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
