Light Archives - Page 4 of 4 -

The Wisdom is Within

By Simone Lipscomb | January 20, 2013

A dear friend of mine gifted me with an Amarilla kit for Christmas. When I opened the box to dig out the pieces…the container, growing medium and bulb….pale yellow shoots greeted me. It was ready to grow. Without roots planted, without water or sunlight…this bulb was ready. It knew exactly what to do.

I felt the excitement of the bulb as I surrounded its dry roots with moist soil. I packed it and placed it on my back porch to enjoy warm winter temps and filtered sunlight. And less than a month later, it has exploded with color and blossoms that appear to sing with joy.

During the past month I have sent snapshots created on my phone to Eydie to let her know how Lilly is progressing in her growth. But this morning, Lilly wanted to be photographed.

Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? — Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful?

So I pulled out my big Nikon and micro lens, set up the tripod and gave Lilly my undivided attention. Due to recent cold weather she bloomed inside, beside an antique plate of my grandmothers and a watercolor done by a former mountain neighbor. She sits atop an antique table my grandmother treasured.

This morning’s meditation brought a message from a native grandmother. She reminded me to contemplate the Triple Goddess archetype…Maiden–where I was wounded. Mother–where I lived out the wounds and worked hard to heal them. Wise Woman–where I live a more whole expression of all that I am and work now to help the Earth and Her children heal.

Lilly has three blossoms that fully opened…just this morning. Coincidence? Perfect timing? I’m beginning to understand that everything somehow miraculously works in perfect timing and the wisdom we need to guide us in our life is within us all along. Life is a journey of discovering, uncovering that wisdom and daring to tread the path that unfolds before us.

Animal Teachers

By Simone Lipscomb | January 16, 2013

Two days ago I launched my SUP board at a small, sandy beach on the river and noticed otter tracks. Native traditions speak of the otter as teaching playfulness. The water is an ancient symbol for the feminine, creative forces and emotions in life so otter’s play reminds us that we all need to allow our creative side a chance to come out and play and to not take life so seriously.

As I paddled I thought about the tracks and was excited to know that an otter had visited our little beach and reminded me to lighten up. Life had been very serious and heavy for the past couple of weeks so the otter’s visit was a little nudge to play a bit.

The otter tracks were still present when I launched my board this morning. It was foggy and cool, the dampness permeated everything. The cypress trees stood as silent centennials along the river bank. The absence of wind made paddling especially enjoyable as my board sliced through the mirror-like surface.

I rounded a bend in the river and to my horror saw a pelican floating head down in the river. It was obviously dead but I wanted to remove it from the water to offer respect and to acknowledge its life….and death. I knelt down on my board and grasped a wing and pulled. It hardly moved. I looked closer and saw its neck was fully extended with the bill potentially stuck in the shallow bottom. I grasped both wings and pulled very hard. Nothing. I tried several times but made no progress.

How was this possible? In over 50 years of life spent enjoying the water and especially pelicans, I had never seen anything so strange. What happened? I wanted badly to free the bird but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help. Finally I gave up, said a little prayer and paddled on, still thinking about this strange occurrence. Still disturbed by such a strange accident. And determined to understand the teaching being offered.

I thought of the native teachings about pelicans–renewed buoyancy. “Being able to be buoyant and rest on top in spite of the heaviness of life circumstances. The pelican teaches that no matter how difficult life becomes, no matter how much you plunge, you can pop to the surface,” writes Ted Andrews in his book, Animal Speak.

Well…unless you miscalculate your next move and get yourself stuck…deadly stuck… like my poor friend did.

This strange occurrence, along with the traditional meaning, spoke to me quite deeply.

I pondered the teaching all day, especially the feeling of giving up and feeling heartbroken that I couldn’t free this magnificent bird from the entrapment of mud. Eventually the application became obvious.

No matter how much we want to help a friend or loved one who is trapped in their misery, sometimes we have to let go. We are powerless to change another’s situation, powerless to free them from their stuckness. We can be supportive, can pray for them and offer to help, but ultimately their freedom comes from their own willingness to dive into clarity and love and let the lightness of their being lift them up. We are powerless to save them from themselves.

Such grief and sadness comes with the realization that letting go is the only choice, the only thing left to do.

What a feeling of powerlessness….yet what a beautiful point of surrender. And for that lesson I am deeply grateful.

Rest in peace my friend.

Beauty is My Passion

By Simone Lipscomb | January 2, 2013

Ft Morgan 122912 (19)
Over the years there has been a narrowing of focus. I steadfastly have endeavored to serve and help humanity evolve, with the end goal of promoting planetary stewardship. Sound idealistic? Unrealistic? Did I drink hemlock-spiked egg nog?

Paying attention, listening, being still with a calm mind….little tools we can use to help us find our way. And as we progress through our trials, dead-ends, and times lacking in joy, and surrender to our life’s calling, we become more content.

Gulf Islands National Seashore (22)
My personal journey has led me deeper into beauty, most significantly the beauty found in nature. The glance of a pelican as it soars past, the gaze from a shark as it swims alongside, a sea turtle hatchling gazing up at me as she scoots past….the whisper of trees as they sway in the wind and countless moments spent outdoors call me to recognize beauty, to champion it and to celebrate it.

Over the years I’ve struggled with direction and purpose and wandering…and wondering. It comes down to this simple truth for me: Beauty is my passion. It is my sincerest desire to translate it to others through photography and writing. With no agenda, no push to make others see….because without this expression my life dries up and I feel off course.

Gulf Islands National Seashore (5) What is your passion? How does it influence your life?

Whose Story is it Anyway?

By Simone Lipscomb | December 28, 2012

At the lunch table yesterday a discussion began… it actually continued from weeks ago. My friend Geshe Thupten Dorjee was describing teachings he is sharing with people to help them overcome challenges. He said that our suffering and pain comes from being unsatisfied and discontent. One reason is because we respond to things that happen in our lives with old behavior patterns.

An example he gave was of a hunter and a bear trap. If the hunter baits the trap the bear doesn’t have to step in it. The bear makes a choice to step into the trap or avoid it. Likewise, we make choices that either keep us trapped or give us freedom.

A few weeks ago our Voluntary Sustainability group was discussing the hook. I describe the hook as being dangled tauntingly by circumstances in our lives, especially in our relationships with other humans. We are so conditioned to respond in a certain way that we often bite the bait and the hook even when the consequences result in pain and suffering. And we know, even before biting the hook, that our behavior will create suffering in our lives….but we do it anyway.

Why?

Years ago a friend suggested I journal about my personal myth. I had no idea what she meant. My personal myth? But over the years I have come to understand that each of us has a story upon which we base our lives. Our story comes from society, family and teachers in our young lives but continues to grow as we become fixated on it and unable to break free from it. As a practicing psychotherapist, I witnessed some clients identify so strongly with labels and rigid personal stories that they found it almost impossible to find healing and wholeness. “I was an addict so …..” or “I was mistreated as a child so….” or “Nobody liked me in my family so…..” All stories upon which their lives were tightly woven, too comfortable and familiar, even with suffering or agony, to rewrite.

Geshe-la gave the example of a medical doctor thinking that a fine car, huge home, country club membership and all the fluffy fixings were part of being a doctor, that those things defined what being a doctor means. Not that there is anything wrong with nice stuff, but creating a life story around a limiting societal belief gives a person little room to be fully able to bring their gifts and talents into this life, to experience freedom that comes from being authentic and real.

The Work That Reconnects with Joanna Macy
by Simone Lipscomb

This lunchtime discussion created an opportunity for me to reflect upon our relationship with Earth. What stories do we buy into? What information do we take as valid without question? How have we failed to challenge mega corporations who continue to rape the planet? They tell us we need what they are producing but do we? Whose story is that?

We have a most amazing opportunity to rewrite the story of our relationship with the planet. Each day we can add a new chapter. This is a living story, an unfolding love story….or a murder mystery. It is our choice.

manatee2 — Manatee, Three Sister’s Springs
by Simone Lipscomb

Enter the Light

By Simone Lipscomb | December 21, 2012

I stood in the chilly air awaiting the dawn. Not just of a new day but a new way. As I stood beneath old growth live oak trees, present with birds and cows awakening, I glanced over the metal roof of my home and saw a huge owl cresting the roof. She flew within a few feet of me as I stood in stillness. Silent was her passing, without a whisper of wind on wing.

Owls have amazing eyesight and can see in the darkest night. A timely reminder in this time of transition and spiritual awakening on our planet.

Bundled in warm clothes in the pre-dawn moments, I contemplated this auspicious day and remembered a conversation I had in the late 1980’s with a professor in graduate school. We were on a break and several of us were sitting around a table. The conversation turned to the end of the Mayan calendar. At the time, it was still 25 years in the future. He expressed fear and asked our opinion. I told him I thought it was simply a time of awakening, of moving from darkness into the light.

Through the years I have continued to hold that belief. And this morning I felt incredible excitement that people all over the planet were welcoming the light. Over the past few years there has been an apparent increase in darkness but what has appeared to be more darkness is perhaps light exposing the worst of humanity. Now, like the owl, we see more clearly the darkness and can make conscious choices to turn to the light.

With gratitude I saluted the Light and made my way back into my cozy kitchen for a hot mocha. Yes. This is the start of a new dawn.