tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83167730794493625432024-03-13T22:17:07.226-07:00Dream In Time Are we awake or dreaming? Perhaps we are dreaming we are awake? Maybe yesterday we were dreaming or tomorrow we'll be awake. Whether awake or dreaming our consciousness as an integral part of existence goes on. Here is where I try to sort out my understanding of what just is. Namaste!journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.comBlogger832125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-72519418159949010722024-02-17T05:37:00.000-08:002024-02-17T05:38:14.676-08:00Taking Things Personally<br /><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpL6vk9SbNW0-r-C4gKuM9AN9m7DKdxmEPu8X_QkZOsYFKVqmrisdifUv3M1zvtVZxmxmxT4rZmnZRWD239nPzsQvtfl4Nrz8JV1md5BxsNL6aUTjCsBYgm3zxcFwknjtkVRnQC6rTIiPejqW_juZdjE0WgfcBKgnNJL3UB0pyZfi50VEoBwASRnQ4FI/s1600/PeekingFullMoon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpL6vk9SbNW0-r-C4gKuM9AN9m7DKdxmEPu8X_QkZOsYFKVqmrisdifUv3M1zvtVZxmxmxT4rZmnZRWD239nPzsQvtfl4Nrz8JV1md5BxsNL6aUTjCsBYgm3zxcFwknjtkVRnQC6rTIiPejqW_juZdjE0WgfcBKgnNJL3UB0pyZfi50VEoBwASRnQ4FI/s320/PeekingFullMoon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">How much suffering do you want to take on in this life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it’s a lot, then continue to take
everything personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it’s not a
lot, then consider something very important before you take things
personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sometimes get this idea
in our heads that just because we would never do or say something like X unless
we disrespected someone, doesn’t mean other people think or behave in the same
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By our very nature, we are born to
monitor and look for patterns in our surroundings to keep ourselves safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when we make too many automatic
assumptions about others and their intent (which we can’t with 100% certainty
ever know), we actually cause our own suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">If someone cuts you off on the highway, and you get angry –
you’ve taken things personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have
absolutely no idea what’s going on for that person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could be on their way to the hospital to
say goodbye to a loved one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could
be on their way to day care to pick up a sick child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could have just lost their job or are
running late for an interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should
they drive carelessly?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No. But you see,
when things trigger our emotions and urgency, we do sometimes lose our ability
to do things or say things with any amount of normal care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are some people just careless as a part of
their nature?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But none of that is about you is all I’m
saying.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">A part of our ego sometimes revels in the idea of catching
others doing something wrong as if that might lift us in status in some
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t. What you see in others
is filtered through what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
experience and your own intimate and personal awareness of your own short
comings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait, isn’t there a right
and wrong here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, sometimes there is
but also, sometimes that realm of right and wrong can differ from person to
person and justifiably so given their situation, life experience and also their
psychological state at any given moment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">Definitive truths in human interactions is hard to pin down
especially when you are sure that your assumptions are facts just because they
come from within your own mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
deductions based on the limited information you observe do not equate to
definitive truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you understand
that, you start to understand situations more, spool up less and your
compassion and tolerance grows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would
you want that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, intolerance,
distrust, accusation, and anger all have their place but if you are living your
life with the energy of those thoughts controlling the filter through which you
see the world every moment of every day, you could be making yourself and those
around you quite miserable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">We assume intention often but you can’t know someone’s
intention with certainty so why let your mind take it to that level?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You punish yourself so much when you create a
framework where everyone and everything is out to get you or ruin your day.
Sometimes bad or rough things happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
isn’t necessarily personal, and I’d argue that even when someone attempts to
make it personal with intention, you have to realize all the years of
potentially detrimental psychology that person has lived with to come to that
point where they may take issue with intention with you and your presence at a
certain time or place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">I’m all for standing up for yourself and for what you
believe in for sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But belief, please understand,
is provisional truth at best. Belief is a hypothesis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not talking faith and religion here. That’s
a whole other matter I’d prefer not to bring into this discussion at this time.
Think more psychology – simpler like the thought process of – my husband didn’t
take out the trash, therefore, he doesn’t love me and expects me to do all of
the work in this house alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lives
here too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why should I do all of the
work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing is, hubby may be busy
with other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, if you want the
trash out right this second – do it yourself or ask him again when you can tell
he isn’t preoccupied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taking the trash
out when asked does not prove love to begin with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love is bigger than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not suggesting we don’t set boundaries on
what we will and will not tolerate but understand what love is and isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If my imaginary situation is one that you
have faced or feel, you might want to instead have a talk with your spouse
rather than assume lack of love or care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Assumptions, and we all do it – are part of the problem.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">We assume so naturally, but we can’t know 360 degrees of a
person or their intentions by assumption alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I find dealing in facts keeps me from constantly being disappointed by
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also find expressing my needs
up front rather than trying to catch someone with proof they don’t love me is
time better spent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my life, I have
faced both intentional and unintentional slights or bad behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I value my peace, I choose to see
both as not about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have developed a
pretty good sense of self and I know that no one on this planet can know me at
a 360 degree level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, their insult is
not something I need to take on board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If I’m concerned about truth in their words, I can own up to my actions
or behavior without that threatening me at the core level of my being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the time though, I understand that
someone who calls me names is telling the world more about the state of their
own psychology than they are telling the world about me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">I mean, I am certainly not everyone’s cup of tea but if
someone wants to see a monster in me, that’s on them and doesn’t bear out as
the definitive truth about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I get
caught up in collateral damage by the unthinking actions of others, I’m not
always quick to anger and even if I do become angry, I won’t act or react on
that anger without first trying my best to see the truth of a situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I see that my own assumptions cannot be
validated about a person or thing – again, since I value my own personal peace,
I’m more likely to set the matter on ignore and walk away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I choose understanding over asserting my ego
for its version of right or wrong because I know me and my ego is wholly
incapable of doing that accurately.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">A few more parting thoughts on the matter…have you ever done
something stupid, insensitive, uncaring or even cringy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have as we have made our way through
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our mistakes are how we
learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When someone “transgresses” in my
view, I am likely to be compassionate and understanding – meaning, I’m not
going to get crazy angry or feel bad about myself to the point I get angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may be disappointed and I may choose to set
boundaries so I don’t suffer further unthinking or bad behavior but I will do
my level best to maintain my balance and equanimity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somethings just hurt in life and that is what
it is but “hurting someone back” will never, ever remove the pain or other
emotion that you suffered and any attempt at vengeance for a perceived slight
whether intentionally or unintentionally committed will never un-mark that
pivotal moment in your interaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
energy is better spent understanding the emotion an action evoked in you rather
than engaging in further battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
life, battle is all some people know and due to psychology, it’s the only way
they know how to interact with others and it’s very likely – unhealthy. To
continue to engage with some people in a tit-for-tat exchange is truly beneath
you, won’t change that person or their behavior and is really not the best use
of your energy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">From a bigger picture perspective, those things in life that
vex you the most, the things that trigger that feeling of incredulous within
you – those are all messages to you from you that you have wounds inside that
need your time, attention and great care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We all carry these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s part of
living life on Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when you
strive for understanding both for yourself and another, you can home in on what
is best for you in a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maintaining
peace is a beautiful thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Engaging in
battle often leads to escalation, chaos and worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Step back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Take a breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pause for a
moment. See what within you can thoughtfully respond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask yourself if this or that thing is really
the thing you want to take personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is there a basis inside of you that is easily triggered?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you know that if you figure out what those
things are and strive to understand and heal them, no one can ever trigger you
to unconsciously take things personally again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wow!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a powerful thing to possess
– healing, the ability to stop, think, and respond to a situation (walking away
or not saying a word is also a response).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">So yeah, if you value your peace, don’t take things
personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things don’t always go the
way we think they should. That doesn’t mean that we are bad, wrong or
whatever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just means this or that
interaction isn’t going as planned. So, stop, consider, reset and strive for
something different, better or healthy for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You matter as does every human on this planet no matter how attractive
of repulsive you find certain folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are all part of a whole living here in this giant Earth School at this
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to learn how to
de-escalate and honestly, that begins best within and a starting point is not
taking things so personally.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;">I wish you peace, I wish you love, I wish you the greatest
understanding, and the deepest compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’ve got this!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">© 2024 Jaie Hart (photo and words)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-6469887653985237672024-02-16T05:51:00.000-08:002024-02-16T05:51:53.278-08:00My Spiritual Journey<br /><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2J5akS9FLSzbHaZAw6VmHgZW1a19p6vyoJXs2Rd9R9n-uUivMds484r4ab8T5QGxSmablTdz1oCgxea38uoIQoAK5x5Uszk4IVzxJBDc7cnkKfp2fyRnewDndArGjEmmpcoeKb2TRAXKwC8YsOe2GQtXgPOpRIB0urydjk6YSSo2MnLd9xRreyVNSQHo/s2354/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-10%20at%201.13.11%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1630" data-original-width="2354" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2J5akS9FLSzbHaZAw6VmHgZW1a19p6vyoJXs2Rd9R9n-uUivMds484r4ab8T5QGxSmablTdz1oCgxea38uoIQoAK5x5Uszk4IVzxJBDc7cnkKfp2fyRnewDndArGjEmmpcoeKb2TRAXKwC8YsOe2GQtXgPOpRIB0urydjk6YSSo2MnLd9xRreyVNSQHo/s320/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-10%20at%201.13.11%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Often at times in my life, I’ve had this deep almost
visceral feeling that there just has to be more to this life than working,
raising kids, eating right and exercise.<span>
</span>For many years, I’d have to say I was on a spiritual quest.<span> </span>Along the way, I’d have to say that I came
across some pretty amazing things, unexplainable things, and things you wouldn’t
believe even if I were to explain in great detail.<span> </span>But, at the end of the day – none of the
things that I discovered satisfied that inner feeling that there was something
more.<span> </span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve had plenty of subtle hints left at perfectly timed and
pivotal moments of my life.<span> </span>But as I sit
here today, I feel like all the different shoes I tried on to walk that path,
didn’t take me anywhere I didn’t have access to all along within me.<span> </span>Nothing in the “New Age” or even purported
ancient teachings brought me what I was looking for.<span> </span>There was still that feeling of home, like I’m
missing it terribly that sometimes washed over me.<span> </span>I can’t really explain it well enough to give
it proper meaning and in nearly 60 years of this life journey, I’ve not run across
anything outside of me that quells that feeling entirely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">However, there were often things that I could do from time
to time that satisfied that longing for a time.<span>
</span>It wasn’t teachers, books, classes or chasing knowledge.<span> </span>It was something by far more simple. Believe
it or not, getting up early to have a quiet moment to watch the miracle of the
Earth turning into the sun and then again, at the end of the day, seemingly
turning away from it while watching a miraculous fiery display of light in
every warm color imaginable at sunset did it for me.<span> </span>Other things too, like noticing the quality
of light etching the leaves on trees, a blade of grass or a simple weed, it
brought me a sense of that feeling of home.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">In quiet meditation, I have found much solace and comfort
for that feeling.<span> </span>Other things impacted
it positively as well like holding a new born, stroking a fluffy kitten or playing
with a bouncy land-shark puppy or rising above a vexing psychological matter in
myself or others – all of these things seemed to quell that longing a bit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">If I’m honest, I’d say my spiritual journey was a grand
disappointment on one hand.<span> </span>It took me
down many pathways and rabbit holes.<span> </span>It
had me spending time and money on what equated to snake oil.<span> </span>At the point I discovered I wasn’t finding
what I was looking for, the path disappeared and pointed me right back to
myself.<span> </span>Not a bad thing but an
unexpected thing.<span> </span>Some other things I
learned along the way (random truths - at least truths for me):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Everyone holds dark and light within them.<span> </span>There is no point decrying the darkness in
others when we are holding our own darkness either in ignorance or denial. Remember
– what you see is because it is within you to understand.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span> </span>True love
is as it has forever been – inside of you and readily available at any time you
become willing to dig deep inside and find it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Whatever seemingly calls to you in the outside
world comes from within you – nothing in the outside world will bring you as
much as if you explore your own inner depths and seek understanding – your personal
whys.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>We are One at many levels – we all co-experience
this frame, this Earth and each other.<span>
</span>Ego gratification never truly soothes the soul but the Ego isn’t
something to be destroyed either.<span> </span>It’s
best understood as a necessary part of us during our travels here on
Earth.<span> </span>It’s best to make friends with
it, accept it, and in a way maybe to tame it with love.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Finding self-love enough to stand on your own
two feet and make your way through life in confidence and compassion can take
you far in terms of understanding the meaning of your life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>While there may be this grand design in life,
you will never definitively know it.<span> </span>You
are best served finding within your life - <span> </span>all of those things that you are truly
grateful for, treasuring and appreciating those things and then learning what
you can do to give something to this world and Her inhabitants rather than
figuring out ways to take things from this world and Her inhabitants.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>You are entitled to nothing here in the Earth
School. You are given a body.<span> </span>You are
given consciousness.<span> </span>Everything from
there stems from your earnest effort and seeking to understand your life
lessons.<span> </span>Right action, right thinking
and right presence is required to succeed (and know that even when you fail,
you are learning so – that can still be right for your at parts of your unique
journey).</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>It’s okay to feel however you feel.<span> </span>You can wallow in darkness for the entirety
of your life.<span> </span>You can find ways to understand
and then shatter the darkness that you feel in your life.<span> </span>You can walk in the light understanding that
even when the sun shines unobstructed, you may not feel it – walk any way.<span> </span>Keep going.<span>
</span>Never give up.<span> </span>Never quit.<span> </span>Always have faith in yourself to master your
life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>9.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Grief is real here and you must learn to process
it.<span> </span>We come in at different times and we
go at different times.<span> </span>If we fight
change too hard, our grief will be protracted.<span>
</span>Learn from your grief and understand that the depth and level of your
grieving is very likely equal to your love.<span>
</span>Seek help if you should struggle.<span>
</span>Help is there for you if you seek it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>10.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Never
fall into the trap of equating your worth based on what you observe in others.
Envy is a trap as is keeping up with the Jone’s.<span> </span>Your path is uniquely yours.<span> </span>Find your gifts that are unique to you and
appreciate them. Focus inward and what you have to work with and not what you
think others are given. Remember, you are entitled to nothing in this
life.<span> </span>But you do have free will.<span> </span>Use it wisely without circumventing or
imposing on the free will of others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">After many years of searching, I’d have to say I willingly
stepped off the path.<span> </span>I came to terms
with much uncertainty and worked hard to grow comfortable with change.<span> </span>As I got older, energy began to wane some,
lines and wrinkles appeared as did glorious and sparkly silver strands
comprising the covering of my head (I spent so many years dying all manner of
shades and still do today just for the fun of it). Change is a constant.<span> </span>It’s best to make it your friend. View aging
not with fear and trepidation but as graduating to the class of Elders on the
Earth.<span> </span>If you make it to this stage in
life where age shows in your reflection, you are one of the fortunate.<span> </span>Aging is a gift not granted to all equally in
this frame. If you can, strive to hold gratitude instead of fear.<span> </span>When your body dies, your consciousness lives
on but you transform from the existence you have become accustomed to here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">I love my life today so much.<span> </span>I don’t have deep, burning, or all-consuming
desires to know this or that about life.<span>
</span>I’ve learned in my life that taking time to better understand my inner
landscape, learning self-love, full acceptance of self and a lifetime’s worth
of action was necessary for happiness.<span>
</span>The more I engaged in self-understanding, the more that feeling of
connection to Source returned and the more that sense of longing quieted.<span> </span>I still have desires and goals and I will
succeed in them as I always do.<span> </span>It’s
just that my <i>reason</i> or <i>mission </i>has changed.<span> </span>I think I’m at a place in my life now where
the idea of contributing to life has more meaning than anything.<span> </span>Lending a voice, an ear or compassionate
presence – that totally kills that old greatly diminished now feeling of
longing for home.<span> </span>When I stopped looking
for something to fill that longing, I found it.<span>
</span>I am home (as I have always been), I’m comfortable in my skin, I’m
happy, satisfied with a life well lived and hopeful for tomorrow despite the
chaos of information constantly bombarding me.<span>
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">I’d have to say that I do appreciate the spiritual journey I
embarked upon and all of the magical and unexplainable things that I have
experienced.<span> </span>I’m really glad that this
grounded comforting feeling eventually caught my attention and noticed that it
was coming from within after all that searching in the outside world.<span> </span>Our lives and our journeys here on Earth are intensely
personal and uniquely experienced just for ourselves and our growth as
souls.<span> </span>You can’t read your life’s
purpose in a book.<span> </span>You are so unique and
precious that no one else’s words, thoughts or ideas can describe you or your
purpose. Living your life and doing what you do is what you came her to do.<span> </span>If your life brings you sadness, that’s
okay.<span> </span>Consider it a message to you from
you that you might potentially benefit another way of learning or living along
your journey.<span> </span>If your life brings you
comfort, that also is a message that maybe you are on the right path for the
moment.<span> </span>In those moments that you find
bliss, that’s a YES from the Universe.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the many phrases I’ve come across in my life that
inspired me the most – more than any practice, books, classes or whatever was: <i>The
Journey Is The Destination.</i><span> </span>It
inspires me still.<span> </span>We are all born in
this frame and our bodies die at the end.<span>
</span>If we continually wait for happiness only until this or that happens or
we put off relaxing or wait continually to do things until all lights are
green, we’re missing the point.<span> </span>Our
destination is ultimately to die after living a life well lived.<span> </span>So, go and well-live your life.<span> </span>Find something in the day to day that you
like, love, or appreciate in some way. Enjoy your spiritual quest or
existential explorations as is your desire but live and appreciate something in
your experience that is truly good, light and bright. Respect the darkness for
that does truly exist within us all.<span>
</span>Strive to find a place of balance and equanimity.<span> </span>Know that tough times will come and go and
still you will learn and achieve all that you were meant to in life. Relax your
judgement of yourself, others, and this world.<span>
</span>Be the amazing you that you are.<span>
</span>That’s what my journey taught me most loudly and most clear.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">© 2024 Jaie Hart (photo and words)</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-84658640659910667432023-10-27T06:54:00.011-07:002023-10-27T17:58:39.980-07:00Aimless Meandering<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWkCIp3e3RTMVHixbDsGTGMDoz7cN51UZ70_MrCRmDzLOUgjLvnfDvm-YFSqjigx96gJ76aQLFrqrQAz9OHv4v4Sm0shv4umdUrSqDx9rVfAuRkmqiFgz0wM7shsFwzmL3Mm79Bfr8KakN5U6sT4ZJ8bWTOjlkOlTQxrCXirWa4Fkdfg2fIEKpakte-4/s2048/Autumnleaves-EFFECTS.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWkCIp3e3RTMVHixbDsGTGMDoz7cN51UZ70_MrCRmDzLOUgjLvnfDvm-YFSqjigx96gJ76aQLFrqrQAz9OHv4v4Sm0shv4umdUrSqDx9rVfAuRkmqiFgz0wM7shsFwzmL3Mm79Bfr8KakN5U6sT4ZJ8bWTOjlkOlTQxrCXirWa4Fkdfg2fIEKpakte-4/s320/Autumnleaves-EFFECTS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />It’s amazing how quickly the hours, minutes and days go by
when your mind is occupied in a busy life.<span>
</span>I think I’m reminded more so now than ever of the importance of taking a
pause, a moment, a breath in the present to just appreciate all that has been,
all that is and all that is to come without assigning any emotion to that.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">In reflecting this morning, I realize what a winding steep
and perilous road I have sometimes travelled.<span>
</span>At other times, it felt like smooth sailing.<span> </span>At this time and in this stage of my life, I
have to say that I am happier than ever I have been.<span> </span>I have meaningful work, a growing family, and
I somehow managed to deal with grief.<span> </span>I’ll
be honest, I don’t care for that part of life.<span>
</span>It seems the things that wound us never really ever heal (sorry –
spoilers).<span> </span>But if we give ourselves the
space and the grace to be fully present with grief without resisting it,
something shifts in our disposition.<span>
</span>Some part of us begins to accept that grief as part of life and we learn
that pain is okay to feel – it is nothing to fear – and we just tend to grow
beyond those moments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Acceptance has loomed large in my life with many lessons to
affirm the need for it.<span> </span>I might like to
throw temper tantrums because of “what is” in various aspects of my life but I
know ultimately how I face something or not is a choice and that choice may
extol more energy than I have (if in resistance) or apply just the right amount
(if I allow what is to be).<span> </span>Ever since I
heard the serenity prayer and took the time to really dive deep into what seems
on the surface a simple string of phrases, I have learned the wisdom of
it.<span> </span>At some point we have to decide if
our resistance to what is makes sense to hold onto.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’m a deeply sensitive soul and I have faced some pretty big
emotional upsets in my life but I somehow learned to stand and remain flexible
regardless.<span> </span>If we can learn to bend
sometimes like a tree in a storm, flow instead of resisting, we’ll weather most
storms.<span> </span>Sometimes the storms are just
overwhelming in life – did you know it’s okay to crumple into a heap and cry it
out?<span> </span>(I’m telling you – give yourselves
permission to feel whatever you feel when you feel it – just don’t take action
when in feeling mode. When in feeling mode, just feel – be with whatever it is –
then take action in a healthy and appropriate manner that supports you and
others).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think for a while in my life I got hung up in trying to
ascribe a reason for this or that lesson.<span>
</span>While seemingly a pain-minimizing endeavor, sometimes we just don’t get
any closure on things.<span> </span>You have to learn
to deal with what you have, what you don’t know – you don’t know, and
assumption is never a good idea.<span> </span>It isn’t
an either or – assume or get the definitive answer exercise – in order to be okay.<span> </span>The one thing in life that is fact is that
life is ever changing. The only thing that is the constant is change.<span> </span>When I run into rougher times I remember – “This
too shall pass.”<span> </span>When I am enjoying
happier times I remember – “This too shall pass” and I appreciate with much
gratitude any moment of peace or happiness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I understand much about people and sometimes that
understanding that everyone is battling their own trauma’s, wars, environmental
psychology etc. is all I need.<span> </span>I never
let that excuse behavior I find untoward or indecent, but it does help me to
realize much of what other people engage in along hurtful or unthinking lines is not personal for me.<span> </span>That thought doesn’t minimize the pain of the
things that some people do but understanding that from one human to another –
life is hard – I know all that I need to know, and I can set boundaries for
myself in terms of what I can and cannot tolerate.<span> </span>In life, the one thing you must learn to do
is stand up for yourself and your needs and that doesn’t have to be a battle of
wills with another human to get them to understand your needs.<span> </span>In some cases, you can scream that crystal
clear and the person you’re screaming at cannot take that onboard at all.<span> </span>That’s okay – some people are not for you,
and you are not for some people.<span> </span>You don’t
have to hate or hold grudges, just refocus on you and what you need to do for
you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Life is hard but when you look back, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50
years in a life, you see so many different versions of yourself while you were
enmeshed in one life lesson or another.<span>
</span>The same is true of your family and friends – different versions of them
throughout the years.<span> </span>It doesn’t matter
so much today who you were yesterday – what matters is who you are now – in this
moment.<span> </span>Every moment is an opportunity
to find realization, gratitude, acceptance, make plans and set goals and find
something in our moments to appreciate.<span>
</span>I find I can appreciate even the bad times even if only to think they
won’t last forever.<span> </span>I find I can
appreciate people – even the hurtful and mindless seeming ones. I do know they’re
doing the best they can.<span> </span>I also know I
don’t have to remain in proximity to those who are hurtful and hateful.<span> </span>I don’t have to add to their negative
energy.<span> </span>I can lick my wounds and take a
detour down any number of different life paths open to me when I and only when I remain open to
finding them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sorry for the aimless and meandering thought journey this
morning.<span> </span>I don’t often have the time to
write these days.<span> </span>I appreciate more
living life rather than trying to mentally figure it out, but old habits die
hard.<span> </span>I still love my morning
reflections over coffee when the house is quiet, and the cat is curled up right
next to me.<span> </span>I’ve got projects to get
started and I’m burning daylight. Wherever it is you find yourself on this
great journey of your life, I hope you can take a moment to congratulate
yourself for making it to this moment.<span>
</span>It’s been no easy task and yet you have somehow managed to master
it.<span> </span>Yay You! Be good to yourself today –
acknowledge your efforts regardless of whether anyone else will.<span> </span>Do one thing at least today just for
yourself.<span> </span>You deserve that kind of love
and care from you to you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Blessings for a great day on the journey that is your
life.<span> </span>Remember – the Journey IS the Destination!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">©October 2023, Janice L. Harter (photo and words)</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-3789598030779859772023-08-05T06:44:00.005-07:002023-08-05T06:44:54.677-07:00Chasing Dreams and Lessons Learned<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHwHaQWgbVqBQaONwNh3GOFpzf6S-pd95ajX3ILzqu4zldxUpMUlbAKUtVp08tvmuVrP6diG-ZViO-aBqRfaI2sKBbwSjsgTHOuf5-Q5ANFs9g6tzmCkeKbXfapw8HYOHyKwbexaNMETrbgVr31szVvXhYjlHc5iSs2rRVJQ3WM6SlDtFOg6LgqAJSLU/s1600/Afterthesun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHwHaQWgbVqBQaONwNh3GOFpzf6S-pd95ajX3ILzqu4zldxUpMUlbAKUtVp08tvmuVrP6diG-ZViO-aBqRfaI2sKBbwSjsgTHOuf5-Q5ANFs9g6tzmCkeKbXfapw8HYOHyKwbexaNMETrbgVr31szVvXhYjlHc5iSs2rRVJQ3WM6SlDtFOg6LgqAJSLU/s320/Afterthesun.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So many miles have come between me and the land of my
birth.<span> </span>If I think about it too long, my
heart starts to ache for the sound of the ocean, a strong and cool salty sea
breeze, and the sound of gulls.<span> </span>How many
days did I sit at the shore just to feel the power of the waves, feel the
enormity of the depth and the breadth of the ocean? Through sunny summer warmth,
and cool, cold and stormy days, I’d find my way to the coast and gaze for hours
in solitude.<span> </span>I miss those days
sometimes.<span> </span>Fortunately, those memories
will always live in my heart and bring me comfort still when most I surely need
it.</span></div><p></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">As many in life have come to know, the land of your birth
won’t always support your dreams and if those dreams are strong enough, you’ll
pack up all that you own, kiss your loved ones goodbye and begin a journey to
find whatever it is that calls to your heart and soul the most. Fortunately for
me, I didn’t have to go to far to begin to fulfill my biggest dream.<span> </span>It was a simple dream to own a home on my own
- large enough for me and my children, a yard big and green filled with flowers
and trees, and some space to breathe with rare beauty.<span> </span>I did find it and I’m so grateful.<span> </span>But these words echo in my mind, “now what?”<span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">In my mind I have visited the echoes of yesterday and the
enormity of lessons learned, love lost and found, broken, and bruised pieces of
my heart and psyche along with the strength of the inner light that can and
will carry you through the darkest of places if you just find a small shred of
hope to hold.<span> </span>I have not lived an easy
life by any stretch, but I have learned above all else to trust my inner most
urges and intuitions.<span> </span>In all the times
that I learned to listen and heed my inner guidance, I have found resolution to
outer and inner conflict, new paths where all once seemed obscure and a beautiful
light to reveal what lay hidden in the darkness (that of my own thinking and that
brought to me by the lessons of others).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMmET4ss4cTzWKcvCnABcGWiWlCdtv5HQgJv15DAJ2DFEJR2b5U5oRMsVW7j7f2FQhZT4CkYhct-HKH_YSg2YS_aNDIz1C6sn9duuIaQlk3eMzNTv26I4h5Vuh3gLV6tyoJnPCoR_DPgNDReU9znyzbjvNX6KODS9J2SujSNtKC0IsR2J7ruZoE0dPlc/s1600/IMG00047%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMmET4ss4cTzWKcvCnABcGWiWlCdtv5HQgJv15DAJ2DFEJR2b5U5oRMsVW7j7f2FQhZT4CkYhct-HKH_YSg2YS_aNDIz1C6sn9duuIaQlk3eMzNTv26I4h5Vuh3gLV6tyoJnPCoR_DPgNDReU9znyzbjvNX6KODS9J2SujSNtKC0IsR2J7ruZoE0dPlc/s320/IMG00047%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> When I look at all that I have accomplished, I feel really
good.<span> </span>Humble beginnings was the start to
my story.<span> </span>Where I am now I am not
married to because I have learned in life that all is fleeting, transient and
impermanent at every level.<span> </span>I have come
to know that it is not what I have and what I have done that matters most.<span> </span>The greatest of my life’s lessons has been
learning to take a measure of comfort in what is as it is in the absence of
judgement or fear.<span> </span>I have grown and gone
far beyond anything I ever expected.<span> </span>It
only took me learning to let go of what this world, society and my family
expected of me.<span> </span>The conventional has
never suited me and I will no longer entertain it. I am content now, more whole and happy even - most days.<br /></span><p></p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Life lessons still come and the pain can sometimes feel soul
crushing.<span> </span>But the key to leaving that
prison is accepting what is, sitting with the pain without reacting, and
allowing yourself to cry, shout, scream or be.<span>
</span>In time, we expand beyond the painful spaces within us.<span> </span>We learn to bring in more light to shine more
clearly into the darkness and we find our way back to the sun as long as we
spend no time in resistance.<span> </span>That is so
hard and can take years and years.<span> </span>It’s
not an easy lesson facing grief, sadness and pain.<span> </span>These things are part of the human condition
and when we encounter them we must always remember – this is not it.<span> </span>It is not all we will ever feel again.<span> </span>We will expand, we will grow and as we do we
create more space within us to take in other things – joy, love, curiosity,
hope and so much more.<span> </span>I think the pain
never goes away but we take in more and with balance, we learn to live with the
good and the bad seeming within us.<span> </span>It’s
amazing how that works, and it has worked for me time and time again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4NJZUHE6S-OweWZjiPZYkwI3VL-8ZhA0MtN__6QAzuqKCtTUnkB81ivqIlyX_gYBg77VPiPBqL8bBzu1pZIKUl3ijAsujLCfiMqjnjGbAhtssQeIrLDddWRFaRtCrj-3ulcfcgJjJ_vebCVdjBsQ5lN98TX1ein3o_uohjSXJMnZQWYWUaMjTB7ol1bY/s1184/Screen%20Shot%202021-03-18%20at%207.06.55%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1184" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4NJZUHE6S-OweWZjiPZYkwI3VL-8ZhA0MtN__6QAzuqKCtTUnkB81ivqIlyX_gYBg77VPiPBqL8bBzu1pZIKUl3ijAsujLCfiMqjnjGbAhtssQeIrLDddWRFaRtCrj-3ulcfcgJjJ_vebCVdjBsQ5lN98TX1ein3o_uohjSXJMnZQWYWUaMjTB7ol1bY/s320/Screen%20Shot%202021-03-18%20at%207.06.55%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> I stand here today so grateful for all of the mountains I
have climbed, the darkness I have faced, the disappointment, the anger, the
bliss and love – all of it.<span> </span>My time is
not yet done.<span> </span>I just plan to live a little
wiser, with more patience and acceptance.<span>
</span>Maybe find a little more courage, curiosity, and wisdom to face the rest
of my journey wherever it is it may lead me.<span>
</span>I think sometimes the journey is within and without simultaneously.<span> </span>How can it not be?<span> </span>It’s like magic at times and it can make me
laugh or cry depending on how I look at it.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">If you take anything away from this piece, I hope you take
with it hope, trust in your journey and yourselves to live your lives as
perfectly and as meaningfully as you were meant to.<span> </span>Count your blessings and lessons both (you’ll
find they are one and the same in the end).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"> </span>
</p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">© Copyright 2023 Janice Harter (photo and words)<br /></span>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-82100458486144096792023-05-29T07:17:00.005-07:002023-05-29T07:17:55.884-07:00Not an Every Day Journey<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YRk3IvSjpzrsZ1daOpAxZ9UMGCuO102392TmmBD_Qz1KUPRo46YDWzsLKOTzLHpSJEjyscQKqkg4i2HBJoh44M4x5geD22-WeEfRL17WFkTA5N1IuYW1Ud5tjR6YdO1rhT04IvOsAhlbGUmRs5lmeikPLztoy47K2F8_gGV4xzyxmEjcFN0gfyx6/s1178/Screen%20Shot%202020-04-24%20at%207.14.48%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="1178" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YRk3IvSjpzrsZ1daOpAxZ9UMGCuO102392TmmBD_Qz1KUPRo46YDWzsLKOTzLHpSJEjyscQKqkg4i2HBJoh44M4x5geD22-WeEfRL17WFkTA5N1IuYW1Ud5tjR6YdO1rhT04IvOsAhlbGUmRs5lmeikPLztoy47K2F8_gGV4xzyxmEjcFN0gfyx6/s320/Screen%20Shot%202020-04-24%20at%207.14.48%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I woke up early to watch the sky change colors as the sun
climbed up into the sky.<span> </span>The display is
one I never ever tire of.<span> </span>Its magical
how the sky goes from inky black with millions of pin point stars, to dark
blue, faded blue, to smoky pink, peach and then golden.<span> </span>Every new day always strikes me as a
rebirth.<span> </span>It isn’t actually that but the
world turning on its axis as it orbits the sun. But I like my magical thoughts
more than my scientific ones this morning.<span>
</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I made some coffee, fed the cat and retrieved and then
filled the bird feeders.<span> </span>I sipped coffee
watching my little winged friends flitting about excited for an easy meal.<span> </span>The brightly colored Finches and Sparrows are
a favorite.<span> </span>After they finish a nibble,
the bigger birds swoop in to pick up off the ground what the little birds
pushed out of the feeders.<span> </span>The Grackles
and Doves get a bite too.<span> </span>I just love to
see them for some reason.<span> </span>I have small
windchimes around the posts that hold the feeders so I can hear when the birds
fly in for breakfast.<span> </span>Well that and I
love the little windchimes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It's cool out now so I threw the front and back doors
open.<span> </span>I can hear the birds singing happily
along with the occasional whir of air conditioning units kicking on.<span> </span>Out here in the desert, we are heavily
dependent on the air conditioning to keep us not only comfortable but safe from
the extreme heat of the late Spring and Summer days.<span> </span>Sometimes I long for greener scenery but
there is something about this place that called to me so long ago.<span> </span>It came to me one afternoon nearly 20 years ago.<span> </span>I lived in Southern California and was paying
ridiculous amounts of rent, daycare on three kids on one income.<span> </span>The idea of moving to Arizona came to me.<span> </span>I could at least solve the exorbitant housing
expense.<span> </span>I just wasn’t quite ready to
leave.<span> </span>But then, over the years the call
changed.<span> </span>Added to it was a desire to not
just move to a new place but to be a home owner.<span> </span>As a single parent of 3, there was just no
way I could come up with a down payment.<span>
</span>There was also no way my boss at that time was going to let me
telecommute.<span> </span>A few years later, I had 4
children and no idea how to manifest the dream.<span>
</span>But it came back due to circumstances reinforcing the original thought –
giving me pause to remember and consider. I wondered, why couldn’t I just
manifest the resources?<span> </span>That changed to –
why don’t I just manifest the resources. And that is exactly what I did.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XXtgx1QPMAAgLWrQnVXfaYoCARX8u5yrzaU6ug9OVCUihc8fFAI85-uA2xemVqFaxvXgqApbcEwz661EcXLrpjN2ba5WoG6yy184MvmObOvtl5loHF7AwesY0rYkJkplTDaNGrlc7BFtYltGWGObahaRk-QJc79hHukhABSLkeasNA2XkrN6QpL4/s1190/Screen%20Shot%202020-05-09%20at%201.47.06%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="1190" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XXtgx1QPMAAgLWrQnVXfaYoCARX8u5yrzaU6ug9OVCUihc8fFAI85-uA2xemVqFaxvXgqApbcEwz661EcXLrpjN2ba5WoG6yy184MvmObOvtl5loHF7AwesY0rYkJkplTDaNGrlc7BFtYltGWGObahaRk-QJc79hHukhABSLkeasNA2XkrN6QpL4/s320/Screen%20Shot%202020-05-09%20at%201.47.06%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I found my desired location (the city felt like home as soon
as I accidentally found it) and started looking for houses in my price
range.<span> </span>I figured out what I needed for a
down payment.<span> </span>I definitely didn’t have
that but I didn’t let that discourage me.<span>
</span>I imagined what it would feel like to sit in my back yard sipping coffee.<span> </span><span> </span>I
imagined my bank account growing so that I would have enough.<span> </span>I stayed open, positive, and every day looked
at homes and started getting really excited about the idea.<span> </span>I found myself a mortgage broker and an
agent.<span> </span>I found a way to manage a down
payment, pulled together the funds for a mover and before I knew it an offer
had been made and accepted on a home that really sparked my inner being.<span> </span>We went to Arizona to see the house and fell
in love.<span> </span>45 days later, we were moving
in.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I was paying twice my now mortgage plus just for rent in California.<span> </span>But, my new boss allowed me to telecommute
and I was able to bring my California salary with me to Arizona.<span> </span>My dreaming, positive thinking, staying open
to ideas that would better align me to my goal paid off.<span> </span>Here I sit 4 years later on my back patio
sipping coffee watching the birds munching happily the bird seed I just filled
the bird feeders with.<span> </span>I did it on my
own.<span> </span>I did what I once thought
impossible.<span> </span>I manifested a dream I
scarcely let out into the light of day.<span>
</span>I’m still amazed today at how everything came together.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />The trick was giving voice to the dream, as specific as I
could while staying completely open to the how and trusting the how would come
together.<span> </span>I did my part.<span> </span>I researched, I gave good positive thoughts
to it daily, I worked to do my part and not one hitch was encountered.<span> </span>It could have been a disaster, but it wasn’t.<span> </span>Uprooting your life from being born and
raised in one state to another is no easy thing.<span> </span>But it was the perfect thing for us.<span> </span>I always knew that Arizona held magic for me.
Yeah, there’s that word again.<span> </span>Let me
have my magic!<span> </span>My first grandchild was
born a year ago and as I ease myself into that next part of life I have managed
with the Universe’s help, to create for myself a fabulous framework for that
next stage whatever it will hold for me.<span>
</span>I couldn’t be happier.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9btjzK7R7N3Rosdvc7zIwGxWfMzLbRQsQuFqbwSxNEPipCEyKNVNDhxY_Q6DAZjsCLJLBPjzPHoXshpb6TWC6y4vD1OvZrRJqMv0Fsi_IKrAJpLkwVT3JdQ84YOi5RaVCqd96Ur3DxkN83T8BMcYwrLfBLAa-nc1-RCEEByuo4UW9DmPdSP_VC4S/s1188/Screen%20Shot%202021-03-18%20at%207.06.33%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="1188" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9btjzK7R7N3Rosdvc7zIwGxWfMzLbRQsQuFqbwSxNEPipCEyKNVNDhxY_Q6DAZjsCLJLBPjzPHoXshpb6TWC6y4vD1OvZrRJqMv0Fsi_IKrAJpLkwVT3JdQ84YOi5RaVCqd96Ur3DxkN83T8BMcYwrLfBLAa-nc1-RCEEByuo4UW9DmPdSP_VC4S/s320/Screen%20Shot%202021-03-18%20at%207.06.33%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />More than thirty years ago while driving through the desert,
a thought came to me – “Lost and Found in the Desert.”<span> </span>I didn’t think much of it at the time but as
I sit here now, I know exactly what that means for me.<span> </span>I was lost in so many ways before but when I
came here, to the desert in the land of the sun, I found myself.<span> </span>I found what I didn’t even know had been
missing.<span> </span>The journey of the last 30
years, every step, every misstep, all the good times, all the hard times – they
all led up to this moment.<span> </span>In this
moment I feel tried and tested.<span> </span>I feel
strong and so happy.<span> </span>Times won’t always
feel happy because there have been some hard, hard things to face on this
journey.<span> </span>While I know now that dreams
can come true, the every day journey is going with the flow, knowing that
emotions and circumstance are fleeting, and that every life journey is
extraordinary.<span> </span>It’s no everyday ordinary
journey that brought me here.<span> </span>It was a
dream that I gave voice too, concentrated on and helped manifest into
reality.<span> </span>I’m grateful for every part of
my journey up until now. The good times – the bad times – the happy times and
dire sad times…all of those times instilled in me the character I needed to
build, let shine, let grow and to keep on dreaming.<span> </span>Yeah, this had not been your every day
journey.<span> </span>It has been a magical one.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">© 2023 J.L. Harter (photos and words)</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-19276623972808998532023-05-28T06:47:00.004-07:002023-05-28T06:47:50.827-07:00The Heart Break of Letting Go and Healing<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2mAd_01Hn0Q9ObJIFfqr6nJ3iNBHMolFjBMgP9QoZ1Jw8zKf6XnRBRj5e1VEpfQbCtW2wBDmEYvuJc2clGG_5RfZ5GayXXo8bVRI8j025aVUv6FJDKLQ96EllwrcChUe9LKrutaXY1uaet6inkahRLOknj5Oelvs3Nbl4wm2X8QZGe9tYZqYCdOq/s3648/DropsJaieHart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2mAd_01Hn0Q9ObJIFfqr6nJ3iNBHMolFjBMgP9QoZ1Jw8zKf6XnRBRj5e1VEpfQbCtW2wBDmEYvuJc2clGG_5RfZ5GayXXo8bVRI8j025aVUv6FJDKLQ96EllwrcChUe9LKrutaXY1uaet6inkahRLOknj5Oelvs3Nbl4wm2X8QZGe9tYZqYCdOq/s320/DropsJaieHart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">A<span style="font-family: helvetica;">t so many different points in my life I have faced the
agonizing decision of letting go.<span> </span>I have
let go of jobs, places I loved, People I loved and even family pets that I
loved so much.<span> </span>None of these can be faced,
I think, without encountering some level of intense grief in the act of letting
go.<span> </span>I don’t deal with these situations
very well.<span> </span>When I realize these are
manifesting in my life for whatever reason, my body physically starts to fight
back hard with that deep and heavy feeling in the chest, that sinking feeling
of horrendous anxiety, or those doubtful feelings of failure, of losing
something important or realizing you just can’t hold on anymore either for
self-preservation or it’s just time for others to go.<span> </span>So, letting go becomes the only option for
many reasons.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In my time on Earth, I have had some pretty epic letting go
scenarios.<span> </span>The first and the hardest
were letting my parents go. One through death, the other through substance and
resulting extreme toxicity that I could no longer bear.<span> </span>The latest, a beloved pet I raised from a
puppy.<span> </span>For some reason this feels like
the worst letting go of all of them.<span> </span>I’m
not sure why really but I suspect that the grief of any letting go is
cumulative.<span> </span>You don’t ever heal from
letting go and each time a new scenario presents itself and you must decide
again that you must let go even when you don’t want to, all the pain from all
of the past letting go’s come straight back out to the light of day from the
depths of your soul.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">They say grief and pain heal in time.<span> </span>Sitting here today, I know that isn’t
true.<span> </span>You can come to terms with letting
go, the emotional whirlwind of grief but when you love so deeply and must let
go, there is no real recovery.<span> </span>You must
learn to expand who you are, stretch your very capacity for understanding, love
and compassion and learn to live despite the pain.<span> </span>It’s the hardest thing to do.<span> </span>But what I can offer is that there is
something I discovered along the way when dealing with the heart break of
having to let go.<span> </span>I mean, first and
foremost, counseling is helpful in managing the processing of emotion.
Given.<span> </span>Important.<span> </span>Please do it if you face extreme pain in letting
go whether mandatory of voluntary.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Next, what begins must end.<span>
</span>Nothing stays the same forever. On this planet, in this dimension and
framework, things begin and end.<span> </span>Or,
well, things shift focus.<span> </span>What is of
primary emotional focus, will not be so in 365 days more than likely, or 6
months, or 1 month or whatever.<span> </span>The same
is true of emotional pain. The time leading up to the imminent decision of
letting go is the worst, the moment of feels worse yet and then days that immediately
follow are pretty bad.<span> </span>When it comes to
letting go of people and pets, there is an energy separation that feels very physical.<span> </span>That intense energy separation period seems
to be its worst for the first 3 days following the letting go.<span> </span>The rest of the next week, moments of feeling
normal wash in like waves from time to time in increasing intensity.<span> </span>The next week after that is the same.<span> </span>Emotional moments and more normal feeling
moments come. The pain starts to lose intensity at times and you start to have
more blocks of time where you feel normal again.<span> </span>As you continue to engage in moving forward,
the third week really starts to cement the new habits.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Now, you can step back and freeze yourself in these early
stages if your push yourself into denial or bargaining, which the mind may want
to do. But if you could just acknowledge these arising when they do whithout
curling up into the fetal position when you encounter them, you can keep
forward progress.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The year of firsts is really a thing.<span> </span>Key dates that first year will be difficult,
as your mind wanders through memories or temporarily forgets that you had to
let go, these moments can be painful.<span>
</span>Acknowledge the pain and know, the level of pain is equal to the love.
That thought really helps you to give yourself some compassion.<span> </span>Of course, it hurts, you loved.<span> </span>They go hand in hand.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnu4s0GrNAlBIIqu1lxktlFMECX551dLh60C2RuVElpC5GvIuN3epHupUzz8WGLnDNFUP29QsL_WoSM9nIRNDZF3S6xncNGifmIgVYLaJftoB6geNsUXFwGtUXiv_aiwCZfyH3JRSw76YBhWLLhGDBEJaTfmP4-QrsFscLEWxaH8ZtdrZpWJcn3OXD/s776/Screen%20Shot%202020-07-12%20at%203.25.41%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="776" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnu4s0GrNAlBIIqu1lxktlFMECX551dLh60C2RuVElpC5GvIuN3epHupUzz8WGLnDNFUP29QsL_WoSM9nIRNDZF3S6xncNGifmIgVYLaJftoB6geNsUXFwGtUXiv_aiwCZfyH3JRSw76YBhWLLhGDBEJaTfmP4-QrsFscLEWxaH8ZtdrZpWJcn3OXD/s320/Screen%20Shot%202020-07-12%20at%203.25.41%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />Now, when the letting go is voluntary, extra care is
definitely needed.<span> </span>Your mind could
potentially dream up all sorts of scenarios where – you wouldn’t have to say
good by if only this or that had happened.<span>
</span>But backwards thinking, wishing or fantasizing cannot change today.<span> </span>You can also worry or doubt yourself into
oblivion about whether or not you did the right thing but here is where a big
dose of self-assurance and trust comes in.<span>
</span>If you gauged a situation as any form of danger whether that be
emotional, physical or financial, to the point you felt letting go was
required, trust yourself.<span> </span>At the end of
the day, the person you owe is yourself. Setting health boundaries means that
sometimes you will need to let go of all that is not in alignment with what you
need. There will be no shortage of challenge, judgement or harassment for
boundaries and letting go when you felt you needed to.<span> </span>If you are concerned, get counseling to vet your
thoughts and decisions before you invoke them.<span>
</span>Then trust yourself to do the right thing by yourself.<span> </span>Your happiness and quality of life
matter.<span> </span>That happiness and quality of
life is something within your power to control.<span>
</span>You cannot control other people.<span>
</span>You may be able to influence them or their behavior, but you cannot
change the reality of the exchange.<span> </span>If
it is toxic or dangerous for you in any way, letting go may help you preserve you.<span> </span>Even though pain in such an instance is
seemingly self-inflicted, it’s really no different than an involuntary letting
go.<span> </span>You must work through the steps and
if you can steer clear of second guessing yourself or entertaining the harassment
of those who don’t agree with your decision, you will move on and eventually
learn to live your life again despite the pain.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />Pain isn’t the enemy. When I feel it, I’ll be honest…a part
of me panics.<span> </span>I may actually have panic
attacks of the kind where I lose consciousness as my system is overwhelmed with
anxiety and emotion.<span> </span>It is really
uncomfortable.<span> </span>I face the same reaction
whether the letting go is voluntary or involuntary.<span> </span>Although it is definitely made worse by
outside harassment after I have decided that the best thing for me is to let
go.<span> </span>I know that if the decision to let
go comes to my mind, I have already done all I can do, managed all that I can,
considered all other options for me and must do what I feel is right. That is
my right.<span> </span>Bottom line. Dealing with the
pain, as I said is similar.<span> </span>Getting over
heart break and the panicky feelings of the first days is hard.<span> </span>You cannot heal them completely, but I think “getting
over” is a better way to put it.<span> </span>You
learn to accept in time as you continue with your life, and you expand enough
to do that. The pain may always be there, and you may even be reminded and feel
that twinge of pain from time to time but sometimes letting go is the only
thing that you can do.<span> </span>No matter what
anyone else says, the way you deal with parting is individual and unique.<span> </span>My experience here may not be true for you.<span> </span>I’ve just observed the energetic aspect –
that physical feeling of separation that is the hardest at first. That energy
deficit does calm down and right itself within about 3 weeks.<span> </span>Emotional pain may take longer to work through,
and each path is different there.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9f7cCSwJSmoWfdDHJyalyowWtUhnmhfVJFmkNgoFXdIiScrTPK3xSobMeYxzSFPNZI1z0oU8JANU4hDG6Lye1z2c8zn229rfo4ld8DgWDchigR_v3suWSCm4Myc04QK1UDH4FLD_eZzgntl6ULp94ULPINVHtKuGyJhrai8VoRfMSt9FBFjoq8oSm/s1186/Screen%20Shot%202020-05-14%20at%205.48.03%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1186" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9f7cCSwJSmoWfdDHJyalyowWtUhnmhfVJFmkNgoFXdIiScrTPK3xSobMeYxzSFPNZI1z0oU8JANU4hDG6Lye1z2c8zn229rfo4ld8DgWDchigR_v3suWSCm4Myc04QK1UDH4FLD_eZzgntl6ULp94ULPINVHtKuGyJhrai8VoRfMSt9FBFjoq8oSm/s320/Screen%20Shot%202020-05-14%20at%205.48.03%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />The most important thing that you can do for yourself when
you are facing one of the many “letting go” periods of your life is to be
really good to yourself.<span> </span>Honor the
emotions you feel, acknowledge them, give yourself time to feel them.<span> </span>Emotional times aren’t necessarily times for
action though.<span> </span>Keep in mind that when
you are grieving, you are impaired when it comes to things like decisions.<span> </span>Rely on your circle to help you through any
decisions that must be made during grieving.<span>
</span>Any important decisions that can be put off while you are grieving, put
them off for a time.<span> </span>Turn your focus
inward kindly and gently.<span> </span>The things that
have helped me most during times of grief were just the simple acts of daily
living.<span> </span>Getting up in the morning when I
don’t feel like it, showering, getting dressed, getting myself presentable as
normal or eating, working and taking care of my home. <span> </span>Take it easy on yourself but do keep up with
as many of your responsibilities as you can.<span>
</span>Get outside if you can.<span> </span>Breathe
in nature with your lungs, with your eyes, with your ears and with your
heart.<span> </span>These things all help.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Letting go is part of life.<span>
</span>As I said, everything changes – nothing ever stays the same. We must
learn to roll with the punches, flow with the changes and some days this will
take epic amounts of energy and sheer force of will.<span> </span>That’s okay.<span>
</span>Just keep going.<span> </span>Even when it
seems like life his horrible and dark, it won’t aways seem that way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">© 2023 J.L. Harter (photos/words)</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-19717632528516510082022-09-24T07:35:00.004-07:002022-09-24T07:35:40.486-07:00Change in Season - Facing Change<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQ20b2qEZnxdS4rgGCY2n4zvQCDPRKqweIu1_3-DHCT8ZAnb81U4VtLXOqnrQa5AwO_6EDr0tKJvl1udHlrippAiM00EgFsSNgY8OxGopY_MrqAKoa7hzfdfn6LiuIgUKsc7KuHdUxpQiekuTf9At66kFsKfvrFZw5o3ddYJIfbUwdfxJKcRkJ2IX/s2048/GoldentreeJaieHart.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQ20b2qEZnxdS4rgGCY2n4zvQCDPRKqweIu1_3-DHCT8ZAnb81U4VtLXOqnrQa5AwO_6EDr0tKJvl1udHlrippAiM00EgFsSNgY8OxGopY_MrqAKoa7hzfdfn6LiuIgUKsc7KuHdUxpQiekuTf9At66kFsKfvrFZw5o3ddYJIfbUwdfxJKcRkJ2IX/s320/GoldentreeJaieHart.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">No matter what we do or say, there are few things we can
count on in our lives...the world will turn, the sun will rise and there will
be stars up in the sky whether obscured by sunlight or accented by darkness.
Gravity is fairly constant and something we must learn to contend with day in
and day out.<span> </span>For now, the coffee is warm
– aromatic and I’m sipping it peacefully as the sun climbs above the horizon
(or, more accurately put, the Earth is noticeably turning at one of those times
of day that it is truly noticeable).</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The long scorching hot Summer came and went and if I’m
honest, I’d say uneventfully.<span> </span>That’s not
a problem in my book.<span> <i> </i></span><i>Uneventful </i>means I’ve
had moments of clarity, of peace and of quiet.<span>
</span>The birds are singing just now, and it is reasonably cool out in my
little corner of the world.<span> </span>The Chinese
Elm in my back yard is speckled now with yellow leaves that soon will fall.<span> </span>At this time of year, I am always reminded
that the trees just let their leaves fall.<span>
</span>It is part of their existence – their nature.<span> </span>Funny it is that we humans hold on to things…memories,
stuff, and thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts.<span> </span>When we can muster a moment of clarity and
let things drop away and become even more clear, more grounded and even more
grateful, we can flow more easily through the stream of the elements and Seasons that make
up our experience of life.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fall winds here always seems to bring change.<span> </span>Those Fall winds are blowing now and soon
into the season too.<span> </span>I remain curious
about the changes going on around me.<span>
</span>Some changes are uncomfortable because of the unknown aspects of
potential consequences but some changes are good bringing relief and an
opportunity to refresh, begin again, usher in new thought and energy.<span> </span>While uncomfortable for a time, I’d like to
think that change is ultimately good – whether wanted or unwanted. Pivotal
moments where lives and paths intersect always bring the possibility of change
and growth. Well, the <i>growth-part</i> is a choice we'd be wise to make.<span> I am okay with change even if it feels uncomfortable for a time.</span><span> </span>If I
dig in my heels and resist, the only soul I’d be hurting is myself and I have
vowed time and time again, never to intentionally cause self-harm! We can't really fight change in our lives - time marches on - a constant.<br /></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The seasons of my life have brought me much that I am so
grateful for.<span> </span>I stand much more
confidently in my own skin these days and so the changes blowing all around me
aren’t something that I get overly concerned about.<span> </span>If I walk back through my memories, I can
clearly see that change has been the one very dominant constant in my life
along with breathing – up to this point.<span>
</span>It is part of my awareness and existence.<span> </span>I am constantly reminded to appreciate all
that I have experienced and to cherish the good and bad alike.<span> </span>It is all part of my experience of life on planet
Earth.<span> </span>Although I am very aware of the
change thoughts running through my mind this morning, I intend to just breathe,
remain curious and hopeful – grateful – committed.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Coffee consumed and first morning chores complete (feed the doggo and the kitty cat), I now must
return to the routine of my day.<span> </span>I’ll do
so contemplative today.<span> </span>I feel it
already.<span> </span>I have much to wonder
about.<span> </span>I have much gratitude yet to
fully appreciate and I’ll keep that in mind throughout my day today.<span> </span>At this moment in time, all is well, no major
concerns or worries and I intend to appreciate a day off of my work-a-day
world.<span> </span>I have learned that I am well
prepared and grounded enough and with trust in my ability enough to face
whatever consequences of change that I encounter.<span> </span>I have proven myself resourceful, thoughtful
and capable of pivoting quickly if need be.<span>
</span>I think that is the beauty of experience and growing older in this frame.<span> </span>When you look back and recount all of the
things and situations you have faced and mastered, you begin to develop very
strong trust in yourself to face your life with an ever diminishing sense of
fear and angst and an ever growing sense of strength, wisdom and confidence.<span> </span>I love that.<span> </span>I hope what ever change blows your way brings
you the courage to stand and face it standing tall in your skin with curiosity
and confidence.<span> </span>You’ve got this.<span> </span>Have a lovely Fall!<span> </span>Enjoy every turn of color, gently falling
leaf and hopefully, gently changing temperatures that don’t shock your system! </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">© J.L. Harter, September 2022 (photo and words)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-33372376842293338882022-07-31T14:07:00.004-07:002022-07-31T14:08:40.440-07:00Unexpected Gifts the Moment Reveals<p><br />
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2aFy6ek1ghHTLRXZ07ZTb5FWj_ov0RMnWnxnuNSqJxjRv1VWphF35rGEdk6uLQIxCPONmaaMO_HZukETrvYLl3oI64K9K_YLR-Up6OR_-8Tr-z3nBD8hhs5OV4Qyrt2sm_8AjB0qcgC94uKUFxT7UovfSI--RjPm8Bg73Myd1LsiV41HTpgLyo4D/s1428/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-31%20at%202.04.06%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2aFy6ek1ghHTLRXZ07ZTb5FWj_ov0RMnWnxnuNSqJxjRv1VWphF35rGEdk6uLQIxCPONmaaMO_HZukETrvYLl3oI64K9K_YLR-Up6OR_-8Tr-z3nBD8hhs5OV4Qyrt2sm_8AjB0qcgC94uKUFxT7UovfSI--RjPm8Bg73Myd1LsiV41HTpgLyo4D/w242-h320/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-31%20at%202.04.06%20PM.png" width="242" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Our concerns and cares change over time, don’t they?<span> </span>When I began blogging back in 2009 or so, so
much of my life was in chaos and I carried so many worries and concerns.<span> </span>I carried my hopes and dreams too and
actually managed to manifest a few.<span> </span>But
my concerns and worries have vastly changed.</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Call it the wisdom of aging and experience maybe or finally
learning what matters most in life, I guess.<span>
</span>But then I think again, have my concerns and cares really changed or is
it I who have changed?<span> </span>I’m pretty sure
the latter heavily influenced the former.<span>
</span>I think that is how it is – this life here on Earth.<span> </span>Some moments in time feel like an utter
eternity, particularly during the most painful, bewildering and challenging
moments.<span> </span>I remember a phrase so often heard
throughout my years that stuck with me and has been reinforced over and over
again to the point that even in my most excruciating moments I know to the
heart and soul of me, “This too, shall pass.”<span>
</span>Every happy moment, every sad and tragic moment, every fear, every
moment of elation – This too, shall pass.<span>
</span>We too shall pass.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think this is why mindfulness grabbed a hold of me
unconsciously at first.<span> </span>It resonated so
deeply within me I didn’t recognize the truth of it <span> </span>- although I knew the present moment was all
we had logically.<span> </span>It passes and quickly
and we must then courageously face the next and the next moment for as long as
our hearts are beating.<span> </span>How do we do
that?<span> </span>It is literally one breath at a
time.<span> </span>Even if the breaths come quick and
ragged, one breath at a time.<span> </span>How do we
get anywhere or achieve anything?<span> </span>One
step at a time.<span> </span>We may wish with all of
our might that we were anywhere but a current painful moment.<span> </span>But, if we were to rush past it without fully
experiencing it, we would miss something important.<span> </span>A moment is fleeting, like a heartbeat, the
blink of an eye…so quickly does life pass in a stream and sometimes seemingly,
a rushing river.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think the greatest gift I’ve been given in all of my life
is trust in myself to manage the painful moments without shrinking back from
them.<span> </span>That doesn’t mean my foolish mind
doesn’t at times wish I could jump timelines or dimensions.<span> </span>It does.<span>
</span>But I don’t seek that with sincerity.<span>
</span>I stop, breathe in the moment whether I judge it good or bad - painful
or joyful.<span> </span>I leave that moment and carry
into the next the wisdom and trust to know I can face the next moment because I
survived the last.<span> </span>Funny thoughts for a
Sunday I suppose.<span> </span>The day escaped me so
quickly. <span> </span>I could swear 5 minutes ago it
was 5:15 am and my cat was meowing at my door to be fed.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">But since that moment, I accomplished so many other things I
set out to do and now here it is nearly 2:00 pm on a Sunday.<span> </span>My mind is very present appreciating the quality
of the light as I notice Summer slowly readying itself to merge into Fall.<span> </span>There is just something about the light, the
position of the sun, or the way that the shadows from the branches of my tree
move that I begin to notice in earnest every year about this time.<span> </span>Something within shifts and I move from the
hopeless heat of an unforgiving Arizona Summer into the hope of Fall and cooler
nights soon to be followed by cooler days as the days slowly begin to exist
shorter and shorter minute by minute.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Time is a funny thing in and of itself.<span> </span>It can reel you in or spin you out if you are
not careful and grounded.<span> </span>I never
expected to be this me at this point in time.<span>
</span>But moment by moment, breath by breath, step by step, and heartbeat by
heartbeat I got here to this moment.<span> </span>I
am not unscathed by the moments that came before, but I remain grateful for
this moment, well – all of my moments and I remain hopeful for the next and
next.<span> </span>I do not wish to rush and I will
not fight time’s passage by wishing it to slow.<span>
</span>In mindfulness I have learned to appreciate what is as it is.<span> </span>That appreciation was and is hard won.<span> </span>It takes a long uphill battle to find that
prize.<span> </span>I hope it remains ever in my
grasp.<span> </span>Blessings for your precious realization
of this moment, and courage for your next breath, step and heartbeat.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">© 2022 J.L. Harter Photo and Words</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-22143395671794074322022-06-10T06:12:00.005-07:002022-06-10T09:33:13.130-07:00Collected Moments<p><br />
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHkRjdmcZqgPPxCIuZUDschVfyoNbD5CsKLdpydvaBiUrdj4ydgrkvc5r0Qy0fA7EbFsI2wB2i40nzP-mmzfonHdUdRpraHe7oJzB1ldId4uID3tD4lMFIctk8YCklUrQV5f2-LB1s7NvoieE5Nc2GGAJ01KSlLyRtYTqoxCJO0tJMoFt6I_VA5ns/s2048/Autumnleaves-EFFECTS.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHkRjdmcZqgPPxCIuZUDschVfyoNbD5CsKLdpydvaBiUrdj4ydgrkvc5r0Qy0fA7EbFsI2wB2i40nzP-mmzfonHdUdRpraHe7oJzB1ldId4uID3tD4lMFIctk8YCklUrQV5f2-LB1s7NvoieE5Nc2GGAJ01KSlLyRtYTqoxCJO0tJMoFt6I_VA5ns/s320/Autumnleaves-EFFECTS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">I woke up before the sun this morning. Feeling peaceful, I
went about my routine. Coffee brewing, I opened the blinds to let in the slowly
expanding light.<span> </span>I’d like to say I
enjoyed the cool of the morning but there was no cool to be had.<span> </span>It’s just about summer in The Valley of the
Sun and while mornings are cooler, they are certainly not cool at all.<span> </span>But, the beauty of sunrise is unmistakably
wonderous and amazing to behold no matter the time of year.<span> </span>The birds are singing, Mourning Doves cooing
and I can hear the soft whir of air conditioning units humming in unison like
some strange song that sets your teeth on edge a bit.</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Times are strange, I think.<span>
</span>My exciting moment of the day will be a second booster dose of the COVID
vaccine and hoping that one case of Monkey Pox in my county hasn’t spread.<span> </span>That’s just all we need, another
pandemic.<span> </span>Many folks act as if the
pandemic ended but it hasn’t.<span> </span>Case
numbers are still high for COVID but people just don’t seem to care as
much.<span> </span>COVID seems to be becoming a new
norm and I must say that I don’t like it.<span>
</span>Unfortunately, it is a reality so I have no choice but to accept this
thing I cannot change and do my best to enjoy all other aspects of my life as
best as I can.<span> </span>COVID has come through my
door like 5 or 6 times now.<span> </span>I must say
though, having been vaccinated, we fortunately get through it without issue and
with most of us fully vaccinated, it becomes a mild inconvenience for a few
days.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TwIJ4GMal9ifGYRI9zN5oZU3eUwcCGgMK7D6pGvAfjJzviWH3Z-evWbGX0c2fQ4IBhs8T80Cydq-moQUixVXUW9hJLbmuxGs9HfP9IhnYogEc17U9tFACFByMgkJrmYB0zrxfmm3-KsITFYtdEJ3ndPYBfoM9PVfjR2AFKhV4f9jns9X0dv4C6--/s1492/Screen%20Shot%202021-05-25%20at%207.25.09%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="1164" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TwIJ4GMal9ifGYRI9zN5oZU3eUwcCGgMK7D6pGvAfjJzviWH3Z-evWbGX0c2fQ4IBhs8T80Cydq-moQUixVXUW9hJLbmuxGs9HfP9IhnYogEc17U9tFACFByMgkJrmYB0zrxfmm3-KsITFYtdEJ3ndPYBfoM9PVfjR2AFKhV4f9jns9X0dv4C6--/s320/Screen%20Shot%202021-05-25%20at%207.25.09%20PM.png" width="250" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">I’m about to finish my 55<sup>th</sup> trip around the sun
in just a few months and I’ve noticed some changes in my world view, my
internal practices, and the way that I feel physically.<span> </span>I no longer view the world with 20/20,
arthritis greets me every morning already, and you’d think that would be
disheartening but to me, it isn’t.<span> </span>It’s
becoming more and more like gravity and I notice it but move on.<span> </span>I’m grateful to live in a warm and dry
climate (pats self on the back for a smart move a few years back).<span> </span>My tolerance for heat has really grown.<span> </span>I love the sunlight in this place.<span> </span>We have dark skies so infrequently here.<span> </span>I’m loving my little refuge in the desert.<span> </span>I’m loving being a Grandmother.<span> </span>I’m struggling with being the owner of a dog
with a bad disposition.<span> </span>The training is
an every day thing for life to keep him in check.<span> </span>Beautiful dog and I love him so.</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />My life has grown quiet these past many years in most areas
and I have to say that the last few years have been really happy ones.<span> </span>Despite a crazy load of work for the day job,
all is calm, all is bright.<span> </span>The things
that used to really dig in underneath my skin are seemingly of no consequence
unless I’ve allowed myself to become too tired or overly stressed.<span> </span>I love how age and wisdom dulls our sharp
edges.<span> </span>I relish the peace in striving to
please no one but myself for a change.<span> </span>I
love waking every morning knowing this game of life is truly me against
me.<span> </span>Blame no longer haunts me.<span> </span>Guilt recedes like the light into the
darkness.<span> </span>Victim thinking of any kind
rarely takes hold.<span> </span>I don’t hope for
better tomorrows but instead take a breath and feel my way through the present
moment over and over again.<span> </span>Your life
changes when you learn the enormous gift the present truly is.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgfNuktGEapMTHap42ChxxuKmI4P0JJunuLqWbQWMdSNJ40fF1xql4T2AzNsdtFLJbV0ihO3Vr8KconIUL-qy7kCnHvhbN7dgvGrOxZKi2ZehfxCR5w0-mn2QRajPR4l0chrZG7-Edi2mNpLqLGTi1WRR5TbFZhDIGhJXu4ZLmoLXMegDwH9PFzhC/s2048/FullBloodMoon4-4-16JaieHart.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgfNuktGEapMTHap42ChxxuKmI4P0JJunuLqWbQWMdSNJ40fF1xql4T2AzNsdtFLJbV0ihO3Vr8KconIUL-qy7kCnHvhbN7dgvGrOxZKi2ZehfxCR5w0-mn2QRajPR4l0chrZG7-Edi2mNpLqLGTi1WRR5TbFZhDIGhJXu4ZLmoLXMegDwH9PFzhC/s320/FullBloodMoon4-4-16JaieHart.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />So, a few paragraphs I leave you with of nothing much to
say.<span> </span>Growing quieter by the day still
for no real reason other than the years of fears, worries and angst have all
worked themselves out in my world.<span> </span>My
deepest thoughts these days are of the beauty in every moment of every day, the
depth of the sky observing tiny pinpoints of far away light, the amazing array
of colors during sunset, the way a child’s innocent face not only lights up a
room but an entire life.<span> </span>I have been so
blessed. For all that has come before this moment, I am truly grateful.<span> </span>For all that is present, I am humbled.<span> </span>For all that has yet to come, I remain ever
hopeful – curious – welcoming.<span> </span>Have a
blessed day, week, year, life – moment.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">copyright 2022 Janice Harter (photo/words) <br /></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-10683890089270268212021-12-27T11:23:00.000-08:002021-12-27T11:23:00.509-08:00Blessings for Another New Year<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMZVOJlxMgJXofDVYNqo1FXEj776orve6a3lZtn3WgPf-XYc4KwZI9LHAW8BLS4ClTke9kSZ4f2WzsM2BirfeF38SksVPoLhzv689B2gb9aTn5lleaWVGiwM7l7cnZFwwmw1u4AWAVJ7RpcWarfKcUz_xsCUbM5jgZ9KEo9g3SvUEvrda3Q-LAiy4l=s1600" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMZVOJlxMgJXofDVYNqo1FXEj776orve6a3lZtn3WgPf-XYc4KwZI9LHAW8BLS4ClTke9kSZ4f2WzsM2BirfeF38SksVPoLhzv689B2gb9aTn5lleaWVGiwM7l7cnZFwwmw1u4AWAVJ7RpcWarfKcUz_xsCUbM5jgZ9KEo9g3SvUEvrda3Q-LAiy4l=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">This Holiday Season has been precious and wonderful, despite
all of the restrictions. I missed some members of my family but thanks to
electronic communications, I’ve been able to keep in touch with all.<span> </span>I’d be lying if I said my thoughts don’t
meander into the darkness wondering when on Earth this pandemic will end and
wondering when we might be able to traverse the out of doors when a smile in
passing can actually be shared and seen.<span>
</span>I can’t linger much in the darkness with my thoughts because it takes me
away from the present.<span> </span>If I have learned
anything in all of my years is that the present moment is all we have.</span></span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">There is much to be stressed and concerned about these days,
but I don’t choose to wander among the wishful thinking or petty frustrations
for too long.<span> </span>I’d rather hold out hope
for strength for those folks fighting to remain healthy, comfort for those in
mourning, and love for those feeling left out and lonely.<span> </span>I want ever so much to remain compassionate
for all of those battles fought in the minds and hearts of my fellow human
beings all over the world.<span> </span>I cannot help
but whisper a nightly prayer for those both within my circle and especially
those far beyond it.<span> </span>I pray for less inclement
weather, calm seas, skies and psyches.<span> </span>I
pray for wisdom to find the ignorant as much as those folks seeking it.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">We go into a new year in just a few short days.<span> </span>I find that I’m grateful to be here to
witness the calendar’s change into another new year.<span> </span>I’m grateful the light begins to return day
by day even if that means welcoming the super-hot temps of my little corner of
the world.<span> </span>I think about prosperity for
people, ease in their suffering, and that each may find some measure of happiness
no matter how fleeting that might seem in this new year. 2022…oh my, I cannot
believe that I’m here to see it.<span> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">One of the things that has kept me going these past
challenging couple of years is an immense gratitude for everything.<span> </span>When I’m feeling the stress and strain of
this or that, I step outside to feel the breeze, listen to the birds sing, feel
the grass beneath my feet, watch the clouds sailing by or reverently witness
the fiery pink glory of sunrise and the awe-striking display of orange at sunset.<span> </span>I listen to the sounds outside – people with
hearts and thoughts driving here or there, my neighbors talking, the four-legged
canines barking at this sound or that…it’s all of these things that reminds me
that life goes on and it will always go on.<span>
</span>I find I’m less emotional these days and more confident in the world’s
workings.<span> </span>I’m more comfortable in my own
skin, with my own heart, memories and experiences.<span> </span>I found happiness amidst chaos by welcoming
all memories that arise and breathing gently in the present.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I have seen so much and despite the horrors conveyed on the
news or in social media, I know one thing is true, there are more than descent,
reasonable, helpful, honest, hardworking people out there that care about this
world and all life in it.<span> </span>That fact
comforts me.<span> </span>I pray for them the most so
that they may be continually inspired to create what this world most needs –
healing, comfort, caring and compassion.<span>
</span>Wherever you are or find yourself this New Year’s Eve, may you be
healthy, may you be happy, may you find comfort, may you be safe, and may you be at peace.<span> </span>Blessings for a safe, abundant, successful
and joyous new year!<span> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span>
</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">© December 2021, photo and words J.L. Harter</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-25148167339591354552021-10-24T11:11:00.000-07:002021-10-24T11:11:18.537-07:00Fallish Contemplations - Waxing Philosophical - Spiritual<p> <br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rNe6_ileJC0/YXWehZJ7B3I/AAAAAAAAGMg/YTKFXqM3JPAk7xvyyIXMIGMH8gldVRRygCLcBGAsYHQ/s1192/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-24%2Bat%2B10.56.55%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1186" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rNe6_ileJC0/YXWehZJ7B3I/AAAAAAAAGMg/YTKFXqM3JPAk7xvyyIXMIGMH8gldVRRygCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-24%2Bat%2B10.56.55%2BAM.png" width="318" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I think when the Universe was seemingly taking a baseball bat
to every structure in life that I built, I tended to write a lot more.<span> </span>As I wrote about this or that, I tended to
start to sort things out so I could try to figure things out.<span> </span>This went on for
years and years and then something happened.<span>
</span>Well, maybe it was a string of things but one day, I opened my eyes and
there was nothing there but peace after a night of dreams where everything
seemed to be in my favor.<span> </span>I thought, is
it over?<span> </span>Is the chaos of quadruple PhD
level life lessons coming all at once finally over?<span> </span>Well, maybe not but the intensity of emotion
and the victim feelings and also the feeling of emotional upheaval and panic was definitely
was over.</span></span><p></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">What came in the place of all that chaotic emotion?<span> </span>To put it simply, Understanding…not just of the universe and
all of its many and infinitely varied machinations, not just of psychology and
how in each of us healthy psychology is dotted with moments of a childhood (and
past lives even) frozen within us in time creating actions, unconscious reactions
and the like. That understanding left me with greater compassion and a very clear knowing that
the world is not black and white – it is gray, violet, red, green, blue,
turquoise, white, fuchsia, orange and hot pink!<span>
</span>It left me with greater understanding of what I remained open to, what I
was closed to and what I remained ever so curious about.<span> </span>I’ll be honest, years and years of upheaval
triggered a kundalini awakening nearly 10 years ago and then everything sort of
fell apart belief-wise within me.<span> </span>It all
started to dissolve – what I wanted for a career, illusions about family,
friendships and what makes us good or bad or wrong or right.<span> </span>They should really have more clinical help
for those who go through a kundalini awakening.<span>
</span>It is a physical-mental-spiritual crisis-like experience that can take years to sort
out (if you ever sort it all out).</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">In a way, it helps to purge those things within us that
really no longer serve if (and that is a very big IF) and only if you are willing to let
things go, remain curious enough to see more sides than just your limited
experience and perceptions of things (which are incredibly shaped by your
psychology – yep).<span> </span>The further I got
from my peak experience, the harder it became for me to write about
anything.<span> </span>I sort of lost my interest in
trying to figure everything out and instead, as much as I could, I tried to just focus more on beingmore
present, breathing, letting things and people be as they are and learn to fully trust myself to show up
and deal with whatever showed up on my path.<span>
</span>And I have and I know that I will continue to do so (even if I have to do that scared sometimes). <br /></span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Heavy duty and prolonged emotional stress takes a toll on a body and
mind.<span> </span>If you do not change the way you
look at things or the limited beliefs that perhaps unwittingly skewed your
perspective up to the point you encounter intense and prolonged stress, you may
fold up within it.<span> </span>That's not necessarily a bad
thing - to fold up within it and take some extra time and self-care to manage it. Our fear of that happening is actually worse than it is.<span> </span>I had a near nervous breakdown within months
of my kundalini experience.<span> </span>In my best recollection it seems
like so many unconscious things were attempting to resolve themselves lightning
fast (more quickly than I could contemplate what was going on, prepare to manage and
respond to).<span> </span>I worked through that period
carefully, with tons of help and support and I finally came out the other side
not unscathed but stronger.<span> </span>Not just
stronger but more grounded, settled, self-reliant, more willing to show up for and stand up for
myself, more willing to follow my inner urgings of what I want and need most,
and more able to take things as they come.<span>
</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I don’t have all the answers I thought a kundalini
experience would bring but I got to feel something that is beyond words. In memory, it now seems like it was an experience of conscious me touching the purest part of
the soul of my higher self – no judgement, no fear, no worry, just utter love
and complete acceptance within a beautiful moment in time.<span> </span>I guess when you touch something like that,
it is bound to change you and I do, in fact, feel very changed.<span> </span>Now, back to what reminded me of all of this.<span>.. </span>It was the shockingly vibrant and gorgeous
colors of the setting sun the other night. <span> </span>So many colors I can’t even name but neon red,
pink, orange and yellow, pastel blue, pink and purple, smokey gray, light gray
and punctuated beautiful by stars.<span> </span>Yeah,
stars – the first ones in the fading light that followed.<span> </span>In that moment, the beauty was so pure and
simple, it reminded me of my kundalini experience – the explosion of colors
that you don’t just see but feel and hear, touch and taste in this inexplicable
way no one has every prepared you to experience.<span> </span>It was a good memory.<span> </span>It was truly a beautiful sunset.<span> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">As the color slowly drained from the sky, the fiery display
having peaked and now waning, I looked back at how far I have come in my life, the
decisions made, actions taken, hard work completed and even some still
ongoing.<span> </span>I sat there in the nearing dark
for many quiet moments smiling from ear to ear and feeling the Earth turning
deep within the soul of me.<span> </span>This is a
good life.<span> </span>I love this life.<span> </span>I love all who are experiencing it at this
time.<span> </span>I love all who have come before,
those who will come again and those who have yet to come.<span> </span>Wishing you blessings for sense making of your
life lessons, healing for all the things that pain you, patience for all the
things that vex you and compassion for every moment you need it. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">© 2021 J.L. Harter (photo and words)</span><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-83585686467419138352021-08-01T15:30:00.000-07:002021-08-01T15:30:14.788-07:00Life, Projects and The World<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p5MNZfpX2R0/YQcf_-tz64I/AAAAAAAAGI0/epeyiGTzhhIXHBx8ix6tl5wauekMrUR7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1190/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-09%2Bat%2B1.48.06%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1190" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p5MNZfpX2R0/YQcf_-tz64I/AAAAAAAAGI0/epeyiGTzhhIXHBx8ix6tl5wauekMrUR7ACLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h198/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-09%2Bat%2B1.48.06%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a></div>I have lived in California and Florida in my life, both are
very lush and green states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Green trees,
green grass and flowers seem to grow in abundance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I always appreciated the view
everywhere I looked, I still feel I took it for granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I live now in Arizona by choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the energy here, the wide open spaces,
the lack of sky scrapers, the red rocks and cacti.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s so foreign to me but so beautiful
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A different kind of beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got a couple of trees that are fairly
green when it isn’t scorching in temperature outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got a grass back yard I should probably
get rid of because we’re in drought but you know what, a part of me needs that
patch of green…even if it’s mostly yellowish green for a better part of the
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My back yard is cooler than my
front yard.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have yet to find some flowers that are happy here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see them all around but my goodness is the
ground in my backyard so hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t
plant the things myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll have to
hunt down some local colorful or flowering plants and have my gardener help me
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s got the tools and muscle for
it and I don’t really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to draw
up a plan for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My plan is to add a
color explosion of drought tolerant local flowering plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want the bees happy, the humming birds
humming and all manner of critter content to call my backyard home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That thought makes me happy for some reason.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m also going to focus next Spring on some new flooring for
my bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got the floors picked
out and when I’m ready, I’ll order and get that handyman or person out to help
me with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tend to suffer arthritis
to the point, I just can’t DIY any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But am getting ready to make some improvements here and there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going to paint my house soon and maybe a
little personalization on the inside too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m really liking turquoise, grays and cool browns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s fun planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so incredibly grateful I have these
little projects to look forward to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
keep my mind off of pandemic numbers and all the harshness I’m seeing in the
world just now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can cry at every
little thing I see that breaks my heart or I can pull my focus in on fixing
myself, my surrounds, figure out how to engage better in support of my new
community where I find myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
know how to get there entirely from here but the beautiful thing about life on
Earth is that when you open your mind to something, that something soon follows
right smack dab into the middle of your life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m trying to keep my life very simple just now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world is rough and the news is
horrendous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scientific articles I once
found fascinating are becoming ever more terrifying and I just don’t have the
heart for them anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I support
science but I don’t have to get sucked into worrying about every little thing
or new terrible finding of this study or that theory that nearly equates to the
end of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I can do is all I
can do…support organizations that help, be strong for myself and my family, be
kind to people for no other reason than that is at least something I can offer
this crazy world – KINDNESS!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all
seems a bit weird and crazy but I do know this, if you take good care of
yourself, take good care of those you love, and take good care of your
community and all the things you care about, you are less fixated on those troubling
things that you cannot control.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Life is always changing, something new or different to
contend with and it isn’t always pleasant is it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it’s not glowing roses but
violence, global warming, facts and figures climbing or falling in ways that
hurt others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to take it all in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes you have to stop, tune out and
focus within, close to home a little minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Take a breath, give yourself a time out and some space to re-balance in
whatever way that works for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
okay not to be okay sometimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s okay
to be okay too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is your life;
however it is you want to live it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
troubled by what I see but I’m still optimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m completely grateful for my job, my home,
my family, my pets, and that our basic needs are solved for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray every day for those less fortunate
than I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray we all find our way to
a better tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, take
care of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I apologize for the wild
pendulum swing in this catch-up post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is where I’m at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Struggling some days
with what I see in the world and striving to give myself a break and try to
balance myself out with simple tasks and projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the while though, this quiet time has
been a blessing too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time to focus
inward, get in touch with what’s there, breathe and breathe again knowing all
will be as it is meant to be and all I can do is do what I can to change what I
can or find a way to work with or accept those things I cannot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a strange place. Wherever you are on
the spectrum of emotions in this world on any given day, it’s okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take care of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blessings of comfort,
abundance, health and satisfaction.</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-77117536496947455972021-03-27T06:37:00.002-07:002021-03-27T06:38:13.711-07:00Random Thoughts - Sunset Moon Moments<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWhX1YBeycA/YF8zOREdIpI/AAAAAAAAGAs/Bg_IyD6-77E6XS5e0eh8TdnybTmEa_WnwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1622/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-19%2Bat%2B2.39.17%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1622" data-original-width="1304" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWhX1YBeycA/YF8zOREdIpI/AAAAAAAAGAs/Bg_IyD6-77E6XS5e0eh8TdnybTmEa_WnwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-19%2Bat%2B2.39.17%2BPM.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The puppy woke me up at 4:23 am this morning. He’s become an
erratic alarm clock. My middle daughter was playing VR as I could hear her feet or
something hitting the floor pretty hard repeatedly.<span>
</span>She may have woken the dog who was doing his little puppy best to guard
the house and its occupants from the noises that weren’t normal.<span> </span>Good job pup.</span></span></div></div><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’m now sipping coffee from a 32 oz mug that I received as a
joke many years ago.<span> </span>The coffee tastes
good this morning.<span> </span>I needed this little
ritual today after a very tough week of puppy training, cleaning from said
puppy training, crazy busy work week with too many meetings keeping me from my
daily required tasks and life changes.<span>
</span>Oh, those life changes.<span> </span>Sometimes
the heart of the soul calls you to do things in your life that maybe you don’t
want to do.<span> </span>In my near 55 years of life
now, I have learned that when it calls in the way that it does, it’s best to
just listen…take heed…and then take action accordingly. Even when you don’t
understand the reasons why, you have to trust the Universe, your heart and your
soul.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Life has been this incredible swirl for the past many years –
a peaceful swirl like a merry-go-round gently turning but playing your favorite
song during a beautiful sunrise or sunset.<span>
</span>This pandemic, losing family, feeling like I’m losing my grip a little
and wow.<span> </span>Just to stop and breathe in the
first rays of light this morning while the birds sing the sun up – it’s
priceless, I really have to say. I realize in this life how much pain a soul can carry – it’s a
lot.<span> </span>I realize also how much gratitude a
soul can hold – it’s a lot.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />The day is shaping itself - readying itself to reveal itself in
its own time, in its own way and within its own form and reason. I’m open,
curious and sipping coffee from a giant mug and feeling the peaceful energy of
the morning before the city stirs in earnest. It’s going to be okay, come what
may.<span> </span>One thing I have learned in this
life is to trust myself to manage whatever may come. My thoughts are
intertwined with domestic Goddess duties for the day and the philosophic meaning of all we encounter
in life. If only I had answers to the million queries that flow through my
consciousness.<span> </span>Not that I’d know what to
do with those answers, mind you.<span> </span>Then
again, sometimes it is a very good thing to keep the thoughts reigned in, hold
them close to the Earth - grounded - with concentrated breath in and out set on repeat for a few moments. Being present
loosens the chains of fear, of pain, of anxiety and even nostalgia. To be
present with the breath is a gift – no yesterday – no tomorrow – just now –
coffee – birds – sun and peace.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9fZExSBCpP4/YF8zfL1Su6I/AAAAAAAAGA4/7cdozXzdTAwg6wkoBB1DYZkVeAGPocDzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1184/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-18%2Bat%2B7.06.55%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1184" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9fZExSBCpP4/YF8zfL1Su6I/AAAAAAAAGA4/7cdozXzdTAwg6wkoBB1DYZkVeAGPocDzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-18%2Bat%2B7.06.55%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I watched the last rays of sunlight behind the mountains last
night. The sky glowed with fiery red and pink light like burning embers in some
cosmic fire.<span> </span>I turned to go back into
the house and saw a big bright full moon shining her light down upon the Earth.<span> </span>I sent prayers up and out for all those I
hold dear, for humanity, for the Earth and just then, a gentle breeze blew
around me and filled my lungs with cool fresh air as if it were the Universe answering - don't worry - we've got you. I stood transfixed for a
moment - mentally marking the moment.<span> </span>Such a tiny moment but I tell
you it was filled with the entire universe of experience, thoughts, love, hopes
and dreams. I was reminded that sometimes you really have to take a long but gentle look at the
scenery. The energy of it is waiting to fill you up when you most need it but
you must make the effort to notice it - to fully acknowledge it. I don’t know why, but I needed to share
that.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Blessings for your journey and may the road you’re on lead
you to moments of great bliss and infinite understanding.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">© 2021 photo/words (except the pup – picture courtesy of
Brittany Harter)</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-84252443615553864862020-10-11T08:25:00.001-07:002020-10-11T08:25:24.480-07:00Another Mindful Moment<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lD7JCtDVg6U/X4MjkCQikxI/AAAAAAAAF4c/Q2BxrAunmcsTzcGcSy4uszeXCFPoH5SjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1194/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-11%2Bat%2B8.23.22%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="1192" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lD7JCtDVg6U/X4MjkCQikxI/AAAAAAAAF4c/Q2BxrAunmcsTzcGcSy4uszeXCFPoH5SjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-11%2Bat%2B8.23.22%2BAM.png" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />It’s been so long since I could actually sit down, collect
my thoughts and just write.<span> </span>I’ve had a
lot of down time this year.<span> </span>A lot of
time to think, a lot of time to not think and I have to say, I think I’ve
enjoyed the not thinking moments most of all.<span>
</span>I wouldn’t be the first to say this has been a challenging year.<span> </span>I’ve lost friends, my Mother, and have been
simply bewildered by much of life as I greeted each day.<span> </span>But, I greeted each day.<span> </span>I held gratitude, hope and even faith when I
didn’t really seem to have much of a reason to do so.</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I had no big plans for this year.<span> </span>After the big change of moving state’s from
last year, I really just wanted to coast a bit, learn to sleep in a little,
relax a little and forget about capturing the world of my experience in words
and pictures as I had become accustom to doing for so long. I have been working
on just being here now in whatever moment I have faced.<span> </span>Being present and mindful has saved me from
harsh emotions, terrible regrets and traumatizing experiences.<span> </span>It didn’t make them go away but it taught me
how to be with the feelings, the thoughts and the energy without
judgement.<span> </span>It’s been surreal.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">For the remainder of this year, I plan to just keep doing
what I’ve been doing…resting, relaxing, doing nothing.<span> </span>I’ve been an over-achiever for most of my
life.<span> </span>I was never happy just being.<span> </span>It used to feel like a fate worse than death
to have no plans, nothing to look forward to and nothing fun or exciting
waiting just around the corner.<span> </span>I get
excited about Saturday morning coffee after waking without an alarm.<span> </span>Goofing off, staying in, going out briefly
for short-masked trips here and there in this new world we now live in. I’ve
learned to cut my own hair pretty well and to create from what I have instead
of buying everything.<span> </span>Definitely a new
approach.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s strange.<span> </span>I’ve
been on this planet for only 54 years and I still have no idea why I’m
here.<span> </span>I guess I thought when I hit my 50’s
I’d know.<span> </span>I’m starting to just become
accepting of the fact that everything may, in fact, be just completely random
and no matter what happens, I have to just completely trust myself to manage
whatever it is I experience in this life.<span>
</span>I didn’t have that in my 20’, 30’s or 40’s.<span> </span>Now in my 50’s, I know where I’m going…some
day.<span> </span>I’ll leave this Earth.<span> </span>So, I’m not in a rush.<span> </span>I’m glad to slow down and treasure every
moment of work stress, collaboration, and smile just for the pure experience of
it.<span> </span>I count my blessings every day,
grateful for the strength to accomplish all of the things in my life that I
have accomplished and I know there is much more life to accomplish.<span> </span>I just don’t have the egotistical drive to do
whatever that may be perfectly, first or better/best.<span> </span>I have learned to trust that I always do my
best and I do it for no one else but me.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I don’t have any deep emotional troubles I’m trying to
figure out or understand.<span> </span>I think
somewhere all of this mindful thought has given me the strength to accept me
for me, trust myself to do what is the right thing for me and not to worry
about who I must defend that too. If I have to defend anything, there is no
real use explaining.<span> </span>Let people think
what they want to about me because in reality, what people think in terms of
judgement of me doesn’t really have anything to do with me.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think I like my 50’s now that I approach the half way
mark.<span> </span>I’d say it’s brought me a lot of
acceptance, a lot of understanding, less striving and much more being. I have
questions and big thoughts but I’m just not as interested in sharing them these
days.<span> </span>I have more interest in the process
I go through myself.<span> </span>I love that.<span> </span>I have nothing more to prove.<span> </span>I just want to be.<span> </span>How did this happen?<span> </span>When did it happen?<span> </span>I just don’t know but I’ll tell you, I’m
grateful to take a breath, take a walk, have a little lie in unplanned…be lazy
sometimes, do nothing sometimes and just enjoy life.<span> </span>I’m enjoying life.<span> </span>I hope you are too.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Blessings of great acceptance to you for all that you are,
all that you’ve done and all that you are, have and will become.</span></p>
<p><style>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-46889089428127316172020-07-04T07:38:00.000-07:002020-07-04T07:38:11.942-07:00Love All and Harm None<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4yQ2syLKgaA/XwCRErjO3GI/AAAAAAAAF0A/uEZy0b0VpPoEfGGPk9q8cP2y3KZLLeLOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-4018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4yQ2syLKgaA/XwCRErjO3GI/AAAAAAAAF0A/uEZy0b0VpPoEfGGPk9q8cP2y3KZLLeLOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG-4018.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">A quiet moment in the morning is sometimes all it takes to
set the tone for the day.<span> </span>And these
days, I can’t think of anything more important.<span>
</span>In the entirety of my life, I have never imagined a world that could be
in more chaos.<span> </span>A pandemic is nothing to
disregard. The divisive hate for wearing or not wearing a mask or the color of our skin is just something I never
thought we’d be fighting about today.<span>
</span>Today!?<span> </span>Really?<span> </span>There are some days and in some moments that
I am ashamed to be a human being.<span> </span><i><b>We are
one at one level – a whole called humanity.<span>
</span></b></i>But many of us are unable to exhibit any humanity at all these
days.<span> </span>Our fears put forth so much
toxicity that it is just hard to be alive.<span>
</span>It is hard to witness it, to feel it and to imagine anyone having this directed
at them.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I know that for as many short-sighted <span> </span>folks lacking any form of empathy and mindfulness,
exhibiting hateful words and wholly unkind actions there are scores more that
care, who love and who are literally praying for peace and calm as we speak.<span> </span>“<i><b>Love All and Harm None</b></i>” is the message at
the core of my being.<span> </span>But even with that
sentiment, I know that I have harmed mostly unintentionally with words or thoughtless
actions and for that I’m truly sorry for my behavior when I was woefully
unaware as a frightened human on planet Earth.<span>
</span>But I’m awake now and I’m aware now of how my words can cause harm and that
my energy can be felt by the collective.<span>
</span>So, I do what I can to keep my energy, thoughts and mindfulness pegged
on High.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The “What about me” mentality that is running rampant and
causing harm to many today, is a fearful cry from sleeping souls.<span> </span>All who exhibit this are in the same
trance.<span> </span>Understand this as it just might
quell your hatred or ire. <i><b>Hold compassion for all even those causing harm with
their words.</b></i><span><i><b> </b></i> </span>If they knew better, they
would do better. So consider, you are witnessing scores of inner children
crying out in pain on all sides.<span>
</span>Understand them first before you rally your troops and emit battle cries
in vengeance.<span> </span>Stop, consider, take a
breath and ask, is this real? Is this the right action from the dictates of my
soul and not my somehow long ago wounded ego striving for pole position here? I condone no form of violence towards any soul for any reason. I do not condone behavior that threatens the welfare, life and limb of others - let me be very clear.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>There is a lot of wisdom to be had in quiet contemplation
and reflection on life here on Earth.</b></i><span>
</span>There is a lot of beautiful sentiment taken in while in nature, on the
shore of a stream, lake or ocean.<span> </span>Peace
can be had gazing up at cerulean blue cloudless skies or the night skies
teaming with billions of ancient twinkling stars. There are a lot of inhabitants here
on Earth doing the best they can.<span> </span>Think
about it…if you saw a 2 year old child screaming on the playground, would you
not hold compassion for a new being here on Earth struggling to learn the
rules?<span> </span>There are some of us walking
around this planet in adult bodies but with screaming children inside of us
that flat out don’t know any better than to behave like uneducated human
shadows.<span> </span>They are raw and torn and succumbing
to intentional divisive rhetoric.<span> </span>Please
understand before you retaliate. And consider, if every situation is met with
an eye for an eye response, the entire population of this world will become
physically as well as emotionally and spiritually blind.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">So, I beg you, stop for a moment now and then when you’re
feeling riled up. Stop for another moment and just breathe.<span> </span>Feel your feet planted firmly on the Earth,
feel what it feels like to be standing in your body.<span> </span>Notice the emotion rising up from time to time
and allow the emotion to be there just as it is but commit very strongly and
with all of your being to take no action while emotion wells.<span> </span>Just breathe.<span>
</span><i><b>Invite the calm back into your being and to all around you.</b></i> Then, when
calm, let a cooler and more rational mind take hold and respond not in
retaliation but with compassion and love,<span>
</span>You can rise above any situation but you must want to, you must learn
how to wield emotion skillfully and appropriately because if you don’t, any
action taken while emotional will equate to extreme mental illness running the
show and there are often very serious consequences to that kind of action.<span> </span>Be the firm, loving and understanding parent
to your frightened and reacting inner children.<span>
</span>Allow the child within you its moment to feel. Soothe frazzled and
fear-filled nerves with calm mindful presence.<span>
</span>Breathe. Step back. Seek understanding.<span>
</span>It will find you if you seek it. Don’t succumb to the divisive
narratives intentionally put forth to stir you up to a frothy hate for your
neighbors.<span> </span>Be in your right mind and
deliberately so.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">If it calls to you, <i><b>see every human on the planet held in a
space of compassionate love, healing love, prayer filled protection if-you-will</b></i>.<span> </span>Invite the calm and peace into your heart
often because we are all one at many levels.<span>
</span>If you open your heart to love, understanding and compassion, it will be
easier for others to do so.<span> </span>If you tire
of the terrible behavior you see in the world, screaming and shouting it out
and pointing fingers on every platform you can won’t change a thing.<span> </span><i><b>What will cause and create change is your
living example of what it means to be a human, a kind and compassionate as well
as wise and understanding human.</b></i><span> </span>Give
that to yourself first, and then those around you.<span> </span>As you do, eventually they will.<span> </span>It is like planting a tiny seed of a beautiful
tree.<span> </span>You will sow the seed but in your lifetime
you may never enjoy the shade of it’s branches but you will have started something good don't you think?<span> </span>You sowed the seed.<span> </span>So, do your best, let go and trust the
universe and your fellow humans. We will eventually right the wrongs but from
the space of the heart in love and only in the absence of fear.<span> </span>Be mindfully present with every breath and step you intentionally take here as you walk this Earth. You can do this. You can restore balance, reason and a better humanity for you and yours as well as for All. <i><b>Blessings for peace, for love, for
compassion, for understanding and great healing.</b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-52698587304757612422020-04-19T08:17:00.000-07:002020-04-19T08:17:14.323-07:00Morning Thoughts Over Coffee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rnH7ffaE3Cg/XpxpoHpbcRI/AAAAAAAAFwU/4Zp-a91pppMnLfpcDl9KHzIsntG05Iz4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSC_0065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rnH7ffaE3Cg/XpxpoHpbcRI/AAAAAAAAFwU/4Zp-a91pppMnLfpcDl9KHzIsntG05Iz4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSC_0065.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It seems such a strange time but I suppose everything moves
in cycles and circles and those said cycles and circles continue to spin time
out of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen so much in terms
of present day experience from cosmic order, to conspiracy theories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t pretend to know which is the truth,
so, to be completely honest, I don’t bother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not that I don’t care, it is that maybe I care a bit too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t worry so much about who did
what…cover up…or why because if I carry each thread to it’s nuanced conclusion,
I’m still right back where I started and so are all of those that choose that
particular path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a path to nowhere
and so…and those two little words are so powerful: “And So.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Regardless of this theory or that disaster, so far, my
family is being safe, cautious and just getting on with the days as much as we
can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My heart breaks every time I hear
about my fellow human beings suffering and then I pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What else
can I do that would be more helpful?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Social media is filled with ridiculous judgment and rather than get too
upset, I understand what it truly is…fear, fear and, you guessed it, more fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are times in our lives where the prevailing energy of the masses
seems to be stemming from the energy of fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Try, if you can, not to get caught up in sticky negative fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a big old human fly trap, a non-starter perspective
that will have you spinning, spooled up and spat out no better than before you
started.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The trick in these times is just to breathe,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>stay here in the moment, focus on what is
directly before you without reaching too far ahead in your thoughts or reaching
behind you wishing things had been different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If wishes made a difference, we’d all be in a different boat I
suppose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we aren’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, for now, right now, I’m sitting here
breathing…grateful for a nice cup of half decaf in my favorite Doctor Who
Coffee Mug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun is up and the birds
are singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got a delicious desert
breeze gently blowing through the open screen door. My part of the world is gently
stirring and I know that each human will do the best that they can this day and
honestly in many ways, it’s like any other day and any other time in life. It isn't the end of the world. The sun is up, the skies are there and the grass still sways in a breeze.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Starting a daunting task with fear isn’t the end of the
world, it just means you let fear ride along a little bit until you decide to
let it go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when it goes, you can
find and grab hold of gratitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
saving grace, I assure you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many lives
are lost day in and day out - some for understandable reasons and many
not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that new?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that something to be afraid of?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that something that would make you revert
back to the stature of a cornered cat striking out at anything and everything
that comes within reach hissing and claws out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How does that help at the end of the day?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who does that truly hurt, if you give it a
cold hard look? Truly it hurts only you and those who love you. So, relax a bit as much as you can. Take in a slow and intentional breath. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Listen, you are precious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your every breath and step matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Life is hard sometimes but sometimes you have to just get on with
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eat a cookie! Paint a picture.
Meditate under a tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray if you want
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smile at strangers instead of
sitting in judgment of them while making a hundred thousand assumptions about
why and how they are out to get you for this reason or that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do something helpful for yourself or better
yet, others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have infinite power to
make a difference in this world in the positive but you’ll never do it if fear
has settled over your soul and you succumb to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must be vigilant against letting fear
settle in over our souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See it,
acknowledge it – don’t try to change it – but realize what it is and know this
– I mean really know this, you can still be the best you despite the fear and
worry that this awful permeating energy can bring you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Every day, do something kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of finding what is wrong with someone
today, whoever crosses your path, I challenge you to consider what good you can
find in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shift your thinking from
fearful judgment to helpful acceptance or aspirational compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Be disciplined about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your
mind automatically goes towards negative judgment of others – okay fine – let
your mind be but then, add in a complementary thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strive to understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Understanding won’t fix what is wrong in the
world but it sure does take the personal sting out of an illusory attack!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to take a war-like stance, do it
to minimize fear! Hold compassion as the highest ideal today if you want less
of a bumpy ride today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the
day, we are one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My prayers go out today
to all who struggle with fear, anxiety, worry and dis-ease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray the beauty in this world and in her
inhabitants shines today brighter than the sun and in the most beautiful<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Be strong you beautiful souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’ve got this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You really
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m rooting for you, everyone of
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blessings of peace, compassion,
health and safety to one and all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Copyright 2020, Jaie Hart (photo/words) </span></div>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-87022634623303901542020-04-05T09:09:00.000-07:002020-04-05T09:09:02.138-07:00The Wisdom of the Elements<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-49qTt9dwE-E/XooCFY-ptSI/AAAAAAAAFvk/Pxp-D7WK5iwnFiuX2pQWdF9qGqimPnPAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-05%2Bat%2B9.06.19%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1198" height="216" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-49qTt9dwE-E/XooCFY-ptSI/AAAAAAAAFvk/Pxp-D7WK5iwnFiuX2pQWdF9qGqimPnPAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-05%2Bat%2B9.06.19%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have, some time ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing could have prepared me for the
absolute breath-taking view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t realize
how very tiny you are until you stand beside it, feel the ancient energy of it
and imagine its creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know
exactly why, but I was remembering the Grand Canyon in a dream I had a few
nights ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t recall it for its
aesthetic beauty and grandeur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
recalled it because of what my mind has been wrestling with forever, it seems.</div>
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The steadfast rock and Earth surrounds us, water flows
within and around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great rivers erode
the rock slowly over time and yet in some place and at some times, the work of
the water flowing etches gently and cuts deeply into the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you think about it or truly realize it, as
stunningly beautiful as the Grand Canyon is – remember, it was created by water
flowing over rock and wind whipping through it over time. I think of us, mere
mortals, our daily trials and tribulations and even the minor things we tend to
get so upset about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, it’s all like
water flowing over rocks and wind whipping through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may be etched and cut into by the various
elements of existence that flow around and through us in our experience but we
are no less beautiful in the end than before our lives began.</div>
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We do so many things, we strive to achieve this or that, to
acquire, to gather and hold things to us and that is a funny thing to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing remains forever just as it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life here is forever changing, merging,
falling away - blowing away even. We fly, we crash, and we tumble and
flow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like the wind, the water,
just like the rocks we live upon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can
stand firm in the fullness of our being and let life flow within and around
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t matter what we do, what
we achieve, what we learn or acquire, the part of us that witnesses all of our
life-experience, remains the same – unharmed and ever transformed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We live, we breathe and we die but there is
that part of us that remains untouched like the day we were born, pure and
pristine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t matter what we go
through and grow through because in the end, that pure and pristine part of us
lives on.</div>
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The point of this is not that you should not acquire, grow
or learn as you live and breathe in this life but rather that you should
understand what remains and what changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a way, what remains and changes is the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is confusing in a way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it is all about aspects and
perspectives of what we choose, how we take in an experience or how it is we
might use it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ARE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what we have or don’t, who supports
us or won’t, how we live or die – no matter what, we still ARE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are made neither greater nor lesser by
what we do really. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We still ARE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we dress Class Act, or bare cozy and
comfy, we still just ARE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that
the more I live, the more I understand what nature is trying so hard to teach
us.</div>
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These observations and thoughts didn’t come to me all at
once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These thoughts didn’t occur to or
comfort me as I acquired and gathered, or while I surrendered and lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether I was climbing ladders, or admitting
defeat, I still AM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a part of
me that remains pure and pristine no matter what it is I mire myself in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that what I do, is for my
entertainment, because I feel moved to do this or that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It feels good sometimes to do this and
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It feels bad sometimes to do this
or that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when the feelings of
whatever it is I am or was engaged in fade, I remain just as whole as I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still AM.</div>
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I go back to my memories of the Grand Canyon and take a slow
and easy breath in and out. The water is not evil because it cut the walls of
the canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The colorful rocks that have
withstood the years and seasons are not weak because they stood still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what the experience, they still ARE
and yet they are beautifully transformed in a way by the experience but their
essence and their power is not lost or made lesser by interaction with the
elements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I see the rocks now, I
feel gratitude and deep appreciation for their existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I see the rain, water flowing – I feel
grateful and a deep affinity for it’s existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the wind blows it carries aspects of
rock and water and I’m grateful as the air I breathe carries the pure power of
transformation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I feel the heat of
the sun, I am reminded of the gifts of transformation it too brings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These things can harm and support me but I am
made neither greater nor lesser for my experience of them.</div>
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You, in your lives, living day in and day out, working and
achieving or learning and growing – you are made no greater or lesser as a
result of your experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though
you may be transformed willingly or unwillingly remember that there is an
aspect of you that will remain pure and pristine as the day you were born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Live, laugh, play and love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy fully the richness of your experience
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Appreciate your surroundings,
check in now and then to see if you find value in what you are learning. Strive
if you feel moved to – to understand all of your amazing and magical teachers
in this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything matters. You
too matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never mind how life has
shaped you, cut through you or changed you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your soul is still beautiful and filled with magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You still ARE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blessings of great love to you.</div>
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Copyright 2020, Jaie Hart (Photo NPS.org) </div>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-38451304129529278682020-03-29T08:47:00.001-07:002020-03-29T08:47:21.509-07:00Beautiful Memories, Motherhood and Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nIRNycQceWg/XoC7sQgLwLI/AAAAAAAAFu0/zqJ-7UvsMMwJcBcKwe12tpULm4qy2dxUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-13%2Bat%2B2.08.23%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="984" height="199" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nIRNycQceWg/XoC7sQgLwLI/AAAAAAAAFu0/zqJ-7UvsMMwJcBcKwe12tpULm4qy2dxUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-13%2Bat%2B2.08.23%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Being at home for so much of the last few weeks, I’ve had these
stirrings of memories from days long gone by.<span>
</span>Not just a flashback of a picture but the whole thing of it, the feeling, the scents, the sounds, the quality of the light and even the physical feeling. The moments of holding my babies in my arms snuggled up nice and warm after a bath
and a bottle.<span> </span>My heart is filled with
these memories-feelings-pictures and moments.<span> </span>As I see each of my
children, fully grown now, I remember the moments before they were born and all
the hope I held for them.<span> </span>Then, after
birth, I remembered the intensely overpowering love I felt for each of them as
I held them close and took great care with them.<span> </span>I remember each of the pains of their growing and that was so bitter sweet to me.<span> </span>I remember
with pride each of their milestones, their dark days and light days.<span> </span>I remember their smiles each and every one. When
I close my eyes, I can still hear their laughter - the laughter of discovery of simple things like gravity, the creative things like using my nail polish on to repaint hot wheels, Legos (especially found by my toes in the middle of the night), movies, creating art, dancing, singing and just listening to music, the love and play with animals, and pure joy with
this and that and everything else under the sun. I remember the look of love in their eyes.<span> </span>As I recall these sweet and precious
memories and find that I’m over come yet again but in a different way now in this moment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C8ZnmNFoPtk/XoC7PkSLkFI/AAAAAAAAFuo/9gz0SvziYUYgG-0Uui0sQlhSvCRygXcqACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-03-27%2Bat%2B7.12.56%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="1276" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C8ZnmNFoPtk/XoC7PkSLkFI/AAAAAAAAFuo/9gz0SvziYUYgG-0Uui0sQlhSvCRygXcqACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-03-27%2Bat%2B7.12.56%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a>There were times as they were so very small, we struggled so
much to get by. I shielded them from as much of some of the harsh realities of our
existence as I was able and I kept them focused on what we could do.<span> </span>I worked hard and<span> </span>I did the best I could to give them all the
things I never had.<span> </span>I did my best to
raise them with empathy, understanding and compassion.<span> I tried to teach them about unconditional love. I have to say that </span>I’m just so completely proud of the people they have become on their own terms.<span> </span>The youngest baby now is finishing high school and
she too will be on her way into the world to make a difference in her own
unique and amazing way.<span> </span>I remember when I held each one of them
close, wrapped safe and warm. I remember treasuring the moments and intentionally committing those moments to the memory of my heart. I used to think of them as my babies.<span> </span>But in reality, I love them too much to consider them just mine. I realize that they
are not mine.<span> </span>They never were.<span> </span>They are the true loves and lights of the whole of my life - in the whole of my existence
but each of them is their own person, being, and force to be reckoned
with.<span> </span>Each has his and her own great and
special purpose in this world and to see them live it is a precious gift to me. I was just lucky enough to have each of them in my care and to hold each of them in my heart.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v76ca5hCd4s/XoC_x-QIEFI/AAAAAAAAFvI/6Jw3bqp6mToouVMRgaKMtlLVwHV6sIcqACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Garrett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v76ca5hCd4s/XoC_x-QIEFI/AAAAAAAAFvI/6Jw3bqp6mToouVMRgaKMtlLVwHV6sIcqACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Garrett.jpg" width="200" /></a>I’m so very grateful that I was given the honor to be their Mother,
the opportunity to know them and to love them as well as watch them grow into
amazing human beings. Parenting is hard work, so very hard but it is truly the most
precious gift in the world.<span> </span>Every time I
see them, or even hear them speak, I’m instantly transported to many moments
backwards in time.<span> </span>I smile, fight back
tears sometimes and take a breath -<span> </span>a
very long, slow and deliberate breath and I smile from the depths of my soul.<span>
</span>It’s such a strange time to be alive and I consider them among the
bravest of beings for choosing to be here now at this time in this crazy, mixed
up and beautiful world.<span> </span>I pray that they
always, always see pink clouds in a sunrise or sunset and remember the days we
shared noticing the beauty, looking for the bright side, and capturing a moment
in word, in photo, in hand drawn impression of a view, any view <span>and </span>I hope that they one day - each of them - have many moments to
feel all the love in the world I feel right now for each of them, always,
still, and forever.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5KzQpxSpXiE/XoC_fJCsu4I/AAAAAAAAFvA/N-IS7vKDfu0ayL1PTsXIMPNb-22HR3MrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_2031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5KzQpxSpXiE/XoC_fJCsu4I/AAAAAAAAFvA/N-IS7vKDfu0ayL1PTsXIMPNb-22HR3MrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/IMG_2031.jpg" width="200" /></a>Count your blessings every day and be grateful for
every<span> </span>moment that you have ever shared
with those who mean the most in life to you.<span>
</span>Let them know, every day and in every way that you care, that you love
them and want the very best for them, even when they change, grow and move away
from you.<span> As a parent, you know that IS the goal, right? </span>I’ll tell you a secret, love
does not just live in proximity.<span> </span>Love
lives period.<span> </span>The more you love, the
more you are filled with infinite gratitude for all that you love.<span> </span>I wish you many beautiful blessings in these
challenging times.<span> </span>I wish you strength,
health, abundance, love, laughter and great hope.<span> </span>Don’t miss the next sunrise or sunset without
holding pure gratitude for existence. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For my children, I wish every joy, happiness, life lesson, and the feeling of overcoming challenge, adversity, tears and more. They are strong and amazing. Hold onto the the good memories and consider the lessons of the more difficult ones and know that above all else you are loved so powerfully and so completely no matter what it is you do in this life!</span></span></div>
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Copyright 2020, Jaie Hart <br />
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-83125301061058606182020-03-22T09:16:00.000-07:002020-03-22T09:16:00.693-07:00The Real and Surreal of Life Just Now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_eqhFfm_TSg/XneOiv5j_EI/AAAAAAAAFtw/J9kpiyOr4ZAEwhB29FH_7hmRTdPb1c-5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-22%2Bat%2B9.12.19%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1190" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_eqhFfm_TSg/XneOiv5j_EI/AAAAAAAAFtw/J9kpiyOr4ZAEwhB29FH_7hmRTdPb1c-5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-22%2Bat%2B9.12.19%2BAM.png" width="200" /></a> A year ago I left the State of California to make a new home
and life in the beautiful state of Arizona.<span>
</span>We’ve been here almost a year now.<span>
</span>The living and dining rooms that once were crammed full of boxes from the
floor to about 4-5 feet high, are finally cleared, furnished and decorated.<span> </span>It’s the most peaceful part of my home.<span> </span>Yesterday was such a beautiful day.<span> </span>After getting required outings completed
quickly, I sat for a time looking at the space and imagining how it looked a
year ago.<span> </span>I’m so pleased with the
transformation and also so very grateful for the opportunity to be here, to own
my home (or at least hold a reasonable mortgage to one) and find a measure of comfort and peace. My community now is
smaller, we’re close to the very edge of town where it’s quiet and less chaotic.
<span> </span>I truly love it.
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The heat of the desert here in Arizona takes some getting
used to.<span> </span>But this time of year is so
beautiful.<span> </span>It took me a year but we
finally got screens on the windows and I took full advantage yesterday throwing
the windows open wide to let in the most delicious warm breezes. I sat quietly
and listened to the birds sing, children at play and the sounds of my part of
the city absent the usual consistent drone and hum of air conditioning units. I’ve been out of the
house only twice in the last two weeks.<span>
</span>It is a troubling time and getting necessities has been difficult.<span> </span>But, when we can get a hold of those things
that are missing, I completely reject every urge to stockpile.<span> </span>We take just what we need so that there will
be enough for all.<span> </span>After four days of
searching the internet, I actually found a place to order Toilette Paper
from.<span> </span>Sheesh!<span> </span>But I still ordered only one 10 pack.<span> </span>That will arrive about the time we run
out.<span> </span>I refuse to hoard and so every week
that goes by, I pray there will be just what we need somewhere.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NL7Be4-p7I4/XneOkO_Za6I/AAAAAAAAFt0/sQ5ubCrf2l0yBGs9t2ElpsQJeozgngmlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-22%2Bat%2B9.11.58%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1190" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NL7Be4-p7I4/XneOkO_Za6I/AAAAAAAAFt0/sQ5ubCrf2l0yBGs9t2ElpsQJeozgngmlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-22%2Bat%2B9.11.58%2BAM.png" width="199" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grocery store shopping yesterday was better than the week
before.<span> </span>But it’s funny the things people
are hoarding.<span> </span>There was hardly any meat
left in the stores, no rice, no pasta, barely any water, no snacks, ibuprophen
gone, no Tylenol, no hydrogen peroxide, no laundry soap, no dish soap, and no
cleaning supplies or paper products and we went to two stores.<span> </span>I refuse to contribute to the problem.<span> </span>I rearrange our meal plans to work with what
we’ve got.<span> </span>What else would we do?<span> </span>We continue to support the local restaurants
with orders several times a week because, again, what else would we do? We stay home unless absolutely required.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’m fortunate that no one in my household is ill and I pray
for all of those who have been exposed and those who have lost loved ones. My heart aches for them.<span>
</span>I could swear one of my kids had this nasty virus back in January based
on the symptoms and the duration.<span> </span>But
she made it through just fine and fortunately, the rest of us did not get
it.<span> </span>One in my household has a
compromised immune system so every day, I pray.<span>
</span>With such a long duration of the incubation period, I think we still
have another 7 days before we know if he was exposed.<span> </span>After going out and about yesterday, I
suppose we have another 14 days until we know if we were exposed.<span> </span>Is this how we have to live now? I can't hold these kinds of thoughts for long. I have to learn to just be in the moment, accept what is. Worry won't change this situation we all find ourselves in will it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K4h5X5Xy6vU/XneOo6Cb5PI/AAAAAAAAFt8/EIJWk0M0dAIRBlAJZ2HlverNrzWCwoTCACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-22%2Bat%2B9.12.41%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="1178" height="196" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K4h5X5Xy6vU/XneOo6Cb5PI/AAAAAAAAFt8/EIJWk0M0dAIRBlAJZ2HlverNrzWCwoTCACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-22%2Bat%2B9.12.41%2BAM.png" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s quiet here now.<span> </span>I’m sipping coffee in my beautiful home, cat purring
beside me, birds singing joyfully outside.<span>
</span>It’s a cool Spring morning and I’ve opened the blinds to let the
beautiful light in.<span> </span>I don’t know what
this day will hold but I pray it is quiet comfort and simple tasks.<span> </span>Mundane and the ordinary are what I look
forward to.<span> </span>Peaceful activities, maybe
some creative ones too will ease the back drop of anxious undertones for
existence at the moment.<span> </span>The world seems
a bit surreal just now.<span> </span>The things we're
used too are different and we must strive to do our best to just be present,
let go of the worry and just be here now.<span>
</span>In the now, it is less surreal, less worrisome, and holds this vast
sense of just okay and you know what?<span>
</span>That’s not so bad considering the state of affairs.<span> </span>Keep your chin up, take a breath, try to make
a positive difference, check on your people, your neighbors and your
friends.<span> </span>Try to find ways to keep
yourself up, going, and healthy.<span> </span>Pray,
meditate, and use this time to relax as much as you can.<span> </span>I don’t know why at all honestly, but I still
have this sense of everything is going to be alright.<span> </span>Maybe not instantly, or even overnight, but
this feeling is comforting and whether delusional or not, I’m going to try to
hold onto it, breathe into it and do what I can to send that energy outward –
calm, peaceful, healthy and okay!<span>
</span>Blessings to you all.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Copyright 2020 Jaie Hart (photos/words) </span><br />
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-31125856158080034762019-12-21T05:58:00.000-08:002019-12-21T05:58:09.708-08:00Solstice - Recounting - Intention and Flow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-55dJ7zv5tt4/Ssdl7PYLjlI/AAAAAAAACzA/cCeDO-71lYY2hjuxkVOOKtC6ytsR46WMQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/PeekingFullMoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-55dJ7zv5tt4/Ssdl7PYLjlI/AAAAAAAACzA/cCeDO-71lYY2hjuxkVOOKtC6ytsR46WMQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/PeekingFullMoon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These days of celebration and ceremony, of tradition, hope
and love are truly no insignificant things. They bring us something we need,
something we’ve unconsciously wished for…a point in time of culmination of
lessons learned and dreams to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
mark the year in celebratory fashion at different points with each bringing an
opportunity to observe where we’ve been, what’s worked and what needs more
refinement in our lives as we go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we
take a breath and a quiet moment within the seeming chaos of activity, what
things might we see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose that is
up to each dreamer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every breath and
step is a choice in terms of how we perceive it. It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">appreciating the experience</i> for what it is, sometimes I think
quietly to myself.</div>
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It was surprising for me to begin to witness that I was
separate from my worries and thoughts each step of the way along the path that
has been my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I’d only known
sooner, I sometimes think, I might have chosen better or at least from a more
aware state of being. But, I have to warn you, once you become aware, there is
no going back to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You begin to
realize that arguments you seemingly continuously face is really just
entertainment at some level and you choose it not due to challenge yourself or
others but because there is something you are unconsciously striving to
learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t agree with wishing I
didn’t know now what I didn’t know then, as the song goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m grateful for every gossamer strand of
understanding I’ve gathered in my life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gratitude is one of the greatest keys to happiness,
serenity, and peace I’ve ever known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
tragic moments, gratitude has helped pull me through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In moments of joy, gratitude has helped me to
better savor the experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find that
I become more grateful as time goes by and often it is for the simpler things
in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just now it’s chilly in my
corner of the world that is usually beyond quite warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The opposites are fascinating not only in the
weather but all things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like dark and
light, the way they contrast and define, where they pull away and then meet…truly
it is a fascinating display but more so when you are aware of their differences
and the sameness they equally possess.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The solstice always marks a time for me to appreciate what
I’ve learned and to begin to truly set my intent for the next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I strive always and ever to observe but not
get overly caught up in anything…not feelings that aren’t facts, not the
emotion of an absent minded or psychologically triggered moment, not the
struggles or stress that comes with life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I take a deep breath and allow what is to be just as it is without
needing to change a thing, I find a better stream of existence to flow
within.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I battle resistance sometimes
until I reawaken to fully understand the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">obstacle
is the path</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I meet it not to
defend against but to embrace “it” whatever “it” is in a moment, it’s impact
relaxes in response to my own surrender and the flow brings with it a greater
understanding and awareness as well as appreciation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve come to trust that in my life from
things of great significance to small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Trust is a big word with far reaching impact in my world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greeting in warmly has been my saving grace
along with gratitude.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Embrace the season’s celebrations and know that it can bring
you more than you ever thought possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It may not bring you precisely what you wanted (or consciously thought
you wanted) but it will bring you precisely what it is that you truly most
needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you begin to trust that
life will bring you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>, and
completely surrender to it ready to flow knowing you can handle what ever
manifests on your path, the season, your interactions and your life can be a
more interesting set of experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
pray the season brings you compassionate understanding, reawakening, joy, love
and peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy Solstice, Happy
Holidays and Happy New Year too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
© 2019, Jaie Hart (photo and words)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-10500423360028528872019-12-14T08:12:00.000-08:002019-12-14T08:12:06.817-08:00The Things People Do - An Opportunity for You in Disguise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KBKKCLJcIAU/XfUI9cGeViI/AAAAAAAAFp8/OoNzk1fBE0MSUHGLmc1DmZC1KalvT-lFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B9.07.07%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1180" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KBKKCLJcIAU/XfUI9cGeViI/AAAAAAAAFp8/OoNzk1fBE0MSUHGLmc1DmZC1KalvT-lFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B9.07.07%2BAM.png" width="310" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Life can some times be a challenge, can’t it? People are
sometimes vexing to the core and others ultimately self-less giving whatever
they can to a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard to be
compassionate sometimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard not
to get caught up in someone else’s wake of chaos and negativity. But, I must
let you in on one of life’s many secrets, and while it may be really hard to
grasp – it’s no less than true – you get caught up in it to the extent you have
something really important to learn about yourself.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Its true what they say – that every person comes into your
life for a reason…even that guy who just mercilessly cut you off on the
highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trick is trying to
understand what that core-level urge within you that gets so angry and frustrated
is really trying to tell you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some will
say, “You have the right to get angry when one treats you so
discourteously.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, why not.? We have
many rights in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, at some
point, you may become unhinged by everything that is happening around you –
rude holiday shoppers, woefully unaware drivers and the throngs of thoughtless
words spoken by folks unaware (or insidiously – fully aware) in a moment their
words might hurt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the end of the day, you get to decide how you want to
experience your days. Believe it or don’t, you have a choice in terms of how
you want to experience a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can
do it nutted up with anger and frustration or you can let go of the expectation
that people will behave with common decency (remember – if decency where
actually common – wouldn’t every one possess it)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the world of humans and their
interactions and behavior will, at times, be completely opposite to yours and
what you think is right or wrong in a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, it’s that tiny little space within you that immediately spools up
is just exactly the thing the encounter is intended to teach you about.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is it about the interaction that really upset you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Break it down. Are you tired?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you hungry? Are you frustrated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you in a hurry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice that not one of these questions focuses
at all on what the other person did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do
you want to know why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because you do not
have the power to control anyone else that crosses your path but you do have
the power to control you and your own reactions as well as behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you need a nap?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you need a time out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you need to chill out a second?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve all done unthinking things at one time
or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, you can’t blame everyone
for doing something without thinking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To do so is missing a really great opportunity to take accountability by
looking within.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider, is there a
theme of certain kinds of behavior in others that always brings you from a
simmer to a boil?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What exactly is it about that kind of
behavior that gets to you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do you
let it get to you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it worth
continuing your life letting other people control your reaction in this
way?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is handing your power to other
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you want to continue giving
your power away?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Listen, it’s okay to get mad and frustrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, but, but, before you act on that feeling,
I promise you that it will always be a thousand times better to sit with it and
fully experience it reflecting without doing a single thing about it than it
would be to get angry or retaliate in some way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I read a social media post not long ago about someone driving in their
own lane, minding their own business when another car was coming into the lane
without looking creating a potential wreck situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The driver already in the lane honked to let
the other driver know they were there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This person, who was acting carelessly then retaliated for being honked
at and then sped up to get into the lane safely and then break-checked the
driver who was in the lane several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the perfect example of twisted psychology in action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The driver trying to merge in unsafely got
honked at and likely felt bad with some level of self-frustration – so then,
proceeded to get even with the other person for reminding them of their unsafe
behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen, these kinds of things
can really escalate and needlessly so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This retaliation game of escalating is really a waste of human
energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are lots of other choices
that could have been made without wrecking the experience in that particular
moment for everyone driving near either driver. The negativity impacted more
than just the two drivers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, you see, there will always be unthinking people doing
things dangerously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes when you
remind them, you become the object of their self-anger and you experience the
retaliation for their poor choices. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
you can disengage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can be with your
own feelings without taking action that might escalate beyond anyone’s ability
to save life or limb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t mean to
take a passive approach – this isn’t about cowardice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is about the realization that acting in
a moment when a psychological filter has seemingly unconsciously taken over
might be a bad idea and getting peaceful with yourself before taking
action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, choosing a constructive
approach to continuing whatever it is you were doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, you can take on the mantel of
savior of the world and brake-checking everyone else’s bad behavior but
consider the outlay of energy necessary for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it really worth it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that how you want to choose to
behave?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there another way you can
manage yourself?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes we can’t get out of the way. Bad things will
happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There isn’t anything that we can
do to change the bad behavior of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some people, believe it or not, are simply un-teachable and will
continue the bull-in china shop approach to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I encounter them, I pull back and
disengage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t feel like becoming
part of the wreckage (if that can be avoided by my choices).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, well, to be honest, I get frustrated
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peopling is hard when you’re on the
road, when you’re shopping, working or even at a family gathering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I merely suggest there are alternatives in
our choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can get mad and fight
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can go toe-to-toe and match
punch with punch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s your life, do
what you want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, if you don’t want to
live your life in a continually triggered state, you’ve got to understand your
triggers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about this experience or
that experience triggers you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you
need a nap, a cookie, a counselor, a hug, a friend, a quiet chill out
moment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s up to you to take the
opportunity or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not is okay too if
you’re okay with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just know there
are always alternative choices even when the emotions have been triggered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can choose not to react and pull yourself
back until you figure out how you would most like to constructively
respond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not judging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just saying that there are many choices.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-21k8bzZ5GfI/XfUI9WKVKyI/AAAAAAAAFqA/EePtc8C7SIwy2gyc7IZKY5V1aP_Ss-AhACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B9.07.36%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1182" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-21k8bzZ5GfI/XfUI9WKVKyI/AAAAAAAAFqA/EePtc8C7SIwy2gyc7IZKY5V1aP_Ss-AhACEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B9.07.36%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look, there is a reason that it is said, “Patience is a
virtue.” The experience of patience, compassion, and the ability to pause when
you feel like reacting are very powerful moments to experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you are in a space of accountability for
self – understanding of others – patience for those less knowledgeable or aware
as you – taking a breath – this is how you maintain your power instead of
spilling energy out everywhere unthinkingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did you know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, now you
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, you’ll get no judgment from
me on your individual choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really
do understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have choices and
every choice we make has a lesson for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, certain life lessons will continue to repeat until we understand
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, until we understand the
reason certain people and situations present themselves to us and frustrate or
anger us, it can be a really painful set of experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish you many moments of perfect pauses for
quick contemplation that allow you to breathe, understand and respond to your
experiences. I wish you much personal power and full realization of your life
experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish you an ever
increasingly satisfactory set of human interactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy your life. Live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love. Understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bless.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">© 2019, photo and words.</span>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-74345052297583053682019-12-14T07:23:00.001-08:002019-12-14T07:23:27.430-08:00Random Thoughts on The Decade Passing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7jrfKLpGC_Q/XfT9uVKry0I/AAAAAAAAFpg/LGUlN_gqjdYB9fnPZCKJffTNLWo0p6_TACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B8.19.22%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="1194" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7jrfKLpGC_Q/XfT9uVKry0I/AAAAAAAAFpg/LGUlN_gqjdYB9fnPZCKJffTNLWo0p6_TACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B8.19.22%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sit in the cool and darkness becoming light. The sun
slowly greets the day and me, here, mind empty and heart full. Not only does
another year come to a close but the end of another decade does too. I don’t
know where the time has gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
trickled away bit by bit while I was busy with other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong; the time I spent, I am
most grateful for. My grandfather barely saw 54 years and my father never
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their time here was brief, so much
so that I barely knew either of them. I send them my love wherever they are and
hold nothing but gratitude for the blessings their existence brought me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have in my pocket, a seeming lifetime of good and hard
life lessons learned in just this last decade and although I don’t care to
repeat them (and pray I never do again), a part of me has come to terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A part of me is glad to be nothing else but
simply present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve made so many
changes in just the past 10 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
come to a number of realizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are by far too many to recite here and likely, they’d bore you to tears, but my
life isn’t for anyone else’s entertainment but mine I suppose.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I used to think I knew where I was going and what I was
doing as well as why but the funny plot twist in my life is that I never knew a
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learning that now, is a very
strange blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know where I’m
going and I do whatever it is that I am called to do without attempting the pre-determining
of the outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The results are more
entertaining when it’s a surprise any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve seen dreams shattered and brilliantly born in this past
decade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a joy, all of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But its strange to feel more self-assured not
knowing what will happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not as
fearful when you truly know you can trust yourself to manage whatever it is
that presents itself squarely upon your path to contend with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it is that and only that I have learned in
this past decade, it was all well worth it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-arLguyU4izs/XfT9uktsJ5I/AAAAAAAAFpo/H0QmTqXQ-k4To7CR5BzaSn20WJu4inAuwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B8.19.58%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1098" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-arLguyU4izs/XfT9uktsJ5I/AAAAAAAAFpo/H0QmTqXQ-k4To7CR5BzaSn20WJu4inAuwCEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B8.19.58%2BAM.png" width="297" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next decade holds just as much promise - of that I have
no doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I’ll slip into it gently,
in full awareness of the past, pure enjoyment of the present and much hope and
faith for the future, whatever it brings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve had seasons come and go, family and friends too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s always a challenge to say goodbye but
there is a strange comfort and peace in letting go and letting things and
people be just as they are – even if far away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I look at the miniature world of this life I have
created, I am content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t perfect
and I think that is the best part of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The beauty in the imperfection…it can sometimes seem magical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To dare to be and do whatever it is your
heart calls for is an amazing experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I say, pick up and move, go and explore, be a stranger in a strange
land, be anonymous in the crowd, be one with the energy and stand in awe and
wonder of every moment of every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stand in the sunlight and feel the warmth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stand under a vast and depthless seeming sky
and feel every single star and planet. Know the motion of it all is not only
something you witness, but something you are a part of.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The ripples and waves we create in this life can be good
ones if we can simply learn to relax and flow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a while
since I have allowed myself to wax contemplative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No reason behind that really, it’s just a
side effect of staying ever-present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thinking really big thoughts is cool and all of that but it is entirely
another thing all-together to just be so very present in a moment to truly
appreciate all the moment has to offer you…the richness, the simplicity, the
breath, the heart beating, the sensing and gently holding and then letting
go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a different sort of magic I
guess and that is what the last decade brought me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It brought me a deeper appreciation for all
that is just exactly as it is while letting go of any thoughts depending upon
some egotistical desire to change things or people. The now moment is a
powerful thing. And it is right there for you, Now. How will you experience it?
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wish for you as this decade comes to a close, many
realizations, the beautiful culmination of lessons learned, laughter, love,
hope, courage and faith for the next one that comes to your door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breathe in; Breathe out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve got this and the Universe has got
you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank all that is good! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9EizKdZOsr4/XfT9uuhyP8I/AAAAAAAAFpk/dxqAxz7sk4UzzpTTRHGjF7PBXMsWChcMQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B8.19.42%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1186" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9EizKdZOsr4/XfT9uuhyP8I/AAAAAAAAFpk/dxqAxz7sk4UzzpTTRHGjF7PBXMsWChcMQCEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-14%2Bat%2B8.19.42%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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© 2019, photo and words.</div>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-6762720990731263792019-11-10T12:22:00.001-08:002019-11-10T12:22:06.388-08:00The Story of Your Path<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ7RlsgZL9c/Xchvzf_WosI/AAAAAAAAFks/HgSD1tk-JjEeiBDfnXJPjvUY7ZtjgLLIgCEwYBhgL/s1600/428776_412885265391910_1621422624_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ7RlsgZL9c/Xchvzf_WosI/AAAAAAAAFks/HgSD1tk-JjEeiBDfnXJPjvUY7ZtjgLLIgCEwYBhgL/s320/428776_412885265391910_1621422624_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is the story of your path telling you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easiest to start with the patterns and
themes that have been presented for you to experience time and time again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many paths have themes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are solitary paths, paths of painful
relationships, paths of joy and camaraderie, there are paths of higher
traditional education, there are paths of non-traditional education and so many
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, what has been the purpose of
your path thus far as you have journeyed through the whole of your life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can’t be all pain and loss?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are all those patterns and themes, the
things you have experienced the most?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What are the patterns no longer repeating?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Have you reflected?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are your
conclusions and are you certain that you have really gained the intended
wisdom?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will give you a little tiny piece of advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you think your learning has always been
about how small you are, not being good enough, not being smart enough, good
looking-enough<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or how to lose, you may
be missing the real point in the lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s take a breath for a moment and reflect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take another breath just because.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I want you to clear your mind and take a
little journey back in time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want you
to look for a few small and simple things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are you with me still?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, let’s go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go all the way back to childhood and
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who did you laugh with and who
did you make smile?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scroll forward a little bit, who did you help
no matter how it turned out for you – our focus is just what your actions were
and not anyone else’s reactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got
some?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jot them down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, who did you first love with your heart
wide open?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t focus on the end but
the moment your heart loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were there
other times?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Who where you there for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who was
there for you in any capacity at all at any time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could have been a sibling, a cousin, a
parent, aunts, uncles or friends – a pet even.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Got something?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXSVaXM2_sI/XchvwcPxQmI/AAAAAAAAFko/I414SxKGAkw0UntF5GL-_TAb5K6ptMjzQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Destination_Unknown_by_JaieHart.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXSVaXM2_sI/XchvwcPxQmI/AAAAAAAAFko/I414SxKGAkw0UntF5GL-_TAb5K6ptMjzQCEwYBhgL/s320/Destination_Unknown_by_JaieHart.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want you to hold on to the moment that these things were
experienced and good – not the moments after where things may have turned out
differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want you to really focus
in on the moments that you really gave of yourselves without a care for the
ultimate outcome or those moments someone really gave of themselves to you with
out a care for the ultimate outcome. Remember how it felt in those moments, no
matter what happened next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These moments
are the giving times and times you were called to move from the heart and you
did it or you were called upon to receive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These are times you heeded a call to the heart and you learned how to
give or created a call for others to respond in kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, if you consider certain outcomes of
these same situations, did you not also learn ways that maybe you shouldn’t
give?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consider struggles also that you may have had repeatedly in
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To really get the lesson, you’re
going to have to go way beyond the superficial appearance of something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, maybe you repeatedly lost jobs,
lost money, were robbed, taken advantage of, misunderstood, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are all very difficult experiences to
learn from but in these situations, you were learning and it wasn’t just that
the world and its inhabitants were evil and hurtful and that you are a
helpless, gullible victim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are superficial
reactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all run into some bad
apples in this world and have bad experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know some who have taken the worst experience you can possibly imagine
and turned it to good by sharing the knowledge of the experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also some who have had a string of
bad life time experiences and climbed into a bottle and died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have many choices to make here as we
journey and I won’t judge anyone’s path and I’m even careful now how I might
judge my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, here on Earth,
our environment and upbringing shapes our psychology and how we view the world
and our journey here in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our view
can be tampered with by those also impaired by challenging environmental
psychology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes its not even about
what other people did when they were growing up but how they may have
interpreted what they experienced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are so very complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, one thing we
were gifted with is the ability to notice patterns and themes. In fact, these
things are part of our survival instinct – e.g., if you cross a path with a
belly crawling creature that rattles, you remember that you may suffer a lethal
bite, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJhnqeYWhxY/XchwGOm6FWI/AAAAAAAAFk0/zdUrhV5P20gCQqTiBYaFpSc5gnVyJ8dkgCEwYBhgL/s1600/DSCN8721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJhnqeYWhxY/XchwGOm6FWI/AAAAAAAAFk0/zdUrhV5P20gCQqTiBYaFpSc5gnVyJ8dkgCEwYBhgL/s320/DSCN8721.JPG" width="320" /></a>So, I’ve written about pattern analysis in my books but that
isn’t the place you live or exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
something to do with a goal in mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These things have been a part of your journey in life and love it or
hate it, it was uniquely your experience and whatever it is you did with that
experience is the crux of the thing you were intended to learn from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, don’t dwell on bad past experiences or
good past experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focus on what you
are learning, focus on what you have overcome, focus on the things that you
have mastered either beautifully or by the seat of your britches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, consider, what is it that you want to
do, to learn or experience next?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
beautiful thing about life is that you can dream and open yourself up to the
ever-unfolding path that is uniquely yours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have so many choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can
experience something terrible and shut out the world forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No judgment from me but I might worry about
the beautiful things that you could be missing out on – important things,
wonderful things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can experience
something terrible and discover how it came to be – was it random or was some
part of you seeking an experience?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
could be both or neither.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life can be
like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We learn what we intend to
learn and sometimes, we just seem to be learning about how to be with the
emotion of a challenging experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s okay to get angry, to be fearful, to be happy and seek silver
linings…in a way, all the answers are yes on this path, but not necessarily the
way you might have imagined.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Regardless of lessons understood or not, your life is an
epic tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every step you take not only
contributes to your story but your story also influences the story of
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are amazingly you and you
have walked your path up to this point just exactly as you meant to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trust yourself to continue to weave your
amazing story of life here on Earth. Trust yourself to take every breath and
step in perfect time, to understand repeating cycles and circles and to get the
meaning intended just for you and your conscious evolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether you tell your story or just live it,
we walk the path with you weaving our own experiences and influencing each
other and in a way, walk each other home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hope that you enjoy the journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the journey becomes difficult and fraught with
core-level-challenges, I pray that you always find that gossamer flame of
light, hope and faith within to guide you on your next step and to continue to
breath in your next breath and the next breath so that you will be grateful for
the experience of physical existence here when your journey ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just remember that nothing here stays the
same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means the leaves fall and the trees are
laid bare to the cold of winter, but the seasons change and new growth begins
again in the spring-time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve got
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ready?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One more breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, take that next step with courage, with
love and the greatest curiosity your life has ever know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have a beautiful story to live and I am
so grateful that you are here now.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zqzzFUeRzbk/Szzrm2iW1rI/AAAAAAAAALI/Jjq6qtKCydgATK_NJ0-_1GexIUYDJuvLQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/12262009%2B055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zqzzFUeRzbk/Szzrm2iW1rI/AAAAAAAAALI/Jjq6qtKCydgATK_NJ0-_1GexIUYDJuvLQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/12262009%2B055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-71799185029807643182019-11-10T08:31:00.001-08:002019-11-10T08:31:46.973-08:00Taming Chaos - A Path of Thought and Integration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gmp289-Q3xA/Xcg6CyJBjtI/AAAAAAAAFkU/EoKT8YJHoa0ODnjdutSNWnTzRLkLJauJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-07%2Bat%2B9.02.06%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gmp289-Q3xA/Xcg6CyJBjtI/AAAAAAAAFkU/EoKT8YJHoa0ODnjdutSNWnTzRLkLJauJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-07%2Bat%2B9.02.06%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">After years and years of intense experiences, deep and core
reaching and teaching spiritual experiences, it has taken me a very long time
to process and integrate.<span> </span>Am I finished
yet?<span> </span>No, not by a long shot but I’m
feeling my time of solitary contemplation is ending.<span> </span>In a world that seems chaotic, punctuated by
all that is negative in the media and the psychotic-seeming trolls that have
permeated all of our on-line existence, it sometimes feels very pointless to
speak a single word.<span> </span>So, during such times,
quiet solitude is necessary to begin to understand.<span> </span>Will we ever? Honestly, although I’ve had
some very serious doubts, I believe that we will.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The masses are purely frustrated and divided over things we
all consider to be important but it is not really the dividing lines that are
the real focus here.<span> </span>We are being
challenged to declare ourselves.<span> </span>Just
not in the way we might think at first.<span>
</span>I don’t know about you but if ever I find myself in wrong thinking, my
body speaks to me.<span> </span>It tells me, “wait a
minute, you are going a bit too far – be silent and quiet – let the emotion
settle and begin again in a better frame.”<span>
</span>I used to miss this important message time and time again until massive
episodes of anxiety or depression would strike and painfully remind me.<span> </span>So, I learned to be more silent and work
through the feelings and fears of hopelessness in all I witness in life on
planet Earth.<span> </span>If I clear away the
superficial thoughts and fears, I find something truly amazing.<span> </span>It’s sometimes a very tiny gossamer thread of
hope.<span> </span>Just when I think there is no
hope, I’ll see a sparkle out of the corner of my eye.<span> </span>I may witness the true beauty of the nature
of some humans so readily expressed that I cannot stay in a space of fear or of
hopelessness.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">While the media expounds on this atrocious thing or that
heart-wrenching and mind numbing angry-toxic producing thing, they are getting
the reaction they strive for.<span> </span>I have
decided to no longer give it.<span> </span>I
understand the stirring of baser emotion for the sake of stirring negative
emotion.<span> </span>It gets people into a very reactionary
state and then the witch-hunts begin and the scape goats are strung up and
strung out and then there is even more terrible news to broadcast.<span> </span>But, but, listen – is that really the life we
want to live -a life being manipulated by the media and those with a dark
design?<span> </span>How does that help you put food
on your table, love those closest to you and strive always and ever to be
better and brighter?<span> </span>I can’t remember
which book it was but Thich Nhat Hanh has said something to the effect of,
“What are you feeding your head?”<span> </span>When
you are glued to the news channel late at night before bed.<span> </span>Is it easy for you to fall asleep?<span> </span>You get that concept, don’t you? If you turn
to hope and what builds and better supports you in this life, can you sleep
better and love better?</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">I don’t believe the world is any crazier today than it has
always been here at the hands of fearful humans.<span> </span>But, if that is all you focus on – that is
all you will continue to perpetuate.<span> </span>I
now implicitly trust my inner guidance system.<span>
</span>Whenever I feel absolutely incredulous watching the news or being
confronted by this human or that human I know there is a lie in the mix.<span> </span>Either one I am being told or sold or one I
am believing in.<span> </span>Rather than waste my
time and energy fighting back against the darkness of this reactionary
manipulation employed unwittingly or unintentionally, I stop.<span> </span>I pull myself back.<span> </span>I calm gently my ego’s need to fight back, to
be right, or to defend.<span> </span>I pause and
reflect to discover what part of my experience truly feeds my incredulousness
and it doesn’t take long anymore to uncover the truth.<span> </span>I then can move into the space of my heart,
see more clearly and then simply hold a space of understanding.<span> </span>Fighting back and defending is always an
option but with so much time and energy poured into this negative manipulation
of experience for ratings, for money or for God knows what else, it would seem
to keep us all exhausted and vibrating so low, thick and desperate.<span> </span>I don’t want that for myself and I don’t want
that for others.<span> </span>I also know that my
only choice is to be the change that I want to see.<span> </span>I need to focus on what lifts my own
vibration.<span> </span>I need to explore what better
supports me and helps me operate more clearly as a conduit for balance in a
seemingly crazy world.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">We are all of us the darkness and the light in this
world.<span> </span>We can point our focus at any
time and in any moment towards dark or light.<span>
</span>It’s not good or bad, right or wrong, it just is and you can argue these
points from any angle for arguments’ sake.<span>
</span>You can troll me to the moon and yet, my inner guidance system will not
waiver.<span> </span>In that, I trust
completely.<span> </span>So, how have things been for
me lately since this shift in thought, while integrating experience?<span> </span>Peaceful.<span>
</span>I have found peace, I have found an inner well of unshakable love and
support.<span> </span>I have discovered in life where
I “went wrong” so to speak but I’m not angry for it because it taught me so
much.<span> </span>I no longer need to learn from the
obvious negativity in the world put forth by intentional or unwittingly
participating humans expressing their own form of environmental psychology.<span> </span>I can learn my
life lessons by connecting with the Earth, appreciating the Sky, the Wind, the Clouds,
the Birds, the Trees and every single blade of Grass.<span> </span>Creation speaks often.<span> </span>I now listen more closely and openly.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">My intent and my focus of late is shifting my own energy and
letting that vibrate out from my being, letting that be the wake I leave behind
me as I place one foot in front of the other on this journey I call my
life.<span> </span>I’m living it my way and doing the
best I can.<span> </span>I’m turning off the news and
disengaging from that which does not support me or those I love on my
journey.<span> </span>I’m doing what I can where and
when I can to help change those things for the better where I see fit in a
positive, non-violent and non-toxic way that does not infringe upon the free-will of others.<span>
</span>I’m making a commitment to myself and to all things I relate to – to
strive to bring good, do not harm, and make a difference I can live with.<span> </span>I can stand for something I find important
without causing harm to another soul.<span> </span>I
have much hope that others in this world will rise up from this constant swirl of utter chaos and awaken and learn that
they too can make a difference without imposing upon the free will of
others.<span> </span>I have hope. Find your hope and
your faith.<span> </span>Trust yourselves to find the best way. May your God or Goddess or
Nature or Life in General – bless you in every possible way with great wisdom,
great compassion, great healing and great abundance.<span> </span>I wish this for the entirety of this
beautiful globe that is our home.<span> </span>It is
time.<span> </span>And, So, It Is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
© 2019 (Photo/words) Jaie Hart</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><style>
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journalofmcchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093969109285147845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8316773079449362543.post-57495886700743192082019-09-21T09:42:00.001-07:002019-09-21T09:42:04.566-07:00Welcome Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_fADKaLVe0/XYZPYRVBOXI/AAAAAAAAFik/lxB4cZNgH18psWgsL3lHet_YyziEA9NEQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-08-09%2Bat%2B11.50.16%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="1162" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_fADKaLVe0/XYZPYRVBOXI/AAAAAAAAFik/lxB4cZNgH18psWgsL3lHet_YyziEA9NEQCEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-08-09%2Bat%2B11.50.16%2BAM.png" width="317" /></a></div>
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We emptied the last of our things from the condo, we packed
whatever would fit from the garage and at around 1:30 pm that Friday and we slowly pulled
out of the driveway for the last time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What a mixture of emotion that was for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a few moments, I would be homeless moving
from one place far away to the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Given the time of day, we were going to hit traffic in the worst part of California but it wasn’t a
terrible drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My poor little kitty in
the seat next to me was not a happy traveler but in a way, needing to
constantly comfort her on a 7 hour trip turned out to be a blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pulled into the last stop before truly
saying goodbye to California and I felt a little sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>California had been my home for so many
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved the little condo we had
rented and it had been so very comfortable for the last 6 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fed the kitty to try to calm her and
watched the grackle birds foraging for French fries in a parking lot filled with other weary travelers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With kitty fed, watered and somewhat
calmed, I jumped back on the freeway.</div>
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It was just a few miles to the border of Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My daughter was a few miles ahead of me on
that long stretch of lonesome between Blythe and Phoenix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in love with the desert, in awe of the
shape of a new horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cacti and
birds, the sun setting behind me casting a beautiful and eerie glow over this
long, long stretch of nothingness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
felt an energy as I drove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
soothing and exciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was worried
about making our way in the dark and hoped we’d hit city-lights before full
darkness set in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Driving the I-10 in the dark is
beautiful but a bit scary when you are used to bright lights of the city at
every turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, my only focus now was
how close to our new home and new life we were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I fought back the fears in the darkness – did I make the right
choice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will this be good for us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to cut them off because staying put
wasn’t an option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our condo would be
sold and re-renting in Southern, California was just more than my budget could
bear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I settled into the thought of
pulling into my new driveway of my new house, one I bought on my own through my own
hard work and diligence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was excited
beyond words.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y7x8K1t3ukk/XYZPQUsOFVI/AAAAAAAAFis/MzGZME1mE684xqNFLt_pysGb7xjR7HQfwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-21%2Bat%2B9.25.22%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="1196" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y7x8K1t3ukk/XYZPQUsOFVI/AAAAAAAAFis/MzGZME1mE684xqNFLt_pysGb7xjR7HQfwCEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-21%2Bat%2B9.25.22%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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We got in and settled our poor little kitty cat, who no
doubt was grateful to no longer be caged in a car speeding across the
desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She settled into her favorite
soft blankets, played a little with her toys and we left her there safe in her room, snuggled up
and finally calm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The house was empty as
our things would not arrive until morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My real estate agent left us some very necessary supplies and gift cards
for necessities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was getting late but
my daughter and I were too tired from the drive to go get food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had water, and enough supplies for the
night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made camp in the loft and
watched The Office in make shift beds on the floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so tired but struggled to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were so many sounds in the house, new
creeks and noises to get used to and then there was the heat!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh my, was it warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In time the AC fully kicked in and we were
quite comfortable.</div>
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I had packed my coffee pot in the car and the next morning, I was set for
familiar comfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With coffee made, I
stepped outside to take in <i>the Arizona </i>(as we called it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was 56 degrees in the morning on Cinco de
Mayo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My backyard was filled with birds
and my heart was feeling overjoyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
did it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, the movers came and brought us more of
the familiar and my other daughter finally made it in from the Phoenix airport. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Over the days, weeks and
months since that day, our house has become a home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is a comfort and shelter from the unforgiving and often punitive summer heat of the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the house and the family it so
graciously holds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The energy here is
like magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love watching the humming birds
flit from flower to flower and tree to tree while I’m sipping coffee and
watching the sun come up.</div>
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I have been called to this place for so long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have waited so patiently all these years to
manifest this dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, it is my
reality that I live and breathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
quiet and comfortable here in the valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have wicked lightning and thunderstorms we watch from my huge bedroom
windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s better than TV!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heat is daunting but has it’s own
uniqueness to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People here just get
on with it – shop – dine – walk – ride bikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe folks aren’t out in the summer as much as they were in CA but it’s
almost Fall now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m meeting some of my
neighbors now and gradually getting to know the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can find things and places and we’ve
explored fun places like Scottsdale for an Art Exhibit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much fun, that was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so different from what we’d do for fun
in California.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GGeMEqFRD7I/XYZPOG8rIWI/AAAAAAAAFio/x57fyVgaupITPXT_h671-dSWVsQIoTqCACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-21%2Bat%2B9.26.15%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="1036" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GGeMEqFRD7I/XYZPOG8rIWI/AAAAAAAAFio/x57fyVgaupITPXT_h671-dSWVsQIoTqCACEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-21%2Bat%2B9.26.15%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a> </div>
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If I’m honest, I’d tell you that I miss the sea breezes back
home and the power of the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, we
have warm desert breezes and sunsets wild and red over our local
mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are surrounded by
mountains and it’s so amazingly beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are desert flowers everywhere and even the medians on the roads
have trees and cacti.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really do love
it here and would not trade it for even 5 minutes of the beach back home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is less crowded here and traffic here in
rush hour is like a Saturday afternoon back home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re really settling in.</div>
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So, what do you do when your dreams come true?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I’m starting with pure unadulterated
gratitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am working on allowing new
dreams to become apparent and then I’ll work on those too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll open my mind and heart during those
quiet Saturday morning coffee breaks on my patio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll plant some new plants in bright desert
colors and just remain open to the possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll drink in the beautiful peaceful state I
now find myself in and I will love every stick, stone, sky line and moment in
my new surrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you California
for some beautiful years and challenging life lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you Arizona for welcoming us home!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blessings for gratitude in whatever adventure
you find yourself engaged in.</div>
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© 2019, Jaie Hart</div>
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