Shift!

When your heart breaks open again,
Do you go to hate?
Or, do you surrender?
When there’s one more negative headline, a shooting, a rant,
Does despair start filling you? Do you drown? Or,
Can you shift and reach out,
letting the Light fill you.

When the negativity, the violence, the anger of others overwhelms you, what do you do? Many stop reading/listening to the news and social media. Others move into a “fighting back” mode. Some let fear drive them into withdrawing from life because nothing seems to matter, nothing is safe anymore.

I’m learning to use another option. Suzanne Giesemann* talks about learning to “Shift.” When I start focusing on the negative, or when despair or fear arises, I notice, and tell myself “Shift!”. I can then change my point of view from “this is awful” to “isn’t that interesting?” I then ask my higher self (God, my guardian angel, my guides) “What is the best reaction to this situation?” I breath, focus on my heart and just listen. Sometimes I get a response right away, other times I just get the peace of shifting into the Light.

Other times when I say to myself “Shift!” I take some deep breaths. I smile. And, I consciously choose to let the Light /Divine grace and God’s Love flow through me. I consciously choose to remember that I AM one with Mother/Father God. I am not alone.

Both of these work. Lately I’ve found many opportunities to use them.
Sometimes I have to say “Shift” to myself 40 x a day LOL! Yet, I know with practice, I’ll live there.

May we all live in gratitude, peace and love. Choose to enjoy this moment of Life. It’s a gift we are given.

*https://suzannegiesemann.com/ or https://stream.humanitysteam.org/cosmic-forces-shaping-a-whole-new-future

One Earring

One earring lost
Always from a favorite pair
The one “left behind” a tease
Reminding me of what was

There’s always the hope you’ll find it. This one has to be in the house. Or does it? How long have I been walking around with one earring? Does anyone notice? Why is it always my favorite pair? Why does this happen!!!!

Simplistically, maybe the answer is “Hey you, be more careful!”
But maybe, the loss is a reminder that the things you love can disappear at any time.
It’s a reminder to slow down, to really see & enjoy, to pay attention.

Life is precious. Even little things are gifts. May I take the time to enjoy, appreciate, to love…. May I take nothing for granted, even my earings.

After I wrote this blog, I received this from a dear friend:
“No amount of regret changes the past.
No amount of anxiety changes the future.
Any amount of gratitude changes the present.”

If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.

— Charlie Parker, Jazz Musician & Composer

Turning

I’m turning a corner
What does that mean?
I don’t know

What’s next?
I don’t know

What now?
I trust

For the last few months things have been shifting. How? I can’t tell you. Some of it has been inner work as I release, at a deeper level, some of what I took on as a child and throughout my life that does not serve me. Hurts, self-doubt, fear of being seen, not believing I matter….all resurfacing so I can more consciously say, “I forgive myself and others. I let go. I just am.”

I’m learning to live in liminal space, the time between the ‘what was’ and the ‘next’.
I’m practicing becoming self aware vs self obsessed. Noticing the mental chatter, the mind busy planning, reacting, telling my story yet again. I then consciously breath and focus on doing whatever it is I’m doing. What’s my body feeling? Breath. Really see the carrot I’m cutting or the weeds I’m pulling. Breath. Feel whatever emotion arises but don’t start telling a story about it. Breath. And Life continues to unfold in me and around me.

Simply experiencing what is brings peace. I’m beginning to trust. I pay attention to the little surprises and notice how things work out in ways I couldn’t possibly expect (another blog). I continue to practice.

Tomorrow is one of those days….

What will you surround yourself with?
Will you notice when fear starts to take hold?
Notice when anger starts to erode your peace?

This moment is all you have.
Breathe and look for the good.
Breathe and be thankful you can.

If love is all there is
If love is stronger then hate
then love will find a way no matter what.

Tomorrow is going to be a nonstop media circus, and it may go on for days.
Now is the time for each of us to decide how we want to live, how we want to experience this precious life we’ve been given.

We might as well consciously choose to accept “what is” because worry, anger, or fear won’t change it. Once we accept what is, we can choose how we want to respond.

We can choose peace. We can figure out what it really means to choose love. We can focus on what’s most important to us and embody it. It’s time.


” May love move me to co-create freedom and well-being for all.” from bell hooks

Not in Control

I don’t control the seasons,
but I’m not helpless.
I walk on the ground with care.

I felt lost in sadness and almost a despair these last few days. And then this morning, when I was meditating, this poem came. Not being in control doesn’t mean I’m helpless.

A friend told me how great these times were because it was a chance to practice what we believe. In the midst of all the chaos and negativity, I can choose what I focus on, what I want to embody, how I want to be in the world.

If in this moment I can be fully present…. right action will follow.

My Shot

Now when I don’t hear from you I worry
I used to think you were just busy
or maybe out of town or really
just having a great time

Now, is it COVID?
is the isolation starting to depress you?
were you shot during a peaceful protest?
are you running away from the toxic news?

I can’t assume you’ll be here tomorrow
so forgive me if I seem to pester you
nothing can be taken for granted
and the truth is, I love you

Social Media gives anyone a forum to voice their opinions as truth and to dare others to disagree. Fear and violence are repeated by the news until it seems the norm. My challenge is to notice when I’m being pulled under, and to shift my focus.

I believe acting in love is stronger than hate and fear. I know peace is mine if I choose it. This is mine to do.

I’m not throwing away my shot.” from Hamilton

COVID19, BLACK LIVES MATTER…my words have left me.

I’ve been too overwhelmed with it all to write, thinking it’s already been said, or it doesn’t matter, or that I just don’t have the words. The questions seem to abound.

Re: COVID19- What is really true? What is really known and what is still being understood. What’s politically motivated or self serving? What is freedom? Where do personal freedom and compassion intersect? Isn’t living in fear worse the getting the virus?
Re: Black Lives Matter- Somethings were too painful to watch the first time, do I really want to talk about it again? What can you say that isn’t more dividing? How can you stop generalizing to everyone in a perceived group? Do people really want to understand “racism,” systemic bias, our history?
And what about the creative process? I’ve been asked, “Isn’t focusing on all the violence, discrimination, white superiority etc., just giving more energy to what you don’t want?

So this may be the first of a series as I sort through my answers, letting the feelings flow over me and the thoughts swirl.

I’ve come to realize and value letting myself feel the feelings as opposed to pushing them down. This has been, and is, a major part of moving through this complicated time; breathing through the feelings, not getting lost in them. And being overwhelmed at times seems like it is part of being human….and, I’m realizing, that includes me.

I also know that I can choose to live in heaven or hell right now. When I choose to see the possibilities, the genuine care of many, and when I trust that love is stronger than hate and fear, I live in heaven.

And finally, I believe these times are sacred and we are being given an opportunity to sift through what is happening, work together in ways we may never have before and arrive at a place we haven’t yet imagined.

I hope you’ll stay tuned. I know I will. LOL!

What Matters

Black lives, Gay lives, Mexican lives, Native American lives, women’s lives, men’s lives, all of God’s creations MATTER! When will we learn to see!

If you have to be on top it’s because you fear you are on the bottom. If difference scares you, angers you, makes you uncomfortable, you doubt your own life choices/beliefs.

If we assume we deserve what we have, it’s because we think we are separate from each other; that our work is independent of other’s efforts, of God’s grace. We live as victims in fear of poverty, hell, getting it wrong. We try to rise to the top through control, dominance, wealth…

Race is a myth to rationalize the horrors, the economic benefit to those who are deemed white.
The past has been distorted, not taught, diminished.

Yes, it hurts to see. But we must! And then ask, “What now?” What can WE become if we open to our oneness in God, with nature, to each other, with our inherent goodness. What if we are willing to face our own deepest fears? Is this just a soft naive feminine dream?

from Center for Spiritual Living Great Cincinnati

Can I not close my heart to those who kneel, who kneel on, who kneel before? Can I not close my heart to those who think their skin, their religion, their beliefs gives them inherent worth? Can I not turn what scares ME into “the other.”

Can I, can we, be more?

We can’t go back to normal. We can’t…….so, what is mine to do now?

Distancing

Physical distancing,
not social distancing.
People are not threats.
Fear, a tax, depleting
our country.

Written in response to the Chalkboard prompt “Taxes” by Kathy Jacobs. Thank you to all those who make this adventure possible!

Words matter. They create images in our minds. They trigger unconscious fears that then connect to the words/ideas being popularized.

Pay attention to the seeding of this new norm: that social or personal contact with another human being is dangerous; that internet connections are safe, easy and essentially the same.

Using the word “social” distancing is deliberate. It connects being with others to being in danger. It plays on our fears of being vulnerable.

Also deliberate is the promotion of technological solutions to connecting e.g, texting, Instagram, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google etc. All of these and many more are touted as the new normal. The implication is that this is how you will have relationships the future. To a generation being weaned on their cell phones, this will seem totally natural and obvious. So what is wrong with it?

Relationships are messy. Dealing with feelings unavoidable. Whereas with texting, and in most internet exchanges, you can avoid dealing with them. You can shift gears, disconnect, not answer questions/concerns, scream at without dealing with the consequences.… You can even multitask while you “talk.” You don’t have to learn the interpersonal skills needed to deal with feelings face to face. You don’t have to be vulnerable. Relying on technology for relationships comes with a cost.

We are facing choices about our future. What will we do when “this” is over? I’m voting to maintain messy social connections, and to our developing the conscious heart connections that make us human.

P.S. Technology has its place. But the point I’m making is it’s just “a place.”

Who Rules?

besliter Sky Series

Who rules your world?
Controls your thoughts?
Tells you what is right?

Fire them!

response to the Medium prompt “Rule” by JK Mansi
Published on Medium’s Chalkboard site 10/17/19