Taking Action

"You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result."
-- Mahatma Gandhi



This week is World Kindness Week, what action will you take to bring a your brightness to the world? How is it that we have forgotten how to be kind?

Who is that Critic Anyway?

Some days…. I find that I am my worst critic, that no one judges me more harshly then myself. I am almost 99% sure that this is true for all of us. If you could have heard me, this AM as I was laying in bed ~ about the things that didn’t get done. Oh, goodness, you might have walked out the door; if I’d been talking to you. Most likely never to return.

I had to stop the cycle, the running of the tape in my head. BREATHE; inhale now exhale; a saving Grace. Breath, it invites us to S T O P ~ for a moment, it’s an opportunity to move, re-direct, think anew. Wait – the list of what did get done, well, let me tell you it was no small potatoes.

Today I would like to invite us each to count the items in our day that do happen, the smile on our face as we walk down the street, a shared moment with a friend or our-self, how about the things our body does for us without having to ask –“ hey, how do I get your heart to beat”? We make lists of all that needs to be done, then forget all the everyday things we do, the BE-ing. Being right here, breathing, right now. This moment ~ not getting ready for the one to come ~ this one right now.

My wish for each of us – is a gentler, kinder inner critic, one who knows the importance of BE-ing, not so much DO-ing.

When you catch yourself beating up on you, and you will ~ invite yourself to step away, take a breath, deep inhale, deep falling out breath, shake your body, sink into your feet. Start anew in the new space you created.

Be well. I love YOU.

Memorial Day

When you see them, walking on the street, don’t forget to tell them ~ Thank you. Think of the friends they have lost. Of the sadness that still lives in their eyes. So that we might enjoy freedoms to pray, speak openly, and to stand equal to each other. Some have gone because they believed it was right, some have gone because they were drafted, other because they felt that it was the right thing to do.

For what ever reason, we have lost and are still losing Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers and friends to war.

I pray that some day, we will be able to raise above all the fear and hatred, that we will Love and desire Peace more then we Hate War.

To those that have fought, and those that have lost Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers and Friends; I am sorry for your loss. I say Thank you as well. I pray that I do not squander this Life that is mine. We are all One.

Dancing In Life

Dancing, I am dancing
A prayer, Mama Gaia, Grandmother Moon
I hear you singing,
Grandmother Moon your light shining on my day skin,
Mama Gaia, you allow me to dance and stomp upon your belly
I am a happy child.

Dancing, I am dancing
A prayer
Guide me to release my old fears.
Teach me the way of new growth,
That which doesn’t serve having
Fallen aside.

Dancing, I am dancing
A prayer, Mama Gaia, Grandmother Moon.
I raise my voice in song,
To a heartbeat, a soulbeat
Running deep within the Mystery
May you hear me as I
Sing and Dance,
This Full Moon Stomp!

Dancing, I am dancing
A prayer, Mama Gaia, Grandmother Moon,
Thank you for the Wisdom
I hear you talking
Grateful am I to be this child
Thank you, thank you
Mama Gaia, Grandmother Moon,
I am Dancing with you, in Life, in Love
In all there is to come.

Lilac Drunk

A gift, two sweet bunches
I placed them in our bedroom.
Laying in bed, I felt intoxicated
The room inside so full of a warm spring day.

White lilacs in a crystal glass – light up the darkness
I had just talked with you,
When I felt my body shiver and stiffen sweetly
As you climbed into bed.

I found that sleep would not come,
I lay there watching you sleep,
The tears falling for all that we have
All that is not there.

And you, could you smell them
Clear across town?
Did you sleep, or were you
Watching me sleep, in your dreams?

The tears fall like rain,
I wonder what might be growing
All these years we have between us.
Perhaps my love it was a moment
Shared by the White lilacs sitting by our bed.

Intoxicating, intoxicated, I lay drunk
On the scent of Love,
Lived, held so fragile in a Breathe of lilacs.




I am grateful to Micaela for the gift of the lilacs.

Transition - Change

Transition – Change
They happen without our planning sometimes, without our knowing what to do, or how to handle the situation. What I do know is that even when it happens without my prior planning, something good does indeed happen. I know it doesn’t always feel that way in the beginning, the passing of a friend, a deep dis-agreement in a friendship. Yet, all of these things have brought about growth, and a learning on my part.
Today I am wondering why it is that we fight it so much, what is it that perhaps we or at the very least I think/feel I am losing? Might we instead sink into what we have to gain or gift instead? How might that look?
Wishing all well on this shaky ground of transition, may we find our way toward a better Us.







from Ann L's garden - if you look close you'll see the plant in all it's changes

Techno - Isolation

Isolated- adjective meaning occurring alone or once. Yet how it feels at least in this moment is to be separate from. Oddly, I am wondering if when people made a choice in the early 1900 to travel away from all they knew if they felt isolated, separated from the world. No phones, no computers, mail as long as a month away. Was there fear hidden in that isolation, or excitement?

Recently, I have been having trouble with my means of outside communication. I live alone, mostly work one on one. Stop in at a couple of different coffee shops around town, randomly – would they notice my not being around? My internet connection, something with the rotor or wire-less connection, my phone- ah, it is digital and has a battery that has died completely, and not one that seems readily available. So though in fact I can and have made connections with people, there is a certain loss of communication, that leaves me feeling isolated in the heart of the city.

Interestingly enough, I found fear lurking…what I said, “Self -it’s not like I can’t go up the street hang out at my local bar/restaurant”. Yet somehow the inability to write to, talk with, hang with friends via facebook left me feeling isolated. I felt the need to reach out to folks that I couldn’t touch with my hands, my heart ached, I found myself pacing my small apartment. The calls I did make – alas nobody home. It all took me back, to moving around as a small person. We traveled and moved just about every three years while I was growing up – out of my control. Losing track of friends, let’s face it at 7 or 10 you’re not so great at writing letters. How does that saying go….”Out of sight – out of mind.”

Any way the point being that I was fully living a phenomenon of connection or loss there of , that I have been worried about. There is a loss of human contact, when we lose our technological connection, can we and do we find ourselves able to walk down the street and make contact with another human being? Do we know the sounds of the birds that reside in our neighborhood? Are we aware of what our upstairs neighbor feels when we are baking Chocolate cookies and not bringing any up to share; (though in my defense on this one, I will say my local coffee shops, the Bay Lines and others do receive this gifts of baking)? Do we know the names even of our neighbors? ( I will confess here also – I do not). Do we know the names of the folks that might work at some of the shops we frequent – this I can say I do!

Can you unplug for a day or two? How does it feel?

I am at the same time immensely grateful for all the technology that is at our finger tips, the way we can reach friends, that we have lost touch with – how many of us can truly say – no body from my past is my facebook friend, sure I’ve not seen them in 15 years …

Yet, I am concerned for our lack of human contact; translation touch. Our skin being the largest living organ of our body, the part of us that takes in large amounts of information. So, here I am thinking about all this and at the same time how might I get back on with my internet life ~ when OH! I say – I can re-plug my internet connection, the wire-less will have to wait. Funny – my computer known as Mr. Baggins needed to be in physical touch today. And me now that I’ve written this ~ I too need to go out touch the Earth, see really see my friends, hear the sounds of the world around me.

I hope that you too, will gift yourself some time to be in the real world, not just the virtual one.

Have a great day.




sorry that I am unable to give credit to the person who's photo this is - I'm not sure were I got it. Somewhere on the 'web' I am sure.