Author: valeriecameronmerritt

My family is signed up for a weekly CSA box delivery this summer. It’s adding some fun and variety to our kitchen with occasional fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are either new for us or not regularly on the menu. We’ve tried soup with satisfyingly hearty water spinach, sweet potato greens in a coconut curry, a lemon basil pesto with avocado, and now this week a comforting tulsi tea. I’ve had tulsi or holy basil before but it was dried in a bag for steeping or a capsule to swallow with water. Unpacking the box alongside one of the farmers, and finding the green stems jutting out of a partially open and slightly crinkled white paper bag with the scent of fresh tulsi, mildly sweet and calming, was a pleasant surprise. I stood there for a stretched out moment to fully breathe the sweetness in and the exhale was all gratitude and contentment. The cups of tea that have followed are delightfully more of the same!

If you have access to fresh tulsi and want to make tea, I’ve read that it’s best to let the bundle of leaves wilt for a day ahead of steeping. Gently coil the basil into the bottom of a glass pitcher or jar and fill with hot water. Cover it for 10-15 minutes before removing the leaves to let it cool and enjoy!

“Be wild; that is how to clear the river. The river does not flow in polluted, we manage that. The river does not dry up, we block it. If we want to allow it its freedom, we have to allow our ideational lives to be let loose, to stream, letting anything come, initially censoring nothing. That is creative life. It is made up of divine paradox. To create one must be willing to be stone stupid, to sit upon a throne on top of a jackass and spill rubies from one’s mouth. Then the river will flow, then we can stand in the stream of it raining down.”

Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman

In honor of being present this Monday, take a moment to check in with yourself and assess what is or isn’t working for you – today – yesterday – this month- this year. Give yourself a little freedom and flexibility with plans. This is coming from a person who may have been known to function from a fairly fixed place in the past. If I said I was going to do something, I did it, even if the thing became inconvenient or could be seen to have benefit in another course. I felt that good character included staying true to your word. I’m not in any way suggesting that you shouldn’t maintain commitment to promises or see projects through to completion but I am suggesting that you may find solutions and creative freedom in allowing yourself room to change your mind when the overall decision fits your life, personal growth, or the area you live or work in best. Perhaps you know something today you didn’t know when planning. It’s okay to work with your plans up until the point that bolstering them doesn’t fit you any longer. If flexibility and letting go may provide you relief in another way, let yourself make the wisest choice in the moment. It’s the best any of us can do.

A quiet mind, a peaceful heart, and an acknowledged solar plexus are reliable guides. Trust the gift of your internal compass.

Take time and breathe deep to check in. Are you and your compass in sync? Can you allow more light and clarity to honestly examine the situations presently surrounding you? Do you need to be more flexible or let go of anything?

“Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition. Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless. They not only had a scent that was delicate and pleasing to humans, but also brought a fragrance from the realm of spirit. Using the word ‘enlightenment’ in a wider sense than the conventionally accepted one, we could look upon flowers as the enlightenment of plants.”

~Eckart Tolle from A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

I am having so much fun being me.  I am thankful for all the qualities that make me who I am.  

These words will lead to good things if you can get past how silly or ridiculous you may feel initially saying this to and about yourself.  It’s absolutely true! It’s good to be you!!

 

A snippet of Father’s Day at ours:

Under the wilting peonies, two broken affirmation bracelets and a hand of Fatima were thoughtfully resting as a reminder of roots and creative approach. I placed them there yesterday, admiring the spot for its frequency in line of sight.  As my family arrived for Father’s Day dinner, appetizers began to fill the small breakfast table and the bowl disappeared into the active scene for a little while until my sisters partner, John, asked, “hey, Valerie, can we eat these too?”.   He was smiling like a opossum (that’s what my grandmother would have said – “that boy was smiling like a opossum”. What does this mean? I do and don’t know.  I suppose it’s a sly, joking smile but how this became associated with opossums?  Well, I’ll have to look into that…) My mother answered before I could, “John don’t eat those.  That’s some of Valerie’s spiritual stuff.  Just wait, she may start lighting candles and burning off burdens and writing out blessings.  You never can tell with that one.  I think she must be feeling mostly okay if it’s just a bowl of beads on the table.” John: “so if I did eat them, what would happen?” Valerie: “a direct and severe shedding of what no longer serves you.  You can eat them if you want to.” Quiet covered the kitchen.  Mouths went into thin lines and heads nodded.  My sister danced around the kitchen with swinging bell sleeves and a long button down dress.  It was a romantic sort of garment. “Cowboy caviar, anyone?” she smiled and filled the empty speckled bowl.  Dad: “Yummmmm, yes, please.” He settled into a chair next to John.  Everyone continued to enjoy the edible appetizers as I prepared a pitcher of club soda and lychee juice with lemon and bitters, and I thought to myself, “you never know what will be a conversation starter or bring it to dead halt.”

Affirmation:

I invite the positive aspects of myself forward.  I embody kindness, love, and joy.  I float high above the thoughts in my mind to embrace a higher perspective.  

What are you inviting?

 

I haven’t felt as on top of the whole being my best self thing the last couple of days.  I’ve found myself pulled in different directions and wishing I had been more present.  Where’s my now and where am I in it? A step behind maybe.  I’m sharing this because even though I’ve seen some old habits relapse — something for sure is different than it used to be. I’ve been able to speak kindly to myself and would want so much to support you in speaking kindly to yourself too no matter what’s happening.

It’s okay to experience yourself in various degrees of alignment.  

Perhaps if you can think of it all as a dance, it will feel more playful and easier as it shifts direction.  If it’s like a box step, you’ll go forward, to the right, back and to the left on repeat (assuming you’re not in the lead and you won’t feel you are in some life moments). You’ll find yourself in a moving spiral dance.  Forward.  Right.  Back.  Left. You may move lightly or you may misstep.  Both have value.

Remember to talk to yourself as you would a friend.  Whatever words you would choose to lift the spirit of another are worth being said to you.  You deserve kind words in your brightest moments and those not so bright ones too.

“When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.” – Bob Goff

Practice joy! It’s going to be worth it!  I promise. ✨💫💛

This can’t be said too many times:  make time to feel gratitude, focus on the parts of life you’re thankful about, tell people, and write it down!! Find a journal you love and commit to a simple practice that can change the dominant themes in your life for the better.  It’s especially heartwarming to go to sleep feeling grateful.  Try for 10 minutes of writing before going to sleep and I bet you’ll see a happier trend in your mornings!