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Summer time is often a time for travel. Short trips or long; with family or friends or on your own; to a city, or out in nature; leaving home for a few days or more can put us in a different space. Especially when we are traveling to places we haven't been before. There is an element of adventure in the unknown; the possibility of learning, growing, changing.
When I was young I sometimes traveled on buses across the country. I would meet all sorts of people, see new places and hear new stories. I discovered that I was a different person on the road, more outgoing and adventurous, generally freer. It was a mindset, or perhaps the lack of a mindset, where I was more open and therefore more met. I had more fun, lived a bit more and liked myself better.
Later I went to Japan, where I lived for several years. There I was really outside of all the mental constructs that were familiar; all the social and collective roles and norms where different and unknown. I frequently had the sense of being in a dream like state of mind, where the possibilities were wider open and I had a sense freedom, of living more from myself and who I was, rather than who I thought I should be. Not "knowing" what I was supposed to do, the past was far away, the future was undefined; I lived more in the present, in the moment, even after I had been there for years.
This summer I've made some short trips which have been fluid in their planning and guided at times by spirit. This is naturally the way one lives "on the road" allowing things to unfold; each day full of possibility for the unknown and unexpected. A new friend, or a new sight or smell, are all magical.
Coming home I felt that I brought some of that magic with me. I was able to be in a city I have lived in for 18 years, and know well, and feel that sense of wonder for what the day will being, for who I might meet, or just to see a familiar site with fresh eyes. That dream like sense of being in the present, the joy of the now, and allowing the future to be full of exciting possibility came home with me. This has faded a bit, but it is still with me and I can cultivate that sense of magic, adventure and possibility everyday.
So if you are traveling this summer, allow yourself to find the magic of adventure and the unknown, even in small things; to feel deeply how you engage with a new place or person. Then bring it home with you. Even if you aren't traveling, perhaps you can go to a new park or part of town nearby, or just remember when you were on the road and full of life and adventure.
There is a state of mind, that is simpler, freer, more present; full of adventure and possibility. It is perhaps natural to find this more when we travel, but you can invite this any where any time. This is who you are when the everyday mental matrix is shed like an old skin. Call it up, let your heart fill with the feeling of being in the present, the freedom of possibility, for the day or the hour. You are creating space to be present in your life in a deeper truer way that cannot help but serve your dreams and your heart's desire.
(© 7/11)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
THE MAGIC OF TREES
Growing up on the east coast, mid-atlantic, there were lots of trees. Big trees: oaks, beeches, maples, and many others. Old trees: some that had lived for hundreds of years. I loved the trees then, but they were everywhere and so my relationship wasn't very conscious, except for a few massive old maples or oaks, whose presence and age where palpable even there.
Later in California and I met the redwoods. I was older and beginning to wake up a bit, becoming consciously aware of the energy of things, and when I had the chance to walk in the redwood groves I could clearly feel how their energy affected me. Its a grounded and rooted energy of certainty and being, which allowed me to relax, to let go of the busy human energies of the cities, finding stillness and peace. Much of this is their nature, but I suspect that some of it comes from age, from perspective, the patience and certainty of time.
Now I live in Colorado, part of the world where trees are fewer and smaller. My favorite tree at present is a big cottonwood behind my house. When I sit by it and it helps me ground, to center and release. Its leaves shade my house in the summer. Its branches provide home to birds and squirrels. I can touch it and feel is roots deep in the earth, as deep as the branches are tall, it bridges the upper world of the air and the underworld of the soil.
When I do readings there is a dark green energy, like the pine trees in the mountains here, that I think of as tree energy. It is calm and grounded, quiet and still. It is an energy of listening and being, rather than doing. In this way it is a healing energy, because we all need to be listened to without judgement, simply witnessed.
It is the energy of the center post, of bending in the winds, but holding firm. In its being a tree provides shelter, shade, food and home for animals and birds. For us as well if we choose. In its clear and present being it can instantly help us ground, clear and find our own being and space. Try it sometime soon. Small children will calm down around trees, as they instinctively match their energy. Allow a tree to give that to you.
The trees can also talk to us, especially the old ones that carry their own wisdom. This conversation may translate into words, but it is mainly on other levels and you will feel it or know more than hear it. Allow yourself to receive, to open and learn, trusting that this is something that serves you.
Perhaps you already have a tree that grows near you that you have a relationship with. If so take time to say hello again. If you feel moved you might give it a little food or drink. Something you have made yourself, that has that love of making in it, even a simple "making" is best. Be grateful for the gifts the tree offers you. If you don't have this sort of relationship, you might explore initiating one. Take your time and you will know the proper tree and it will know you.
Exploring the energy of trees and forming relationships, their magic will always be available for you to call up. All their qualities live in you, they just remind us, and remembering you can invoke them for yourself whenever you choose.
(© 7/11)
Later in California and I met the redwoods. I was older and beginning to wake up a bit, becoming consciously aware of the energy of things, and when I had the chance to walk in the redwood groves I could clearly feel how their energy affected me. Its a grounded and rooted energy of certainty and being, which allowed me to relax, to let go of the busy human energies of the cities, finding stillness and peace. Much of this is their nature, but I suspect that some of it comes from age, from perspective, the patience and certainty of time.
Now I live in Colorado, part of the world where trees are fewer and smaller. My favorite tree at present is a big cottonwood behind my house. When I sit by it and it helps me ground, to center and release. Its leaves shade my house in the summer. Its branches provide home to birds and squirrels. I can touch it and feel is roots deep in the earth, as deep as the branches are tall, it bridges the upper world of the air and the underworld of the soil.
When I do readings there is a dark green energy, like the pine trees in the mountains here, that I think of as tree energy. It is calm and grounded, quiet and still. It is an energy of listening and being, rather than doing. In this way it is a healing energy, because we all need to be listened to without judgement, simply witnessed.
It is the energy of the center post, of bending in the winds, but holding firm. In its being a tree provides shelter, shade, food and home for animals and birds. For us as well if we choose. In its clear and present being it can instantly help us ground, clear and find our own being and space. Try it sometime soon. Small children will calm down around trees, as they instinctively match their energy. Allow a tree to give that to you.
The trees can also talk to us, especially the old ones that carry their own wisdom. This conversation may translate into words, but it is mainly on other levels and you will feel it or know more than hear it. Allow yourself to receive, to open and learn, trusting that this is something that serves you.
Perhaps you already have a tree that grows near you that you have a relationship with. If so take time to say hello again. If you feel moved you might give it a little food or drink. Something you have made yourself, that has that love of making in it, even a simple "making" is best. Be grateful for the gifts the tree offers you. If you don't have this sort of relationship, you might explore initiating one. Take your time and you will know the proper tree and it will know you.
Exploring the energy of trees and forming relationships, their magic will always be available for you to call up. All their qualities live in you, they just remind us, and remembering you can invoke them for yourself whenever you choose.
(© 7/11)
Friday, July 1, 2011
BEING YOUR BLISS
Joseph Campbell famously suggested that we follow our bliss. This is often taken to mean finding the thing that you love to do and making a career of it. Making a career out of something you love to do is great. However, if you imagine that you will find a starting point and know what the whole journey looks like or where it will lead you, you are likely to part company with your bliss almost as soon as you start. Campbell also pointed out, following your bliss does not mean you know where it will take you.
Sometimes this saying is taken as a broader injunction about how we live all our life, to use the feeling of bliss as a compass in where we go and what we do. This is a deeper level that requires that we know and reference the feeling of bliss on an ongoing basis. It also requires that we come to trust this inner compass. It will tell us if we are on our path at the moment, and perhaps where to go next.
I increasingly find that my mind, still running in old patterns, will spin visions of fear and anxiety when it can't see next week or next month; but if I check into my heart, it is fine. Our bliss is not the pleasure or satisfaction of the body, though we may learn to find it there as well. Following your bliss is not about hedonism in a superficial way, it is about finding the deep joy of being alive that we all carrying inside us.
As children of western culture we tend to assume that following our bliss is something we do in the outer world, a path we take through life, a tool we can use to be happy. It may be all these things, but most deeply it is an inner path which leads us to those levels of our being that are bliss, that are always in touch with the divine. When we have found this inside, we also have our compass, and know the next steps on our path.
The expression is not 'find your bliss', we all have it already. You may say that you don't know what it is, but I suggest that you do. It may be in small things at first; a flower, a song, the smile of a child. You may have put it away as part of 'growing up', but it is still with you waiting to be invited back into your life. Just as a mighty river starts as a small stream in the mountains, find a small piece of bliss anywhere in your life, follow that trickle of water, cultivate the experience. Allow it to grow it will lead you deeply into yourself, where there is a river full of joy and life force, which is our spiritual being.
You have heard of people who have achieved something wonderful, but had no idea when they started where their journey would lead, or how they would fulfill their vision. But they knew their bliss, felt that part of their being, and they trusted it. That perhaps is the hardest part. Letting the mind vent its worries and anxieties but returning ever more deeply to that part of you that is your bliss is in this moment. Close your eyes and follow your breath into your self and find it now.
(© 7/11)
Sometimes this saying is taken as a broader injunction about how we live all our life, to use the feeling of bliss as a compass in where we go and what we do. This is a deeper level that requires that we know and reference the feeling of bliss on an ongoing basis. It also requires that we come to trust this inner compass. It will tell us if we are on our path at the moment, and perhaps where to go next.
I increasingly find that my mind, still running in old patterns, will spin visions of fear and anxiety when it can't see next week or next month; but if I check into my heart, it is fine. Our bliss is not the pleasure or satisfaction of the body, though we may learn to find it there as well. Following your bliss is not about hedonism in a superficial way, it is about finding the deep joy of being alive that we all carrying inside us.
As children of western culture we tend to assume that following our bliss is something we do in the outer world, a path we take through life, a tool we can use to be happy. It may be all these things, but most deeply it is an inner path which leads us to those levels of our being that are bliss, that are always in touch with the divine. When we have found this inside, we also have our compass, and know the next steps on our path.
The expression is not 'find your bliss', we all have it already. You may say that you don't know what it is, but I suggest that you do. It may be in small things at first; a flower, a song, the smile of a child. You may have put it away as part of 'growing up', but it is still with you waiting to be invited back into your life. Just as a mighty river starts as a small stream in the mountains, find a small piece of bliss anywhere in your life, follow that trickle of water, cultivate the experience. Allow it to grow it will lead you deeply into yourself, where there is a river full of joy and life force, which is our spiritual being.
You have heard of people who have achieved something wonderful, but had no idea when they started where their journey would lead, or how they would fulfill their vision. But they knew their bliss, felt that part of their being, and they trusted it. That perhaps is the hardest part. Letting the mind vent its worries and anxieties but returning ever more deeply to that part of you that is your bliss is in this moment. Close your eyes and follow your breath into your self and find it now.
(© 7/11)
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