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