Popular Posts

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Mum's the Word



 
It’s almost Halloween and I am a holiday junkie.  

The front porch is filled with scarecrows, corn stalks, bales of hay, a black cat and some very big (and I mean big) pots of chrysanthemums in purple, wine, yellow and white

 And though I love the color and texture of everything on the porch, the really big deal for me is putting my face right into the flowers and taking in their essence… the touch and smell and coolness…in other words, their vibration!


I take breaks during the day to go out and do this. It connects me with nature’s bountiful gifts and beauty. It lifts me out of my everyday tasks and says, “We’re right here…just waiting for you to enjoy us.” Yep, those flowers are smiling. I know it. They love to have someone get right in their faces.


Which reminds me…I am also addicted to hugging trees. I have a particular tree in the neighborhood that lets me feel its roots straight down into the earth. I used to look around before I approached the tree, but, naw…I don’t look around anymore. I just see that beauty and go for it.
I hug bushes, too. And have been for many years.

Although I am no gardener, I think that this is exactly the kind of  high  that gardeners feel when they do their thing.
Now here’s a really interesting fact I learned recently about plants and gardeners. If you are raising plants that you will eat, when you tend them with personal, loving care they produce for you whatever your DNA requires.
 

Now that’s mind blowing. And it sure tells you that the universe is alive and wanting to spread its goodness everywhere.
 

 So have at ‘em…pumpkins, flowers, trees…the whole works. They’re just waiting for your perceptive eyes and glowing attention


                                                                                     Marie Helena

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Divine Flight: A True Gift




When I was a young girl, my mother taught me how to open a pair of scissors and use one of the blades to scrape along the side of a thin grosgrain ribbon to make it curl. This technique worked beautifully and by spending just a few minutes on this project I could produce a gift that was literally covered in a flurry of tumbling ribbons.

As I reminisce on these beautiful moments of nostalgia, a thought occurs to me about what those ribbons represent.  As delightful as they are with their curls resting lightly in waves of frivolity, those lovely ribbons may also be a reminder to us of the many layers of meaning...and even the strings...we perhaps attach subconsciously to the giving of our gifts.

Perhaps the "ribbons" we fasten so carefully to our packages are metaphorical scouts for us, meant to capture some information we are seeking:

Will the recipient be happy/comfortable to receive a gift from us?

Will he like our choice of gift?
       Have we chosen well?
       Do we understand his preferences?
       Have we been original/creative?


All of these questions (these "ribbons") may be attached to the gifts we are giving and, interestingly, they are all about US.

Are we also giving a gift to ourselves?  The gift of information...possibly of answers we are seeking?



We are often very anxious to learn how someone likes a gift we have given and, even more basically, if he has even received it.  Once we know the gift has been acquired, we are naturally eager to learn the details of the recipient's response.  

Interestingly, these details help shape the image we hold of ourselves and which we are continually refining.  We keep pretty busy trying to figure out how we are being perceived in the space of our relationships.

But what if we were to consider the gifts we give in an entirely different way? What if they had nothing to do with us… and everything to do with the recipient?


I wonder just what that would look like.

Perhaps we would be a holding a warm, affectionate feeling for someone we are close to.  And, from that beautiful place of caring, we would be inspired to give him an object or experience that would delight, inspire, celebrate or comfort him.  We would trust our intuitive sense of this possibility unfolding.  And we would also trust that the recipient would intuitively know how best to enjoy or utilize our inspiration.

Then, fully and sacredly grounded in that sense of knowing, we would RELEASE the gift and with it the need to have knowledge of its delivery and our attachment to being aware of how the gift was received.  We would consign our "inspiration" to the Divine workings of our beautiful Universe.

Now the gift becomes a beautiful impulse which we have brought into fruition and, with a loving thought, we have sent it on its way.


No need for it to "report back" to us with further information.  No assignment.  No conditions.  No strings.  Once we dispatch this jewel, we leave the playing field and let it take its own  Divine flight..


A true gift.  An exquisite place of unconditional love!  And, released from their assignment, our ribbons are now free to simply adorn the stirrings of the heart.


                                                                               Marie Helena



GIFT       Something given voluntarily without "payment" in return





image from pinterest

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Fatima's Laughter






I have this lovely group of friends… individuals that I used to work with… who like to get together a few times a year to celebrate our birthdays. It's always a convivial affair...we catch up with each everyone's latest escapades and adventures.  There is much merriment and lots of affectionate teasing (especially by the guys) which are enjoyed by all.  And, amid all of this friendly chatter, there is always one particular moment I so look forward to...the delight of  "hearing" one of my special friends arrive... and that is because I can recognize her glorious bursts of laughter before she even enters the room.

Truly, my friend Fatima cannot contain her JOY.  It pours out of her like liquid grace, SPARKLING with tiny diamonds of delight.  And I am filled with gratitude to catch the happy sparks as they flutter by.


Our delightful Fatima is completely taken with life...
so present...… 
so interested in what is going on around her. 
And not only interested, but CELEBRATORY!!! 

When I hear her laughter in  the offing, I cannot wait for Fatima to arrive.  It is so lovely and engaging to be around someone so radiantly interested in and appreciative of everything around her.  I think she must have been one of the first in the heavenly line to receive Curiosity and then must have promptly snuck eagerly into the aisles of Joyfulness and Delight


I am not sure why I have the good fortune to know this memorable character who graces my life.  But I do recognize her spirit as a special GIFT.  She is a reminder to me of the charismatic connection we can all enjoy with everything that crosses our path.  

There is ALWAYS something beautiful to behold...
to be fascinated with...
and to enjoy. 
Just by reason of its very existence...its availability.  


We live on a verdant, lush planet of infinite possibility. We are surrounded by fascinating individuals, each with his or her own preferences, experiences, values, feelings.  Everyone has a story to tell.


Fatima is listening...And seeing… And appreciating.  She is present.  And, best of all, she is ENJOYING the ride.


Fatima will not miss "the party".  Not with that glorious curiosity and boundless appreciation.  She IS "the party".


 Have you discovered YOUR invitation to this glorious event?



                                                                       Marie Helena





 Take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.

        Horace.  






image from pinterest