Light, Shadows and Love without Measure

When you see a face that looks familiar, what do you do? Do familiar faces make you feel like you are getting a "do-over" or a reminder of a past experience that provided a powerful lesson? So if this face belongs to someone else, it stirs feelings in you, but different feelings in them.

It is the play of shadow and light that illuminates our visions. When we see what is on the screen that plays in our mind, how many of these shadows form the movies that we watch?

It is all shadow and light, you know. Movies, they are all shadow and light. Memories. They are all shadow and light. Look at how we look when we think we see something and we are awakened to the possibilities.

Have you noticed that look that sometimes lights up another person's eyes when they think they have recognized you? You know that puzzled look like they are trying to remember where they saw you before?

Then after you speak and you know that you don't know this person, they still have this look in their eyes like they still are remembering who they are remembering even though you are not the one they were thinking of. It is all shadow and light.

How much of the world we inhabit is shadows and light? Who is remembering what? It is all shadow and light.

Do you ever feel like you are walking through a forest and cannot find your way out? Do the trees look like the ones you passed coming in, yet the more you look, the more you cannot tell? Is there an in and an out?

What frequency is normal? What does it mean that we recognize but do not recognize? Is it that we are finally getting the lessons?

There are names that go with every face. There are faces we associate with all the phases of our life. There are times when we get an opportunity to do it over, and do it right this time.

There are faces of light and shadow, there are sorrows of great depth, and loves without measure. In our waking moments, our aliveness brings us to a new state of awareness, constantly. They speak to us of second chances.

The wheel turns, but not without giving us another look. Karma, coincidence, sorrow, joy, light and shadow. It is your movie. It is my movie. It is our movie.

Yes, there have been sorrows of great depth, and these shadows are the reminders that we are still alive and that there is also love without measure, and with these we can fashion new pictures, new images, new movies. It is all shadow and light. And love without measure is the only balm that lets us start over with a clean slate.

There are no ghosts in our shadow land that do not respond to love. Yes, it takes some of us longer than others to recognize the true faces of the shadows.

Constellations of Remembrance and Joy

Once again, we are reveling in the fall, the autumn, the most deeply felt season.

We began it by giving thanks for all that we have harvested this year. While for some of us, that may be crops or gardens that we grew that gave us wonderful gifts of flowers, herbs and vegetables, for others it may have been the gift of new friends, new loves, new jobs, a new place to live, the recovery of health, and new opportunities.

We are surrounded by the magic of seasonal change as we observe the leaves turning color, and those that don't have much color going from green to brown, trees being stripped of their foliage by the wind to reveal their bones, their skeletons, their stark outline against the sky.

Our journey continued as we honored those we knew who crossed the veil this year, savoring the powerful holidays of the Celtic Samhain (Halloween) and Dia de los Muertos (the Mexican Day of the Dead). These are always moving celebrations, as they should be. We celebrate birthdays, and we celebrate the end of our  days by remembering those who have moved on to the next plane of existence, who were once an active and influential part of our life.

When we come to the civic holiday of Thanksgiving, it is really an extension of the celebration of gratitude we begin at the Autumn Equinox, which arrives tomorrow, along with a full moon. Both the seasonal holiday and the civic holiday are part of the same spiritual tide, that of remembrance and acknowledgement. This is still one of my favorite days precisely because of its simplicity. On this day, forget multi-tasking. It is time to acknowledge people who have been important in our life and are still alive. Simply enjoy a good meal and conversation with family and friends. Share some laughs, take a walk, relax.

By the time of Yule, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, we have moved past our mourning, our remembrance, humility and gratitude, and now we are in full blown celebration with many gatherings of friends, family, festive music, special foods and drinks, joking, storytelling, music and dance. And we celebrate the return of the light, the Sun, heralding the new year, the return of hope, the triumph of joy. We bring light into our homes in many ways. We light candles, fireplaces, smell seasonal foods cooking and light up the place with music and laughter.

There is no constellation of special days of this magnitude anywhere else in our year. As we journey through it, let us be conscious of the ceremonies of thanks for the year past and omens of the planting the seeds of power for the year ahead.

The portrait of our human journey is now painted in saturated colors, and we are privileged to walk once more through this living gallery where the most fantastic images come to life, and we realize that they are us. We are both radiantly alive, sensitive and sensuous, rich with feelings, wisdom and whispered intimations of destiny. We are now in the sacred space where we look both forward, backward and become more centered in our present.

Greetings to autumn and the onset of winter! Light the fires to welcome them, and ourselves, home.

 

Grateful for the Cold & the Heat

This cold snowy weather inspires gratitude. I go outside and do the things I need to do, then I come back home and the heat keeps my place comfy, I cook a hot meal and then I can just relax and watch it snow and see how the lights reflect off of it, and completely grateful that I do not have to go out in the cold again today. Glad to be here. Working on my computer, reading, watching a movie. Grateful that it is all good here.

The more gratitude we express the more we attune our energies to the energies of the universe. The more gratitude we express, the more good things we draw to ourselves along with reasons to be grateful for that too.

Don't reserve expressions of gratitude only for big wins. Express gratitude at every opportunity.

Following Your Feelings

 

Haven't we all experienced electrifying performances? Books that keep us reading all night? Songs that keep repeating in our heads until we find ourselves dancing to them at all different times? Pictures that make us feel like we wish we could do that?  Meals that make us wish we could cook like that? Inventions that make us say I wish I had done that?

 

Haven't we all had the experience of meeting someone who has that electricity, that fire, but for whatever reason, we did not go for it?

 

We all have that ability to create when we feel it, to be there when we feel it, but so often we have put that feeling on the shelf and told ourselves that we aren't really that good or that no one really cares? We know that we owe it to ourselves in this lifetime, even if we only do it once or once in a while, to just go ahead and give it our best shot? Doesn't it feel good? Next time you are inspired and have a feeling, give it all you got and see what happens. You will probably surprise yourself.

Asking Questions About Food

I do not ever recall a time when our country ran out of milk. In fact, our farmers have been so efficient that I remember stories of them dumping milk to keep the prices up. I remember stories of the government buying tons of cheese to keep the prices up. So why do we need to give our cattle a hormone to make them produce more milk? Quite a mystery isn't it? So I choose to eat dairy products that do not have the bovine growth hormone.

Grounding

When you get with that unexpected illness that suddenly has you up feverish, sweating, stomach cramping, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep some more and this goes on for a few days, we often call this flu, for lack of a more precise term.

So when the worst of it finally passes, you awake and it is daylight, and you think that you will have a cup of coffee for the first time in days, and as you sit there, sipping it, and feel your consciousness gently coming back into your body, your physical sensations realigning with your awareness, there is nothing to do but savor the moment. Do not rush it. Listen, in the silence of the place to all the little sounds you generally overlook, the sound of the refrigerator motor, the sound of heat coming through the room, the faint sound of neighbors and traffic.

This is an exquisite moment when the appreciation of being alive and having a body comes slowly back into focus. There is still silence, and as I begin to wash, the sound of hot water running through the pipes. In a little while, I will have chicken soup for breakfast. Yes, I always have chicken soup in my kitchen, and yes, it always helps me recover from illness.

It a little while, I may put on some soft music, solo piano, flute or cello, so that I hear gentle harmonies as I come back into full consciousness.

These moments of recovery from illness are to be savored, letting mind and body settle back into place gently. Simply be aware and notice all the subtle sights, sounds and senses as your mind and body reintegrate. There is nothing to do but let it come together. Often, it is these moments of recovery from difficulty that sharpen our senses and present us with moments of awareness where we cannot do anything but be present. It will serve us well in times of stress to be able to remember this.

The Magic of Our Stories

1. Part Our words become actions.

During the holiday season, there are many parties and social events where we have opportunities to indulge in special seasonal foods and beverages, dance, sing and tell stories. What stories will you be telling at these gatherings this year?

When we meet people we have not seen in a while, and they ask us how it is going, what will you choose to get into?

The stories that we tell others are important. The stories we tell ourselves are even more important. because these are the stories we usually end up repeating to others. As we refashion and reimagine the events of our lives into a narrative, we can create, hope, joy, optimism, feelings of courage, well being, abundance and adventure, and these, in turn, create vibrations that help attract more of all this into our lives.

We have the power to create lasting impressions and images of the way other people see us.

"Once upon a time" is one of the most famous magical phrases ever uttered and is one of the most powerful spellcasting techniques ever created. As soon as we hear those four words, we pay attention and are transported into another world. And all of our lives contain at least a few opportunities to see our evolution as something that is not only once upon a time, but also once upon a future.

Storytelling is an art form as old as humans, as old as spoken language. It was one of the first forms of magic, one of the first forms of entertainment, and it has served us well from the time the first cavemen and cavewomen gathered around the fire until this very day.

Don't we all enjoy a good story? The astute listener will glean useful insights from a good story, and the teller will cast a magic spell over those who hear and will make a lasting impression on them.  Pay special attention to the stories you hear and tell this holiday season.

Part 2. Our written words become worlds.

Years ago, when I was teaching Creative Writing, I remember students signing up for my workshop because in their own words, they had "really routine jobs and home lives, and they wanted to see if they could do something creative." Commonly, one of their pleasures was that they enjoyed reading, so their choice was to try and express creativity through writing. They wanted to know first hand that they were capable of being creative and that their stories could captivate people's imaginations and hold their attention.

On the first night of class, I informed them that there were absolutely no restrictions on subject matter. Their only requirement was to write something every week, with no requirement or expectation as to what that might be, and they could get immediate feedback on their writing by their classmates listening and responding to the reading of their stories.

There were people who entered my workshop wondering if they really had any creative ability who went home knowing that they did. They enjoyed themselves and the listeners enjoyed themselves. The first step they had to take was to not censor themselves and just say what they had to say. That simple step opened people up and changed their lives.

The first person you please when you write something is yourself. The readers are next. If you can drop the conditioning that holds you back from saying something because it might offend someone else, you open your expression to not having limits, and what you can create evolves into something beautiful. There are times when it is cathartic to just write something.

Whether you call it inspired, channeled, a crazy dream, funny story, or real life incident that you want to recall and replay, writing about it can be a healing act. Even if it does not get published, you still feel good from saying it, from writing it. Write it first, and worry about what will become of it later. Once you give yourself permission to write whatever you want, it is amazing what might come out. I know. I have experienced it, and the results were wonderful, life affirming and powerful. If you have an urge or an instinct that this is something you want to try, I will help you express yourself.

Humans are storytellers by nature. From mythology to biography and everything in between, it's in our nature to tell stories. From gossip to jokes to opinions on current events and the future of the world, it's all part of our conversations, because it is part of how we share ourselves and our experiences to get our bearings and enhance this journey. It is all storytelling, and if we simply give ourselves permission, we can become storytellers, even if our only audience, at first, is ourselves.

As we make up new stories, we can make up new stories for ourselves to live by. We all have the opportunity to rewrite our own stories, from today to the end. What does your story read like? How would you like it to read? There is magic and power in the writing and the rewriting.