From The Passion Narrative - Don't Even Go There...

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently about something that we discovered was a very sensitive and touchy subject for each of us.  There was even a point in our conversation that she said to me, “Girl, don’t even go there…” It was in that moment that I realized the truth of the truth, we were already there; past the point of no return.  We realized the perceived finality of the moment because our connection to each other was forever changed because we moved forward rather than remaining frozen in some sort of suspended animation of being our lesser selves.  Rather we chose to run boldly with an almost reckless abandon into the arms of the reality of our greatest selves.  From this new and uncharted space, we begged the question of what is our friendship and relationship based on, when we believe that we cannot talk about the hard, messy, ugly, sticky and unbelievable things in life with love and still love each other in the midst of it all?   “We have gone past the edge” she said, and I thought what a novel and yet noble concept for two people who think themselves to be edgy, hip, real, grounded, deep and so on.

In going there, it seems as if our great realization is that we do not become edgy until we not only come to the edge, but ensue to live and love past the edges of cultural, geo-political and spiritual normalcy.  We have to know from the most intimate recesses of our being that that that which has already been defined is destined to be refined over and over again.  Noting is really ever as it was, it is only as it is in the now moment; just long enough for us to notice how everything around us must change.  This is where our insurmountable individual and collective truths become nothing but the whole truth! 

We do not become hip until we allow ourselves to be transported, transmuted and transformed not just by the known essence of the highs, lows and trends of pop culture, but by the mysterious unknowingness of the very present moment. 

We do not become real people until we become willing and able to step beyond the boundaries of our own contextual lenses and exist in the land lost amidst the authenticity of the story of another living being.  As whole and complete beings, this is our response to the call of being totally alive and connected to creation.  We do this by telling and living our stories out loud in living color with stereophonic sound only in the presence of those who deserve and are alacritous to receive us as our truth desires.  In order to find ourselves in the company of love, we do not have to be brand spanking new; we only have to be willing to be known as who we really are, rather than be sampled by the material value of what we have and own.  I want the world to lean in and draw up from the well of my joy and gratitude rather than taste momentarily from the decadence of my success. 

We do not become grounded until we know for ourselves the disappointing impact of an ungraceful fall from grace and the spot-on healing touch that real reconciliation can have on the soul of humanity. 

We do not become deep until we have waded into the uncharted depths of the tides of unrequited love and find ourselves transported to the fresh shores of a not so distant hope, only to emerge drenched in the reality that we are indeed eternally evolutional beings who are impacting the surface of life for one another over and over again. 

The real truth of my thoughts in this moment is that we do not become forgiven until we see ourselves beyond the forbidden boundaries that have marginalized our very being and living and that at last allows us invoke the miracle of first forgiving the unfathomable without so much as a second thought.  It is my belief that the foundation of the profoundness of our living comes to us from the quiet stillness of the provocative lyrics, rhythms and iambic pentameter of our common narrative.  This, my friends is what sets us in motion and allows us to truly catch fire for own sake and ultimately the sake of the world that poises itself for the renewal of warmth in seeing and knowing us all. 

If you take nothing else from these words, know this; our presence is not small, accidental or inconsequential; we are here in this moment for the sake of the world over, to love fully, to see beyond the invisible, to hear the depth of the silent, to reach out far beyond that which we think doable or possible.  My heart knows that it is just beyond the borders of impossibility that the realm of true and total possibility in concert with our own level of receptivity changes the course of our lives forever.  So if you ever think to yourself or out loud about not going there, I invite you to do anything but be still; I implore and beseech you to take up from the place where you are and go boldly into that good night and find the marrow of the joy of your soul and rejoice and be glad in it!  I leave you with one of my most beloved Jack Kerouac quotes:  “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

Home For The Holidays...

“There is no place like home.” Dorothy

Year after year, I have had the chance to engage the idea of home for the holidays in signs and messages of the holiday season. Hear my heart when I say that there is nothing untoward about that Idea as it is the foundation and support of my thoughts in this moment. Now, I know that you are thinking that perhaps I am a bit early or late in regards to wh...at we know and celebrate as the holidays. Yet my soul gives me every indication that I am right where I should be and as I am to be in this moment and on this thought.

The definition of holiday is “A Holy day; a period of exemption or relief and a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I can certainly fit my life into and around this notion as I am becoming increasingly aware of the sacredness of time and movement throughout the day. The word holy always had such a narrow scale for me as it seemed limited to the few days, people, spaces and places; but today I experience this thought in a both - and sort of way as it this and so much more. What if we could suspend our disbelief and expand our belief just for a moment? What if every moment of every day would be held and celebrated for its goodness and we could all experience a moment of relief from that which distracts over and over again? I believe that then and only then could we truly experience and know the true vastness of moments of celebration that emerge from our very being and pour them freely up and out of our own story and way of being into all of creation that surrounds and supports us.

Until today, this idea of home for the holidays was about a return a to place or the place of which I draw my origin. I have always had such a transient spirit as wherever I know myself to be I begin to view as home, based on my connection to the very earth on which I stand. With that, I contend that wherever I am in the moment, holds the very quintessence of home as I find, know and experience the God of my being therein. For me home is so much more than place, it is rooted in a feeling of familiarity, remembrance, connection and truth. Today it is this and a state of being that comes to life in and for me. The whole festive occasion is not really about the physical transportation back, but the spiritual transformation into or towards that which is familiar to our soul. It is a return to the beginning of our beginning, the knowing of knowledge, the love of loving, the faithing of faith and the joyousness of joy. When we return home, it is not just to a place of our birth, it is to the way of being from which we were called into this life to be. It is not just limited to a few days each year when the cost of transportations sky rockets or we have extra time off work; the very essence of a holiday is found in the stillness of the early morning or the fleeting beauty of the evening and yes in the vibrant radiance of the midday; I believe that this marrow of truth is alive and well within each of us. So today, I invite you to return to the truth of your truth, the peace of your peace and the grace of your grace and find yourself at home or connected to that which is at the core of your being. I know that when we do this individually and collectively, in that moment there will be a great celebration of the highest kind that can be found in our laughter, heard in our rhetoric, experienced as our love and known as our story of being. With that I bid you good journey and many happy returns to your very self as you return to the soul of your soul and find yourself home for the holidays in every moment of your lives. Happy, Merry, Joyous You - Today and Everyday!

Now Showing!

When people and or circumstances make a cameo or walk on appearance in the productions of our lives; they are not without purpose or divine intent. Although I am still a believer in magic and have the full uninhibited use of my imagination, I know that stuff does not just show up because it can. It shows up because we call it forth into being, we invite it either consciously or subconsciously to manifest, sit down and take a load off or to hang out with us for a while. Nonetheless, there it is and here we are in the presence of yet another lesson on the principles of truth. In these moments, we have choice to either learn the lesson of the day or to not; and risk repeating the lesson, the grade, the episode, the opportunity and the like until we just simply get it. Until today, this grand repetition was ok with and for me…Today, I officially declare the sweeps season in my life complete and done. No more reruns, if I need a quick review; the lessons of my life are available on demand, easy download, online ordering (with free shipping), and etched in the pages and chapters of my story. Today, with all the love I know I invite you into a new production of the story of you, where the part of you is played by the real you, produced and directed by the whole and blessed you. My prayer for you in this moment is that every day of your life becomes an elegant and classic premiere rather than an aging and irrelevant rerun. Now, go forward from this place and live – quiet on the set; action!

Where Do Blessings Come From?

Blessed to be a blessing: Where do the blessings in our lives come from? Are they born? Are they delivered and left alone outside of our doorways? Do they spring up from the earth like a tree planted by the still water? Do they simply appear out of everything and nothingness? After pondering this thought individually and in community, we assert that we believe that blessings are many things and everything: we see them born of, forged from within and brought forth into being from blessing itself. In other words, healing comes from the both the brokenhearted and wholehearted. Love comes from the act of loving and the gifts of being loved. Peace is called out of the chaos and from the peace filled. The subtle truth that came to light as we examined this was that we had to look deeply at ourselves first. So as we sat and looked inwardly at our being; what showed up mightily was grace, mercy, hope, prosperity, determination, courage, loss, curiosity, strength, fear, brokenness, shadow, void, glory, loneliness, tears, laughter, worth, lack, disappointment, pain, joy, healing, conscious awareness, acceptance, flow and openness. All this and so much more was reflected back to us soul level. The blessing that we were in search was not simply to know and name the blessing, but to know and be one with its source. This was a blessing indeed, as we know that there is no good thing withheld from any of us at any moment and is revealed in us according to our very own level of receptivity. So we share this with you in the hope that you too will take a risk and look in and around your lives to see and take hold of what is reflected back to you and know its blessing. Know that there is both deep truth and great power in the question and the answer and that the answer is never very far from the question and all too often is contained therein. Blessed be…

Real or Make Believe?

On Real or Make Believe:  We are not now nor will we ever be the sum total of our experiences, the manifestation of the perceptions of others, nor are we the Aristotelian essence of what some might call a hot mess.  These are all ideas that may have been projected upon us like images upon a screen.  Even in that scenario, the screen remains intact as the screen (its identity is unchanging and unimpacted by these external projections) and it never becomes nor identifies with the image shown upon it.  So beloved, I said all this to simply say that we never become what is thought about us, perceived of our actions, or projected upon us, unless we choose to do so.  What others think of us is really none of our business; even in the moments that we are told that they are telling us for our own edification, growth or to help us become better or more.  So with that, I invite you today to remain intact or hold it all together as the blessed being that you are right now and have always been.  What is projected upon you this or any day is neither true nor is it your truth.  Be well my friends and know that you are loved!

Big Question: What are you living for?

On This or That:  The question that weighs on my mind, body and soul today is, “What are you living for?”  This question has been with me for quite some time and really came to light as I listened to an acquaintance describe how they see the world.  For some of us, there is always this undertow of for or against, in support of or in opposition to and one has to declare a position in one of these camps.  Huh, I guess this works for many and even for me at a point in my life, until today.  This day, I declare first within myself that it is high time for new reckoning of spirit that makes room for both sides of an issue, argument, position or picture without relegating some to a lesser majority and others to a superior minority.  Back to the question, if I am living for something; does that also mean that I am living against something else?  Perhaps what I am trying to say is that I would rather not have my living be a dividing point, but more of a point of convergence of the soul.   I can wear myself out by living against grain, trying to fly against the wind, rising up against my brother or sister or even just wanting to always be right instead of wrong.  I live for the beauty and support of those fleeting “both and” opportunities that allow us to discover value and honor in unexpected faces, to notice the extraordinary hidden amidst the mundane tasks and to hear the magnificence that is tucked lovingly at the center of the silence and acknowledge the courage that may be momentarily clothed in fear.  You see beloved I do not for one moment believe that we called to be “either or” people; I know that we are souls that move to a rhythm that is comprised of the many tunes and tones.  Yet with that, I declare that we are “both and” people living for good.  So I invite you to look at how you are choosing to spend your energy for or against and if only just for today; choose to make room inwardly and outwardly for all that serves and supports your journey.  In this moment, this is how I’m living and hope that you will join me in heart space where there is always plenty of good room just for you.  I am committed to always keeping life, love and laughter real; because they are indeed the main thing among many things.  Happy Friday!

Oh Shift!!

Oh shift! Even the slightest of movement is a sign of life. I believe that phenomenal and global shifts in consciousness, economics, life and the like are comprised of everyday shifts. Those everyday shifts are found in the brief moments when something during the day does not go according to our plan, to do list or pattern. Those momentary shifts are life slightly changing direction. 
 
For years of my life, everything was all about me… What I wanted, needed, had to get done and I could go on. Then I heard my soul say, “Oh shift!” This was a warning to me that something was happening and all I needed to do was be ready to Move. I wish that I could tell you that I heeded that warning, but I didn’t. I should have kept listening, because the shift that I experienced, was my life becoming more about others than myself. All of a sudden, I was the last thing on my mind. There was a shift in my soul’s paradigm and the key that was tucked away is that my life became MORE… the moment, I learned the value of the Law of Circulation. By giving I created physical, emotional, financial, professional, personal, artistic and prophetic room to receive. The reality was that everything in my life had to go in order for everything in my life now to manifest. At the time that list of evacuees included my relationship, my home, my job, my dream, my stuff and my very self. There was no level of my life untouched and unshaken by this shifting. 
 
Eventually, I woke up and saw what was happening and heard the cry of my soul not in response to what was happening, but as a gentle soundtrack for the slightest of movements in my life. Today, I know the truth, our value is not found among what we have or struggle to hold onto; it is nurtured, blessed and becomes more by a very simple act; giving. The lesson I learned is that giving is much more gentle process than to be surprised by the grand exodus of all that we hold dear.

Reflections

What are you looking for?  I sat talking with a friend of mine this morning as she was considering giving away all of her worldly possessions to find and grow closer to God.  As I listened, I momentarily found myself looking around and making a list of things that I wanted.  After all, she was giving it all away.  What I got during those moments is that the divine seemed distant or rather we seemed distant from a divine perspective.  I started to smile and as she leaned forward to bring back to the moment, I felt that the searching was over, complete, done and finished.  Because this was not a conversation about material things, this was a much deeper conversation/revelation than about us.  This conversation was about wanting and needing more truth, peace, joy and hope in that God shaped space within.  The more we talked, laughed and cried; we both realized that until we are willing to give away the greatest gift that we have; our love.  That nothing in our lives or our world would change.  You see change is not a cause; it is an outcome or a response to something in our lives.  In that room, I heard call of a different sort; it was a call to return to truth, to love, to me and when I find me; give that away and then I will have found that for which I have been searching a lifetime.  In other words, there is no real distance between me and my divine self – we are one.  The very reason that there is a God shaped space in my life is because in and out of that space is from where my goodness and worth flows and I am not that different than any of you.  Beginning today, I invite you to be willing to look no further than your own reflection for what you need.  As you find it, release it and make room for its abundant return to you.  Make that connection and you will see what God sees in and as you.