Uncommon Indecency

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She voted for Trump.  And she voted for Clinton.  Do you feel anger towards one of them?  Disgust?  Hate?

What if I told you she voted for Trump after being forced to find the words to soothe her terrified autistic son who was told by Clinton’s ads that he was in danger.  Or that she voted for Clinton because she, once a victim, couldn’t vote for someone who felt an appropriate response to sexual assault charges was “she would not be my first choice”.  They both voted against the careless and irresponsible way the candidates handled their campaigns.  They both voted with their conscious against the ugliness and terror that was brought into their homes.  And when it was all decided, neither felt any less afraid.  Still hold one of them in contempt because they didn’t vote your way?

Our candidates personally attacked each other with open hostility and with such a vehemence that their blows struck us all.  They made us despise the other side, made us want to fight, made us want revenge.  Then, at the pique of our frustration, they shook hands and told us it was over.

They left us battered and confused with no place to put our anger and our pain.  So we turn it on each other. They made us feel like we were fighting for our lives but it was really all just another campaign.  They broke apart all of our common ground with an uncommon indecency and left us alone on these broken islands wondering where we go from here.

I think we are all owed a sincere apology from our “representatives”, our leaders. Maybe they were only mirroring our own disdain or maybe they saw a limitless well of poison to draw from to lace their divisive darts.  Either way, they should have done better by us.  They should have been better for us. Because she deserves better.   And so do we all.

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A Word to Those Who Wish to Lead Our Nation – Divided We Fall

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Here we are just days away from the election.  Not a single one of you has taken office and yet most of you have already made decisions that have weakened our nation.  The choices you have made in your campaigning have crippled us all.

The mere mention of the election sends us, ALL of us, into fight or flight mode.  Attack or avoid.  Neither are good responses to the issues facing our nation.  These responses are inspired by fear.  The fear you have created as you bombard us with all your messages of hate for each other.  You who are to be our nation’s leaders, our legislation, and, seemingly forgotten by you all, our public servants.

Our votes are supposed to be our votes of confidence in your ability to do the job.  Instead, you have made it a vote of protest against your opponent.  What kind of cussed up leadership is that?  Spending all this money to infiltrate our homes and try to scare us with the horrors of your opponent instead of inspiring us by telling us what you hope to do and why.  What we see is that you can’t discuss a topic civilly and openly when faced with an opposing view.  And you hope to lead us to a better place?  HOW?

Regardless of who I support, I will be one of your constituents.  I do not agree with any single one of you on all the issues, probably like most of us somewhere-in-the-middle-of-conservative-and-liberal folks.  When your opponent speaks about their opinion on a subject, you are responding to us all on the matter.  So show us all a bit of respect when you speak!  Somewhere down the line you got it twisted that this is about you.  It isn’t.  It is about us, all of us together.  It’s best you start remembering this truth!

And here’s another wake up call.  We aren’t electing you to bitch and moan on our behalf.  And that’s about all you will be able to do if you can’t figure out how to work together.  How do you expect to work well with the people you are bashing?  Half the people you are personally attacking and insulting right now will be the people you have to work with to make your change.  I’m sure you will work real well together now that you all have displayed so much contempt for each other.  Way to go!  Good job jerks!

Tell me it’s not too late to turn this ship of fools around!  Stop talking about how you are going to act once you get the job and and start acting like someone worthy of the privilege.  Do you really wish to strengthen our nation?   Quit exploiting the cracks and tell us how you plan to mend them!  Stop showing us how to tear each other apart and start recognizing those you mean to serve!

You are working for my parents.  You are speaking in front my children.  Be mindful of that!  You are representing my hometown, my home state, my homeland.  You are working for ALL of us.  Do you understand that?  If you win, you will be representing your opponent as well.  The way you treat each other is a reflection of the way you will treat us all.  Act like you know!

Ridicule, fear and hate don’t get us where we need to go.    If that’s the only way you know, you won’t solve any problems.  You’ll be one.

So I ask you this:  If you get elected, can you drop the party line?  Can you do the right thing just because it’s the right thing?  And the right thing is not what serves your ego, not what looks good for future elections,  not what gets a few of you ahead while leaving most of us behind.  Can any of you put aside your differences, work together and get it done?

If not, please just take your ball and go the cuss home.  If you can’t see we are all on the same team then we, the people, don’t want to play with you no more.

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Ommm Nourish: Them Belly Full

Full length portrait of little girl dancing in the park

This month’s blog post for the soul tribe at the Storm. Go see what nourishment they are offering here.

We are all dancers in this exquisite symphony of twirling galaxies, shining stars, and spinning planets. We are part of the ebb and flow of the tides and moons, water and light, emotion and perception.

We have within us the same ingredients of everything that ever was and will ever be. We are magnificent, wondrous creatures. Each one of us a mix of all the elements, a unique embodiment of darkness and light, spirit and earth. We are spiraling magnetic beings, each with our own north and south, living in a world with its own north and south. All these moving parts and pieces, each with their own attraction and allure, constantly pulling at us and begging us to dance some more.

We were made for this dance, made to live, made to experience this world. We were given everything we need to laugh, love and create. And also everything we need to hurt, fear and destroy. And it is up to us to find our particular balance within the scope of everything. It’s a balance each soul must strike with its own divine infiniteness and this rigid space and time. We must reconcile all that is contained within us, knowing we contain a bit of it all.

And while we may seek to rid ourselves of some of these pieces, we would be left with a false account. We instead must seek to nurture our whole being, accepting the scary bits, the ugly bits, the nasty bits. For these parts of ourselves that we’ve judged as unworthy of our affection may offer us the deepest nourishment. Just like the bitter herbs that cleanse our bodies, the bitter parts of ourselves remove the limits we’ve unconsciously set upon our capacity to love.

Our fears, our suffering, our weaknesses hold within them the strong roots of compassion that remind us that every soul’s struggle is real. When we open up fully to loving ourselves, faults and all, we finally understand what it is to love and be loved unconditionally and we taste the vital sustenance only this love can provide. We cannot hope to love anything truly, knowing nothing is perfect, if we deny our own imperfections our love and acceptance. But if we can instead find the value in the depths of our darkness, we can know also the fullness of our light.

The world offers us so many ways to nourish our souls and honor our truth. We must learn it isn’t selfish to find ourselves worthy of the feast, even if we aren’t always our best. Then we must take our seat at the banquet of life, say our grace and get our fill. After all, we cannot hope to feed the love in the hearts of others if our own hearts are aching with hunger. The well nourished heart beats to the rhythm of the wild and infinite soul within us all. When we feed on those things that righteously sustain us, we open ourselves to the sublime truth of life. And through our unbound love we share the beat that reminds us all that we never truly dance alone.

There is sustenance to be found in every morsel of life. Love teaches us which parts feed our souls and which feed our soils. Open your heart and be nourished.

“When we feed and support our own happiness, we are nourishing our ability to love. That’s why to love means to learn the art of nourishing our happiness. Understanding someone’s suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love’s other name. If you don’t understand, you can’t love.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

 

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collective disease

Writing this after binging on the news – all the anger and hate. And all the reactions that come from the same place. And this political undertow trying to catch hold of our ankles in these fear filled waters in hopes to create a bigger divide. Feeling exhausted and thinking of never watching the news again in favor of ignorance but the level it is at now makes me realize there has to be a shift and it has to happen now. This disease is a collective one. We can’t ignore it because at its root it is so very subtle we don’t even realize we too are infected. 

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Ommm Simplify: You Be You

September’s theme blog for the gang at the Storm.  Go see what they have in store for the community this fall.

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When I think of simplifying my life, I think purge and purify.  Purge my life clean of what I
no longer need.  Take on no more of what I do not want.  And purify that new found
space by filling it with things I love.

Simplifying my life, however, won’t necessarily make it uncomplicated.  Life is
complicated by its very nature.  Always shifting, always in motion.  My simple life will be
busy and active no doubt.  My shift towards simplicity is more subtle; a bit deeper than
shedding activities or junk from the closet.  I do not seek to make life less complicated.
Life it what it is.  Rather I intend to make my response to life less complicated.
First, much like tackling my closet, I will organize my mind.  Get it aligned with what I
desire to do with my life.  Discard the thoughts and their patterns that block or confuse
my path.  And train my mind to seek out the thoughts and patterns that can lead me
where I want to go.  Practicing my brand of simplicity  will require diligence and
discernment.  Lord knows this world isn’t always steady and neither am I.

But I figure if I allow my mind fertile ground to cultivate only positive thinking, my
response to life can only be positive.  My thoughts, quite simply, are the seeds of all my
words and actions.  With my mind well acquainted with my higher self, and organized in
such a way that I can access her quickly, I am more likely to answer any difficulties with
kindness, humor or grace.  If I can be more mindful of my decision to act or speak (or
equally mindful in choosing stillness or silence!) I will surely cultivate a more positive
experience every time.

Simple, right?  But it ain’t easy!  As I write this, my day was pretty smooth.  Tomorrow
may find me much less tolerant and with a strong taste for bad habits.  Days will come
where kindness and humor may be far from me.  Days where I just can’t see the light.
Here I will rely on grace.  Grace for the circumstance, grace for the moment.  And if I
can find it, I’ll give my negative self a listen.  Sometimes she just needs to have her say.
If I’m wise and able, I will test her thoughts against my center and discern if there is any
truth in what she speaks.  Then move from there.

If I’m neither wise nor able in the moment, I will have grace for my whole self, same as I
would for any friend, and thank the stars that tomorrow is a brand new day.
This will be my way.  Simplicity as a daily practice.  Feed my mind with nourishing
thoughts as often as I can.  Create space in my soul where only love is allowed grow.
Know well who I am and how I wish to live.  Then openly meet each moment where I
am, as I am.  And I will move from there.  Simple.

Life is rich in complexities.  It is what allows this experience to be all our own.  Life can
only be what we make of it.  So make it the best you can.  That is your power.  That is
your magic.  Train your mind to seek the beauty of life.  Take to heart your own recipe of
kindness, humor and grace.  Tweak that recipe however you need as each day comes.
Magnify the love and purge any thoughts that limit your belief in your own divine
magnificence.  And simply move from there.

“Life is very simple.  You shouldn’t be overbearing, over­decorated or overdone.  The
greatest majesty belongs to a living being whose behavior is simple and pure.”  

– The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan, July 9, 1981

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Fraa-G-lay. Must be Italian

  
Fragile.  Like waking.  Or is it the sleep that is fragile?  That moment between where the dream escapes.

Fragile like all of the ‘tween times.  Dawn – so quickly broken into day by the sun.  Twilight so easily silenced by the night.

Fragile. Like stillness in a fluid life.  Easily drawn back out into the experience.   Like peace in a polarized world.  Easily forgotten that we create the experience.

Life seems fragile.   But life itself is quite resilient.  And love and the human soul, the same.  Like Truth, these things are unbreakable.

Yet though they are unbreakable, they still can be handled with care.

 

 

 

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Ommm Laugh: Gracious Divine

August’s theme blog for the fabulous folks at Nourishing Storm.  Go give them some love! 

 Laughter is a peculiar thing. A rare and precious gift. Out of nowhere, or maybe out of the greatest somewhere, comes this vibration that makes your lungs forget how they work and your belly do this crazy dance. Whether it is unbidden or eagerly sought, when humor hits its mark, something magical happens within. It is way beyond shaking bellies and gasping for air. It is some portal to elation, a primordial hymn of Bliss. Laughter may be our first mantra, seeded deep in our souls. It lies awaiting a moment of happiness. Awakened to express gratitude and grant us Grace from the worries of the world.

Laughter is your soul’s sacred song written in the tongue of the Divine. Laughter forgives the heart for being fooled, relieves the mind from it’s ciphering, and lets your soul shake out your body. In it’s still aftermath, you can hear the Universe telling your heart there was never anything to forgive. Telling your mind to trust the process and let go. And somewhere in the midst of this release, the soul expands out and resonates universal bliss. In Truth, it is the most irresistible sound in the world.

At times, crazy as it sounds, you may try to refuse this gift. It is a vulnerable feeling, when real laughter seizes you. Your guard is down, your mind has left the building and your body is under some spell. But that defenseless, senseless, childlike state is so very necessary. We all need a little grace in our lives, a little time out from our senses. We all need to allow our minds to exhale. To bend our hearts to fill in the gap and let our souls take in a great big, joyful gulp of
Life.

Laughter is infectious. Listen to a baby laugh and see if you can stifle the carefree joy it evokes. Or better yet, don’t. Let it wash over you and join the fun. It gives you a dose of the highest quality soul medicine out there. And it’s more powerful when you share it. The blessed harmony of souls in laughter, together serenading the Universe, thanking it for suspending time for a while.

I know all your moments cannot be filled with laughter. That is just the way of this grand experience. You must feel the pull of your highs and lows to get to your center. But give humor the first look out of the gate when responding to some of those lows. And if it makes sense, let your laughter transform the moment into something a little bit better, a little bit lighter. Pure laughter soothes your pains. It dissolves fear and forgives you and everyone else for being human. Let laughter reset your cluttered mind, rejuvenate your tired soul, and restore your gracious heart. Go on. The universe is listening. Let us hear your Bliss.

Lighten up. As often as you can. Seek the higher vibrations in every situation. If you can’t meet the moment with kindness, try next to meet it with humor. Do this with moments past as well when in conflict with an old memory. Transform the experience with the healing grace of a divine laugh. Nourish your soul. Your joy matters.

If you become silent after your laughter, one day you will hear God also laughing, you will hear the whole existence laughing — trees and stones and stars with you. — Rajneesh

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Ommm Smile: Reflection of the Soul

July’s theme post to kick off the second half of the year with the beautiful community at Nourishing Storm.  Visit the Storm and see what everyone is smiling about.

Yoga woman laughing in Namaste pose

 

“I smile like a flower not only with my lips but with my whole being” ~ Rumi

The goal of asana is to condition the body to settle in and quiet itself. To teach the body how to adjust to create space for itself where it needs it. Asana prepares the body, giving it the flexibility, strength and stamina to be free and content in any position or circumstance. Where the body and breath unite, the heart is free to open and the mind is ready to listen. Here the real yoga begins.

When the body quiets and stills and the breath is easy, we dissolve into the moment. Here we understand our bodies as merely the vehicle for the Divine to experience life in a brand new way. We understand the polarities created by the spiraling soul that animates this world. We accept these polarities and then we let them go. Physical boundaries cease to exist as we understand all is one. We enter a more subtle state of being. We dissolve to reconnect.

We find the Truth in a pose in that dissolution. Our body is absorbed by the present. Our breath in sync with the cosmic rhythm, we break through another boundary. We see the world as Life sees it. This grand opportunity to create more joy, more beauty, and more love. We find the Truth of a pose when our heart opens. And we express our Truth in a pose when we smile. This particular smile, our authentic one, comes through our soul. It is not a smile we force. It is born in the moment. In asana, it is found in that stillness where our body hushes, our mind yields, and our heart opens.

This is why we practice. We practice yoga to connect. We practice to remember. We seek our own integrity and find a collective harmony. We remember Love’s song and rejoin the dance. We come back to it. The unification of the Self with the Truth ­~ ~Bliss. The greatest goal of asana is to create the space for this Bliss to integrate fully with the moment. And we can be sure of its success when this Bliss can no longer be contained, but must be shared and amplified through our being. This joy wells up within and erupts into the most effortless, primordial and exquisite movement of all. The genuine smile. The truth of yoga attained.

Yoga is union. It unites the pieces of the fractured self, putting them together into the authentic self, who alone has the ears to hear the highest self telling us to let go of all that divides. On the mat we create space in our hearts for joy and grace and we continue this practice off the mat by following those things in life that make us smile. Share your practice with the world, share your soul. Smile. 

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On the matter of lives

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Fear and Hate

Hate and Fear

Where there is one

The other is near.

 

One sees Black

One sees Blue

Can you see me

And I’ll see you?

 

From the same

Divinity

There is no them

There is only we

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Ommm Play: Dance of the Divine

June’s post for the frolickin folks over at Nourishing Storm.  Go check out what happiness they have growing this season!  

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“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” ­ Heraclitus

You are an exquisite expression of the Divine. Whatever creative force, whatever energy that became the moon and stars, has also become you. A unique being of light, spontaneously sparked to life, made to shine upon the world with your own rays.

You have been created to experience life in the way only you can. That alone is what you live for – the experiences of life. All of them. In your own skin. Through your own mind. From your own heart. With your own soul.

When I speak of the Divine, I speak simply of universal Love and pure Bliss. The greatest creative forces I can imagine at the highest frequency of being. These forces, I believe, are moved by life seeking life – life seeking to be experienced in every possible way through each one of us. You and I are here to allow this higher love a way to manifest in this world.

Some may call this your life’s work. But finding your bliss can probably be more accurately called your life’s play.

To most honestly embrace this purpose, you must approach your life’s play with the intensity and sincerity of a child. Engage with the world in a way a child would. With a soft and permeable heart, with an innocence and pureness, guileless and open in the way only a child can be. You will find Bliss and Love in life when you are in your playful skin. Seeing life through your playful mind. Responding to life from your playful heart.   And walking through life with your playful soul.

There are times when you are stuck when you would be best served by asking yourself, “What would a child do?” Like a child, you must meet life in the moment, for truly life only abides in the present. Adults forget. And like a child, you must sometimes suspend reality and allow every possibility in the universe to exist. You must play. Conjure adventures and build a million worlds never questioning if it could truly happen. Like a child, remember how infinite life is and know these worlds already do exist. Just as real as the world you live in. The one you have the grand and humbling opportunity to experience now as only you are meant to. The one that begs you to come fully into your own playful expression of the Divine, as I beg you too. Who are you and I, after all, to deny this Love its time to play?

A playful practice can lighten the weight of the world you carry. It is perhaps the greatest responsibility you have to yourself, making space for laughter and joy. Play with the rainbows, sing with the stars, dance with the shadows, and skip with the sun. Create the space for your soul to shine, the way only it can. All else can wait. The moment is calling. Will you come out to play?

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