Spacious

For the last few years I have experienced a phenomenon whereby a word appears toward the end of the year to inform, frame and guide the year to come. So far these words have included dance and freedom. For 2013 the word that seems to be appearing is SPACIOUS.

What does spacious mean to me?

It means an expansion of freedom, dance, flow and connectivity.
Spacious provides room for movement.
Spacious provides a place for the unknown, for uncertainty and for the mystery to be present.
Spacious has an open inviting feeling to it.
It suggests exploration.
It is playful.
Spacious is a deep breathe.
In hale.
Ex hale.
AAAAhhhhhhhh .... !

Spacious implies limitless opportunites.
I am looking forward to being spacious.
I am curious as to what spacious will bring.

As 2012 comes to a close, tonight seems like a night to walk the labyrinth and to sit by a fire with friends telling stories to one another and enjoying the quality of being together. This year had much to live upto with expectations of paradigm shifts, consciousness deepening moments and Mayan prophesies. In all it has been a year of preparing the soil, planting seeds, setting intentions for a life to blossom and grow. The old growth has to be redug into the land to replenish the soil for what is to come. There is a lot of letting go that has had to happen to get to this point. Emptying out of the vessel of life. To travel lighter. In the winter time mulched soil may not look like much and yet it is rich fertile ground, we underestimate it at our peril. What can't be seen underneath the surface maybe invisible to the eye yet it is doing it's magical alchemical thing creating the new that will eventually reveal itself oneday in all its glorious beauty. And that sums up what has been going on through 2012 and hints at the potential of spacious for 2013 and beyond.

2013 is for me about creating a spacious quality in my life to allow and invite the new to arrive from the dark into the light. 

Happy New Year
Everyone
Feliz Ano Novo
Para Tudo Mundo

Theory FUN!

The idea is that by making something fun we can change peoples behaviour. I seriously hope this is true and not another internet hoax. I want to believe in theory fun!. Intuitively it not only feels right, it feels good. And if it is true the question is, how can we use theory fun in so many more imaginative ways? Take a look at this to illustrate the effect of theory fun!

Winter Solstice 2012

Holy cow, sometimes the cards are too spot on for my comfort, more of this later. It's been a challenging year in some ways and a blessed one in others. The challenges have been life purpose related. Having taken the step away from job security to search for a path that is more authentic and meaningful I am still waiting for a greater sense of clarity and a clearer sign of momentum. Of late it has too often felt like I have been taking two steps forward followed by one step back. To say my patience is being strecth is an understatement. Holding true is what I am trying to do, and yet the desire for the uncertainty to be over is strong. I am learning many lessons. One of which is that living with not knowing is likely to become a more normal activity and that instead of expecting the uncertainty to go away what I need to do is find better ways to live with it.

Today is the winter solstice up here in the northern hemisphere. Two years ago we were held in by waves of snow and freezing temperatures. Today it is almost balmy and quiet unseasonally warm. Today is also the long await end of the Mayan calendar. Well, the end of many epochs. A grand shift is upon us as we move to a more loving, connected and harmonious age. I surely hope this is all true. earlier today on our way from Surrey to Devon we drove passed Stonehenge. The setting was beautifully backdropped by an azure blue sky and crowds of people were thronged around the ancient stones. More people were making the long walk back to their cars having spent the earlier hours of the solstice honouring out shortest day of the year.

It's the time of year for quiet and reflection, for sitting in circle around burning fires and for intention setting now a new age is upon us. I had the honour of standing in a hand-held circle with some lovely people from Schumacher College. Afterwards I meditated alone and before me were angel cards set out in the symbol of the infinity. I chose two cards, one from each half of life. My angel from the first half of life was Grace and the second half of life was Humour. Great angels to have present.

On returning home we chose tarot cards and mine was spookily accurate. Up turned the seven of pentacles. For which the reading said the card depicts; "A farmer leaning on his spade gazing at pentacles that grow on a bush like fruit. She has done all the work, planted, planned, toiled. Now, all she can do is wait. And wait she has, for so long that she's growing impatient. She's beginning to doubt that the fruit on this tree will ever be ready to harvest and sell. In all four Sevens, the challenge presented cannot be won unless the questioner is determined to succeed and will not let themselves give up. The challenge in the solid, earthy Pents emphasizes this the most. Sometimes called "Failure" this is a card where one's patience is beginning to wear thin. You may be tempted to announce that it's all a failure and walk away. Or, weary of waiting, you could make a mistake, assume that the fruit is ripe when it's not.

This is an especially hard card (and challenge) for someone who has been out of work for a while, or has been trying to get back their health. They have to be told that, hard as it is, they must extend their patience. They must also be careful to recognize real opportunity from false opportunity. It's all too easy to act out of frustration, thinking that doing anything is better than doing nothing.But acting out of frustration can lead to failure. Real opportunity is on its way. Hang in there and use all you've learned to recognize it when you see it.

aaaahhhhh ... so more patience is called for - and the good news is that the future is about finding new ways to use my exisiting skills. Good to know writing and education are part of my future afterall. In a big way this is a relief. And patient I can be, for a little while longer.

Celebrating 12.12.12 @ 12.12pm

What a way to mark the moment of 12.12.12 @ 12.12pm !!!
Very British and very Schumacher all at once.
My favourite part is the actions some are making to match the words of the song.
A great memory.

What if money didn't matter?

Alan Watts tells it how it is.
And yet why is something so simple so challenging ???
It's stupid doing things you don't like.
Oh yeah !!!

What do I desire?

Happiness
Love
Relationship
Friendship
Food
Warmth
Shelter
Poetry
Music
Play
Exercise
Trees
Dogs
Cats
Rivers
Canoeing
Mountains
Hills
Fields
Hugs
Flowers
Bees
Owls
Chocolate
Family
Bike Rides
Art

Thought for this 'favourite' day

Remember on this day

Today

Pooh's favourite day …

We do not become healers.

We came as healers.

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not become storytellers.

We came as carriers of the stories we and our ancestors actually lived.

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not become artists.

We came as artists.

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not become writers, dancers, musicians, helpers, peacemakers.

We came as such.

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not learn to love in this sense.

We came as Love.

We are Love.

Some of us are still catching up to who we truly are.

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés ~

The Contemplari Manuscript ©2001

Thanksgiving

To day is thanksgiving in the USA. This spurred a friend  to ask me what I am thankful for ... my immediate response was to think of loved ones and one grand love in particular who has come into my life and transformed it beyond recognition ... however, my friend invited me to be more imaginative and go further than that ... I ummed and ahhed for a few minutes as my mind whirled through a wave of blankness.

I was reminded once again how poor I am at showing gratitude and thankfulness. It's not that I am incapable of expressing words of appreciation. My issue goes deeper than that. It's more that I don't feel very grateful very often. If I don't feel thankful then I can't express it with any authenticity or generosity. I pondered why this is so ... and it did not make for pleasant thoughts or feelings. Was I blocked by my own hubris, arrogance and pride? Or is the cultural expectation of giving thanks sticking in my throat? When gratitude is expected it seems less genuine. To me, thanks that isn't real is meaningless.

Fast forward one hour and I am standing outside the front of the building I am working in and there is a beautiful leaf sculpture by the door, which is seemingly being made by eddies of wind circulating before me. The wind is constantly shifting the pattern of leaves into new and natural shapes. Watching the  movement of the leaves was like looking into the flames of a fire. There was something innate and primal in the dance of the leaves. A group of us observing this display chimed in words of magical appreciation and there was my thanksgiving for all to see, including me. Later in the day I came across this image of a cartoon character I really love and it summed up my experience for me. Maybe I am not so ungrateful after all. I simply need the immediacy of experience to connect into it.

How will we feed 9 billion people?

The believe tree

After a rollercoaster of a couple of weeks with lots of learning edges traversed and no doubt many more still to come I am now in an old stomping ground to find some completion and closure to this part of my life. Up on the moor there is a special Alder tree that has seen me through some tough times. Trees are beautiful creatures full of wisdom and comfort. Just like the one in the picture above. I'm off to get me some tree time :)

Old Man and Young Women

I came across this photograph today and have been pulled into its aura. The faces of the old man and young women, their clothes, especially the shoes, then the background and the little boy capture me in endless fascination. There appears to me so many stories that spring out from the image.

The photographer is Hugo Jaeger. Early in 1940, Hugo took this photograph during a visit to the Kutno ghetto in Poland. What is more surprising is Hugo was the personal photographer for Adolf Hitler. He more typically recorded the triumphalism of the Third Reich rather than the shadow.

This and other images he made of the plight of Jews during the 1940's are incredibly striking and a significant reminder of the atrocities that took place in Europe in the middle of the twentieth century. After a period of economic depression and great austerity the countries of Europe went to war. Fast forward to the present day and we are in the midst of similar circumstances. Europe is on the cusp of a right wing fascist revival.

The question sitting with me is how we can step outside of this cycle of events and take a different path and learn from our history. A path that seeks to build on what joins us whilst celebrating difference. A path that seeks to innovate our way of life to a more holistic perspective.

Words of Wisdom

This liminal space that Eckhart is referring to is quite familiar. It's a betwixt and between place I have often written about on this blog. Trying to articulate my experiences of how it feels me. It can get very uncomfortable and disconcerting. It's been described by some as like being on a bridge or lost in the woods or adrift on the sea. A bridge that it is not possible to simply get off. On one side there is nothing attractive for you and the other is not yet available.

The bridge/sea/woods that reconnects the fragmented self to wholeness, to oneness, is contemplation. And yet as we step on that bridge, the path often disappears beneath our feet. Uncertainty and not knowing fall like veils across our eyes. The mystery deepens to the far horizon. Our vision takes on different forms and images that we can not easily decipher. 

In this moment, in this space, we make our departure into a presence that can only be experienced and participated in rather than reasoned, controlled, planned for and conceptualised. This is where our creative spark can leap forth and guide us. This is a place of death and dying as well as renewal and rebirth. The ego has to be transcended. Our awakened selves has to discovered. Borrowing a line from Rumi, contemplation, offers us a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground we are upon.

I am learning not to try and push or fight my way out of this circumstance I find myself. Nor to zoom up into my head and analyse. Rather I have to place myself in a contemplative stance. To be patient and learn to wait. Wait until the moment to move is presented or invited.  As much as I wish it, I am after all not in control of this one.

Getting into a contemplative stance is not passive. For me it means making an active choice to explore an embodied world.

To be out in nature, 

take a walk in the woods, 

canoe down the river, 

write a poem, 

bang a drum, 

feel the sun on my face,

hug a friend,

paint a picture, 

move and stretch my body, 

pick apples, 

plant seeds, 

cook a meal, 

kiss my partner, 

gaze up at the moon,

lit a fire

make pancakes,

meditate,

it's a list I keep

searching for ways 

to

add to!

Signs of Brilliance

This is a poster used during the occupy movement in Boston in 2011.

Just fantastic.

I love the sentiment.

Some Poems Written on Train Journeys

To my love

I'm on a train to Waterloo

Dreaming 'bout all the fun

Things we shall do.

Museums and tearooms,

Wasabi's and beer,

Followed by music,

Whatever you want,

My Dear.

It's our day to play

In big London Town.

All the hours are ours

Until the sun goes down.

Nobody

I say no to my body

No to my feelings

The emotions rising within

And what happens

Is the FEAR seeps in.

It taps on my shoulders

Then whispers into my ears

'Who do you think you are,

messing around here,

You're a Nobody!'

I'm a Nobody?

'You'll not amount to anything'

I'm a Nobody!

My disengaged body

Visibly shrinks within

Getting tighter and tighter

Smaller and smaller

The density so heavy I'm unable

To let anyone or anything near

         Contraction

                  Retraction

My eyes to the ground

Clouds loom above me

Impending doom all around.

My shoulders carrying the

Heavy weight of it all

    Heavy

       Heavier

         Even heavier until ...

Up pops a Robin hopping

on the wall.

His red breast plumped up.

He's ever so small tall.

My fingers slowly begin

To release and unfurl.

As the open field

Beyond the Beech Tree

    Beckons me

        To come in.

Each footstep brings a

Deeper breath, inner then

In to the field I go

Looking skyward

A blue expanse abounds

  Up

     Up

       Above

As far as I can see.

The trees sway in unison

As the breeze glances by.

Far distant cries from the 

Milking cows travel as they

Wait their turn in

The Parlour.

    And expanse,

       And openness

Return me to space

Nature's welcoming embrace

The pendulum has swung 

Once again full circle

From despair to hope

And yet, wait,

Will it now go back again?

As certain as night

Follows day!

The cycle will go round

And round again.

Each time I get Triggered ...

    BANG 

And off I go again

But this time

I stay

I don't look away

This time
I look into its eye

FEAR

I'm walking toward you.

To ME!

What do I see?

   Humanity

     My loneliness

My sensitivity and vulnerability

   My POWER, my strength,

my judgement ...

It's all there to be seen.

No hiding place here.

The full spectrum of qualities.

Like an energy filled rainbow.

Spreading its message of colour.

The hot Red of anger and passion

The verdant Green of jealousy and fecundity

The golden Yellow of cowardice and joy

The azure Blue for sorrow and love.

 

It's about the all and everything

Not one thing or no thing

OR Nobody.

You're not Nobody.

I'm not Nobody.

We're integral wholes

Circling

   Circling

     Circling
Inseperably embracing the ALL!

Career advice

 George Monbiot was considered to be a bit of an eco pin-up, if there is such a thing, by the younger women in the university department where I used to work. There was many a moment of swooning when he came to speak at an event. George is an independent voice on a whole range of subjects. Not only does he write books, he also publishes regular comment pieces in the London Guardian newspaper. In addition he keeps an interesting blog on his website. A recent post was on the subject of career advice, in this case he writes specifically about careers in journalism, however, on reading it the advise could just as easily apply to most fields of work. 

In his piece he suggests "This is not to say that there are no opportunities to follow your beliefs within the institutional world. There are a few, though generally out of the mainstream: specialist programmes and magazines, some sections of particular newspapers, small production companies whose bosses have retained their standards. Jobs in places like this are rare, but if you find one, pursue it with energy and persistence. If, having secured it, you find that it is not what it seemed, or if you find you are being consistently pulled away from what you want to do, have no hesitation in bailing out.

Nor does this mean that you shouldn’t take work experience in the institutions whose worldview you do not accept if it’s available, and where there are essential skills you feel you can learn at their expense. But you must retain absolute clarity about the limits of this exercise, and you must leave the moment you’ve learnt what you need to learn (usually after just a few months) and the firm starts taking more from you than you are taking from it. How many times have I heard students about to start work for a corporation claim that they will spend just two or three years earning the money they need, then leave and pursue the career of their choice? How many times have I caught up with those people several years later, to discover that they have acquired a lifestyle, a car and a mortgage to match their salary, and that their initial ideals have faded to the haziest of memories, which they now dismiss as a post-adolescent fantasy? How many times have I watched free people give up their freedom?

So my second piece of career advice echoes the political advice offered by Benjamin Franklin: whenever you are faced with a choice between liberty and security, choose liberty. Otherwise you will end up with neither. People who sell their souls for the promise of a secure job and a secure salary are spat out as soon as they become dispensable. The more loyal to an institution you are, the more exploitable, and ultimately expendable, you become."

For more advice from George click on the link above.

One Earth One Race

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers of the Far North from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. He share a simple message. Well worth watching.

Worth a Gander

Let it go

Michael Leunig is a fabulous Australian cartoonist and a brilliant artist too boot.
I love how this image illustrates the way our path is provided by letting go, letting it out, letting it all unravel !!!

Medicine Song from Sierras

Click on the words in Orange and you'll hear an opening introduction that describes how the Medicine Song from the Sierras came into being. Here sung by Sam Edmondson who was given the song by a mountain while he was on a solo vision quest in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Medicine Song from Sierras 

Try closing your eyes and allow the sound to flow over you, through you, under you, all around you, and ask yourself the question;  won't you open up and flow like a river?

Thanks to Filiz Telek for recording and sharing this beautiful song.

Being Lost

This poster marks the entrance to a special exhibition currently running at the British Library. Not all those who wander are lost, is a quote by JRR Tolkien from Lord of the Rings. You can take your own meaning from this. It is noticeable that so often being lost is a derogatory term. Especially for someone like me who enjoys pouring over a good map to discover where I am. Who prides themselves on having a good spatial awareness to find my way around. Despite these qualities I have to admit for a while now I have been lost. Not so much geographically. More lost in myself. In knowing who I am and what it is I am here to do. Only recently have I truly come to feel into what that means and boy have I been fighting it. Fighting with my feelings of being lost.

In response I'm on the lookout for structure to provide some semblance of knowing to cling onto as I try to find my way out of the malaise. Seeking in some way to stop the realisation that I have utterly no idea where I am, who I am or what to do!!! It's a peculiar place to be. Now I understand the saying, 'I'm running to stand still', because the more I try to not be lost, well the more I am lost and stay lost.

So, what am I to do?

Maybe I should try and get familiar with the lost feeling. Check out the terrain in lostville, possibly slowdown the search out of town and try to stop fighting the lostness, at least for a while and see what happens. Easier said than done when all my core instincts are seeking to not accept being lost. I sense my struggle is less about not wanting to be lost and more about not wanting to accept being lost. It feels way to unsettling, uncomfortable, disconcerting and downright unnerving to contemplate accepting the state of lostness.

Even as I write this I sense my playfulness is another avoidance tactic to prevent my feelings of truly being lost from creeping to the surface. Why? Because it is overwhelming. In the darkest times it feels like a tunnel with no light and my sense of self is dissolving into nothingness. Listlessly the weight of inertia drags me down further into nothingness and procrastination drains whatever energy may have been there. The indecision is cripplingly frustrating creating a fog like existence.

Don't get me wrong here, my life certainly has its high points and its good times. I have much to be grateful for, nevertheless, the inescapable lack of direction, motivation and purpose is palpable. The not knowing is a huge cloud floating above my head casting its shadow. And yet today I read in Bill Plotkin's book Soulcraft that being lost is a good thing. Out of the darkness gems are to be found that teach us a new way of being. I am being lead to beleive in my confusion the shape of a new identity is being forged.

I look forward to some signs of new beginnings to emerge from this cocoon I'm in. A shape not yet known or seen by myself. I want to believe that is what is happening. More than that I want to feel this is what is happening. I can only be patient some more and wait ... and dare I say it, Trust that all is as it's meant to be and all will be well. If I am prepared to say this to others I now must say it to myself. Patience and Trust. All will be well. All is as it's meant to be.

Silence is Golden

Why life unfolds as it does is a mystery

It's been over 3 months since I last posted to my blog. This is the longest gap in posting since I started up in 2007. I am curious how and why this happened. Firstly, it has been an unplanned break and an unexpected one in the sense that it is only recently that I've become consciously aware of my blog and the lack of postings. It is as if my blog simply disappeared from my conscious horizon. This happens in so many ways, not only my blog vanishes, but people, places, events, objects, experiences and memories. They are all present one moment and then in the blink of an eye they are gone. If this can happen to my blog I am left wondering what else in my life has disappeared from my awareness without me realising?

In the last few weeks I have had the space to slow down and it is now I am realising what I have left behind in my packed out schedule.  I have had much to share and write about during the last 3 months, however, my attention has been on the act of 'doing', the living and participating in experiences, rather than processing, reflecting and sharing. Being in the present moment immersed in being is ok, to a point. Where I am more uncomfortable is in the lack of deeper processing, reflection and contemplation. Without this complementary dimension I feel my life becomes blinded from the connections, the relational knowing that is also present. What might be called the transpersonal experience. All doing and not enough awareness of being is like living as an individual seperate entity and not recognising or engaging consciously with the universal whole. Time can fly and it can feel like I am having a lot of fun, and yet there is no sense of the deeper and greater connection to meaning or purpose to the great universal being beyond the individual separate self.

Last night I was reading Harvey Arden's Dreamkeepers on the life of the Australian Aboriginal. Chapter 17 'The Mystery of Wayrrull' introduced a most fascinating character, David Mowaljarlai.

© Harvey Arden 1994 photo of David Mowaljarlai

 
This is what david had to share ... "What's important is beyond all understanding - that's the first thing you must understand," ... "Ask me questions if you like ... but remember the same question's got different answers for different people.Maybe they're true for you, maybe not. And never forget - everything's a mystery anyway. Once it stops bein' a mystery it stops bein' true."

"I go to teach in the universities in Perth or Sydney or wherever young people'll listen to me. Give 'm one o' my messages. You call 'm lectures, but they're messages. Words carry the spirit, you know? That's about all we Aboriginals have left to give the world. Spirit. But that's a lot, and we're always glad to share it. So sit down in the sharde here. I'm glad you blokes caught me before I left."

"Identity," he began. "That's the thing."

"I know who I am. I have my identity. I am a Nagarinyin man. My dreaming is Hibiscus. That's my symbol, a beautiful pink flower. And this ... this is also my symbol."

His eyes burned with an incandescent pride.

"This is my brand, my identity. We have to spill our blood on the earth, spill our blood in the country to make it ours. Once we spill our blood there we belong to the country. When another Aboriginal looks at these scars, he knows where I'm from, what my country is, who I am. He knows my identity and I can look at him and know his.

"But these days my people don't belong to their country anymore. They've been locked out. White man took the land away from them. Took their identity away, too. Our people don't know where they're from anymore. They don't know their grandfather or grandmother. They don't know why they're on this earth. They hurt. They hurt in their hearts. They dry up like a desert. They're empty, like an empty drum inside.Got no life inside 'm. That's why they want the grog so bad. To make the hurt go away. To make it wet again inside."

"So they get into all kinds of humbug and kill 'mselves and each other. People I know who were young in the sixties and seventies ... they're dead now. Gone. I have to bury 'm.  But I'm an old man now ... they should be buryin' me!"

"And it's all because they don't know their right place. They don't know their country anymore. They don't know their borders, their boundaries. Everyone needs to know their place and where their borders is.  If they don't know that, then they don't know their own identity. Without that they have no soul, nothin'. That's their creation place that country.  When they die the soul goes back there. Doesn't matter where they die, their soul goes back to their country. But now their soul is lost. They never knew their country so their soul doesn't know how to get back there."

"Even worse, today's generation don't want to listen. They've lost it and don't want to know it. They don't want to know who they are. So that's why I go around teachin' about Aboriginal identity. Teach white people, teach black people. teach 'm about Aboriginal culture. I'm trying to give the Aboriginal back his identity ... That's my work, that's my life."*

David's words spurred me to ask myself to what extent do I know my identity? Do I even want to know? To which I say a big YES. If this is true how do I go about rediscovering who I am, where my country is and reconnecting to the land? Even in a country as small in land mass as the United Kingdom there are many tribes. If I think about my travels about this land I recall many differences in topography, architecture, geology, climate, food and dialects all of which tell varying stories of the people and the land.

When did this disconnection take place?
Was it my generation, my parents?
Or way before that?
Who knows where I am from anymore or where I belong?
I wonder is it possible to start again?
Could I begin relating to the land where I now find myself?
How do I do this?
Aboriginal men scar their bodies. Their blood touches the land and forever connects them to that place. Is this how Celtic people were initiated into adulthood?

So many questions swim around in my mind searching for answers and I am reminded of David's earlier words, 'the same questions got different answers for different people'. And most of all - 'what's important is beyond all understanding.' Maybe it is not about having answers. It's more about asking questions and acting on these questions by allowing this curiosity to light the path ahead.

And back to where I started in this mystery; why did I stop writing my blog 3 months ago? I have no idea. But I did stop. And then I started gain. That is all I need to know.
 

*Arden, H. (1994) 'Dreamkeepers', HarperCollins, NY, (p.197-200). 

Goethe and Einstein

In the last few days two quotes (see below) from men of what I would call 'more-than-science' have floated across my horizon. It's striking to me that science in it's fullest deepest sense is way beyond an objective external verifiable truth. It is a search for meaning, knowing, sensing, feeling and experiencing of what it is to be living a life in this wonderous universe.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

 “Man knows himself only to the extent that he knows the world; he becomes aware of himself only within the world, and aware of the world only within himself.  Every object, well contemplated, opens up a new organ within us.”

 Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

 

 “A human being is a part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness-. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security.”  

Mr Squirrel

Yesterday while picnicking in a local garden we were joined by this little fella. Squirrels are fun to watch. This one was quite, small and seemed like a young one all bright eyed and bushy tailed enjoying his day in the spring sunshine. Later on my cycle home a squirrel dashed across my path. They can be lightening fast. When I arrivedhome I decided to look up the meaning of Squirrels as a power animal totem or guide. And this is what I found: 

"Squirrel gathers and prepares for long winter nights.  As a friendly, quick and industrious worker, he knows the ways to survive.  On a spiritual plain, Mr. Squirrel brings us many gifts and lessons to help us gather the blessings of life for our journey into the next dimension.

Squirrel is fast at everything he does and remains in constant motion during three seasons of the year.   For those who hear or see squirrel in dreams, the message may be to 'get busy' with your life and stop waiting for good things to happen.  The squirrel is a reminder that good things come from our honest labour.

Squirrels do not always remember where they store the hard earned food and forget the best routes to travel to retrieve their stores during winter.  If you see squirrel, it may be time to slow down and concentrate on the task at hand.

Squirrels are playful, friendly and chatty.  As a sociable animal, the squirrel continually chatters sometimes to the annoyance of his neighbours.  If you hear squirrel, it may be a lesson to seek silence or to speak slowly and distinctly.

Squirrels are skittish and at the same time trusting.  They will often eat from your hand and come very close to bring a gift.  This wonderful quality of the squirrel teaches us to trust one another in personal relationships and trust the Creator in all things.  Creating trust where none exited builds on this special medicine.

The squirrel teaches us to gather our energies for the important tasks in life and honour the future by preparing for change."*

*http://www.manataka.org/page236.html

Be glad to be here ...

I came across a fabulous land artist called Richard Shilling. He is following in the footsteps of an artists way using nature materials and the landscape to make art. Some call it land art, or earth art, ecological art, or nature art. Whatever you want to call it when you see the images of the ephemeral creations you may understand the beauty within. For more on Richard Shilling read his blog or visit his webpage. And if you are interested in sharing your own nature mandala's there is an incredibly lovely group on facebook where you can send examples of your work for others to see. Go create and have fun :) And whatever you do, don't think about all those things you fear ...

  

Anarch - T - y

As an imbiber of the refined

refreshing brew known as tea.

I have learnt to never underestimate

its mighty powers to effect change :)

There's a radical moment in every pot !

Become an imaginal cell and watch the world change :)

Dr Bruce Lipton uses biological science and the metaphor of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly to describe what is happening in the world today. Our daily lives may appear dangerous, scary and bleak and yet there is a beautiful, connected and loving world emerging before us and within us. You maybe able to see it forming and you may not. For those of us who haven't done so already it helps to awaken to our intuition, listen to our inner voice and trust in our creative potential. Then reach out and connect with our tribe, build and nurture our relationships and follow our passions. Change is inevitable. The question we should each ask ourselves is, what kind of world do we want to co-create? Don't wait for someone else to do it. Don't believe those who tell you it's not possible. We can thrive. We can make our own dreams come true. We all have a special gift to contribute and a unique role to play. There is hope. You are one of the 100%. Occupy Love.

 
The Evolution of the Butterfly from Abraham Heisler on Vimeo.

We are all Guru's

Did you know guru means teacher? I didn't know this until the last weekend. I was given this gem of information while on retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and the monastics from Plum Village. What is it that we teach you may ask? We teach whatever it is we represent be it happiness, love, joy, sadness, fear, suffering. All these emotions are within us and also outside of us because there is no separation. The cosmos is everywhere in all things simultaneously. Some would say we are all interconnected and others would say we are all inseperable. It all pretty much adds up to the same thing.

There are an infinite number of pathways to enlightenment, or should I say to be enlightened ... as it may be more a state of being rather than a destination. And what is enlightenment? Ah, that's the ultimate question that upon answering transcends itself.

At the weekend I participated in a Buddhist Retreat for educators led by Tay, which means teacher, or as I now realise it also means guru. Tay is the affectionate name given to Thich Nhat Hanh. It is pronounced more like Tie. He has travelled to the UK with over 50 monks and nuns from Plum Village to share with us their way of being in the world. If you want a small insight into this travelling band of merry people take a look at this ...

   

 

Introverts

In the last few weeks the nature of introverts has been the subject of conversation on a regular basis. There have been articles by the BBC and the Guardian newspaper as well as images like the one above appearing on facebook. It's as if the notion of introversion has been rediscovered and the quiet people are being noticed again. Which by the way, if you are an introvert, being noticed in and of itself is a bit of a worry. Nevertheless a contemplative, reflective personality, need not be downtrodden or overwhelmed in the modern world. There are qualities that the more gentle people have to offer that provide balance and wholeness to our collective experience. We need all kinds of people. No one is better or more special than anyone else. This is not an agenda of affirmative action or positive discrimination in favour of introverts. It's all ok. The world is non-dualistic. We do not need to focus on polarities. It is not an either or situation. It is merely a recognition of the qualities of introverts and an appreciation of how to be comfortable in the modern world if this is your predilection. Nor is the act of taking care of yourself as an introvert a proclamation of selfishness. Why, if you don't nurture and nourish yourself how else can you be supportive and present to others? So let's celebrate the diversity of personalities and be thankful that we are not all the same. Life is so much more colourful because of our differences. Yeah to the introverts and their desire for quietness, privacy and presence. May the world be a more welcoming, open, inclusive, understanding, considerate and accepting place of the unique characteristics of each one of us.

The signs of spring

Say hello to Pedro, he is a beautiful young fox cub. More of Pedro's story in a little while.

In the last week here in the northern hemisphere we crossed the threshold from winter to spring. It's been weeks now in the Southwest of the UK that the daffodils have been smiling their happy dance of yellow and green. They are the advanced messengers of the lengthening days and shortening nights herald by the spring equinox. Over the weekend the clocks rolled an hour forward extending the light even further into the early evening. Up in the sky Venus and Jupiter are showering us with the energy of love and expansion. My life has been on a roller-coaster journey for much of the year. Intense experiences popping up all over the place. I am learning so much and yet occasionally wishing for some respite in my unfolding story. The occasional oasis of calm or sneaky peak of clarity is much appreciated amidst the hoopla. So many questions are swimming about my head leaving unanswered trails in their wake. Questions like ...

What is the obstacle in my life that needs to be seen and invited in as a companion?

Why am I so triggered by the voice of judgement from others?

What still remains hidden from view that needs to be seen and witnessed?

As happens in spring  we plant seeds to grow and be harvested in the coming year. I thought I knew the names of some of my seeds germinating in the darkness. And yet what I hadn't expected was the rushing torrent of fears that are re-emerging from the darkness to be so dense. Another reminded of the hurts and wounds in me that still need to be tended as much as the seeds of my possible futures. Although it does not get any easier, at least I now have the experience to know that I should not turn away. Once I can hear my inner voice, I recognise the process of deep listening is needed and deep creativity. As Amit Goswami would say ... do-be-do-be-do. Reflect, act, reflect some more and get more active. While this dance goes on in me, in each of us, I have to be on the look out for a spark to appear in a moment of lucidity. it is then the hands of the artist in me can begin to shape, create, dance and sing to move the spark and manifest it into a more physical form. From spirit to matter. And yes it does matter.

Recently I read a story of a tiny young fox called Pedro. His story reminded me that the process of tending to the nurturing and nourishing of the spark within is just like the way we would tend to any new born, be it animal, vegetable or mineral !!!

 ... he was discovered (like a spark) lost and separated from his mother. Without the love and care provided by the people at the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, Pedro would not have survived alone for much longer in the hedgrow, he is too young. When he is a little stronger and older he will be returned to the wild to be the fox he is born to be. And that is the beauty of creativity, of the spark or seed of life ... life is always lived in relationship. We are never truly alone. Although it may feel that way sometimes. Beginnings need tender loving care before they can be set free to live their destiny.

In the springtime we plant seeds that with care will grow and mature into beautiful beings ... thereby fulfilling their potential and eventually returning back to the darkness to repeat the cycle again one day. Every step of the journey has its purpose and meaning. Each step needs care and attention. Early on it can feel lonely and precarious. And yet it is through relationship and a deep sense of connection to others that we find our way.

On Sunday evening I heard a poem by Mary Oliver that holds a similar message. It is called Wild Geese and goes like this ...

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting 

over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.