Gratitude

I haven't thought about this in a while.  It feels like it has almost become a cliche to use the word 'gratitiude.'  It suffers from being an overused platitude, and the word might feel a bit contrived at times.  Still, today I am thinking about how uplifting it is to bring awareness to the good that is present in my life.  It's easy to get bogged down with all of the noise and distraction of our current world.  And yet, recently I have been taking a moment to stop and focus on the things that bring me joy in every hour of the day.  With this pause I have noticed a response of warm gratitude inside that has bubbled up very naturally and freely.  Yay!  Such a great feeling!  Putting my energies into this awareness has felt like it sparked some creative positivity that I was sorely needing.  These feelings of joy and thankfulness have been feeding my soul at a stretch of time when I have felt my soul energy being drained.  Joy and gratitude can be my superpowers through these challenging days of change

"Be grateful for your life, every detail of it, and your face will shine like a sun, and everyone who sees it will be made glad and peaceful.  Persist in gratitude, and you will slowly become one with the Sun of Love, and love will shine through you its all-healing joy.  The path of gratitude is not for children; it is the path of tender heroes, of the heroes of tenderness who, whatever happens, keep burning on the altar of their hearts the flame of adoration."

                           --Jelaluddin Rumi 

All is Well

These times are changing quickly.  I am transitioning out of a long stretch of having agreed to surrender to the energies of waiting and not quite being fully aligned (inside and outside).  I am feeling refreshed to say that I am having some new experiences that are lifting me up after some confusion and even suppression of my life force energy.  Such good changes and movement!  Things are moving as they should--naturally and organically.

Through all of this my true self has known that I am being held in the loving embrace of Infinite Wisdom.  My soul has known that all is well and that all I need is provided.  This will continue to be true as I walk my path.

"When peace like a river

Attends my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, You have taught me to say

It is well, it is well

With my soul."

            --Horatio Spafford, 1873

  

Being and Receiving

Through attending to my Being changes have come.  They have come gradually over time, little by little.  I have been aware of receiving better and better things as time has passed.  During this week the theme of receiving has been strong.  Receiving by Being, and especially receiving in the moment.  This is the freshest and most potent version of receiving I have experienced in my life.  We are meant to have abundance and all that we desire.  My recent personal experience of that has been wonderful and rich.

"The Universe does not require you to stress for good things."

               --Alan Cohen  

    

A New Day

This is the phrase that I have been hearing for several days now.  As I make art, as I journal, and in the quiet of the mornings.  What-has-been is over and done, never to be experienced again in that way.  Whatever is coming is being created in each day, and the accumulation of these days becomes the future.

We have a clean slate.  A bright day ahead for each of us to express the wonderful qualities that make us individual creations in the Universe.  Every moment is a gift for us to receive fully and to embrace with our whole hearts. These moments make every day new. 

"The art of living consists in being completely sensitive to each moment, and regarding it as utterly new and unique."

                         --Alan Watts      

Connection

I often feel like I am slogging through these days with the weight of my own forward movement on my shoulders.  While that is not the true reality, the feeling is with me until I make some meaningful connection.  I have recently been aware of a deep spiritual longing to connect.  Even though I may not feel a connection with others or in my home space, eventually I do feel connected with the energy of Source.  When that happens the heavy slog feeling disappears, and all of the elements of my life are brought together in a connected and unified way.  This reconnection feels like a gift from the Universe. Sometimes when I just don't have the energy to make a connection, that connection will come to me unexpectedly and effortlessly.  I am always surprised by this, and it brings me Joy in a big way.  We are not alone in this world.  We are moving through stressful times, and there are many ways we are able to make a meaningful connection.  Loving Presence customizes and provides what we most need, exactly at the time we need it.  We are here to receive the caring gift, and to be uplifted on our life path.

"Spiritual connection is our ability to intuitively understand something that impacts our soul and gives meaning to our lives.  Some people experience spiritual connection by having a relationship to the Creator...and all living things."

                            -- We R Native articles

Resource

I'm feeling drawn to this word, this idea.  I feel like I am opening to resource(s) in new ways.  Our Loving Creator has provided us with unlimited resources to be able to thrive in this world.  It is our task to connect with these provisions through tangible and intangible practices.  And we are asked to receive and utilize them wisely.

One of the most important resources available to us is Love.  Love is a resource that will never run out.  Our world is so out of balance that, collectively, we are not able to fully receive this resource--in fact, we push it away.  If we, as humans, could receive even a small amount more of this lavish resource, then a new balance would be created in the world.  Each of us has a heart, mind, and body--a receptacle--that can contain the vastness of Love.  It is our responsibility to clear away all of the layers that have prevented us from receiving this Love and from thriving on this planet Earth.  Once we receive more Love, then more Love can be shared between us and our cohabitants on Earth.  It is time for Love to burst out of our hearts' fullness and spread across our world.

"Love cures people--both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it."

                    --Karl Menninger   

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."

                    --Desmond Tutu        

Door Opening

In my present change process I have been in an "in-between" place.  Not a comfortable space for me, but an important space to honor and to have patience with.  Still, in just the past few days the energy has shifted.  I feel like a doorway is opening.  The path beyond it is unclear and Unknown to me.  But I can see the light streaming in through the crack of the opening.

Not always easy, this change time has been one of becoming more comfortable with uncertainty.  So while much is unclear about what will happen on the other side of the doorway, I feel uncharacteristically calm and expectant about my next steps.  A wonderful change has happened that has prepared me to walk gently and easily through this doorway into the Unknown.  I will stay open so that I can step forward with grace and in peace. 

"Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls."

                       --Joseph Campbell