In following the tenets of Buddhism in Thich Nhat Hanh’s words: I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy.
It’s all about the attitude!
As the circle of life revolves, the mandalas become more colorful and intricate.
Tomorrow, we will explore our bodies in various loving and moving ways. Today, we go see Hello Dolly! May Carol Channing inhabit the stage with her presence.
Colored in by CBS
Every great poet, artist, writer, dancer, musician, expressionist and philosopher has their obsession with death. Not only is it cathartic, but it is also our inevitable fate. As my late mother-in-law lay terminal, she assured me, no one gets out alive. Perhaps it is not morbid. Let’s view it with a different lens. Exploring our feelings and fears around death, including our own seems mature and more like a holistic approach. Certainly, it is the final letting go.
Our ultimate destination may or may not be the end of our consciousness. Your belief system determines how you grapple with dying. In fact, religions like to comfort you by putting the idea of your demise into a little, tidy, cozy box for you.
But creative types like to venture outside the box, rebel against the norm and explore.
The END helps me prioritize, discern how I schedule my time, deepen my quiet questioning, experience nature, relate to others, excites me about being alive, take self-care seriously and intend to BE love and compassion.
When you share time and space with someone instead of believing your time is limited, your attention demanded and your space compromised, know your heartfelt precious moments endure, your love is eternal and your soul is absolute.
Ideally, you create a sacred space within and without. An actual physical place can form a bond with your inner, unseen being. Perhaps, more than one location or theme is realized and may be sustained. This means many things to people. It can be an altar, a corner shelf or a whole room. A special place where you cleanse, pray, just pause or meditate by is an ancient rite found in women’s circles since mothers first gathered together for warmth and friendship with their children.
Instinctually, we light candles, scent our spaces and offer it small statuettes, natural finds, and visuals that stimulate and comfort us. At the treehouse, I gravitate towards placing crystals, grids, incense, wind chimes and things I love on a baker’s rack. Down the hill, I condition and bathe our yoga space with sage, candles, rose water, music and various stones. The yoga goddess circle is enhanced with singing bowls, tea service, inspirational cards, conscious breathing, meditations, props and deliberate movement.
In your own home, collect two to ten items that awaken love and authenticity in you and find a teeny or grand area. You may want to lay fabric or a tray down on your stable, display surface. Spend a moment to dedicate each treasure with your intentions and add them. Sit with your vignette daily.
Ideas for your sacred space range from the aforementioned to anything you find heartening. You may have inherited jewelry, silver or a photograph that arouses the soul or memory. Otherwise, choose pebbles, shells or twigs that impart earth vibrations. There is no wrong or right way to set up your spot no matter what you read on the internet because it’s what energy and time you infuse into it that matters. Also, remember, it is not set in stone and all environments benefit from a change, rearrangement, newness and letting go.
No title needed. This is the time of year when we all have good intentions but I am still reviewing the past. It went so fast.
I got my wish this year and was able to spend New Year’s here in the glorious mountain hideaway I call my tree house. To be more accurate, this cabin, in its entirety, feels more like a sanctuary. Surrounded by chirping squirrels with fluffy tails, cold weather feathered friends and glistening pine needles swaying right outside my wall of windows, I am inspired to find my spiritual self.
Another year, another blogging opportunity and another chance to let the divine light inside all of us to glow and reach others in despair or hopelessness, including ourselves.
Another moment to grasp the present, embrace our shadows and exude delight in being alive.
Another year to show our loved ones how much we care, including all sentient beings, holding and sending compassion to the world. Once again, we are challenged to forgive, be merciful and treat our enemies, thorns and disagreeable situations with unrelenting awareness.
“We can learn the art of fierce compassion – redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking – while cultivating power and clarity in response to difficult situations.” – Sharon Salzberg
May tomorrow be a win for democracy, women, people in need, compassion, Mother Earth and love not fear!
GO VOTE for YOUR LIFE and the FUTURE OF THIS WORLD
Unbeknownst to Drumpf, we live in a global community. Enlightenment and Internet have yet to reach the White House. Only Twitter, fear and inciting his base exist.
When yesterday he spoke candidly of how he was a nationalist when probed, he said, “For too long we have given and cared about the rest of the world and not focused on our own country.”
That’s when it hit me. He doesn’t get the concept of what we give, we receive. He is dumbfounded by the power of generosity and the sheer joy of coming to the aid of others. Plainly, he finds no reason for empathy.
He believes abundance is in short supply, fearing he won’t get it ALL like Daffy Duck at Pismo Beach. “All mine, all mine,” he whimpered, then screamed as he ran around and tried to gather all the pearls out of oyster shells on the beach. Bugs Bunny just let karma take its course. “What’s up, Doc?” While he chomped on a carrot.
As a globalist, I invite all opinions that help, support and awaken me. I enlarge and expand spiritually, mentally and emotionally. In other words, I grow in wisdom when I listen, empathize and give to others.
As a nationalist, you hate, you bully and you become smaller. You remain stagnant and start to stink. You shrivel like a slug with every grain of salty nastiness.
This is spiritual law. And, Drumpf and his cronies who support this message don’t see past their own survival. I forgive them and love them so my heart is not turned to stone, as well.
But, I will always resist and fight for the freedoms the USA has afforded my family after escaping the same inane historical tyranny, generation after generation, continent to continent. Even if that ideal doesn’t exist here anymore.