Light out of darkness. Long, dark nights are giving way to lighter, longer days. Longer daylight causes seeds to germinate. Light shines into our lives physically and inspires us spiritually. We just experienced the unfailing light of Hanukkah and the growing light of the Winter Solstice. We even had light in the night with a full moon at Christmas. Now the lights of Kwanzaa focus on Unity, a light for our souls. All kinds of holiday lights sparkle in the dark evenings. I am opening to the light. I want to invite light into my life in the form of my higher self, my higher consciousness. This is a rich time of filling ourselves with literal and metaphorical light.
"The winter solstice triggers a time in which the Inner Light is kindled in spite of outer darkness. It is a time to give birth to and awaken the higher self. If celebrated properly, spiritual impulse is born anew within us, adding light and strengthening the love principle within our life."
--Ted Andrews
I feel like my life is a living, breathing Thank You. Every moment is infused with the wonderful mystery of All That Is. I may not be fully aware of this all the time, but I know that my life force energy continuously flows from the Source of All Being, and I feel grateful for this truth. This is such a time of abundance. Blessings flow freely to us as much as we are able to fine tune ourselves for opening up to receive them.
"Gratitude is an astoundingly reliable, immediate way of becoming present."
--Danielle LaPorte
We worry about lots of things in life. We're wired that way, and the culture has trained us about acceptable ways to live. When we step out of the mainstream, or challenge the cultural ways, we worry even more. I have learned this week that worry gets us nowhere. I have also learned that compassion gets us somewhere. More important than addressing cultural values is the act of bringing compassion into our daily lives. Compassion for our friends, neighbors, strangers, tragic victims, animals, plants, all of nature. As well, we must find compassion for ourselves. Especially the kind of compassion that allows forgiveness. We all carry negative energies/experiences that we would just rather not look at. Rather than avoid these, we can turn and face them, and then offer the compassion of forgiveness--to ourselves. My experience of doing that recently allowed me to dispense with worry--it seemed irrelevant; insignificant. I immediately found myself easing up on my life, myself. I found myself spontaneously breathing deeper and easier.
"May I live this day
Compassionate of heart,
Clear in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love."
--John O'Donohue
We are moving through grand changes and significant times. I am navigating through my own individual version of these changes. To me that feels grand and significant also. This is a time of new beginnings for many ancient believers--a New Year time. I am also feeling that New things are happening. Stepping out to the edge of this change is part of my present task. Stepping up to things in my life that need to be released is part of my present challenge. This is a powerful and humbling time for me; possibly for many. A time of breaking through old resistance, confronting fears, and taking risks so that a new path is formed.
"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."
--Neale Donald Walsch
I am enjoying this month for all of its gifts. Part of living my beautiful life is staying open to what each day--each moment--brings. I have loved all harvests of abundance that have come my way. Tomatoes, squash, corn, greens, fruit, berries, not too mention the late-blooming flowers. This month feels like a transition time, too, as summer gives way to autumn. I have seen and heard geese on the move. Their V's have started to appear in the sky overhead, and their sounds speak of a change of scene. The evening temperatures have dropped to cooling, comfortable levels. Abundant harvests and seasonal touchstones. Beautiful living.
"August
The opposing
of peach and sugar,
and the sun inside the afternoon
like the stone in the fruit.
The ear of corn keeps
its laughter intact, yellow and firm.
August
The little boys eat
brown bread and delicious moon."
--Federico Garcia Lorca
I am finding myself drawn to butterflies of all kinds. They have been coming into my daily life often, and I love their feeling of lightness and floating. These are challenging times we are living in. Contrasts are extreme, and much change energy is activated. I feel like I want to keep things on an even keel, yet I am still perceiving the ups and downs of this change time. I think the butterfly life is a good adaptation. I feel like I'm emerging from a cocoon of old structures, and I'm opening to a life of floating on the breeze. The winds carry me--sometimes slow, sometimes fast. I look for gentle places to land, and I'm nourished along the way. Even though I am buffeted on the wind gusts, I feel well cared for. It's time for me to live my beautiful life.
"Twilight
In the middle of the town.
A single butterfly."
Haiku by Takarai Kikaku
I am being prompted to write some words. I feel very much guided right now, since no clear content has presented itself to me. Embarking is one of the words. We often think of this as beginning a journey, but Webster's dictionary also describes it like this: "to engage or invest in an enterprise." I certainly embarked on the journey awhile ago, but this idea of investment is capturing my attention in the present. I have the feeling of investing my energy, my time, my resources into some creative project, possibly called "my life." It is definitely creating itself each day. It has very little material form, except that it manifests as a feeling of contentment with my life and my activities. It feels like a peaceful foundation has formed. Out of this comes everything else.
"When you find what your are called to do, your life takes on a focus and purpose. You come into rhythm with the deeper longing of your heart."
--John O'Donohue
This late spring season is bustling with activity and new growth. It is the time for planting seeds and live plants that we trust will bring abundant harvests in the next few weeks and months. I am sowing seeds also. Lighthearted seeds of positive energy, healing, creative expression, and new projects. I have tilled the soil and amended it with fertile thoughts. I have placed the seeds in locations that suit them well, and I have watered them with good attention. Now I wait and watch as they put down strong roots, send up green shoots, fill out with greening leaves, and blossom in beauty. I am one of these living, growing, greening, blooming beings. I am being nurtured by All That Is. Life wants all of life to thrive and prosper. So I am in this time of growing and developing. I am being present as my leaves unfurl. And so it is.
"Behold, my family, the spring has come;
The earth has received the embraces of the sun
And we shall soon see the results of that love!
Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life.
It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being."
--Sitting Bull
I am in a transition. From old to new. From seed to flower. I'm not even sure what are all the pieces of this transition process. Changes are happening. I am migrating from one place to another, metaphorically. It 's a mystical time. And I know that I am upheld by the positive forces of the Universe. Personally I feel like I'm in a fog sometimes. There's a lot that I don't know. So I am being held in the love and compassionate regard of All That Is. I trust that this is so as I braille my way through this time. Recently I found this blessing that assisted in calming my transition energy.
"May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities, and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered, and protected.
May your soul calm, console, and renew you."
--Celtic blessing
Spring. Even the name of it is coiled with potent energy. I am enjoying what feels like an early spring. So many plants have put on blooms, and green leaves are unfurling. Seeds are sprouting with new life. Long-held wishes for a full and meaningful life are sitting in pods about to break into green growth. I wait and watch in joy and anticipation. What adventures am I preparing for? What fun is there to be had? I feel quietly grateful for this springtime of potential.
"East Wind, all that you are--
Help us to find the dreams and tasks that are ours for the coming year.
And to balance ourselves carefully between focus and flexibility.
Show us how to move your unbridled creative energy through our hearts and bodies.
Keep us steeped in our wildness for at least this one season
So that our dreams are not domesticated or restrained."
--Susan Chernak McElroy
Living in mystery is living a life of unpredictability. Moving in the Unknown is allowing your wild self to live and to express itself. I am now becoming more proficient at living in mystery. It takes practice. And commitment. And the willingness to take a good, hard look at what really matters in our lives as the sun rises and sets each day. Each person is granted the freedom to live in the Mystery and to solve the mystery of what's important for themselves. It's all about choice. Those who choose this way of living are supported with the Love and Strength to live each day with courage and joy and authenticity.
"Do what you need to do in the present moment. Yours is not to worry about that which we call the future.... Do not lose power over the what-ifs of your life. These are unlimited and endless. Keep your power in the now, in present time. Keep your power just in the day that you are living on the Earth, and not on how to maneuver tomorrow."
--Gary Zukav
A New Year--a new commitment to being my true self. Life is unpredictable, yet always changing. We can only look inward to determine the most suitable path for ourselves in each moment and each step of every day that we are here on earth. True self calls, and I feel unable to ignore the call. I am moving each day closer to my true life. That life resides in the process of co-creating with Source and receiving the assistance of divine energy. It doesn't look picture perfect--it just is what it is, and it unfolds in its own organic way. A blessing.
"Authentic empowerment is necessary to accomplish fully the mission of the soul, yet as you move into authentic empowerment, you move toward the fulfillment of your soul's agreement with the Universe, and as you move toward that fulfillment--as you move consciously toward the energy of your soul--you empower yourself. You and the work of your soul upon the Earth expand together. As one grows and develops, so does the other."
--Gary Zukav
