Ordinary?

 Today feels like a poem.  I suppose they all do, since poems are always knocking on the inside of my noggin and I'm like "I'm WORKING, not NOW!"  Have I told you that poems are pushy?  Like your cat at 6 AM wanting food, they're sort of something you love but sometimes you want it to shut up and let you have a cup of coffee first, you know? 

But, I digress...

Today, I was NOT into it.  It? Just the day. Showering, dressing, going out into the world, talking to other humans, all of it.  It's the end of the summer, and so this funk I am in is primarily based on "crunchy bones hate summer so when will my life-giving autumn weather get here, it's been months of this unmitigated crap."  

 I showered and dressed anyway.  Today was water communion service at UUSGU and I WANTED to be excited, you know?  I found a reasonably presentable outfit, which is getting easier since I've lost 31 pounds so far.  Before I joined WW, I had more butt than pants, if I'm being honest. 

So, what's Water Communion?  This is where we bring a small amount of water from a place that is special to us.  During the service, we bring our water forward and pour them together in one large bowl.  I didn't have a chance to get water from anywhere special to me, between work and helping the relatives.  

Then I remembered my ritual water in the basement refrigerator.  I have combined two practices into one which I especially love.  The first is "Blue Solar Water" which is a tradition which I believe comes from Hawaii. You take a blue bottle with a plastic cover or cork.  Fill the bottle with the water of your choice.  I used plain Millbury tap water.  Leave the bottle out in the sun for one hour.   Once this is done, I put the bottle in the refrigerator.  On the night of the full moon, I put the bottle outside again, overnight, and in the morning I take it inside and refrigerate it again. 

I use the water to drink, water the plants, or anything else I'd normally do with water.  I love thinking of the sacred, peaceful energy of night, with the watchful moon overhead, coupled with the bright, dynamic energy of the sun combined in the water.  It reminds me that we are all part of this earth, this cosmos and we're all made of the same star stuff.  It helps me stay balanced.  Using this water feels like a blessing that says "May we all be well, may we all be healthy, may we all be safe, happy and taken care of."  

So, this was the water I shared.  Mundane, plain Millbury tap water.  But with the blessings of the Moon and the Sun.  Isn't that life, though, the mundane and the Divine intertwined?  I love it.  We are the magic, if we choose to be. 

I loved hearing about all of the beautiful places everyone else brought their water from!  At the end Reverend Daniel did a blessing of the backpacks, purses, etc for everyone using our combined water.  What wonderful blessings for us all as we transition from the slower pace of summer to all the doings of the "Ber Months." 

I loved Cherilyn's story today, and Caroline's embodied prayer.  

Because my body was so cranky this morning from the soupy weather, I was pretty low energy during our service.  When it was time to sing a few times during the service, Kate Gregoire and little Grace came to stand with me.  I held the songbook, and Kate held Grace.  These simple little moments were some of my favorites during the service today.  Kate has a wonderful singing voice, and looking at baby Grace was just beyond sweet. It was like being sprinkled with fairy dust, and I felt a lot better! 

So, overall, an ordinary day.  Hubby is upstairs watching football (truthfully, he's asleep in the recliner) because 'tis the season, you know.  Our sons are sharing coffee and conversation in the dining room which is their Sunday thing. And I'm in my sweet little Sanctuary room in the basement, catching up on some writing.  

Sometimes, ordinary is quite magical, indeed. 

Blessings for a great week, everyone. 

Forest Moments

 Red dragonflies dart just above the surface of the water, while endless birds swirl and dive, darting back and forth above the little pond.  Is that a tadpole swimming there?  

I feel at peace in places like this.  The structure and pace of our society has always seemed so bizarre, so harsh to me, and so I come to the forest.  

The tall ones will teach you, but you must learn to shut up, both internally and externally.  For just a few moments, stop being the center of your own attention.  Inhale the sweet earthy scent. Simply breathe, slowly.  How often do you actually fill your lungs, and breathe slowly?  Most of us pass our days taking shallow breaths, like a golden retriever out in the sun too long.  Enjoy the air, and just watch the wind play in the trees.  

I place my hand on one of the ancient stone monoliths left here during the ice age.   Their presence here is comforting.  They are far too huge for the developers to move, and so I tell myself they will never come here and pave over this place.  

Are places like this our Mother's last stand, places where it's too hard to make a profit?  I'm getting upset.  Just for this moment, I put it all aside.  I leave my hand on the huge stone before me.  Just stand and breathe.  

You have been here since the Ice Age.  You will be here long after me.  My heart is at peace in this knowledge.  Your wisdom is far beyond us.  

I sit for a very long time, enjoying the breeze, the trees, the animals and the stones. I am returned to center and I am myself once again.  

I will always come here. 

To Scoff Is To Shrink

 One who scoffs

At the ways of another

Makes himself small 

Showing himself a weakling

Only in opening 

Allowing the difference 

Can he show his strength

What causes you to react 

When another lives their life

Not bothering you

It has no effect on you

Mind your own yard

Tend your own affairs 

Lest you discover 

While you stared and pointed at another

Your own life lies in ruin 

Quality Of Attention

 A successful day

Is not in things going perfectly

No, instead it is in 

A certain quality of attention

This makes all the difference

One you know 

It's all in how you PLAY your hand 

Not in the actual cards you're dealt

Then, oh then

You get to the good stuff 

So, yes, 

I would say 

A certain quality of attention

Makes all the difference

The Remaking

 This goes well beyond

Adapting to change or learning lessons

That which most avoid 

And destroy themselves running from

Is child's play for her 

Beyond words

Gone the familiar concepts

Taking Will, Choice and Consequence

Creation and Wyrd

To a new place 

Divestiture, shedding, rebirth

Some see an angel in white 

Others a revenant 

She's not even looking at them

She thought it was almost over 

But no

This is just the beginning 

Woman

 (Written July 18, 2023, a meditation on the role of woman through the ages)

Handing over your power

So used to it

I mean, that's part of what's so funny

He can't even carry that shit anymore

He tightens his grip 

As his hands turn to stone 

All he has held so long

Runs through his fingers like so much sand

Let's give a new meaning to corridors of power, shall we?

Everyone wants you, needs you

To possess you, or to BE you

And you just keep handing it over 

You give from yourself until you're empty

When You have access to IT ALL

The reversed pyramid

It's everything you know, to ALL OF THEM

Woman giveth, and woman taketh away

The endless thread is woven through the ages

We are the mystics, the river that flows 

We are the gateway 

So, stand well back

Have some respect 

You have no concept of our power

True North

 (Written July 18, 2023)

Yeah, we have attitude

Sarcasm, even venom

That's our wall 

Don't suggest it's weakness

We'll likely take your head off 

The stories are deep here, make no mistake

But they don't drip like syrup 

And run through our blood

Oh no, not here

They crystallize in our cells

We breathe them out 

Like when your breath turns to ice in winter

When the air runs out 

We walk on, stone faced 

The horrible and the beautiful 

All at once, it's all here 

Just don't ask most of us to talk about it 

Cold Ashes

 (Originally written March 2023)

Some days

You drag it through

Other days 

You grind it out 

Finding your groove

That's when the world gets uncomfortable

But, you know what?

You spend your lives hiding

From reality, from each other

From yourselves

I'd rather live in the sun

Fly into the night

And face my own soul

Rather than be a bowl of cold ashes 

No conviction 

Eyes

Some look at the world with open eyes

Others prefer them closed

Mine are open

It's not always easy 

But I'd never go back  

Mirror Mirror

 You can't just go through life seeking validation.

When your sense of being OK comes from outside of you, you'll always find two things; a belligerent twit to insist you're wrong, and a sycophant to kiss your ass and tell you you're right. 

Treat them both with respect and compassion, but don't listen to either one.

You're the one who has to look at yourself in the mirror. 

Get OK with yourself, and the right ones will stick around.

The Photo

 I saw an old photo in an antique shop, taken a hundred years ago, of an old man and a little boy, walking.

They are in a small, picturesque town, walking the road. The town is on their left, and a river is on the right. 

I can FEEL them, as if they were here now, as if I knew them. They're going fishing, and I can feel the little boy's excitement. 

I get this a lot.  I look at something from the past and experience the same thing as I do when I'm talking to live people who are right in front of me. 

I've seen some write about this type of experience as if it's scary and they ask how they can "turn it off."  What an odd question.  For the majority of people, it IS turned off.  

For me, it just IS. 

Night In The Forest

 

(Originally written 12/28/2022)

The velvet night was deep. There were no sounds of people talking, or cars driving by.  There was only the Holy stillness.  The moon in the sky shone through the clouds that moved across the sky. 

Owl sat high up in the ancient White Oak, her good friend.  He had seen much in the time that so many humans had come and go. 

Many nights Owl and White Oak spent together in this way.  Owl would take a meal sometimes and enjoy it in Oak's strong branches.  Oak would share the news he learned through his network of roots, communicating with the other trees.

On this very still night, Owl perched in her usual spot, high up in White Oak's branches.  She began hearing animal sounds getting closer, it was a large animal!

Soon her keen hearing and eyesight told her who approached, it was Old Bear. As he approached the tree, Owl made her way to a lower branch.

"Greetings, my friend!  It is ever so good to see you!  My heart is glad for you every day, and I think of you often!"  Said Owl.  Bear looked up at Owl and smiled, his huge teeth showing, saying "Flattery will get you everywhere."  And they both laughed. 

They spent an hour or so thus, enjoying talk of their days and remembering old times. 

Finally, Old Bear said he grew tired.  Owl had noticed that her friend moved a bit more slowly, and some grey fur had appeared around his muzzle.  Owl herself had to admit that she avoided the very longest of flights these days.  It happened to them all.  

"Ah, yes, Old Bear, I too am ready to retire and enjoy a good rest. Sleep well, my beautiful, grumbly friend, and we shall see one another again, Creator willing." Owl replied.

Bear smiled up at Owl. "You are ever in my heart, Owl. Be well, as you bring your messages to those who would hear."

With that, Bear walked into the deepest part of the forest. 

Owl stayed with White Oak a bit longer, then she bid him farewell, too.  Dawn approached and she was ready for a rest.  As Owl flew off to her secret home, White Oak stood as always. Yes, all things change.  The Tall Ones understood this well.  A day would come when Old Bear's spirit would leave his body, and Owl and Oak would miss him dearly.  Owl, too would fly beyond her body, eventually, and her nightly visits with White Oak would be no more.  Even Oak would die, although it would take far longer, if no humans interfered.  But he knew his essence would continue with all of the other Tall Ones, his stories safe with them, as was their way. 

When he did die, he knew that the spirits of Owl and Old Bear and all of his friends who were no longer living would be there, too, for he knew that energy never stops, it simply changes shape. And, the essence of the lives they lived, here in the forest, was a part of the life pulse of this place. In this way, they were always remembered in those who still lived.