Sunday, November 09, 2008
COMING SOON....
FEED YOUR SOUL! A new blog about wellness. Stay tuned...............
Friday, April 11, 2008
If God Invited You To A Party
A dear friend of mine, Alan, is in hospital right now. He is a great teacher of love and compassion and he infuses everything and everyone he touches with a radiant, healing light. He is all heart. Yesterday another friend and I went to visit him, and the three of us shared an incredible experience of love and connection. I feel so blessed, and so grateful.
One of Alan's favorite poets is Hafiz, and I read a poem to Alan yesterday during the visit. I would like to post it here, in honour of Alan and his ability to be the love, to embody the light and savour each moment.
IF GOD INVITED YOU TO A PARTY
If God
Invited you to a party
And said,
"Everyone
In the ballroom tonight
Will be my special
Guest,"
How would you then treat them
When you
Arrived?
Indeed, indeed!
And Hafiz knows
There is no one in this world
Who
Is not upon
His Jeweled Dance
Floor.
As Alan said, "We all showed up to the party." Yes, Alan, yes we did. And what a party it is! Each of us dancing our own unique dance, each so beautiful and so necessary......
Sunday, March 30, 2008
You Are Connected
Tall tree
There is no lonely.
Feel
your roots,
Drink in
your life.
You are connected
to everything,
Oh beautiful
Tree.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Just What I Was Looking For
"The maturity we can develop in approaching our difficulties is illustrated by the traditional story of a poisoned tree. On first discovering a poisoned tree, some people see only its danger. Their immediate response is, 'Let's cut this down before we are hurt. Let's cut it down before anyone else eats the poisoned fruit.' This resembles our initial response to the difficulites that arise in our lives, when we encounter aggression, compulsion, greed or fear, when we are faced with stress, loss, depression, or sorrow in ourselves or others. Our initial response is to avoid them, saying, ' These poisons afflict us. Let us uproot them; let us be rid of them. Let us cut them down."
Other people, who have journeyed further along the spiritual path, discover this poisoned tree and do not meet it with aversion. They have realized that to open to life requires a deep and heartfelt passion for all that is around us. Knowing the poisoned tree is somehow a part of us, they say, "Let us not cut it down. Instead, let's have compassion for the tree as well.' So out of kindness they build a fence around the tree so that others may not be poisoned and the tree may also have its life. This second approach shows a profound shift from judgement and fear to compassion.
A third type of person, who has travelled yet deeper in spiritual life, sees this same tree. This person, who has gained much vision, looks and says, 'Oh, a poisoned tree. Perfect! Just what I have been looking for.' This individual picks the poisoned fruit, investigates its properties, mixes it with other ingredients, and uses the poison as a great medicine to heal the sick and transform the ills of the world. Through respect and understanding, this person sees in a way opposite to most people and finds value in the most difficult circumstances.
How have we met disappointment and obstacles in our life? What strategy have we brought to our difficulties and losses? What spirit of freedom, compassion, or understanding is yet to be found in the midst of these difficulties?
In each and every aspect of life, the chance to turn the straw we find into gold is there in our hearts. All that is asked is our respectful attention, our willingness to learn from difficulty. Instead of fighting, when we see with eyes of wisdom, difficulties can become our good fortune."
- Jack Kornfield - 'A Path With Heart'
Sunday, December 02, 2007
If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
- Emily Dickinson
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Community
Why is it so often that the thing we desire is often the one we push away? Is it that we feel we are unworthy of this desire?
Community is something I have been yearning for. A group of people who understand me, who support and love me and are there to remind me of my Truth on those days when I forget. In my heart I long for this connection, and this longing feels ancient. Often I feel disconnected from my fellow humans, and from the pulse that connects everything on this planet. I am hungry for love and belonging yet at the same time I resist it, or at least a part of me does, the part that doesn't trust, the part that has been hurt by others and looks for safety in aloneness, separateness. I see that if I desire community then I must be willing to receive it. It is a practice to open to others and allow love in, and I know that it is truly the work I have come here to do.
I like what Starhawk says:
We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
All Connected
Ever notice the flow that happens between thoughts and happenings? The flow that connects everyone and everything? It never ceases to amaze me that when I think of someone or something, put my attention on that person or thing in my mind and in my heart, then I invite that energy to show up in my life. It happens over and over again. And each time it happens, when I notice that magical flow that the head cannot comprehend or figure out, then I am reminded to let go, to trust in this flow, in this Divine force that connects everyone and everything... I am exactly where I am supposed to be...and that which I desire is already here.For more heart surrender mandalas visit New World Creations:
http://www.nwcreations.com/gallery_surrendermandalas.htm
Friday, October 05, 2007
Flow In North Vancouver
After I posted the quote from Amma yesterday, I set off to do some exploring in North Van. This seemed to be where I wanted to go, so I caught the seabus and wandered up Lonsdale as the rain began to fall, and fall. I poked around in several shops and ate a veggie sandwich with avocado in the Artisan Bakery. There wasn't much happening in NorthVan, or was there? Flow was most certainly happening, as it always is, whether I chose to acknowledge it or not. Then, Utopia appeared. Yes, a little store full of candles, incense, buddhas , tarot cards, spiritual books and lovely, calm energy. Ahhh..... immediately I felt peaceful, loved.Since finishing the fabulous book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, I've been searching for another book I can escape into and enjoy. Nothing has appeared. In Utopia I discovered several shelves of used books, and instantly one popped out at me, "AMMA. Healing The Heart Of The World." Now, prior to discovering and posting the quote from Amma here yesterday, I had never heard this name and knew nothing about the Indian woman known as "the hugging Saint." I picked up the book and smiled at this beautiful example of synchronicity and flow.
As it turned out, the cashier had met Amma twice, once in a small hall here in Vancouver many years ago, and then again at her ashram in Kerala, India. As I paid for the book the cashier said, "It's strange, I feel that I could have met you at one of Amma's darshans in India. You have this energy about you. Perhaps it's that you look like one of Amma's followers, a woman who travelled everywhere with her. Yes, strange."
I left the store feeling elated, connected. I stopped into a cafe and read about Amma for an hour. "Throughout the world she has been called the hugging saint. Revered in her own country as a healer and a sage, credited with thousands of miracles by her devoted followers, Ammachi, or Amma (Mother), spends most of her waking hours providing strangers with hugs of unconditional love."
Imagine if we could each do this, even if it was just one hug a day, there would be more love and togetherness in the world. Thank-you, Amma.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Outgrowing Our Individuality
"Surrender arises from helplessness.
Helplessness provides the opportunity
for you to release your ego.
The ego makes you feel important,
but a hopeless situation makes you realize
you are nothing and will not be free
unless you give up the sense of I.
This realization dawns
when you experience the burden of the ego.
Only a great blow or a serious threat
can bestow this knowledge.
***
The difficulty is not expressing love
but letting go - outgrowing - the ego.
Love is human nature;
it is already present within us.
but we are held back
by our individual boundaries.
We have to outgrow our individuality
in order to become universal.
Ego stands in the way of love.
When it is removed, we can flow like a river. "
~Amma
For more artwork for the soul visit: http://www.nwcreations.com
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Giving Up Results
I like what Marianne Williamson has to say in her book, 'A Return To Love:'
"When we surrender to something bigger than ourselves, we surrender to a universe that knows what it's doing. When we stop trying to control events, they fall into a natural order, an order that works. We're at rest while a power much greater than our own takes over, and it does a much better job than we could have done. We learn to trust that the power that holds galaxies together can handle the circumstances of our relatively little lives. "
So true. The sun is shining this morning and I feel a new kind of peace, thankfully. I intend to let the day unfold and flow as it will............... I am safe and cared for...................
Monday, October 01, 2007
FLOW
I was sitting here tonight, listening to the rain outside and trying to come up with a topic for this new month. What I wanted to write about was faith, because I seem to be lacking in this area at the moment. My faith has slipped, and this means everything looks dismal. However, I have already had faith as my monthly topic, so... the word that then popped into my consciousness was FLOW. I want to get back in the flow. And I relate this flow to faith. The flow of the river that just takes me, when I can surrender and let myself be guided instead of fighting and resisting and wishing for something other than my current reality. There is a reason why I'm here. Floating is much easier than swimming upstream, and once I let go then immediately I find peace and the world brightens..... can I do it? This month I am going to try. FLOW IS MY GOAL.Thursday, August 16, 2007
Letting Go Of The Past
Why is it that my mind often insists on convincing me that whatever happened in the past is destined to repeat itself? This, I am discovering, seems to be attached to all my fear. I worry about feeling ill when I drink an iced latte because the last time I had one I got a headache. I fear that loving someone intensely and passionately will eventually mean abandonment because this is the direction that all my intimate relationships have taken in the past. I don't take the risk of having fun incase something really nasty happens like it did that time last year when I made what I am labelling a poor decision. So what then, is true today? If I am constantly guarding against repeating what I perceive as past mistakes, then how can I truly live fully, radiantly, like that open flower I spoke of yesterday? Is anything actually happening now, or I am I just dragging old dramas around with me and preventing myself from experiencing the present? And will I not recreate my past fears, as long as I dwell on them and make them real again?
All that arises, passes away. Everything changes. Nothing is the same as it was even a second ago. And anything that may have hurt me in the past can touch me not. I don't need to repeat a lesson learned. So why worry? If worries are based on times gone by then they are nothing more than illusion. My thoughts alone can hurt me. It is but my thoughts I fear.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Learning From Flowers
I can learn alot from a flower. A flower grows and changes effortlessly, from bud to colourful, petalled beauty, no drama, no desire to be anything other than what it is. A flower opens without fear, because this is how it receives the light it requires to live, and the vulnerability it shows in opening is what makes its beauty even more dazzling. It offers its gift of radiance to the world unconditionally, expecting nothing in return. The bees come with love.When its petals begin to wither and grow brittle, the flower weeps not, for it has lived in all its brilliance, and fulfilled its destiny. How can there be a sadness for a life lived fully, in openness, with love? And when the time comes for the flower to die, it does so without pain, or sadness or fear, for death is not an end, but simply another change in the great circle of life.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Leaving The Familiar
All The Hemispheres
Leave the familiar for a while.
Let your senses and bodies stretch out
Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadow and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new watermark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.
Change rooms in your mind for a day.
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.
All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.
- Hafiz
Monday, August 13, 2007
Resisting Change
Everything in our world is in a constant state of flux. The tides shift, the leaves turn colour and fall off the trees, our bodies age, our lives twist and turn in ways we could never have imagined. So why is it that we resist change? Why does change have to feel so uncomfortable at times? Tonight I search for an answer to this question, whilst being aware that the search is futile, the answer unreachable. The only way to be with change is to embrace it. It seems I am moving on in life, moving away from family and friends and into the unknown; a new home, a new job, new friends, new verse to the song in a new cafe. This is frightening and somewhat overwhelming! A huge part of me would like to remain in my comfort zone, to take the "easy" path and stay with what I know, stay with what appears to be secure in a routine that is familiar. However, there is no room for growth in this and my Higher Self knows it, as it urges me onward to exciting opportunities.
When I resist change I feel that I am resisting not just the immediate change before me, but all the things in my life that are changing. I don't want my parents to get older or my body to get softer in all the wrong places. Why can't it still look like it did a few years ago? I don't like all the new buildings that are going up where there used to be green spaces and I can't believe how quickly my friends' children are growing. I want my cat to stay forever my companion instead of going to a new home in the country where he will be happier. And I am starting to understand what people mean when they say that "you always feel the same age inside, even if you look older on the outside."
So, why resist? All my fighting and resisting is not going to stop the world from turning and the sun from setting for another day. I feel calmer and lighter when I take a deep breath and trust in these sometimes overwhelming changes in my life. The flow of this river knows where it is going..... and it gets there, and there, and there, effortlessly and beautifully, when I don't interfere.....
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Rest
Tonight I feel so tired, infact, I've been feeling exhausted for more than a week now, like my body is made of heavy rubber and it's all I can do to lift my limbs. Tonight I want to eat and I want to escape, through a juicy novel or an absorbing movie. I know I really must be tired, me, who recently read a novel again for the first time in years. I suppose life is a bit of a slog lately, like wading through a thick field of mud. Maybe that's why I haven't been writing. The cafe is somewhat uninspiring ( I know it's me, but why not blame the cafe?) and the summer sun is slow in arriving. And so, acceptance....I like what Tara Brach has to say here: "When some people talk about accepting themselves they have this fear that they're condoning some bad behavior, or that if they accept themselves, that means they'll never improve. But the truth is, we're not saying, "It's OK that you did that bad thing." All we're accepting is the actuality of our experience in the moment: I'm accepting this shame is here, I'm accepting this fear is here, I'm accepting this anger, I'm accepting that there's craving, I'm accepting the truth just now, that I acted out of that craving and I ate too much. I'm accepting how bad I feel about that. But in the moment of accepting, we're not condoning. We're just acknowledging the truth of what's here with kindness. The reality is, if we can do that, it actually begins to free us so we can in the next moment, be a lot more wise."
Here's to wisdom and the lightness of body, mind and spirit that I know awaits me if I will only allow myself to embrace it.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Self Acceptance
SO, today I am accepting that I completely missed writing for the entire month of May. I'm accepting that I had other priorities and that, well, sometimes I just didn't feel like writing, and that's perfectly okay. I'm accepting that I wore my winter boots in the rain this morning and now the sun is out and it's hot. I'm accepting that I am eating a scone that is probably not good for me...... but it tastes delicious, especially the white glazed icing on top. Yes! And my hair looks kinda funny today and I didn't ride my bike this morning. Ahhhhh......... to accept myself completely anyway, just as I am, and love ME, with my sweaty feet and scone tummy...... this feels like peace...................
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture,
Still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
For some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from the beyond.
- RUMI
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Thank-you, Sally
After I wrote my last post, on ingesting positive energy with my food and enjoying it, being grateful for what I eat, I had an interesting conversation at the cafe. I will admit I wasn't in a particularly open or joyous mood, infact I was feeling sorry for myself and somewhat miserable. A woman came in quite early, and couldn't decide what she would like to drink.
"I want something like a cafe au lait," she said, pronouncing the words with a twang. This irriated me. I tried explaining what several of the drinks had in them, but nothing appealed to her. I became annoyed with her and impatient. I labeled her as strange and somewhat slow.
"Oh, forget it. I'll just have six old fashioned donuts," she said, with a sigh, "Now that I can enjoy them."
As I put the donuts in a bag, she started to tell me that she used to feel so guilty about eating a donut. "Until I got ill," she says, "Oh, but I won't tell you, it's well, sad."
At this point something in me became interested, and I knew that I needed to hear what this woman had to say. So, I opened to her and invited more conversation. This woman, who I will call Sally, proceeded to tell me that she has a malignant tumour in her stomach, and has refused an operation. "I'm just trying to enjoy the time I have left."
"Did you always feel guilty about eating sweets, or things you considered fattening?" I asked, curious.
"Oh yeah," she says, "I could never allow myself to eat a donut. And if I did, I felt so awful and guilty. I'm 5'9" and I used to weigh around 118lbs. I would not allow myself to weigh more than 130lbs. "
I stood there, completely riveted by her words, hearing my own story within hers.
"And what was all that guilt and worrying for?" she said, laughing ironically, "So I could show off my body in the summertime, look good in a bikini? So what! Now I can finally enjoy my food, and even though there is so much pain when I eat, at least I don't feel guilty anymore."
I felt so much compassion for Sally in this moment. When she left she said, "Thank-you, you're a nice person. Thank-you."
I watched her walk across the street and into the morning with her bags of goodies. I stood in silence, knowing that I had judged her, at first, as weird and bothersome and wanted her to go away. Yet if I hadn't talked to her I would have missed the beautiful gift she had for me. What a lesson! A real life example of what ingesting guilt can create. I honour your journey, Sally, and I have learned from your suffering. Thank-you for sharing. You showed me that everyone has gifts to share, and those whom I judge are often my greatest teachers in disguise.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Ingesting Gratitude
I will admit that I am what some may consider neurotic when it comes to food. I try to eat only organic foods and stay away from dairy, wheat and processed foods as much as possible. Recently I finished a two week candida cleanse which had me completely off sugar. It is hard for me to recall a time when I have not been obsessed with eating well, and I will admit that I am tired. Tired of obsessing and planning and strategizing around food. Tired of being the one that can never find anything to eat on the menu, tired of feeling guilty when I have foods that I consider fattening or "bad" or unhealthy. What happened to enjoying food? And, what kind of energy am I swallowing with my food when I am indulging in something that is not allowed?
Yesterday, after a ridiculously busy day at the cafe, I spoke with a friend about this very issue. My friend is also rather obsessive about her eating, and together we decided that we would like to try viewing our food and eating differently. Instead of beating ourselves up before, during and after eating chocolate cake or hazelnut cookies or whatever food we may consider "bad", we challenged each other to make that cake the best cake we've ever had, to practice LOVING it and enjoying every mouthful, and being grateful for what we choose to eat. We are going to make a point of thanking the Universe for this nourishing food while we tell ourselves as we are chewing and swallowing "this food is so yummy and so good for me and boy will my body love this food." Even if we don't believe it at first, we are going to say it until we DO believe it, until our minds are trained to think this way all the time, instead of thinking in the negative.
I want to be ingesting positive energy with my food, thank-you! If I am believing that all my food is enjoyable and healthy for me, then this is the reality that I shall create. I will be grateful for the food and I will enjoy it. And I will imagine all those hands that played a part in creating this delicious treat for me. From this moment forward I choose to enjoy all foods that I put in my mouth and be thankful for the scrumptious abundance in my life.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Springtime Gratitude
Spring is here! My heart is overflowing with gratitude for all the emerging beauty! Budding flowers, trees alive with greenery, birdsong, longer daylight, warm breezes, sunshine, ice cream, bare feet, flip flops, t-shirts, smiling faces, fresh organic vegetables, juicy fruit, YES! My energy soars as I wander through the world and witness all of the wonders unfolding around me. I am grateful, so grateful.Take a moment to stop and notice the spring bursting forth. Breath in the scents of the new season! Smell a flower. Notice the colours. Feel the energy. Listen to the robins twittering. This is a beautiful time to be alive, and a perfect opportunity for gratitude.
Monday, April 02, 2007
I Am Grateful For My Body
So many in this world, particularly women, struggle with body image and an obsessive desire to somehow measure up to this cultures' idea of physical beauty. Everywhere we look there are images of impossibly thin bodies and messages that we are not good enough as we are. These messages come from companies who want us to believe that we will feel better about ourselves if we spend money on their products. The trick is, even if we reach our goal weight, even if we look like those magazine covers and have all those fancy products, our discontent, our ugliness our unworthiness may remain. When are we ever satisfied? Is it possible to feel good about ourselves however we look, with whatever body we have been given?
Is it not an insult to God to be so ungrateful? Are we not Diving beings, created perfectly, given the perfect bodies for our learnings here? How do we forget that? I, for one, would like to learn to be grateful for this body that I have been given, or perhaps even chosen. Today I will try to do this. Each time that I look in the mirror and do not like what I see, each time that I feel my clothing may be a little tighter than I would like, if I am tempted to look at another and compare myself to her, I will remember to be grateful for all that I have. This is my committment today.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
GRATITUDE
When we can take a few moments to be grateful, there is no space for fear, worry, anxiety, victimhood. Gratitude instantly puts us in a space of heart, a space of calm connectedness and love.
As Melodie Beattie says:
Take a moment to write down ten things you are grateful for today. Do this once in the morning and then read your list over at night. How does it feel to start and end your day with gratitude?
As Melodie Beattie says:
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
And what if we were able to see everything that comes to us as a gift from the Universe? Perhaps the wrapping won't always be as tidy or as pretty as we might like... and it may take time to see the gifts in some occurrences. However, if we can trust that everything that comes to us is perfectly planned for our highest good, then we can, indeed be grateful and celebrate our many blessings.Take a moment to write down ten things you are grateful for today. Do this once in the morning and then read your list over at night. How does it feel to start and end your day with gratitude?
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Creative Force
We are creative beings. The very force of life itself, the force that sprouts the seeds and grows the flowers is the creative life force, God, Spirit, Love, whatever one chooses to call it. It is up to each of us how we choose to channel this force, the force that is within everything. When our creativity is not loved, not brought into the light, only then can it create negativity and destruction. If there are parts of us that we fear, or we consider bad or wrong or ugly, these parts will hold us back. They are part of us too, and there is no need to be afraid of them. It's when we keep parts of us locked up, repressed, that our creativity becomes stifled, "blocked" as we often say, and the life force cannot flow. Stifling the creative force can lead to addictions and depression. The force of life itself is powerful beyond measure and wants expression! Look at the state of our world these days! Is this not an example of what can happen when the creative force is misused, channeled for fear instead of love?I will share a passage from my journal, written after a particularly liberating session last year with a therapist:
Talking about the creative force..." I am afraid that I will use this power, this tool, inappropriately. I feel the huge responsibility of it. And this responsibility is not just my own, it's the responsibility of the entire human race. I feel the gravity of that. I want to channel this creative life force positively. I don't want to stifle it anymore. I don't want to be afraid of this power, this infinite potential, of Love and Creation itself. I want to ask Spirit to please use me as a positive channel for the creative force. This power is MASSIVE, limitless. Let me not squander it. Show me. Use me. Guide me."
Perhaps we can all choose today to express our creativity and channel the creative force as LOVE. We only need become willing to be used, to be open..... Spirit will do the rest.
For more inspiring images from New World Creations: http://www.nwcreations.com/gallery_ascension.htm
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Creativity As Meditation
When I am in a creative zone, busy at writing or painting or collage, time ceases to exist and I find myself in a deep meditative state. In this state I am able to focus my mind and be free of the often incessant chatter and planning of the ego. Recently a dear, dear soul moved onward to work in another part of the country and my heart rebelled at our parting. While allowing myself to be with and move through whatever feelings arise in each moment, I have found that creating is a wonderful way to be present with my emotions. I can channel my heartfelt love into my paintbrush or pen and marvel as I witness the birth of something new and unique and inspiring, something that has never been created before. Instead of numbing out, distracting myself by watching movies, or eating to stuff down my feelings, I can sit and breathe and let the creative river flow from within. This is FUN! This brings JOY! For more metaphysical paintings by artist Julio Mateo go to: http://www.mateo.net/
