Grasping Infinity

The limits of this physical world are nothing compared to the limits we create with our thoughts. If we create our reality with thoughts, it seems to me that most of us humans create limits in all aspects of reality. I recently had the chance to talk to some 6th graders about mindfulness and lead them through some guided meditations. It was an exciting experience for me and so inspiring! Beforehand I asked what exposure these kids had to mindfulness or meditation, and was told to assume it was brand new for them. That gave me an idea of where to start, but I went to this talk open to support from my guides and trusting that I would have help knowing what would work best for this specific group of kids. I started off talking about how we spend a lot of time in our heads--thinking, thinking, and thinking about thinking. And I mentioned that we are electromagnetic beings and that if you measure the electromagnetic field (emf) of the brain and the emf of the heart, the heart is bigger. I asked the kids to guess how much bigger the heart emf is. Someone said two, someone else 100, someone else 500, and I just shook my head no with each guess. Then one kid in the back row laughingly guessed 5000 and I said bingo! They were all surprised, especially the kid who was correct. It was as though 5000 was so large, it was unimaginable.

Just before I was introduced I found out that most of these kids love their nonhuman animal friends. So after a few short guided meditations with breaks in between for the kids to share their experiences, I asked if they all had a dog or cat or horse or guinea pig. I think all but one kid had some nonhuman animal friend at home and the one who didn't knew one who just didn't live with her. I guided them through a heart to heart connection and we just sat with it. During our sharing, several kids expressed the same experience. One girl said it was not like it was human to dog or dog to human, it was all the same. One boy said that it was hard for him to describe. I mentioned that true knowing, knowing in, of, from the heart, is beyond words. Words are rather limiting and it can be very difficult to find words that express a rich and deep experience. After thinking on it a bit, he finally said that it was like the connection was being to being, but that it was more than that and they weren't really words for it. These kids had an experience of the infinity that is the All. While we all sat there in our heart to heart connections, these kids were in the infinite Spirit for a few moments.

In quantum physics there is talk of infinity. And infinity is a facet of much of existence if we let it be. In every second, there are infinite possibilities. In each breath there is infinite healing. I'm pretty sure I could go on and come up with infinite examples. For these kids grasping that the heart emf is 5000 times bigger than the brain emf was difficult. But, by experiencing the heart to heart connection with a nonhuman animal friend, they actually grasped infinity beyond what many adults can grasp. With our thoughts creating limits, our words strengthening those limits, and with years and years of this, many of us adults cut off all possibilities but one in any given moment. We often cannot even manage to allow two possibilities.

Whether you have a regular meditation practice or not, just being aware of the limits we create and opening to infinity can drastically change your every day life. Unfurling like a flower to the sun, when we open to the infinite in each breath, each step, each thought, each task of the day, we are closer to the All. And with a little practice we are not just closer, we slip into the All.

Welcome to a new world, a world of infinite possibilities.

Namaste

Riding the Wave

While I have never been surfing on a board, I have spent time (years ago, now) boogie boarding and body surfing. The key to all of those activities is balance. My morning walks are hilly and my views on those walks are waves of rolling hills and mountains. I don't recall Thomas Jefferson's exact quote, but I believe he mentions his views of an ocean of mountains. As far as I may be from the Atlantic Ocean, I have waves of mountains right here to remind me of balance. In the last couple of weeks the pace of things has picked up for me. There is a sense of surging forward. I have opportunities appearing where there were none, and I'm feeling excited in a new way about my day to day work. Just this morning while I was talking to a couple of friends, I realized that it feels like I'm riding a wave. And maintaining my balance is key of course. There is a sense of alignment that I've noticed with these opportunities and my response to them feels natural. I don't have to think, I just know. I'm so grateful for this. But, just as with any time of change or transition, there is much to be sifted through and kept track of. Maintaining my walking practice, keeping my elemental support structure strong, and opening to the light that is the Divine always within me are all ways that I stay aligned and thus in balance. Reminders appear for me, support from the other realms, in the form of birds on air or water, spiders delicately moving about their webs, trees bending in a strong wind.

There is no rush, no sense of urgency in the time space continuum, when living in the now. I am on the wave, whether it is a low wave or a storm and tide driven high wave. I am balancing on the water with the wind and sun or moon on my skin. I am supported in this physical body by the elements of this earthly plane. I am sister to the birds and I am flying as this body was meant to fly. When your wave appears, breathe, move into your balance and just be you. A spark of the Spirit flying, lighting up life.

Namaste

New Earth Energy Exercise

These fall morning walks are so different from summer walks. The sun rises later, so I walk later. The deer are busy browsing all the greens they can still find before the frost comes. The birds are on the move. The leaves are on the ground as well as on the trees. The colors are shifting from so many greens to more yellows, oranges, reds, browns. So far this year, the colors are dull and spreading very gradually. The temperatures have stayed mild and after a very dry September, October has had some good soaking rain. When I walk I feel my energy sinking deeper into the earth with each footstep. I feel a strong, clear connection. And I have been exploring this connection lately. I find myself opening up to the earth's energies and allowing them to rise up through me, clearing anything muddied or stuck. I can feel each chakra shining more clearly, each layer of energy body more in balance and all in all, I feel aligned. As I've explored this, I've opened up my 9th chakra, which is about an arm's length above the head, and allowed the circuit to close. I am plugged in to the earth energy which is an aspect of Spirit. At the same time I have the current of earth energy running through me from below my feet, I am connected above my head to Spirit and there is a sense of wholeness and release. Release of my ego, my self. I am so completely vibrating the light of the universe, that I am no more. I have found that maintaining this closed circuit while I'm walking is similar to any other practice I undertake on my walks. There are times when it is easy, there are times when it is more difficult. But, in the end, whether it has been easy or difficult, it has happened. And even just a moment of that closed circuit is amazing!

I work with the elements, so I am aware of their power. But, this exercise still wows me. The quantity of shift as well as the quality of that shift is beyond anything I've found so far. In the past few days, I've added another component and I'm watching the unfolding now. I often use each step I take as a way to manifest. Each step draws the energy into this physical world. I've combined that with the closed circuit power and there is a sense of great support. I will continue this new practice and enjoy the unfolding of all that is.

Please comment if you try this and have anything to share or if you have any questions.

Namaste

Autumn: journey into dark

The Autumnal Equinox occurred yesterday and it is now officially autumn here in the northern hemisphere. We are halfway between the longest day of light and the shortest day of light. And light being what we are, it is on my mind--a lot. The world as we know it these days is very much a world of dualities. But these dualities are just part of the illusion of separation from the divine. My walking meditation is firmly rooted in union. With each step I merge with the earth. With each breath I become air. The boundaries of skin and bone, body and mind vanish as I am no more. Becoming aware of this oneness, I lose myself. Or really, the I that I am becomes the All that I am. I am found--within the divine, of the divine. As the amount of light each day slides away, the darkness presses firmly in on both ends of the day. One of my favorite times is actually that window where the earth is just turning toward the sun or just turning away from the sun--sunrise and sunset. There's a lull of time with the dawn and the gloaming. It's light but not light, dark but not dark. It's a floating of light and dark. And for me these times are the reminders that if all is light, then dark is light, too. Dark is but an aspect of light, just as colors are aspects of light. While this may be simplifying things, it is the easiest way to bring it into awareness.

I normally walk in the early morning and on sunny days I notice all the shadows. Shadows of trees, birds flying overhead, my body. I love it when I walk the fence shadows like train tracks. And sometimes it's my shadow walking the fences. Stepping into the shadow world is not dark. It's just a shift of perspective, kind of like looking at film negatives. And I find on my walks when I join with the earth, the air, the colors, that occasionally I am in the dark. As I walk in this darkness, there is no I. And even in this darkness, there is still only light.

With months to go until the shortest day of light, many walks stretch out before me. There are many shadows to merge with, many colors to become. And I will journey into the dark, knowing there is only light.

Namaste

Finding the Light

Where has the summer gone? I've spent as much time as possible outside this summer and loved it. I hope you have, too! Summer is not officially over, but the drastic drop in minutes of daylight over August is certainly being felt here in Virginia. Several themes kept popping up for me over the summer and I thought to share them here. According to quantum physics everything is energy. And energy is information that moves. Experiencing the world from that perspective, I find that the key is more than just opening to the information that is everywhere around me. From the color of the tree in front of me or the t-shirt I'm wearing, to the feel of the air on my skin, I open to the information. While opening to the information is a good practice, I found fully receiving the information to be the true practice. So instead of just focusing on what my senses were able to discover from all the information that is everything, I found myself focusing on receiving that information from the center of my heart. This is a different experience altogether. It is an energetic reception and changes everything.

This has been a sparkly spider web summer, and spiders and their webs are dear to my heart. Spiders are traditionally seen as weavers of our fates and are muses for story telling and word creativity. I find the spider web to be just as important as the spider. Spider webs are not always noticed. If the light shines just right or the dew is heavy on the web, then they are hard to miss. But there are plenty of times we walk right through the webs, never having seen them until they are stretched across our faces, necks, arms. For me, spider webs are reminders that just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. I consider spider webs to be portals to other realms. They are just one type of portal, but they are extremely accessible portals. They are everywhere! And knowing there are so many portals to other realms, means there are always other beings close by when I need help or companionship or want to learn something. And being aware of these portals, means that I'm open to other beings who may need my help at some point, too.

Pain is perhaps the loudest way for our physical bodies to get a message across to our minds and/or hearts. Whether it is receiving the message that pain is bringing or receiving the message from another realm that the spider webs have opened for you, receive the information from the center of your heart and there is a rippling as you receive it energetically and shift as a result. And from this place in your heart you always shine the light that is you, the light that is the divine, the light that is all. Here in Virginia, as the daylight slims, the slant of light is sharper. With that slant, comes the long shadows and the colors at daybreak and nightfall that blur, shift, slide across the mountains and sky seemingly endlessly. And as the dark increases, finding the light can be more difficult. So, breathe into your connection to the earth, breathe open your heart to receive the information of this world, and shine the light that is ever present, the light that is all.

Namaste

Summer Solstice Blessing

On this day of long hours of light, I remember just who I am, and I share with you this blessing. I call on the blessings of the deer and the herons, the hawks and the foxes, the fireflies and the whip-poor-wills. I call on the spiders who weave the light, the turtles who carry the story, the whales who sing the song. I call on the wind, the water, the fire, the earth, the wood, the stone, the metal, the ether, the light, the star. I call on the power of the great circle. I call on the power of Light, the One we are, the All. May we find our home in knowing we are Light.

Poem for the Day

orange oriole flashing bybrings bright colors lovely tunes and summer weaving magic as he flies he radiates fresh new life and I send my worries off on the breeze he creates let them unravel from my weaving threads to be picked up by joy and rewoven into me the new summer me

Late May Light

The days are longer with mornings starting early and evenings stretching out. It's late May, so we're still a few weeks away from the longest day of the year in this hemisphere. I can feel the energy building all around me. From the nests full of fledglings to the spiders with webs filling up with meals. From the honeysuckle blooming to the leaves still unfurling on the sycamores. Light. We all need light. With the turning of the seasons and the rhythms of the cycles that go along with the seasons, there is always growth. Growth does not stop even with the waning of the light. And in this season, in these cycles, growth is in full swing. Yet, death is always present and is not in and of itself a darkness. It is an important piece of the weaving that is our energetic existence. It is the pause between one strand of the weaving and the next. It is the lull between the exhalation and the inhalation. It is an arc of the circle. Even in this season of growth, the cycles continue with life, death, and rebirth, small circles within the bigger ones.

In this season, I find that I have to remind myself to breathe and move at my own pace, not to get lost in the upswing of the light. Sometimes my pace is a fast dance and sometimes it's just breathing. Tuning into my own rhythms allows me to receive from the elements and the life flow that which is most beneficial for me. If I'm not grounded, centered, and moving at my own pace, opening to the support of the season will not be a smooth connection. It can actually be a jarring experience. Knowing my song, allows me to find those songs that harmonize with me, rather than those that make it even harder for me to sing my song. There are birds all around singing their songs, and they inspire me to find my own song each day. It is an everyday practice, finding my song. And my morning walks give me the space for that practice. I focus on the vibrations that surround me and ripple into me. And I reach deep inside for my song and I sing the day in as I walk toward the solstice.

The Feathered Ones

It’s been a low clouds, misty few days with the temperatures hovering in the low 60s. The cicadas are emerging and their chirrrring is building each day. With the rain we’ve had recently, the plant life is exploding with growth, so it’s green everywhere. And the birds are busy, busy, busy. I have two red-shouldered hawk’s nests that I’ve been watching. The chicks stand on the side of the nest now and their wing feathers look like wing feathers. No longer just downy balls of fluff, they are growing fast. Red-shouldered hawks are more vocal than some hawks, keee-keee-keeeing the day away sometimes. If they are nesting, they are vocal about anyone coming into their territory and spend a lot of time calling warnings. Yesterday the crows had been cawing off and on for hours in the woods and field at the house. And the red-shouldered hawks were keee-keee-keeeing even more than the crows were squawking. I stepped outside every once in a while to try to see what was happening, but most of the activity was in the woods with only occasional passes over the field. And when there was a pass over the field it was in a spot I couldn’t see from wherever I happened to be. Finally in the middle of the afternoon I saw a crow swoop over a tree in the middle of the field. And then swoop again. I scurried out the back door to tiptoe down the yard so I could actually see that tree. And there on a dead branch was the bald eagle. They are giant birds. If I’m standing as tall and straight as I can, I might hit 5’8” which means my arm span is about the same. A bald eagle’s body is anywhere from 28” to 37” long and their wingspan is typically 6’ to 7’. That is a REALLY big bird. With a white head and white tail, brown body and wings, and yellow beak and legs, they are stunning to see. Their eyes do not miss a thing. I stood still and just soaked in everything I could. From the sheer size, to the amazing balance. From the rich markings, to the power I could feel from 100’ away. I opened all my senses and greeted the bald eagle from my heart.

I do not have memories of a life as a bird. In my recurring flying dreams I am a human with the ability to fly by swimming through the air. But in this life, I have a close connection to all the feathered ones. And I know they have many messages and lessons for me. I do not always consciously know what the messages or lessons may be at the moment I am with the bird who is sharing with me, but I receive them all the same. I am changed just by being in the presence of the birds. Knowing they are always a support for me and guides I may call on, provides me with a base from which I can grow in all dimensions.

Bald eagles often bring messages of creativity and spiritual growth, as well as awakening the knowledge of traveling between the realms, among many other messages. I have found over the years that birds have been appearing for me, that trying to figure out the exact message or lesson that each bird brings is not the important part. Just opening to the true essence of each bird’s being is what’s important. Perspective is one of the life lessons birds have taught me. A tiny shift can make a big difference in what you get out of an experience. Whether it is a shift of physical direction or mental direction, a shift of focus from near to far, a shift from seeing to listening, there is always more.

This morning, there was again a great ruckus outside. I went out to investigate and there in a locust tree was the red-shouldered hawk fussing at the bald eagle in the adjacent locust tree. Bald eagle magic again today! I feel such a surge of joy when a feathered friend greets me. Keep an eye out and see what feathered ones bring you messages today. Smile, greet them and open to their wisdom.

Water, Water Everywhere

The last few days have been very wet where I reside here on this planet. Over 3 inches of rain have fallen, with most of that falling in a 48 hour span. It was already a green spring and now the lushness has exploded. I love to put on my Wellies and raincoat and go walking in the rain with Dixie. I've gotten to do that in the last few days, careful to avoid walking in the thunderstorms. Sometimes the clouds are high and sometimes they are dark and low. Sometimes the rain is a fine mist and sometimes it falls in great sheets. I feel like I'm swimming when I am slopping through puddles, breathing such moist air, and have water running down my body. In my intuitive energy practice I frequently use the elements with all their healing properties. When I work with water, I am often using its cleansing and cooling aspects. I find that many people grasp these aspects of water easily, enjoy using water this way and tuck this into their tool belts for later use on their own. For others, the concept of using water this way is harder to grasp. I often suggest that they practice while actually in water, whether a shower, bath or a swim somewhere. But for the strongest connection to water, go straight out to water in its natural setting. A creek, pond, waterfall, ocean, or a rain shower. We don't all have access to bodies of water, but most of us have access to rain showers somewhere along the way. Just stand in the rain, turn your face to the sky and bring your awareness to where the water is touching you, your forehead, lips, shoulders, feet. Notice what the water feels like on your body. Notice where the water runs across your skin. Notice what it smells like, what it tastes like. Notice all the sounds of a rain shower. Notice the movement of water and how it is never completely still. Notice the clarity, even with a sheet of rain falling in front of you, you can still see through it. I use water to cleanse and cool when there are physical, emotional, mental, and energetic imbalances. And while rainy days can seem dreary, that is just one way of looking at them. With a gentle turn of the mind, a rainy day becomes a gift. A rainy day is a day of cleansing. Just as the pollen and dirt are washed away in the physical world, so is the stuff I've picked up that's not mine, stuff that's not beneficial to me. I open to the gifts of water and I am refreshed. I am new.

Noticing You Are Lost, Finding Home

As an element-based person, I do not remember a time without some form of element connection. I did a lot of dancing when I was little. Dancing which was made a little easier for me because of that element connection. But with the inter-connectedness of all, dancing also allowed my spatial awareness to blossom and root itself in me and in the elements. I am also quite a bit of a home body. I do love to travel, but I will always return home. I think of myself as a tree, one who can take walks. Earth and wood are two of my main elements which means as a rooted tree I am both, and still I maintain connections to water, air, light, fire, stone, metal, ether and star. My roots allow me to stay grounded when I am away from home; my roots are my very feet. When I am home, my roots stretch deep into the earth for all the nutrients and support they need. And when I am home, my view is a bird's eye view from the top of my strongly supported tree. With my spatial awareness centering is very much a 360° experience. As a walking tree, I am usually able to maintain my center after all these years of practice. But there are times and places when maintaining my tree form and my center and my grounding all disintegrates. Sometimes/places, it is a seeping sense of loss. Others, it is a sense of floating in some foreign substance. Others still, it is as if I am wrapped in a gauze and cannot move comfortably nor see clearly. I have learned only some of the markers for this disintegration. I will learn many more as I continue on the journey. But at this point as I continue to walk each step, breathe each breath in the now, I open my awareness to all that is. In this opening to all that is, I am opening to all the lessons, whether it is how to maintain my center and grounding or if it is how to notice when I am off-center and uprooted.

I first must notice I am lost, before I can find my way home. With the breath, I notice there is something strange muting my hearing. With the breath, I notice there is a blurring of my sight. With the step, I notice my leg doesn't move smoothly. With the step, I notice an emptiness below me. And once I am aware that I have lost my tree form, lost my center, lost my grounding, I breathe into the tree that I am. I step into the earth that I am. I breathe into my heart space. I breathe into the center that is all. I have found my way home.

Listen

Open the senses and you open to the All. I practice opening my senses at different times, but perhaps most often, I practice this while I'm on my walks. Today I opened my hearing. While that means I heard Dixie's four feet on the ground in a rhythm with my two feet, I also heard the Meadowlark's whistles through my skin. I heard cars in the distance and new leaves rustling. I heard the crow fly overhead, wings shuush-shuushing the air, and I heard it through the top of my head. I heard the heartbeat of spring through my feet with each step. Sound is vibration. Vibration is not heard only through the ears. It is sensed with all of the physical body. Listening with my entire being draws me into my physical body. Being drawn into my physical body grounds me more which in turn opens me even further. A lovely little cycle. Opening to vibrations, I allow them to ripple through me, I am one. I am still aware of my physical body. I am still walking. I am still listening. Yet, I am no longer separate from the sounds. I become the vibrations. The vibrations of breath, life, light. Open to this space of listening and I am All. What will you hear today?

Osprey Magic

They perch on branches at the edge of trees, trees that are just now starting to green up and fill out. From a distance they are dark slashes on dark branches that catch the scanning eye. A sharper look brings the white head to attention. For hours they will sit on a branch. Then with a quick wingbeat or a gentle wingpush they are wing on air. They move from a space of being one with the tree to being one with the air in an instant. They soar on big winds, they coast on small winds. They hover above the water, keen eyes zeroing in on a fish. They drop with great speed to dive into the water to catch that fish. While only in the water for a short period of time, they are one with the water for that time. Crossing the boundaries of the elements is just some of the magic of the Ospreys. When fishing, they look closely, make a decision to move and then move. And when they move, they move with efficiency, speed and grace. Where I am here on Earth in Virginia, there are Ospreys who are year round residents and there are Ospreys who stop by on their migration. Last spring, there was a day when there were seven Ospreys on the one pond up the road. So far this spring, four is the most I've seen in one day. Most days this week there has been at least one, often two. With their white underbody and sharp M-shaped wings, they are easily recognizable when they are on wing. Their masked face is more noticeable when they are near. I find them to be the wise wizards of the big birds. I call on them when I need clarity in decision making. I call on them when I need help shifting quickly from one thing to the next. When I'm just in a hurry and have lots to do or when I'm moving from being friend to intuitive energy healer. When I'm traveling and crossing time zones or when I'm healing old patterns that no longer have any place in me. They appear when called upon with all their magic, willing to share.

When next you are stuck, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or energetically, call on the Ospreys. Breathe in their essence, feel your connection to them, and soak up their magic. And keep an eye out, they just may appear to you soon.

New Client Special Rates!

Do you have a new dog or cat in the house?Do you have an older dog or cat who has slowed down and the rest of the household is having trouble adjusting? Do you have new work-related stress or is there anyone ill/injured in the house? Has the dynamic with your 4-leggeds shifted with the addition of a new human companion? Schedule a session with me today! We'll check out the household situation from an energetic perspective. We'll open to any information that may help ease into a new balance. We'll create space for patterns to shift. We'll strengthen and bring your awareness to the energetic connection between all the creatures in the family. Special Rates: 30 minute session: $20 60 minute session: $35 Sessions are by phone. Please email me elizabethbain11 [at] gmail [dot] com or call 434-249-9786. Let's find a new balance!

Poem 4/5/13

When I walk the fields, I walk through time.When I walk the paths, I walk the realms. When I walk the earth, I walk life.

I see colors and shapes via my eyes and I have learned to see colors and shapes via my tongue. I have crossed the boundaries of the senses, hearing becomes touch, smell becomes sight. I reach out and touch the webs of life and find that I am spider, I am petal, I am fire.

Breath fills me, vessel that I am, to overflowing light. I vibrate at new levels and lose myself in the flow of grace.

Yet still I walk.

Elements within Us

I do not just work with other people and their nonhuman animal friends. I spend plenty of time working with my own energies. While it is certainly wonderful practice, it is also a necessity for me and my own spiritual growth. Whether I am opening to new experiences of the divine or focusing on something specific, there is always plenty to learn. One of my favorite ways of finding a balance especially when the physical body is the focus, is to use the elements. As I have written here before, we are each made up of a unique blend of the elements. Knowing the gifts each element provides, allows endless healing possibilities. For me healing is about acknowledging and accepting wholeness in the now. I try not to come from the dualistic perspective of find a problem and fix it. I find that is a limiting way of seeing things. Instead, I work with awareness of the now and move toward shifting patterns, even in tiny ways, to allow a balance that is more in line with the true me or really the divine. For a simple example, if I have a muscle that is sore from overexertion, I call on water and wind to clear, cleanse and cool the area. Then, I call on earth, wood and stone to rebuild anything that needs rebuilding. Using these elements I am allowing that of which I am made to rebalance. Having worked with the elements for some time now, I can feel the elements shifting on a cellular, sometimes even smaller than that, level. Each element has a different feel to it, different weight, brightness, speed. I am more than my physical body. I have more resources than just those provided by my physical body and my brain. The divine is within me. I am of the divine. Asking for guidance and assistance is more than just asking. It is also opening and receiving. And both the opening and the receiving are never-ending. Remembering that we are co-creators, awareness of the now is an important step in this entire process. By using the elements for help in healing, I am opening to resources beyond the physical. I am reaching out to the web of elements and drawing strands of that web over to the web of the physical. I am making a stronger web. In the interconnectedness of all that is, I sense these amazing webs of light. I find that weaving and reweaving these webs provides stronger support, thus providing a different sense of balance.

Spring Snow or Moving from Patience to Acceptance

When I was little, my parents often called me RightNowBain, a good indication that I was impatient. Years later I am bigger and a bit less impatient, but it certainly hasn't been easy. There are times when the universe keeps throwing things in my face because I keep missing them. My impatience is one of those things thrown in my face over and over again. By no means am I perfect, I've just actually managed to learned some of the lessons I've been given and patience is something of which I now have a better grasp. The more I have focused on living in the moment, the more I have realized that time is a figment of the imagination. All is one and all happens at once. For me, this means I have leapt into the flow of grace that is the divine. I trust that opening to the gifts of the divine that make me me, will allow me a role as co-creator, with love as the common denominator, to flourish in this amazing experience of being a human on Earth. Knowing that I am of the divine, allows me to let go of worries and just be. As co-creator of my existence I have power to choose. And I understand that there are choices my soul made before entering this human experience that I have yet to remember if I ever will.

Let's take a little foray into the world of etymology, shall we? (Please excuse mistakes, this is really just my attempt at some etymology.) A brief look at the root of the word patience takes us to the Latin pati which means to suffer or to endure. Suffering is not my focus. Instead I choose to focus on acceptance. Acceptance comes from the Latin acceptare which means to receive or to take. Receiving or taking shifts the vibration to one with which I prefer to resonate. I choose to take or receive that which is. I choose to turn toward the power of choice. I choose to turn toward all is one. I choose to turn toward the divine.

At the moment here on this part of Earth, it is officially spring. Often that means that we have sunshine, warmer temperatures, wind. And if there is precipitation it tends to be in the form of rain due to those warmer temperatures. This year we have sunshine and wind, but so far the temperatures are not that warm and the precipitation has been some of the frozen types. The weather is something I love to talk about and observe. I am aware I have no immediate control over it. It just is. Long ago I chose to turn away from enduring the weather and turn toward receiving it. I enjoy each day as it is and I continue to be fascinated by the intricacies of the weather. I open to the gifts of the weather each day, a close communing with the elements. I choose to vibrate with acceptance.

Fire of Spring

Lately the element of fire has been popping up everywhere for me, from neighbors burning brush to quotes about fire on facebook. Fire is the element of heat and passion. It can be slow or fast. It can rise tall or be embers. The typical colors associated with fire are orange, red and yellow, but all the colors can be seen in fire. There is a strength in fire that we can draw upon, an excitement and an illumination. At the moment, I see myself here in spring as a tree with my sap rising, but my sap is the element fire. It is burning away any and everything that is not mine, that is no longer beneficial to me. It is igniting a new sense of wonder, a new me here in this new life as I experience the excitement of being human. I can ride the flames of fire in the physical and beyond. Star, made of fire and light, is one of my major elements. I reach into my star essence and feel the burn of fire. I feel the burn of passion for life, joy, love. So this season of spring is a metaphorical season for me as well, as I spring forth into each moment with fire feeding my existence. New, new and new again with each breath, each blink, each pulse of fire in my veins.

The Gifts of the Vulture

Here on this part of Earth it's almost spring and there are lots of animals on the move whether they are in mating season or already nesting or feeding young. And in this part of the world, there are many humans. In this day and age, humans around means roads and cars. All of this adds up to opossums, raccoons, squirrels, birds of many varieties, foxes, even deer who end up hit by cars, their bodies left on or by the side of the road. Where there are dead bodies, there are vultures, the carrion eaters of the world. Here we have turkey vultures and black vultures. Both are magnificent creatures with giant wingspans and featherless heads. They walk about rather well for birds of such size and have a call that is like a raspy dog bark. When Dixie, my dog pal, and I are walking and come upon some vultures by their meal, there is always a fascinating interplay of ancient history. Vultures are old birds in the greater scheme of things. Dixie, canine descended from wolves, starts reading the air by nose. And her eyes are focused on any movement. Vultures tend to walk-hop a short distance away as we are heading toward them, then once we're closer they may use their wings to move a little farther away or actually fly off. And somewhere in this dance, the vultures often make this bark sound. I will never forget the first time Dixie was close to a vulture and the vulture barked. Here is a creature dog sized even if not particularly dog shaped making a dog sound. Dixie paused and tilted her head and just soaked in information. Even years later, they are still just as interesting when they bark. It's as though they are speaking a language that sounds just like dog, but somehow isn't. It makes me wonder if they could understand each other with just a slight tilt of reality as we know it. I believe it's Claude Swanson who theorizes that our reality is like a tissue thin piece of paper in a giant stack of tissue thin pieces of paper of other realities. All these realities are very close and perhaps even easily accessible. For all I know, Dixie is accessing another reality with that head tilt of her's. While vultures are commonly thought of as symbols of death, they are really much stronger symbols of cycles and rebirth. They do not kill their food, they eat what has already been killed so they are not even that close to the act of death. They are recyclers. They take the dead and transform it into energy to sustain their own lives. We humans could learn a lot from them. From their ability to soar for long periods of time on whatever winds appear, to their ability to maintain their place in the cosmos via a spiraling of cycles of rebirth. Watching a vulture take off from the ground with powerful wing flaps shoving the air out of the way for lift off is amazing. Watching them tearing into their meal with sharp beaks while balancing their large bodies on their two feet is amazing. And watching them soaring and soaring and soaring, I can watch them for hours. They teach me the wisdom of creation when I see them eat. They teach me grace when I see them lift off the earth. They teach me to soar on the winds that are available to me now. And they take me to distant realms in the beats of their wings. For I believe there are peeks into other dimensions in the wingbeats of birds. So when I see vultures on wing, standing tall in old snags, or hunkered down by a meal, I greet them and thank them for their gifts.