FIDDLERS on the Roof

In the vibrant, captivating musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye and his Jewish brethren give voice so brilliantly to the longings of their heart.  

There is celebration.  There is dancing. There is toasting.  Laughter.  There is commiseration.  There is sadness.  Tears.  There is hope. 

And, most importantly, there is an embracing of reality

Tevye and his cohorts in Anatevka have found their way to this all important EMBRACE and it is sourced in their honoring of community and in the way they care for each other.

Though they live their lives steeped in the architecture of tradition, they unmistakably express themselves… they chirp, they warble, they whine, they shout.  They cantillate and croon lullabies in a metaphorical and literal manner.  They sing their joy.  They sing their misery.

They do this because SOMEONE is listening. 

In Anatevka Everyone is listening.  Listening.

There is caring. There is concern. There is COMPASSION.

In Anatevka people want to know. They want to understand. They may not agree with each other but they want to hear each other’s stories.  They are counseled by the HEART.

Is Anatevka a reminder to us of how we were created…to engage with  each other, to learn from each other, to find our way by sharing our perceptions of how to SEE our journey?

We all have a great need to be heard, understood, and loved.

Ultimately, we are all Fiddlers on the Roof in search of community, connection, and meaning.

        

                                     Marie Helena

Image from Fiddler on the Roof  (the musical Broadway poster)  Playbill Store

The Ultimate Prescription

Emotions play an important role  in helping us process what is happening in our lives.  

They enable us to take in the impact of an event, feel its significance to us and express our reaction or response. 

They carry our feelings outward...moving them out of the body,  clearing any emotional residue and purging us of emotional toxicity that might be hiding inside us.
 

But there is an even MORE POWERFUL function of emotions that we experience in our life. 

Regardless of the kind of emotions we are feeling, they are all doing HUGE WORK in strengthening…or weakening the body.

Rhonda Byrne, author of  The Power  tells us that, "Every feeling you have saturates every cell and organ in your entire body."  

If you are radiating love, "you receive the full force of health through your body at an astounding rate."
 
On the other hand, Byrne tells us that  tension from anger, fear, stress, etc. causes your nerves, cells and blood vessels to contract, “changing the vital chemical production in your body...all of which reduces the force of your health.”


LOVE appears to be THE ULTIMATE PRESCRIPTION  for strengthening and protecting  the immune system and every cell in the  body. 

This means that WE CONTROL THE STATE OF OUR HEALTH by what we choose to believe and, therefore, feel (through the force of our emotions).


We DO NOT have to stay programmed to any beliefs we have been taught that violate what is in our hearts, our intuition, our instincts.  All that we have to do is stay true to our authentic selves by recognizing, acknowledging and speaking our truth. 

This includes accepting and acknowledging ALL that we feel, including the troubling emotions. 

It includes giving them a voice (actually BEING their voice) so they can be heard and embraced by us. 

By not denying these emotions, by not chasing them back into the shadows we are LOVING WHAT IS and, because we let ourselves love what is within us, we naturally extend that love to all that is around us.



iT IS MY BELIEF THAT WE NEED TO COURAGEOUSLY CONSULT OUR HEARTS, MAKING THEM OUR FINAL AUTHORITY IN ALL OF OUR DECISIONS. 

In doing this we will feel the beautiful freedomof designing/embracing our own life journey and will be inspired to choose the universal path of caring and love.  


This path CAN be our legacy if we are not impeded by a compelling need to meet another's expectations at the cost of our own honor.



Nature is Divinely designed to serve us and reward our self honoring and consequent outpouring of love by taking BEAUTIFUL care of our health and vitality. 


To achieve this,
LOVING and ACCEPTING OURSELVES 
are the ultimate prescription.

                              Marie Helena



image courtesy of ClipartHeaven.com

On the Way to the Light

 

There is a vase of flowers sitting on my desk. Baby white carnations. In a very tall, (actually, too tall) glass vase with a square opening. The interesting thing about the arrangement is that most of the flowers peek out the top a few inches and a few of the flowers, the shorter ones, are actually under the water.

The carnations crowning the vase are expressing their joy and enthusiasm, coexisting together, sharing their “home”, brushing one another’s petals…making the bouquet even more radiant.. They look like love expressing itself.

The carnations under the water level seem to be nourished by the liquid around them which is clear and translucent and seems to be holding some mysterious message. It’s as if they are exactly where they need to be and are getting just what is required for them at this moment in time. Their stems touch the bottom of the vase just as do the taller ones…each flower is grounded, regardless of its placement.

I can’t help but feel there is a lesson here.

On our way to the top of the vase where we shine in all of our glory…we may well need to stop and be nourished by the water of others’ kindness. We may need to be open to receiving the care often given to us with such love and compassion. 

I think sometimes we don’t recognize that we need to be immersed in the water or even that someone is providing it for us…but it is life-giving and sopowerful…a step  on the way to the Light.

Perhaps, like the flowers, we need to pause in our day, experience our thirst, let ourselves be satiated and recognize who is sustaining us with this beautiful gift.

                       Marie Helena

The Second Guitar

One of the coolest ways to demonstrate resonance is to use two guitars. Pluck a string on one of the guitars. Now lightly touch the same string on the second guitar. It will be vibrating because it has the same frequency as the string you plucked.

Paradigm Shift


Resonance is a principle of life. We all resonate based on matching vibrations. And this fact can be observed very readily in interpersonal relationships. We can be very susceptible to the vibrations expressed around us. Been around a happy person and found yourself smiling? Ever been around someone mired in gloom and found yourself dropping into that vibration? And what about someone who’s making judgmental statements and attacking you? How easy it is to play back the “sound of the string” you just heard!

If, however, you can take a deep breath and hold your center, cut through the outward expression you are hearing and realize that any negativity being manifested is coming from fear or pain, perhaps you can reach into the beautiful and gentle pool of compassion and ask someone if he is experiencing some difficulty…ask, perhaps, if you can be of some help…and, at any rate, listen with a kind and loving heart to what the person needs to express…even if it comes out in emotional, raw language…even if it is difficult to hear. If the person senses your caring and concern, he may, indeed, speak his truth and, thereby, release some of the pain he is holding onto. Perhaps your kindness can help unmask its unsettling disguise and, like an alchemist, transform the erratic energy of the moment into the soft sound of love being given and received.

When you find yourself face to face with an uncomfortable or awkward or upsetting situation, ask yourself: What would Love do?  If love is your guiding principle there is no place you can go where you will not make beautiful music. Let your “Second Guitar” play its own melody…the melody of your caring heart!

                   Marie Helena 

The BLOSSOMING of Our Lives

 

The BLOSSOMING of Our Lives

You are all as much extraordinary phenomena of nature as say trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the shape of fire, the form of the galaxy.                           

Alan Watts
                                                   


We have all become so very adept at noticing what is "wrong" with ourselves...that we're not quite good enough...that we fret and worry...we make mistakes, poor choices ...have lapses in judgment.  And this is because we have all been, as Alan Watts puts it, "bamboozled" into attempting to live up to others' values and expectations instead of finding our own path to paradise.


But, you know how soulfully we revere aflower...

which breaks the earth when it is ready in sleepy nods, 
stretches to the sky under the watchful eye of the sun and beautiful breezes,
blossoms open in perfect resonance with nature's invitation,
generously releases its delicate scent upon the surrounding spectators...


Watts says we are every bit as extraordinaryas that gorgeous phenomenon of floral magnificence...doing its thing...BEing a flower... 

as WE authentically act from deep within our own hearts.



We do not judge the flower for its flower"ness" nor criticize its moves.  There is no floral bashing.  Nothing for the flower to be chastised for.

A flower is what it is...a flower.  And a flower does what flowers do.

And Watts is saying that WE ARE what we are...physical specimens, human beings...and WE DO what human beings do.  We sing, we play, we strive, we stumble, we rejoice, we grieve and it is...all of it...our Journey. 

Our wonderful, magnificent Journey!



Whatever we are doing…it’s part of what’s going on and Watts says it’s Time to Wake Up to this and adapt the Japanese concept of Judo which means The Gentle Way.  

Watts advises...Do not condemn, criticize, judge yourself…but rather accept that this is part of the flow.  Accept this. In Watts' words...Go along with it.  Go along with it.


And, while we are doing what humans do, while we are BEing extraordinary phenomena of nature, I feel we need to celebrate ourselves...all of us...all of ourmoves...every one...

for in those moves we are growing, shedding,embracing, becoming, remembering...doing what we do...as do the flowers, the trees, the clouds, water, fire, the galaxy.


The moves we make are not missteps though we may perceive them to be. 

They are the unfolding...and, in some cases....the unraveling...they are 
The BLOSSOMING of Our Lives...and they are, every step in every direction, magnificent opportunities for our evolution.



WE are a manifestation of the Journey to beauty and joy and truth...

and every move we make in the direction of that glorious goal is what we are innately designed to do...grow...learn...and...Love.

                           Marie Helena 




image from sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com

Cutting Edge: The Calling

A few weeks ago my podiatrist shared a fascinating anecdote with me during a routine office visit.  We love to have our chats together and. on this particular day, I found myself immensely inspired by something he told me. 


It seems the doc was having a meal alone one evening in a restaurant when he was invited by an acquaintance to join him and four other friends at another table.  Now the interesting thing about this is that the five gentlemen who were sitting together were all very conservative in their beliefs and my podiatrist leans way in the other direction.  


The subjects discussed by the group during the lengthy conversation which took place  that evening were religion and politics...a red flag zone if ever I'd heard one.  But the doc told me that just as the conversation opened, he announced that he does not argue religion or politics.  He just discusses them in order to understand others' points of view.  

 
I was intrigued as I heard his no arguing stipulation and wondered how the conversation had evolved after he made that statement.  With the most delighted demeanor,  the doc informed me that the conversation that ensued (with him on one side and the five gentlemen on the other) had been enlightening and stimulating and gentlemanly in tone.  And, as the doc departed the gathering one and a half hours later, he was informed by group members that he had presented thoughts and ideas they had never considered before.  



Wow...I thought.  And WOW again!


What a profound result had occurred that day from the very sincere declaration of the doc, "I don't argue religion or politics." 

I wondered...
What if no one "argued" religion or politics...or anything else for that matter?  What if we talked to each other to learn about what others believe and why and how their beliefs have affected their lives? What if we listened to what others said without feeling threatened or intimidated?  What if we had nothing to prove and, possibly, something to learn from hearing other points of view?


The world would surely be a very different place than the way it is right now.  It would more closely resemble a gathering of curious scholars and philosophers than often being the hotbed it is of arguments and disputes that sometimes culminate in unrest, injury and violence.


Why do we have a need to compel or persuade others to "see things our way"?  Why is it so threatening to us that others reject our beliefs?  Why do we need to see OUR ideas prevail? And why are some of us sometimes willing to inflict mental, emotional or physical injury on those who do not share our views?  

Have we not come to this earthly dimension to learn, to experience, to discover for ourselves what there is to know?  And are we not gifted with the company and comradeship of other earth travelers who are also here to discover FOR THEMSELVES what there is to know? Why argue with each other when everyone has been given this same calling?  Why not stay open to learning what has been noticed, accepted, embraced and assimilated by others and try to understand what they have learned that has felt so important and appealing to them?


"I do not argue.  I discuss so I can understand."  

 
Can you imagine the wealth of sharing and mutual support that would take place if every man clearly embraced his highest calling "to understand"...perhaps one of the most powerful and needed changes that could ever occur on our planet!


                                       Marie Helena


image from pinterest.com

Divine Feminine Energy

 

As we celebrate the beautiful occasion of  Mother's Day, my thoughts are drawn to the power and beauty and significance of Love as it is expressed in Divine feminine energy.  This beautiful Grace which streams so elegantly from the hearts of women.  Such an exquisite blessing.  It seems to be their birthright . . . their gift to the world.

Somehow, women intuitively know that when someone is experiencing pain, in that moment there is nothing more powerful, more healing than for that person to feel understood.  To have someone mirror back to them an understanding of the intensity of their pain or distress and how it is affecting them.

This essential longing to be understood is a vital part of the human condition.  Without this loving kindness it is difficult for an individual to move forward into an acknowledgment of what is transpiring.  And, without that acknowledgment, that acceptance, it is impossible to move through the experience to the other side. . . . to the peace that comes through Surrender.

The feminine heart holds the key to the unfolding of this process.  We are all so in need of this exquisite form of compassion.  When we receive it, we find the energy to lead ourselves through the dark night of the soul.  This precious feminine offering is the antidote to loneliness, to abandonment.  It promotes caring, a sense of safety, connection.

Because our world is changing and evolving it is wonderful to note that feminine energy is now being expressed by males as well. And, in return, masculine energy is leading by example the demonstration of the importance and value of steadfastness and devotion.

How wonderful that we an all minister to each other, sharing the precious and pleasing endowments of our earthly lives!


                                                                      Marie Helena

                                                             
image on Pinterest
Joyce Hicks watercolor