Growing Awareness

Awareness to me is an endless spiral, ever widening and expanding in an eternal way, drawing me forward. I am in awe of all I am unaware of in me, in others, in the world. This fills my heart with wonder and invites curiosity. And so, I look at each of you and my patients and acknowledge all that I am unaware of about you and ponder all that you are unaware of about me. This is humbling and stirs in me an abiding interest in the deeper values of belonging and be-friending others to collaborate more meaningfully as human be-ings in an ever changing world. It motivates me to liberate myself and others by relinquishing unjust power as it comes to me at the expense of others, in favor of a beloved community and a unitive world perspective.

Love Makes Us Whole

When I live in the joy of right relationship with Love as my divine source, it works in me, through me, and with me letting my heart and my passion overrule my ego and analytical mind. It accepts and allows all my imperfection. I come as I am. This frees me to connect with others, inspires creativity, agility in life’s challenging moments, a fluid sense of my being, and courage in my very vulnerability. Give me the grace to accept your love and to love others as you love me. May we all love each other into the wholeness of being with the very breath of kindness.

May Peace Find You

In silence learn to give of yourself, forgive others, live with gratitude. Then you need not seek inner peace: Peace will find you! ~ Nan Merrill

This is the path of peace for me. Through daily contemplation I slowly notice myself changing, being at peace. Things that previously ran like monkeys or rats round my mind are more easily discarded. Forgiveness and gratitude expand. I am able to be in the midst of upset or chaos with an other and not feel compelled to fix it. Above all, I release my well ingrained habit of beating myself up for my imperfection. I am learning ( slowly ) to come as I am, allow space for others too as well, and be fully human. And there is deep peace in this kind of presence.

Offering Your Compassionate Self

The story of the humming bird is about this huge forest being consumed by a fire. All the animals in the forest come out and are transfixed as they watch the forest burning and they feel overwhelmed and very powerless, except for this little humming bird. It says, “I am going to do something about this fire.” So it flies to the nearest stream, picks up a drop of water and puts it on the fire, goes up and down, up and down, up and down, as fast as it can.

In the meantime, all the other animals, much bigger ones like the elephant with its big trunk which could bring much more water, are standing there helpless. They say to humming bird, “What do you think you can do? You are too little, this fire is so big. Your wings are so little and your beak is so small, you can only bring a small drop of water at a time.”

But as they continued to discourage him, he turns to them without wasting any time and tells them, “I am doing the best I can.”

That to me is what all of us should do. We should always do like the humming bird. I may feel insignificant, but I certainly don’t want to be like the animals watching as the planet goes down the drain. I will be a humming bird. I will do the best I can.

~Wangaari Mathai

Oh, the comfort – the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person – having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.

~ Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

May you be graced to be this comfort offering this breath of kindness as you ‘qualitatively’ offer your compassionate self in service of the whole ‘beloved community’ we all long to feel included in.

Deep Meaning and Kinship

When I live in the joy of right relationship with Love as my divine source, it works in me, through me, and with me letting my heart and my passion overrule my ego and analytical mind. It accepts and allows all my imperfection. I come as I am. This frees me to connect with others, inspires creativity, agility in life’s challenging moments, a fluid sense of my being, and courage in my very vulnerability. Truth, unity through kinship and belonging, goodness, justice, beauty and above all love are my deepest yearnings. These yearnings motivate my actions – my compassion and empathy for others and ultimately, provide my life’s deepest meaning. Give me the grace to accept your love and to love others as you love me. May we all love each other into the wholeness of being with the very breath of kindness.

~ With life as short as a half-taken breath, don’t plant anything but love ~

~ Rumi

Paths of Plenitude

Month: June 2020