare think for themselves. Perhaps triggered by yesterday’s story about the University of Wisconsin proposing to end degree programs in several liberal arts/humanities areas of study in order to teach things that lead to a “clear career path”, I saw a tapestry of current attacks piling on to long running ones on teachers, public schools, so-called ‘intellectuals’ (I call them people who think!), and more.

I saw clearly the weaving together of dark, dense threads to smother the independent thinking and acting that, I believe, was envisioned by our nation’s founders (both fathers AND mothers!). Some threads scream ‘fake’ news in one direction. while manufacturing such news in another. Threads that tear down from within federal departments charged with education, diplomacy, environmental protection, and justice. These are the areas with the potential to empower (and, yes, it’s debatable how good a job they’ve done up to now) individuals and build a free and just society.  Other threads build up departments that aim for ‘power over’ – homeland security, military, and police as examples.

These attacks (and I use words of war intentionally – especially after last week’s post http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/bucking-the-culture-aint-easy) are not new, nor is my awareness of and concern about them.  Yet today, I’m taking them personally. These actions attack the freedom of individuals to think, learn and grow as we each choose (and as we are designed to do in the grand scheme of things universal). They are aimed at numbing, shutting down, and directing our minds to do someone else’s bidding. And, they are right there with all the other noise screaming for our attention.

Political decisions ARE personal in their impact. And, no impact is greater than distracting our mind from its most important task: learning what it/what we each came here to learn.

Yes, we need to pay attention and be involved in those matters that we most care about. But even more, we need to be vigilant, alert, and discerning in directing our attention, our minds to what is important to each of us on our unique learning sojourn. Focus. Discover. Focus again.

Cool Hand Luke takes a look at the landscape from the Zigurat

Bucking the Culture Ain't Easy

Of whims and harmony ... that is our way.

In silence, man and shadow met face to face, and stopped. Aloud and clearly, breaking that old silence, Ged spoke the shadow’s name and in the same moment the shadow spoke without lips or tongue, saying the same word: ‘Ged.’ And, the two voices were one voice. … Light and darkness met, and joined, and were one.  Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea

The truth of the matter is self-honesty in all things. Gregge Tiffen, Open Secrets: The Nature of Feminine Truth (March, 2011) 

Practicing oneness requires the self-honesty acknowledge the darkness within.

Slowly the light is returning. Soon the day will be equal in its light and darkness, and the darkness will give way to more hours of light. A cycle: one of many cycles within cycles that is the natural order of the Universe.

We humans though think we know better than the order of the Universe. We create tools of separation and control: calendars, clocks, daylight savings time and build a culture that honors such tools over the wisdom of the Universe.

This week, though I sprang my clocks forward, I chose to ignore them as much as possible. As is generally my habit, I’ve risen upon waking and allowed each day to flow from there. Even with few timed commitments, I found myself noticing the time and correcting thoughts about being ‘late’ as I went about my day. The exercise reminded me how deeply imbedded ‘time’ is in our culture.

Our culture also holds ideas about how we ‘should’ use our time. Since closing the B&B, I’ve felt a strong pull, guidance if you will, to ‘read, write, connect more deeply in nature, and empty’. I’ve followed that guidance less than I’d like to admit. After all there are taxes to prepare, firewood to stack, and – oh, yeah, shouldn’t I be doing something to generate income?

But these little things (yep, in the grand scheme they are but tiny blips despite how I allow them to interfere with my peace) pale in comparison to bucking the violence that pervades our culture. Violence is monetized (and, not just by the ‘war’ machine, but also in medicine, pesticides, and more). It is deeply imbedded in our language and our history.  Sadly, our cells know much about violence.

I’d like to believe that I’m not a part of this violence. But alas, there is a mirror that, in Oneness, reflects right back to me. In that mirror I see the justifications that I claim for my own acts of violence: if I don’t kill the mice, they will …; my blood type is ‘O’ so my body needs meat; my curiosity takes me to violent movies like Black Panther and Star Wars; mosquitos carry disease (and are sooo annoying!). These are only a few of the mindful choices I make. Sometimes I squish a spider before I’ve given it a thought.  And, so it is in our culture.

Creating a new culture requires facing up to my contributions to the culture we have. Practicing oneness requires the self-honesty acknowledge the darkness within.

As I look to the courageous students who walked out of schools yesterday calling for an end to gun violence, I’m filled with encouragement for the world they envision and the world that is theirs to create. I’m proud to march with them whether in spirit or body.  And, yet I wonder if I have the will to buck my own violent habits as a contribution to ending violence on our planet? For if I don’t, how can I expect others to do the same?

This is the challenge of our oneness with all things and with one another. I am all the beauty and the light in this world.  I am also the darkness. I am That, I am.

A Hazy Mountain Morning

The Power of Directing Attention

Oh what a beautiful morning!

To expect the Power of our Potent Force to be handed to us by some physical person, situation or experience is to deny acceptance of our own Universal Power. By failing to see where the Source of our potential lies, we end up suffering the impotency of empty experiences that exist without energy and without the power to make pathways for development. Gregge Tiffen (Deserve Success and You Will Command It – March, 2008)

When we put our loving attention on the person not the problem, we harmonize humanity.

This week as I held my intention to ‘harmonize with the good in the world’, I experiencedmoments when any ‘good’ seemed to have slipped away.

I lost sight of my intention, let go of curiosity, or allowed an external force undue influence. My attention went to problems – my own and the world’s – noticing those things that I judge as ‘bad’ or ‘lacking’. As you might guess, I found more than enough to drag me down. 

And, I declined to allow them to keep me there.

As soon as the slightest hint suggested I was putting my power in the hands of someone or something outside of me, I stopped. The clues that suggest my attention is misplaced include: feeling angst, angry, impatient, or lethargic; ignoring my daily self-care habits; worrying about things about which I have no control. I’m sure that it will be a lifelong learning opportunity to refine, notice and pause when I’m in this place. It IS the pause that refreshes!   

In the pause, I take a breath (or two or three or even a walk), doing my best not to pass judgement (‘you know better than …’). I put each distraction aside. I’d like to say that I do so gracefully and with gratitude for the learning and the energy redirected. What’s more accurate is that I snuffed them out, putting my attention, my focus where it can best serve. Only in hindsight did I truly feel gratitude for the experience.

The pause is my opportunity to redirect. I asked: what is in front of me that deserves my attention right now?

Then, I had the ability to attend to those things – several mundane tasks that come with the season (love checking each off of my ‘to do’ list!), reading and research to support my goal of writing, a nice long visit with a dear friend who is moving from the community, and – of course, long walks in nature with my ‘Harmonizer in Chief’ Cool Hand Luke.

More and more I’m deepening my understanding that personal and spiritual development isn’t somewhere ‘out there’ to be completed by attending a workshop, reading a book or listening to a guru – though each of these can make a positive contribution. Rather, our development depends on where we put our attention moment to moment, day to day.

When we do so with the slightest acceptance of our true Power, our growth can be exponential, inspiring quantum leaps in our capacity to navigate life on the planet and plant the seeds of wisdom that we will carry with us into eternity.  And, we do our part to harmonize humanity.

Harmonizing with Mom while awaiting a treat.

My Piece of Peace: Sowing Seeds of Harmony in Our Chaotic World

Cool Hand Luke - Harmonizer in Chief

… maintaining harmony in your individual space contributes to the harmony of the planet. Gregge Tiffen (It’s Springtime: Flow With the Power of Nature – March, 2007)

Harmony – a combination of parts into a pleasing or orderly whole; congruity. Webster’s New World Dictionary

As I enter the 12th and final month of my 67th journey around the sun (in this lifetime, that is), I’m focused on harmony and fueled by a deep desire to contribute to peace on the planet.

If you’ve been reading these posts for a bit, you know that I believe peace starts up close and personal within each of us. How we operate and the environments we create either contribute to harmony or detract from it. If I’m stirred up, fearful, agitated I’m contributing to the chaos. That knowing should stop me in my tracts and provoke me to clean up whatever is at the root. When I’m aware, it does and I’m able to make a shift. When I’m not aware … let’s just say ‘it’s messy’.

For the most part these days, I’m feeling harmonious with myself and with life. So, I wondered: how can it be that I’m experiencing harmony in the midst of the upset and chaos in the world coupled with the unknowns in my own life as I shift my attention to new, but not yet clear, domains of expression?

Upon reflection, I identified five strategies that help me create and maintain harmony:

• Taking excellent care of my physical body including eating healthy foods; scheduling body work and acupuncture regularly; supplementing food with vitamins, herbs and other nutritional support; stretching; daily walks or hikes in nature with Cool Hand Luke; getting plenty of rest.
• Committing to ‘no-pressure’ and no worry (care – yes; worry – no) around the unknowns. I’m committed to thoughtful consideration without worry of what my next work in the world will be and what sources of income will support me. My intention is to allow ‘what wants to emerge’ to do just that without forcing it. Embracing the unknown is key. I look out at the messy world with this same commitment.
• Experimenting, discovering, and operating at my pace, not the pace I think the world has set for me. After decades of ‘fast’ – even knowing that I’m built for ‘slow’, I’m limiting the number activities I put into each day, risking the possibility of boredom (no way with the growing stack of books calling for attention!) by doing less and moving slowly.
• Making space and clearing out ‘stuff’. In the wake of closing the bed and breakfast operation, I’ve cleared, cleaned and reorganized every shelf and drawer in closets and cabinets throughout the house. The garage will follow in its time as winter gives way to warmer weather.
• Expressing kindness wherever I roam. Whether it’s a simple smile or a gentle hello as I engage with the world, withholding a snarky remark on Facebook, or offering to help a friend, these acts contribute to my well-being and remind me that I have a choice in each and every interaction.

In sowing seeds of harmony, I’m aiming to forge a new energy toward nurturing peace on the planet. Peace that puts attention on harmony not discord, on abundance not lack, on intelligence not its absence, on love not hate or fear, on the beauty that is in EVERY thing, on the power we each are granted that no man or system can take away without our cooperation, on joy and on life itself.

Learning: Questions & Curiosity

The Woods Out Back -- Grateful for SNOW!

Here is where your people have lost the path. You have spent too much time thinking that we humans are at the top of everything. You have spent too much time trying to learn about things and not enough time trying to learn from them. You have thought too much and honored too little. Dan, the Lakota elder speaking in Kent Nerbern’s the Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder’s Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows -- https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/The-Wolf-at-Twilight--An-Indian-Elder-s-Journey-Through-a-Land-of-Ghosts-and-Shadows-9781577315780

Every point in the Universe is a point of experience. There is no void, and no point lacking in any experience. Consciousness moves from very definitive points of learning linked by other experiences that are also learning experiences. … Welcome the next moment with love and excitement. … The only means for growth is to observe, to analyze, to create, to experience. Gregge Tiffen (Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008) -- https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Gregge+tiffen+Fanned+Fire+and+Forced+Love&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AGregge+tiffen+Fanned+Fire+and+Forced+Love

I begin writing this post without clarity about where to begin or, honestly, what I want to share beyond the quotes above.  Perhaps it’s that I don’t have words or even thoughts that seem adequate for expansion.

During this past week I’ve been deeply touched reading the second book in Kent Nerbern’s trilogy of stories that emerged from his association with a Lakota elder. My words feel lacking in their description as Nerbern shares the oral tradition of native peoples, telling their story using the wise elder’s voice.

Not only wisdom, but experience is shared. Not only lightness and humor, but the darkness and anger from a history lived, experienced. It is not the glossy, sanitized ‘Indian’  history I learned in school.  I’ve long believed that our treatment of those who were here when we Anglos arrived was, at best, unjust. But, I simply (and sadly) was not aware of the depth and breadth of the atrocities my ancestors perpetrated on those who had long made this land their home. 

I wonder, now that I begin to learn ‘about’ this side of history, how will what I’ve learned inform me going forward? What can I learn ‘from’ these stories to contribute to my growth?

I find myself with many questions and curiosity; few answers. A portal has opened to a point of learning from which to explore new territory. What experiences are on the path? What wisdom may be hidden in the depths and how might it contribute to my foundation, my capacity to hold a steady, loving course in the midst of the world’s chaos? What is being revealed to become a part of my expression in the world?  I hope you’ll stay tuned and, as always, share your thoughts.

P.S. Perhaps a new pattern for my weekly posts is emerging. Or, maybe it’s simply the nature of this time ending one phase (the bed & breakfast) and opening another that is just beginning to reveal itself. As I drafted this post and looked back to last week’s, I notice they end with questions – questions I’m in at these moments in time. Being in questions is familiar territory for me, sometimes keeping me from jumping in too quickly with what I know. Perhaps the joy of not knowing is a skill that we need to grow.

Before the snow, gentleness and evening light in the woods.