Today, like all days, is a Holy Day. But this one is one of the few all year when masses of people take the day off from diligent pursuits to connect--with self, with loved ones, with relaxation. This day is so holy that when I passed by the CostCo on my way to a friend's home for dinner, there was not a single car in the parking lot. An amazing sight--I call that a Christmas miracle!
We need this quiet time--this sacred time--of winter to calm ourselves and listen to our personal yearnings for our lives. We have the ability to know our deepest wishes but we must stop the frenzied pace of our lives in order to hear our personal truth; our heart's desires. Breathe in, breathe out. Imagine peace and calm inside yourself. Stop all the crazy talk. There is a seed of truth germinating in the dormant earth. Something inside you wants to emerge.
"The energies touching all at this time of the year present opportunities to awaken the seeds of inner potentials that we most desire to unfold. It is a time to reflect upon the miracle of heaven and earth uniting, coupling within the dark to give birth to new life. It is a time which gives each individual the opportunity to light the light that shines eternally within the darkness."
--Ted Andrews
After much releasing, transmuting, and shifting I am now aware of the idea of partnering with the Universe. These changes will continue, but now there is a new piece that invites me to consider that the work of my life is shared with All That Is. I think I have always believed this, but the new piece feels like it is about experiencing this, and about trusting in the experience to move me toward that which I love in life. There is much power to be accessed and utilized--the "Force" is with us if we are with the Force. This power comes from trusting in the partnership, and moving with full commitment. I am just beginning to understand this way of moving in the world. I am on a power path.
"Trust in the ways of power and the Great Spirit. Know that you are made of power, and live with trust in your heart."
--Lynn Andrews
The end of this month puts us in a place of transition. Harvests are complete and winds shuffle the falling leaves all around. We prepare for colder weather in the northern hemisphere. It's a perfect time to shuffle things around in our own lives and name intentions for the inward dwelling months to come. This is a time of identifying what we're hanging onto in our lives that we no longer need. It's a good time to let go of these old things that are meant to be left behind in this season of this year. If these things no longer give us life, then they are also holding us back from our own full expression and self-completion. It might be time to transmute these parts of ourselves from their place in our life story into something that connects us with our creative wishes and visions for what is to come. Leaves blown by the wind have already let go to make way for the next cycle. They teach us to do the same.
"...winds move through a person's life. They shake some things loose and maybe even turn some things upside down. Wind shakes off what's really loose that needs to be swirled around, and brings with it also a fresh breath, a fresh air. If some things have been knocked down or turned over, it's okay. Within and around that you will find some sprouting. You will find the fresh green edges of what is trying to emerge."
--Mary Morissey
It's autumn again. An ending--a beginning. Leaves are coloring, falling, announcing change. Plants and animals prepare to go inward for protection from the cold. People go inside as temperatures cool. Our energies also go inward as outside activities slow down. These cycles keep us connected with nature, and also connected as a human tribe. Times of gathering and harvest, as well as collecting seeds for future undertakings. Times of taking on and letting go. Life cycles.
"Cool, cool evening
White moon
Autumn wind blowing"
--haiku by Uejima Onitsura
These days are filled with the challenges of polarized energies. As we move through co-creative processes of change, we feel the push-pull of things that have been and things that are trying to be. We are flowing in a river that is transporting us to new places, to new experiences, and we can ride the stream or push against the current. What we know and what we don't know must be held in compassionate and All-inclusive balance as we live through these times.
"Non-dual thinking is the highest level of consciousness."
--Richard Rohr
"Feeling vulnerable, imperfect, and afraid is human; it's when we lose our capacity to hold space for these struggles that we become dangerous."
--Brene Brown
We all come to this life with strengths and gifts to offer. It takes a village or a community to accomplish all of the complex tasks and goals that we humans want to accomplish. Within that village we have the opportunity to find a niche, to express our gift, to offer our unique strength toward serving the larger endeavor, the greater good. In its highest expression, this is what coming to this life is all about. It's about each of us offering our best selves. In so doing we find that we have enough people to create a harmonious gathering of talent, and enough resources to complete all of our complex and necessary tasks for meaningful livelihood. Subsequently, we then have enough of everything for everyone.
"The One Mind
Of heaven and earth is dyed into
A thousand different
Grass colors."
--Unattributed poem from Japan
This feels like such an auspicious time. Webster's dictionary describes this word as "good omen, boding well for the future, favored by fortune." That makes it feel even more "awe-spicious." This year of large changes and high energy is having a crescendo at this summer solstice time. Our world is in some chaos, yet for me it feels like creative birthing. We are all helping to unfold something creative that bodes well for the future. It feels important to continue to steadfastly hold up thoughts of mindful compassion for ourselves and toward others.
"Our compassion for ourselves and for others is one way to invest our life force energy in order to collect the benefits of unswerving compassion and inner peace. We can see that in order to maintain balance, walking our talk can involve a whole new set of disciplines that require boundless energy, grounding, compassion, focused intent, and mercy toward ourselves and others."
--Jamie Sams
I have been doing a lot of thinking about life purpose. We don't always have to be clear about what our life purpose is or how we are to "make it" in the world. Our culture has taught us many negative things about competency, money, success, and power. Love is our life purpose. We are loved by the Universe, and love is what we can share with others. Being who we are is also our life purpose. The closer to this we can come, the more joy we are able to experience. Others benefit from our love and joy when it is true to who we are. These are the building blocks of our life purpose.
"The purpose of your life is to serve in a way that brings great joy to yourself and others. Don't worry about finding your purpose. Instead, focus upon serving a purpose, and then your purpose will serve you."
--Doreen Virtue
So often we carry more than we need as we travel through life. I have been doing this much of my life. The other side of this is that I have also been letting go. This letting go clears the way for new expressions, new exchanges, and takes us to new places. It also releases burdens that are not necessary on our paths. This process brings us peace, calm, and courage in these high energy times. I am daily finding the ability and the permission to let go, and to rest and relax as I release.
"I used to carry the weight of the world, but now all I wanna do is spread my wings and fly."
--song lyrics by Chantal Kreviazuk
Dreams are like seeds. We are in that season of the year when seeds are germinating and becoming the plants that they are coded to be at the heart of their seed. Dreams are similar. They begin with the germ of an idea, and that idea begins to grow when it lives in the right environment under the best conditions. All of the necessary elements exist within the code of the seed or within the germ of the idea. It is our task to listen, to attend, and to act with our highest being in ways that will nurture the plant or the dream into full flowering. It is there for our enjoyment and for our full interaction. Being and allowing are the greatest gifts we can bring to the experience.
"What you desire to create is not down a path into the future. It is not just beyond your reach. It exists right now, and is simply waiting for you on a higher spiral of creative consciousness.... Do not strive and struggle, but dream, create, and manifest as you co-create with Divine Consciousness."
--Celia Fenn
At times recently I have felt discouraged. I have been watching my life unfold, and I have also wanted to push for change. After some quiet time to myself I received the wisdom that I am in a process. My growth within this process is taking me where I want to go. Changes are happening within this process, and I am the steward of my process. So I will listen and act when that fits, and I will watch my life emerge from these actions. I am witnessing and letting it be.
"Now today, moment by moment, realize that each person and event that happens is life for you. Life is not somewhere else. See how fully you can accept the life that presents itself to you now."
--Brenda Shoshanna
Compassion trumps everything--judgments, criticisms, brokenness, negativity, ignorance. Being compassionate triumphs in all circumstances--wins out over anger and denial. It allows us to feel and be who we are in the moment. This is one of the most important things in life.
Practice loving-kindness, give yourself permission to receive compassion, bring compassionate energy forward in your daily exchanges with the world.
"In cultivating compassion we draw from the wholeness of our experience--our suffering, our empathy, as well as our cruelty and terror.
Unconditional
good heart toward others is not even a possibility unless we attend to
our own demons. Everything we encounter thus becomes an opportunity for
practicing
loving-kindness."
--Pema Chodron
