Archive for the “Cosmic Reflections” Category

There is this sparkling, clear stream.  Its currents flow uninhibited in gentle, swirling ripples. This stream is the flow and energy of life. And we are the twigs and leaves floating down this stream.   Rocks and driftwood abound in this stream as well.  And they are the obstacles in this stream of our lives.

The twigs and leaves flow down the stream effortlessly.  Effortlessly . . . until hitting obstacles in their path:  rock or driftwood.  More twigs and leaves come along, get stuck, and form a pile of debris.  This is what happens in our lives.  We get stuck and sometimes we don’t know how to free ourselves.  The ‘stuck’ feels static, unmoving, frustrating, maybe paralyzing.  So we wait.  And we wait.  Wait for the rain, the wind, the “other” to free us.  The rain, the wind, the other is grace.  We wait for grace.

[Of course, not all wait for grace.  There are those of us who are robust, driven, enduring.  We are the ones who plow forward, pushing forth with determination toward our desired outcome.  Not always getting what we anticipated, but at least we did what we could.  We are the shifters and the shapers!  Yet still, the rains come . . . ]

So the rains and winds come, free us, and we flow again down the stream uninterrupted . . . for a while.  But another obstacle comes along.  Maybe it’s a bigger rock or piece of driftwood.  And we get stuck again, this time, with an even bigger pile of stuck debris.

Sometimes these obstacles are an important part of our journey.  Maybe they have a purpose we cannot yet fathom. Obstacles can completely change our path in life or maybe just re-direct us temporarily.  Obstacles allow us time to see.  Time to breathe and grow. Time to capture a new perspective.   Time to pay attention to our intuition.  Depending on the point of perspective we take, and how we choose to perceive, we can create lives filled with struggle and turmoil, or relaxed lives of enjoyment, understanding, and detachment from the outcome, even while pursuing our desires and goals.

Let’s say a beaver comes along and sees that piled up debris as a perfect home site, so turns that static pile into its dwelling.  The beaver’s dam now interrupts and changes the stream’s flow, or maybe stops the flow completely.  The beaver’s home (us) re-forms the landscape, creating a pond or small lake, diverting or drying up the stream.  Such is the nature of our own lives.  We make plans, we get stuck, the situation changes, we scrap our plan and we begin again.  If the plan or the intention is something we deeply desire to fulfill, we will come back to it again, later, at what becomes a more appropriate time.

“Coming back to it” forms a circle.  That is the progression of life in all things.  When we look back, when we sense that profound ‘awe’ of our life experiences, our struggles, our learning, our coming back to the starting point, we have this feeling of arrival.  But it was never about the destination.  It was about the process . . . the process of becoming.

Our successes and accomplishments in life are more about these processes we undertake in arriving at our goals, rather than the actual arrival at the destination.   How we get there is more important than the badge of glory or plaque on the wall.  Certainly that trophy, that symbol, is something to take pride in.  It is a reminder of the journey, the trials and tribulations, the growth towards a bit of wisdom that it represents in our lives. 

So appreciate the experiences of life: the hardships, the joys, the pains, the laughter.  And learn kindness, tenderness, and love along the way.  That is what makes us strong and wise.  It is our experience and wisdom that makes life worth living, and cherishing. Experience your life.  Experience your obstacles.   Ask for divine intervention (often and fervently!), step into life’s flow again, and enjoy the continual process as it repeats itself with deeper and more profound meaning. Then when you are ready to move on beyond this physical plane, you will do so with satisfaction, joy, and pride.

With loving kindness,

connie

*Above photos are views from our hike in the Organ Mountains, of New Mexico, just 45 minutes from home!

Dear Dad,

I want to be more like you. You were a kind and loving father, and you cared so much for humanity, for equality and fairness.  

A driven, ambitious, and successful man, you continually searched for answers to problems, whether they were mechanical engineering problems or world disasters.  You took charge and resolved the issues at hand.

I never realized how unusual it was to have a Dad like you. You didn’t brag or flaunt your achievements.You took it for granted that what you did was “matter of fact”, what anyone would do when there was a problem to resolve for those less fortunate. 

Since Carole is the journalist of the family, she was given the assignment of writing your obituary.  I know it was hard for her. She did a fantastic job - no frills, just facts.  Your accomplishments took up TWO columns of the newspaper.  Surprised us all!

Before they closed your casket, I slipped my note (and a chocolate) into the little “secret drawer” compartment, along with the rest of the family’s notes and trinkets to you.  In my note, I asked you to please send me advice. Teach me.  Tell me how to endure, how to persevere.  But mostly, how to bring to fruition the projects I start, how to combine my analytical self with an “action” self.

Since you left this earth plane, you’ve been there for me whenever I have called to you.

You started leaving me messages soon after I returned home.  I would wake up in the morning after a previous night’s prayer to you, and find I had a new perspective, a new driving force within.  After a while of pushing myself along through each step, each phase, I began to notice that a seed had been planted within me.  It was the seed of ambition!   That was another key component I was missing.  It’s not just about enduring and persevering.  One has to have ambition too!  That’s so obvious to me now.  But it was a missing puzzle piece in my life.

Thanks, Dad, for finding that little piece of the puzzle and sending it to me.  My life has been changing.  I don’t desire to have the forceful drive that you had on this earth, but I’m discovering that I can fuel that drive within to whatever degree I want.  I can decide how much of that ambition and drive I want to use.  It isn’t a characteristic that I am lacking, just one that had to be discovered.

I now have lots of seeds to plant in my new garden, Dad.  Thanks for helping me plan it, water it, and weed it.  It’s fun having you around.  You seem to have lots of time for me now.  And I notice you are laughing, you are so light hearted, so relaxed now.  But I also know you are very busy building bridges!  And you are likely telling the “authorities” how they could be doing things more efficiently, and accomplish a lot more than they are currently.  My Dad, what guy! 

Hey Dad, by this coming spring I’ll have a bountiful harvest to share with you!

With BIG love, Connie