Seasons of the Soul

Heal the Earth - Heal Ourselves

 

I watched a documentary the other day about the reclamation of deserts. Years ago a photographer was sent to China to document a major program of re-greening a huge land mass that had become a desert due to overuse, clearing, and inappropriate grazing. Over a period of three years, he documented the evolution of the program, showing how after three years, the whole area that had been completely dead was now a thriving eco-system. In the intervening years he has gone to other parts of the world where they are reproducing the same effort with similar effect. The message states clearly, we CAN reclaim the deserts through working WITH nature rather than against her. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBLZmwlPa8A

This documentary made such an impact that it caused me to think about how much we have put ourselves in an adversarial position with nature. We use pesticides, fertilizers, over-farm, clear forests to make way for crops, and a host of other unconscious methods that actually harm the earth rather than help it. And in so doing, we are also using the same unconscious methods with ourselves. We eat things that masquerade as food but are a conglomerate of chemicals and inferior food stuff that is filled with additives to appeal to our taste buds and create addiction. We also use drugs to combat every conceivable health issue with an eye to health care management, not healing. As a result, we have super bacteria that has morphed to adapt to the new chemical environment, and the more war we declare against it, the more we are playing a game of Russian Roulette

This is the same thing we have done with our soil. We have depleted it by using non-organic chemicals, we use pesticides to rid ourselves of bugs we don't understand and weeds we perceive as being destructive to growing. The truth is that the bugs we deplore are scavengers of the weakened plants so that the strength of our vegetation is preserved through culling out the weakest genetic expressions. Same with weeds. They add nutrients to the soil and in some cases uptake nutrients that are over-abundant in order to bring balance and stability - to keep the soil of earth healthy and vitally alive.

The extreme conditions facing earth are also facing us, and we need to find ways to counteract what has happened through unconscious acts of greed and a desire for convenience. The first thing we need to do is reclaim ourselves. In order to nurture the earth, we must first be willing to nurture this person and this body that we are. So many scripts have been handed out that keep us in small containers that choke off our God given gifts and abilities. So many ridiculous criteria for what is "in" and what and who is "out" keep us from seeing the beauty in diversity. We have been set against one another rather than appreciating our uniqueness. Each of us needs to turn within to find the indwelling truth that is beyond all the commercials, exploitation, and addictive elements that snare us in the illusion of isolation and divisiveness.

There are wonderful ways of finding our true selves. The task ahead is to open the door to that part of ourselves that is glorious, wondrous, and full of enthusiasm. We each make a difference, and by attuning to the inner light, we can find our own special assignment. Methods for doing this include: Prayer, meditation, sacred music, gardening, walking in nature, turning off the news, releasing "bad" habits, eating consciously, discernment in friendships, being compassionate towards others and ourselves, feeling gratitude for what we DO have in our lives rather than dwelling on what we don't have, appreciating what our body does for us, developing a storehouse of love within that shines first to ourselves and then spills over for everyone else, being kind, generous, living a life of integrity even in small things, forgiving others for their imperfections, and forgiving ourselves for ours. When we establish a rapport with ourselves, we develop a healthy attitude towards everyone and everything else. We no longer are less than or more than...we are each beautiful expressions of the Creator. When we honor rather than desecrate, we are filled with light. We become angels of our better nature and we contribute to a planet that is worth living on. It is all in our attitude, in our actions, and in the mindset that we fuel.

An old Native American story talks about a grandfather and his grandson. The elder is teaching the young one of the ways of life. He explains to him that the mind is like a field in which two wolves are in constant battle for dominion. One is helpful and seeking our good and the other is angry and wants to destroy us. The grandson with wide eyes asks his grandfather, "but Grandfather, which wolf wins?" And the grandfather pauses, looks at him deeply, and says, "The one you feed."

Let us heed the grandfather's message.

Affirmations - Tending the Mind

 

 

When we recognize that the mind is like a garden, we become aware of the necessity to care for it tenderly. As we tend it, so will it flourish. If we ignore the ritual of daily nourishment, the mind will grow of its own volition...moving towards that which is least demanding. As we learn the principles of gardening, we can translate them to the growing of mind, for the mind swells with loving discipline. It is ennobled through structures that offer parameters for constructive growth, and blooms in response to the efforts made to that end.

A mind that is tended daily through prayer, meditation, and affirmation has greater likelihood of becoming fertile ground for successful outcomes. When the mind is left untended, it grows like a weed, opportunistically drawn to outlets of least resistance, and in this, there is margin for error. The mind is much too powerful and precious a resource to leave to chance. We must learn to become master gardeners, creating a setting where the most fragile seeds can grow with assurednes.

As we till the soil, we prepare the mind for growth. As we plant seeds rich in potential, we merge idea and physical receptivity together. And as we put in the necessary effort through emotional intent...we have completed a necessary three-part process to engage mind in constructive activity. Without the idea, there is nothing around on which to work. Without the physical receptacle, there is no vehicle for expression. And without emotional participation, there is no fuel for the development of the concept being birthed.

Let us become Mind Gardeners who create a bountiful harvest within our own Being, and in so doing, we have much to share with everyone else!

The Misconception of Fairy Tale Endings

 

 

In the Western world, we have bought the fairytale of "They Lived Happily Ever After", and many of us are continuously waiting for the “after” part...when our lives will be really happy and settled. Studies now show that the Twenty-something age group is waiting for Prince or Princess Charming, their soul mates, and the perfect job and life. They have bought into an illusion that keeps them chained to unreasonable expectations and very poor relationships. But so have many of the rest of us. We want to have absolute control over the scripts of our lives and make them cookie cutter perfect, like they “should” be. In eastern philosophies, there is a better understanding about life realities. Life is not linear in the east. It is circular, like the seasons. We are always assured that the summer is followed by the autumn, and that winter comes. But so does spring

In Buddhism, the idea of taking the higher path is not necessarily to lead us to a final resting place called Nirvana, but to release ourselves from attachment to the details of our lives. What occurs upon "enlightenment" is recognition that when we choose life, we also endure suffering. We suffer our desires, and we suffer as expectations aren't met. But the Bodhisatvas (enlightened ones) come voluntarily to take on the mantle of human suffering until the last soul is redeemed. Christ took on that mantle, as did many others. It doesn’t mean that someone enlightened blissfully floats through life. How many of the great ones did? It means that we live life, feel life, and contribute as we are able. We are in the trenches with the lowliest and densest life forms...and we are experiencing all of the feelings, emotions, conditions, illusions, and disappointments that come from this field of consciousness. The difference is that we don’t have to be attached to them.

When we realize that to live is to suffer, we are freed from expectation. We don't have to fight the reality we find ourselves in, because it is part of our assignment, our unique part to play. We don't have to try so hard. We aren’t perfect. We most probably won’t have a life without conflict. We will age, and ultimately we will die. What we can do while here is take our designated portion and play it to the best of our ability. And once we stop struggling with the details of our lives, a funny thing happens. Suddenly there is room to love in spite of someone else being “only” human, to laugh in the midst of absurdity, to appreciate the little things that bring us joy. We are released from the need to be what everyone else thinks we ought to be, or to justify our existence. We can stop worrying about whether or not we’ll have enough to do what needs doing. We’ll know that what we “need” for our life experience will come, whether we want it or not. In other words, we can give up the need to control life, because we are not ultimately in control anyway.

We are having a life experience, and we do not need to compare it to anyone else's. The end result of this life experience is death...so all the protecting we’re doing to make it different will not succeed. Death is inevitable, like winter. But there will be another spring. And in the meantime, what is in front of us to do? What is our assignment? How can we assist in the portion we’ve been given? And what are the little things that bring us joy amidst life’s challenges?

Some have a different journey. But we have ours. And this is the only life we can live. Life is not a fairy tale. It is a grand adventure of deepening our nature, expanding our ability to feel compassion and love, and to find ways of expressing our true nature within the context of the script we’ve been handed. The choices we make in HOW we live our lives determines our level of heaven or hell while here. That is our creative capacity. That is the control we have.

Creating Space to Love

 

 

A little tenderness, a light touch, a kind word...these are part of the stock in hand we can utilize to create a space for love. What does this mean?

If we observe ourselves, we can see how easily our thoughts turn to defense or attack...how often we are in a mode of judgment against someone else and also ourselves. We either direct our inner critic out to condemn the world, or internalize it to defeat ourselves. Yet, through a minor adjustment, we can create a space to love, and here's how.

The moment our minds turn to thoughts of condemnation, we need to bring up an equal opposing thought of commendation. We move the critic out of the way by bringing in the inner cheer leader. This isn't a sappy fairy tale character. It is dynamic and willing to overlook a momentary slight in favor of what is commendable about another or ourselves. We look at the good qualities rather than dwelling on the ones that annoy or drive us to further attack thoughts or actions.

So, when I feel slighted by my partner, rather than jumping immediately to self-protective thoughts, I consider what is going on with him in the moment to make sure my insistence on being right is not borne out of my own sense of inadequacy. The truth is that when we feel whole and complete within ourselves, we are able to forgive others.

Find ways of practicing this concept each day. The more you do it…catching yourself as the judgmental thoughts arise, and bringing in a valid point of validation from the inner cheer leaders, you will find your mind shifting from condemnation to affirmation not only for others, but for yourself. In fact, the more affirming you are in genuine ways of yourself, the more willing your mind is to see the good in other people.

Try it. You might just be amazed at the results!

Risk to Reward

 

I was once at a dinner, seated next to a record producer, and asked him if there was anything that stood out in the people who became successful in the music industry versus those who didn’t. His answer was, “Absolutely. The musicians who are dedicated to their music will eat, sleep, and play regardless of circumstances. They will live on the streets if they have to. Nothing stops them from playing their music.”

That answer sums up a lot of things, and for most of us who allow our song or story or gift to languish inside because we are intent on making a reasonable living, the image is clear. We trade off the gifts of life for the illusion of security, and yet, when we do this, what happens to our inner life?

It is evident to me that people who come into our lives are mirrors of what we need to see, want to be, or what we need to overcome. And in the viewing, we may not get the full meaning of their message aside from friendship. I have several people in my life who are dedicated to their gifts, and are living life on the edge. They are unwilling to compromise and are stressed in the material sense, but totally fulfilled in their creative pursuits.

They have a sense of aliveness that eludes many of us who sell out the gift of Spirit for a paycheck. And yet, in viewing these creative warriors, I mistakenly have seen them as not being realistic…of not having a Plan B to fall back to should their work not hit the mark they are hoping for. However, my image of what they “should” do to be “safe” is totally contrary to their expression of life, and in my own unwillingness to take the gifts I’ve been given and find ways of bringing them forward more fully, I miss the point of their message to me. It is the same message I’ve received for years every time I have gotten concerned about making a living, and taken on jobs that aren’t really my soul work, but pay the bills. And each time, I end up depleted and frustrated because my own work seems to stop.

We cannot serve two masters. Either we serve the Spirit of our gifts, or we serve the pursuit of mammon. And unless we put Spirit first, our end result will be frustration. We may make a pay check, but we will not be fulfilled. Over and over we are told to do what we love and the money will follow. But what are we willing to sacrifice in doing this? For those who are safety conscious and fearful of losing security, that is a tall order. Yet, that is what life is about – thrusting us out of our comfort zone into the world of risk and reward.

As we move into the depression that is emerging in our society, we see the results of paying homage to mammon and greed. The whole deck of cards collapses, and for so many who have taken the “safe” route of jobs that will pay the bills, the cards collapsing are effecting them, too. Many of us will be out of work. We will have less to spend on distractions that make the jobs we have bearable. We will instead have time on our hands to determine how in the world we will manage through this crisis. And in this, there is hope, because each may look to see what the inner resources are – where the true gifts lie, and how they may be expressed.

We are all being called to simplicity and simplifying our wants and needs. Many will be challenged, and it is scary. But we can use this time to become what we were intended, and in the unmasking of the illusion of safety, we may indeed find out just what we are really made of and chart a course that will allow the soul potential to come into full bloom.

Risk and reward is not about gambling, but about giving ourselves to our heart’s desire with full focus and attention. As we do so, we may have to find alternative ways of living, and we’ll find out how little we really needed, because when we are engaged in purposeful living, we are deeply nourished and satisfied.

These are extraordinary times that most of us never experienced before. There are great challenges and even greater opportunities, but we must overcome the fear that has held us in bondage, and be willing to march to the tune of the inner drummer. Then we will all see just what we’re made of and what might be possible.

Sweeping

 

 

When I was a little girl, I remember sitting on the steps of our apartment house in San Francisco, watching the Russian ladies who lived in the area out on the sidewalk with babushkas covering their hair, brooms in hand, sweeping the streets in front of their places until everything was sparkling and clean. They would also come out with pails of soap and water and wash the stairs and the stoops. I’d wave my arms in the air, imagining I was directing their actions, and always the peaceful sound of swish, swoop, swish could be heard. That image, and the remnant of an age gone by when a rag man would come up our street with his horse and cart, are wonderful memories from long ago that enrich my reflections. The rag man was an oddity then – it was the last gasp of an era gone by – but as a little girl, I found watching him come by, hearing the clip clop of his horse’s hooves, and the sound of wooden wheels squeaking on the pavement, fascinating and poignant.

I recall when I first moved from the City to the suburbs as a child, and we mowed our lawn. You could hear the sound of blades churning as kids or parents were out taking care of their gardens. There weren’t a lot of gardeners in those days – at least not where we lived – people did the household chores and garden chores on Saturday together. It was a great symphony of cooperation. Chop, chop, swish, swoosh. Blades and sweeping – no ear splitting motors, just the contentment of knowing all was right in the world and all the neighbors were out participating in the rite of house care that meant families caring for their homes together.

When electric mowers came into existence, and then leaf blowers, it coincided with acid rock and raised decibels – noise as music, noise as efficiency, noise as a way of life. I never would use the electric mower. My husband was thrilled to have it. In fact, it wasn’t until we got one that he took over the job of mowing lawns. Before that, I was the Saturday lawn contingent. I don’t have a lawn anymore. I prefer plants and shrubs and flowers.

When I go out to the garden and bring my broom, I can sweep to my heart’s content. It doesn’t disturb the birds, doesn’t ruffle the air, and brings me back to a simpler time when people appreciated the task of mowing and sweeping, and used the time to engage in quiet reverie.

The rhythm of the broom is a dance unto itself – and it is always in those moments of sweeping in the garden that new ideas are birthed in my thought process. No Walkman, no IPod, no Talk Radio to distract me. Just the broom, the fallen leaves and blossoms, sounds of nature, and me.

Swish, swoosh, swish, swoosh….Ahhhh. 

What Feeds Us?

 

It was 3:00 in the afternoon and I wandered aimlessly around the house – wanting something, but not able to identify what it was. I walked to the refrigerator, opened the door and looked to see what was appealing. Nothing. Did I want another cup of tea? No. What, then? Nothing would fill the void inside, and as I sat down to ponder what was going on I realized that there was a deep unfulfilled space within – a longing for something meaningful that would fulfill my need to contribute – to write – and to make a difference.

I wonder how many of us use food as compensation for the unfulfilled aspects of our lives? We have a feeling of hollowness that cannot be filled, and food becomes a temporary panacea – giving us a momentary feeling of wellbeing and comfort. When I note the number of individuals locked in addiction or severely overweight, it becomes evident that we have become a society that is focused on meaningless tasks and shallow expectations. Yet, the soul longs for meaningful expression. And when we are bombarded by idiotic messages that lock us into hormone/testosterone driven pursuits and acquisition for the sake of having more – we begin to lose our connection to the tone we were born with.

What do I mean by the tone? Each of us has a vibration that fills us as we come into this earth experience. We are attuned to those elements that mesh with our own vibration. Some are musical. Others express through motion. This one has an engineering mentality, while that one is scientific in nature. There are multiple expressions of our uniqueness. Like snowflakes, we all have a special imprint, and the task is to find opportunities that allow those affinities to be released in a way that blesses the world and fulfills us. Then we have made a difference. Then the longing is no more.

There have been a few times in my life when that longing was fulfilled. Each time had to do with writing projects that completely harnessed my focus and imagination. For me, expressing observations is a major part of my tonal affinity. It is through communication – especially the written word – that I find myself deeply in love. All of me is engaged. Thomas Moore once wrote that if our work is not our lover, it is not our work. I understood what he meant when I wrote my novel, Vision of the Grail. There was nothing left out. The world was full, and I was keenly aware of being awake and alive.

Writing a book is a great labor – and when it comes to end, it is a completion process that can leave one bereft because that labor – that engagement – is what feeds the writer. The same can be said for any labor of love that comes to term and has an ending. The fear is that perhaps there will be no more ideas – no more projects that totally immerse us in something meaningful and soul filling.

I have found that there are cycles in a creative life. We cannot always be in process of externalizing the muse. There are down times that require digesting and renewal. It can be frustrating when we deeply yearn for that sense of being “in the zone”. The zone also has to accommodate the moments of nothing when seemingly everything has stopped.

If we look to nature for clues regarding the process of creativity, we see that there are necessary stages for completion of a cycle. First we have the pristine soil. We make sure all the nutrients are provided in order to receive the seed. Then we plant the seeds that will later yield harvest. Some will grow; others will not. We nurture and water and weed out the distracting elements, and then the plant begins to make its way through the soil, reaching toward the sun, and growing into what it will become. At its apex, we harvest its fruit, and then let the leaves fall to create the mulch that will enrich the soil for next planting. After this intense period of growth and development, stillness comes. We cannot recreate the process before time has elapsed. And it is this still point that is particularly difficult for us to digest, because we live in a society so outwardly driven that when there are the down times, we feel something is wrong. Yet, the still times are some of the most important in the entire process because our internal wellspring is being refilled.

Looking at people who burn themselves out in jobs where there is never a rest – or never a space between projects that allows for significant replenishment of body/mind/spirit – I realize that the illusion of no new ideas is merely that. When we embrace the still point and allow for quiet, we flow with life and the internal muse that needs time to be immersed in spirit, not activity. We stop fighting. We stop feeling empty. We don’t need to go to the refrigerator to look for something to fill the empty space, because there is nothing lacking. Fullness in emptiness. Emptiness is full. All phases are appropriate in their season. All have reason. And we, moving in concert with the whole process, need never be hungry again.

The Jigsaw Puzzle Guide to Life

 

 

Have you ever done a jigsaw puzzle? If you have, you know that the pieces are small, cut from a larger form, and sometimes infuriatingly difficult to piece together. However, when they do come together, what had been separate pieces becomes a unity of color/shape/design that brings something bigger to life that holds together through its interlocking parts.

I sometimes do jigsaw puzzles for relaxation, and as I was piecing together a fairly easy one, I noted that while I was focused on one piece, my full attention was there – scanning and searching for just the right “fit”…the place where it belonged. Once found, there was a momentary feeling of “Aha!” and then it was as though that piece never existed. I was off to the next, and the next.

I noticed something else about the jigsaw puzzle. When you look at a piece, isolated from the rest, most of the time you have absolutely no idea what it represents. Sometimes you have to find location by color shading, other times by line value. Sometimes it’s by pure guesswork and attrition. The harder pieces have to wait. You deal with them toward the end.

As I noted in the beginning, once the picture is formed, each piece takes on more significance. You can see what part it played in the overall context. Yet, while in the finding stage, significance is not always easy to determine. And so our lives. We start out in trial and error mode, forging together loose pieces of what we are becoming within a context that doesn’t always make sense or have easily identified markers. It takes time to put us together – to see ourselves in a larger light. And so, it takes patience to become the complete picture of you or me. We can’t rush it, but need to take each moment to relish the experience of each piece as we pull them together. We are becoming – we’re in process. That’s the puzzle, and it’s also the reward.

Artificial Barriers

 

 

I was driving on the freeway and noted the large dividing walls that have been built in recent years between the freeway and the frontage road paralleling it. The space between both is minimal, and the walls are put up for noise reduction and a sense of separation.

It dawned on me as I passed one of those barriers that the perception it gave was one of privacy and a defined differentiation, yet, in truth, the space was merely a grouping of bricks that gave an illusion of separateness to two spaces that were very close to one another.

In the Midwest, I was surprised to see no fences between houses. Back yards and front yards all coalesced, and as a person from a part of the country where fences between houses are standard, I felt naked and uncomfortable with that lack of privacy or separate space.

How often do we put up mental barriers that keep us distant from someone, even though they live in the same home, or are a neighbor, or family member, or office mate? Psychological barriers can be as persuasive as the huge roadway dividers that I passed, giving us the illusion that we are really apart from one another, when indeed we are merely partitioned from each other by the slimmest of definitions.

We tend to go through life in our own little bubble, not seeing or participating in the world around us. Yet, what might be possible if we allowed the rest of the world in?

There is a little post office sub-station in an adjacent town where the “locals” go. Since it is closer to me than the post office in my own town, I go there with the rest of the townspeople and enjoy the comradeship that the place engenders.

One day as everyone was jammed into the little building, spilling out the door to get the new 41 cent stamps, a man came hurrying in to mail a letter, and the gal at the counter saw he only had the old postage on it. She told him he needed 2 more cents, and he was notably taken aback. He had hurried over from his office and didn’t have any money on him or time to stand in line. He was going to run back to get the needed money and come and wait in line- but it was obvious he had hurried to get the letter mailed in the first place.

As all of us watched him, one woman volunteered a two-cent stamp, and the whole line got very quiet. It was a beautiful moment. The man asked her if she was sure, and she assured him she was fine with giving him the stamp. He offered to go back to his office to get the two cents, and she told him not to bother.

There was a real moment of everyone feeling really good about our post office substation and the goodness of one person to another. It was a small thing, but it meant something to both of the people involved and to the rest of us. It made my day! If I’d had a two-cent stamp, I would have offered it, but I didn’t.

The fact that she did and that he was so grateful caused me to reflect on the goodness one person can accord to another, and that lifting an artificial barrier that keeps us separate and apart from one another can offer opportunities to express our humanness and goodwill for each other.

We aren’t a yard that needs defining, or a freeway that needs barriers. We are human beings who can contribute to the wellbeing of each other by taking time to pay attention and interact.

From Young and Old

 

 

Years ago I received a letter from a client whose 5 ½ year old son had a big revelation while his mother was driving him to school one morning. “Mama, I know what the soul is!” “You do?” she responded. “Tell me about it.” He was thoughtful for a moment and then from the back seat – these words of wisdom came - “The soul is like gold in my heart. It’s like fluttery gold. It flutters in my heart and then moves up into my teeth and makes me smile.”

This reminded me of another incredible piece of wisdom from another child years ago. My friend’s son was 8 at the time, and he asked his mother if she knew what the square root of God was. She was taken aback. “No, I don’t. Do you know?” “Yes”, he said. “The square root of God is Love.”

It’s this quality of uncontaminated insight that children exhibit – especially before they are corrupted by the do’s and don’ts of society, media, and peer pressure. That beautiful spark of innocence is so refreshing in the little ones, and it compliments the insight of the elders. If we would allow for the wisdom at both ends of the spectrum we would be a far richer and more substantial people. The little ones and the old ones are the forgotten cast offs. One group is too young to know yet and the other is too old to matter. Yet, it is both these groups that have a vast and rich tapestry to share with the rest of society. One because it is still fresh and unmarred; the other because it has been tested and wizened through the journey of years.

It’s time to create a format for the two to be counted. Let’s encourage the little ones to share and let’s listen to the elders—or if we are an elder—to speak up. Observations of those in the 13-40 year old range may be trendy—and they are certainly plentiful, but they do not reflect in total the enormous pool of possibilities that are represented by the rest of us!