I hear that voice echoing from the past, every second, fast, oh, how long will this last?
When a moment feels like an eternity, we hold tight, and try to let go of the fright we feel, yet at times, we hold too close to heart, and it can feel as if we’re falling apart.
Seams coming undone, once tethered together, now bursting with imagination and dread in this very cold weather.
Inside the drama’s milieux, perspective is hard to find, as we run after feelings that are a part of another place and time.
Remember, then, as thought precedes feeling, and you know that you are truly dreaming, watch, listen, and observe the scene, instead of entering into it with every piece of your being.
Perspective can be regained as we learn more about ourselves inside the dance, and begin to master the waves of our second chance.
One, two, three, just like that, is how they are feeling. Come and gone in an instant, when we slow down and let go of our resistance.
Be with all that comes your way, many a wise one will say. Nay, love all that comes your way, because it is part and parcel of the entire play. Choose wisely then, my friend, for on your life it doth depend.
This past week, I’ve been reflecting upon purpose, which I’ll write more about in a moment, and planning in the unknown, which will be the topic of a post, well, I’m not sure when, yet will get to it eventually.
Before we get to my reflection on purpose, let’s take a look at a couple writing reflections.
The poem Mind was, as you may have already surmised, a reflection on my meditation practice. A large part of my life today. It is a beautiful experience, to sit and watch as the mind does it’s thing, and to become detached from it’s activity. It is also a wonder to sit and watch as your mind, over time, begins to slow and become more quiet. Magical.
The Mind poem was also my first foray into the Hexastich poetry style. I learned about this poem style, like many others, from a lovely blogger friend of mine. I’ve written another poem in this style already, and will have more to share in the coming weeks and months.
Gift
The poem Gift was a reflection of the many things I’ve learned in the past 4 years, as I’ve learned to go within from my life coach and teacher. It’s been difficult and one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.
And, like I write often, this nexus of the difficult and wonderful, a paradox (and not), is where the jewels of life live. When we slow down, go within, really get to know ourselves, we get back so much more. Beautiful.
As you may know, yesterday I posted The Dance Dances A Life of Its Own, which was a collaboration with Amber of DiosRaw. As a relatively new blogger, I’ve only done one other collaboration, which was the post, Vulnerability: A Paradox, with Maja of Lampelina.
Amber and I created the poem this past week, with the former, sending emails back and forth throughout the creative process. Was superb. A wonderful experience.
With the latter, I submitted a request to do a guest post on Lampelina, and Maja reached out to me to do so. Was also a great experience.
A lot of fun all-around.
There is another collaboration, of a different kind, coming soon, with another inspiring blogger. I’ll have more on that in the future.
I love the concept of, and practice of, collaboration. You learn so much more when you work with other people. It is by far one of my favorite things to do in this life, collaborate with inspirational people. I’ve been very lucky to have had these opportunities and many others in various areas of my life; and, I look forward to future ones.
While I’ve written on purpose before, it is a concept and practice that I reflect upon, well, not quite often, yet it does come up now and then. This week, purpose has come up in regard to planning inside of the unknown.
There was a time in my life where I continually questioned my purpose. Was in fact, confounded by the idea of purpose. Maybe even a little afraid of the concept.
However, today, I accept my truth in regard to purpose. That, in fact, each moment we are alive, we can find our purpose in, well, exactly what it is that we are doing. Right now, typing this end of the week diary entry. In the next moment? Don’t know, it doesn’t exist yet.
What I am pointing to, is that purpose lives inside of us. Purpose is a concept that we attach meaning to, just like every other concept. If you believe that purpose needs to look and feel a certain way, and you don’t see or feel what you are looking for, well, then you’ll have a hard time finding your purpose.
However, if you believe that purpose lives within, and lives in each moment every day, doing exactly as you are already doing, well, there’s nothing to find. Your purpose is readily apparent in each moment everyday.
We can all develop an awareness of purpose that is different from the current one we hold. It just takes practice. Practice letting go of the concept of purpose as we understand it today, and learning a new way to think about and feel purpose.
Remember, purpose is first and foremost a concept. It is not a living breathing thing. We breathe life into the concept of purpose, as we do all concepts, when we give life to it by attaching meaning, which we create, to the concept.
And, just as we breathe life into the concept of purpose as we do today, we can learn a new way to breathe a different life into a new concept of purpose.
It is up to you, me, and everyone else; and, well, that’s quite empowering.
They befall us all, for it’s a part of being a walking and breathing kaleidoscope, on a planet so full of hope.
When they come, it’s very normal to withdraw, and look for reasons for this flaw.
Asking questions to the sky above, yet, that might not be where the answers are located, my love.
Tragedies are a part of the calamity of this thing we call life. They are part and parcel of the seen and unseen, and everything in between; conjoined forever in an illusory dance with,
Blessings
my friend are all around you, so when you have a moment, take a minute, and stop. Stop moving, and just be with all that surrounds you, and is within you. And, in that silence, listen, feel, and always keep it real.
Reality holds a lot of promise, when we move out of the way, and let go of our preconceived notions. When we stay in motion, and let our hearts open, allowing the silence within to determine our devotion.
This poem is a collaboration with DiosRaw, which is a wonderfully insightful website, and inspirational blog. I had a great time writing this poem with Amber. We hope you enjoy it!
Disguised within the might of words lies silence that speaks inwardly, with a spark reserved for the rendering of our collective hearts.
Beneath the surface, the words we ink, spill our surrender into authentic seeing between the spaces in momentum being, created inside that expanse at your center.
Be clear, my dear, the way of opening is already here, just take a look at those concepts you hold close, transcending into non-dual consciousness, meaningful and meaningless abstractions superimpose.
One on top of the other, in a dance of mutuality and complete singularity, so breathe in deep, be silent, and let those words go.
Do not mock a pain you have not endured, you walk in shoes of yours to express into words the meaning of experience you chose, once adopted these concepts we call words, live a life of their own, dancing from within to the page in a steady stream of consciousness via the law of attraction, instead of simple reaction.
Reflected in the multifaceted mirror, scattered fractals of the all, squeezing the essence of awareness into our scripts, fear not your own beauty in your creations, for the dancer creates the dance to be danced.
Sitting, I ponder the nature of our existence. Quiet mind, not a noise found anywhere, silent, stillness, and so much brilliance.
It fills my entire being with joy, of such immenseness, at times it’s hard to actually say more than this.
And, the more I learn, in fact, it seems it’s in the saying less where we find out what’s best.
It feels like it’s taken me an eternity to learn this truth. Yet, it’s really only been one moment since I was just a youth.
Time is funny that way, wouldn’t you say?
Long and drawn out in times of great stress, or when we are simply unsure how to handle life’s continuous tests.
And,
Short and awfully quick, in times when we are in a hurry, rushing from here to there, without even giving the scenery a second stare.
There is a third way, however, to see and experience, all that surrounds you. It’s seen when we slow down, and are present to each moment, caring for them as if they were the only gift that could possibly prevent our descent.
Journey with me, if you will, a trip down an unknown street, and into an unknown land filled with mystery and confusion, it is a gift of life’s perfusion.
In one hand we can hold, if we are so bold, this conundrum. A hidden balance, scales moving back and forth in a dance that requires special attention to see it’s worn out portension.
It’s like that often, and yet, most can only hold the one view, a blow to soften.
The myriad of challenges and disappointments that are part of the movement, seen and unseen, just like in a dream. How do we then find our preen?
Practice makes the dance more noticeable to the senses, yes, and also to the part of ourselves that creates balance between sensibility and our inner tranquility.
There is much that can be learned from within, if we learn to quiet our mind, and sit in stillness, thus becoming a silent witness.
This past week, I’ve been reflecting upon connection. How we are all connected to each other, yes, and to everything else we see. All of it. Quite beautiful.
Before I write more about connection, let’s take a look at a couple reflections from this past week, and a few ideas I have for next week. Sound good? Okay, here we go.
This past week, I’ve continued to write quite a bit of poetry. It just happens like that sometimes; and, of late, there’s been much more poetry within me. Fun.
Tanka #9
The Tanka #9 poem, occurred to me one day after meditation. Well, in fact, the concepts found in the poem occur to me all the time these days. That is, existence, and the connection we all have to each other and all that surrounds us.
We have the idea that we are separate, due to socialization and the creation of the ego-self. The separateness we feel, however, is illusory. Not real. Reality lives behind and beyond the concepts we hold of ourselves and all that we see. Beautiful.
I didn’t understand my own sensitivity for most of my life. In fact, my sensitivity was something I ran from in many ways. When you are a highly sensitive person and unaware, the world feels more frightening and incomprehensible. The paradox?
When you are a highly sensitive person and aware, the world feels more, well, like you, beautiful, strong, and very comprehensible. Being a highly sensitive person is a true gift.
Well, in my diary entry last week, I wrote about being on the waitlist for the vaccine; and, I now have an appointment next Friday, which means I will be fully vaccinated by early May.
Now, as many of you know, my whole family lives in Los Angeles, California, where I lived the majority of my life; and, I have a niece graduating from high school this year. The question? Yep, you guessed it; do I travel? Not sure? Me either.
Instead of thinking about the choice, I looked at flights, and found that the quarantine policy for traveling into LA County is still in place, which means that when you are traveling into the County from out of state you must quarantine for 10 days.
I could not find a single resource on the flight booking site, nor on the CDC website about traveling once fully vaccinated. So? I called the LA County Public Health Department. The person that answered the phone was super nice, and, to my question, replied, that’s a good question. They didn’t know the answer either.
The LA County employee that helped me is going to do some research and call me back. Thus, my choice on traveling to LA remains, for now, on hold.
This past week, we had our remote Spring Instructor Forum. These forum’s are a chance for our Community Education Instructors to get to see each other, and to interact with us. In the Community Education program we have over 200 instructors, and they live all over the area, so this is one way we stay connected.
As I prepared my small talk with the Instructors, I pondered this past year, the current year, and the upcoming year. And? What occurred to me was that, yes, so much has changed this past year, and more changes will come.
Yet, one thing that will not change is the connection we have with each other, which is why I am calling next fiscal year (2021/22), The Year of Continued Connection.
There will always be change, and, in many ways, change is wonderful. Terribly hard at times, yes, and also beautiful.
Though we have no idea what the rest of this year will bring, we know that our relationships are strong, and that they will endure through whatever change comes our way. We have proven this this past year.
I’ve written many posts about relationships and connection. I always say, there’s nothing more important than the relationship we have with ourselves, and with those people we surround ourselves with.
Everything starts with us. And, when you have a quality connection with yourself, you will have quality connections with others.
I’ll leave you this week, with two quotes I shared with the Community Education Instructors this past week, as I think they speak very well to the value of connection.
“I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be… This is the interrelated structure of reality.” Martin Luther King Jr
“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” Brené Brown
