“To change one’s life—Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions, no excuses.” -William James       Keep experiencing life. How Am I experiencing life? Showing up, allowing my eye, my heart, and my hands to engage with what has heart and meaning. What I cherish, care for, and love, and what cherishes me.   We are under the spell of the great hurry; that somehow if we can do more in a condensed period of time we will be free…. later.   Today an osprey is free, and all morning has been sounding over the small cove where I live. The sound is striking the drum of the ear with a wonder that causes one to move, to stand, to pause, to look outside. The work of the osprey is simple. And over many years of visitations I find I have yet to see a pair. But today they came on the radiant currents, landing, speaking one another’s language….and their stillness, togetherness, and conversation pauses all other notions in the world. I am with them. They ...

The Hopi people say everyone has always wanted to love a seed. I have found nothing more satisfying than that tender push upward of new life. In the spring I notice these cycles, and pose to my heart some queries. How am I aware of the new seeds pushing outward? What are the seeds I am planting in my thoughts, my gestures? How am I experiencing the world? How is my atmosphere experiencing me? What am I thinking, saying, feeling? It’s of importance to Nature what we are giving and what’s being given… Every moment is a nurturance, a new opportunity to experience life on life’s terms. To receive the blessing of everything inside, all the learning, turning over, changing me. Infusing our present moment with the wisdom of experience. What have I experienced? What wisdom is opening to me now? If I don’t like my experience, what can I offer to life to create a different outcome in my own engagement with life? How can I plant seeds that come to harvest? How do I a...

Tonight I found a snail on the pavement and picked him up.  It took some effort. He had been nearly crushed and his shell lay next to him in pieces – most of it scattered somewhere I couldn’t see, and I felt this heart break as I thought, ‘there is nothing more important than doing the right thing by him.’ This relative who is sensitive to the environment, so sensitive in fact he will only live in an environment that can support life. I thought nothing but ‘find some green leaves’ and wondered as I saw his silver trail, ‘what’s the right thing to do?’ I decided earth burial and placed him under the hawthorn tree…. in front of the marina cabana.  A small garden protected by soft new leaves, I placed the two remaining slivers of shell. I thought  a moment after ‘perhaps I should have kept them, these two precious, dark shell fragments’ – then I thought, ‘no – best to return them to the earth.R...

Feeling-attitudes-optimism “How am I going to be an optimist about this?” is the question indie pop band Bastille poses. It’s a good question An everyday….. moment to moment question. I appreciate what Patrick O’Neill says when he talks about optimism. He states, “It means to be optimum and that the optimistic people are the ones that make it through where others don’t.” It reminds me of our capacity to do the right thing. To empower what is going well and what is working. We also, while having this positive attitude, get to look at what is not working- and address, process, and resolve things together when it’s time. How can we offer our greatest healing gift which is love? Sometimes this is quite a process. Having a positive attitude does not eclipse other feelings. It is a deep knowing that all of who we are can be present. We Honor that feelings reside together and know we have everything we need to face what comes. And what comes…..is a lot ...

What is a harbor A safe harbor, a place where you can relax as you never have before. A place where words mean something where speaking makes a bridge, a way for us to reach one another.  Angeles used to say sometimes we need to over communicate in order to create a field of safety.  There are a number of ways we can contribute to our own and others’ safety. She also stated that too much spaciousness and not enough spaciousness create fields of unsafety… What if I am responsible for my safety and my needs?  What kind of safety do I create? Am I a co-creator of safety? Do I show up and have the conversations necessary for my emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Am I over extended?  Do I have the reciprocity I need to have a place where I can relax, refuel, reflect and regenerate a safe harbor for myself – is there a place for my humanity, for the humanity of my loved ones? where there is room for speech, silence, movement, change and truth.&...

Today the rain came down like seeds – on the houseboat – tiny seeds breaking open over the lake, the trees. The kestrel making his morning motions overhead. breaking over black crows, cormorants and mergansers. Families of wood ducks & the steady stream of cars – The purifying, cleansing rain cool – sweet water – filling the house with delicious sound.  I love this symphonic morning I was wondering if that’s why so many people love this final resting place before the next world of Canada. I wonder if we yearn for the rain, the pure tenderness, the wonder and dangers of what it means to be cleansed. Being cleansed is always a relief – it takes time and care – a force of attention and consciousness – respect.  It’s important we clear away whatever we no longer need to become refreshed and clean to clean it up in order to clear a way and remember what we, and how come we, are letting go.  What does it mean to ...

Happiest New Year to you and all that you love and cherish It is a ceremonial season. As all seasons are…. In the Hopi survival kit by Thomas Mails (a textbook we work with in the Spiritual Identity program) They speak to the natural cycles of life. Organic, authentic, prayerful, pragmatic, and very very real cycles and seasons. We want to escape them. We don’t want to gestate, cultivate, nurture, grow, harvest, celebrate, clear and cleanse. Rest, prepare and plant…. We want to feast. Not plant, not prepare Not nurture, cleanse or rest.  In the Hopi survival kit They say The earth is a person. How can we begin a relationship of reciprocity and respect? I think we can begin with a list of what we each need in order to feel respected, whether that be kindness. Being heard. Feeling protected and cherished. Cared about, taken into account. The earth is constantly creating. But to do this she needs to rest. Many of her animals and plants begin their preparations in th...

For the good of all? What is for the highest good of everyone? How can we in this moment…. this precious sacred moment, wonder About everything that brings us life? We were here Formed by air Moistened by water, made of loam. A most noble and humble beginning Like everyone, like everything. We are given so much, an entire wilderness of years called a lifetime. Even a moment is treasure. And yet we are given years, How do we want to spend those milliseconds, minutes, months and seasons? What we know is that we are walking with others, that we are not the only one on this road…. There are insects. Animals. Lichen. Moss. Trees. birds. Other human beings…. What is my awareness of these other beings? Am I listening to the world….? Am I taking care that I am healthy and well? Am I then supporting the health and wellness of what and who is in this precious world around me? What is my impact? How are my words…. my actions, my feet, landing? This is a time when lov...