Observations on a Full Moon Drive

The full moon loomed larger than life over Anaheim Hills last night as I made my way through the quickly fading sunlight home.  The thought of home, with a car full of giggling siblings, tired from the long and frenetic day at the office left me feeling grateful to be surrounded by so much love there and soon we'd be there.  Kids are always coming and going at my place and forever am I taxi to their most urgent social needs.  On Friday nights after a long day it's tough but tonight, it was a completely in flow moment.  At my side, my best friend and partner, the radio on heard barely above the back seat giggles and the tail lights shinning so brightly in the quickly darkening sky ahead I had a realization.  I feel old.  (giggles).  No, I do.  I've been on this planet for 47 years and have really just begun the good stuff of life that comes with years of experience.  But a long drive on a Friday night left my bones aching from the stillness of physical motion.  As I was driving I thought about those aches and what they had to tell me:

1.  You're working too hard, slow down and enjoy life much more than you have of late.
2.  You've done a lot of amazing physical things in your life from ballet, gymnastics, other sports where you got to let your body run full force in physical activity.  You have enjoyed great physical health and now the little aches and pains are reminders of how fortunate you've been.
3.  Stress is really only resistance to what is instead of going with the flow of what you are experiencing.
4.  Playing Taxi mom isn't so bad.  Seeing a big bright beautiful moon over a hilltop from a freeway is quite beautiful and sure beats becoming one with the sofa playing games on facebook.
5.  Dieting is good and after losing 5 and a half pounds in the last few weeks, I'm going to celebrate with some evil fast food just because I can and that, that will make the kids happy too because they also like to indulge - You have to sometimes give into the momentary whims of the mind in celebration - just don't over do it.
6.  Love, love is not some candle lit romantic moment you see on television. It is in the little things you do and enjoy with your family, feel when out in nature or touch in true feeling with every smile on another soul's face.
7.  Root beer really is my favorite after dinner drink (even while dieting - an extra few minutes of walking takes care of the extra calories - slight groan).
8.  Speaking of roots, they matter.  You come from amazing souls who once walked this Earth and you are the genetic culmination of thousands who walked this Earth before you.  Be proud to be a part of the human race because you do matter.  You are the representation of an anscestor's fleeting thought for the best of the future.  You're it.  Smile.
9.  Being stuck in freeway traffic lets me listen to my favorite songs a little longer and I can relax if I want to or become upset if I want to.  The choice is mine.
10.  One really can drive a vehicle safely with beenie babies being tossed back and forth in the back seat with insane giggling going on (it does take a bit more effort but it really is good music for my soul).
11.  Listening to my favorite CD in the car can sometimes be a bit challenging over the spillage of God knows what kind of music is coming out of my teenager's iPod ear phones.  I just have to listen much harder to my own tunes and life goes just fine for me.
12.  Everything in life we experience can have a beautiful silver lining if we but do one thing, strive to see it.

Perception is such an interesting thing.  My partner and I talked about perception as we drove down the freeway last night.  We can perceive only what we allow ourselves to.  As we grow older and learn more, our ability to perceive the unknown expands quite naturally to the known in our consciousness if we allow it.  We can stick to believing our perceptions are mere prisons that lock us into place or we can realize our perceptions are just that - a limited set of beliefs we hold at a certain point in time until our beliefs become tried and tested to become perceptions.  After we learn to perceive, if we allow it, we can learn to filter truth and fact from belief and perception by doing one thing - knowing that you are only believing what your mind thinks and as a result, perceiving and there will always be much truth that exists fully and factually beyond your perception.  As you allow this understanding to truly sink in, you can expand your perception, take in more experiences and then be astounded by the amazing truths that seemingly materialize out of nowhere.  Life lessons abound in our day to day existence and if you pay attention you may surprise yourself by turning beliefs into truths far beyond mere perception.

I think I need more coffee.  I seem to have meandered quite a bit with my thoughts this morning.  Today's goal for me is to be more like water, to just flow through the day taking what comes. Maybe it is the effects of the full moon on the fullness of my mostly water-based being.  It doesn't matter, whether tired or frustrated I am ultimately happy and willing to strive to go with the flow.  ~Blessings for a fantastic journey today and everyday of your lives beautiful dreamers.  I wish you love and much joy.

(c) 2013 Jaie Hart (photo/words)