Tag: love
The Face of What’s Happening

The Face of What’s Happening

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Do you dare look? Can you bear the grief? Sea turtle nearly decapitated by propeller. Children ripped from their parents. Whales dead full of plastic. This takes courage friends. To deny our grief is to make ourselves sick. The planet is suffering. All life is suffering. So what can we do?

The face of suffering is evident every day whether we watch the news or read it or listen on the radio. From every direction we are made aware of the destruction. Perhaps our natural inclination is to look away, but not because we don’t care. Perhaps, as Joanna Macy says, it’s because we don’t know what to do with our grief and we feel overwhelmed.

Last night I dreamed I was helping a sea turtle whose throat had been slit. This morning, on sea turtle nest patrol, I came upon a critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle whose neck had been nearly severed from an apparent propeller strike. Even in my dreams they reach out asking for help. And so today, I share this turtle’s story and use it to illustrate the bigger story happening in the world and with every one of us.

So how can we look upon the face of suffering and death and survive the grief? If you are paying attention, you are probably sad and maybe even depressed. And I’m guessing you feel grief. The answer is to feel it. Have the courage to look and feel the emotions and then allow them to move out of your beautiful heart into the world. Don’t be afraid of the grief and likewise, don’t be afraid of your own depth of caring, love and compassion.

I sat beside the turtle’s body after patrol was done. I sang her a song and thanked her for bringing such beauty into the world. The odor of rotting flesh covered my hands and the wind blew her death smell over me as I wept openly. Not just for her passing but for the opportunity to love. What an amazing time to be alive, when every person’s love and compassion is needed so very much.

Loggerhead Hatchling

If you think you can’t make a difference, or the pain of what’s happening is simply too much to bear, allow the strength of that which you love pour through you as grace. That’s what Joanna Macy reminded our on-line group last week. Breathe in the strength of the turtle species that have survived for so long and let that strength pour through as grace to move out through your heart into the world….or the whales….or children removed from parents….or whatever it is that you love deeply. Work with your grief and let it motivate you to love deeper and fuller.

And let me know if you want to work on this together. Thanks to training with Joanna years ago in a week-long retreat, I have some ideas as to how we can come together and stay sane as the chaos of uncertainty shakes us. Always happy to bring a group together to further more love, compassion and grace in this world. (Email Simone)

 

 
I Lit a Candle Today

I Lit a Candle Today

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Mitchell Henry built a small, Gothic cathedral in the Connemara region of western Ireland. He built a castle here in the 1800’s and when his beloved wife died at the young age of 45, he loved her so much he built the cathedral in her memory. Rather than having frightening gargoyles, the structure is more feminine and has smiling angels carved throughout with delicately carved flowers and birds. There is a beautiful stained glass window of Mary depicting the five graces–Fortitude, Faith, Charity, Hope and Chastity.

As I wandered through the small cathedral I marveled at the love this man had for his wife and reflected on my own lack of a partner…which grieves me. In front of the stained glass of Mary was a candle holder where you can light a candle and say a prayer. So I decided to make a donation and light a candle to ask Mary to bring a man that will love me with a great love and be my partner in life and adventures.

After saying the prayer I picked up the lighter. I repeatedly tried to light the candle, thinking it was already in the holder. So I’m not Catholic and had no idea you had to actually put a candle in the glass. I thought the candle was deep inside the glass. I laughed out loud as I glanced to the left and saw a basket of candles.

I finally got the thing lit but am still pondering the entire experience. I asked for this ‘miracle,’ fired up the lighter but there was nothing to light because I didn’t know I had to have a candle. What the heck does that mean in my relationship life? Geez…. There is a definite lesson there.

Anyway….

It was the first rainy day in Ireland since I arrived almost a week ago so no complaints about the rain. There was plenty of beauty to be found wandering around the grounds of Kylemore Abbey.

Some of the leyland cypress trees had to be over 500 years old. I stopped and leaned my forehead against one and dropped into silence. I saw a series of what appeared to be files flashing rapidly in my mind so I asked the tree to slow down and choose one for me to look at…like it was showing me the growth rings representing years. I saw it as a very small, young tree and heard–See, I started out tiny and frail and look at me now. Don’t ever give up.

I thanked the tree and walked on through the forest enjoying the sweet, soft energy of the ancient beings. Maybe the tree was reminding me to keep doing the work I do, that it will grow and develop. Perhaps it was telling me that a great love is coming into my life. One thing is for sure–I was reminded to never give up on something that is important to me.

So beloved man, whoever you are, I lit a candle for you today and asked Mary to guide you to me. And I hugged an ancient tree which reminded me to never give up on anything that’s important to me. And my work to reveal beauty to anyone who will pay attention continues.

I lit a candle today.
May Your Life Rise Up to Meet You

May Your Life Rise Up to Meet You

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May the dawn find you at peace with the coming day.

May the beauty of the first flower of spring cause joy to burst forth with gladness from your precious heart.

May the cycles of coming and going of the moon ever remind you of the cycles of your own coming and going.

May the life that longs to live in you rise up like the Earth’s daily awakening and guide you ever onward to your hearts true calling.

May every breath that warms your lips be one of peace with your life.

May your life be the true expression of your soul’s brilliance.

And may you find friendship with all of creation so you know you are never alone.

 
Finding Peace

Finding Peace

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As the year winds down reflection is a normal part of our process before the new year begins. This year I find myself wanting to tie up loose ends that tend to entangle my best intentions.

When our thoughts get stuck and the chemical groove in our brains deepens with repeated rumination, it can be difficult to step out of old patterns. As humans we tend to chew our thoughts like cows chew cud but we really get no nourishment from our thought-grinding efforts.

This morning I set the intention of trust and peace for my yoga practice. Over the past couple of weeks this theme has arisen often. Clarity came today like a divine bell ringing in my mind and heart. What if everything is exactly as its supposed to be? 

What if everything we spend so much energy and effort and time replaying in our minds does nothing to further our growth and development. What if everything really is exactly as its supposed to be for our soul’s growth….what if!

The choices we make to leave, move, begin again….to write the book we dream of writing, take the photograph we long to take, write the letter we yearn to write or share the poem we wrote….all begin with an urging from within us. Rather than spend years questioning and fretting, what if we accept these parts of our journey as exactly what needs to happen to open other doors?

So share your art, your writing, the poem you wrote. Move to a new place if you feel led to do so. Downsize and clear out if that’s what you feel prompted to do. Write a friend you haven’t heard from in years. Follow the push from within and trust the guidance constantly whispering to us, even when we don’t hear it.

Perhaps finding peace is as simple as accepting that everything is exactly as it is supposed to be for our soul’s growth. With that acceptance comes the opening of unlimited potential.

What is it that calls you? What does your heart long to do or say? Where do you long to travel? Pay attention to what calls you and let it guide the way.

 

 

Keepers of the Light

Keepers of the Light

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People who tended lighthouses were referred to as keepers of light. They maintained lights that kept ships from crashing onto the shore before there was LORAN, GPS, sonar, and automated lights along coastlines. They were vital to survival of crews and cargo.

During winter seasonal celebrations happening around the Solstice, we are reminded of light so keenly because we experience the shortening of days. Nights lengthen, darkness grows and we are directed inward…to our homes and hearths….to ourselves.

Light of fires, candles, Christmas trees and other decorations kindle our since of wonder and appreciation for that which illuminates the darkness. Yet we sometimes forget that we carry within us the essence of light that can be the most beautiful of lights.

May humans awaken to the light within and become keepers of that sacred light. May we help each other navigate these times of darkness. May we be beacons of hope, love and compassion…of Light.