The End of Febraury

photo by Warren Nistad

In some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, even in areas that are considered more moderate in their wintry weather, people continue to dig out of snow, slosh through muddy melt, slide along ice-covered walks and streets.

Then there are the areas, generally cool and wet in the winter, where camellias are blossoming, daffodils and croci are nearly bloomed out, long-sleeved t-shirts and shorts are regular wear.

Living in the latter zone, I hear many voices quiet with surprise, almost whispering, "Hard to believe it's only February!" For the skiers, it's been, "Wow! Not much snow on the mountain this year."

Here we are. The last day of February. How do we address the end of a month? It moves smoothly into the next month. We forget about it. Let it slip into the past, out of our minds. For a select number of people, this is truly the last day of February they will ever know. Some of them may know it, or have some sense of an impending death. Others have no idea. Rather than a morbid thought, this gives me pause to observe the finer points of the weather, notice the Doberman daintily pacing the sidewalk outside my window, marvel at the green glow of the barely budding trees. It affords me the awestruck moment of observing the mundane moments around me and take note of their beauty. I am grateful.

What do you see around you today? How do you address the end of this particular February? Do you celebrate the passing of another month? Do you notice the mild as well as momentous changes around you? What is the most important though you might have today?

The Working of Memories

Leaving the house this morning, the air was heavy with dampness. Not fog as has been recent; bright sky, instead, aglow with rose and gold. Breathing deeply in early morning light, I paused. Took another deep, intentional breath. The smell in the air was striking. Another deep breath and I was in Cairo, walking the sand-colored street to school. Another breath and I was in Abdu's taxi on my way to Nazlet es-Saman and the pyramids. The scent brought me half-way around the world in an instant. It took a moment to regain my bearings, readjust my sense of place and prepare to drive in to work.

The most amazing moments occur when I allow myself to slip into those memories. Some may say it's an escape; I experience it as an embrace. The moments my senses recall the memory are strong. They happen without my permission; sometimes without my knowledge. When I took that first breath, my entire body reacted, telling my lungs, "Do that again!" I found myself chuckling. The images deeply connected to that particular smell have nothing to do with my current home. The memory was powerful ~ and assuredly welcome. A fantastic start to my day!

Are there particular scents that resurrect memories for you? Are they welcome memories? How do you experience these memories? Do you see things? Feel them? Do you other senses bring memories back to mind?

Magical Reality

He knew what he knew: that the real world was full of magic, so magical worlds could easily be real.

~ Salman Rushdie

Another quote from Rushdie ~ Who knew I'd find snippets of his work so beautiful? I'm thrilled to have found that out!

The world around us is so incredible! It bubbles and snarls, sighs and honks. Every passing minute exudes beauty. If we look for it, or even if we don't, the magic is so amazingly abundant that we trip over it if we aren't careful.

Seeing the magic in the world around us is not the same as being aware of it. Or the same as truly knowing it. Or acknowledging it ~ which is what the speaker in Rushdie's statement does: he acknowledges "that the real world was full of magic."

I've seen a fairy ring in Ireland, a burning bush in the Sinai, a holy well in Israel, a street of sphinxes in Egypt, petroglyphs of a goddess in the Columbia Gorge ~ all considered places of power and magic. Not to mention the simple beauty of the headwaters of a river or the striated stone of a canyon or the graceful flow of sand dunes. If all of those incredible, magical places exist on our planet, why not magical worlds themselves? More to the point, if we recognize the magic on Earth, why would we need the magical worlds?

What kind of beauty and magic do you see in your everyday world? If you had the opportunity, where on Earth would you go to find a magical place? With whom would you share your magical place?

Keeping a Hold

I chose to find a quote to start my writing today. Opening Google, I clicked on "images" and typed in the first name that showed up in my mind: Salman Rushdie.

What?!? I've yet to read any book he's written. My thoughts about him are judgments. Why would his name be first in my mind? Yet, when his name flitted across my unfocused inner eye, I took a chance and typed in his name. What showed up was this image and quote. Amazingly fitting.

"Writing is...keeping a hold on...things...that go on slipping, like sand, through our fingers." The list of things I attempt to keep a hold on challenges the elasticity of thought and the continuity of time.

I want to hold onto memories ~ I speak them, I write them, yet they continue to slip through the cracks in my life. I create them as much as hold onto them.

I grasp at the grains of family, particularly my family of origin, only to find they elude me, sometimes to the point of mocking me: "Do you believe in our reality?" I have images, pictures of people who look familiar, familial ~ and stories which accompany those images. When I write those snippets down, I solidify that moment in time. I keep it from slipping farther away. Does writing them make them real? or were they real enough to write down?

What leads your list of things you are "keeping a hold on"? How often do you write about it/them? Why do you write your stories? (or why don't you?) What stories do you let slip away?

This is the Fast

Isaiah 58:6-8 speaks clearly of the fast that God wants of the people: Heal the injustices in the world. Go out on a limb for others. Help those in need, related to you or not.

Even though this is a passage in the Bible, there is an overall goodness, righteousness in the words and sentiment.

Every faith tradition shares this stance, this ethic. So why is it that there remain poor, homeless, hungry people. I continue to marvel at the fact that this love, this ethic, this service is at their core yet they can find reasons to hate and destroy one another. Or to simply create an attitude of Other toward the stranger.

How do we do this? Create a 'god' that is not really about Love? Why would we do that? Before you snap, "I don't do that," think about the last time you were in a long check-out line, or in a restaurant with wailing child at the next table or waiting in a left-turn lane with someone who appears to want the entire street cleared before turning. Or any of a hundred other scenarios. We all fall short at times. Maybe we could learn to be more forgiving, compassionate, understanding.

How do you follow the edict set forth in the passage from Isaiah? How do you not follow it? What reminders can/do you set for yourself? What does compassion mean to you?

New Moon Slipping from Aquarius to Pisces

The New Moon on February 18th becomes a perigee New Moon during the daylight hours of February 19th and is therefore unseen (unlike the picture). In 2015, it is the closest New Moon to Earth.

This New Moon moves from the last degree of Aquarius into the first degree of Pisces ~ in the place of transition, culmination, fruition, and initiation. As with every New Moon, it's a time of birthing. This one overflows with Aquarian vision and Piscean altruism, a time to focus on helping humanity in the best possible way.

Bridge the worlds with vision and dreams ~ face the shadow self and move forward from potential to manifestation ~ DO SOMETHING! This New Moon is about taking charge of the forward momentum in life.

Each New Moon presents an opportunity to let go of what doesn't serve and plant a new crop of what does. It's important to take advantage of the energetic flow. Accept responsibility for choices made, paths taken, bridges built.

How does the energy feel to you? What are you waiting to birth, to create? What is the shadow side of yourself? how will you face it and move forward? What will be your first next step?

Ash Wednesday 2015

Growing up in the Roman Catholic Church, I heard these words every Ash Wednesday. When I arrived at my public school with the cross of ashes on my forehead, many of my non-RC, yet Christian, friends chided me about the Church's perceived preoccupation with guilt. I never heard it that way. For me it was a reminder that we are all made from the same 'stuff' and that we will all return to that very basic nature when we die.

It's been years since I considered myself only Catholic, yet I continue to find that Ash Wednesday begins my favorite season of the year. It's about self-reflection: not on my wrong actions, but on what can be my better actions.Looking at the deepest recesses of my mind and soul and acknowledging the difference shining Light can make.

Ash Wednesday often, perhaps even always, brought with it a shimmering sense of renewal. I found within its humbling reminder, hope. Hope that Spring would come. Hope that days would get lighter and longer. Hope that tomorrow would shine.

From today's reading (Isaiah 58):
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house: when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly....."

It is also about how I appear in the world, who I truly see, what I value. This day, Ash Wednesday, is a moment in time to recommit my heart to service. In my reflection, I find the oily ash cross marks more than my forehead; it marks me in time. It reminds me that I am here, present this day, alive.

Where does Ash Wednesday find you? What are you committed to do or to be? How can you renew that commitment?