Tides shift patterns... and waves withdraw or advance...slowly, steadily...dependably...sands and sealife are revealed with the shifting tidal flow...small shells, seagrass, shark's teeth, colorful pebbles now line the beach where the tide has made her mark...driftwood and kelp punctuate the shore... the crowds in blue, white, red and silver cars arrive and gather along the parking lot to follow a golden-red and purple sunset as closer to the shore gulls squeal and drop captive shells on rocks then return to tidepools time and again for dinner.

 

...stroll along the beach...take the time to hear the sea's graceful roar..feel the wet cold sand between your toes...wrap a scarf around your neck...sense the salt spray on your face...give thanks for your presence here...sea the change...insight and imagination are within you.

"The times they are achangin"...and they always are changing...shifting...Movement and vibration are the true nature of life.

 

Study sound, which lives deep beneath each life, both plant and animal...sound flows from  rock and crystal...it echoes in wind and water..and whispers through stars and light itself...sounds deep and subtle dance within each and different every moment of the day.

 

We are divers into life as we listen deeply and encounter and allow life and its many expressions to open our awareness and inform us of its beauty, as well as its truth and participation with us in the changing energy of life.

 

Every part of us participates in vibration and produces sound...meditation and awareness allow one to open and  journey to our deepest consciousness of the fullness of the expressions of life...can you experience your own sounding and seasonal shiftings?

 

Can you hear the sounds of your own soul..of your own mind...and your own physical form? "The times they are achangin..."

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

How about keeping a journal or a daily list of the things you are doing right? List the actions, words, thoughts and accomplishments you feel have actually been done in good form. Be generous with yourself. If you smiled at a stranger you've done something right. If you yielded to another car in traffic you did something good. If you picked up a piece of trash and threw it in a can you improved the world. Notice what you contribute to make life a little easier for people, animals, or plants. Don't underestimate your ability to make a difference right where you are. Give yourself a break...and some credit for who you are and what you have done. Seriously! Practice some good appreciation of yourself and your contributions to life.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Medical research is increasingly revealing that the foundation for good health and nutrition are to be found in a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, which contain enzymes and vitamins in abundance. The American Cancer Society,in fact,  recommends a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as a solid basis for the prevention of many conditions. Getting sufficient quantities and qualities of these good foods can be a challenge, so many look into supplements to support their diets, but whole foods are the best sources of good nutrition, so try to find a nutritionally based food source rather than individual supplements. The wealth of riches have been given to us in the variety and abundance of plant foods available on planet Earth. For more information on the research available about their value and importance to our own good health, take a look at: www.juiceplus.com/+lp51366 and give yourself the gift of health and wellness.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Knowing your personal boundaries is critical when you hear about and perhaps are working with the situations of others.  You may sometimes truly be tempted to move beyond your boundaries and "rescue" another out of a genuine concern for their well-being, but, in fact, no one can rescue someone else. You surely do know that at some level, though you may not have practiced its implications in actuality. You can of course provide good counsel and listen well enough to really hear what is going on with a friend or colleague, but the strength of the person in the situation itself must be developed independent of your own efforts or engagement for real, meaningful change and improvement to occur.  "Hands off" may be the best approach in many situations, though that doesn't mean youmust have a "cold heart." In fact, letting a friend or colleague develop and experience their own resources is really often more difficult than lenging a "helping hand." Encouragement of another is the most important gift we can often give. Hold them up in thought, word and,  deed, but be conscious to watch the boundaries of your work and care.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Do you remember when you were a child and you were always moving around...jumping, running, playing. Your Mother or Father more than once may have said to you, "Sit still!"

 

As adults we too often rather unconsciously race from one thing to another. We fill our agenda books with "to do" items. We complain we don't have enough time. What is it we don't have enough time for? Have you ever sat still long enough to ask yourself that? What would sitting still do for you today?

 

Sitting still may look like nothing is happening, but in fact, something truly important is happening that cannot take place when you are busy racing about doing things. You become more conscious of your life and of the life all around you when you take the time to sit still. You genuinely return to your senses (in both senses) when you sit still. Make the discovery for yourself. No matter for how long, take some time today to just sit still.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

If you were invited back to a time when you were happier than you could ever imagine, how would that feel?

 

The energy of that moment lives within you as a spiritual, but also as a physical reality. Really. All the joy and satisfaction that you felt in that one exhiliarating moment in your memory is still there, wondering if you will ever touch into it again.

 

Our memories are like photo albums we can open and revisit just by moving our thoughts and our awareness to them. Why not revisit one wonderful moment you have stored in your cellular and soul's memory. Invite and touch into the sensation of joy in this moment and let it be an important part of your day. Celebrate it again, and appreciate the fact that the best that ever was can reappear and  be better than ever. Its a matter of awareness.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Do you second guess your first thought or feeling? If so, you are undermining your own best truth by questioning it and analyzing it away with your analytic thought. Notice what your first thought is and then notice what you are doing when you begin to take issue with, and second-guess its truth for you. Often we come back to that first thought after having discarded it and "gone" with our more analytic and critically-based evaluations. Sometimes its too late,by that time, to take a different path, but we can,in the process,  learn from the experience that the first thought is often worth paying more and better attention to. First thought is often the freshest, most vibrant truth for you.

Insight and imagination are within you.

How well do you listen? Many consider themselves good listeners, but when asked to repeat a conversation or comment another has made, the challenge of really hearing what another has said becomes clear.

 

Remember the old game of "telephone?" It seems quaint to look back on childhood games where one person whispered a secret comment to another's ear and as it passed along the circle of players it became more distorted and corrupted. When the final player repeated the original comment it was amazing how changed and different it was. The game demonstrated how, even with direct and "one on one" communication, errors and misunderstandings can easily be introduced.

 

Listening is a gift you can give to others as well as yourself. A good friend used to say he noticed that so many people enjoy talking a great deal, but don't listen very much.  Our wise friend enjoyed listening much more. He felt he could learn a great deal more by listening rather  than by talking. He listened, we noticed, to the words not spoken, to the speaker's body language and expressions as well as the words that were spoken. He is gone now, but we still listen to and hear his own insightful words.

 

Listen care-fully.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

All of life and energy is vibration. Colors vibrate at different frequencies. Black is the absense of color; white is the full spectrum. What you wear and surround yourself with influences you and others. Even what appears to not vibrate...a stone...a crystal...a pencil...a pad of paper...a flower...everything is in vibration or movement, though we cannot see the movement. Our human senses of sight and sound are limited, and do not show or reveal to us the deeper activity of life which is taking place within and before us.

 

We heard a recording of crickets at a workshop recently. The sound of a summer evening was familiar and peaceful, but beneath the recording at "normal" speed was a slowed down version of the same cricket song. At this reduced speed the sound was similar if not identical to that of glorious angelic choirs singing in graceful beauty and praise. How amazing and wonderful to hear and more fully appreciate the rather glorious sound such small beings make in harmony with one another. The comparison of the "normal" and "slowed down" versions of this recording remind us of how much we may be missing of the beauty of life...how limited our awareness and perception really are.

 

Vibration. Everything is in vibration. Expand your awareness.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

One door closes, and another opens, it is said. Its a challenge,though, to believe that when  something which has come to mean a great deal to us begins to disappear. At these challenging times we so often experience fear, disappointment, and sometimes anxiety as something or someone who has been so much a part of our life, our past, and our meaning, appears to leave. No wonder we experience fear of abandonment at these times.

 

How do we "go on" in spite of the seeming loss and the emptiness that no doubt enters our mind, our feelings, and our heart at these door closing times?  How do we trust that something or someone will really come to "fill the void" left by the loss of the long-held job, the solid "forever" friendship, or the seemingly constant presence of a faithful, loving pet?

 

The next door so promised -- the opening door-- may not be in sight or even imaginable during the heartbreaking time of loss.  In truth,there is often a period of time during which we surely seem to be stumbling in the dark, perhaps looking for a lightswitch to illuminate the space in which we move. We may not truly feel like moving at all during this time, even toward a lightswitch . But it is not in the nature of life itself to hold still, to stay in the dark, or to isolate forever. We can know and trust and abide in that.

 

Sooner or later, a ray of light breaks in, regardless of how we feel. Sooner or later, we are found out or sought out by life itself. Some new possibility arises and breaks through as sunlight on a wooden floor. Looking up we may see a door opening. It only takes the willingness to open your eyes and see the light entering perhaps in quiet, glistening, soft patterns across the floor, across your broken spirit, and then in that moment, you, like a plant, have the possibility of  turning toward the light and heading in the direction of it. The door will open...you see it with your heart. We lead with our hearts. Sooner or later, light finds us and draws us toward it. The possibility is there. Just lift your eyes to see it. 

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Christian Science philosophy was first written about and  practiced by Mary Baker Eddy in her writings as well as  the various publications she established, including the internationally recognized, Christian Science Moniter.  Eddy's book on Science and Health conveys her belief that human lives are intimately connected to "divine mind."   We are as intimately connected to "god", Mary Baker Eddy believes, as rays of light are connected to the sun, or as close as drops of water are connected to the ocean.

 

How close this must be. Allow yourself to experience this close connection in feeling as well as in thought. Bring yourself into the awareness. The practice of this spiritual "science" is a daily invitation and opportunity to grow and develop a deeper appreciation for all of life.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

 

 

The mind is a busy place. Its always moving/jumping around from one thought, fear or notion to another. We could never keep up with it, were we to watch it on a screen. Somehow we process and produce regardless of all of this activity. Buddhists call this busy mind, "monkey mind" for all the leaping and swinging from one subject to another that it does. Given the activity going on in the mind, it really is a miracle to actually and in fact discover "peace of mind."

 

Watching the activity of the mind as it jumps and swings from one notion to another is the beginning. We become more familiar with our mind's activity as well as its preferences and involvments by just watching/observing its process. There is really no need to control or try to contain the activity of the mind. We can just observe the mind and let it be where it wants to go, like a small child experiencing an open field of flowers for the first time.

 

The mind runs from one flower to another, or, unfortunately, from one pile of dog poop to another. The mind is a mine field for blessings and happiness or for frustration and agitation, based on habits of attention we have established and built up for years. Experience has been our teacher,and as a result of our experiences we focus on and choose where the mind will go as it sorts, sifts, and reviews everything in the field of consciousness.

 

Watching the mind, and letting it wander or race long without judging or interferring with its activity brings out our observer, like a gentle watchful parent, just to see where this child-mind is racing along to. As we cultivate the observer we learn patience and tolerance for ourselves, and we free ourselves from reacting to the mind's observations and concerns. We learn, in the process, to create some breathing space for our busy mind. We learn to take care of ourselves and develop some appreciation and perhaps even humor about what is going on in our mind. We journey, in the process, toward "peace of mind," and a more mature understanding of our basic nature, which is within us rather than in external events which capture our attention by their developments, busy-ness and activity.

 

So slow down...take a deep breath...relax your shoulders...allow the observer to come forth and gently watch and consider what is going on.  Breathe!

 

Insight and imagination are within you. 

A friend has a saying by which she lives. She says that when considering options which are complex and confusing--when she has doubts about which course of action to take-- she does the laundry.

 

Changing your focus from wrestling with the pros and cons of a position to doing something practical can provide the space in which to get back in touch with your feelings and away from your anxious thoughts.

 

Physical tasks and actions can give us perspective on our situation and a more practical sense of our own limitations and abilities may come into play. We release the busy-ness of our minds and allow ourselves a break from our self-created tension.

 

Jack Kornfield has written a book, AFTER THE ECSTASY, THE LAUNDRY. We get back to the basics, the sense of our own limitation and humanity even after moments of ecstasy in order to regain a sense of ourselves and of life which is more balanced and authentic.

 

 

We know ourselves in the daily tasks which seem so routine and so small, but they may be large in providing awareness and answers we can discover through no other means. The small seemingly insignificant tasks may provide us with the largest opportunity for reconnecting with ourselves in thoughtful, caring ways as we simply fold sheets, towels, slacks and shirts. Fresh clothing fills our basket and we walk back upstairs.

 

When in doubt, do the laundry.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

 

 

Buddhist thought and scripture invite us to "take refuge" in the Buddha and the teachings of the Buddha, the Dharma. In silence and stillness or meditation we come to the present moment and open to its depths. In following the movement of our breath we return to a more natural encounter with ourselves and with life in its fullness.

 

We are a culture and society which turns outward for solutions. The materialism we live with tempts us to believe problems or desires can be solved by acquiring more objects. We become addicted to shopping as well as to food and pharmaceuticals. We believe we must have something we are lacking. We are addicted to doing. Being is difficult.

 

Our sense of lack progresses because we do not stop to take good care of it within ourselves. When we recognize that we are grasping at externals we may develop some compassion for ourselves and become more capable of nurturing ourselves from within rather than from externals. We "take refuge" in the teachings of the Buddha, which guide us in this process. We breathe and stop grasping, merely to acknowledge that we are grasping. We allow ourselves to accept and encounter and to take care of that grasping which can never be satisfied from outside. The "constant craving" which leads one to believe that "I can't get no satisfaction" can be witnessed and perhaps embraced as well as nurtured, comforted, and perhaps released. Acceptance comes in a moment of quiet, peaceful breathing.

There's nothing to do. We can be more. We can do less.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Vibration. All of life vibrates.

 

Listen to the vibration of sound waves emanating from a bell and hear the resonance of tone moving into depths of being you may otherwise not experience.

 

Like a pebble tossed into a pool of water, vibration spreads outward and inward. Tune into the inward sound and experience as you acknowledge the outward experience and sound. Bring the two, the inward and the outward experience into dialogue and contact with one another. You are a part of the vibration between the inward and the outward experience of life and acknowledging and respecting or honoring both worlds is part of your life experience.

 

Listen to your own voice.

 

Your own voice has a vibration and resonance with the power and ability to bring you to a deeper understanding of who you are and what you have brought to life.

 

Listen through drumming,

through movement,

through chanting,

through singing,

through drawing...

listen to yourself...

listen...

to your soul.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

The illusions of time and space confine and define our perception of reality, though by themselves time and space are not "real". They are not given structures. They are concepts by which we actually structure realtity. We subscribe to the belief in time and space because we come into being as seemingly physical beings defined by our physiological characteristics. We are here for "a limited time only" due to our physical limitations and restrictions in time and space.

 

The illusion of the physical cannot define us ultimately unless we allow it to do so. We are more than we think we are and our spirit knows more than our mind knows about who we are, where we have come from and what our possibilities are. We are not limitations, though we live with the conditions of limitation in order to learn and grow beyond them. We know beyond what is to what may be in the world of our imagination and insight. We look beyond the boundaries through which we pass in order to move those boundaries beyond the realm of reality into the realm of our essence; that is, spirit. Insight and imagination pour forth from opening to spirit and possibility. You are more than you think you are. You are more than time and space say you are. You are unlimited possibility. You are freedom and the definition of life in the spirit of it. Insight and imagination are within you.

The Northern Lights, those beautiful spashy colors seen in the night sky this time of year are visible again in places far to the North. Bright and warm with a mysterious presence which envelopes the landscape, they seem to speak of something new and possible, and they cast their glow upon the horizon. Those who have seen the Northern Lights know something new can always surprise and delight those who watch the shifting parade of natural phenomena.

 

Light itself contains the presence of joy, and this joy is expressed in magnificent color and the weavings of darkness into a multitude of varieties of textures and fabrications. En-lightenment is awareness of the varieties and the presence of joy each quality and shade of light contains and awakens us to.

 

Sunlight, starlight,moonlight, northern lights, winter light all beckon us to lift our eyes and experience the beauty, the silence and the dance of joy through our skies and, if we become aware of it, through our days and our lives.

 

Insight and imagination are within you.

Time and Space are concepts we believe in. In fact, we have created these and they are truly concepts we treat as facts. But time in itself knows no beginning or ending and space has no known boundaries. The creative source knows no limitations of time or of space, and it far exceeds the confines and possibilities we recognize and take so much for granted. Beyond time and space is endless possibility. We live in time and space but also in endless possibility because we are part of the creative source from which we come and in which we dwell. Do you doubt this? You limit yourself by doubt and therein confine yourself to time and to space...your own restrictions.

 

Time and space are to be used to express and explore your possibilities and the very moment you have in the present...the "now"...is your canvas. Regardless of how many limitations and restrictions you may believe you are dealing with, you have this moment...this "now" in which you can use your creative source....your imagination...your insight...to create whatever you might like to have in your awareness...in your life...time and space and the gift of "now"..tap into your truer self and its possibilities...release the boundaries and restrictions you have placed upon yourself...Open your creativity. Insight and imagination are within you.

Rudof Steiner's thought and writings as well as his teachings founded and established anthroposophy as an important area of spiritual knowledge and understanding. From Steiner's writings come Biodynamic Farming and Gardening, Rhythmical Massage, Waldorf Schools, as well as many studies in the areas of artistic drawing and movement, such as Eurythmy. Steiner's many works have great implications for how one views the world and all of life and schools devoted to his insights and understandings are prolific. Steiner believed and felt that spirituality was and is not "other-worldly" but present in the tangible, physical world in which we live. To believe that the divine could not be present in the physical world was not possible, Steiner held, and so respect for the physical world and recognition that the divine is at work and present in it is essential to our spiritual practice and development. How could it be otherwise?

 

Insight and imagination are truly within you.