There is Beauty in the World!

Today was an absolutely amazing day! ... and it is my desire to be able to whole heartedly say that about every day. 

It's simple though...there is so much to celebrate about life!  Today I celebrated a wonderful Earth Day with my dad.  We had planned a day in the woods retrieving branches for an arbor we planned to create....but instead he surprised me with a visit to begin construction using the materials we had already collected.
 

About 2 weeks ago we spent a day just clearing downed cedar tree tops.  A full day of work and this is all we brought back...but it's enough to build the basic frame.

What a great day together, and what better way to spend Earth Day than digging into the earth and working with tree tops to beautify our yard.  So far it looks great...but lots more to do...I'll keep you posted!

Til then, enjoy listening to one of my favorite songs....a little Macy Gray

There is Beauty in the World!

So since I made my last post..."too often we are scared"... I have found my own subtle fears presenting themselves...the ones that whisper in ways I often dismiss as "logic, reason, or just being practical." I would typically cower to these fears in ways I didn't even recognize...with my own rationalization "it's just not time, or I need to wait." But this time, I found comfort in looking further, in diving right in & going for it! With a little guidance & support from Spirit that is :-)

I love the tarot...as a child, teenager, and college student, it weirded me out.   For tonight, I'll blame it on my Catholic upbringing...& the fact that what can be more frightening (if not properly understood) than the death card?  But over the past couple years I've explored oracle cards...you know, angels, then fairies, the medicine woman tarot, and then the actual Raider Waite Tarot!   What I've discovered is that the Tarot is simply a reflection of our life's journey...our epic journey!  It is simply a story, our story told as a myth...and when we look at it that way, it's hard not to let go of the details.  

Not only do we have the opportunity to live and experience each card throughout our life, but we have an opportunity to cycle through many deaths & rebirths!   A cycle I have become quite familiar with over the past 3 years.

Death & destruction are not only a natural parts of our lives, but necessary parts.   They allow us to release and let go of that which no longer serves us...& when done with honor and intention, it is liberating!

So, back to where I was initially headed with tonight's entry...
Today, as my fear jumped in with "logic," I took a couple deep breathes and consulted the Medicine Woman Tarot by Carol Bridges (my favorite).  This is the message I received...absolutely perfect:  "Your vision has brought a portion of your dream to you.  But not all forces are yet aligned with your dream.  ...  In any case, you must use your personal talents to guide the dearly desired to you.  Your fears will rise up.  It is time to go with your gifts, pull out your talents and use them, however meager you may think them to be.  This is what the universe is asking of you now."

And if I had any...any doubt, that doubt was eased when my cell phone marked a missed call at 5:55, and my facebook friend count rolled over to 555....and with that number I found the message "Hold the vision until you land on the new shore."  

So message is taken, and the vision is being held.  It's beautiful, it's full, and my spirit is filled with love and gratitude....soaring with vision!  
 

Too often we are scared.

Too often we are scared.
Scared of what we might not be able to do.
Scared of what people might think if we tried.
We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.
We say no when we want to say yes.
We sit quietly when we want to scream.
And we shout with the others, when we should keep our mouths shut.

Why?

After all, we do only go around once.
There’s really no time to be afraid.

So stop.

Try something you’ve never tried.  Risk it....

Try anything...
You have nothing to lose 
and Everything, Everything, Everything to gain.

- Barry Sanders

This quote ran as a Nike ad campaign in the late 90's.  And it is a quote I kept posted on my dorm room wall through my entire college experience.  It ignited a fire in my soul...one that said all is possible...one that gave me permission to aspire beyond what I perceived as ordinary!

Fear is amazingly powerful...and at the root of so many obstacles we perceive and experience lives a fear.  What are you going to choose in the face of that fear?  Will you let it stop you, hold you back from diving in and living your dream?  Will you allow it to create worry, shame, sadness, anger, resentment, or sorrow?  Or will you find the strength that also lives in your fear & embrace it as you soar with the beauty, grace, and ease you were born to do?

We're sitting on our blessed Mother Earth 

from which we get our strength and determination, 

love and humility - 

all the beautiful attributes that we've been given.  

So turn to one another; love one another; 

respect one another; respect Mother Earth; 

respect the waters - because that's life itself!  

-Phil Lane, Sr.

I just received the May edition of Yoga Journal...and as always I was excited to read it.   I found myself drawn to an article titled "Sustainable Spirit."  The concept of sustainability is readily in my mind as I am always looking for opportunities to lessen my footprint on this beautiful planet I am blessed to inhabit.

But this article took the word "sustainability" in a direction I had never gone before.  The author married sustainability with another aspect of life that is remarkably important to me...the beauty of honoring the spirit of Mother Earth.  It went beyond the concept of preserving planet so our children, and our childrens' children will be able to live healthy lives and experience the beautiful, rich, and majestic scenery.  And instead, author Swami Veda Bharati, brought to awareness that our desire to preserve nature is best served when we recognize & honor our unity with all of nature!

Such an amazing & simple concept...yet for some reason one I've neglected to bring into my own awareness....until now that is!  When we bring this awareness into our hearts, we begin to preserve because we hold sacred the spirit that resides within each living thing.  We preserve because we recognize the spirit that resides in a tree, in a mountain, in the water, in the air, in the flower, in the bird, in the deer is the same spirit that resides within ourselves.

We recognize the spirit living in everyone and everything is Great Spirit, Great Mystery, God, the One who is known by a thousand names yet is the unnameable One...and even more, we recognize that everyone and everything is Great Spirit.  So "to cut a tree down is to cut yourself down."  To offer a tree love is to offer yourself love.  To offer it admiration is to admire yourself.  To celebrate the growth of its new canopy of leaves in the spring is to celebrate your own growth & expansion!

Mother Earth, has so much to teach us, so much to share.  When we open our hearts & recognize that we share the same spirit we begin to honor not only our wholeness, perfection, & Divinity, but the same qualities in nature.  And we begin to fully recognize our beautiful image in nature's reflection!