STUCK in Your Own Traffic Jam!

 
It's 5:03 p.m. and you have just left work with high hopes of scooting into traffic before the usual dinnertime craziness strikes...but, unfortunately, it's forming ahead of you. 


 One block up and there you are...stuck in a  traffic jam.
 
We ALL know what this is like.  

The frustration of being frozen in place when every cell in our body wants to move.  But we are constrained by the circumstances of the moment.  We are wedged in on every side.  Our annoyance and irritation are growing  because we are stuck.  There is no motion or movement and it's making everything worse.  : (


You have just read my metaphor describing what happens in our body when a pain occurs and we choose to contract.


Here are some examples of what "contract"ion looks like:

You think,
                      "Oh no, what's happening to me now?"
                     "What's wrong?"
                      "I hate when this happens.  I thought I was over this."
                      "What next?"
                       "I have to fix this...where is the aspirin?"
                      " This is __________'s fault for talking to me like that."

and your body records the frustration with increased stress and tension.


All of these thoughts tend to make us contract...from anxiety or distress.  They either express our exasperation, our attempt to "fix" something or our tendency to find someone else to take the blame...in effect, causing the "traffic jam" in our body to Intensify and the pain to worsen.

And by choosing the route of contraction we miss the traffic "signal" of our body (the pain) which is there to help us navigate our way through the impasse.  We fail to recognize...to hear the body's message and honor it...and that message is..."Something is STUCK and we need to help it move."

 
AND HOW DO WE ACCOMPLISH THIS?
 
We accomplish this by sitting quietly and observing the pain...experiencing  how it is expressing itself.  

We watch it softly...non- judgmentally...for however long it is present and we patiently track its movement,  paying close attention to what it feels like.   

Over time, with our acceptance and patience, in my experience the pain WILL move and change its expression several times and...eventually... it will release its hold on the body.


This journey of release is the path energy takes when it is allowed to move.  When it is kept hostage by contraction (just like when we are caught in the unyielding traffic jam),  it grows more intense and more upsetting and, yes, more painful.


The ancient Hopi tribe was very aware of the powerful effect of moving energy and used this principle in its healing rituals.  Unfortunately, in contemporary life, we often choose outside sources to help us when the body itself is its OWN healing agent if we but listen to its message and get out of our own way.


By allowing our energy to disengage from the point of pain and move of its own volition we can honor the exquisite wisdom of our body when it is stuck in its own traffic jam and begin the beautiful journey of release.


image from science roll.com.  

Loving the Distance

 












Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.


                                                                               Rainer Maria Rilke

         
                                                                                                             
To see the other "whole against the sky"...

How beautiful and loving to truly "see" and "know" another sans the heavy trappings of our own unmet needs, conditioning and ego!  How transforming...how triumphant!


And not the easiest task when mired in the heavy density of earth school where we struggle so to come up for the air of feeling in control, satisfied, vindicated, "in the game" and winning.

Rilke is suggesting in his beautiful poetic way that we choose a view much more vast than just taking care of ourselves.  He is asking us to look much further...to reach, to stretch our souls up into the infinite distance where we have the clarity of seeing the view of each soul traversing its own terrain.  And it is a stunning picture...it is magnificent.  It is a work of art creating itself in each moment...the story of all of our journeys.

That work of art is subtle and sensitive...intricate and winding...powerful, chaotic and peaceful...teeming with the stories of all earth dwellers trying to find their way. And the paths...and landmarks...and back roads vary greatly but they make sense to the traveler and THAT is what we need to honor in ourselves and in all others.  In that honoring is birthed the exquisite gift of understanding and  empathy...and the life-changing, mystical experience of Loving the Distance!



image from scamp.ie
Scamp:  The Irish Illumination Blog
 (from Brian Fitzgerald's sketchbook)

 

Two Imperial Peacocks and A Tawny Cat

 














What do two glorious, imperial peacocks  and a tawny neighborhood cat have in common? 

 Both seem to have been recently conscripted (like so much of nature's animal kingdom) to serve as Messengers...delivering affirmations and proclamations of hope and compassion to two students enrolled in the rigorous curriculum of earth school.


Here are THE TWO SCENARIOS of these extraordinary moments.
 

The woman to whom the peacock appeared described her experience afterwards in magical phrases. "He had long, beautiful feathers trailing behind him like an emperor's robe, a majestic slow walk, his robust feathered chest puffed out and strutting like royalty."  His "handsome bird face" carried "a crown of feathers".  And (here is the charm and fascination)...he was accompanied by an equally brilliant counterpart...however, this peacock stood only twelve inches high.  Father and son...out for an evening stroll!

The magic of this exquisite encounter is this:  at the very moment the peacocks appeared, the observer had been anxiously pondering her concern about the strength and sustainability of her son and grandson's relationship...and there she was.presented suddenly with a vividly glorious display of  PATERNAL BONDING.

This Divine answer to the question being presented could not have been more dramatic, more intense and more beautiful.


The second encounter took place on my home territory.

The tawny cat who roams our neighborhood does not carry the imperial presence of the glorious peacocks but she has her own brand of charm...which she keeps to herself most of the time.  She loves to sneak on our porch  and pause to view the wonders of nature but the moment we step nearby, she is gone...like lightning.

Recently, however, I was sitting on the porch with a tawny colored throw on my lap, contemplating some old emotional issues I had not yet been able to unravel when I suddenly made some new connections and was able to reframe the problem.  I found the new insight astounding...and I was not the only one to be impressed for just then the tawny cat made her way to the porch, came directly up to me, looked me straight in the eyes and made a sound that sounded exactly like "Wow".  Following her comment, she gazed into my eyes a second time, voiced her approval with the same sound and was suddenly gone.


It was perfectly clear the tawny cat had been on a mission as were the father and son peacocks...delivering heavenly affirmations in the most delightful, unexpected and entrancing manner.


And it seems these Divine Messengers have many cohorts in their celestial assignments.  I've heard stories of blackbirds, hummingbirds, doves and dragonflies also reaching out to extend Love to earth dwellers laboring on their life journey.


Perhaps there is a reason for the appearance of these soulful interventions.


Are we catching glimpses of these amazing ambassadors because we are learning to watch more closely for the astounding evidence of the 
Love  that  authors, cradles and rocks the universe?




image of peacocks from dragoart.com
How to Draw a Peacock, Step by Step

 
image of cat from yerf.metafur.org
S. M. Bittler (Synnabar) - Yerf Historical Archive

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

Quantum physics tells us that we CREATE our life...that what we focus on manifests itself for us.  So, as creators, it is imperative that we know the foundation  from which we are creating.

Are we creating from old subconscious energy that is stuck...mired in unhealed pain, past hurts, unresolved issues?  Have these become our default engine?  Are we repeating patterns that have clearly not served us well...and yet falling back on the familiar (and, in an ironic twist, the comfortable)?


THIS may be the reason why it is so very hard to change habits and so annoying that we can't.  The old "stuff" is driving our behavior and it's been chauffeuring us around for a long  time.  And we don't like the destination we are delivered to.  It's not what we want, but it is what we get...

Unless...


we make a conscious, fully committed decision to RELEASE the hurts...the pain...the angst...we have been carrying.  At the time these injuries occurred, we were unable to transcend them...that's why they are still here.  But now, as we learn more, we can CHOOSE to free ourselves from the layers of suffering.  What felt to us like insult and injury can now be recognized as life journey decisions of others that had NOTHING to do with us (though our ego would argue otherwise).  Their behavior was all about them...their conditioning, their influences, their pain.  But, because we, too, were life journeying and filled with our own ego struggles, it seemed to be coming directly AT us.


And the cosmic plan becomes even more fascinating. Although what people do is truly about them, paradoxically, their actions function FOR us.


As we grow spiritually, we begin to sense the soul view of how life operates to bring us circumstances and people who will trigger our Insecurities and, thereby, provide us with the perfect opportunity to recognize our own issues and honor them as gifts to help us grow.  


It seems the very best way to advance spiritually is to intentionally release the layers of old conditioning that have caused our reactions through the soul knowledge that all things in the universe operate FOR US.  As Reverend Linda DeCoff says, when we receive the message through our intention (the higher consciousness awareness that we truly want to learn through any situation), the baggage we have been carrying around disappears.


Once we have released our old conditioning through our awareness of the value of the lesson, we are free to create our lives not from the shackles of the past, but rather IN
THIS MOMENT as a young child looks at life with freshness and curiosity and wonder.  This is the way we enter our earth life...with purity and simplicity...untainted by the values of others and trusting always in what feels right to us.  


Through our dedication to gaining self-knowledge we are FREE
 to make choices and decisions based on what feels "wonderful" (little child wonderful) to us NOW...not because we are in pain..not to "get back" at someone we feel has hurt us...and not to comfort or console ourselves during a dark or difficult moment.

                                                                
The beauty of the CHILD emerges...the child who so unselfconsciously recognizes love in each moment and appreciates so gratefully each gift of the universe...and it is this awesome, precious "child"  who leads us to the person we want to be.  



"A Little Child Shall Lead Them" Isaiah 11:1-10





images from http://sujitheie.blogspot.com/2011/10/amazing-pencil-sketches.html
Golden childhood remember painting moments image

Life's Glorious Adventure

The soul is healed by being with children.
                                                            English proverb                                                       





...And I am contemplating why this is so...


There is such a freshness, an aliveness to children.  They wear their emotions  with such glorious transparency...they  ARE their emotions.  There is no guessing whether a child is happy, sad, excited, angry, restless.  Their emotional state is on display through every fiber of their being.

They are so PRESENT.   Tuned in.   They want to be a part of whatever is going on.  They want to voice their vote about it.  If they like what they see, their pleasure is undeniable.  If they don't like it, that's undeniable, too.

Children ADORE themselves.  They feel certain everyone will adore them, too.

Why not PRANCE about...SPLASH through puddles...MAKE gigantic gum BUBBLES and chocolate pudding FACES? 



All  of this feels to children like their birthright. 
Just because.


LIFE IS FUN...                                                    

Sing!   Don't worry how you sound.            

      

Dance!  Don't worry how you look. 

  

ENJOY YOURSELF!
                                                 
         
Now contrast that glorious, multi-color, CinemaScope presence that is children with the restrained, cautious, self-protective, proper image of the GROWN-UP who has learned to contain his impulses, to recognize organizational hierarchy, to follow whoever is  "in charge".  


No wonder we need children to bring us back...to return us...to our beautiful primal selves entranced with life and everything around us, unafraid to speak our truth, trusting our own instincts regarding whether we choose to be all in...or...moving on...to the next delightful destination.


What a beautiful world it would be if the "child" in every one of us NEVER grew out of "life's glorious adventure"!







top image from paigekeiser.blogspot.com.

Pilialoha!

What if you had the opportunity to holiday at a beautiful, exotic island filled not only with azure waters and a mahalo moon but also with the dancing,  dazzling ambiance of vibrational  magic!  

What if every move you made there...every sight you saw...or sound you heard...every thought you entertained...or word you spoke...was spontaneously translated  into an energetic readout for your consideration...a compassionate, loving soul view of how life was unfolding through and around you!


Here you would be privy to the secrets of the Universe...you would no longer be lost in confusion or misunderstanding.  Your heart would sense and know and appreciate the hearts of others, effortlessly extending them caring and understanding for the challenges they were experiencing...and also extending that beautiful compassion to yourself for the work of your life journey.


What if that exotic, magical island is where you already reside...wherever that may be?  What if the power of that mysterious island magic is already in you...awaiting your discovery?


Your soul already harbors the magic of that island but the MAGIC is something we must all divine.


Working with and through our bodies our soul sends us the subtle, sensitive energetic messages of what is truly unfolding...

the soul view, the compassionate translation of what is behind the sadness, the pain, the outbursts of emotion...an authentic, clear and loving interpretation of our own actions and the actions of others.


To receive this treasured transmission, however, we must possess an open heart.  A heart that has traveled beyond gratification,  power, acclaim to the search for life's meaning and has asked itself important questions: 

Who created this amazing universe?
What role do I play here?
What is the best way to live out that role?
What truly brings me joy?


Our beautiful, exotic island with its soothing and serene magic dances to the sound of Love...and it is not very far away.  It can be found hidden in the Heart which is generously and lovingly OPEN  to every pulse of the universe.

Pilialoha!

My wish is that we all reach and realize this island paradise in "a bond of love".





image from theartfestival.wordpress.com.