XOXO

Sandy

When you can’t stand the endless cycle of suffering anymore, you begin to Awaken.

~ Eckhart Tolle

As Eckhart Tolle says, when you have had enough you being to Awaken. How long do we have to wait though until that time comes? Wouldn’t it be great if we could be aware enough to spot the source of suffering when it happens, notice it, address it, and move on from it? You can, you absolutely can. When we begin to Awaken we become more in tune with the essence of what is going on in us and around us. We notice our behavior, our motives and desires, our longings… and our sufferings. When we “notice” we then have the power to take action, make change, turn the course and move from suffering to living.

XOOXOX
Sandy

I think of you often. Especially in the evenings, when I am on the balcony and it’s too dark to write or to do anything but wait for the stars. A time I love. One feels half disembodied, sitting like a shadow at the door of one’s being while the dark tide rises. Then comes the moon, marvelously serene, and small starts, very merry for some reason of their own. It is so easy to forget, in a worldly life, to attend to these miracles.

~ Katherine Mansfield, poet

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

“I constantly catch my mind planning out my future. I might be thinking about where to have dinner (the very near future), dreaming of my next home (the few years away future), deciding on my next travel adventure (the hopefully this year future), or what type of shoes I want to buy next (the sometime this month future).

In my mind, I am living in the future. Creating my next steps along the way. My brain just constantly planning, scheming, dreaming and thinking about what lies ahead.” ~ Of Undisputed Origin

This blog post stopped me in my tracks. So true that we are always working up something for the future. I think it takes a lot of practice to stay in and relish in the present moment. I continue to work on being aware, and to skillfully learn to use my presence to keep me focused on what is before me.

I have learned more of this practice since having my first granddaughter. She has overwhelmed me with the beauty of presence, the innocence of life and the brilliance of discovering each little burst of growth. And I have noticed it by simply being aware. I think we grow more and more aware when we allow ourselves to BE love. Maybe as we learn more about love we are moved to awareness on a different level… perhaps as we grow in age and wisdom we embrace the simplicity of being in the now.  Whatever the answers, don’t miss out on what is happening right now in you and without you – as Thoreau said, “… find your eternity in each moment“.

XOXOXO

Featured image: Roma (2018 film) by Alfonso Cuarón

“Fortune cookie wisdom” is that Yoda-like knowledge that lovingly pops up around us right when we need it… if you are paying attention. It’s that good ole common sense that feels right, it’s the simple answer to a chaotic situation, it is the kind thought translated into effective action. And yes, it can come to you even inside the common fortune cookie.

Today I opened a fortune cookie after eating Chinese food and it read: You are the mast in everything. At first I thought it was a typo. Perhaps it should have said “master”, meaning that I was the master in every situation. Maybe. Then I thought, hmmm, it could mean exactly that – “mast”. After all, a ship can’t sail without one!  {A mast is a pole that rises vertically from a ship and supports the sails. It has a very important job – to support the sails, which allows the wind to propel the ship.}

The idea of me, you, us, being the mast of our lives carries some weight, doesn’t it? To realize that there is no one coming to bail you out. You are the one that charts your path and navigates your course. Heavy, but freeing, right? 

I am the mast in every situation.

This tidbit of wisdom discovered over lunch reminded me to stand tall and strong, to be brave and fearless. To be aware, conscious in the present moment. Without my own sound resolve and loving presence in the situations of my life, all will be chaos! I am the one that stabilizes the difficult times. I create the foundation that becomes my bedrock. I am the mast that supports the sails of my life that will point me in the right direction. Sure we get help along the way, in a million different ways, but consider that the help you need is flowing to you via your mast! Receiving the success and peace you seek ultimately depends on how well you “see” and respond to the wisdom that comes your way.

The simple beauty is this: life is faithful. Not to get too mystical or spiritual, but your own outlook, your faith, the Universe, God, whatever you put your trust in –  is consistent to give us what we need to support our lives. Knowledge is all around us to encourage, to teach, to guide us to truth. It will show us how to BE. Wisdom is with us everywhere, even in the fortune cookie! Wisdom’s lessons are in Nature. We hear its voice in the loving words of our friends. It is the light that illuminates our journey through the little gems strewn along the footpath. Pay attention.

In the long run it’s your own unique way of seeing and staying aware in your daily life that hones your unique perspective. It also helps to keep you from taking yourself too seriously. Perhaps that’s how you master the juggling act…

Love and peace XOXOXOOX

‘The persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.”
~ Carl Jung

The persona is like our “psychological clothing.” The aspect of the ego that we present to the world for its approval. It is like a mask and we can hide behind it.The word “persona” comes from the Greek word for the large masks that early Greek actors would use to portray their characters. With audiences in the big Greek amphitheater the nuances of performances could easily be lost. The primary function of the mask was not to hide the actor but give information about the character. The persona is the mask or role that a person plays in society. While it gives information it can be used to hide the ego.

“Anger is nothing but fear with a mask. Sadness is fear with a mask. Jealousy is fear with a mask.”
~ Miguel Ruiz

As a social role the concept of the persona is useful in allowing an individual to move in and out of relationships without being too vulnerable. A persona provides for some predictability of relationship. For example, the personas of doctor and patient or of student and teacher can be useful in knowing what to do, when, and where. Other examples of the persona are: mother, father, husband, wife, lawyer, judge, policeman, baker. A persona becomes a problem only when a person becomes too attached to it and can not put it aside. For example, when someone who is a judge is a “judge” all the time at work and at home. Or perhaps, a teacher who is in her role all the time.

When a person cannot move flexibly between roles, then the persona not only hides the person from others but also from himself. It is difficult for such a person to have appropriate self-knowledge.

~ Dr. Dan Johnson

An overemphasis on the persona not only keeps us from knowing our true selves but also blocks communication that builds beautiful relationships between people.
Maybe we need to move away from our fears and focus on being ourselves in each moment  – let’s see how that works for us!

Happy Halloween!

XOXOXO Sandy

Article source: Lessons4living.com
Photography by Sandy Hibbard at LensQueen.com.

When the pain
and the piano keys
need no voice
to carry the
ache of the loss
you felt
the moment you
laid eyes
on the one
you can
never hold
in the morning.

~ C.S  [Christina Strigas]

Beautiful things come out of horrible situations.
I know for a fact.

Out of sadness you get a new found wisdom on how the world can look with a haze of gray clouds,
how people can be senseless,
how you can see the whole universe in a whole new way.
That may be hard to handle, hard to cope, hard to accept,
but it is so damn beautiful if you really seize the moment to realize.
Out of anger, you can feel your heart beat race, with every beat it is shaking your whole being –
and not only with the heavy steps you take, but shaking with awareness, with focus, with a presence of BEING in the NOW.
This is when you, your whole self and being is telling you that you are alive. It is connecting to the energy of the Universe – the collective of all human beings.
It is amazing from every angle.
It is YOU
Being.
Out of anything there is something.
The creative power of the human spirit.
The healing power of love and acceptance without judgement –
of yourself
of others.
Incredible aliveness.
All that makes you shine.
Whatever you feel is a blessing.
Whatever you feel means you are alive.
 
Taken from post by WomenInLove on Tumblr.

Where do we place the blame for our pain from the past?

Good question huh?  When we are feeling the pain from our past we so want to blame it on something other than ourselves and nurture the fantasy of our wrong-doer to plot out and imagine revenge.  We want our pain to go away so we try to look for a place to put it that will make us feel better.  However, many times we just act right out!  We embrace that ugly feeling, project it on others, and let it run amuk!  Sound like something you have experienced? I certainly have.
This year I learned about the “Noticer” – a supra-awareness that if we practice it through concentration, will become  our internal guide to the reality of our feelings.  The noticer is engaged when I, through my own thinking, imagine myself outside of myself, observing and “noticing” what I am feeling.  I continue to learn about and experiment with this process and its benefits, I wanted to share a few ideas with you so you can try it out for yourself – let me introduce you to the Noticer –
The Noticer
When we experience our emotions, we immediately identify with them and believe they are true.  But when the “Noticer” (that godlike voice within us) is engaged and we allow ourselves to get outside what our feelings are and what we are thinking to NOTICE them and put them into perspective, three things happen:
1-  the Noticer helps us to see that the feelings are not the truth
2-  I can identify with those feelings to help me see that they are not true
3-  I see that the feelings come from the past and put them into historical perspective
When I use the noticer to discover the source of my feelings it allows me to understand and realize that there is no solution for these past feelings I am grappling with, only compassionate awareness.  When I have compassionate awareness I can place my feelings into their historical perspective, realizing that’s it!  The sadness, the loneliness, the withdrawal, self loathing, the anger, or any other painful emotion is replaying an emotion from the past. When I engage the noticer it helps me to have a space of freedom from the struggle and the pain of what I am feeling.  When I am suffering through painful emotions from the past, I am really putting myself into a  situation where I plead for a solution; but there is no solution for the past, only compassionate awareness.
When you are sitting by the pool, driving to work, walking through the park or laying on your bed and you are whining and crying, moaning and groaning over what you are feeling, you are pleading for a solution – you want to know why! I totally understand. We want to lay blame on our pain and find out why we are hurting so it will stop, right?  We want a solution for it, and we want it now.  BUT we must realize that the painful emotion(s) we are feeling is pain from the past, and we are dealing with the helplessness of it.  There is nothing that we can do with the pain from the past but to feel it, we must learn to take the sense of blame out of it.  We can only feel it now, identify that it is pain from the past, and realize that the only solution is to put it in it’s historical context with compassionate awareness – the only awareness that makes sense from the past when we were helpless.
When I am angry I mistake it for a present reality when in fact it is only a memory, a pain from the past that I am having to deal with now. (Have you ever heard of getting your buttons pushed?) I must learn to practice the noticer and realize that there is nothing I can do with my feelings and emotions except to place them in their historical perspective and embrace them with compassionate awareness.
Here is an illustration that might help explain what I am saying: Remember when you were in college and you were taking a test or studying and looking for answers to the questions?  You were waiting for that answer to come to your mind. You would get outside your circumstance of where you were and go to the equation or problem that needed an answer and review in your mind the information around the subject.  You most likely would use your concentration and be quiet so you could hear the answer in your mind.  Maybe you would ask a question and be very still and quiet so you could hear the answer.  Sometimes you would get a feeling about it, “a hunch”, and then  follow the feeling to see where it would take you and what you would understand from it.  This is similar to (according to my present understanding) having supra awareness outside of our own self (engaging the noticer). It is being aware of that voice within us – the collectiveness of our spirit, soul, body and mind that is the god in us – and listening to the voice that is bringing us into all truth and wholeness.  Engaging the noticer helps us to see the realty of our feelings, identify with them, then place them in their correct historical perspective.
Love and hugs for a great week!
Sandy