Tag Archives: mind body spirit

I Am Infinite

Who am I? Genetics, environment, and experience, they have all helped to shape me. I was born into this life with a touch of auburn in my hair from Dad, and long piano playing fingers from Mom.

But father, why did you not give me the flaming locks that run in your Scottish family? Why just a whisper of red for me? I have a fire inside that rages, and a call to blaze a path in this world. My Maori friend calls me “Fire”. Perhaps it is so my flame is evident only to those with eyes that see deeper?

And mother, why was I born with your hands and no musical talent? It felt cruel. It was a source of frustration to me that I failed at piano lessons. Perhaps it was so I could learn to see in myself what is, rather than what is not?

One summer afternoon, the girl I was lay on her bed daydreaming. I left my body and up I rose until I floated among the stars, tethered to Earth by a slender silver thread. I felt infinity for the first time, and I realized that I was so much more than they were telling me.

I am the artist in France, learning to express my soul on canvas. In this present life, I recall those lessons easily. Painting is like breathing to me. That other self walks in Monet’s garden, and I yearn to again. A photo of the Seine in the fog makes my heart ache with longing. It is a happy life.

I am the Japanese geisha in love with a powerful man. He loves me, but we cannot be together. Even now, pink cherry blossoms in spring make my heart both sing and weep, all at the same time. The lesson? I love and I am loved. In the end, the love is all that is important.

Sometimes when I walk along the sidewalk, I recognize a piece of myself in a stranger’s eyes. How can I say what it is exactly? It is fleeting, but I see it, and I feel it.

When I pass a beggar on the street, I attach a blessing to the coin I give. In my mind I say, “I know you, and I feel your pain. I have been where you are. It is a lesson you are learning, and it will all be okay.”

There is so much of me flooding in from the world, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it. So I wash the dishes or sweep the floor, ordinary tasks that ground me in the here and now.

But I can never deny to myself, or to the world, that which I know to be true: I am stardust. I am Infinite. I am part of it All.

It Could Happen to You

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The girl with green eggs has not been at the corner selling her family’s eggs for days now. Almost overnight there are food shortages in an equatorial country that boasts diverse geographical growing regions, a year-round growing season in all of them, and is in actual fact abundant with food.

Gasoline, propane cooking gas, meat, fresh vegetables, milk, and eggs have quickly dried up in the wake of protests led by the indigenous CONAIE federation, who are taking a stand against the government of Ecuador because of rising fuel and fertilizer prices accompanied by fixed selling prices, amongst other issues.

Protestor road blockages have domestically cut off the supply chain to cities small and large alike, and the general population is collectively feeling the pain of the wide disparity between the poor and the rich, which after two weeks of clashes still appears to be an irreconcilable vast chasm.

Why am I telling you this? Because in the times in which we live, it is a mistake to believe that things are “returning to normal”. The war in eastern Europe will have widespread repercussions in the days ahead due to the current shortages of fertilizer worldwide. (Russia normally supplies about 1/3 of the world’s fertilizer needs.) Even privileged First World countries in the northern hemisphere will feel the pain this coming fall.

In a world where supply chains have already proven to be tenuous in the past two years, agreements between politicians and countries are thrown away in a heartbeat, and the amount of food grown obviously already cannot meet the needs of 8 billion people, humanity is experiencing a collective shift in the way we see and live life on this planet.

Humans have this strange way of looking at things that make them uncomfortable and saying, “But that could never happen to me”. It is the ostrich methodology of preserving normalcy bias.

It’s time to see the world with your eyes wide open, because yes, it could happen to you. Why not at least allow for the word “perhaps” in your vocabulary? “Perhaps” allows for the next thought, “What would I do if it did?” “Perhaps” allows for the idea of personal preparedness in the rapidly shifting playing field of a world in crisis.

Take a Nature Break

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We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an important break.

A nature break, that is. Nature’s poetry brought to your doorstep. Breathe deeply, let go of the chaos and negativity in the news, and feel the gentle pulse of the sweet soul of the Earth. Steadfast and true, she waits for you…

There are some great tips in this article: Taking a Nature Break

Inspirational Quotes by John Muir:

“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.”

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.”

“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.”

Photos courtesy Владимир Кондратьев, Francesco Ungaro, Jeremmy Bishop, Pexels

Our Next New Frontier

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Famous explorers of old had the support of their kings and queens to discover new lands, fresh opportunities for growth and settlement, expansion of old empires. Supplies and some men and ships, plus gold coins as incentive and fortification of the spirit, got the job done. Rumors of more riches to be had, as well as peoples to be conquered, further fueled the desire of some power hungry leaders of exploration.

But for the more common men and women who followed them into the New World, their reasons were different. A deep desire burned for a new life outside of their known society, to feel the wide open spaces where one’s spirit could breathe again, and explore the freedom of a more personal say in the course of one’s own destiny. This was not an easy path. It took courage, sacrifice, hard work, and diligence to make a life in unknown territory.

Determination of the human spirit

History has a way of repeating itself. We see patterns of domination and control, followed by humanity’s uprising of spirit to find a way out, onward and upward. The human spirit has proven over and over again, it will never be defeated. Sometimes it gets lost, but in times of challenge it reveals itself one again, ready to blossom and flourish.

Our current experience is feeling limited in potential and tired in spirit. In short, it is old. The question to ask ourselves right now is, “What is that next frontier we want to carve out? How does that next new world we desire look and feel?”

We will create that next new experience

Consider that since new places on this Earth are getting used up, perhaps that next frontier is not one just fueled by spirit, but it will be one OF spirit, an expansion of our collective consciousness.

It is time for us to develop that vision in our imaginations, creating and honing it with the fire of our deep desire. This new world will be ours. We just need to muster a little courage to head out into the unknown, and we will never look back.

Living As If

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If a seer told you with all certainty that today would be your last day to live, how would that change the way you lived this day?

The next question is, why would someone saying this to you make any difference in how you spend today? If you are not living fully each day anyway, perhaps it is time to ask yourself “Why am I not?”

The difference between the two is that one is living consciously and intentionally, the other is called coasting.

Your life is precious. Treat it with reverence. Strive to give yourself the life, every day, that you desire and deserve.