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A Valentine Poem: Human Virtues
Rosemary “downloaded” these five virtues, or qualities, the other day in meditation. She brought this up in “Circle” when speaking of the qualities needed to complete a circle for whatever human purpose the circle is called.
As I meditated myself on these qualities this poem emerged. I gave it to Rosemary to celebrate today, our togetherness, our circle, our humanity. She wants to share it with the world. Happy Day!
Human Virtues
Love:
It all begins with love,
The creating force alive
Through the whole world
From deepest deep to highest above.
Honor:
A state of being derived from love,
Self-love, the source of all;
A principle that upholds, ennobles,
Creating the foundation for Human.
Integrity:
Springing from honor, Human
Knows place in the world; holds
Space firmly on that foundation,
Rises to each occasion to bless.
Community:
Integral Human reaches outward
To serve humanity in blessed community.
Community blesses Human in sacred symmetry
Echoing voices of goddesses and gods.
High Purpose:
The highest purpose is to love,
Honor, grow in integrity, serve
Community in a spiral blessing rising
Through the evolution of Humanity.
©2019, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
Monday’s Poem: Heartwood Doors
Rosemary leads a Sunday morning Celebration on the first and third Sunday’s of every month. (http://CenterforaNewAlliance.org) I gladly support and participate in this gathering of like-minded/hearted spirits where we “celebrate our spirituality without dogma.”
Yesterday Rosemary led a powerful mediation that took us deeply inside to the doors of our hearts. I went there as my initiation continues to lead me further into this heart-centered realm, as I move from thinking to feeling, leading with my heart rather than my head.
Today’s poem, on the eve of this significant election in the US, is an attempt to capture my meditative journey to and through the doors of my heart:
Heartwood Doors
The winding path is neither
Straight nor narrow.
An arrow’s arc, graceful and true,
Is not a wanderer’s way.
One step, half-step aside, back-step,
Turn, pause, a jagged spiral
Tracing ragged sojourns upward
Outward, blocks, lessons learned.
Heartwood doors block the way;
Bright brass fittings, heavy knocker
Lifts and thuds with thunder heard
And felt in the deep awakening chamber.
No key is found, no clock is wound,
The tic-toc sounds loud on the inside.
The calling is an echo, a dream
Of another time, place, All Love.
The doors glide wide, smooth, easy;
No sound now, no groan of hinges.
The light bursts forth from the deep,
Bright sun streaming through parting clouds.
All Love flows from self-love quotes the Sage.
Heavy doors protect and block the two-way
Street. How to greet all passers-bye?
Hold wide those doors, let out the light!
©2018, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
VOTE!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Honor and Love Yourself!
This is a time to honor yourself and to LOVE yourself! Most of our training is about loving others, caring for others, helping others. But I have come to see that this training can lead us to believe that serving others means denying our own needs, serving until we are depleted and forced to cry ‘uncle.’
This moonth is about loving yourself enough to have love and service energy to spare to give to others.
Lisa Nichols teaches about ‘serving from the saucer.’ She says that a teacup represents you and the saucer catches the overflow when you are filled up. Don’t serve others from the teacup, which you must keep filled if you want to be of use to others.
Instead, serve from the overflow in the saucer. When the saucer is empty, you must fill up the cup (you) until it overflows again. If you empty the cup, there is nothing to give to others.
This makes sense, doesn’t it?
I frequently hear clients struggling with trying to find balance between taking care of others – children, parents, spouse – and taking care of self. Sometimes they have to get sick to get a day off! I hope you hear Lisa Nichols’ idea as permission to fill up your cup before you have to get sick.
Love is a powerful energy. It is meant to be shared, to radiate outward. But, remember, that ‘All love flows from self-love.’ Until you really embrace that belief, you will give until you are depleted and then you cannot help either yourself or others.
Self-love is not the same as the selfish belief that others don’t matter. Self-love says, ‘I love myself enough to take care of myself so that I am able to take care of others.’
That spiel on the airplane about ‘put your own oxygen mask on first before you help someone else with theirs’ has real meaning. If you pass out from lack of oxygen there are 2 of you in trouble!
So during this time, ask yourself, ‘How can I best serve myself? What is my inner self needing/wanting? How can I give that to myself?’
Maybe it’s time to explore what is holding you back from having great joy in your life. Dissolve the blocks that keep you from manifesting magnificence. Let them go as the moon gets smaller in the sky.
Clear the way for the new energy that is wanting to come in at the next New Moon on Friday, March 20 at 5:36 am Eastern Daylight Time. This will be a special day – with a Total Solar Eclipse and the Sun moving into Aries – Spring Equinox!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Release and Self-Love
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for the Full and Waning Moon: Release and Self-Love
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Light Quotient
Why am I making this choice? Taking this action? Making this decision? And what is the ‘Light Quotient’ of this choice?
You might never have thought about decisions and choices as a matter of assessing Light Quotient before but the time is here to bring more Light into the world. Thus, we must constantly focus on how much Light we are contributing to the energy field around us and around the Planet.
If you hear any news about what is happening around the globe then you know that there is much being reported that has a heavy energy about it. There is a lot of darkness in the world. BUT you do not have to be focused on that darkness!
You have choices to make in every moment. Choices about what you will do, what action you will take, how you will respond to challenge or to a challenging situation. At a deeper level, you also have choices about what you will think, which beliefs you will hold onto, what words you will speak. You can assess the Light Content of each thought, belief, word or action you embrace.
Do you watch the news and feel drawn down into heavy energy? Or do you avoid hearing anything about what is going on in the world so that you can avoid the dark energy? Remember, you are at choice about how you will respond to any given stimulus!
You can focus on good news, on what is going right in the world, on the Light. You can choose to speak words that uplift and support and give the gift of Light where there is darkness. In your own mind, you can choose to clear those beliefs that have you thinking dark thoughts, especially about yourself.
When you consider your current situation, in any area of your life – job/career/business, relationships, health, emotions, mental state, finances – do you dwell on what is not working the way you want it to or do you turn your thoughts to what IS working and what it is that you would like to have in your life? Do you shine the Light on the positive energies around you or do you allow yourself to be drawn down into the dark, heavy energy?
For example, the current excitement on Facebook is to watch videos of people pouring buckets of ice water over their heads as they are challenged to donate to a charitable cause. Some people are getting fancy about the way that they meet the challenge and are having fun with it. Some people are smiling and donating to the cause with or without the dunking. And others are posting comments on Facebook criticizing the activities or the people or the cause. Which energy do you think carries more Light? Which would you choose to have in your body, your energy field?
This is one example of where you can choose your response. Does it really affect you if someone dumps ice water on their head and posts a video to raise awareness about a disease? And what about other things that you see – war, crime, death, politics – do you resist and let yourself feel heavy or do you surround yourself with Light and move your thoughts into areas where you can make a difference and raise the Light Quotient?
Choose to bring more Light into the world! Let this be your ‘why.’
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Know Thyself – Tools for Self-Knowledge
How well do you know who you are, really?
Of course, you know your name, your physical history, where you were born, etc. You might know your Sun sign to look up a horoscope in the newspaper. You probably know your parents’ names and your grandparents’ names. But who are you, really?
Do you know your thinking style? Do you know where your attention goes when you are presented with a situation or event? Do you know your Life Purpose, your Life School and your Life Lesson or Blind Spot? Have you examined your limiting beliefs? How about those negative self-talk thoughts you carry around with you? Are you clear about your values and your priorities?
I could continue the list but it is too long. There are so many facets to a human being, so many aspects to the personality, that we often think we are simpler beings than we really are.
And what is true for you is true for everyone around you.
For example, you have a certain learning style. Most folks are visual learners. They process information by seeing it. Have you noticed that you remember something better if you see it written than if you just hear it? That’s because your preferred learning style is visual.
Some people are auditory learners. They need to hear material so that they can better learn and remember. For these folks, just seeing the written word isn’t good enough – they need to also hear it spoken or to speak it aloud themselves.
Now if you are a visual learner, you use phrases that reflect this, like ‘Do you see what I am saying?’ or, ‘How does this look to you?’ If, however, you are an auditory learner, you resonate better with language that reflects hearing, like ‘Did you hear about this?’ or ‘How does this sound to you?’
Can you see/hear how this difference can impact communication between two people?
This is only one example of how important it is to know something about yourself.
What about other tools for self-knowledge that give you more detailed information about your tendencies and inherent energies? Astrology. Numerology. Enneagram. Myers-Briggs. DISC. Scientific Hand Analysis. Chinese 5-elements. Your Chinese astrology star number. There is a long list of ways that you can understand yourself more deeply.
Have you explored tools to help you understand where you are coming from? What about where others are coming from? Do you value the differences in how people approach learning, or life, or do you expect everyone to see things as you see them? To listen and to hear exactly what you hear? To feel the way you feel?
Remember that:
All Love Flows from Self-Love.
To love another you must first love yourself. Learn more about yourself and love it all. There is nothing better about one Enneagram type over another, but the more you understand about your tendencies the more conscious you can be about choosing how to respond to stimulus as it is presented to you. One Astrological chart is as good as another but they can carry very different lessons for the person to learn.
I can often shift a person from feeling conflicted to being more peaceful simply by pointing out how differing human beings can look at the same scene and describe differing points of view. This is most beneficial if you know your own point of view first.
Explore tools for self-knowledge and get to know yourself better. It can change your life!
MONDAY’S POEM: Connection
The theme I started today’s poem with is “Connection.” I am feeling connected. The last several days have been all about connection: from our trip south, connecting along with way with family and friends, to the event we attended with Red Elephant and connecting with the “herd” at the Stand, Speak and Profit program, to the Ashram, Amrit Yoga Institute and yoga practice, and now prepared to return “home” – to reconnect. The Big Connect for these days is to the future – our newest grandson, Tristan, who brings a new light into the world! Can I summarize all of these delicious feelings in a poem?
Connection
I like the feeling of the word.
I like the sense of it –
The two “ns” in the middle
Are connectors –
Like twins holding hands
Across the word.
I like the feel of the “co”
Within the breath –
A catch in the throat and
A soft exhalation.
Across the “ns” we connect
With the click
In the throat and
With the tongue.
Another quieting sound
Of the breath moving to the close
Of the word
With the trailing n.
Connection.
We are all looking for connection.
And as with all things conscious
The connection begins within.
There is no outer; we create with
The connection within.
It is all inside.
And from there the connection
With breath begins
The connection with the All.
It is deep, inside.
It grows there expanding
Ever deeper and higher and wider
Taking in the totality of it all.
Connection can only expand
From the inside.
Just as all love flows
From self-love,
So too does all connection flow
From inner connection.
Breath
Body
Vibration
Prana
Yoga
Union
Connection.
It is all right here.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
We Are Family – Richard’s Commentary
I want to begin my comments with Rosemary’s ending to her Exploration:
This is important 21st Century work for each human being. Love yourself. Be Who You REALLY Are. Be the Light. Write your own story.
…and create your family; “we are family”! This is a lesson I have learned and continue to learn from Rosemary. It started over 30 years ago (we celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary yesterday!). We came together with kids; Rosemary had a daughter and I had two sons. From the very beginning we made a conscious choice, and from then on a conscious and valiant effort, to blend and create a “nuclear” family of the five of us. And it worked. Today our 30-something kids could not be closer if they were blood-related. We are family!
And we each have our extended families. I met Rosemary’s at her sister’s wedding. The vibe is dominated by Italian ancestry; my Norwegian/Swiss (northern) ancestry was welcomed in with open arms and big hugs. My cold northern blood melted right in to this southern love. Meanwhile my family remains pretty much in tact in Wisconsin – that Norwegian blood just likes it cold! I love them, visit (in the summer/fall) now and then. We are family!
And then we have our ultra-extended family that spans the globe from here north into Canada, east to Europe, south to Australia, west to China. We have grandchildren here in Maryland, another on the way in California. And then there are our adopted grandchildren/god-children spread all over from England to Florida and far beyond. Our younger friends with children just seem to know: we are family! (Of course, the children know it immediatedly!)
We are about to begin a fun trip to Florida for a work-related conference in Orlando next week. On the way (we are driving) we will stop in Raleigh, NC to visit with our youngest child, catching up with that part of the nuclear family and his delightful girl friend. Then it is on to Brunswick, GA to visit long-term, but not seen in years, friends; and even though there is a serious back injury in the picture here, we are compelled to spend the night – “you are family.” Then it is on to Tampa to visit more friends and one of our adopted grand/god-children. After the Orlando conference it is on to Amrit Ashram to visit a nephew and Gurudev. We are family!
And my story goes on. It is still unfolding. We have more family members to meet; they are out there waiting for us. As Rosemary says:
…write a NEW story! You have permission. You are Lady or Lord Creator of Your Own Truth! Love yourself enough to be the creator of a fine life story. Be the ancestor of a legacy that makes you proud and smiling today.
Be the love. Be the light. Go meet your family; they are out there waiting for you! Be the ancestor of a legacy! And remember:
We are family!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Be the Family You Want to Have!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Be the Family You Want to Have!
Conscious Relationships Start with Self-Love – Richard’s Commentary
Humans are social beings. It is all about relationships. Last week I wrote about our interdependence with others, what Thich Nhat Hahn calls “interbeing.” We are especially dependent on and interdependent with other humans. Here’s what Rosemary says about that:
Human beings are relationship experts. We are constantly adjusting relationships, in one direction or another. Relationships with significant others, with parents and with children, with co-workers, clients, neighbors, hairdressers, waitstaff at the local restaurant, checker at the grocery store. Every interaction with another human being is an element of a relationship.
And every relationship begins on the inside of ourselves. This is why it is so important to have that relationship in the first place! Do you have a good relationship with yourself?
In her post Rosemary writes about choices we have and we make moment to moment. The first choice is to have that inner relationship. How do you do that? It’s as easy as breathing! And we all need to do that!
The “conscious relationship with self” begins with conscious breathing. That’s right, bring your consciousness to your breathing pattern. Don’t try to change it or make an effort, just bring your attention to how your breath feels; think about the inhale; feel it as it comes in through your nose, down your throat, into your lungs. Where does it go there? Does it fill up your chest? Does it go down into your belly? Just notice. And on the exhale, how does that feel? What happens first? How much air do you exhale?
Shifting just our focus on our breath, with no change at all in rhythm or style, changes our body chemistry and our mental awareness! Imagine what might happen if you actually, consciously begin to control your breathing. Maybe your in-breath goes a bit deeper and is longer; maybe you hold it for just a moment as you sense it, notice the feeling of expansion. Then as you exhale maybe you do this more slowly, deliberately. And maybe you expel more air, even flattening your belly, back towards your spine as you push out more air – to make room for a bigger in-breath.
And you can continue in this manner, watching your breath, taking longer, deeper, slower breaths. This is the beginning of a relationship with yourself, your deeper self.
I’m not writing here to teach meditation. But I am echoing Rosemary’s intention that your best relationship is with yourself, inside. Here’s what she says about you:
Who you are, deep in your core, is a beautiful being of Light. Who you are, inside, is a spark of divine energy. Who you are, in the essence of you, is a person of access to great wisdom and love. THIS is the person that you really want to show up in every relationship, isn’t it?
I would like to have a relationship with this being of Light – you! Wouldn’t you?
Please enjoy!
