maybe

we never know the consequences

..... of 'good' or 'bad' fortune:

_________________________________

From "The Path (What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life)"
by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh, pp 79-80:

🙏🏼 here's to cultivating our inner farmer

through me tell the story

"I return once again to Homer, who says,

'Sing in me, oh Muse,

and through me tell the story.'"

......

listened to Bobby D's

Nobel Lecture

sitting on a

(covered)

balcony

while the rain softly fell.

highly recommend.

a well deserved honor:

http://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/nobel-lecture

"So what does it all mean?

Myself and a lot of other songwriters

have been influenced by these very same themes.

And they can mean a lot of different things.

If a song moves you, that’s all that’s important.

I don’t have to know what a song means.

I’ve written all kinds of things into my songs.

And I’m not going to worry about it – what it all means."

...give ourselves a breather

get out of our own way

learn to ask fiercer and more exquisitely pointed questions.....

Solace ~David Whyte

is the art of asking the beautiful question, of ourselves, of our world or of one another, in fiercely difficult and un-beautiful moments. Solace is what we must look for when the mind cannot bear the pain, the loss or the suffering that eventually touches every life and every endeavor; when longing does not come to fruition in a form we can recognize, when people we know and love disappear, when hope must take a different form than the one we have shaped for it.

Solace is the beautiful, imaginative home we make where disappointment can go to be rehabilitated. When life does not in any way add up, we must turn to the part of us that has never wanted a life of simple calculation. Solace is found in allowing the body’s innate wisdom to come to the fore, the part of us that already knows it is mortal and must take its leave like everything else, and leading us, when the mind cannot bear what it is seeing or hearing, to the birdsong in the tree above our heads, even as we are being told of death, each note an essence of morning and mourning; of the current of a life moving on, but somehow, also, and most beautifully, carrying, bearing, and even celebrating the life we have just lost. A life we could not see or appreciate until it was taken from us. To be consoled is to be invited onto the terrible ground of beauty upon which our inevitable disappearance stands, to a voice that does not soothe falsely, but touches the epicenter of our pain or articulates the essence of our loss, and then emancipates us into both life and death as an equal birthright.

Solace is not an evasion, nor a cure for our suffering, nor a made up state of mind. Solace is a direct seeing and participation; a celebration of the beautiful coming and going, appearance and disappearance of which we have always been a part. Solace is not meant to be an answer, but an invitation, through the door of pain and difficulty, the depth of suffering and simultaneous beauty in the world that the strategic mind by itself cannot grasp nor make sense of.

To look for solace is to learn to ask fiercer and more exquisitely pointed questions, questions that reshape our identities and our bodies and our relation to others. Standing in loss but not overwhelmed by it, we become useful and generous and compassionate and even amusing companions for others. But solace also asks us very direct and forceful questions. Firstly, how will you bear the inevitable that is coming to you? And how will you endure it through the years? And above all, how will you shape a life equal to and as beautiful and as astonishing as a world that can birth you, bring you into the light and then just as you are beginning to understand it, take you away?

an invitation, not an answer......

Conversational Leadership

 What is the courageous conversation we are not having....

 

 'anything or anyone that

does not bring you alive

is too small for you'

    
Juicy!

outside the box

Cultivating Harmony in Nature ~ Inner and Outer

Designing systems which demonstrate the naturalness of self-sustaining physical spaces and species

and also with economic structures, encouraging individuals

to become enterprising, with consciousness,

further sustaining the earth and all its inhabitants.

~ ~ ~ 

We are individuals

and we are unquestionably inter-connected.

Many of us have become

disconnected from ourselves and each other.

May these two videos inspire a change, a shift toward deeper, broader connections.

Never underestimate the power of the

Ripple Effect....

It begins with YoU.

My definition of INNATURE:

Honouring ones’ own innate qualities while cultivating harmonious relationships with the broader community and all its inhabitants. Magic ensues.

gratitude taproot

taproot:  the main root of a plant, growing straight downward from the stem, usually stouter than the roots that grow laterally from it.

a selfish way to save the world: foundation of self esteem and gratitude taproot; meeting human needs, and

bringing your greatest gifts forward

...to become aerodynamic by supercharging natural strengths

a great talk on this concept by Giovanni Cavalieri:

 

step one: get your fundamental needs met

        step two: give your greatest gift

step three: receive the gift of a life well lived

step four: let the whole world receive the gift of

your life well lived

~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~

Let us rise up and be thankful

for if we didn't learn a lot today

at least we learned a little

and if we didn't learn a little

at least we didn't get sick

and if we got sick

at least we didn't die

so, let us all be thankful.

~ Buddha ~

parallel ally

David Whyte

HAUNTED

is a word that denotes an unresolved parallel, a presence that is not quite a presence; a visitation by the as yet unspeakable - it is also emblematic of the longing for incarnation, of an unbearable substrate of wanting, of not finding a home in this world or in the next, someone or something that walks the halls of our house or our mind looking for what will help to lay its own self to rest.

What haunts us is something that seeks its own disappearance, it wants to become fully itself and so depart. If we feel continually haunted over time we begin to become ghost-like ourselves and roam with intent whilst not quite knowing the object of our intention. Looking in the mirror, our face begins to look like our not quite incarnated life. We walk not exactly existing in the world we visit. Like the spirits and half-beings we imitate at Halloween, we roam the streets as if looking for an abode on this earth we are unable to locate, demanding tribute from those who dwell within. The exorcism of an unwanted spirit is consistent the world over: an invitation to return home; for it and for us to find our way back, to cease our restless ways and to quit disturbing others lives or walking their houses by night.

We cease to be haunted when we cease to be afraid of making what has been untouchable, real: especially our understandings of the past; and especially those we wronged, those we were wronged by, or those we did not help. We become real by forgiving ourselves and we forgive ourselves by changing the foundational pattern, and especially by changing our present behavior to those we have hurt. A fear of ghosts, or a fear of our own haunted mind is the measure of our absence in this world. We cease to be afraid when we give away what was never ours in the first place and begin to be present to our own lives just as we find them, even in facing what we have banished from our thoughts and made homeless, even when we do not know the way forward ourselves. When we make a friend of what we previously could not face, what once haunted us now becomes an invisible, parallel ally, a beckoning hand to our future.

We banish the misaligned when we align with what we are called to, we become visible and real when we give our gift and stop waiting for the gift to be given to us. We wake into our lives again, as if for the first time, laying to rest what previously had no home through beginning to speak, beginning to make real and beginning to live, those elements constellating inside us that long to move from the invisible to the visible.
…

‘HAUNTED’ From CONSOLATIONS: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. © David Whyte

oh, for goodness sake...

if we're going to smile, how about trying it like this!

I smile like a flower not only with my lips

but with my whole being.

Rumi

note to self: the

'act as if', or

'fake it til you become it'

approach could come in handy here

less is more

always in life
the moments that matter are where thought ends;
they appear in nonsense,
as lightning in sunlight,
as a burst of laughter over a cup of tea.
- christmas humphreys

buddhist compliment

yesterday, I had a chance encounter at a coffee shop with Boston Bill, and we ended up talking about the difficulties that come with attachment (one particular situation for him was obviously losing a limb, but we both related to the broad range of physical and non-physical attachments) to anything not functioning well...

it was not a heavy, deep conversation, but  in essence

lightness of our shared humanity over a cup of tea,

and I'd like you to meet this delightful fellow...

after our very uplifting and grounding chat (the refreshingly real kind with no elephants, like the kind you might/could have with a buddhist monk or a nun, no need to hide, you're already *seen* anyways), I was interested in learning more of the history of this traveler shining his light and living in possibility, and this article had a quote about how unexpectedly, not to mention at a personally uncomfortable time, the moment appeared when he simply had an opportunity to help someone else... which turned out to be transformative... reminded me how easy it is to be caught up in ourselves and our own situations that we miss these

small miracles waiting to happen...

'The other cyclists continued on their way, leaving the grumpy white-haired man with his bike, his shoes, his artificial leg and his fear of appearing helpless.'

a fuller story and powerful short documentary of this fated friendship is shared here...

Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
Think less.

Feel more.

See the miracles in your own life. They are there.

Let life happen through, rather than to you... 

et cetera, et cetera...

♥

and when you must think...

come on now, ring that bell

What a force this woman is...

To be wrong all along and admit it is not amazing grace

When you're lost

you will toss every lucky coin you'll ever trust

more here, including another version of this song with guitars and strings that is a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

the hill I'm walkin' up is gettin' good and steep...

do I make myself a blessing to everyone I meet...

new day dawning

the natural source of radiance and brilliance in this world

whoa.man

'There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.
Keep the channel open...'
~Martha Graham

◊

On a Women's Circle site I read that in South Africa, you might hear local people greeting each other with

"Sawu bono"

equivalent to "Hi" or "Namaste"

which literally means

"I see you".

If you were from the same tribe you would respond with

"Shikona"

which means "I am here".

The essence of the exchange:

It is only when you see me that I exist.

◊

One woman I have been seen by is Marion Rosen.
I had the blessed opportunity to receive a bodywork session from her during an Intensive (photo below was taken shortly after) and it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Marion recently passed after living fully for 97 years. When I grow up if I may be a fraction as good as her... well, she was just one of those amazing conduits for transformation. Not that she was trying to be, she simply showed up in her own life, and her light shone so brightly from a place of goodness, gentleness, and genuine humanity that she made the world a better place. A more worthwhile place.

Berkeley, CA 2008

◊

Yesterday was International Womens Day, and in gratitude of so many beautiful sister-women-friends I have crossed paths with in my life,

Sawu bono.

◊

If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
  ~African proverb

tribal

I'm happy that Susan Cain has written a book (currently a nytimes bestseller) about the unique challenge many of us intrinsically 'Quiet' people face in our society...
(her talk on TED.com recently about the book is delightful. she makes a great comment about the irony of an introvert's job being to go out and speak to large groups about it (!) so it is inspiring how she approached it and labeled this her 'year of speaking dangerously'.)

I personally don't think of all quieter people as introverts, and thus all louder people as extroverts, but rather at our core, we all fall somewhere along a spectrum. And I feel it is beneficial to have the awareness of where we ourselves generally are on that spectrum, and to also be aware that about one-third of those among us are much more on the higher sensitivity end of the spectrum (the bulk of whom are also introverts but many are also extroverts as Elaine Aron brilliantly speaks to here). Included in my Living in Possibility quest is an individual path toward self-acceptance that leads to self-celebration (of course I don't mean this in an egoic/outward achievement sense but in an inward, Divine knowing way), at whatever volume works.

please be careful with me

I'm sensitive

and I'd like to stay that way

~Jewel

One way of getting along with it all is allowing

more space around each situation. 

these days, I try to give myself

the freedom to be

situationally:

*extroverted ~ sometimes this is necessary and I do enjoy stretching in this way on occasion.
*quiet ~ this one comes naturally, while claiming it as a rejuvenative and creative necessity does not.
*vegetarian ~ all about balance and striving toward inner and outer harmonization. as my body, as well as my understanding of its nutritional needs combined with the broader impact of our individual and collective choices evolves, so have my eating choices.
*and tribal ~ it seems the further I travel along life's highway the more I engage with the concept/cost of contending with the proverbial square peg/round hole. And I am truly blessed to feel connected with several tribes along the spectrum, though this hsp/quiet/introvert/extrovert stuff is largely unspoken. I intend to dance more with my perceived danger of speaking to this...

☀

Always remember that you are absolutely unique.

Just like everyone else.

~anthropologist Margaret Mead

☀

Tibetan New Year

The Dragon is a symbol of

power, assertiveness, expansion,

and intensity.

The Dragon thunders in the sky with the sound of compassion that awakens us from delusion and increases what we can know through

hearing.

Dragons have the power of

complete communication.

Today marks the beginning of the

Year of the Water Dragon...

♡

Put on your crown
and pick up your sword.
Get on your horse.
Raise tremendous windhorse
and realize that
in your heart center
are the three jewels
of the great Eastern Sun.
This is the way we ride
into this particular year.
Just like this,
ride into your life.
Everyday
like
this.
The Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
  

hai.

Lost



Stand still.
The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes.
Listen.
It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost.
Stand still.
The forest knows
Where you are.
You must let it find you.


This poem is David Wagoner's rendering into modern English the answer a Northwest Native American elder would give to a young girl or boy who asked the question,

"What do I do when I am lost in the forest?"

David Whyte relates further... "In other words,

'What do I do when I've lost my creative fire?'

which is really

'What do l do when I forget who I am?'

At the very core of creativity there seems to be an admonition that says,

'Your own way is essential.'

This is true even in a traditional master-student relationship. The word 'expert' seems to be like a fog in which we lose ourselves. We feel our lack before we have done the essential work of

touching our own inner longing.

Creativity has much more to do with giving ourselves over to our deepest longings than it does with giving ourselves over to any kind of strategy.
The great poetic and mythic traditions say that creativity has to do with unburdening, with giving yourself a break, with letting fresh air in through the windows, with allowing yourself to be

lost...

profoundly lost,

deeply lost.

This cannot be taught, it must be lived.

In the beginning,
along with the joy of possibility,
you also have to enter this deep well of grief
connected to what you have missed by
refusing to open in the past."


The Well of Grief
Those who will not slip beneath
the still surface on the well of grief
turning downward through its black water
to the place we cannot breathe
will never know the source
from which we drink
the secret water, cold and clear,
nor find in the darkness glimmering
the small round coins
thrown by those who wished for
something else.
~David Whyte 

hai.

(yes)

 

perky

percolation:
seeping through an opening.

does the coffee bean have something to teach us about responding expansively to adversity?

unlike a carrot that starts out strong but then wilts
or an egg that starts out soft
then becomes hardened on the inside,
when heated in boiling water,

ground coffee beans become something

useful, tasty, even beautiful...

Into the fire of Life's mysteries I dance 

With the book of my heart wide open

I may find love

I may find pain

But only an open book can be written in

And I have stories to tell

~ 'Flamenco' by Kim McElroy 

further

In my previous post when I quoted Alan Watts saying that he wanted to

realize absolutely that

life and death are two sides of the same coin,

it struck a deep chord in me.


A 'radical acceptance of death'
can be a learned approach
to life,
as can clouding ones' perspective
with fear and ignorance.



At the time of my grandfather's death when I was eleven, innately I had no fear of what was occurring. Somehow I was very in touch with the
natural process of him passing,
including the months leading up to that afternoon,
after we had gotten the morning call
that the time was near.
yet at the end, I was excluded.
sent to sit in the waiting room by myself.


We all do the best we can,
and nurses do their jobs.
they (nor did I then) did not know how deeply I was
feeling this loss.
those weren't just tears
because he was gone.
I also lost part of my voice.
and I was cheated out of experiencing

that part of the grieving process

in the moment.

Untouched grief lies dormant,
and when it rises up
beckoning and then
demanding to be
seen and felt at last,
it is an opportunity for healing and forgiveness,
and reclaiming wholeness...


Back to realizing how life and death being
two sides of the same coin
 is vitally important in learning to embrace life,
and to live in possibility.

Aha!

Both are equally juicy, complex topics!

They are only as 'out there'
as we choose to keep them...

further 'food' for thought...

Though we live in a largely hands-off culture, especially when it comes to the actual process of dying, it is completely within our rights to organize our own

home funeral:

A noncommercial, family centered response to death that involves the family and its social community in the care and preparation of the body for burial or cremation, and/or in planning and carrying out related rituals or ceremonies, and/or in the burial or cremation itself.

There are also people
offering compassionate support

for the final transition process.

“I request that my body in death be buried, not cremated, so that the energy content contained within it gets returned to the earth so that flora and fauna can dine upon it just as I have dined upon flora and fauna throughout my life.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson

Since our bodies have many toxins in them,
not to mention the added pollutants like formaldehyde and embalming agents in traditional preservation,

this woman presenting her mushroom burial suit
 takes the green burial a step further,

which for me is quite possibly an ultimate way of

leaving the world better than I found it...

♥