Healing Properties

             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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In Mercy

             When I’m shown a sign numerous times, or am directed someplace over and over, I know it’s a big damn deal.  This week was no exception.

             While my desk job is soon to be going through a huge operational systems change, I have been keeping the worry in my back pocket, trying to ignore the low-key stress I feel about how much trouble this will cause.  Simultaneously, I enjoyed some fantastic days off/family moments.

             This is my reality.  And I’m getting better at the juggling, the prioritizing, the putting one aside to face the other, then… switching gears.  I’ve worked really hard to get here, and it makes me proud to say I put in the hours, the tears, the pain, to reach this point.

             (I have a long way still to go, but the progress is evident.)

             My improvement is also being measured in the way I treat myself.  I’ve granted allowances, I’ve fashioned a sort of metaphorical shawl of grace I reach for when I start to spiral in a negative direction, draping it over my shoulders in comfort and tenderness.

             I extend compassion to my younger self now too, I look at her as someone who maybe should have been given understanding instead of being assaulted.  I don’t hold her responsible as I once did.  I have relieved her of the burdens she should not have been carrying.

             Who the Universe has brought forth for this lesson is one of my true favorites.  When she kept showing up (in SUCH unexpected and random ways), I smiled, and thanked her.

“Quan Yin

The Goddess of Compassion

‘I recognize suffering in order to release it.‘ “

             To live in honesty and with genuine empathy for those around us, we must show ourselves this same care.  We must forgive our younger selves.  Forgive our past selves.

             Once we move through and beyond the sorrow, the guilt, and the blame, we can often see an innocence in our ignorance.  To show compassion is to accept that we’re all learning, we’re all growing, we’re all trying to do better.

             Would we berate a loved one for actions they couldn’t change, or origins they had no control over?  Never!  So, it only seems fair we grant the same clemency for ourselves.

             Allow lovingkindness, first for ourselves, and then, rippling out into the world.  It’s what Quan Yin suggests.  And I agree.

 

 

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Individual Implementation

             As we travel this life, we see the sights, we gather our stories, and we (hopefully) learn some lessons.  The longer we live, wearing these bodies, the more we are able to understand about why we’re here and what we’re doing.

             At least, that’s the plan (as in, our blueprint, the one we crafted for ourselves).

              When we’re at Home on the Other Side, setting up these adventures, we have all the knowledge of the Universe at our fingertips.  We have our singular journey and our collective presence.  But when we come down here to LIVE it, the entirety of it all can feel like it’s been forgotten.

             In reality, all of that greatness and all of those answers, have merely been stored for later access.

             Access It

             is our message right now.  We are being advised to go after those squirreled away memories, teachings, and that soul-deep understanding.  We are being asked to open up our storage unit of awareness, flip open the book of records, harvest from the tree of life.

             Whether we meditate, pray, walk near the water, stare into the flames – whether we dream, drum, hum, or chant.   Whatever is our tool, our vehicle to get there, we are being directed to open that crate, hop on board.

             The scope of this wisdom is immeasurable.  Whatever is our situation, current issue, or complaint, we can find a solution.  The task is simple, but not always easy.

             But we must, we need to look within.  We need to listen.  We have to tune in, today.  Gathering this, and then sharing it, that’s our job at this very moment.

             For me, personally, as I’ve shared before, I like a YouTube guided meditation.  (Something voiced with a foreign accent is especially soothing.)  Or, sitting on a cloudy and overcast beach with my feet in the cold sand as waves roll up, crashing loudly.  Often just a view of some falling water can calm me and help me to feel the earth’s voice, hear the songs of the sky.

             Whatever it is that centers you, calls out to you, do that.  Sit with it, bathe in it, allow it to flow over and through you.  Heal from it.  And then . . . . . share the Joy, the knowledge, and the lovingkindness.

 

This is what I’m currently listening to.  It’s beautiful, and has exactly the right feel.

 

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One Of A Kind

             We have spoken several times here about how we are Human Beings, not Human Doings.  But it was brought to my attention (again) today, so I guess we’re revisiting.  Which is good, this time it’s a little different.

             There is an enormously powerful and positive movement right now about the acceptability of us just occupying our skins, our space, our bodies.  How, no matter the size nor shape, we have value and we have agency.  No one should be able to say that we, as a person, need to change, need to alter, because of the standards of another.

             If we behave negatively, cause harm?  Of course we should be reprimanded immediately, and called to address/correct our actions; be held accountable.  But to merely carry out our lives, move about in the world?  No, we don’t have to answer to anyone.

             To be our best selves, our most human, we must live in a true and genuine way.  To live our best lives, to go forward and follow the path we set before we arrived here and donned our physical bodies, we must understand that we don’t owe anyone anything.

             To be the best version of ourselves, we need only direct ourselves to our

Life Purpose.

             At this moment in time, on our planet, in our culture, across the globe, there are warriors who are fighting the battle against injustice and ignorance.  More so now than there have ever been before.

             These sacred souls are primarily the Average Jane and Average Joe.  They are mostly not someone rich nor famous nor even considered all that “special” by mainstream media.  But, they have chosen to enrich all of our lives by doing the difficult work.

             I would bet that everyone reading this has come across one or more of them.  They are here amongst us, and they are us.  They are often the quiet prophets, but they are also the outspoken rally leaders.

             They are BEING their most human self by trying to make us all better.  What we can learn from them, and what we can do to help, is to begin in a silent and intentional way.  Sitting with our stillness will open up answers we had trouble hearing due to all of the day-to-day noise and garbage.

             When we occupy our time and mind with positivity, grace, lovingkindness, good people, and that which brings joy, we are bettering the whole.  We are being our best human selves.

             We don’t always have to “do” – this is a time for us to “be” – it is a time for us to support and to assist.  We can put that into practice, we can BE our best self, for the higher and greater good of all, from our own small corner of the world, sending healing to one and all, being the foundation for our improved future.

HERE is a perfect example of how we can all participate.

 

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Trade Rate

             The month of June has a funny feeling to me.  Once it no longer means “school’s out” there is a sense of pointlessness to it.

             Maybe if we’d ever taken vacations, or if anyone in my family had ever traveled it would be different?  I hear that this is the time of  year folks go places which are not their jobs?

             Very often, when living is the same as “surviving” summer getaways are foreign and winter dates run together with all the other seasons.  Possibly it’s just me and I don’t like celebrations?  Hard to say, I only have my own perspective and view to go by.

             What I do know is that there’s a sense of expectancy in the air, even if it never turns in to anything.  The Universe brings reminders of this in having our focus turn to

exchange and flow.

             Every bit of us, and every bit of what we know, is energy.  It’s the very thing which makes us move and feel and function.  The power of the sun, the glow of the moon, the cost of food, the pull of tides, going from one place to another.  All things are part of this continuum.

             So when we have a sense of “what’s next?” or a moment of anticipation, we can be sure it’s being felt by others.  We are all connected.  We are all part of the life breath this world moves with.

             Learning to share, to understand Self-Care, to honour our emotions, while still holding out a hand to those who need it most, is the essence of being human.  It is the exchange and flow of soul knowledge.

             We may experience this beginning of Summer differently from how our neighbors do, but when we reach across, be part of the whole, we help ourselves right along with everyone else.

Not where I am,
but where I wish to soon be.

 

 

 

 

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