Stargirl 4

What qualities makes you a star? What do you offer the world that's unique ~ totally your own?

When I consider these questions, I find myself thinking that there's nothing about me that's so unique that I'm important or needed in this world. Truly, life would go on without me. That's not depression talking, it's a kind of realism. Yet... yet.... it doesn't tell the whole story. It leaves out some significant pieces of the picture that I'm part of.

Unique about me ~ well, doing this blog. Others may be doing something similiar, but they aren't doing the same blog. Another unique quality: being the mother of my daughter. She is who she is because I am who I am ~~ and because I've been a significant part of her life. No one else could have interacted with her, taught her, loved her, the way I have. I also have a unique skill set ~ not an odd one, just my own particular combination of skills that make me a unique friend, teacher, partner, parent, healer, learner. All ME.

So, what makes YOU unique? What's your inner star?

Stargirl 3

"At the same time we held back. Because she was different. Different. We had no one to compare her to, no one to measure her against. She was unknown territory. Unsafe. We were afraid to get too close."

~ Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

Have you ever met someone who throws you so off-kilter that you don't know how to react or interact with him or her? Have you ever been that person for someone else? Different. Odd. Unsafe. Undefinable. Someone who also make you think, makes you question your definition of yourself and the world around you, makes you see it all in a different light. Those people are the gems in our lives. They are the creative and free spirits that give us hope as much as they make us shudder with the edginess of their difference.

Do you want to be counted as one of the different ones? Why or why not?

Stargirl 2

"We wanted to define her, to wrap her up as we did each other, but we could not seem to get past 'weird' and 'strange' and 'goofy'. Her ways knocked us off balance. A single word seemed to hover in the cloudless sky over the school:

HUH?"

~~ Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

Here she is again, that difficult-to-define Stargirl. As time progresses, being difficult to define means that the definition can become something like: "odd" or "crazy". Others have difficult capturing a clear image. She's ethereal. She is not like everyone else. Jealousy dictates at least some of the words. How do you work around the fact that she keeps you off balance? That she is both as attractive and as repulsive as a magnet? Our minds cannot deal with it.

What throws you off balance? Who do you know with characteristics that you find attractive yet are afraid of?

Stargirl

"She was elusive, She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a cork board like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew."                                               ~~ Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

Words used to describe Stargirl strike chords deep within our own psyche: "She was today. She was tomorrow." Who wouldn't want to have those words used to describe them? Someone who wields so much power of diversity, influence and change? Even so, she is observed, noted, labeled. Stargirl is a dream.... a different sort of person.... one who defies definition.

How would someone define you? Would that be different from how you would define yourself?

Modern Life

The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. --Thomas Merton, Trappist monk

 When we are clear in our thinking ~ when we are reasonable and reasoned, our lives are filled with care. Our time is measured by moments of doing and moments of being. We have the capacity to flow into and  out of sync with the rest of the world around us.

Merton's comment about the rush and pressure of modern life being a form of violence is startling. Our culture demands a life that is filled with flying here and driving there and biking somewhere and .... There is a constant flurry of motion, only some of which actually accomplishes something of value. Yet, yet.... when we find ourselves simply moving from one task to another, from one cause to another, even doing 'good deeds', we often do not have or take enough time to focus our energy. Then it scatters to the four winds and leaves us less than we were before with nothing to show for all our work.

What do you do to take care of yourself? How do you participate in violence to yourself?

Beginning Afresh

Yesterday marked the finale of the triple days of honoring the Dead. Early this morning, a New Moon arrived in the House of Scorpio, often associated with Darkness, Hidden Things and Death. It appears the Universe suggests that we continue to face the Darkness within and around us.

In the midst of this liminal and deeply imaginative time, I woke to a full double rainbow over the Pacific Ocean at Nye Beach. By the time I got outside to take this picture, the rain had begun and the glorious colors were already beginning to fade. That's how things are in life ~ beauty, glory, wonder, awe for whatever time it comes, then it fades into torrents of rain.

Our culture tends to loo]k at rain, wind and snow as things to have occasionally; sun is preferable and adored. Fascinating concept, yet I find it true. It's why we created Daylight Savings Time [does anyone really believe we're 'saving' daylight?]. Somehow, we believe we can have or take control of Nature. We do not need to face the Darkness.

Nature, the Universe, God, Goddess, whatever you call that Other, tells the story differently. We must face the Darkness in order to appreciate and understand the Light. There must be Balance.

How will you face the Darkness today? What is the Darkness in your life?

Thinning of the Veils

This is the time of year where we clearly talk about and accept that there is a thinness to the veils between the worlds of the living and the dead. There are also those who are no longer living, yet have not yet fully embraced the world of the dead. They too step between the veils more readily at this time of year.

I've long been amazed and amused by the three days that join together during this time. Three, a number sacred to God and Goddess alike: Trinity, Trident, Triple Goddess.
Found at http://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterpentecost12aa.html:
     31 October: Hallowe'en: unofficially recalls the souls of the damned.
     1 November: All Saints: set aside to officially honor the Church Triumphant.
     2 November: All Souls: set aside officially to pray for the Church Suffering.
In these three days, we have the opportunity to acknowledge those who have gone from this world to the next. We can choose to be present to the comings and goings of our ancestors, our friends, all those who have gone before. We can choose to listen for their voices in the wind, in the dreamtime, in our memories. We can create ceremony and ritual to honor the wisdom of those who have gone beyond the veil.

What presence will you make available for your ancestors? How will you honor them?