First You Learn To Tie Your Shoes

Music Credit: Kevin McLeod

Sometimes even the simplest of tasks require adaptation. But, if we let go of planning, expecting or anticipating that they will be difficult, hard or complex then perhaps we could figure out how to do them…. with our eyes closed.

Click to Listen to: First You Learn To Tie Your Shoes

Come Thursday Morning

I admit, I spend a whole lot of my time dealing with the ways that the world crashes around and about us all. I don’t have to, but it is the life I’ve chosen for myself. I love what I do, but it gets loud sometimes, deep inside me. It can resonate with a drumbeat compelling, intense and urgent. So, I have learned to give myself the ease of time with me. I am a pleasant companion, in part because I can smile and laugh at myself.
Usually, the place I go to get “far, far and away” is for a long, long walk. I stretch my long legs and just go and let the “Whew!” tell me when I’m done.
Today the wind was blowing the day around with a sense of fun that made me want to stay and play with them both. As I trampled through fallen eucalyptus tree branches and walked through open fields with patches of orange, violet-blue and white wildflowers I moved into a grassy field and there I saw my …… reminder.
I saw a moment counting….
There in that field was a dad with his two kids. One looked about five, the other, well, maybe 3 years old.
There they were.
Here was Dad teaching them how to get their kites up into the magic invisible rivers of air that would carry their wood and paper dream catchers aloft.
Then I was looking at those little ones, tiny bodies of energy and excitement that could not hold still for the thrill of the possibilities happening RIGHT THEN, in that very moment.
I stood and watched, a joyfully captive witness to a grand event to come; the whispers in the air told me so.
Suddenly, up went Batman!!
Up went Snoopy!
And amidst all the giggling, shrieking and laughing I realized I was applauding, tears rolling down my face.
Dad turned, beamed a grin of pride that seemed to paint his entire face with a brilliant light. And I knew that for all of us….. those moments counted for more than any of us would ever be able to properly put into words….but, I thought I would try……

The Cave

It has been used for centuries by every culture, every tribe, every species as a safe space. Where, in this very busy, very crowded world, do you create your sanctuary, your cave?

I have a problem with "hate".

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How do we define who we are?
How will we define what we are to become?
How can we define what we will create?
Now, where do we begin?

Click to Listen to: I Have a Problem With Hate

The Thunder in You

Do you recognize your necessity?

Perhaps my very asking of the question makes you uncomfortable. I am sorry; it is not my intention.
My intention is to make sure you realize you have necessity.

We impact the world with our presence.

I find people constantly make the assumption they are not necessary. They assume they are not as relevant as are others. They believe they do not matter and that life would go on “as usual” if they were no longer here.

Hmmmm.
Honestly, I am not sure I understand what that means.

In fact, the most re-published science fiction story of all time deals with concept of the absolute relevance of even the most minute of living items.

The story is Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder”.

This poignant piece of work strikes at our inner, perhaps insecure, core. But why?

In this story the whole world as we currently know it, and everything about time itself, is altered only because human beings, who in the story have the power to time travel, go back in time and, by accident, harm one tiny creature.

So I ask you, since Mr. Bradbury’s story continues to be republished across cultures and continents, resurrected in radio plays and audio books and was, a few years ago, revived as a film, what about this 60-year-old story still scrapes inside us?

Is it doubt about the ideas of our relevance, of our significance? Or, is it because we completely trust the truth of those ideas?

On the other hand, are we drawn to the story not only because we are still searching within ourselves for relevance, but also because we are searching for our relevance within the context of the continuum?

Without equivocation I will state:
We impact the world with our presence.

So, I ask again, do you recognize your necessity?

A Change of Heart

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Music credit: Holly Near, A Change of Heart

Will Rogers said, "We can't all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by."
And, while I think Will had a valid point, Holly Near's song "Change of Heart" offers a perception I believe Will would agree with. To paraphrase it: Our hearts and minds change when we participate in empowering the lives of those around us. In addition, when we observe others' acts of kindness, we are further inspired.
So I believe Will would agree with me when I say the two roles, hero and curb sitter, in his statement, shift and revolve many times in the cycle of our lives. Sometimes we are the curb sitters, applauding loudly and enthusiastically for the brave ones who take the chances and change the lives of others with action or deed. Other times it is we who are the ones heralded, noted and admired for the valor or voice we have demonstrated.
Yet at our fingertips is the opportunity to make our energy felt, for a platform as accessible as Facebook makes it possible for any of us to stand wherever we wish in Will's rumination, and to grab the mantle of impactful engagement to which Holly inspires us to in her song.
So, whichever part you are now playing in your performance of this magnificent human showcase, execute your role with intention and it will be guaranteed to be significant.
Are you ready for a change of heart?

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Click to Listen to: A Change of Heart

Anam Cara - Ancient Celtic Secrets of Friendship

John O’Donohue did much in his short life to popularize and demystify the history and lore of Celtic tradition and spirituality. His gifted authorship captures me its reflection of his own inspired living.

O’ Donohue’s focus was on Celtic wisdom’s teaching that within each of us is a world of possibilities and that we must take responsibility for our own choices and our own destiny. He thereby sheds a light on the sacred views of the Celts, thus illuminating the familiarity and similarity in their traditions to the time-honored beliefs woven throughout the rich blankets of so many other world cultures.

Perhaps John’s best-known work is Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom. “Anam” the Gaelic word for “soul”, “cara” the Gaelic for “friend”. Therefore “anam cara” literally means “soul friend”. In Celtic tradition, this is the treasured recognition of love within friendship, the concept that souls connect and bond across time and space, through life and beyond into death.

Historically, your anam cara is a person to whom you look as the person to share, confess and reveal the hidden intimacies in your life. With your anam cara you can express your mind, your heart, the very core of your innermost self. Your friendship with your anam cara is not just a friendship, but also an act of belonging, a place of recognition. Therefore, the most powerful gift you can bring to your friendship with your anam cara is your attention and awareness. It is your responsibility to be completely present with your anam cara.

John points out, it is not unusual for many people to have an anam cara of whom they are not even aware. In other words, their anam cara may be one who offers them a space of light and peace, but they do not have this person often present in their lives. This lack of awareness “cloaks” the friend and sometimes it is only through the loss of the friend’s presence and the feelings of “distance and absence” this causes that the true awareness of the anam cara is revealed. Perhaps we know this tradition by a different term: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

You see, in Celtic tradition, as John notes, “The stranger does not come accidentally; he brings a particular gift and illumination.” And this is why it is said “that the “anam-cara” perspective is sublime” for “it permits us to enter this unity of ancient belonging.”

Discussing the Celtic spiritual thinking that believes the soul radiates all about the physical body, this energetic experience is often referred to as the “aura”, O’Donohue explains therefore when you connect with another person, when you become completely open and trusting with that individual, your two souls begin to exchange energy. Or, explained another way, your auras flow together. When a strong bond of this type develops, they say you have found your “Anam Cara” or soul friend.

John O’Donohue explains: “The Celtic tradition recognized that an anam-cara friendship was graced with affection. Friendship awakens affection. The heart learns a new art of feeling. In Celtic tradition, the anam cara was not merely a metaphor or ideal. A soul-bond existed as a recognized and admired social construct. It altered the meaning of identity and perception. When your affection is kindled, the world of your intellect takes on a new tenderness and compassion. You look, see and understand differently. Initially, this can be disruptive and awkward, but it gradually refines your sensibility and transforms your way of being in the world.”

Most important is the understanding that your anam cara accepts you as you truly are, cradling you in beauty, knowing you as light. The Celts believed the development of your anam cara friendship assists you in awakening your awareness of your best and truest self and helps you experience a greater joy in being with others than you know before it’s arrival.

The Celts also believed that this unique and special fellowship, when you lovingly and willingly open your life to another, brings with it a new dawn. You have a sense of belonging you've never known before, a deep sense of special companionship and all your needs for barriers, walls and shields tumble and collapse. That person has permission to walk, with love and care, into the deepest places in your spirit, your quiet and special places within, and the sacred ground of you, which you choose to share with them.

It takes tremendous courage to allow someone so close. However, when a friendship is of truth, of light and knows itself as a great gift it will remain open and trusting. O’Donohue quotes John Cassian who wrote in his Conferences “This, I say, is what is broken by no chances, what no interval of time or space can sever or destroy, and what even death itself cannot part”.

John O’Donohue’s makes the point that in everyone’s life, there is a great need for an anam cara. For in this love you are understood, existing in the love of your anam cara without mask or pretension. The half-truths, functional lies and superficialities fall away. You can be as you really are. This bond between friends is indestructible. For love allows understanding to dawn, and this understanding is precious for where you are understood, you are ever at home. So, when you are bestowed with the allegiance of your “Anam Cara”, it is believed, you have arrived at the most sacred of places, your true HOME.