Trust yourself to make the right decision.  There is no wrong decision, only what is happening and how you respond which will lead to what you experience next.  If you can get into a rhythm of trusting yourself, decision making won’t be a daunting task.  You may even begin to see the existence of options in a welcoming light.

 

 

 

 

“Trust is letting go of needing to know all the details before you open your heart.”  -Unknown

I have felt lucky over the summer for coming across a lot of feathers.  About a month ago I watched a beautiful gray feather float down from the sky in a grocery store parking lot.  It landed next to me.  Since that moment I have been attuned to feathers.  When I come across one now, I feel as if I’ve encountered a treasure.  Is this a treasure?  I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder.  The way you perceive is ultimately up to you.  You can see lack or you can see plenty.  This mindset will follow you in every encounter all day long, as mindsets tend to do.

I wonder now, how many times feathers have been in my peripheral and I’ve overlooked them…  Not any more!

My kids are in on the game too.  Last week my daughter found a feather on the playground at recess and saved it in her pocket to give me after school.  Two days later my son brought one inside that he found while sweeping the entry path to our home.  I’d say the look on their faces in delivery and the full heart I felt in receiving these tokens definitely puts feathers (or anything you tune in to) in the realm of treasures!

“Abundance is not something we acquire.  It is something we tune in to.” -Wayne Dyer

Find the time to notice the Art in your every day surroundings.  Tiny moments all around us are worthy of our full and slow attention.

Cycles and change are a cohesive thread in our reality.  People are often caught in admiration for the beginnings and blooms in cycles.  It’s true, these parts of a cycle are exciting and rewarding.  However, let’s take focus for a moment on the equally important close of a cycle, the care we take in observing the time period after a bloom, the appreciation we feel for honoring all stages and finally, the spreading of seeds for rebirth or knowledge of what was learned in the experience.  Each stage is alive with beauty for it’s offering.

I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum for the 3rd time last weekend and finally saw many of her early works when she was in art school and showing that she could impersonate anyone’s art.  All of the technical skills were there, with ease.

Then, she went her own way and showed an entirely new side of shape, color and perspective to the world.  A new and LARGE impression was made on me with her guts and her inability to be anyone else but Georgia O’Keeffe.

There is a song that I used to love by Ani Difranco which says ‘When I look down, I just miss all the good stuff and when I look UP, I just trip over things.’  I relate to this because of the way I take pictures.  It seems I am either engrossed in ‘up close vegetation’ or head right smack in the middle of the clouds.  I appreciate the middle ground as well, but these two contrasting places are what hold most of my attention.

I share an obsession of this large sky that I live underneath with a friend.  My Sky Friend. We are regularly sending each other pictures of the most amazing, miraculous, devastating and scary skies we witness daily in our extreme environment!  This started about 6 years ago, has continued and I am NEVER bored.

What catches your attention?  What fascinates you outside, in nature?  Do you still find magic and pause like a child might?

 

Mala beads come in bracelets and necklaces.  Much like Rosary beads they are a way of keeping track throughout a mantra or meditation.  On necklaces there are 109 beads. Traditionally, you repeat a personal statement 108 times each time you use it, which is usually daily or many times a day.  The 109th bead is your Guru bead, or a bead that signifies teachers or most dear loved ones in your life.  Bracelets usually have 27 beads and so you repeat 4 times around with your statement. The other beads are drawn forth by your thumb as you repeat a statement about yourself that you are working toward.

“I am enough”

“I live with kindness and show love to all”

“Peace and Calm lead my actions as I trust”

Some people advise not to hold the Mala with your index finger, as it is your ego finger, but even the Dalai Lama has been seen using his index finger.  Best practice is to use it with your heart and with consistency.  As you wear this beautiful piece it can be a helpful reminder of a vision for yourself and an internal place that you seek.  It is also a calming form of self regulation throughout our busy and stressful lives.

 We are all on a path of finding, forgiving, enveloping and releasing.  It is a daunting task at times.  The joys and sorrows are beautifully devastating.  Throughout this growth, on this path, while we walk there is something to always remember –

You are loved

You are lovable

You are love

So, love

A blessing for stillness:

May your body be still

like the quiet water

of an undisturbed lake

and expand below you

for what feels to be an indefinite stretch,

a depth that grounds itself with possibility

in the persistent nature by which water

pervades it’s space;

as you lay peaceful in rest,

may your body be still

like the quiet water

of an undisturbed lake.

-photograph by Angela Squires, Bloomington, MN