Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Visions and Callings: Really Hard Work
I read my blog posting of a few minutes ago-It sure sounds idyllic! I really need to add this: that it is damn hard work-ranching in this conscious, focused and visionary way. This was the other thing that struck me watching my sister and her family be on the land: that the work is hard, repitious, sometimes inconvient, relentless. But, done through the eyes of their Vision-they do it, their Vision is manifesting and growing. I'm pretty lazy in comparison, and I am taking a lesson home with me from Wild Type Ranch, about the willingness to work hard and long and relentless for my own Calling and Vision.
Full Moon and Sacred Space in Texas
I'm in the central plains of Texas on my sister's Wild Type Ranch. The land here is flat, the expansive pastures brown and dry from the current drought, but the scrub oaks and late spring wild flowers stand in stubborn resilience to the unrelenting wind and heat. Even under the hardship and stress the current drought brings, there is something magical and sacred here. I've spent the past few days contemplating what it is that stands behind the magic of this place.
The Full Moon is tonight, though I am not sure it could get much larger and fuller than giant orb that hung over the scrub oaks, horses and cattle last night. As I walked from the main house to my bunk house bedroom up by the cattle chute, the moon cast a silvery shadows on the out-buildings, the cattle and horses out in the pasture, and the big round bales of hay that lined either side of my path. All appeared more silver than black tonight, and seemed to glow in the the moon-dark. It's a little scarey walking from the main cabin to the bunk house in the dark. There could be coyotes, skunks, maybe a bobcat or a wild boar lurking out there in the wild, and the night-sounds seem louder and more unfamiliar tonight; I walked up the draw in a heightened state of alertness.
Maybe it was the moon glow or my heightened awareness, but, I felt as if I had been transported to the magical land of a fairy tale-or into an alternate dimension. I went to bed last night feeling certain I was in a very special place. This afternoon, in the daylight, with no threat of coyote or skunk, I'm sitting alone, in the shade of main house arbor, reflecting on my experience from last night. It strikes me that for my sister, this whole ranch is her Sacred Space. Carefully, over time, she and her husband, cleared, nurtured, replenished and honored this landspace. They learned to watch and listen to the subtle messages given by the land. Things even most gardners would miss, let alone a suburban-girl. What certain weeds mean about the condition of the soil; how to shift erosion patterns so the land could recover itself...truly seeing the land as a living being. They are the same in their relationship with the animals-a true example of being in alignement with the cycles and rhythms of life. My sister's Sacred Space isn't a stagnant-build it one time and it's done- place. Nor should the sacred spaces we create be. As we care for the space in our own home, or workplace that we have created as a Sacred Space for supporting our personal growth and development, we care for nurture ourselves and all manner of what supports our life.
This ranch, by it's nature requires an honoring of the rhythm and cycle of life. I don't think my sister needs reminded by the full moon to birth her visions, and let go of the ones that have languished. Being here, though has caused me to deeply reflect upon what I am call to birth and to release, and in this fifth cycle of the year, the cycle invites us to listen for what is being said beyond the spoken word and honor and care for ourselves as sacred beings.
The Full Moon is tonight, though I am not sure it could get much larger and fuller than giant orb that hung over the scrub oaks, horses and cattle last night. As I walked from the main house to my bunk house bedroom up by the cattle chute, the moon cast a silvery shadows on the out-buildings, the cattle and horses out in the pasture, and the big round bales of hay that lined either side of my path. All appeared more silver than black tonight, and seemed to glow in the the moon-dark. It's a little scarey walking from the main cabin to the bunk house in the dark. There could be coyotes, skunks, maybe a bobcat or a wild boar lurking out there in the wild, and the night-sounds seem louder and more unfamiliar tonight; I walked up the draw in a heightened state of alertness.
Maybe it was the moon glow or my heightened awareness, but, I felt as if I had been transported to the magical land of a fairy tale-or into an alternate dimension. I went to bed last night feeling certain I was in a very special place. This afternoon, in the daylight, with no threat of coyote or skunk, I'm sitting alone, in the shade of main house arbor, reflecting on my experience from last night. It strikes me that for my sister, this whole ranch is her Sacred Space. Carefully, over time, she and her husband, cleared, nurtured, replenished and honored this landspace. They learned to watch and listen to the subtle messages given by the land. Things even most gardners would miss, let alone a suburban-girl. What certain weeds mean about the condition of the soil; how to shift erosion patterns so the land could recover itself...truly seeing the land as a living being. They are the same in their relationship with the animals-a true example of being in alignement with the cycles and rhythms of life. My sister's Sacred Space isn't a stagnant-build it one time and it's done- place. Nor should the sacred spaces we create be. As we care for the space in our own home, or workplace that we have created as a Sacred Space for supporting our personal growth and development, we care for nurture ourselves and all manner of what supports our life.
This ranch, by it's nature requires an honoring of the rhythm and cycle of life. I don't think my sister needs reminded by the full moon to birth her visions, and let go of the ones that have languished. Being here, though has caused me to deeply reflect upon what I am call to birth and to release, and in this fifth cycle of the year, the cycle invites us to listen for what is being said beyond the spoken word and honor and care for ourselves as sacred beings.
Friday, May 6, 2011
New and Waxing Moon information for May 2011
NOTE: I inadvertantly wrote this blog posting under my original blog, which does not post publicly. Being confused as to why my post was not showing up on the circle of self muse blog, I finally had time to dig a little deeper. Looks like the trickster was at work-again! So, here is the blog posting for the new moon of May 2011. It's still relevant as we move through the days and nights of the waxing moon
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
May 3--It's the new moon day/night!
May Moon This is the last of the moons for the season of spring. May invites us to work specifically with the Collective Aspect in the Element of Home. Maybe it is time for Spring Cleaning-not only in your physical home, but in your internal home. (Have you ever noticed that a person’s physical home is so often an outer manifestation of their perception of their inner self?) May moon is a great cycle to work with the Element of Mind in the Personal Aspect. In In this sense, the moon cycle for May invites us to listen to ourselves first-our inner voice, out out-loud voice (Is it whiney, seductive, open-hearted, compassionate, does it change depending on who we are speaking to?) Learn to listen from the metaphor of a ‘blank slate’ and in this sense, the color reflecting the May moon is obsidian or black. In deep blackness, there is no influence to what we hear-other than ourselves. The Celtic medicine wheel invites us to have compassion for ourselves during this cycle. Jamie Sam’ book, The Thirteen Indigenous Clan Mothers, ‘Listening Woman’ is the clan mother for this moon cycle. (see resources) We must know how to really hear ourselves above all the din and distraction of ruminating thoughts, worries, unfounded fears etc. All this takes practice, and having enough compassion for ourselves to keep re-committing to the practice of listening.
Listening, to oneself: what is it that I am REALLY saying? to myself? to others? What are others are saying. There are so many levels of communication. What would I need to change in my life to develop the skill of discernment and use it in my abilities to listen? Listen to what is really being said, listen to my intuition, listen to my conscience, listen to the voice of the Creator, and listen for the real NEED underneath the WANT, from myself and from those with who I am in relationship. Am I willing to listen, am I willing to hear and am I willing to take action on what I hear? Can I discern the differences in the voices of my ego, my spiritual essence and Divine voice?
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
May 3--It's the new moon day/night!
May Moon This is the last of the moons for the season of spring. May invites us to work specifically with the Collective Aspect in the Element of Home. Maybe it is time for Spring Cleaning-not only in your physical home, but in your internal home. (Have you ever noticed that a person’s physical home is so often an outer manifestation of their perception of their inner self?) May moon is a great cycle to work with the Element of Mind in the Personal Aspect. In In this sense, the moon cycle for May invites us to listen to ourselves first-our inner voice, out out-loud voice (Is it whiney, seductive, open-hearted, compassionate, does it change depending on who we are speaking to?) Learn to listen from the metaphor of a ‘blank slate’ and in this sense, the color reflecting the May moon is obsidian or black. In deep blackness, there is no influence to what we hear-other than ourselves. The Celtic medicine wheel invites us to have compassion for ourselves during this cycle. Jamie Sam’ book, The Thirteen Indigenous Clan Mothers, ‘Listening Woman’ is the clan mother for this moon cycle. (see resources) We must know how to really hear ourselves above all the din and distraction of ruminating thoughts, worries, unfounded fears etc. All this takes practice, and having enough compassion for ourselves to keep re-committing to the practice of listening.
Listening, to oneself: what is it that I am REALLY saying? to myself? to others? What are others are saying. There are so many levels of communication. What would I need to change in my life to develop the skill of discernment and use it in my abilities to listen? Listen to what is really being said, listen to my intuition, listen to my conscience, listen to the voice of the Creator, and listen for the real NEED underneath the WANT, from myself and from those with who I am in relationship. Am I willing to listen, am I willing to hear and am I willing to take action on what I hear? Can I discern the differences in the voices of my ego, my spiritual essence and Divine voice?
Monday, April 4, 2011
April Moon: How we give life to our thoughts and emotions effects what we create
Sunday April 3rd began the New Moon cycle for April. This is such a magical time of year-mostly because life changes so instantly in the spring! I fall asleep to sleep snow and 26 degrees one night and the next morning, by the time I'm walking into town for a coffee, it's sunny and 68. There's a crop of giant crocuses in the neighbor's yard that nodding their big smiling faces saying, "Notice Me! Notice Me!" And I do. They weren't there yesterday when I walked by. I noticed it last evening, too,when we went to the city (Chicago). Sidewalk dining had sprung up overnight, their tables filled and the overflow of spring-hungry patrons spilling onto the street. They weren't there last weekend. This teasing of spring weather seemed to bring city out of hibernation as well as plants, birds and animals. The energy of spring supports us in being more alive as well.
This April moon cycle energy this month is the energy for new-life. This 4th moon reminds us that our thoughts and emotions are lasers that focus the energy of our life. Our thoughts and emotions give life to what they are focused on. We do have the capacity to create our own reality. Unfortunately, many people do not understand that in order to create a desired reality, their thoughts and emotions must be finely tuned and carefully focused. For many, more energy is directed toward feelings of guilt and not deserving, and a belief system based on the concept of win/lose, either/or. Many times our creative energy gets sent through feelings of jealousy, anger and resentment, even revenge. This creates a distortion of our deepest longing and our true needs and wants, and what we end up experiencing in our life is only more of the same or possibly worse.
Want to grow? Create something new in your life? Try two of the tools in Whole-Person
Counseling and the Circle of Self process. By selecting and committing to read or listen to a Daily Inspirational Reading you will fine-tune the energy of your thoughts. By committing to write a Daily Review, over the space of a month's time, you will become clearer about what emotions are directing the focus of your energy. you'll find directions at http://www.circleofself.com/ .
This April moon cycle energy this month is the energy for new-life. This 4th moon reminds us that our thoughts and emotions are lasers that focus the energy of our life. Our thoughts and emotions give life to what they are focused on. We do have the capacity to create our own reality. Unfortunately, many people do not understand that in order to create a desired reality, their thoughts and emotions must be finely tuned and carefully focused. For many, more energy is directed toward feelings of guilt and not deserving, and a belief system based on the concept of win/lose, either/or. Many times our creative energy gets sent through feelings of jealousy, anger and resentment, even revenge. This creates a distortion of our deepest longing and our true needs and wants, and what we end up experiencing in our life is only more of the same or possibly worse.
Want to grow? Create something new in your life? Try two of the tools in Whole-Person
Counseling and the Circle of Self process. By selecting and committing to read or listen to a Daily Inspirational Reading you will fine-tune the energy of your thoughts. By committing to write a Daily Review, over the space of a month's time, you will become clearer about what emotions are directing the focus of your energy. you'll find directions at http://www.circleofself.com/ .
Friday, March 25, 2011
Resistance
I wrote last about recommitting to commitment. Commitment starts with an intention-a mental and emotional process- and then requires action to become real. As I work with staying committed I am next aware of resistance, not to the commitment, but to the action which gives life to my commitments. I came 'face to face' with my resistance a couple of days ago. I was struggling to give time to finishing some web pages necessary for the re-launch of the CircleofSelf website. I could not grasp what was holding me back. Resistance. I said out loud (always talking to myself) "If resistance had a face-maybe I could understand what's going on." Scripture from a number of sources say: "Ask and you shall receive."
The next morning I had a chance to create the face of my own resistance as mask-making was the activity presented in a women's group of which I am a part. I didn't want to make a mask of my resistance, but the image would not leave me alone, and so I gave in to it and literally created a mask of my resistance. (Mask making is a great exploratory tool for revealing the more hidden parts of ourselves and trying on 'new faces' so to speak. Ever been in a Halloween costume and started to feel and act like the character you had put on? It's little scary how easy it can be to embody certain characters!) I now have a visual of 'my resistance' created from my intuition and imagination .
I will be working with this mask for a while and share anything I feel might be helpful. At this point, I have become aware of a couple of things- I had earlier in my women's group created a mask made as a visual of my 'Calling'. When I had time to look at the two masks, I saw the 'resistance' mask had all the same visual representations of my 'Calling' mask, but presented in a very different way. If you want to know more about getting in touch with your own life purpose-or what I experience a "Calling", (of which life-purpose is a part) you can find instructions on the CircleofSelf website, or check out chapter three in Marian Baker's book "Wake Up Inspired" New Story Press, 2006. In this chapter, Marian has created some comprehensive exercises specifically for getting in touch with your purpose.
The next morning I had a chance to create the face of my own resistance as mask-making was the activity presented in a women's group of which I am a part. I didn't want to make a mask of my resistance, but the image would not leave me alone, and so I gave in to it and literally created a mask of my resistance. (Mask making is a great exploratory tool for revealing the more hidden parts of ourselves and trying on 'new faces' so to speak. Ever been in a Halloween costume and started to feel and act like the character you had put on? It's little scary how easy it can be to embody certain characters!) I now have a visual of 'my resistance' created from my intuition and imagination .
I will be working with this mask for a while and share anything I feel might be helpful. At this point, I have become aware of a couple of things- I had earlier in my women's group created a mask made as a visual of my 'Calling'. When I had time to look at the two masks, I saw the 'resistance' mask had all the same visual representations of my 'Calling' mask, but presented in a very different way. If you want to know more about getting in touch with your own life purpose-or what I experience a "Calling", (of which life-purpose is a part) you can find instructions on the CircleofSelf website, or check out chapter three in Marian Baker's book "Wake Up Inspired" New Story Press, 2006. In this chapter, Marian has created some comprehensive exercises specifically for getting in touch with your purpose.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Re-committing to Our Commitment
After my morning prayers, this is what came to my awareness: Commitment is not static it is a process. Commit to recommit on an ongoing basis. The commitment looks different every day and even in every moment. What is consistent is the process of recommitting each time we get off track-get distracted from our calling. This is the consistent part of our life journey: coming back again and again to our commitment to our calling.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Daily Inspirational Reading
One of the suggested practices to cultivate in the Circle of Self Program is the practice of a Daily Inspirational Reading. The practice goes like this:
1) Select a source for your daily reading: a book, a calendar or web-based source (there is a list of suggestions on the circle of self website: http://www.circleofself.com/The source should offer reading material in that takes under two minutes to read.
2) Commit to a time of day for your reading--choosing a time that is easiest for you to create the habit. In the morning seems best for most people--while brushing your teeth, when you turn on the computer for the day, in the privy while you take your daily constitutional...the choices are pretty much endless. The key is to create a routine.
3) The resulting effect of this practice is that the mind orients itself in a more positive mode. It also gives the mind something to focus on during the day and can be a great support for breaking ruminating thoughts and negative thinking patterns.
I was reminded of the effect of this practice in my own life this past week. I lost the current book I was using for my daily reading (An Altar in the World, by Barbara Brown Taylor). I took it with me on my vacation last week and must left it laying somewhere. I actually didn't notice I had left it for a few days because I was having a really good time and also out of my usual routine. When I returned home, I was already out of my reading habit, and after a few days, I found myself more short-tempered and judgmental and more negative. Clients have also commented on the effectiveness of this practice for short-circuiting their negative thinking patterns, inspiring creativity and keeping them motivated.
1) Select a source for your daily reading: a book, a calendar or web-based source (there is a list of suggestions on the circle of self website: http://www.circleofself.com/The source should offer reading material in that takes under two minutes to read.
2) Commit to a time of day for your reading--choosing a time that is easiest for you to create the habit. In the morning seems best for most people--while brushing your teeth, when you turn on the computer for the day, in the privy while you take your daily constitutional...the choices are pretty much endless. The key is to create a routine.
3) The resulting effect of this practice is that the mind orients itself in a more positive mode. It also gives the mind something to focus on during the day and can be a great support for breaking ruminating thoughts and negative thinking patterns.
I was reminded of the effect of this practice in my own life this past week. I lost the current book I was using for my daily reading (An Altar in the World, by Barbara Brown Taylor). I took it with me on my vacation last week and must left it laying somewhere. I actually didn't notice I had left it for a few days because I was having a really good time and also out of my usual routine. When I returned home, I was already out of my reading habit, and after a few days, I found myself more short-tempered and judgmental and more negative. Clients have also commented on the effectiveness of this practice for short-circuiting their negative thinking patterns, inspiring creativity and keeping them motivated.
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