Seasons of the Soul

The Dance of Life

Births of many sorts come in and out of our lives. We are birthing new cells daily as old ones die off. We are replacing and replenishing in minute fashion, and all of it is meant to help us grow and expand the life cycle we are. Our growth interweaves with those who intersect our lives...we touch one another in meaningful ways that sometimes are not even visible...a moment, a few months, a lifetime...we don't know the whys of it all...we just see it unfolding. Life is vital, fluid, changeable, and expanding. It expresses to fulfill itself and in so doing, we are part of the dance of creation.

We live in a sequence of seasons, both externally and internally. We see reminders in our outer world on a yearly basis of the trends and shifts in weather and temperature. We see the bright emergence of life in spring, followed by the maturation in summer and autumn when the flowering has turned to edibles, to winter when the life cycle returns to stillness and everything appears to be dead. Yet, always there is something in movement. Within our lives, we appreciate our youth and long to be older so that we can do what grownups do, and then when we reach the magical age of 21 we spend our time trying to defy the aging process because the apex has been reached. The apexes shift as we age, but there are all the ones that point to our own longevity and mortality.

We see the evidence of years on our bodies...changes that we never believed would happen to us, yet they did. However, the one arena where we can remain fluid is within our mind. We don't need to be any age. We can be ageless and timeless based on the perception of life we entertain. If we think that we are the physical body and we reflect what the body shows us to be "true", we lock ourselves into a rigid code of behavior through expectation. Yet, when we resist being categorized and allow ourselves to remain playful and young at heart, we reflect that in our outer world, regardless of what the body does or doesn't do anymore.

Age gives a certain vantage point that can either make sense of much that was unclear previously, or can depress a person whose focus and intention was to be eternally youthful. All the stages of life find common ground within us, and in our aging, we can retain the joy of being a child, the intention of succeeding at projects we enjoyed, and loving those with whom we make our commitments. We don't have to see one part of life as the best or worst, but as a moveable feast. Each stage has given us immeasurable gifts that bring us to the fullness of ourselves. Each has a life span, and each has the beginning and ending phase, but it all is housed within us regardless of the years that passed.

The true gift of being an elder is to sort through and find the gifts of each stage and age...to see what was learned and what was discarded as our knowledge of the world and ourselves brought greater maturity and a larger vantage point. So with age, it is as though we have climbed to the top of the mountain where the view is 360 degrees. At last we can see why the rivers overflow, and where the tree line gives way to meadows, and how the wind patterns move through the mountain passes, and on and on. We see the whole vista, and in this, we can provide a larger view to the younger ones who are hungry for direction and a focus that is larger than Jersey Shore or any of the other mediocre representations of life. We, the elders, are needed. But before we can assist the younger ones, we need to apprehend our own lives as they were intended. We need to become the fine wine of perfect aging so that we have value and make a difference. In so doing, we liberate ourselves from a mediocre view of life...a shallow rendering of this magnificent journey...and we become the beacons of light, hope, and wisdom that can help the ones coming up to steer a clear course with full consciousness and awareness of the requirements on the path.

We are engaged in the dance of life, and our perception will dictate what season we reflect to the world, regardless of our age. When we choose to reflect the best of them all, we enrich the soil of soul growth. The choice is ours. The prize is a life that is glorious from beginning to end!

The Butterfly

 

In the process of metamorphosis there is a very delicate time of not quite being. The story is told of a man who walks along and sees a butterfly caught within its cocoon, struggling to free itself from the constraints of the protective shield surrounding it. As he watches, the man determines that he will help the little creature free itself, and with his pocketknife very carefully cuts the membrane that separates the butterfly from freedom. As the little butterfly feels the air, it moves its wings, and falls to the ground, unprepared to fly. A bird swoops down, and the butterfly becomes a meal...all possibility of further gracing the world with its unique contribution gone.

The object lesson is that the cocoon is the protected testing ground where the butterfly must work to prove its endurance before emerging into the world. What appears to be a struggle is the necessary strengthening that builds the muscles and tissues into cohesive wings of glory. And so with us. We view struggle as something to avoid. Yet, it is because we have been tested within the cocoon of experience that we become champions. Without endurance, we are prey to the whims of fate. With strength, we can rise to meet whatever is on our path with assurance that we have the wherewithal to fly. And in viewing another who is also being called to prove their own endurance, we must allow them the necessary time of strengthening without interference, so that they, too, will have wings of glory. Then we can all fly together as an unbroken legion of light.

The Branch is Not the Tree

Religion is the outcome of understanding of the Divine, and as such, it is viewed from multiple vantage points related to customs, origin of birth, and circumstance. The Divine Creation is beyond any one viewpoint, for its Nature is unfathomable in total by any mind. However, aspects of Its nature can be expressed by Its creation, and as such, each will find their way according to their understanding and their needs.

Religion is part of a multiplicity of views that seek to define the Divine Creation, and can be likened to a branch on the tree of life. Each branch has a purpose in the expression of the tree, but no one branch is the tree itself. Therefore, when any religion, philosophy, or scientific view claims to have the whole picture, it is self-deceived. No branch holds the whole within itself. It is merely an expression of the whole, and as such, is limited in its capacity and function to express understanding from its vantage point.

When any particularized view claims to be the ONLY correct view, it is based on the small sense of self, isolated from all other aspects of creation that have within themselves a Divine connection to creation that is equal, yet different, to the one claiming to be the only correct view. The narrow definition of Creator is an indication of a narrow understanding of the complexity of the Divine, and in a sense it seeks to usurp the Divine to legitimize its claim to superiority over others that hold differing views.

The impulse of tribal and animal instinct is to create hierarchy, and in the natural world of predators, this makes sense to a point. In order to regulate a system, strength of leadership is necessary to focus the group towards specific goals and objectives. It follows the self-organizing principles that provide stability and position so that the system functions harmoniously rather than in a haphazard fashion. It brings order out of chaos. However, within this hierarchy, each position must have value, and when it becomes lopsided and places the one leading in a position of exaltation, it is out of  harmony with natural order. Yet, we see this happen again and again in societies, as leaders become the “special” ones and the support system becomes the lesser.

This model is based on domination rather than stewardship, and is the cause of wars, discontent, and the breakdown of integrated whole societies. It always pits one group or individual against another, creating a system of winners and losers, or the haves and have-nots. It breeds inequality and discontent, and reflects a level of consciousness that is based on survival of the fittest.

When religions, who have taken on the role of providing the moral compass, become entrenched in the same mentality, the results are the pitting of one religion against the other for the same implied survival of the fittest. It is based on a lower level of consciousness and does not serve to bring about the uplifting and unity of intention that religion needs to play in its assigned role of pointing to the Divine – not usurping it.

The Resonance Factor

In the division of labor, ego and spirit reside in different temples of our body. And each has a different function. Spirit is the animating influence of connection to higher resources - the ultimate consciousness of our unified field. Ego is the portion that uses the influence of spirit to move the principles received into manifestation. So ego becomes the worthy servant of Spirit, and when the roles are clearly defined and working in harmony, there is resonance within the body. It becomes a living temple of the most high and its frequency and tonality is rich in texture, quality, and color.

Spirit animates through the heart - the control center of the body. It is the Light that brings light and life giving infusion to the circulatory system. Ego's domain is the intellect or mind center, and the brain is only able to function when the heart is pumping properly, and the conduits to all the centers of the body are clear of blockage. So ego without spirit is moot, for when the heart stops, the ego dies. Spirit, however, continues. It animates through a body but is not connected in the body. Ego is attached to the body in which it manifests, and at the time of death, ego dissolves.

Problems in our lives arise when we forget about the heart. Yet in all religions, the symbol of the heart is show as predominant, and this biological fact is translated into terms that allow the onlooker to recognize that without heart, there is no life.

The mind and ego are akin to a little child. Without greater guidance, the child grows into a wild and unruly person, totally invested in its own survival and wants. When the child is given guidance and helped to grow into its full potential, the result is a magnificent human being. So, too, ego. Without Spirit, it is unruly and fearful because it lacks connection to a trustworthy Knower. It is operating on limited frequency and understanding, depending on an endless loop from its own perspective and reflection of what it sees and hears in the external world. It is cut off from the full benefit of a Spirit driven life, and as Gandhi so eloquently stated, he who denies a greater reality denies his own existence.

 

Then and Now

Several years ago on The Today Show they had a 50s retrospective – with dance contest and judges. Katie Couric was dressed in a poodle skirt, pony tail, and Mat Lauer had on a black leather jacket and a DA haircut. It brought back a lot of memories, because I began my teenage years in the late 1950s and remembered the music, the look, and those great saddle shoes with white bobby sox.

Pat Boone and Little Richard were two of the judges for the dance contest, and both are in their golden years. Pat Boone just started a record label for artists from the past for those of us who would like to hear the kind of music we really grooved to during our own growing years.

Several years ago I heard about a study that was done with people who were seniors. They took individuals from a nursing home and put them into a house that was completely restored to look exactly like things would have been when they were in their prime. They had radios, music, and magazines from that era. Everything was geared toward bringing these people back to themselves as vital, youthful individuals. The results astounded the researchers. The health problems lessened. The vitality rose. The enthusiasm and sense of hope was renewed, because suddenly this group felt relevant. They were no longer cast offs.

It is truly amazing how we waste talent and experience of groups that don’t fit our 15 minute attention span idea of reality. Little children are trivialized or made to be older than they are before their time. People over 40 begin to feel that life is behind them when the life expectancy is now somewhere in the mid 80s and beyond. Our range of what is “in” is trivial. We have left ourselves nothing to enjoy at each stage of life as we are either rushing to become a certain age, or lamenting its passing.

My generation – or the one just following me – bears responsibility to a point for this preoccupation with self, youth, bad manners. The Baby Boomers made it quite clear that no one over 30 was to be trusted, and the generations that followed agreed. This generation has not shown the kind of character that our parents had. It has brought some revolutionary concepts to the fore and developed a field in which youthful ideas are highly prized, but it has not demonstrated depth of experience and understanding that previous generations had. After all, they went through real suffering that we never had to experience. Our big woe was Vietnam. Theirs was the First World War, the depression, and World War II. They learned at an early age that things do not always stay the same. And it gave them resilience and character. We never learned that.

Even though I am technically a war baby, I was right on the cusp of the booming birth rate, and I experienced the changeover from the innocent “Happy Days” 50’s to the tumultuous drug infested 60s. It happened while I was in college. Over the summer of 1963 everything shifted. It wasn’t gradual. It was immediate. And it was as though someone cut out a huge frame of change and just put the end result right in front of us. Boom. Just like that. Sexuality exploded. Free love was everywhere. And so were joints. People were drinking and smoking – and the music shifted as dramatically as everything else. Vietnam heated up, and those who pierced through the veil of reality through usage of LSD and other mind altering substances began to bring their visions back to the rest of us, insisting that what they saw was “real”, and what we were doing was bogus.

As I said, I had one foot in the old world, and one in the new. I didn’t really like either.

I always liked older people. I was an only child, so adults were my companions. Children seemed childish – as they should have been. I grew up way before my time, but gained insight into people that has always benefited me. The elders had great stories to tell. I loved hearing about an old family friend’s growing up years in the Swiss Alps. She lived the life of the character in a book called Heidi that I enjoyed so much. Then there were the stories of time before the depression and how the stock market crash affected each of the different adults I knew. I wanted to know about these things. Even at that age, I was an investigator.

What I got from the stories of these elders was a richness of texture that seemed lacking in the then present time. These were people who wanted to forge ahead in a new way after the restraints they’d felt as a result of the depression and the war. They were upwardly mobile – and in that, they were spreading throughout the country as companies began the “transferring” trend that tore extended families apart and sent us hither and yon. They were making the money to afford better houses, nicer cars, and to give us kids the things they never had. But in the midst of all of this, we lost the soulful connection to one another. Generations began to split up. As my aunt and uncle were transferred to a city far away, our weekly get-togethers were no more. The grandparents were off on social ventures, and again – the fabric was weakened because we didn’t have that special bonding experience that requires time together and attention.

By the time the 60s came about, everyone was scattering. The children of the depression babies were now entering teenage years with a common theme that parents had unwittingly instilled. “Me-ism.” The majority in this new generation did not have to go to work early to help contribute to the family support. This generation didn’t even have that many responsibilities. The parents wanted to shield us from the harshness they’d endured, but in the shielding, they robbed us of feeling that we belonged and were part of something bigger that required our contribution.

Saving people from character building is not always saving them. Sometimes it causes a feeling of disenfranchisement or entitlement. And we see how these seeds planted by well meaning parents has reseeded and produced secondary and third generations of people who don’t feel responsible for anyone other than themselves. And even then – with our attitude that everyone else is responsible but us – individual accountability is questionable.

We have become a nation of isolated age groups looking for tribal connections to feel as though we have a “home” when the ancestral homes have all vanished. As time wears us down and technology keeps us in a frantic state of expanding to the latest gadgets and over-saturation with information it would be good to take account of what we have lost and what we have gained in this fast paced world. Where is quality of connection, and how can we reconnect the dots that have disappeared…the ones that were our invisible threads to each other…the ones that caused us to meet face to face, enjoying a meal without interruption, mixing generations to play cards or games or just meaningful time together as a group or a family or friend?

We’ve been told that everything is better now, but for those of us who have lived in both worlds, is it? In many cases, there are many more opportunities, but in other cases, we have lost the preciousness of a slower pace. So…how can we reclaim the best of the past and the opportunities of the present? How can we make this a wondrous time in which to live without sacrificing ourselves and the value of face to face connections and the mixture of diversity?

 

 

The Power of Perseverence

 

The power of intention is an important ingredient for achieving an end result. But intention by itself is not enough, because we will be presented with challenges and potential blockages on the road to our accomplishment. The feint of heart will see the stumbling blocks as signs that they should alter direction, and sometimes the road blocks do present a message that requires adjustment. However, we are also tested as to the level of our commitment to a process we have intended. Was it something that has true staying power, or was it a whim? When something is deeply anchored in our psyche as being a right course of action, perseverance will follow. We don’t give up. We are willing to climb the highest mountain or forge the lowest valley in pursuit of our dream. And THAT is what separates the people who achieve their dreams from those who don’t. Perseverance attracts assistance by sheer force of will…of knowing that regardless of whatever things are in the way, or how long it takes, one will continue until the goal is accomplished.

Seated one evening next to a record producer at dinner, I asked if there was anything that separated the people who really “made” it from the rest. He said, “Absolutely. The ones who make it are the ones who would sleep in the street if they had to in order to play their music. They do it from sheer conviction and don’t give up no matter what.”

There is no blame in giving up, just an immutable law of cause/effect. What we intend must be fueled by a decision and the action through which to achieve it. Wishes or momentary enthusiasm do not build a house. Only taking hammer and nail with a viable plan and doing the work required to get the job done will bring our intention to fruition. So when we have something we say we really want, the tester will be our ability to persevere. And as we do, the blockages crumble and we bring our intention to fruition.

Perseverance! Where in your own life can you point to perseverance having made the   difference in the outcome of what you wanted?

The Opportunity In Drought

We have had one of the worst droughts in California history this year. The news each day has been about our need to conserve, and that we may have mandatory rationing as a result of lack of rain. The lack of water has caused everything to dry up, and fear of what that would mean has concerned us all.

We didn't get much rain during the 2013 period, but in the beginning of 2014, suddenly we had a few rainy days. We were relived and wondered if that would help. And then an amazing thing happened. All the plants began to express themselves with more blossoms than I have seen in years. The little water they got gave them a tremendous impetus to bring out their best, as though saying, "Look....just give me a little and I will bloom for you." In normal seasons, we don't have this kind of explosion of blossoming, and I have truly been amazed by what I've seen in my own garden. One thing I noted was that the tall grasses which usually take over were not coming up, and for that I was glad. Yet, all the other plants seemed to be taking advantage of those few drinks of water to show what they could do.

A friend came over the other day and I shared my observation. She said that the plants not having water, sensed they were going to die, and as a result, they put out as many life saving buds as they could in a last ditch attempt to insure the continuity of life. That made sense. It also made me think about us humans.

When we are given provisions that we can count on without having to think about it, we often take our lives and our gifts for granted. Yet, when the threat of our supply being cut off appears, we are put into a crisis of consciousness moment, and we have to call upon deeper reserves that have been lying dormant within. It is in those moments when the water of life appears to be in short supply that we either give in and collapse or we bring out a part of ourselves we may not even have known existed, and we push through the seeming drought to bring more of ourselves to bloom so that we will not simply shrink into the woodwork or become a faded memory. We have so much to offer, just as our beautiful flora and fauna do, and sometimes it is in crisis that the very best of us comes forward to express that!

Save Our Soil

Here is a very good PBS program, Save Our Soil, that discusses ways and means to remedeate our soil. It is one aspect of the many things we will need to do to help reclaim the health of our Earth!

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365301480/?start=1200

 

A Reality Check!

We have a major water crisis in California. Other states are dealing with weather anomolies as well. As citizens, we are concerned that our government has been dragging its heals about solutions until now when we are facing major crisis. In perspective, I had to think about this and recognized that our government has always acted this way...waiting til the last minute to do something, rather than being proactive (unless it's a war). Let's look back to the space race. It was Russia who put the first man up in space and suddenly the U.S. went into hyper drive to beat them. We do this with disasters...with everything it seems. We have to come just to the edge and then it's as though all stops are pulled out to rectify our ways.

 

Why, oh why, do we take so long, we wonder? Yet...it is the way of life. Don't fix it til it falls apart! Don't admit to your part in the problem until there is no other choice. Humans and dominance. Control. Might as right. Now we'll see what happens with the water crisis in California. Why lawns are allowed in this state that is semi-desert in the first place is beyond me. We have never built infrastructures that channel gray water into gardens...we seem to be living blindly while we see the water tables drop and the lakes and snowpack dwindling....and yet, along we go. I understand that San Diego is working on a de-salinization plant for sea water..it's time for the entire state to do that!

 

I am looking for groups in my area that are working with permaculture. I've understood for many years about the need to remineralize our soil and to stop with the pesticides, but now I feel a duty to help our earth since this drought. FMTV.com has wonderful documentaries about all of this in case you are interested.

 

In the meantime, we are all being made aware that life is changing. Our earth is responding to either our excesses or other factors, but things are not going to go along as they have. We need to see what is happening as climate changes shift each of our areas of living and we need to address how to become STEWARDS of the earth rather than destroyers. Domination does not do anything to enhance life. It is merely a bully's way of controling what in the long run cannot be controled!

Let us hold our politicians accountable for working on REAL problems we are facing rather than spending their time gaining photo opps and dissing one another without concern for what is actually happening in front of our eyes. Let us aspire and do what we can to be NOBLE humans....not the degraded species we too often appear to be!

The Hubrus of Humans

I am always amazed at the incredible cohesiveness of nature. When we go to an area of so-called wilderness, we see beauty beyond imagination. We are stunned by the grandeur and the peace that is felt within the context of the natural world. Yet, the human species has done more to defile and obliterate the beauty and resourcefulness of nature in the name of "progress" and the name of might and right. Nature has become a commodity to be bought and sold at the discretion of the highest bidder, and the workings of the natural world are completely disregarded in favor of the hubris of humans.

Instead of observing and learning from nature, we are intent on dominating and "taming" it...when the only thing needing taming is our ignorance. Domination is a key phrase for humans. We do it with one another, with our children, animals, and with the natural world. Humans do not seem to be able to work "with" and in accordance with natural laws, we have to skew them and screw with them to have them conform to our image of the way "things should be."

In the west, we are having a terrible drought. We live in a semi-arid climate and in spite of knowing that, people migrating west have insisted on bringing their lawns and gardens that are fine in areas where water is plentiful, but absolutely inappropriate for a region that has "just enough" to get by. Yet, when faced with planting appropriately, following nature as a guide to what is best grown in a particular area, people are insulted and defensive. Why shouldn't they have the great lawns and other water hog plants of their choice? After all, if they can pay for it, they are entitled to it.

It's one thing to be able to pay for something, and quite another if what one person pays for is driving a whole society into a crisis of lack. Yet, although we make all kinds of laws that define how a person should live and what they should do with their own bodies, we are completely blind to protecting our natural world. And in this, we are not only deluding ourselves, we are in danger of major loss.

Nature is the upholder of life. It is through the natural world that we are housed and fed. It is through the natural unpolluted gifts that we have fresh air to breathe and water to drink. Without either of these, we would perish very quickly. Yet, we befoul the air and water with impunity. We take precious resources from the planet without replenishing. Instead, after we strip the earth and leave it barren, we move on to the next pristine spot and do the same. We are slowly choking out the very gift we have been given in the name of progress.

If we want to live in harmony with nature, we have to get real about what we are doing and why. We have to become honor bound to this planet for feeding and housing us, and   instead of continuing our course of action large and small that assaults and defiles our Mother Earth, let us each look at ourselves within the context of where we live and how we live and see what we might do to nurture nature...to make a positive difference to appreciate, maintain, and encourage her health and wellbeing. Ultimately, what we do to our earth, we do to ourselves....so let us choose to nurture and thrive.

Here's to this beautiful, magnificent, giving planet that we call Mother Earth. May we live and act consciously so that we are worthy to be called her children!