Liberation (A Note to Self)

It is simple. 

Be liberated of the mind's expectations. Mend the sacred road to the heart and listen. 

What does it call you to do? 

It wants your deep attention. 

So attend. 

It is simple. 

Tend to yourself. This is how you allow others to attend and tend to themselves. When everyone is tending to themselves first, the collective evolves into a greater version of itself. So do your part. Do your tending. Tend to your creativity. Tend to your quiet walking. Tend to your relationships. Stop waiting for your children to be grown. You'll be in your 50s by then. Tend now. You are vibrant. Embrace it. Love yourself. Love your life. Love the world! And be you. You can only be you and so be the best you. 

Tend and attend and you will find your liberation. 

Hope

Hope is a nest and wings. Hope is made of hollow bones, feathers, grass, song, and string. When fed, she is superb and strong. So go on, hold her in your long hands, and feed her from your tender beak. Bring her grubs, bread, and seeds.  Don't let her go hungry. Let her feast and feast. In a while, she will unfurl and fill the sky with courageous, creative, and colorful love. She will pull others from their dirt beds of despair. She will lead a flock. So throw her high - far past form and sound. There, she will become like light and air - expansive, open, and everywhere.  

And then you too will be free. 

Love is

Love is at the center of it all. 

It is the womb, the birthplace, the home, 

of everything. 

It is Divine, heavenly. 

It is common and ordinary. 

It is unique and authentic. 

It is the purest wisdom. 

Love.

First and foremost in every moment, love. 

Before the bully clock pushes you over, love. 

Before worry tightens you, love. 

Before anger hollers over you, love. 

Love, love, love... 

When you can move through the narrow passage of love, 

you will find yourself living in a wide, wild, open meadow of light and peace. 

Meet me there. 

The Darkest Eggs

Infinite light - it hums within all things. Even the darkest eggs eventually crack, spilling white and yellow. So when you meet or confront darkness, have a pan, some butter, and salt ready. For it's a nourishing meal when it breaks, spilling and revealing its true purpose - to feed and nurture, to help you grow. 

Fear (Note to Self)

You are still so afraid of conflict, of disagreement - even mild ones. You want a lot - freedom, liberation, knowledge, and experience. You want adventure and courage and nature and art. And yet you feel tethered by obligation and expectation. You feel a little stuck and afraid that you will one day look up and realize you're old, bored, and sad. Oh no. So grab your authentic voice, and ask it to holler (not whisper) its desires. And then make stuff happen! Don't let fear rule the day ... or the life! 

Conversation (Note to Self)

Conversation is an art form. 

It is an intricate landscape of abstract shapes and portraits. It is a tapestry of word, gesture, and emotional energy woven with every textile, style, culture, and color. It is a temporary melody, monologue, and harmony offered, heard, and sung.

Conversation is communion. 

It is connection.  

Conversation is how we make stuff together: make bonds, homes, and communities. Conversation is where we work on our individual courage, confidence, and authenticity. It is where we offer our love, support, and empathy. It is where we play tug of war (pulling, grasping, releasing) and where we co-create (measuring, pouring, and mixing the ingredients of opinion, idea, and story).  Conversation is a mouth-made cloth. It may be a warm, vibrant cashmere sweater of love, and/or it may be a much-needed pair of coarse woolen socks for learning.  It may be a tight-knit loom stitch or a holey hand-tangle. Whatever the moment, allow it to inform you, allow it to inspire you, and allow it to hold you. It is how human beings create colorful collaborations with one another. It is where we illuminate and uplift one another. It is where we are bold and brave, and where we set boundaries of moss-covered boulders around our bodies and souls.  A conversation may be as brief as Hello! How are ya? or as expansive as an evening gathering of chatter and laughter and candlelight and dinner. 

Conversation is where we build relationships. And every one is a blessing - a place to rest or stretch. You must seek moments of conversation, of connection, with those who spark you into joyful motion. Find and then cultivate those relationships - for they are a gift. 

So meet them.  

Don't let fear keep you hidden. 

The Queen of Peace

The Queen of Peace is ill.  

Come. Make her offerings of maple soup. Sit by her bedside. Write her poems on birch bark. 

She will revive her vitality. But it will take gratitude, sincerity, and simplicity. It will take remorse. And it will take devotion to evolution. We must renounce our abuses, transcend capitalistic plans, and allow her abundant body to mend. 

She needs us to slow down, to breathe, to stare at her sky, and to wander her land. She needs us to sip her water and sit upon her broken bones. She needs us to take only what we need and to live in balance. 

Now is the time we take care of her. Now is our turn to be saviors.

Come. Be a rebuilder of life. Be a holder of light. Be a co-creator of love. Free the wild from the excessive burdens of humans. If we help her, she will heal. And if we save her, she will save us. She is the Queen of Peace. She is our collective cottage, our wild home, our Earth Mother. Oh let her live! She is the village. She fills the wells, feeds the animals, and brings our breath. And yet, we forget to be with her and to thank her. We can be so spoiled and bratty, can't we? Look at us running away from home. Look at us complaining and whining. We want it all and quickly. We expect life to be constantly cozy and incredibly easy. We don't want it to teach us all it has to teach us. We hide from life and we hide from The Queen of Peace because we know how honest they can be. Life is life. It is what it is. And she is the clear pond, the silent stones, and the still mountain. Both speak with silent clarity, with surrender and harmony.

Be conscious, The Queen of Peace says, and live with delicate awareness. Life is about need. Life is not about excess. I am powerful, gorgeous, resilient, brilliant, gentle, and wise, yes, and yet, I am not infinite. I cannot, and will not, make you every silly little thing forever. Eventually, you will learn that your precious brown packages will never deliver you your deliverance. So please, stop loving your free shipping and love the moss, the moose, and the bear. Bathe in the blue sea and dance through the open air. Love the grass and the fern and the fir and the ivy.  Love the bugs, the birds, the whales, and the wooded hills. Stop hiding from me! Stand at the edge of a stream. Feel the sun seep through your skin. Listen. I will not hurt you. And anyway, it'll all catch up with you eventually. Life isn't meant to be cheap and easy. Let life bring you what you need. Let it bring you your learning. It is a journey - one of turns and bluffs and gulleys. Only the Divine knows that deeper than me. You too can be resilient and brilliant, wise, powerful, gorgeous, and gentle. So please, be. Balance your needs and your excessivenesses. Be nourished and satisfied, not a servant to sensory hankering. You do not need all the things. 

How might I abandon my greed for unnecessary things? For too many things? For over-pleasing? For hoarding? How might I abandon my greed for convenient things? The order and delivery? The excessive driving? The plastic sacks? The trash? All the little toys and clothes and gadgets that spawn and spread in closets and bins and cabinets? How might I be meek and abundant, authentic and nourished? How might I be powerful, gorgeous, resilient, brilliant, gentle, and wise? I want us to gather in a community of consciousness. I want us to honor and save our sacred beloved queen. To be with this mess and help her heal. 

I will begin with more homemade meals. I will begin with more local food, fewer packages, and less driving. I will begin with less stuff and more time with the trees. 

Will you join me?