Fall in thoughts

Fall is the time of the year when leaves display their vibrant colours and tones.  The air gets cool, the days get foggy and cloudy, and the sunlight shifts its direction.   The bright and deeper shades of yellow, green, red, and brown,  mingle together.

The leaves on the trees and those fallen create a space where I meet myself in worlds and dimensions beyond that of time and space.

Endings and releasing.  The planetary shifts seem more intense this year.   It is as if 2019 is preparing us.  To 'release' and 'let go",  to feel aligned with our outer and the inner.  Intense soul lessons, who we are and how to live at our personal and collective level.   An ascension, where we vibrate differently, see life from a different perspective.

Those who read the stars remind us to see our shadows, to allow our emotions to rise, and be felt, directed and released.  As we begin to see what affects the 'collective' we will take more responsibility for our thoughts, actions and behaviour. 

We will be ready to face the challenges, for the 2020, not in hindsight but as active co-creators.   To face the new beginnings of each day as it dawns.

Transformation and Structure, Pluto and Saturn will be in cosmic alignment in January 2020.  Our deepest, darkest, and most intense energies will clash and what will surface becomes the new story of our life.  Reflect back to end of April 2019, what were the themes and patterns happening at that time?  The seed of the full alignment to come in January 2020 was co-created.

Pluto and Saturn come this close every 34 to 38 years, first time in Capricorn since centuries.  How will this shake our foundations of belief and social conditioning?  What will the awakened soul trigger?

Pluto is the transformation, it works at a spiritual level, on our inner self.  Where the shadows of shame hide.  It helps us to uncover our dark sides, accept it to forgive ourselves and not hide in its shadows.  Pluto helps us to dig deep, and we find our authentic power, through what comes to light we find the courage to face life.

Saturn allows us to take responsibility for our lives,  the past and the future.  It shows us the consequences of our actions and sometimes we are shown  'tough love' as a trigger to help us find our true potential. 

With all these thoughts swirling in me, I set out for my morning walk.  I used the sights and signs, to guide, encourage, to reflect.  Feel and understand, forgive and release.

"Fear knocked at the door, Faith answered and nobody was there.” - Unknown

Courage to face the fears, not to own them, to see how they guide my thoughts and actions.  

The faith in my strength.  No matter how broken I feel, I can build myself again.  

The energy that builds is by looking at my life in perspective.  Appreciating all there is, and turning the appreciation to gratitude.  

This is life.  Happiness is fleeting, and it returns.  Gratitude is expressed through the inner joy.

The fear returns, again.  

The courage allows me to dig a little deeper, find another root.  As I pull that root my world shakes, I lose my sense of self and identity.  My faith, appreciation and gratitude stabilize me.  Gives me the strength to live.  Joyful light shines again.  

Life I live you, with Faith and Trust in myself.

Living with passion

To find the life purpose is to find what we like to do, and how we like to live when we are by ourself, it is our ‘passion'.  It is not to show outwardly, to brag, or to impress.   

When we are focused only on the outward then we are not fulfilling the purpose.  The result or the goal is an outcome and cannot be the life purpose.  

Be with people and around others but be equally with yourself.  

Say little, listen more. 

Let another find their own answer and their own path.  

When asked, help the other, if you cannot then say it.  

Come from a place of knowing yourself, your doubts and fears.  

Work through the fears and doubts. Doubts are are at times intuition. 

Live within your ‘means', in any given moment, be they financial, mental, emotional, or even the limitations of the body.  

Make regular efforts to extend and or maintain the edges, the boundary, of these ‘means’ and  limitations.  

Just like a daily practice of physical exercise for the body, also do breath exercises.  

Learn through books and learn by seeing yourself and others.  

The heart is the centre of the spirit feel from here.  

Feel compassion.  

The third eye is the home of the soul, see from here and paths will open.  

Move and travel to new places so you can see yourself through many 'mirrors'.  

See the story, create a new story through living your passion. 

Touching the sky

A mellowness,

Energy that is still. 

I am deep in  a cave,

Or is this the depth of an ocean?

The air is still,

Muted voices reach my ears. 

Enough light to light the path. 

I can see easily where I am going. 

All senses balanced, 

I find a hush within. 

Nothing to tug at the heart strings

No conflicts.

I am floating, a sense yet not a sense.

The calm after the storm,

The storm has passed.  

The damage?

Not worth the consideration.  

I am numb with ecstasy,

I survived!

Prayer Is The Cry Of A Soul ~Sri Ravi Shankar~

"We often hear people say that behind every successful man is a woman. I will modify this by saying, behind every success, there is the Divine, saying, "I am behind you". The Divine dawns in you when you pray for Grace; when you cry for it.

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. What you can do, do it. What you cannot do, pray for it! When you feel the obstacle is too much to handle, deep prayer can work miracles. Whatever you do, know that a higher power has the final say and you can tap that power through your prayers.

You don't need any special qualifications or abilities to pray. Whether a fool or a wise person, rich or poor, anybody can pray. Prayer doesn't mean just sitting and chanting some words. It's about being in that serene, calm, meditative state. That is why, in vedic tradition, dhyana, meditation, is done before prayer as well as afterwards. When the mind is focused, prayer becomes far more powerful.

Prayer is the cry of a soul. To whom you pray is not so important. Whereas religion puts words to the prayer, and adds symbols and rituals to it, prayer itself transcends them. It happens at the subtle level of feelings; feelings transcend words and religion. The act of praying itself has the power to bring transformation.

When you pray there should be total involvement. If the mind is preoccupied elsewhere then that is no prayer at all. When there is pain, there is more involvement. That's why people turn to prayer when they are in pain. Prayer happens when you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. In either case your prayers will be answered. When you feel helpless, prayer happens by itself. That's why in Hindi we say 'Nirbal toh Balram'. If you are weak, God is with you. Prayer is that moment when you get in touch with your limitations, your boundaries.

Usually when you love something, you want to possess it and you pray for it. True prayer, however, is just the opposite of wanting to possess. It's about honouring and offering everything to the Divine. Honouring brings devotion and leads to surrender. Devotion heals.

True prayer can't happen without devotion and faith. Having faith is to realise that God's protection is there for you. Devotion is inner flowering; it starts from where you are. Unless you are lit in devotion to the Divine, your life will remain restless. In devotion, longing will arise in you and true prayer happens by itself.

Be sincere in your prayers. Do not try to outsmart the Divine. What type of time do you give the Divine? Usually you give time that is leftover; when you have nothing else to do, no guests to attend to, no parties to go to, then you go to the Divine. This is not quality time. Give prime time to the Divine. You will definitely be rewarded. If your prayers are not answered, it is because you have never given quality time.

There are four types of people who go to God -- first, those who seek the truth (knowledge and freedom); second, the wise ones (gyanis); third, the ones who seek material comforts (wealth) and fourth, ones who are in misery. The wise one does not pray for something. His life itself is a prayer.

If at all you have to pray for something, pray for happiness of all the people in the world. 

"Loka Samastha Sukhinou Bhavantu"-- May everybody be happy."

I write my story...

Before writing, which is through living that story called life, where does one begin.

For me it seems to be by seeing, with honesty, without any mask of right or wrong, what each interaction, comment and encounter brings up.

In that seeing many layers of "old" stories emerge.  It emerges by my noticing that it is after all a story created by parents, families, societies, cultures, nations and so on.  

Its not about discarding the lives and thoughts passed down through traditions, it is just seeing it.

As myself, as others, souls live in third dimension bodies of time and space, or do they?

What happens after, this is the logical mind grasping.  Each question is not followed by an answer, the answer can be unto itself.

How many lifetimes and how many "lessons" from life does it take to see those stories, once again is not where I dwell.

The seeing is in the present, its what i am doing or being in any moment.  Those moments and that present begins to live and weave its own story.

A fabric of life, each sutra or thread is the moments.  And I wonder can each sutra become the one light, seeing beyond the spectrum of the rainbow.

What was past - August 2012

Signed the papers at the lawyers'. 

The feeling of complete emotions.  A sense of freedom and the realization that "wow I was able to fulfill some purpose; looked after me and my responsibly.  Without burdening anyone". 

The closing on August 31st.  

All with blessings and renewal.  An opening and writing of the next chapter. 

 

I plan to love love and live life as it unfolds.  

Would I continue iWork (this is autocorrect) to design the blueprint or create space for life to design as it lives, through me? 

No se. 

A walk on a sunny and cold day, March in the city...

What separates the thoughts from running into each other and overwhelming the thinker?  Is it the ability to be an observer of the thoughts.  An observer is one who has the ability to be aware, to watch, to not be the subject but be able to create a distance between the thoughts and the feelings.  The question comes up? Who is this observer?   Is the observer also another form of thought?

As I  think these thoughts and write/type them using two thumbs it occurs, in the stream of my thinking, the similarity of how we as 'beings' are separate from each other.  At times we seem to all blend into each other, especially in crowded places, yet  what keeps us separate?  Could it be the same sense, that the observer uses, which makes us aware of our boundaries of separation? 

I am sitting in downtown Toronto, in a busy space at Tim Hortons coffee spot.  The woman in front of me places her coffee and a small paper bag on the table.  She closed her eyes, clasps her hand and I sense rather I feel an energy of gratitude in her before she bites into her chocolate covered donut, a sip of coffee and I see she is reading the free newspaper.   What stories she must have to tell.  A treasure box of life experiences.  Did she see herself as she is now ? What would she see if she went back ten years? Twenty? Thirty ? Fifty ?  Would she see herself as a small child playing, by herself.  

I feel a strong desire to write her story! Tears well up in my eyes, tears of compassions or maybe familiarity, what of myself am I seeing,  in her?   I wonder?   She looks around, her glance reminds me of the look of a chicken, her gaze is not steady, it darts as if being on her guard, an empty look in her eyes.  I notice her lips, which are moving as she continues to read.  

I finish my coffee...

"That we are here"...is it!

---

from DEAD POET's SOCIETY

---

       "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, 'O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless--of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer. That you are here--that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

Tom Schulman

from "Dead Poets Society"

---

Walt Whitman, the old master and son of Manhattan, pictured in approximately 1862.

the above comes from the poem "O Me! O Life!" from Whitman's Leaves of Grass:

Cold Moon - the last full moon in 2013

Full moon is on December 17....its a memorable day for me, as many special events took place on this day.   I release the bygones, and cherish all I have.

Reflecting on this year which soon comes to a close.  

It seems so recent in my memory when we were anticipating the year "2012", which was the "big" year.  That year ended, what we saw was an awakening or an awareness of people and their expression in forms of protests and wanting to bring changes where injustices were prevalent.  The world our external world as in the rising of the sun, the moon and the earth beneath us, still all guaranteed.   Although we are seeing some planetary shifts yet for all practical  purpose we did not witness any major world turning event.  

So we moved in to 2013; through this year some of us felt a "subtle" change or shift happening.  We couldn't take a pulse of this change, for we could not find that "pulse".   Were there internal shifts happening which were outwardly expressed or the other way, is another philosophical perspective. 

The symbolic endings, closing or beginnings tend to get us into a state of reflection.  We reflect on what has passed or gone and we contemplate our present life or place in life.   With contemplation we begin to see an unfolding and simultaneous co-creation of the blueprint to our life story.  

How deep we move within to understand our story is up to us.  In the unraveling of our selves a new story emerges, a new blueprint and a new picture.  What actions and role we see ourself playing in this new story begins with a thought.  That thought can be considered an intention which lies inside a seed, the seed contains a whole life story.  Each thought or intention in that seed, grows and is expressed in ones actions and in our relating.    

The seed or collective intention is planted in our conscious and in to the sub conscious mind.   It is good to remember the intention as we go about our day and bring it into contemplation on a regular basis.  The contemplation or the awareness is how the seed gets nurtured, the actions we take brings life to the intention.

As we continue to take stock of our life and we keep our focus on the intention, we see that the life begins to become a "crystallization of the intention."

  
The regular awareness of our intention also brings into focus our doubts and fears.  We learn from the doubts and fears and move away from them when we find that they are not serving to fulfill the intention.  

Intention is the awareness before any steps can be taken.  Understanding of oneself begins with the awareness of ones intentions.  The subsequent actions or steps in fulfilling the intention can be life itself.   Intentions manifest into life.  

"Mama you are eating elaichi" aka cardamom

A comment my kids would make when they smelled cardamom, I recall their comment mostly in the car...which could mean that we spent time in close proximity mostly in the car, or most probably the enclosed environment made the smell prominent.

I like/love ilaichi, to my delight when I saw for the first time how it grows, i was thrilled.  This was not in my ancestral country but in Costa Rica.

For some reason today I looked up the nutritional value of this spice.  I browsed a few websites, and decided to share the following:

(On a side note, the Balzac Cafe in Metro Toronto Library (where I am often found these days) serves a coffee called "Cafe Nordique", it is supposed to have cardamom and vanilla, I ordered one today and tasted none of the above.  When I shared this with the girl behind the counter she said: "yes many people have made the same comment, maybe the taste of coffee is too strong".  I kind of disagree, if  you use the real cardamom, I add one pod to my tea, it is strong enough.  So go figure!)

15 Health Benefits of Cardamom

Monday, May 20, 2013 @ 08:05 AM Charlie Pulsipher

4.89/5 (97.76%) 268votes

Cardamom is native to the evergreen forests of India. This spice is commonly used in Indian cuisine, but it has also made its way into Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for mouth ulcers, digestive problems, and even depression. Some of the health benefits of this peppery, citrusy spice are now making their way into modern studies. It’s well worth adding cardamom to your food for the flavor alone, but these health benefits are also something to consider whenever you break out the spices.

1. Digestion – Cardamom is related to ginger and can be used in much the same way to counteract digestive problems. Use it to combat nausea, acidity, bloating, gas, heartburn, loss of appetite, constipation, and much more.
2. Detoxify – This spice helps the body eliminate waste through the kidneys.
3. Halitosis – In India they chew cardamom after meals or whenever they need to freshen their breath.
4. Diuretic – Part of the reason cardamom is such a good detoxifier is thanks to the diuretic properties. It helps clean out the urinary tract, bladder, and kidneys, removing waste, salt, excess water, toxins, and combating infections too.
5. Depression – The science behind the antidepressant qualities of cardamom hasn’t been studied yet, but Ayurvedic medicine swears by the tea as a means to fight depression.
6. Oral Health – Apart from helping with bad breath, cardamom is used for mouth ulcers and infections of the mouth and throat.
7. Cold and Flu – This pungent spice may help prevent and relieve cold and flu symptoms. It’s also used for bronchitis and coughs.
8. Cancer – Animal studies are showing promise that cardamom protects against, inhibits growth, and even kills some cancers.
9. Blood Pressure – As a diuretic and fiber rich spice, cardamom significantly lowers blood pressure.
10. Blood Clots – Cardamom prevents dangerous blood clots by preventing platelet aggregation and the sticking to the artery walls.
11. Antioxidant – Many of the vitamins, phytonutrients, and essential oils in cardamom act as antioxidants, cleaning up free radicals and resisting cellular aging.
12. Pathogens – The volatile essential oils in cardamom inhibit the growth of viruses, bacteria, fungus, and mold.
13. Anti-inflammatory – Like ginger and turmeric, its relatives, cardamom has some anti-inflammatory properties that limit pain and swelling, especially in mucus membranes, the mouth, and throat.
14. Hiccups – Cardamom is an anti-spasmodic that can help get rid of hiccups. This also applies to other involuntary muscle spasms, like stomach and intestinal cramps.
15. Aphrodisiac – Traditional medicine lists cardamom as a powerful aphrodisiac that can help with erectile dysfunction and impotence.

- See more at: http://www.sunwarrior.com/news/15-health-benefits-of-cardamom/#sthash.mIYe8hf1.dpuf

Giving thanks - and "autumn leaves drift by my window"

I am thinking gratitude is a state of being, and giving thanks as an act.  We keep practicing, and we become the action.

Then there is the day celebrated as "thanksgiving"; in Canada its celebrated on the second Monday in October, associated with the harvest time,  and in the U.S its the fourth Thursday of November.

Great family holiday, one of the few where gifts, and shopping and traffic ordeals are not needed.  Well maybe the traffic one is a stretch.  As people do like to travel to be with their families and loved ones on this holiday.

Its always been a favorite holiday, with family and friends a reunion time.   In our family we gather on the Sunday, the day before the holiday.  It was logistics, kids returning to college on the Monday, and then also for selfish reasons of having a lazy morning after, before heading out to work.

So Lasagna with garlic bread, caesar salad and apple crumble, a long standing menu and everyones favorite.  Always request to make extra Lasagna as "it tastes better the next day"....

So today the meat sauce (has to be meat, for those of us who are vegetarians, a separate casserole is made), is ready.  Fresh meat, cooked for at least three hours, as the tastes all assimilate with the slow and extended cooking time.  With preparations done, Sunday morning will be assembling and cooking, conversations wrapped with love and laughter.

Fall weather has been beautiful, the colors vibrant, the sunshine clear and the air crisp.  Last night even the half moon seemed closer.

I give thanks, love abounds...

Rumi's words come as the autumn leaves fall: "inside of us, there's a continual autumn.  Our leaves fall and are blown out over the water".

Pratyahara in daily living

http://www.canadianyogi.com/irum-naqvi.html

In yoga terms pratyahara is the ‘withdrawal of the senses.’  It is considered one of the eight limbs of yoga as passed down in the teachings of Sri Patanjali.  Pratyahara allows one to move into the area where the next step is that we begin to notice or see the "fluctuations of the mind".  

Yoga when practiced within the context of the 8 limbs of Yamas , Niyamas , Asanas, Pranayama , Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi, encourages us to bring the underlying essence, called peace/liberation/source/oneness etc.,  into our daily living.  

So what is Pratyahara?

We can begin to look into the two components of Pratyahara, withdrawal and senses.  The five senses as we know in the physical or gross body /realm are seeing, hearing, touch, taste and smell.  These senses are directly connected to the organs of the body.  Indirectly these senses combine to create other sensations e.g sense of balance, temperature, pressure, pain etc.  

So how could  one withdraw from the 'senses' and which are the various techniques developed to bring about such withdrawal.  All humans might be similar in their feelings, thoughts and their expression but at the same time understanding the amazing complexity, which is to be human and we realize that "different strokes for different folks" is not a cliche.   

Returning back to Pratyahara.  Withdrawing from the senses is not the same as "shutting out", instead it begins with the  "opening" of the awareness of the senses.  Acknowledging each of the senses and their underlying complexity we look for an anchor that would hold us when we withdraw the senses.   The anchor replaces the continuous chatter of the mind.  Use of breath awareness in the inhales and the exhales, keeping attention on a candle flame, picture of a deity or a mantra, are some of the examples of such an anchor.   The anchor begins to build the mind muscle that allows us to ‘focus.’  

Here we begin to see why do we need to practice "Pratyahara?"    We live in a world where our time is rationed.   Sometimes the conflicting demands on the time does not allow us the luxury of savoring and lingering or just taking "our sweet time".  We are not able to process our experiences, instead we skim on the surface, moving from one ‘excited’ state to another.  

Being continuously ‘connected’ has its downside of not having a free moment unless we consciously turn off the cell phones and other media.  Even with this disconnection our minds have a challenge, the mind is a highway of racing thoughts.  

So where can one look for, to create a feeling of "timelessness"?  Besides  the vacation, daydreaming, and visualization, which itself generally happens at the cost of time, practicing Pratyahara seems to be a sustainable mode of being.   Regular practice builds a conscious awareness, which allows one to focus on the task/moment and not be bogged down by the emotional energy of what happened and will happen in another moment or hour.  It develops the Zen way of being here and now.   We begin to connect the dots of life and living by understanding Pratya.hara. 

Life unfolds each moments and the best laid plans have no strength to withstand this unpredictability of life.  

Our drives and desires.  Hungers and conflict begin to become a little more clear when we understand not only our physiology,  but the senses and their workings.  

A space or a pause starts to be felt   This pause is the freedom we all seek.  For some its the peace of mind.  

Sincere

Sincerity and exploitation are mutually exclusive.   One is for-giving the other for-taking. 

Courage to be strong

Find my strength through courage.

Courage for me is like the building blocks.  The strength the cumulative effect of courage.  

The fear that rises within.  The voice of fear that says not to do something or be someone,  afraid of being judged.   Replacing that voice with courage.  Knowing in the heart that it is the right thing to do. 

Slowly the voice from the heart gains courage to speak, to be.   With reinforced practice a strength is born. 

Through the window of heart I am strong.  To see beyond.  

I look at the sky and wonder if courage underpins strength or is it the reverse...

I wonder!  

A joy to life

Every moment
with every breath,
My awareness is an attestation to my life.

When the awareness is no more,
Who will be no more?

Do i die,
in my body
Or in awareness ?

I seek no answer to these.
Questions, they are not,
They are simply a reminder...

A reminder to live,
each moment with awareness.

Cherish!

We know not when
whose awareness will be no more.

When my life is a good story...

Of recent I hear myself saying "my life is a good story"...
A response to "how are you", or "how is life treating you"....

Then I began thinking of thought, how my thoughts talk me out of a situation, versus feelings which draw me in.   Why we feel, has its own complex origin.  The energy generated from the feelings is raw passion.
"Passion (from the Latin verb patī meaning to suffer) is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something." ~ 

George Bernard Shaw "insists that there are passions far more exciting than the physical ones...'intellectual passion, mathematical passion, passion for discovery and exploration: the mightiest of all passions'".^[12] His contemporary, Sigmund Freud, argued for a continuity (not a contrast) between the two, physical and intellectual"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(emotion)~

If we believe that the two ways of being in this life is either evaluating through 'Reason' or going with the  "Feeling" then it is possible that the struggle between the two causes the most anguish.  

Understanding the self and being aware when ones action is being triggered by either 'reasoning' or 'feeling'.   It becomes the basis of relating with compassion.  Without judgement of right and wrong we are able to determine each perspective, our own firstly and then that of another.

The energy generated and coming from 'passion' of intense feeling, becomes the source of creativity, living against all odds of reasoning, and finding a depth to life.  It makes life more meaningful.  Question I ponder, can one live a sustainable life through passion alone?  What when the highs of passion throws you into the depth of despair? 

That becomes a struggle.   Struggle also arises when feelings and reason both come on strong.  For me this is not the struggle rather it falls in the category of a challenge.   Living is a challenge, from as simple as pausing long enough to allow a full breath to flow, or as complicated as dealing with hunger and pain - physical and emotional. 

Reasoning comes to the rescue when emotions are reined in through thought.   Living with reason alone is safe, empty and devoid of feelings; the mask of reason becomes a protective armor against vulnerability.  

Which is a better way? Where is the blueprint?  Religion, science, faith, culture, society?   

Thinking without feeling, and feeling without thinking.  

Each moment we decide or not decide to follow a certain way of being, we are living a story.  

Lost and Found

A boat passes by, the name on the side of the boat says: "Lost Together."
Are we not all? I wonder! Lost by ourself, and sometimes confused with 'what that self is", yet together, in our individual chaos and confusion.

Journeying through life we recognize that we are born to love. Love life and support our physical, emotional and mental bodies. The skills needed are what we learn from our families, schools, the culture which nurtures us and creates our societies.

The learning teaches what is needed in how to live, support ourselves and become responsible contributors to our environment.

We begin to live the story of "doing". The formal and informal education all underpinned by a "doing." We do and we do. We turn into doers.

We forget why we were born. We begin to search, read, travel, seeking, maybe looking for someone there who will remind us?

The love we feel for our family, friends, intimate partners all gets unbalanced by this "doing" which we say is needed to support that love. Or so we have told ourselves in our learning.

Lost in our doing the spirit cries out. Help! I don't enjoy this doing anymore. Where is the love and the spirit, the joy and the passion.
It drowned in the expectation of doing.

Water. I sit by the water as these words get reflected on my handheld device.
Reminded how the flow has been restricted by the structure, the wall I sit on.

The love and the spirit needs to be renewed. Finding time to be. Seeing with the heart to what the inner voice is saying. Doing less, being more present enriches what little we do.
Those few moments, become a lifetime. The cliche "I lived a lifetime in that moment", can be felt in more moments of the day.

Lie in bed
Go out for a walk
Watch a movie
Eat ice cream
Sit by the water and watch the boats go by
Play
Lie in the sun
Write, cry hear your own voice.

Anything that is spontaneous and not done to please any expectations. This is challenging. As sometimes we have trained to live with the mind, and forgotten how to be.
Laughing at ourself and at the seriousness of doing, might open that door through which spirit and joy enters back into life.

A balance between the doing and being makes me whole. Now when I do, its from the one space, called the heart.

I find myself, I find you, and maybe we have a few moments of being "Found Together".

Jupiter Transits into Gemini

Embracing the change...

A few mornings back I awoke to this line from the Beatles song, it was the first thought: "let it be, there will be an answer, let it be"...

Answers come to questions seemingly unasked, yet are they answers to unasked questions? Or to questions we have asked of our deepest core, when we take the courage to face the inner conflict.

Excitement and living on the surface is a distraction we choose, but when life is only lived with "distractions" the soul starves the spirit evaporates...

Meditation, introspection and contemplation comes to feed the soul, nourish and nurture the spirit...

Walking by lake Ontario on the water trail, my senses captivated by the water, the ducks, the birds, the dogs, the joggers, the planes in the distant and the barren trees awaiting spring dressing...

I brought my attention to my heart and in that space a pink lotus flower bud began to bloom.  Each thought, each emotion, each feeling was the unfolding of another petal...
I continued to breathe into the petals, each inhale the awareness of passing thoughts and the their feelings, each exhale the unfolding of yet another petal of the lotus flower...

many moments passed, my breathing nurtured the soul, the spirit was alive.

With so much gratitude i allowed the lotus flower to stay in my heart, its flexible stem grounded far beneath the ground I walk... deep into the core of the earth