Tuesday, April 28, 2015

God's Tools


I've spent entirely too much time in my life being afraid of making a misstep off the path. To paraphrase another famous quote, sometimes the path diverges and I've had a choice to make. Do I continue on the one I've been walking? Do I step onto another, that leads in an unknown direction? Which path at which time is the best one for me? The questions rise and fall like my breath flowing in and out of my lungs.

I've been afraid of making mistakes. Felt more of the perfectionist coming out in me. Ha! Not sure the status of being a perfectionist. The feeling arose more from the drive to not fail, not look like a fool, not be wrong.

Then there were the moments when I took the steps irregardless of the consequences. My moves from one place to another, across the country and the world, were like that. Stepping into and out of relationships was like that. My path often found me and I tripped onto it, making mistakes and friends along the way.

I've considered disappointment as God's tool. It's provided me the impetus to shift gears, to reach out, to lean into counting my blessings and looking for the brighter side. I've been afraid that it's meant I'm not good enough for or at whatever. I've sunk into the depths of feeling bad and wanting to run and hide. Somehow, I've found something to rest my gratitude on ~ a phone call or a card, a sunset or a quarter on the street. Something that slips a different tone into my vision and I am grateful.

How have you found your path? How many times has it changed, twisted, turned, diverged? How have God's tools kept you going? What or who has helped you get or stay on your path?

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Leaving Stars


Images of the night sky always rumble deep within my being ~ as though the night time releases me to purr. Top that incredible sensation with Victor Hugo's insight that stars remain within when I open to the night ~ my innards unsure whether to implode or explode.

The brightness of the stars within the dark create imaginative heat when their light touches us. Yet we know that what appears to us in the night sky is an echo of what was and, despite what flickers before our eyes, is now darkness and cold.

And yet.... and yet.... we continue to wish on the stars, to look to them for answers, to place our hope in them. They remind us of both our fleeting presence and our quest for immortality.

I've always loved the night time. Velvet darkness surrounding me. Sounding silence penetrating my soul. Time standing still. Since earliest childhood, I've found myself deep within its solitude.

Hugo's insight hums within me. I've felt, as continue to feel, the pull of the stardust at my core as it brands me a Sister of Night. Tattoos star trails on my soul. Serenades my being with star song.

What do you think of the night? How does it affect you? Do you feel night within you? Can you feel the stars left within you? What time of day speaks most loudly to you? Why?

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Altar of Not Knowing



Wow! It's been more than a fortnight since I posted a blog. The time has been eventful, as well as uneventful, in fits and starts. What it was, more than anything else, was full of life.

In the midst of this amazing fullness, this quote and image appeared. The image reminds me of places I've traveled. The concept of an 'altar of not knowing' resonates deeply. It sweeps me away....

The most remarkable element is that I intend to keep, or perhaps allow, things to remain undefined. In the midst of shift. Among the changes. Flowing outward. Definition would stop the movement and create a stopping place instead of granting the movement the space to create and define itself.

Daily bowing, kneeling, visiting the altar of not knowing keeps my focus on the flow, the moment, the possibility. It keeps me awake. It brings me to the limit of love with mystery.

Where are you? What would your altar be named? How are you with keeping things undefined?


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

One Dream


Dream:
I was outside a building with large glass doors and a staircase directly in front of me. Many people were on the street and inside the building. It was a linimal time of day, dawn or dusk. Inside the building was lighted while outside was in shadow. Coming from that shadowy space wearing a long, open overcoat, I pulled the door open and entered. Tears were running down my face. Someone had hurt me, not physically but emotionally, and recently though not in the immediate past moments. Keeping my head down, I hoped no one would notice the tears. Someone approached from the left across the lobby as I walked toward the stairs. This person wanted to talk with me about a project on which we were jointly working. Other people were simply going up and down the staircase and across the lobby. The person (he? she?) noticed I was avoiding eye contact and, rather than discussing the project, asked if I was okay. I answered yes and continued toward the stairs, forcing the person to fall into step beside me in order to keep the conversation going.
Feeling: Curiosity and wonder.
Also: after recording this dream, I "accidently" flipped a "magnetic poetry" word off the refrigerator door (something I've never previously done) ~ the word was 'from' ~~ [curiouser and curiouser...]

Dreams, for me, bear much life into my reality. I feel them strongly and often seek to interpret them in the most straight-forward manner. This one, however, brought with it a slightly different sense: wonder. I woke curious about my reason for tears but not feeling sad or hurt at all. The sense of wonder was at the surroundings and my coat and my capacity to not be seen when I chose not to be. Though when I shared it, one friend asked about the elements in it, I found the elements drawing me were different from the ones drawing that friend. My elements were shadow, light and tears. I'll continue to explore what those mean to me as time progresses.

Do you remember your dreams? If so, do you record them? Do you explore the meaning of your dreams? What elements showed up in your dream/s? What do those elements mean to you?