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A mid-week poem: Falling
I have been absent from this blog for too long. I’ve missed the writing. I still write my “morning pages” almost every day but the poetry isn’t coming; lots of titles and ideas but little inspiration. There is so much chaos out there right now; it’s difficult to make sense of it!
So, I am falling!
Falling
Equinox behind, beyond balance,
Nights grow longer, shadows deepen.
Already inside, isolating, avoiding;
The waiting for darkness somehow soothes.
Breathing slows, drops, lengthens;
Eyes close, focus softens, turns inward.
An easy scan, toes to nose, body subsiding;
This is an inside job now; just breathe, be.
The falling isn’t downward but inward,
Into that core of self, being.
The gyro at the base of that core spins;
It stabilizes giving the body purpose.
Rest, be easy, let in the light;
No shadow here, on the inside.
©2020 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Friday’s Poem: Casting No Shadow
[Warning: this poem contains a four-letter word that may offend some people. It is a word for material found in the bottom of a bird cage and rhymes with grit. If this word offends you please read no farther!]
I am fresh from the Christine Kloser event, known simply as “Breakthrough,” for Transformational Authors. I have known Christine and her event for several years; this one was her sixth; it was the first one I attended. And I can honestly say this was the best of all personal growth conferences, retreats and other such meetings I have ever attended! I did come away transformed in several ways. I will write more about this in a later post.
For now I want to offer this poem, dedicating it to Christine and all of the friends and fellow poets I spent three quality days with this week:
Casting No Shadow
Standing in the Center under high Sun,
Casting no shadow
I wonder:
Where has all that shit, my shit gone?
Earth, Mother, accepts it all
Composting it, the shit, into food:
Rooting soil
For the wonder and beauty of the lotus.
Facing East, bowing to the rising Sun,
Shadow stretching West
I wonder:
How far does that trail of shit extend?
Great Bear of the West doesn’t care;
His shadow absorbs all darkness
Sending life
Deep into the root and stem of the lotus.
Facing West, bowing to the setting Sun,
Shadow disappearing into the night
I wonder:
While the Mother sleeps, who stirs the shit?
The Great White Way of the night sky
Carves a graceful turn to churn
Rotting waste
Feeding the growth and awakening the lotus.
Facing North, bowing to the Great White Way,
Soft Moon shadows glowing in the night
I wonder:
How can shit survive this peace and beauty?
Cosmic Energy, creative power
Pumps the life-blood, pure potential
Filling mud
With juice to enliven the lotus bud.
Facing South, bowing to the warming Sun,
Shrunken shadow withering to the North
I wonder:
How can so much shit generate all this beauty?
Earth and Fire, Mother and Sun
Join in Holy Union, merging love and light;
Ascending we
Witness the opening, Jewel in the Lotus!
(Om mani padme hum!)
©2018 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Monday poem: The Jesus Factor
On Saturday Rosemary and I attended a workshop with Anümani Santos, Unmasking the Alchemist within You. This was the fourth workshop we’ve done with her; it was great!
One of the opening elements of all Anümani workshops is drawing one of her cards that she has painted. They are all amazing. And I have drawn “A Portrait of Jesus” now twice, including yesterday. Why me? My first reaction a couple of months ago was resistance. I struggle with my “religion of origin.” Years ago I saw a bumper sticker on a colleague’s car: “The Christian Right is Neither”! This has stuck with me and sums up my attitude toward organized religions of most kinds, especially what Christianity has become.
So, why am I drawing this Portrait of Jesus? I believe it is a reminder that while the message of Jesus as been distorted and usurped by an ideological faction that has an anti-Christ, anti-love agenda, the basic original message is still worthy. I am reminded to refrain from throwing the baby Jesus out with the dirty bath water. I’m working on this; it will take some deep work. It won’t be easy or fast. But I am committing to review my attitude toward Jesus. After all it is not His fault his name as been taken and used in vain!
Here is my first attempt at doing the inner work:
The Jesus Factor
In His name we pray!
How often do we hear this;
Do we now fear this?
What is it they pray?
“Obey the law” writes Paul –
To the Romans! Political Paul.
And the first law is Love says Jesus.
Who do they really follow?
His name is now taken in vain
By those who proclaim him Lord.
Misquotes, misinterpretations, outright wrongs
Are stated as Christian by the righteous.
They are not right; nor are they just.
They mislead and betray divine trust.
They twist the Jesus Factor to evil ends.
It is time to recall, return his name
To serve the higher purpose he showed
To love without condition or goal.
Resist the Jesus factor they claim –
Not him, not in his name – only love.
©2018 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Who Do You Trust?
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My “two minute” video: Who Do You Trust? |
| Hubble Finds That the Nearest Quasar Is Powered by a Double Black Hole This artistic illustration is of a binary black hole found in the center of the nearest quasar host galaxy to Earth, Markarian 231. Hubble observations of the ultraviolet light emitted from the nucleus of the galaxy were used to deduce the geometry of the disk. (Looks like the Taiji symbol to me!)  |
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Learn Something New Today!
Where do you go for information? Or are you not curious about learning something new?
I sometimes lament the fact that I don’t have enough life left in which to learn and to master all that I want to learn and master. So many books to read! (My preferred way to learn and explore) There are classes to take, webinars to join, documentaries to watch, people to meet and talk with, topics to research.
And where can I get information that I trust?
I have discovered that there is a lot of wisdom to be gained through meditation. My guides give me lots of answers. They also lead me to sources where answers can be found. I trust their guidance.
Trust is key. Do you trust your sources? Do you trust your inner guidance? Or do you place your trust in one source other than yourself and choose not to do further research on your own?
There is nothing wrong with having a trusted source of information. I wouldn’t be teaching classes, whether on dowsing or hypnosis or essential oils, if I didn’t believe in what I am sharing. And, yet, I invite students to explore topics on their own. Do research. Compare different sources. Read a bunch of books on a topic. Talk to people you trust about their views/experiences/knowledge.
And check inside to see how you feel about what you are encountering. Does it resonate for you? Another person’s truth may not be truth for you.
This is especially true in the realm of spirituality. What someone else believes may be truth for them at that moment but it might not fit for you. Have you changed your beliefs in your lifetime?
Of course you have! Didn’t you, at one time, think the Tooth Fairy came and exchanged money for a tooth under your pillow? And didn’t Santa Claus bring your toys at Christmas?
What about that belief that you couldn’t do something? Until you tried it and succeeded?
And how about that belief that ‘nobody likes me’ that we all felt at some point, as a child or even in adulthood. Well, I like you now!
What we believe can change. What we know today can be modified with the next moment’s input.
You are never too old to learn something new – about life, about the world, about yourself. Are you exploring? Are you curious? Are you asking questions?
When I worked on the Hubble Space Telescope we had to be open to what was revealed to us. Many theories were confirmed. Others were contradicted. We continue to learn about the Cosmos from the discoveries that our space exploration is bringing to us.
NASA has just released pictures of Pluto from close up, after almost a decade of traveling to get those pictures. What will be revealed? How exciting it is that something new is coming to us to learn!
In personal life, what we don’t know we don’t know can trip us up! If you think you know everything you need to know, you will stop growing, stop evolving. Keep asking questions. Keep exploring yourself and the world around you.
Learn something new TODAY!
PS: Do you want to learn more about Rosemary? Visit her website and learn how to receive a FREE 7-minute destress meditation!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Where Do You Get Your Information?
Rosemary’s “two minute” video: Where Do You Get Your Information?
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Are You the Director or the Actor in the Play that is Your Life?
It is really easy to convince ourselves that we are always directing the activities in our lives. We think that we are in charge. And, yet, we often find ourselves acting against our plans, our choices, our mental outlines for our lives.
Have you ever planned to diet/exercise/be more productive/call a friend, etc., and then found that you didn’t follow through? Was it because you didn’t want to do what you thought or was it because something ‘came up’ and you didn’t get to it?
What do you believe about what ‘comes up’ in your life?
The Director of a stage play is the one who determines how a scene will look, who will stand where when, when and where entrances and exits will occur. The Actors look the way the Director wants them to look, stands where they are told to stand, moves where and when they are told to move.
When you look at your own life, how many times have you intended to go in one direction and something happens to shift that plan?
Of course, many times unforeseen situations arise and we must be in flow, be adaptable. And your unconscious mind can bring those so-called ‘unforeseen situations’ into the scenario for an unconscious reason because your conscious plan conflicts with a belief held at the unconscious level.
I see this in clients all the time. The intention is there. Everything seems to be lined up. And then something happens.
I’ve seen it in my own life. It’s called ‘self-sabotage’ and it doesn’t go away because the conscious mind makes a decision to change things.
On January 1 every year millions of people make New Year’s resolutions and, by February 1, most of those resolutions have been broken. I stopped that dance a long time ago!
It is in your unconscious mind that the programs and habits of a lifetime reside. If you were told as a child that you ‘don’t deserve X, Y or Z’ then your unconscious mind continues to believe that event if you are decades beyond hearing that phrase. If you told yourself when you were a teenager going through puberty and wishing for a date that you were too ugly to be asked out/to ask out that girl you liked, then that inner teenager might still believe that about you even if the mirror in today’s reality doesn’t confirm that truth.
What did you used to believe about yourself, life, the world around you that might be holding you back today? Is it your unconscious mind that is the Director while you and your conscious mind are merely the Actors on the stage?
You can’t just decide to do things differently and have your unconscious mind let go of those old beliefs. They are programs that are running all the time. They are beliefs that trump conscious decisions many times.
The work is to go inside and uncover the programs and reprogram your mind.
Ask yourself if you are really the Director or if there is something unconscious at work today that you would like to reprogram. Then do the work and get the appropriate help to do that reprogramming.
Decide to be the Director AND the Actor in the play of your life!
Hostage Situation – Inside Yourself? – Richard’s Commentary
I can certainly relate to Rosemary’s Exploration this week. And it’s not any one or big fear that holds me back from “living my richest life.” It’s usually little things. And when I move beyond the fear and look back I think: “what was I ever afraid of?”
Most of my little fears come from my childhood. I was an only child for a long time – my next brother came along when I was already eight. I was protected and even revered within my extend and large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. And because family was always there I didn’t have to venture out much into greater society.
So, when Rosemary asks: What part of you is holding another part hostage? I can usually point to my inner child – that protected and easy living six year-old.
Rosemary is exactly right when she says:
But most of the fears that I see with clients represent a conflict between a part that wants to step forward and a part that is afraid to do that.
It can be around any issue: a relationship, a job, money, family, taking a risk, making a decision. There is a feeling of wanting to move and yet, at the same time, a sense of paralysis.
My adult self always wants to step forward; I am usually energetic, decisive and know what I want. But sometimes that six year-old digs in his heals and sets up a block out of some weird sense of protectiveness.
Does this ever happen to you? Do you ever feel paralysis as you work toward an important goal? When this happens to me I usually have to go inside to work through the issue. Sometimes I even have a talk with the six year-old to calm any fears he may be experiencing. I remind him of several factors in the situation:
- I am in charge and I know what I am doing; I’m the adult, after all!
- We have done things like this before and it always comes out well!
- Look to the end result, the success. Doesn’t that make you happy?
- Let’s just move forward and see what happens; you’ll be OK.
This inner dialogue can take several forms: meditation, writing, even sometimes a shamanic journey (for me this is similar to an inner guided meditation) to visit my places of safety and my power animals. I can even take my six year-old into the future to see the positive outcome and allay any further fear.
Of course using a coach or counselor is always an option. Inner child work can be very powerful and productive. The tools and help are there for all of us to “live our richest lives!”
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: What Are You Holding Back in Yourself?
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: What Are You Holding Back in Yourself?
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Create Your Baby!
What is waiting for you to create NOW? Not next year. Not someday. But now.
It is easy to dream up great ideas and to plan to make them become reality, but until you take action to create them in the physical plane, they will remain ideas. What is on your drawing board that is waiting for some action?
I am not a fan of regrets or of looking backwards, but when I hear someone say that they wish they had done something differently in the past, I want to suggest that they take action in THIS PRESENT MOMENT instead of looking to what might have been.
You are always at choice in your life. You are always ready to create your next ‘baby.’ No matter what the circumstances of this moment might look like to you, you can always choose to move in the direction of that creative idea, that dream.
What is one step that you can take to give a signal to the Universe that you are ready to make that dream become a reality? It doesn’t have to be huge. You don’t have to have all your ducks in a row. You don’t have to have worked out all the steps required to finish it.
You only need to know what the one next step needs to be.
And then you need to take that step!
Creating something requires a choice to move and an action to follow up that choice. Are you focusing on what you don’t have available? Are you focusing on the overwhelming nature of the full project instead of the requirements of the one step in front of you?
The most important choice that you make is the choice of thoughts that you will think.
Really. This is most important. Your thoughts really do create your reality. Many people try to deny this but worrying about something you DON’T want energizes that which you don’t want. You want to program your unconscious mind to focus energy on that which you DO want and you make this happen by choosing your thoughts to support the direction of your creative dream.
When you have a creative idea, when you get an inspiration, that idea exists in another dimension and you have been given access to that idea as the ‘keeper of the creation.’ It then becomes your responsibility to pursue that creation.
Do you feel that you have an overwhelming list of creative ideas and that you can’t possibly accomplish them all? This is a great place to be! You are being invited to capture the ideas and then to use your intuition to prioritize the development of those ideas into projects.
It is important to ask yourself, ‘Is it mine to take action on this idea?’ Sometimes your role is to receive the idea and then to hand it off to someone else or bring it to a team. Sometimes your creative idea meshes with someone else’s for great synergy.
But if you don’t take action in the direction of those creative ideas, how will you find the partner? How will you make everything come together? How will your creative idea ever become reality?
Start your creative process TODAY. Figure out your ONE NEXT STEP.
Nine months (or earlier!) from now, when your creative ‘baby’ is born you’ll be glad you took the action you decided to take today!
Please enjoy!
Men and The Goddess 