All Saints' Day 2016

Sojourner Truth, Bartolomé de las Casas, Miriam, Origen, Malcolm X, Queen Elizabeth I, Iqbal Masih, & Teresa of Avila

Considering the seasonal closeness and thinness of the veils between the worlds, thoughts of the saints dancing nearby, celebrating with and in spite of us, brings a smile to my lips. In that place beside yet distinct and distant from us, there is no more separation. The saints find joy in everything. They celebrate, love, embrace, and glow with the light of their joy.

Where we find ourselves in the world, in this same moment, can be trying or frightening or enraging or sad. We are influenced by the moods, words and experiences of others as well as our own. However, the word influence comes from Latin and means into flow. We have choice of what influences us, what flow we step into. We can be in the flow of a mud-slinging election season. Or in the flow of the severe changes in our work environment. Or in the flow of the grief and death of a friend. All of these things touch our lives in their particular way. We can choose how much, how long or how deeply we want to allow ourselves to be in that flow. Don't deny the feelings. Don't wallow in them either. Learn the power of balance.

Sometimes, the immediacy of someone's words or actions or disappearance in our lives whacks us off our emotional feet. That is what being embodied humans is all about. We feel in all possible ways. It's good to feel ~ to allow the joy or sadness or grief or love to rush over us. It's also good to take perspective on those feelings, to look at the joy of the dancing saints in the icon above, and recognize ourselves in that as well.

At this season, the closeness of the saints can bring us to tears of sorrow, grief and joy all at the same time or perhaps wildly in turns. While we feel our own personal feelings around them, may we have the grace to touch into their dancing too.

What do you feel about the saints who have passed through your life? Who are they? How have they affected you? What can you do to acknowledge their presence in this season?

Love Law

I never cease to be amazed at the combinations that show up when I play Teabag Tarot. I often combine two teas in one extra-large travel tumbler.... and I have no idea what their messages will be. When these two arrived in the same brewing, I was bopped over the head with their message of the law of love.

Much discussion with friends and others focuses on the need we each and all have for love. Questions that surface:

• How do we search for it? 
• Who do we feel disappointed us? 
• When did we have a time when we had enough? 
• What does enough love even mean?
• How does that search for love drive us at work? at play? in our families?

When I saw these messages, it was more like a strum on the heartstrings than on the head. Why search for love when that is what we are? I recognized that it's been awhile since I was drawn into actively searching for love.... since I felt as though what I was, what I AM, wasn't complete or enough.

Even so, was I practicing that last statement ~ the one that says Love is the ultimate law of life? Maybe not completely, but more at this time of my life than I have in the past. There's a wildly caustic election battle going on around me. Even though I am appalled by many of the revelations surrounding one candidate, my emotions have been more curious, more fascinated, more intrigued than hateful or spiteful. Even when people accuse or shame others about their candidate ~ no matter which it is, I find my head tipping to one side, my thoughts wisping to Huh, my heart reaching out to theirs. Is that practicing that Love Law? I think so. I believe that any time we release the option to hate we are allowing love to flow. As long as we ~ as I ~ continue to do that, hope remains alive in the world.

How do you practice the Love Law? What triggers your search for love? How do you know when/if you believe you are the love? When do you know you're complete? How does that Love Law show up in your life?

Considering Blessings

John O'Donohue is one of those master teachers akin to Buddha, Confucius and Gandhi. In simple, gracious terms, he describes the day-to-day world and brings it into a new and wondrous focus. This particular quote resonates with all that I am currently sensing.

Yesterday I filled out my retirement paperwork. It's been a long time coming, yet I continued to waffle and waver almost all the way to the office.

Afterward, and all day today, I found myself bubbling over with gratitude. Recognizing the blessings of my life amidst the occasional sense of uncertainty, my heart overflowed.

The blessings showering my life in this moment are many. Here's a few that protect, heal and strengthen me as I continue into retirement:
Foremost among these blessings ~ my family and my friends. I am blessed to be included in many varied circles, populated by much love and joy. I'm blessed to be retiring from a job I loved, that kept me learning and creative; and with a pension plan that is no longer available to serve the young as it does me. My health is good and I am active and strong. While I am retiring, I am not yet eligible for social security. All these things are incredible blessings and only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the good, the wonderful, the fullness in my life. As I continue on this path toward a new beginning, many of these blessings flicker in front of me like fireflies on a dark summer night. I am grateful.

I also acknowledge that I am here to create blessings in other people's lives. That's part of the circle, the cycle of blessings ~ receive, be grateful, pass on. It makes life far more amazing and bearable. I receive as I give and gratitude is the grease that keeps the blessings in motion.

Where are you in your current life path? What are you grateful for? What blesses you? Who blesses your life? How do you express your gratitude? Whose life do you bless?

Retrograde and The Empress

From the guide:

The Empress signifies the female and chaotic power of the universe. She guards the powerful and vulnerable life force, which delicate balance should be protected but not constricted. This sensual and loving archetype teaches us to love and cherish ourselves as well as the world around us. A mother's true love means granting freedom for change and growth, protecting without smothering. As all mothers she juggles many tasks and she succeeds because she draws her energy from the love within her.

Today begins Mercury Retrograde. We're also experiencing Mars, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn Retrograde. We spend much time blaming Mercury Retrograde for everything from our mood to losing a shoe as well as using it as an excuse to avoid certain activities. So what precisely does 'retrograde' mean in our lives? It could possibly have an inverse effect or create a reversal of situations, change of feelings or activities, alter our communications, or affect our ability to discern information positively.

As I knew we were beginning the oft dreaded Mercury Retrograde, I drew a tarot card with the focus question of: What do I need to balance and stay strong during this time? The Empress showed up. What I especially love in the passage from the guide is that She is the female and chaotic power of the universe. So that's the balance and strength I need for this time? I would suppose it is. Even though that is a strong and powerful part of Her, She is also the Mother. She embodies both the universal chaos with its implicit movement and disruption and the eternal mother with its calm, embracing steadiness.

As I read about the other Retrograde companions, I realized The Empress was even more perfect for this time. Looking at this particular image of The Empress, She is strength, love and vulnerability. She's without clothing ~ symbolizing being without guile ~ in Nature. She has an intimate, loving relationship with Her child. She holds a spiral shell of stars over her midsection which symbolizes the fertile, ever-expanding universe. The Empress understands Nature, is free within it, and shares it with Her offspring. I am safe with Her by my side.

How do you experience Mercury Retrograde? What have you heard about it? Even if you don't personally follow astrology, are there times when things go askew multiple ways or times at once? How do you balance yourself during these times? What do you see in The Empress? How could She guide you through your off-balance moments?

Power and Love

I could live on Rumi poems..... then again, I could live on many poets' writing. Something about the brevity and clarity of their words.

Personally, I have total belief in Rumi's commentary. I've experienced the power of travel over and over again throughout the course of my life.

Most recently, I took a three-day journey to another part of my state. Another person traveled with me; we met another at our destination. It was a very low-key time. We did simple things: shopping, walking around, a hike through a local park, a play, shared meals. In the context of travel and being together in a shared environment, we did these things with more consciousness than if we were at home, even performing the same acts. We noticed the beauty of our surroundings. We left the mundane behind. We enjoyed the rain, the chill, the sun, each and all in immediate and different ways. We talked about mundane as well as significantly important topics. At various times, I breathed deeply and spoke about how enjoyable and wonderful our shared time was. All of us agreed. It felt refreshing, invigorating, empowering. As we shared time together, we also felt the gentle spirit of our love.

Could we have experienced that together at home? Perhaps. Yet the effort it often takes to be fully conscious, fully present can feel heavy and interfere with the uplifting power when in a place where our responsibilities are reduced and shifted. Travel is a gift we give to ourselves and that, too, is loving and powerful.

How do you feel when you travel? Where have you traveled most recently? How are your interactions with others different when you travel? How does travel empower you?

Do Not Feed

Not so long ago, I experienced what was to me a baffling illness. I can describe it more readily by what it wasn't than by what it was. There was no fever, sweats, sniffles or cough. There was no purging from either upper or lower orifice. It was a very, very brief wash of.... something. And that was the baffling part.

So in today's TMI culture, I could have rushed to the computer and typed in the 'symptoms.' My experience doing that is very unclear and over-the-top number of responses. What happens when I begin to read those responses? Fear sets in.

Don't get me wrong. I believe in being informed and in utilizing the 'information highway' to the best of my ability. But even WebMD requires accurate and thorough information from me. Then it spits out information according to a logarithm. No interaction, no questions, no awareness of my previous health history. The information I gain needs to be offset with the human interface. At least it does for me, so I don't feed my fears.

There's a lot of fear on the loose out there. Every request for a campaign donation is laced with fear of 'them' or the other side's policies. Almost every news story on the evening news overwhelms us with how bad things are. For the past several years, I've chosen not to watch TV news. I don't care for the atmosphere of fear it breeds. I continue to work on taking responsibility for my fears and the ripple of fear they cause in the world. It makes my personal world a better, safer, saner, happier place to live.

What feeds your fears? What do you fear? How do you feed the fears of those around you? How can you influence others to release the fears and let love and acceptance flow in? Do you want to live in a fearful world or a loving one?

Drawn by Love

One of the best ways to take care of yourself is to find out what it is you truly love. Not who you love, but what you love. Really.

I've been reaching for what I love for awhile. Nothing big or important ~~ Ha! It's what brings my heart to life.

What draws me? Writing. I love to sit down with pen and paper or with my fingers on a keyboard and write. Sometimes I'm better at expressing what I want to say, but I love to simply get thoughts, ideas, dreams, notions down in some form.

What else draws me? Teaching. When an idea I have presented lights up a student's face it's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. I want to expand my teaching environment from the public schools, where I've been lucky to teach for a bunch of years, to .... I'm not quite sure what yet. Part time? Private school? A totally different venue? We'll see where it draws me.

What about you? What draws your heart? What have you found that you love? Are you pursuing that path?

Love and Fear

Recently, a friend asked: "Do you think fear is the heart of love?" My immediate response was simply: "No. Fear and love are opposites." My friend then affirmed the belief that fear indeed was the heart of love. According to my friend's belief, fear of being alone drives one to seek the company of another and of falling in love.

After those comments, another person entered the conversation and began asking questions. My friend turned away and I couldn't hear the comments, responses and the continuation of the conversation.

I continue to ponder that question. My current response would be:
Love is about serving and honoring the Other. Fear is about getting something for Me.
Love isn't blind ~ it sees everything, and chooses to love anyway.
Love is a coal I use to warm my life. Sometimes it burns brightly. Sometimes it flares into bright flames. Sometimes I have to feed it more fuel and fan it to keep it burning.

What do you think is the relationship between love and fear? What motivates you to love another person? What do you value most in your loving relationships?

Being Solitary and Be~longing

For years, I've thought solitude and being solitary were the same thing. But they're not. I like my alone time, my solitude, my down time. Time alone gets me more deeply in touch with Spirit.

Being solitary is a different shift in my soul. I am alone and happy in that aloneness. I face that big empty space of not having a partner beside me to walk in the same direction. My trust in Spirit providing is full trust in the Ineffable One, the One Who Is.

I know people who are fine with moments, even days, of solitude. Time for themselves, for meditation, for writing, playing, creating, whatever lies in that deeper moment of themselves.

Those same people are not often comfortable with BEING alone, with a solitary existence. They pass their time in solitude knowing that at some point in the relatively near future, they are going to be back in the company of their partner or friends or family. They've gone away on vacation. Period. TTFN, nothing more.

Living a solitary life means finding that core spot within, the spot where others are not there to serve us, help us, keep us safe. They are there to BE with us, to simply live side by side. It's knowing where I stop and you begin. Knowing that at any point, the tide can change, I can be alone again, and I can survive.

What do you do with solitude? How does it affect you? How do you define the difference between a solitary life and solitude? How do you live a solitary life? How does it balance or unbalance you?