… or maybe it’s Saturday?
May we be safe in our homes.
May we have gratitude for those homes.
May we have robust health.
May we be filled with LovingKindness.
May we have patience to share
and plenty of nourishment.
Merry Equinox to one all All! Okay, maybe not ALL. But in this time of chaos, what you won’t hear from me is anything topical, medical, global, nor political. None of that in this space right now.
It’s everywhere else, it doesn’t need to be here. Instead, we’ll be focusing on Care. Care for ourselves. In whatever form that takes.
Care for others, if we are able. Again, in whatever form that takes.
There is to be no judgment at this time. We can’t afford it. We are all doing the best we can with what we have. To say that Our Way is “better” than someone else’s is to cause the biggest hurt.
We don’t know how others are coping, we must look only within. We must be more gentle than ever. We must be kind. Patient. And filled with LovingKindess.
I’m not negating the fact that many of us are in pain and discomfort, and that we shouldn’t experience our feelings. While we acknowledge these emotions, we have to remember about permanence. Nothing lasts forever. Not even horrible and weird uncertainty.
We have control over how we react. And how we move forward. Or, how we may be sitting still. We have control over how we breathe.
During this moment, let us allow ourselves (and each other) to Be. To breathe. To have some space and some healing. It can only help.
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The other day I had a fantastic conversation with my grandbaby. Well, all chats with her are fantastic. Also, she’s not a baby anymore (just ask her). She’s three.
What we were discussing most recently though, was change. I told her it was part of our growth, but that many of us struggle with it.
It’s a challenging topic, not just for old Nanas and preschoolers. This idea that nothing stays the same can be very unstable, and unsettling.
Since my primary life lesson seems to be Release, I often have a hard time with the Letting Go portion of it all. I’m constantly on the look-out for tools and strategies to help me get my brain in the proper place to understand, to feel at ease.
I came across an inspirational concept which really rang true. It talks about how WE are not a work of art, our life is. The physical bodies we wear are like paintbrushes. All of them are different, but each of them is important, in its own unique way.
Our art, is our life. And we create that masterpiece by using the tool we arrived here with. It can be pointy or wide or heavy-handled or delicate, it can be any color found in nature, or it can be decorated by human hands.
All paintbrushes have a finite amount of usefulness. They change over time. They do, eventually, wear out. This does not change what it is they have created, though.
The basic concept is that we don’t need to focus on the paintbrush, we should be paying attention to what we’re creating with it, not how the tool itself looks or what shape it is. It does its job, the task of making our lives, our art.
It does its job, as long as it is taken care of. Without the tool, we can’t craft the creation. But remember, the tool is NOT the art, it’s the tool. The art is the art. Our life, what we do with it and who we become, THAT is the masterpiece.
This one really spoke to me. I’m giving it to you, share it. Go out into the world and make gorgeous, important art. Use your paintbrush, clean it regularly, store it properly, and always remember, it’s the tool we have, so treat it well. Even if it stops looking the way it once did.
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As we rolled in to February, I had a few challenging days. Based on the undeniable fact that, as every single second ticks past, we are leaving more and more of my beloved Winter behind. Which means the days will get longer and warmer. This is not good news for me.
Facing our struggles, and then calming our fears, is such a valuable skill to have. It’s one I’ve been working on, in a dedicated and powerful way. So when I’m struck low, or when an outside source agitates my zen (the way impending Spring does) I can usually pull over (metaphorically speaking) and spend some down-time in a restful place.
One of my favorite ways to do this is in the manner of curating my feed, or … removing that which does not heal. In a physical sense, I aim my brain at something which calms me; I point my eyes at some image that can bring a sense of joy.
This is such an item. It was built in 1892 by a Doctor in a small North Dakota town. It is everything I want and need in a home. With the exception of its land-locked status and ownership not being mine.
But what it represents right now is also our message. The Universe would like to remind us of how important it is to
dream.
Not only the night slumber type, but also day-dreams, fantasy, imagination, meditation, prayer. By any other name this is a mental escape where we can slow ourselves to serenity and relax. It is a tool we can use to take our racing mind and body out of play so that we can refocus.
When we work long hours, we need to take a break. Tranquility is crucial. For our heads just as much as for our muscles and bones. These bodies we’re wearing do best when well fueled and and well rested. So do our minds and hearts.
Whatever it is that you can point your eyes to right now, do it. Give yourself a treat, visually. Allow yourself to gaze off, or peer inward. Whatever is the best for you, go do that!
I’ll be here, meditating on a beautiful old house.
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As we work on adapting, evolving, and doing better, our progress can be tracked. What can also be monitored is our setbacks. Both are perfectly common. And yet. One is clearly more desirable than the other.
Or is it? I mean, sure, falling down isn’t the way to success. But maybe when we put them together, they add up to more, and it really is?
When we talk about recovery or improvement we don’t always acknowledge (or even mention) the challenges. It’s as if we’re thinking we can only share the “good” parts of our journey, not the struggles. Wait, isn’t it possible though, that all pieces are positive?
Those stumbles and fall-downs and roadblocks and detours? They can be enormously educational. And, it turns out, just as “good” as all the other experiences along the way.
Right now we have been asked to look at
timing.
Because even though we aren’t able to see the big picture yet, we are being reassured that we ARE on the right track, we ARE making progress, we ARE heading in the correct direction.
I was in a situation yesterday. It was super “normal” and very average for an afternoon of running errands. But, it went ugly in a fast and unexpected way.
Two end-aisle displays, on either side of me as I stood in line, just refused to be ignored. I began to feel nauseous, sweaty, and hyper aware of my body (specifically of its shape, size, and age).
It was too much. I left. I walked out. I chose to save my mental health. I went to the car. Where I sat, in the rain. It was so cool there, and refreshing. Nicely overcast and gray, very soothing. I slowed my breathing, focused on IN and OUT.
I reminded my inner critic that I had value, that I was worthy, that I had as much right to be there as any of those other people. (That the advertising in all of those products and images were fucking lies.)
As I began to feel safe and centered, it occurred to me that this entire event had a purpose. I was able to see the arc, the spiral, the activity of what had happened.
This lesson dropped into place, exactly when it was supposed to. As do they all. As does our entire life here. The timing, as they say, is divine. Not necessarily because of outer sources, but because of our own inner strength and power.
It’s us. We are in charge of our blueprints, even if we’re not in control, we do have value. We do have worth. And we see that, just when we need to most.
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Welcome to JulieLand 