Heart Space

Heart center, wild heart.  Heart of the earth, heart of the matter.  Clearly, heart energy is the theme that's rolling through me right now.  It feels like it's time to speak to my heart, to speak from the heart.  It's time for all of us to create space for listening to our hearts.  The most comforting place to be these days is in our heart space: to move into our heart center, and to let that space inform all of our words and actions.  It's a good time to cultivate a compassionate heart for ourselves, for others around us.  Listening to our hearts will bring calm during these days that invite uncertainty, anxiety, tension, and unrest.  Bringing love to ourselves through our hearts will strengthen us for all that will come in the new year.  Once we connect with our own hearts we will be ready to bring our loving heart space to those who cross our paths in our daily exchanges.  No matter what circumstances we encounter, the loving energy we bring to each situation will go far toward creating a Heart Space big enough to embrace and encompass the whole world.

"Take a few slow calm breaths and slide down into your heart space. This is where the unlimited power of the universe channels into you, and is refreshed anew in each present moment." 

                                    --Josie Wood      

Clearing

We are coming through a time of large change and angst.  While it has felt unsettling at best, and horrific at worst, it has been all about the feelings.  This surfacing of fear, anxiety, shock, anger, and frustration has been a necessary medicine.  These debilitating feelings have been held in our collective awareness through generations of pain and struggle.  These large changes are about ushering us into a new way of being in the world.  A way that lifts us out of this struggle, and into a more compassionate and humane interaction with the earth and within our human family.  This very intense year of 2020 has been necessary for breaking up the status quo, and for opening a way for possibilities toward a more enlightened world.  It has been a time for clearing out old judgments, old feelings, old systems, and old darkness.  This clearing is creating a new path for openness to joy, to love, to freedom.  Yes, there will still be a time of blending the old with the new, and of sorting out what goes and what stays.  We are being asked to clear out and to stay in tune with our inner knowing--that true part of who we are at the core.  This true connection will be the mantle of strength that will carry us through these challenging times.  Stay true. 

"Like a wise serpent shedding her skin, you are called to release whatever is no longer authentic or doesn't serve your highest good.  You are not the same person you were ten or even five years ago.  Acknowledge your growth and movement."

                                --Elizabeth Eiler 

        

Circles, Cycles

This is an incredibly rich and vibrant time of year.  We are bringing in final harvests from our outdoor spaces and gardens.  The air is crisp and cooling.  The leaves on the trees are completing their year by turning into brilliant, amazing colors, and then releasing to fall to the ground.  Everything is preparing for a dramatic season change from growth time to rest time.  The recent cold snap in our area was a fast reality check for me after a very pleasant summer season.  We are in the time of year where traditionally circles and cycles of life and death are honored and celebrated.  This is a circle closing--the winding down of the plant and animal growth year for many in the Northern hemisphere.  Additionally, an uncommon cycle that comes around this month is the occurrence of the second full moon of the month--a blue moon.  With this event, and with the temperature change, I am also experiencing the sense of an energy cycle closing, and of another one opening to take us through to the end of the calendar year.  I felt prompted to address all of this because these circle/cycle reminders provide a strong thread of grounding and comfort to me as we move into the events of November and the remainder of the year.  It will be vital for us to stay connected with Nature, as these connections will continue to provide truth and grounding through these unpredictable days.  I wish for you the rich blessings of this season of transition.

"Circles of Life

Everything turns, rotates, spins, circles, loops, pulsates, resonates,

And repeats.

Circles of life, born from pulses of light, vibrate to breathe, while spiraling outwards for infinity

Through the lens of time,            

And into a sea of stars and lucid dreams."

                           --Suzy Kassem                            

            

Speechless

I feel speechless these days.  I feel like nothing I could say would touch the polarities that we are experiencing these days.  I keep a persistent discipline of "rising above," and these times are begging for me to hold to that practice.  This is a time of dissolution, dismemberment, and dismantling.  Old structures are clearly not working, or have been put on hold, in these events of our present lives.  New structures are in the beginning stages of being formed.  Fires, hurricanes, floods, and many other life threatening things are happening to shake up the "way things have been."  So we can no longer say, "That's just the way things are."  I think the courageous stance is to stay open and to allow.  Speaking about these things that are breaking down the status quo is not for me to do.  I heartily encourage others who are prompted to speak at this time to do so.  My part is to observe, to be compassionate, and to bring positive, loving energy into these times of upheaval.  So it is suitable that I am speechless.  There is new creative energy at work, but as yet unseen, so I am unable to speak about these Unknowns either.  I will remain speechless for the time being.  We can each only do our part to bring about the best changes in our world. 

"In stillness, I am speechless."

   --Lailah Gifty Akita

                  

Cauldron

Fire, cauldron, crucible.  The dictionary definition of cauldron includes this:  "a situation characterized by instability and strong emotions."  To me this feels like our present experience of these days.  Once again, I feel led to rise above this campaign place of polarized opinions and slings and arrows.  In the U.S. this fire burns super hot.  We have wildfires burning out of control.  We have long-standing issues of humanity and health heating in a pressure cooker.  And the current instability provides tinder for the fires of change.  This is a time of purification and release.  This heating up is necessary in order to purge past ills from our collective mode of operating.  There is much fertility in the ground after a large fire.  The charred remains leave amazing nutrients in the soil, and the seeds from some plants are activated through fire to germinate and begin the next generation.  These processes provide nourishment for new growth and new life, which we desperately need as an opportunity to begin again.  So this situation may feel uncomfortable for awhile.  But I believe strongly that it is leading us to a larger life of compassion and cooperation.  This belief is the place that I choose to reside in as I move through this cauldron of change.

"Let us simmer over our incalculable cauldron, our enthralling confusion, our hotch potch of impulses, our perpetual miracle--for the soul throws up wonders every second.  Movement and change are the essence of our being; rigidity is death; conformity is death; let us say what comes into our heads, repeat ourselves, contradict ourselves, fling out the wildest nonsense, and follow the most fanatic fancies without caring what the world does or thinks or says.  For nothing matters except life."

                                                  --Virginia Woolf 

              

 

 

Serenity

Amazing that I'm feeling prompted to write about serenity.  That is so NOT what is going on in the world today.  Yet, serenity is what each of us needs as a resource to be able to move through these times of chaos and the Unknown.  We each need to find whatever activities, places, stories or symbols will give us a sense of peace and calm.  What is that place or space for you where layers of stress begin to fall away?  These times demand that we connect with our own inner strengths, so that we can truly discern what is at the core of who we are as individuals.  We each possess a quiet place of connection within.  Rooting in that sense of our being will keep us sane and grounded during this pressing time of change.  We don't know how things will turn out, and the process may take awhile.  Maybe we can use that time on the path to find our quiet center and to let that be a source of calm within the storm for us. 

"We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds.  We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil.  Serenity is contagious."

                                            --Sri S. Satchidananda

                                        

Creative Harmony

These times are calling for our collective creativity to come forward.  There are many situations we are having to re-examine in all of the major areas of our lives.  Changes are being called for, and old ways of functioning are no longer serving us.  Our new awareness of these transitional rumblings is inviting us to be creative in our forward movement.  It's no longer "business as usual."  Too much truth and enlightenment have come forward with regard to equal treatment of individuals in our society and in our world.  We are gradually shifting out of hate and destruction and status quo.  We are opening to the possibility of moving toward love, and toward constructive ways of living in harmony with our world and with each other.  Creative cooperation will lead to the best and most inspired outcomes.

"If you want to play beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together."                               

                               --Richard Nixon

"The search for meaning is really the search for the lost chord.  When the lost chord is discovered by humankind, the discord in the world will be healed and the symphony of the universe will come into complete harmony with itself."

                               --John O'Donohue         

Transforming Transition

We are in such a time of upheaval on planet Earth.  The virus pandemic has put us all in a different place--with ourselves, with each other, with local and global systems.  We are crossing a bridge from the way life has been to what life is becoming.  Right now chaos is prevalent, and each of us is having our own experience of that reality.  Staying at home is teaching us something about ourselves.  Patterns of duality are being broken up.  New, flexible paths have not yet formed.  We are in this in-between together.  It is a large time of being in the Unknown.  We may feel fear, but that is not the truth of this time.  The fear is there for us to walk through, to release, and to say it has no power in our lives.  Love is coming forward as the truth.  All things will reorganize through Love.  Things may be bumpy for awhile, because we are learning a new way of being.  Staying centered and grounded is our task in this challenge.  This is a time of connecting with our own truth.  Each of us has this core knowing, and it will be what carries us over the bridge.

"Overnight the world changed.  It reset.  It forced us to evaluate what's important to us."                 

                            --Seth Clark, local bistro owner

"From the highest perspective your paradigm is in its final transition.  To look for truth there is pointless.  Look within."               

                            --Source, as channeled by Aluna Joy             

Breaking Loose

I am feeling the energy of breaking out, of busting loose!  Some of that is my experience of springtime, and much of this feeling is coming from being cooped up and having my activities restricted.  Mostly, I feel like this "get free" energy is the larger energy call of these times.  Something in all of us is being released.  We have felt our fears with the experience of this virus pandemic.  And it also feels like it's time to release those long-held fears.  It's time to break out of our previously unknown restrictions based in fear.  We are truly born free, and the time has come to turn our faces to the sun and let that light shine in to scatter the fear and darkness.  Many people still want to be cautious, yet that will not inhibit these breakout feelings.  They are already out of their box, and we can now live outside our own boxes of limitation.  Expressing our personal freedom feels like the next evolutionary wave of our global experience together.

"Each person carries within their core the birthright of creative freedom, which, when organized and orchestrated, is the most awesome force on earth."

                                     --Bryant McGill

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

                                     --Anais Nin  

    

Reversal/Rest

We are in a time of chaos and upheaval.  This doesn't automatically translate into catastrophe or disaster.  Yes, all of our lives are disrupted.  Yes, we see a lot of warning and anxiety if we watch the news.  But what if there's an upside to this pandemic experience?  Could it be that we are in the middle of a larger change process?  All of the routine activity of our lives has been halted--shut down.  While we could react with fear, what would it be like to approach this with peace and calm?  Apart from those in the medical profession and a few others, our roles have been reversed.  Rather than filling our days and minutes with frenetic activity and structured schedules, the majority of us are pressed to "stay home."  What can be learned from this time of being at home with family, with ourselves?  Maybe we're all being invited to take a break, find some rest.     
Certainly because there is much Unknown about our lives right now, we have time to take stock:  of purpose, priority, and progress.  Is this an opportunity for old patterns to break down and new priorities to take their place?  Could we be shifting out of blind exploitation of our beautiful Earth and into an exchange with our planet that is more harmonious and meaningful?  Is our global financial system straining for something more cooperative, equitable and inclusive?  Is this an opportunity for our World to come together to express humanity in more creative and constructive ways?
I feel like we are in a time of dismantling.  People say everything will be different after this pandemic is finished.  I believe this can be true in the most positive of ways.  I invite you to consider the idea that maybe something better is coming from this time of dismantling.  This could be a time of structures breaking down and then building back up in unseen, newly possible, and amazing ways.
It's Springtime--take a walk outside!

"Both upgrade and reversal lead to change.                                               Change wisely."             

                     --Words of Progress 

"Resting in the present moment gives us a connection to stability and ease--an anchor in turbulent waters."       

                     --Tara Brach

Peace

These times are feeling so chaotic.  So many wild and dysfunctional global issues are being brought to the surface of our awareness.  It's an invitation for us to get caught up in the discordant energy, and to move into fearful or despairing places.  Still I am receiving the message for my own self care to stay calm, to stay centered and grounded, and to let the wild energies swirl separately--apart from me and my energy. So I am finding that honoring this message brings me much peace, and that my being at peace puts that energy out into the world as an alternative to the chaos and disruption.

"Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace."

                                    --Dalai Lama

"Peace can become a  lens through which you see the world.  Be it.  Live it.  Radiate it out.  Peace is an inside job."                                        

                                    --Wayne Dyer  

Being Here Now

Life is a moment to moment undertaking.  We think we need to plan, to create goals, to have clear expectations. This bypasses the here and now.  This doesn't embrace the truth of change as a constant.  So much is unknown as we move through life.  Resting with peace in this place of presence gives us a different perspective on our lives.  It gives us a different sense of security.  One that affirms our authentic selves.  There is inherent joy in every instant of our lives.  Becoming aligned with this joy is what carries us through all other unknowns of the future.

"Patience is being at peace with the process of life."

                                 --Louise Hay