Evolutionary Road

We are works of art, and works in progress, if we are to be worth anything at all.

In everything that we do there is always room to grow. Inside every mistake that we realize, is an opportunity to evolve. In every revelation lies a mystery to be absorbed, awed and respected.

They say that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I have long known that when I am ready and open- I learn. It is the shedding of our consuming ego and pre-conceived notions, which affords us our awakenings. It is the death of our selves that brings us to the light.

the bloom!

The tree

There are no beginnings or ends
just a continuous stream
a force of love and light that make up life
And it shines on new faces
lights up new places
and glows and burns and makes us one

Rhythmic drum beat moves. Slowly dance around the fire. Mellow, haunting strings cut me free. The spiraling smoke drifted upward with a fury that lifted me. Soaring, I jetted past stars. Reaching out, I took and held one in my hand. The mesmerizing glow swallowed me and we coasted lighter than light, laughing as one.

(More later)

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The air is so thick tonight that I'm surprised by the volume of the frogs' songs. We had the reddest, sweetest watermelon I've ever seen and tasted, for dinner. Laughter so raucous from the kids as the mountains stared down at us. Isn't summer just beautiful?
...

silence

...
harmonizing with the voices in my soul
swaying with the beat from beyond
strumming the chords of life

just singing along...

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In the Lightness of Love

For the man at the pier

Toasted marshmallows, anyone?

Love is an energy that is neither created or destroyed. It simply transforms itself as it ignites, grows, burns ferociously, quiets, glows as embers, or scatters across the universe as dancing ashes.


(There will be no essay about this... yet.)


...

Owl be waiting

take me
shake me
rock me
break me
Be the force that overtakes me

thrill me
till me
hold me
fill me
Be the light that will




?: For as long as I can remember, I have had a kinship with owls. There was a time, as a child, that they visited me nightly. They'd come swooping down at me, sometimes waking me, screaming. As I grew fonder of them, they'd show up each night, in a different color. When I lived in the house on Cherish Way there was a pair of barn owls who would come and circle over head when I sat outside to meditate. When it was time for life to change- I just didn't know where to go next and I was scared. When I checked out this house in which I am now living, I met "B" who is in the picture above. I couldn't believe the beautiful view from the bedroom balcony, and when I saw him sitting in the planter, I knew this view would bring me peace. And it has... Thank you

I was there...

A peaceful walk

in early morning’s darkness

Feet moving slowly

Crunch the earth beneath me

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Pebbles pierce my soles

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Cool, green grass

Beckons from ahead

Watching you

Breathing, naked in the darkness

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Laughter pierces my soul

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.....

Lazarus

An incredible feeling bubbles up, swells, and then lifts my wings. My heart, soul, mind and fingers gladly follow…

Sometimes I just sit here in front of the keyboard because I know I have something to say, but usually I don’t have a clue what it is… until I start typing (or writing). So I do the deed and then sit and wait for the ecstasy to ensue. It’s an awakening of the etheric sense, of which I think I am no more than a conduit, or perhaps a prism that bends its light. Maybe I’m just a mirror that reflects…

Climbing the stairs with my notebook and pen tucked under my arm and my deliciously aromatic oil already taunting me, I saw it- that beautiful pool and I had it all to myself! No one had been there for days so I quickly scanned the surface and perimeter for dead things. There by the step wall was an enormous dragonfly, just floating. At first I thought he was just resting, but no, he was dead. The flashback was so abrupt that I think I have emotional whiplash!

Three years ago, on a hot summer’s afternoon I climbed my own steps in search of solace and of course, an opportunity to meditate. But there, in the corner of the pool was the smallest lizard I’d ever seen. This creature would have been classified cute by the harshest and coldest of standards with his little stub of a tail, rounded belly and bulbous little head. My heart sank just looking at him. I picked him up with my cupped hands and laid him gently on the warm concrete. His limp and skinny neck offered no resistance as his tiny little head meshed with the ground.

He was dead.

Watching hopefully, I waited to see if he would move, but the only thing that changed was that the puddle which had surrounded him, was now evaporating. The thought of leaving his sweet little body lying there made me cry. Was his mother cognizant of his absence? What about all of the walls he’d never climb? The bugs he’d never taste? The roadrunners he’d never escape?

As I have never been particularly fond of lizards I surprised myself when I reached down and touched him. How silly of me to think that my human touch would bring comfort to a lizard. He opened his eyes- or was I seeing things? I was too excited to take my gaze from him, but I worried that he might panic at my presence. He didn’t seem scared. He simply closed his eyes again. My heart sunk- again.

I cried because this sweet little life was cut too short. The sadder I grew, the more resistant I became to the reality of this situation. I drew in a long, dramatic breath as if I were going to perform CPR on this lost life. As my breath turned to exhalation, an unexpected and determined breeze whipped up the hill shaking the cattails, dancing with the palm trees in a state of wild abandon, and making my new little friend rise to his legs. While my jaw was dropping I watched his belly distend and contract, with deliberated drama. Before I could close my mouth, Lazarus was scampering into the ice plant.

People blindly state that everything happens for a reason. This is yet another concept that I stand back, consider, and then politely nod, in answer to. If everything is pre-determined by an all-knowing God, then how free is our will? Are we just playing pieces in some war game where he tortures us, to teach us lessons?

There is a need to worship God which is sewn through my fabric, and I am not alone. Every time I’ve tried to name this god, I find myself farther away from the truth of who he/she/it is. If we are to believe that someone is pulling these strings through for us, then that just makes God a rather accomplished puppet master. The greatest gift that we can offer or be offered is the gift of ourselves; our admiration, respect, consideration, compassion and vulnerability. These are the raw elements of subservience to beauty, splendor and love- whose crosses I gladly bear and surrender myself to, every chance that I get.

The reason that little Lazarus wound up in the pool was probably because one of my dogs chased him in there. It certainly could not have been God’s choice to drown a baby, any more than God would ever choose to wipe out an entire culture with a tsunami, earthquake or volcano. Maybe it is simply our prerogative to reason through to solution or understanding, and thereby learn and grow.

As my little lizard resurrected herself upon my insistence, I knew that I am god. I am a very small part of the beautiful and incredible force that is life.

Moonlight Beach

Slipping away into a little catnap, I awoke an hour later to the most glorious bluish light flooding the sky, my balcony, the hills and my room. Why that light energizes me so, is a mystery to which I gladly submit, each time it beckons me.

Sliding out of bed I quickly made my way to the door where the cool air almost stung my slightly scorched skin. Today was spent with one of my favorite people, on Moonlight Beach. Hours passed so quickly as she listened to me talk, exult, cry, about everything that hovers and hurts, lingers longingly, or energizes and moves me. I am so fortunate to have a friend with such a caring heart, such depth and so smart. THANK YOU!

Standing in this cool moonlight I am reminded of so many wonderful gifts that I have held in my life- most of them now mere memories, but sensations which still arouse me. I moved out onto the balcony to see as much of the moon as I could, before it would sneak into hiding behind the roof. I was starting to shiver from the contrast of the cool on my hot skin, but it was easily ignored. Finally, it slipped away... I couldn’t see the moon anymore.. but its light still shone on me.

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Sweet dreams

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After a lively flight across a star-lit night
I settled quietly
a landing so light upon a ridge
My breath and heart were quickened
eyes and mind so clear
as I watched myself below

My painful death
a grave so tender
seeds strewn about
watered with wisdom's pain
germinated by hope
fed by the light

Up shot a glorious shoot
slicing through the ground
uninhibited growth
unfurling leaves
unabashed beauty
bold on the horizon

Peaceful slumber, sweetest dreams, this morning I woke beneath a magnificent tree

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