Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing you a happy new year,
filled with health, joyous surprises, and very good cheer.
May your heart stay light and your eyes remain clear,
and may you be surrounded by those you hold dear.

Happy 2012, my friends.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Gotta Watch

     I was sitting at the computer, sorting through my emails, looking at the latest headlines, you know, just kind of waiting for inspiration to strike, and then I saw the most moving videos on Youtube.  This beautiful young man, 18 years old, died right after Christmas after suffering all his life with a serious heart condition.  Except, he didn't make it seem like he was suffering.  He found a way to cope. 

    Please, do yourself a favor and watch the videos.  Search for "Ben Breedlove" on Youtube.  There are two videos -- Part 1 and Part 2. 

     Or, you can try these links: Part 1 and Part 2.

     Watch them and then ask yourself:  Do you believe in angels or God?

    I do, too, Ben.  God rest your beautiful soul.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Happy HolyDays

    A while back, I was out purchasing some postage stamps at the local pack-and-ship store, and I asked for some holiday stamps.  The clerk, a tall, pimply-faced fellow with lanky, dark hair, brought out some stamps with a reproduction of a Renaissance nativity painting. 

     I took one look, thought of the ones on my December card receiving list, and said, "No, thanks.  Don't you have some stamps with some generic  holiday pictures on them?  Like ornaments or stars or something?" 

     The clerk got all flustered, his face turned redder, and he snapped, "Why do people have to get all P.C. at this time of year?  Why can't we say 'Merry Christmas' and not be afraid of offending someone?"

     Point well taken, but perhaps I do care about offending someone.  Why do I need to require everyone in my life to adopt a strictly Christian point of view?   

     I know some people don't care for the term "Happy Holidays."  I often wonder at that, and ask myself if it's because they suffer from a kind of religious myopia.  After all, December is a time of celebration for many faiths.  For example, the Pagans/Wiccans celebrate the Yule on the solstice (December 22 this year), some Buddhists celebrate Bodhi day (December 8), Muslims celebrate Ashura (December 5), Jews celebrate Hannukah (which started on December 21), and Christians celebrate the birth of Christ (December 25).  Then there's Kwanzaa starting on December 26.  That's a lot of celebrating!

     Perhaps my clerk friend hasn't stopped to think of what "Happy Holidays" really means.  It comes from the contraction for Happy Holy Days.  These are the days we set apart as "having a divine quality," as Merriam-Webster says.  We celebrate the holiness that exists in all of life, and give gifts to each other, as if recognizing the divinity in the receiver.  It is a time of adoration and peace, of love and laughter, of sharing the best of ourselves with those we love most in this world.  If that's not celebrating Holy Days, then what is?

     Happy Holidays, my friends.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Solstice and a Balancing Act

     Tomorrow is the winter solstice, according to my calendar, and we celebrate the dominance of the female essence (night, moon, mystery) over the male (day, sun, actuality). 

     Funny how our lives don't reflect it.

     The female essence is also about receiving, being, contemplating, nurturing.  The male essence is about giving, doing, going forward, conquering.

     And what do our lives reflect right now?  I know that I've been in the throes of doing, conquering my "get-it-done" list, always being on the move, giving unto others until I hurt myself.

     Perhaps I, like many others, need to step back and breathe the sacred feminine into my life so that I can regain balance.

     Sure, there are a lot of things to get done, but can I open myself to taking time to be as well as do?  Am I able to receive as easily as I give?  Am I able to focus on the important things -- family and friends -- ahead of all the preparations of the season?  Am I willing to nurture myself as much as I provide for others? 

     May the Solstice bring us balance and wisdom for the days ahead. 

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Do-Be-Do-Be-Do

     No, this isn't an essay on scat singing, but an insight on the balance (or imbalance, in my case) of doing and being.

      During the winter months, our bed has two rather thick blankets on it.  It is a platform bed, and, dainty soul that I am, I have trouble tucking both blankets under the mattress. So, I usually ask my Significant Other (S.O.) to lift the mattress to tuck in the side parts of the blankets, and then I put the quilt over it.

     This morning I was doing my customary meditation, sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed.  I was only minutes into my centering exercise when S.O. decided that was a good time to tuck in the blankets so that I could finish making up the bed.  Why didn't I tell S.O. to come back after I was finished meditating?  Why didn't I continue my meditation after being interrupted?  All too often, I let my "doing" take precedence over "being."  My stress levels really show it, too.

     I guess my point is that I am developing a keener awareness of how much my external life overtakes my internal life.  And part of awareness is learning to think of ways to do things better.  Or, in this case, how to be better. 

     Joyous being to you this week.

    

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Jamming the Signal, an Update

     Well, my week is not going very well, in terms of keeping the signal between my Higher Self and me open.  I feel like I hit the ground running the minute I wake up, and don't stop until I flop back in bed at night.  I don't do well with this busy, busy, busy feeling all day.  It makes me cranky.

     Which brings me to my new old bowl and me.  I ordered an old Tibetan singing bowl (for meditation and healing purposes) a couple of weeks ago and it arrived last week.  I was so excited!  Because it is old, it has some weathering on one side.  Nothing bad, but the bowl is, well, quite old.  Anyway, I was trying out how to use it, and one way to make it sing is to rub the wooden wand around the outside, near the top lip of the bowl.  It makes an otherworldly, high-pitched, singing, bell-like sound.  Well, because of this weathered patch and because I'm new at this, every time I hit that rough part, the wooden wand made a scraping sound.  Not all the time, but when I wasn't very focused or pushing too hard.  Interestingly, when I placed the rough area of the bowl away from me, showing outside, I did better than when I had the rough patch hidden nearest my body.

     I guess that what I'm saying here is that I'm a bit like that bowl (except not quite that old, thank you very much).  I have my rough patches.  But I think it is better all around when I am brave enough to show my rough areas and not try to hide them.  Hiding them takes more energy. 

     So here I am, this rough old bowl, saying that even though I've hit a rough patch lately, I'm still going to sing my very best.  I hope you will, too. 

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Jamming the Signal

     I can't speak for everyone, but I imagine that those who are in tune with their Twin Soul have an awareness of how that person is doing, both in mood and physical wellness.  I know that in my case, I pick up my Twin's mood first, with occasional glimps into my Twin's surroundings (yes, I get quick snap-shots on my mental screen), thoughts, physical pangs, and so on.  It makes life interesting.   

     However, sometimes the signal, the connection, between my Twin Soul and myself gets jammed. I was thinking the other day of what jams the signal. 

     First, being really busy or focused on something seems to stop me from receiving any feelings from my Twin.  So do strong emotions on my part.  Being very ill also seems to halt the connection for a time.

    Isn't it interesting that the same things that jam the signal from my Twin Soul also jam the signal between my divine guidance and me?  It's easy to get so caught up in everyday things that we forget we have connections in the divine realm. 

    Here's the challenge:  How about if we all make an effort this week to stay connected, not only to our Twin Souls (if we feel that connection), but also to our divine guidance?  Let every word, every thought, every action we perform have a spiritual connection.  In that way, we can help heal our world. 

     At least, let's give it a try.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Calling All Empaths! (Part 2)

     Surely you've noticed that this is the time of year for major stress -- people are stressing about how little time they have to do things, how much they have to do, family stresses, job stresses, and the list goes on and on.  It has been building over the last couple of weeks and is its full throes these days. 

     I noticed how bad it had gotten when I was picking up a prescription today.  The woman who normally waits on me with a cheerful smile was not smiling today.  Her shoulders drooped with an unseen burden, her brows were furrowed with worry, and there was a definite frown pulling at the corner of her lips.  I asked how she was doing, and she replied that she was feeling the holiday stress -- her father was coming in (she had paid for the airline ticket), she had four kids at home, her shopping wasn't done, and she alluded to some financial stresses as well.  I wished her well, but wondered if there wasn't more I could do.

     Of course, we can't always rescue those who overextend themselves or create their own stresses.  This would deny them the opportunity to learn some important lessons.  However, we can offer them our peace, our serenity, our sense of groundedness and calm.

     For us empaths, it is vitally important that we avoid going into retreat mode or defensive mode.  Resisting the waves of emotions coming our way doesn't help.  Resistance is a form of fear, and fear acts as an attractive force.  It also keeps us from focusing on maintaining our own sense of centeredness.

     Rather, a good offense is the best defense.  Adopt the internal Buddha pose, which you have seen as one hand lifted up, palm facing outward, in a sign of peace.  This allows the emotions to pass safely by, rather than glomming onto us and overload our sensitivities.  As we internally lift that hand of peace upward, we are also sending outward our sense of calm during these hectic times. 

     That is the best gift we can give during this holiday season.

    

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Twin Souls and Tolstoy

    I think that my journey on discovering the meaning of Twin Souls has been a catalyst to grow, not only as a person, but also as a soul.  It has taught me to give up trying to find fulfillment in another person (the "I need you, baby" syndrome) and rather work to develop myself and prepare myself for my eventual meeting with my Twin Soul.

     As I was reading in Tolstoy, "The meaning of life is to search out that which is hidden, and then to conform our activity to our new knowledge.  This is the life of the individual as it is the life of humanity."

     Blessings to all who continue their quest.