Becoming Peace

Praying Peace by candlelight:  dawn 09.09.09

My friend Paula's inviting us to become peace.  She welcomes us to step up each Wednesday at 9pm (your time) to:

"Light a candle and pray for peace.  Sit in meditation and radiate peaceful energy.  Create sacred space and create a peace ritual that sends energy into the world.  Breathe peace in and out of your body.  There is no right or wrong way to do this."  Paula Sutton of Gaia's Touch. 

I'm in.  This evening I'll light a candle and pray peace.  I'll celebrate the full moon.  I'll Invite Perceptual Shifts and allow the stillness of my infinite, universally interwoven being to inform me at a deep level.

Join us... if you feel like it.  This Wednesday night or any Wednesday night... or anytime actually...  Be peace. 

munay,  Barbara

What is unfolding at this time...

I enjoy working with online divinatory processes.  Today I visited the Osho Zen Tarot online and asked:

What is unfolding in my life at this time?  What do I need to be aware of?

First card I drew was Consciousness:

"... there is a crystal clarity available right now, detached, rooted in the deep stillness that lies at the core of your being. There is no desire to understand from the perspective of the mind--the understanding you have now is existential, whole, in harmony with the pulse of life itself. Accept this great gift, and share it."

 Ah... this is the crux of things.  I'm living in the essence of my being... and allowing my mind to do what it will.  My mind is not the boss of me!  I'm tuning to the depths of my being... and inviting awareness to arise.  Action flows from deep awareness.



Second card I drew was Totality:

"Developing the knack of being total in responding to whatever comes, as it comes, is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Taking one step through life at a time, giving each step your complete attention and energy, can bring a wondrous new vitality and creativity to all that you do."


This is me... living in the response field... being fully in the Vortex... or whatever language suits me in the moment.  This is about absolutely being and fully being.  I am living life with gusto and with a wholeheartedness that is earth shattering in its capacity to move me forward along my trajectory of being.


Third card was Traveling:


"Life is a continuity always and always. There is no final destination it is going towards. Just the pilgrimage, just the journey in itself is life, not reaching to some point, no goal--just dancing and being in pilgrimage, moving joyously, without bothering about any destination."

This reminds me that I have no need for a fixed direction that I control or foresee.  It's simply the movement across the landscape of my life that has power and vitality.  I am awake and alive in this moment.  I move.  I travel.  I explore.  This also reminds me literally that this is a year I am free to travel to various places on the planet to engage in ways that arise through the network of friends and allies I've forged bonds with throughout the course of my life.  I relish the unknown blessings I'll encounter as I move through the coming months.

Fourth card was Laziness:

"When you are lazy, it is a negative taste: you simply feel that you have no energy, you simply feel dull; you simply feel sleepy, you simply feel dead. When you are in a state of non-doing then you are full of energy--it is a very positive taste. You have full energy, overflowing. You are radiant, bubbling, vibrating, You are not sleepy, you are perfectly aware. You are not dead--you are tremendously alive....There is a possibility the mind can deceive you: it can rationalize laziness as non-doing. It can say, "I have become a Zen master," or, "I believe in Tao"--but you are not deceiving anybody else. You will be deceiving only yourself. So be alert."


This is an excellent reminder to move from inertia to wu wei... be fully radiant and alive while being completely open to what arises.  The opposite of laziness/inertia is not initiating, it's not forcing anything into action.  The opposite of laziness/inertia is radiant, vibrant alertness and availability to be mobilized by the universe in ways that are thoroughly harmonious with my authentic nature.  I make a commitment to attend to the sensations I'm experiencing.  If/when I feel sleepy, dull, dead, etc, I'll realign with my deep self ... and activate the flow of radiant vitality.  Yes.

 Last card was Experiencing:

" 'Experiencing' is the feeling of wonder itself, the thrill of communion, the gentle touch of our connectedness with all that surrounds us."

"If you haven't heard nature whispering to you lately, now is a good time to give her the opportunity."

EXPERIENCE. That's what I'm here to do.  Experience.  I sit back and enjoy the ride.. the glorious experience of being present.  I enliven myself with the awareness that this is one sweet planet and an amazing universe that sparkles with an incredible richness of possibilities.  And I'm part of All That Is.  I say YES.

munay,
Barbara

The Right to Remain Silent

I have the right to remain silent. 

The past two nights I've dreamt about Miranda.  I woke this morning clear that the dream is inviting me to honor and avail myself of my right to remain silent.

The past few days as I've engaged with activities related to the launch of Indiana University's new Cinema, I put my attention on the powerful transmissions of energy, the capacity for deepening awareness, and the opening up to transformative possibilities that are available in the presence of potent works of motion picture art.  During the guest speaker events, which I attended yesterday, I  appreciated how moving conversation and dialogue can be when approached with a lively sense of presence and generosity of spirit.

On the flip side as I've moved around campus I overheard many conversations: cell phone and in person exchanges.  I was struck by how pointless, rote, and fueled by conditioning most of what I heard emanating from people's mouths seemed to be.  How opinionated.  How disconnected.   How unnecessary.

What arose was the reminder for me to always begin from a ground of silence, to wait for words to arise from a deep place in my being before speaking. 

I have a right to remain silent.  Under any circumstances whatsoever I may honor the richness of silence.  And in the moment when words are prepared to arise from my authentic core, I'll be happy to escort them out into the world.

I'll play with this practice and see what arises.

munay,
Barbara

Rising over the limitations of snow

Today it is snowing again.  We are honoring the seasonal weather patterns by staying home.  The winter weather isn't my favorite.  Never has been.  I recognize the beauty, but that's where my appreciation ends.  I find the constriction brought on by cold and the resulting travel curtailment doesn't suit my expansive desire to be free to move about the planet easily and effectively at any time. 

I have friends who are prone to saying... Why don't you just... adjust your mental framework, your way of seeing so that winter snow and ice are just the way you like it... or some such.   OK... that's possible.  But I'm more interested in tuning in to what my body is trying to tell me... and experience what I need to attend to from that deeper part of my being... the essential self that sings to me through the bones...

What is it telling me?  I think it is telling me not to live in Indiana in the wintertime.  Or at least not to spend the bulk of the winter here.  It doesn't feel right to me.  I always want to be somewhere else in the winter and no where else in the fall.  The fall has always been my favorite season and Brown County Indiana seems to have evolved as a shrine to the exquisite beauty and transformative power of autumn.  So.. be here in autumn, be elsewhere most of the winter, then return in the spring.  Part of the summer I could do without as well... so perhaps I'll plan to be somewhere else in parts of July and August.  Let's see what unfolds.

Coming back to the present moment.... I remind myself that my essential nature is unbounded by constraints.  My spirit ventures to any place or time with ease.  My body on the other hand chafes at the limitations.  During warm, clear weather I might CHOOSE to stay home for days on end, but once the snow piles up outside on our hilly gravel road and the situation dictates homeboundness... that's when I find myself whining... WHY?  WHY?  WHY?

So... I just notice that and say OK.  That's what's up at the moment.  Think I'll soak in a hot bath and relax.  Maybe I'll read.  Maybe I'll just sit with my mesa and dream into the numerological mysteries of 11s piled onto more 11s... as some of my Facebook friends have urged me to do today. 

Today I invite myself to let the day unfold without regard to weather of any kind.  Today I'm enjoying being home with my sweetheart.  That's all. 

New Moon Fire Ceremony

New Moon Fire Ceremony by Candlelight

Mid week I held fire ceremony to honor and connect with the energies of the new moon. 

Dreaming into the heart of the flame... exploring the essence of the new moon's capacities to deepen and then reveal from that depth exciting possibilities not manifested in quite that way ever before. 

Saying YES to deepest self.... recognizing the power to over reach is a definite possibility if what I say yes to is random and unclear... but if I say YES to what arises from my authentic self... and if I say YES to what resonates with my true nature... then what I say YES to will be in exquisite alignment for me... and will be harmonious with why I am here on the planet.

This is the dream I'm dreaming at this time.... to open to unknown blessings already on the way, to recognize them when they arrive, and to say YES in glorious fashion to what sings to my deepest heart.

Thanks in advance to everyone and everything in the universe that steps up to offer invitations that I will thrill to say YES to.

I must not hoard...

 My sweetie is very witty.  He comes up with wonderful insights and humorous quips all the time.  I feel quite delighted that we're sharing our lives together.   On New Year's Eve he devised this wry adaptation of the Bene Gesserit mantra from Dune and posted it to his Facebook profile page:

I must not hoard.

Stuff is the mind-killer.
Stuff is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my stuff.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the stuff has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

This sparked in me a desire to look deeply at the nature of hoarding in my life... and to make a deep commitment to releasing 'stuff' from all aspects of my life:

There are so many ways I hoard.  I'm attending to any and all as they arise in my awareness.

One way is that I hold on to things I've created - or partially created.  Examples:  Sewing/knitting/beading projects.  Writing projects.  Photography.

Since I put my attention on this hoarding issue, I've had the inspiration to reassemble space in my home office.  I recruited my sweetie's help in getting the doors off the closet (read:  he took them off for me!).  This opened up space in my room.  It also takes the room down to one door, which helps me out as I focus on ways to spend more time in a Blended Cave Environment as my Human Design variables invite, but more on that in another post.

I cleared things out of my closet, put a wire shelf unit in there and started moving my sewing and knitting and beading supplies and tools into the space.  Then I started to envision the possibility of moving a small table into that area to serve as a sewing/crafting workspace.  I am in the process of liberating a table from another part of our home, so I can relocate it into my office.  Also... same for another wire shelf unit.  Moving swiftly to activate these energies so I can release the hoarded projects and materials... transforming them into new creations.

---

I am aware that my opportunities arise through the network of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances I've connected with over the years.  I'm deeply appreciative of all these connections.  At this time I'm practicing the art of sharing only with those who ask me to share... by gifting to any of my Facebook friends who say yes to receiving gifts from me in thanksgiving for my appreciation of our FB connection.  I'm really feeling delighted by this process and am deeply moved by the way some of my FB friends have stepped up to let me know they are open to receiving the gifts I have to share.  This is a potent way for me to stop the hoarding.  I'm taking things that are in my possession and gifting them.... but I'm also gifting from other levels of my being.  I look forward to seeing what arises as I prepare for this powerful gifting process to unfold.

---

Another way I hoard is that I withhold my dreaming, shamanic, and energy skills... skills that have strong ability to catalyze transformation in the world.  In the past I've misdirected myself by offering these skills and abilities indiscriminately, resulting in deep frustration when they weren't received or when the work wasn't able to go to a deep level, because I was offering my gifts to people for whom they weren't a good match, or to those who hadn't made a personal commitment to engage them fully.  The frustration led me to stop allowing those gifts to flow.   They'd gotten bottled up and congested in many ways.

The approach I'm taking to stop the hoarding of these abilities is... perhaps counter intuitively... to stop offering them.  I choose to cease offering, but I choose to be completely open to sharing my gifts when they are called for in ways that are in alignment with my deepest nature. Going forward I only respond to requests from those individuals and groups, who feel a deep call to open to their deepest, most authentic selves and who feel inspired to invite me to step up to support them. This feels very liberating.  It stops me wasting energy and building frustration by offering myself and my abilities where they aren't wanted or needed.  It keeps me from hoarding as I won't feel like retiring inward in frustration.  And it opens up a vast flood of energy that can bring me into connection with those who will call forth from me information, skills, and abilities that are deeply satisfying for me to share and which infuse in them a greater sense of wholeness and integrity and passion for bringing their own gifts into the world joyously, lovingly, creatively.

People will find me... through my communities and networks.  They will know when to step up to ask me to share my skills and abilities, my time and attention... and they'll do so in ways that are in alignment for us both.  This feels great.

---

I haven't addressed the cessation of the hoarding of writing and photography and other forms of hoarding.... those are multi-faceted explorations which I'll undertake in the coming days.

For now... this is enough.  I feel some serious shifts in the energy patterns in my life.  I invite blessings to flow... and I make myself available as a valuable resource in ways that make me feel alive and full of gusto and joy.

love and blessings....

munay,
Barbara

New Year's Attentions

The focus for so many at the start of a new calendar year is on New Year's Intentions or Resolutions.  I'm interested instead in New Year's Attentions. 

As I move into a new cycle of experience, I will be noticing what I am attending to, because "Energy flows where attention goes" as the Huna principle Makia states so eloquently.

So... no rules to follow or to ignore or to fail to live up to.  Just paying attention... and noticing who is doing that attention paying... being clear that I value the attention of the deeply authentic aspects of my being over the scattered and opinionated graspings of the mind.  

So... at this time I'm inviting my deepest self to assert its capacities and claim its privilege of being the trendsetter in my life... choosing to attend to what resonates at the core of my being.  I choose to move forward in harmony with my deepest self's sense of what matters.  I know that the universe lines up with me when that happens and massive quantities of creative energy are unleashed and activated to flow through me mobilizing amazing new possibilities.  That's how I'm created.  That's how I'm designed... to have innate capacities fully engaged by life force energies that thrill to be in alliance with my uniqueness.

That potential is only activated when I'm paying attention to what matters to me at the deepest level of my being... and steering clear of conditioning influences, which stultify and distort what it really means for me to be alive in this world at this time... part of an unfolding evolutionary, expansive universe.