Gratitude

Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way; 
Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day; 
Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do, 
For round about you there are men less fortunate than you.

Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom,
The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom;
Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes and all their laughter sweet.

Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!
And what if rain shall fall today and you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had.

--Edgar Guest--

Gratitude is so often lacking in our modern world. Each day blessings come to us that make our life better in some way. We've grown accustomed to expecting so much, but feel we owe nothing in return. We live in an 'entitled' society, and for many, being thankful is one of the hardest things to express, but gratitude is not simply something that we externally share with others. Indeed, gratitude is an attitude that we live with every day. Some of the unhappiest people I’ve met in my life have also been the most ungrateful. 

We don't have to be rich to in order to be grateful, and by all means, you most certainly   don't need have to have a lot of trinkets and other things.They are only material things. Objects.  What counts is what is inside. Appreciation of the earth, the water, the plants, and the animals; that is what helps us live fuller and more aware lives.Being grateful...It is so important that we show our gratitude to Mother Nature for all of Her gifts, and the first step to doing this is to begin taking care of Her. This web of life is like a Great circle with all things equally important...the circle of giving and receiving; the circles of nature that surround and support us... the earth, sun, moon, seasons, day and night and the all of the cycles that make up life. 

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.”

--Melodie Beattie--

                                  

Autumn Dreams

"Autumn arrives in the early morning,
but spring at the close of a winter day."
  --Elizabeth Bowen--

They say it will be heading up into the 90's throughout the following week, but I can deal with it because Autumn is now on its way; the signs are there...The days are growing shorter as the light gradually gives way to the darkness;....and those cold, crisp nights when the air has a special chill to it.  Autumn, beautiful, beautiful autumn....some of us call it fall, a name which is believed to have originated  because it is the time of the year that the leaves fall to the ground, but actually it is called 'fall' because this is the season when the sun falls below the equator....only to 'spring' back six months later.  

This is such a wonderful time of the year.  I've always loved this season with its days of delightful color and myriad of changes. Remember when we were children?

...the first day of school, new outfit, new shoes...new crayons, pencils, book bags, new books...an apple freshly picked from the tree for the teacher...new friends and old friends back in our lives again....

...the land abounds with a glorious spectrum of shades of crimson, orange, golds, and yellows...mottled leaves with several colors in transition....

 ...raking and gleefully jumping into mountains of leaves...gathering together to watch the blazing piles...the scent of the burning leaves...the smoke....laughter...

...the bounty of the earth is harvested...pickling, canning, drying...nibbling while you work...pumpkins, Indian corn...and apples picked from the tree...lots and lots of red juicy apples...cornucopia...

...the hazy, cloudless skies of Indian Summer...the last warmth of the summer....but don't go near the water....

We may be older now, but we can still enjoy the trees and the crisp, crunchy leaves around us...we can savor the brisk morning air and relish the healthy redness on our cheeks.  It'll soon be time for the cozy sweaters, the hats...the gloves...winding down for the season of rest. Tis a beautiful season...indeed.  Autumn, beautiful autumn.

"I know the year is dying,

Soon the summer will be dead.

I can trace it in the flying

Of the black crows overhead;

I can hear it in the rustle

Of the dead leaves as I pass,

And the south wind's plaintive sighing

Through the dry and withered grass.

Ah, 'tis then I love to wander,

Wander idly and alone,

Listening to the solemn music

Of sweet nature's undertone;

Wrapt in thoughts I cannot utter,

Dreams my tongue cannot express,

Dreams that match the autumn's sadness

In their longing tenderness."

-  Mortimer Crane Brown, Autumn Dreams -

Colors of the Rainbow

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people goin' by
I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do"
They're really saying "I love you."

I hear babies cry, I watch then grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know;
And I think to myself, What a wonderful world;
Yes, I think to myself, What a wonderful world.
Oh yeah!
--  Louis Armstrong--

To bad we are always in such a hurry. I used to love the hustle and bustle, and could keep up with the best of them, but we end up missing out on so much in life. Here in the city, everyone is always hustling and bustling to get where they need to go; then they complain about all the stress in their day and that have no time to go to relax.  Early fast-paced mornings, quick breakfasts or just a cup of coffee, and out the door to work. Then there are those frustrating, congested commutes to and from the work place. Stressful working conditions with people that we never take time to get to know.  Fortunately, as dysfunctional as my co-workers might be, we know each other well...all our little idiosyncrasies...and I am just as bad as the rest.  We all have our little quirks.  

   
Life in the city is often measured by our material acquisitions. We are so busy looking for the 'pot of gold' that we forget to look at the rainbow.  I was never so materialistic that I couldn't appreciate my surroundings, but, my goodness, I sure did know how to keep the pace up with the rest of them.  Hubby hated to go shopping with me, and I can count the fingers on one hand the times he attempted to accompany me.  I just didn't know how to slow up; there was just too much to do, too much I wanted to do.  But, there comes a time in everyone's life where the mind may be in a hurry, but the body just won't keep up with it...and that's not always a bad thing; in fact, for me it was a blessing.

Slowing up has allowed me to appreciate the beauty of the world around me...to take time to smell the roses, to the cool breeze upon my face, to cherish those breathtaking sunsets with their brilliant hues of orange and violet, snowy white clouds and a clear blue sky....the moon in all Her glory.  These are some of the things we miss when we move too quickly through life.  We must stop running....and start paying attention.

"Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold.  But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow." --Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You

Time

An amazing thing has happened this week.  Time has slowed down.  My days at work have been so excruciatingly long; at times it is as if time has stood still.  I know, I should be happy about it.  After all, time HAS been speeding by so quickly, but why at work?  Why not when I am at home relaxing?  Why not the weekend? 

Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.--Carl Sandburg

Time.  Such a precious commodity, isn't it?  It is through time that we are able to perceive motion...past, present, and future....linear and sequential in its progression. The cycle of our lives revolves around the sun...as it rises and sets.  To our ancestors, time was cyclic; they observed the cyclic nature of the day and night, similar repeating pattern of seasons year after year; monthly cycles of moon's change of form etc.  

Everything revolves around time.  Think about all of the things we do with time:

• We have the 'time' of our lives.
• We make some 'time'. 
• We waste 'time'
• We wish we had more 'time'.
• We spend 'time' with our loved ones.
• We budget our 'time'.
• We take our 'time' when we are not in a hurry.
• We plan how to use our 'time'.
• We say that this is not the right 'time'.
• We say that 'time' is money."

And, always at the heart of it, we are using our 'time' to do things. Every moment of our time is like a flowing river...forever moving forward.  And, this passage of time is experienced differently within the human consciousness. Remember the long, lazy days of summer when you were a kid?  Or how a school year could seemingly drag on forever in endless mind-numbing torture as we awaited our summer vacation?   When we are children, time seem so very long; it moved in slow motion as endless years stretched ahead for us.  Waiting for the holidays seemed like an eternity for us...but life sails by much more quickly than we expect it to....and as we grow older, it feels as if the holidays were over before they were even here.  As an adult, on the other hand, many of us can only shake our heads at how quickly the days and weeks and seasons seem to fly by. An entire year, or even five or 10 years, can pass, seemingly, in a blur. 

Have you ever noticed how time seems to fly when we're having fun, but really drags when we're waiting for the clock to hit 5 pm  on a Friday afternoon. And speaking of clocks...try staring at a clock and waiting for a minute to pass...or wait for a boring commercial to end and your favorite show to come back on. Sometimes, when I awaken a bit too early in the morn, I tend to watch the clock to make the time go slower. Yes,these are our short term experiences with time, but what of longer periods of time such as years?  Our perceptions of time change as the years pass, and by our middle years, at least, most of us have become aware that time has been playing tricks on us...that a very slow but profound change has been sneaking up on us: the years that formerly crawled now seem to be racing by?

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
...You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
...Every year is getting shorter; never seem to find the time...

-- "Time" from The Dark Side of the Moon: Pink Floyd--

Whatever happened to the long, leisurely summers we knew as children?  Where have they gone?  It seemed forever to get through through the third grade; so, what happened to last year? Why do we now seem so rushed by life?  Where are all the things we wanted to accomplish, but never seemed to find the time for?
Perhaps it is because we never made the time...but it is not too late.


And so, as we grow older, and time speeds us, we must learn to live each day must be to its fullest, for we shall never be able to recapture it again.  The memories we create today can enrich the present and even future years.  We all want to fully enjoy life.  There is really no time but the now.  
 
Old Time, that greatest and longest established spinner of all!.... his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his hands are mutes.  ~Charles Dickens

Ho'onopono

Rain, rain, beautiful rain.  This is the third day we've had some rain...the most we've had all summer.  It feels wonderful walking in the rain for a change.  It would feel even better is I was home in bed listening to it, but, hey, I am finally going to take some time off...the week of Labor Day.  I'm so looking forward to it.

This morning on the train, I had a little chuckle.  Gillette had bought up all the advertisement space on the car I was on to advertise their deodorant.  In big letters it said....Warning B.O. Zone.  You have to ride the subway system to see the significance of it, but suffice it to say, there are some pretty raunchy odors there in the summer time.  Much of it is culture, but HEY you are in this country now...our culture is not to stink.   

Today I wanted to share a little about what I've been learning about Huna.  No, I haven't given it up yet, still studying...just haven't written about what I have learned.  A few posts back I spoke of letting go and forgiveness according to the Hawaiian Code of Forgiveness, when we forgive others, we are also forgiving ourselves.   We carry inside us as parts of our unconscious mind, all the significant people in our lives. It is helpful to think of these parts of us as similar to like Carl Jung's archetypes.  Perhaps there are family patterns that that you do not want, generational themes that get passed along in families.  The process of Ho'oponopono allows us to  clean up our genealogy as well as to clean up our relationships with other people in our lives.

Ho'oponopono ("to make right") is a healing process used by both the ancient Hawaiians and those who practice Huna today.  There are times in our lives when we carry negative energy or emotions from our past, and even though we feel we have moved on, that negative impact on our lives and our emotional well being lingers on. When this negativity from our past seems to follow us around, it might be time for Ho'onopono, the Hawaiian process of making things right. It is a very powerful  process which is very easy to remember. You can go deep with it rather quickly, bringing lightness and healing quite soon to your heart and mind. One of the central exercises - you could call it a personal discipline - one of the primary gifts of Ho'oponopono, is a very effective forgiveness exercise.

Ho'oponopono Meditation

The following is a very simple meditation adapted from the Ho'oponopono technique.

1 Light a Candle; sit down in a quiet space where you know you will not be disturbed.

2 Take several deep breaths until you feel centered and calm.

3 Now, imagine a golden light pouring though the top of your head, bathing each cell as it surrounds your body.

4 Next, think of anyone who you has hurt you in the past or someone you feel has hurt you...anyone with whom you do not feel totally aligned or supported by.

5 Picture the person in front of you and mentally say "I apologize, I forgive you, I love you". Now let go of the person. Surround the person in golden light and see them floating away.  If appropriate, cut the cord that connects you to that person.

6.  Now visualize the next person ; repeat the phrase, again surround them with golden light.

7. Continue with this process until you can't think of anyone else Remember to also forgive yourself. No matter how long it takes, make sure to give yourself enough time to perform this healing.

8. Finally give thanks all the people you have visualized and don't forget to thank yourself

9. Take a few clarifying breaths; open your eyes. Be sure to have a large glass of water on hand to ground and cleanse you.

Pisces Full Moon

Good morning on this wonderful fall-like day.  It's pretty darned cool outside, and it feels marvelous...a hint of what is to come. Yesterday I knew it was going to be cool, but had no idea it was going to be so windy.  Needless to say, my walk to the subway after work was quite tricky as it was a struggle trying to keep my skirt from down.

How like a queen comes forth the lonely Moon
From the slow opening curtains of the clouds
Walking in beauty to her midnight throne!
--George Croly, Diana--

Today the Pisces Full Moon will occur. Pisces is the last sign of the Zodiac and is depicted symbolically as the fish.  The message of this moon is one of trust.  The answers to our questions our all around us, but we have to learn to trust ourselves and to trust that their is a much bigger Cosmic plan that we can see at the present time. Things that were previously hidden from view may come to light, and we will find ourselves feeling ultra sensitive.  Let your feelings flow because now is the time to let go, to move on.  Go within and listen to the self. This Full Moon is all about connecting to the spirit, to the Divine within us, to our imagination and a sense of magic.  Keep in mind, though, that when the Moon is full in Pisces it opposes the Sun which is now in practical Virgo.; hence, there is a necessity to balance that dreaminess with a firm footing in the material world.

Since the beginning of recorded time, we have been fascinated with the heavens...the stars, the comets, the glorious sun...and, of course, the moon, the great lady of the night.  For centuries, she has been surrounded by myth and superstition.  For example, in parts of Britain, anyone seeking good fortune should bow to the New Moon and turn over any silver coins they have in their pocket.  The silver color of the moon is rumored to have a direct affinity with the silver from which the coins were made.

The Full Moon has long been associated with magic...as well as with states of madness (lunacy) and insomnia.  Has any of you ever  heard the old warning, "If you stare too long at the moon, you will go mad."  Of course, we know that is not true...but to our ancestors, it was a very real possibility.

When the moon, after covering herself with darkness as in sorrow, at last throws off the garments of her widowhood, she does not at once expose herself impudently to the public gaze; but for a time remains veiled in a transparent cloud, till she gradually acquires courage to endure the looks and admiration of beholders. --Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

The moon has also been viewed as a symbol of love, erotic and otherwise. Lovers who kiss under the glow of a full moon are thought to be especially blessed. Witches are said to dance naked under the light of the moon because it enhances their seductive powers. The moon has inspired thousands upon thousands of songs and poems of love and affection down through the ages. We wish upon the first star we see at night, but to seduce the one we love, it is to the moon we turn.

The moon is the opposite of the sun. While the sun brings us light and warms us, the moon shines with a light that it doesn't share. It is dark by nature.. This darkness suggests secrecy and deception.  The full moon has been called the gateway to the dream world; hence, it is linked strongly with the subconscious. Perhaps it was the moon's appearance in the night that formed this association with our dreams. Perhaps it is a result of the moon's gravitational power over water - water traditionally being considered as the element linked with our soul...and the hidden aspects of the self.

There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery. --Joseph Conrad

Saved by an Angel

"The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields, and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of exposure. Each thing creeps back into its own nature within the shelter of the dark. Darkness is the ancient womb. Nighttime is womb- time. Our souls come out to play. The darkness absolves everything; the struggle for identity and impression falls away. We rest in the night." --John O'Donohue from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom--

I remember the night as if it were yesterday; it is so clear. I was in my bed and just entering sleep when suddenly I realized I wasn't breathing. I'd suffered from sleep apnea for several years, but that night was, by far, the worst episode yet. I don't know if any of you have ever suffered with it, but it is such a dreadful and frightening feeling.  As I struggled to catch my breath, I felt like I was going to die and bolt upright in my bed. "This is it," I thought, "This is the end."

It was then that I saw it...the figure of a woman standing in my bedroom door.  I couldn't see her face in the darkness, but I knew that it was a woman; she was dressed in the most beautiful flowing white gown.."An angel, I thought...my  guardian angel."  Was she here to take me?  Was it my time?...Or was she here to save me?  At that point, so many thoughts were racing through my head.  "I don't want to die."  "My sons, what will happen to my children?" They were so young at the time. But, then as I sat there gazing at her, I felt my breath returning, and she began fading away.  By the time I was breathing normally, and my angel was gone.

Many of us have had encounters with angels or spirit guides...entities from another realm; they are a great help in times of need.  They are always with us and are simply waiting for us to call them into our lives or situations.  You may know that they are with you by a fragrance which seems to come from nowhere. Visually you may see them as a white light that you catch out of the corner of your eye, or you may even see them in all their glory... as in the case of the angel who saved my life. They guide us to make the right decisions and encourage ideas to transform our lives for the better.

Angels are many different things to different people.  The first historical records of these winged beings come to us from Zoraoastrianism, one of world's oldest religions; they had two forms of spiritual being--the Ahuras (angelic beings) and Devas (demonic).  The Hindus have their Gandharvas. They are not exactly angels, but perform similar functions.  The Native Americans have the Thunderbird, a mythological creature found in the spiritual lore of many of the first Nations of North America.  Shamans often take the form of a bird to travel into the different worlds in search for the person's soul fragments. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have their angelic beings.  

Personally, I like idea of the Celtic Angel or Anam Cara (soul friend).  According to Celtic spiritual tradition, your soul shines about your body in a luminous cloud (an aura).  When you are open and trusting with another, your two souls flow together, and you form a bond. This deeply felt bond cuts across all barriers of time and space...an ancestral spirit.  Celtic angels were viewed as spiritual beings who take a very special interest in humankind...especially those who are spiritually aware or just developing their spirituality.  They play the role of guardians or companions very much like the totem animal does in other shamanic traditions.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.
--John Milton, Paradise Lost--

Angels help people in a number of ways; sometimes they will appear just briefly, while others may choose to spend an entire incarnation as a human on this planet helping others. Those  who choose to come to Earth in human form are those we call Earth angels. Ancestral guides are those who can claim some sort of kinship with you; there is a biological tie... a deceased ancestor. Some people say that these entities are reincarnated guides; they are the spirits of someone who loved us during their physical lifetime.  

I was truly blessed that night when an angel saved my life. I've not seen her since, but I know that she is there....watching over me.  Who was she?  A guardian angel?  Ancestral spirit?  My Anam Cara?  It's been over 30 years since that night, and I have never had another attack. I'd love to hear your angel tales if you have one.
 
"Angels appear to transcend all cultures, races, and systems. They are a part of human history and civilization, sometimes at the forefront, other times in the shadows, but they are always there. They don't belong to any one particular religion, although many modern people try to associate them with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. No one religion holds total responsibility for the belief in angels. In truth, these religions only support the existence of angels, they didn't create them."--Silver Ravenwolf