Adversity is a natural part of being human. Things fall apart. It is in their nature to do so. When we try to protect ourselves from the inevitability of change, we are not listening to the soul. We are listening to our fear of life and death, and our lack of faith. To listen to your soul is to stop fighting with life—to stop fighting when things fall apart; when they don’t go our away, when we get sick, when we are betrayed or mistreated or misunderstood. To listen to the soul is to slow down, to feel deeply, to see ourselves clearly, to surrender to discomfort and uncertainty and to wait. Elizabeth Lesser
Author Archives: Andrea
“I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are; but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.” Spiritual quote by Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe
In the midst of your struggle lies your ability to help someone else through theirs. Don’t give up.
She loved him because he had brought her back to life
Now flying free
She loved him because he had brought her back to life. She had been like a caterpillar in a cocoon, and he had betrayed and shattered her heart, drawing her out and showing her that she was truly a butterfly. Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth
How To Deal With People Who Bum Cigarettes
I don’t think of what smokers face. The first day on a new job, a friend is asked for a cigarette by coworkers who see him smoking. The remedy was to only carry into the office each day as many as he wants to smoke or share. I don’t give him heck for smoking because he’s down to a few a day and he enjoys it. He does it as cigarettes were meant to be smoked: he’ll take a break from work and step outside and look at nature; he’ll begin to relax and breathe a little more deeply and he uses smoking as his trigger to relax. In the process of simplifying his life, he’s faced with handling serious issues as he rebuilds according to the new vision. There can be a lot of stress rise and fall during that process. To his credit, he doesn’t drink or drug or take prescription meds or overeat or gamble or carouse, just the few cigs a day. If that’s all he needs to handle the amount of stress I know he is under, I say let him have the cigs. Who am I to judge? The below is from How To Deal With People Who Grub Cigarettes. Continue reading
Backing myself into a corner, getting myself unstuck
Yesterday I saw a rainbow twice, once at 7:45am in Melbourne and again at 8:00am in Palm Bay. It was an auspicious beginning to a very good day. On the way home from Melbourne, I stopped at Big Lots to see if they had any coffeemakers, since mine had stopped working. At 8:00am, they weren’t to be open for another hour, so I figured I’d check when I went to the post office later. Yesterday’s main job was to finish billing for the November Horizons Magazine, and I finished just in time for it to be picked up by the mailchick. Yay, no trip to the post office needed! Then I got a call from one of the stores that carry the magazine, telling me their envelope had arrived empty and could I please send her magazines right away since her customers love it. Of course! I readied the mailing and mused that I thought I’d get one day I didn’t have to drive to the post office, but it’s no big deal as it’s just 3 miles from me. At the post office, I ran into a friend of mine, who said he’d just been thinking of me. We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. We both had planned on going to the post office earlier, then decided not to, then showed up at the same time. Synchronicity! We chatted while we waited in line, then went for coffee so I could give him a reading. I like it when friends have good things on the way to them and I can let them know to expect it. The coffeemaker flashed in my head, to try Goodwill. Sure enough, I found a Mr. Coffee Programmable Coffeemaker for $4.99 and a digital alarm clock for $1.99. Bounty! I love recycling still-good old stuff!
You say that you love rain, but you open your umbrella when it rains.
You say that you love the sun, but you find a shadow spot when the sun shines.
You say that you love the wind, but you close your windows when wind blows.
This is why I am afraid, you say that you love me too.
– Saruhan 1949 (Turkish folk poetry)
It is time for ALL non-indigenous practitioners of Earth Wisdom to step forth and be who they are
It is time for ALL non-indigenous practitioners of Earth Wisdom to step forth and be who they are, representatives of a contemporary Earth Wisdom, and stop seeking to gain points by piggy-backing their practices upon the honor and respect of the ancient traditions of indigenous cultures. In this approach the practitioners of contemporary Earth Wisdom can earn respect. Respect will never come through misappropriation of another culture’s practices, whether by imitation or claiming ceremonies to be what they are not and were never meant to be. IMHO… A problem arises when a person or persons have spiritual insight – perhaps even inspired or guided by an indigenous people’s spiritual practices and perspectives – and then pronounce their spiritual wisdom to be that of the indigenous peoples themselves. This is, at best, misguided, and may even be out and out misappropriation… a lie. It does not, however, mean that the spiritual principles being presented are without value or an inherent truth. Continue reading
Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day. Zen proverb
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life.
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.” Swami Vivekananda