Life is to Short

 

Common Buckeye

 

  Life is to short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't.  Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance take it, if it changes your life let it. Nobody said that it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Symboisis

"There is an eternal love between

 the water drop and the leaf.

When you look at them,

you can see that they

 both shine

 out of happiness."

~Mehmet Murat ildan~

Always Looking for Light

  From a distance, from a larger perspective, we see, not only that the light far outweighs the dark, but that the source of light is often hidden in the dark;  that those darkest moments, the ones that bring us to our knees, somehow allow us to see the light that fills the rest of life.  And it's actually the mix of dark and light together that makes the whole thing beautiful...

Hope

 

 

    After a week of overcast skies, and rain that would not stop this double rainbow appeared Monday morning September 16th, 2013 after four days of ravaging water that devastated many homes, bridges, and destroyed the infrastructure that will take years to repair. This photo is looking north just outside Estes Park not far from Devils Gulch Road.
    As clearing began, the sun poked through to the beautiful robin egg blue skies that is so prevalent in the Rocky Mountains. Life was returning to a new normal that will ever pervade the lives and landscapes of Colorado. The resilience, hope, tenacity, and love of others and community will bring this state back together in a stronger and better way.
    I will miss and long to be back in my beloved summer "place" and will return next season to see friends and neighbors. The bigger picture for me, will be what can I do to help in recovery of the new normal. May all the people of Colorado receive many blessings as there lives more forward.

Disaster in the Rockies

 

 

   It is ironic that on September 10th, 2013 my last post talked about the greatest difficulties we face also offer the greatest opportunities to practice unconditional presence. Three days later on September 13th the worst disaster in Colorado history was beginning, and I found myself in the mist of raging water and the worst destruction I have ever witnessed. Surprisingly, the calmness I felt inside was a gift, constant prayers for friends,  neighbors, and first responders were clearly the presence I practiced.
  For four days my husband and I were literally cut off from the rest of the world. With the absence of electricity, phone service, the Internet and roads that were impassable in all directions the world just stopped. I felt the stillness and silence that is so rarely visited because of the world we live in. For me it was an erie yet beautiful stillness.
  I mentioned the difficulties we face also offer the greatest opportunities to practice presence. We were able to help our neighbor dispose of rotting food, as well as, alerting the sheriff to potentially trapped  people that had not been rescued. The picture below was the rescue of our neighbors to the West of us. They remained in their home unable to get out until late Sunday because of the  raging water and literally no access out from their home.

   For me one of the upsides of a dramatic event like this is it wakes me up from the complacency I tend to fall into, reminding me of how precarious and fragile life is, and helping me approach each day with more awareness and gratitude.
  On the other hand, dealing with disaster can easily pull me out of my spiritual practice and deeper perspective. For instance, helping friends and neighbors, watching endless news reports online, and responding to friends and  relatives who were anxious for updates once services was restored. Um, hello…who has time to meditate when there’s so much “important stuff” to take care of?!? We’re in a crisis, for God’s sake! Danger, Will Robinson!
  But after a few days of non-stop  activity, I needed a break. It became painfully clear that, precisely in the midst of high drama, it was even more crucial to create enough stillness to connect with my soul and to access God’s healing presence. As much as I wanted to be of service, I realized that if I make the deeper connection a priority, my helping actions will come from a clearer, wiser, more peaceful and loving place. My aspiration, always, is to develop better balance between the pressure to do and the longing to be.
 On Monday, September 16th, 2013 under sunny blue skies I felt encouraged by the "whop whop whop " of National Guard helicopters overhead as they rescued friends who were still stranded. I take a deep breath and tune into a larger picture. The natural world is sometimes tranquil and sometimes destructive; the waters of life are sometimes peaceful and sometimes raging; my daily life is sometimes centered and sometimes neurotic. I'm working on holding it all together in a greater embrace moment to moment.
   May God continue to be with those that are suffering and in need of strength and hope. The hard work is still ahead, and the many years it will take to rebuild infrastructure and communities. Often times the greatest difficulties become our greatest opportunities.

 

Uncovering the Veiled

"The greatest difficulties we face also offer the greatest opportunities to practice unconditional presence.  What is especially helpful in this practice is recognizing again and again that our experience is not as solid as we think.  Indeed, nothing is what we think it to be.  Meditation helps us recognize this by letting us notice and relate to the gaps or open spaces in our experience, from which genuine clarity and wisdom arise.

If we take this approach, our old wounds from the past can reveal hidden treasure.  In the places where we have contracted and turned away from our experience we can begin to uncover genuine qualities of our being that have long been veiled.  In the most painful corners of our experience something alive is always waiting to emerge.  So whatever pain or problem we have, if it helps us find a quality of presence -- where we can open to it, see it, feel it, include it, and find the truth concealed in it -- that is our healing." 

                         ~ Toward a Psychology of Awakening~
                                               John Welwood

Helping Others

               "The bee is more honored that other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others."

 

~St. John Chrysostom~

 

 

             

 

 

Enough

The heart sees
what is hidden to the eyes
and the heart knows things
the mind
cannot begin to understand