Divine Consciousness

I am a wild woman.
Is that true? Sometimes. More so now that I don't have to go to work every day. Deep down, it's always been true. That wild part within me has clawed my innards daily in order to remind me that who and what I am remains wild and free, roaming the wide worlds within and outside me. Finding my way in the adventure.

I am sacred.
Yes! Every quark of my being screams it moment by moment. Sacred means, quite simply, that I am connected to the Divine. Who among us does not? We forget our connections at our own peril. We release them, but the Divine does not release us. That's what keeps us going. I've learned to trust that.

I am Divine Consciousness.
My awareness of the Divine within me and the Divine around me preserves me in every move I make. With that memory, I let go of the pettiness of personal battles. Are they worth the effort? No. Can they do me real harm? No. I am responsible for that consciousness ~ nothing more and nothing less. The latter is the more difficult. Recognizing that I am bound by and to that Divine Consciousness. I walk the worlds carrying that sense in my soul. What I touch, what I speak, what I make, all belong to the Divine first. I must remain in contact with that Divine, even if it feels like it is a spider-web-thin strand connecting us. Sometimes it feels finer, more delicate than that. Sometimes it feels thick and strong as a steel cable holding a bridge aloft. What I know for sure is that it is always, always present.

How do you see yourself in terms of the sacred? Do you feel your connection? What inspires your wildness? How do you practice and/or remain conscious of that connection? Where do you feel closest to your own Divine Consciousness?

Dream World Solitude

Anais Nin ~ one of the world's most incredible diarists ~ had much to say about solitude, quietude and exaltation. She lived her life to the brim ~ and often overflowing. She was also a very strong, confident and self-reflective writer.

This particular quote of hers surfaced when searching for quotes about 'letting go' ~ her unique point of view.
"In the world of the dreamer there was solitude: all the exaltations and joys came in the moment of preparation for living. They took place in solitude."

Solitude arises as I set out on my journey into each day. Mornings bring quiet and light and nature's sweet waking songs. Joy bubbles into those moments. Not only the lighthearted passing moments of appreciation of the beauty of the day, but also the deep-set, amazed joy bringing warmth to every beat of the heart.

I wake within the dream state. Mostly, I recall my dreams in that instant of awakening ~ barely stepping into the interstice between the veiled world and the solid one. Sometimes, I record the dreams. Generally, I grope my way into them, allowing the sensations to wash over me. My constant expression is gratitude. Thanking the Divine for the gift of dreams, memory, veiled world, and breath.

No matter that I wake alone or with another. In the moment when I awaken, I am in solitude. Totally. Completely. I feel the Glory of contact with the Divine, the Breath of the Divine entering my body. Connection.

How do you feel when you dream? when you wake from a dream? Do you like solitude? Do you appreciate it? Does it feel more like joy? or loneliness? Do you feel awake? aware? lost? afraid? How do you relate to Anais Nin's view of dreaming, solitude and joy?

Looking for My Tribe

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/4785143332446020/

In a recent journeying experience, we went looking for connections to and disconnections from our tribe. Along the way, I found several attitudes and past experiences that contributed to my disconnection. As the journey was coming to an end, I heard a direction: Find your tribe. As I looked around, continuing on the path out of the journey, my own voice echoed: Who is my tribe?

Returning to the room and the group, my mind responded: I have no tribe.

Now, in terms of my tribe of genetic origin, my rational mind argued, I belong solidly.....

Wait, cautioned the voice still arising from the Journey. Breathe. I paused and found a whisper quavering inside my chest with the lightness and quickness of hummingbird wings. I could not quite catch what it was saying, but I knew I would.

Later, when relating the episode to a friend over a glass of wine, she began nodding vigorously. Yes, she said. You have no tribe. She grasped at words to explain what she meant. You fit in to so many different places. Like with the music and musicians, yet you are not a musician nor a groupie. Like.... Then she seemed lost for words. She tumbled and sputtered, backtracking and apologizing. It didn't sound the way she meant it.

But the Light had gone on in my head. Yes! I responded. Precisely! I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. It's not that I have no tribe ~ it's that I have every one. That's what had been fluttering against my ribcage. And again, a couple of days later, when I found myself relating the tale again to another friend, she agreed that not only was I connected to every tribe, she was as well. Perhaps I continue to discover the breadth of my tribe.

What tribe/s do you claim? What tribe/s claims you? How do you participate in the variety of tribal offerings around you? What are your characteristics? your rituals? your beliefs? How do you move within your tribe? Is being part of a tribe significant for you? Why or why not?

Getting By With Friends

Currently, many of my friends are in various stages of hurt or alarm or fear or struggle. It's almost as though the Universe is calling upon us to realign our very selves. [Which may indeed be the case, but that's for a different post.]

Some of my friends need to move ~ from one coast to another; from one town to another; from one country to another. Each move is calling forth vastly different strengths from these folks.... and from their friends.

Some of my friends struggle with aging and dying parents ~ arranging hospice; supervising trips and moves; sitting beside them as they breathe their last; organizing memorials. So many different ways to do and be with those changes.

Some of my friends face their own health issues ~ knee replacements; stents; diabetes; broken bones; hypertension. The lists of these can go on and on; and eventually will.

As we go through these issues, these stresses, we have the opportunity to reach out to each other, to be a support and to have support. It's most difficult when we think we can handle it all alone. Or we think no one else cares. Or we think asking means we are weak. Our self-judgement makes us forget what John Lennon so wonderfully sang: I get by with a little help from my friends. We need each other. Community is what provides support, and we are that community.

These are each and all things I need to remember myself!

What is going on in your life that could be eased by connecting with a friend? How could you ease a friend's way through a troubled time? Why is it important to you to do that?

December's Capricorn New Moon

Accompanying the Winter Solstice this year is the Capricorn New Moon. As ever, Capricorn is about deep reflection and introspection fitting perfectly into the winter cycle of hibernation and allowing time to ponder what newness and shape may be coming into one's future.

In this reflective stage ~ and the 'letting go' phase of the New Moon ~ I consider the brand new year approaching as a time to take action, to deepen my connection with my higher self and with the Ineffable One. I choose an empowered and authentic life.

Moving forward from this New Moon, stepping into the New Year, is perfect timing for releasing the past ~ all of the past, whether I deemed it good, bad or indifferent. I choose to spend this time grounding and centering myself to establish my deep, heartfelt next step with honor, integrity, boldness and courage. I disengage from any false beliefs and self-limitations as I ride the wave of transformation into my next twelve month cycle via the current cultural calendar, awake, aware, conscious, grounded.

This New Moon lights my way to embracing my Shadow, loving both my Light and my Dark. I continue on the path to wholeness and balance, redefining my beliefs along the way. I do not get what I want; I get what I believe. I get what I call forth from the Darkness of the New Moon into the Light of the coming year and next Full Moon.

What do you believe? What does this New Moon say to you? How do you empower yourself? What do you call forth into the New Year?

After the Eclipse

Throughout the night of the Lunar Eclipse, I was awake. I would slip into sleep, then awaken to step outside to see where the Moon, Sun and Earth were in their dance. I would return to bed and the process would begin anew.

I felt strong, connected, thrilled ~ anything but tired. When I awoke in the morning ~ well, when I finally got out of bed to prepare for work ~ I felt rested. What a strange mix of activity, power, light, life and connection!

As I was leaving for work, I was agape at the tremendous beauty that shone above me. I snapped the above image. As often happens, the photo only scratches the surface of how captivating the moon and clouds were.

I often feel energized and electic with power on and around the Full Moon. That coupled with the Lunar Eclipse left me tired, ready to sleep and dream. The stages through which the Moon passes share energy with our own phases of life ~ sometimes even of day.

How does the Full Moon affect you? Do you feel the pull of the Moon? How does it happen? How connected are you to those phases?

Connections

When my daughter was young, I spent many hours watching children's shows on the public broadcasting network. Naturally, one of the constants on her list was Sesame Street.

I found it comical that when taking this picture, I thought of Cookie Monster gobbling up his cookies. Here, the branches are set to gobble up the moon.

Daily, I overhear others making connections over many things in our lives. A person in the check-out line says "You look just like...." to the clerk who's newly encountered. A new parent picks up a box of cereal commenting, "This used to be my favorite cereal when I was a kid. No way is my kid eating this sugar-coated nonsense!" A pair of teenagers in a clothing store share which famous person wore a shirt "just like this one" to a concert.

I laughed at this image because it reminded me of a younger version of my daughter and myself. It brought back sweet, loving, joyful memories. Perhaps the look-alike person was someone the speaker missed or thought of with fondness. Each of us connects what we encounter with something else. We have a file inside our brains keeping track of all that we've done, all those we've cared for or fought with or admired, the words we spoke and others spoke to us. I love those kinds of gentle connections that bring joy with them.

The connections made with people or situations that were not so positive are far more subtle.  Words spoken or looks given that brought with them feelings of shame or fear or separation are more difficult to pinpoint, to connect to the surroundings. I internalize the feelings in all of these situations, yet my mind seeks to erase the images of those moments. My bond to the specifics of the uplifting situations is strong and sure. With the darker side, it's more nuanced, fewer details ~ which is good, a form of self-protection.

I actively seek to stay open, not to judge myself or others for whatever it is I perceive. Also, to peer closely at the moments when I take on or dismiss what I feel and determine what is real and true or fake and false, what lifts me up or what brings me down. As I attend to these shifts, my awareness growing, I connect more with God, more in the NOW, and generally more at peace.

What about you? What makes you happy? What makes you angry? What do you do to connect or reconnect yourself to peace?

Enchantment

Ode to Enchanted Light
by Pablo Neruda

Under the trees light
has dropped from the top of the sky,
light
like a green latticework of branches,
shining
on every leaf,
drifting down like clean
white sand.

A cicada sends
its sawing song
high into the empty air.

The world is
a glass overflowing
with water.

In the dreamtime of being among the trees, I am captured by Neruda's poem. His description of the light and its glowing, vibrant beauty connect me from the top of the day to the evening. I feel the glow through me as much as seeing it filtering through the trees. His words dance across my mind as I savor every iota of living each one describes.

There never seems quite enough time for me to whirl through that dream space, that moment where I ground myself with the words of someone I have never met, yet whose life influences mine in each touch of those words.

Since it is National Poetry Month, what poet or poem influences your life? Into what dreams do those words carry you? How do you let in the connections with the writer of those words?

Connections

Colette Baron-Reid: Wisdom of the Hidden Realms

As I've continued with Practicing Lent, I find myself often feeling solitary. My immediate family, friends and close associates are either not Catholic/Christian or are not observant of the season of Lent.  I jumped at the chance to share the ins and outs of the practice, yet even that remains a fairly singular experience. I'm noticing the deep and amazing sense of solitude in this practice.

Imagine, then, my surprise upon drawing the Web Weaver card this morning when my question was: What will serve me  this day? From the guidebook:
"Just when you need to make a connection, like magic, synchronicity occurs. Music reverberates through the web and plays in harmony with your  own. This is the sign to trust in the connectivity between all events. magic is afoot for you!"

Throughout my life, I've believed in synchronicity, in the coming together of the Fates to produce magic and teaching that is beyond compare. As "Hannibal" Smith of the A-Team repeats, "I love it when a plan comes together!" For anyone who hasn't seen the A-Team [especially the TV series version], usually the plan he references has gone wildly wrong ~ and somehow still works. My life occasionally works that way too.

How does the plan of your life come together? How does synchronicity play a part? What is the flow in your life between connection and solitude?