Consciousness of Connection

I’ve been doing much thinking and reading about human consciousness lately. My awareness is expanding as is my intuitive understanding. I find myself doing less “longing” to connect and realizing more and more that we already are connected. We are connected by heart, by thought, by trends, by beliefs, by experience, and by design.

It is in connecting to others that we find our unique gifts and blessings meant to share. It is in seeing what others bring to the game of life that I become more and more aware of how I can help them, and they in turn help me. It may seem that we are all walking around with our own existence, and as some say, starring in our own life movie. But in reality, it’s just one movie. We share some scenes. We share the spotlight but it’s all meant to bring each and every one of us closer together. And … closer to Divinity – by whatever name you use to define God.

I invite you to share your gifts more freely. Show the world the mighty gift you carry inside your heart. I invite you to partake more fully in the exchange of energy and love. I cheer you on as you change your corner of the world and acknowledge that you also change my corner of the world, because together we make a difference to each other.

Blessing and love to you my fellow wanderers!

 

Transitions and Dichotomies

Have you ever noticed that the rhythm of life seems to bring highs and lows at the very same time? I have often wondered if it’s God’s way of balancing our hearts so they do not break under the pressure of sad events. It is the rainbow that is in the midst of the rain and lightening. It is hard to notice one without noticing the power of the other. And I suppose the why of it all and the timing sequence is one of those questions that will remain unanswered in this lifetime.

Right now, I feel that life is in transition in so many places. My son is marrying the love of his life in less than a month. My daughter will soon follow next year. The joy I feel for them both is still tripped up by the mourning of that time I had with them as children. Oh sure, they are still my children but soon they will be someone else’s spouse. The center of their world has already shifted but mine is lingering behind. My day to day life has changed and that is not painful. But those still quiet moments when I think of what has ended forever, my heart breaks in the memory of it all. So life at home is changing and shifting every day.

On the other end of the spectrum, while my children move into beginnings, I see endings for others I love. One of those is my Grandma. I still am blessed to have both of my grandmothers – one 94 and the other soon to be 90. The older one is recovering from 2 strokes and it seems at times that she is slowly slipping away. Her mind is still fairly good but her body is weakening. When I sit with her she sometimes is quite focused on what’s happening here and then I notice her drifting forward, looking, seeking, longing for what’s next. Even asking for it at times. I know this is the cycle of life, but the timing is right in the midst of joyful transitions. It seems that the timing is “off” – I am jumbled in the joy and the sadness.

On the career front I have been dreaming and working toward a new possibility as I see the long-term career cresting toward the final years. This is a bittersweet transition as I have great longing for both possibilities. But as one bloom on the tree of life wanes, another begins to appear. It is the balance of yin and yang. Dark and light. Morning and evening. The world seems to be spinning out of control and standing still at the same time.

Perhaps transitions is one word to explain it and dichotomies is another. It appears that life has 2 opposites existing at the same time for me. For many people this is true I imagine. And I find myself not knowing whether to celebrate or to mourn. To plan or to wrap-up. Today I stand in the middle and my mood is fickle.

What transitions and dichotomies are you grappling with? Any tips and tricks for standing in the middle?

Be blessed!

Just Speak – original poem

JUST SPEAK!

From stem to stern and back again.

Top to bottom, without end.

Your cells know the energy of a positive flow.

Your words bellow forth with new life.

The sentiment of your heart changes the air.

Every part of you responding to the beat of your cares.

With heavy heart the day goes dark.

With lightness of hope the day glows.

It isn’t the outside that colors your world.

But the rainbow of thoughts and words.

With practice your mind can shift your view.

Allowing the breaking of dawn.

Brushing aside the darkest of thoughts.

You harness the power of control.

With it comes swift changes to your world.

It’s your words that speak your thoughts to life.

As your energy entwines with others.

A thought, a word, a positive shift.

Is all it takes to change your path.

From slowly slipping away with regret.

To a warm embrace of belonging.

It only takes one act from you.

You have the power within.

To shift the story of who you are.

Just speak your life to your dreams.

It changes everything.

~ Barbara Bernard Miller

Reflection

It isn’t often that we find ourselves in a place of true reflection. A time of looking thoughtfully at the truths of our life. The times you did it right and those you regret to call your own. But those are the times that actually shift a life from being a routine and ordinary ticking of minutes and hours into a thoughtful and deliberate choice of change.

Most days are filled with stuff – time to take care of the job, the spouse, the kids, the animals, the bills and obligations. We float into year after year of the sameness because we didn’t stop to examine the moments of shift and opportunity. Did we even notice?

I believe that we are all coming upon a time when we cannot afford the daily drudge. It will catch up to us and we will find ourselves facing the solitary, reflective moments out of necessity, if we had not already done it by choice.

Perhaps today is the best day to slow down. Slow your breath and your steps. Sit quietly or lay still and see the movie of your life float past you. But this time notice which paths you chose and which you didn’t. Examine the cause and effects of those decisions that brought you joy and those that left you agonizing over the error of your ways.

I say these things only because I observe my own reluctance to stop and peer into the progression of my life. It’s as if the knowing will make me choose something different. Not the entire scope of my choices but some which no longer serve me. And that feels uncomfortable. Have I kept my promises to myself? Have I lived to my potential? Have I been meaningful and relevant? Have I been kind and loving? Have I been authentic?

I send you an invitation only. To take a purposeful few moments to be still. To be deliberate. To be choiceful and to amend the things that you no longer choose. Cling to those that still resonate with your spirit and know that in loving yourself enough to do this, you create a shift known only to you perhaps, but one that realigns your nature and your soul.

The Difference He Made

The Difference He Made
By Randy Poole

Amidst the morning mist of the swift returning tide
I set out on my daily run, my walkman on my side.
Lost within my private world apart from cares and woes
I ran along the moistened shore, the sand between my toes.

In the distance, I saw a boy, as busy as can be.
He was running, stooping, picking up, and tossing in the sea.
Just what he threw, I couldn’t tell, I looked as I drew near.
It seemed to be a rock or shell – as I approached him I could hear:

“Back you go, where you belong. You are safe now hurry home.
Your family’s waiting for you little starfish, hurry on!”
It seemed the evening tide had washed the starfish on the shore,
And the swift receding water left a thousand there or more.

And this self-appointed saviour, was trying one-by-one
To toss them back into the sea, against the racing sun.
I saw his plight was hopeless, that most of them would die.
I called out from my private world, “Hey Kid, why even try?”

“Must be at least a thousand here, strewn along the beach,
And even if you had the time, most you’ll never reach.
You really think it makes a difference, to waste your time this way?”
And then I paused and waited, just to hear what he would say.

He stooped and took another, and looked me in the eye.
“It makes a difference to this one sir, this starfish will not die!”
With that, he tossed the little life, back where there was hope.
He stooped to take another. I could tell this was no joke.

The words that he spoke to me cut like a surgeon’s knife.
Where I saw only numbers, he saw only life.
He didn’t see the multitude of starfish on the sand.
He only saw the little life he held there in his hand.

He didn’t stop to argue, to prove that he was right.
He just kept tossing starfish in the sea with all his might.
So I too stooped, and I picked up, and I tossed into the sea,

Who walks in …

“God determines who walks into your life….it’s up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.” ~ Anonymous

Life is like a coin

“Life is like a coin….You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.” ~ Lillian Dickson

2 by 2

“Do not suffer alone. God always sends us out “2 by 2″ so that we do not have to carry the burdens of life alone and we have someone to celebrate the victories with. Lean on your friends and be blessed!”  ~ Barbara Bernard Miller