Choosing Change

As I write here, I gaze out the window at the dull sky, preparing for rain. It is winter, after all, and the settling of all things in this quiet forest and river neighborhood. "How much longer, Oh Lord, how much longer?" many people pray  in these daily uncertain times. And there also many helpful responses - practices, readings to settle the heart, meditations - and they all lead to the same truth:

Come into the present moment. Breathe deeply a few times. See the light in your mind, moving down to your heart. Breathe into the light.

Each day...many times a day...and as I practice this, I welcome and include all who read it here and do your best to practice...

"All will be well. All will be well. All manner of things shall be well." so chanted Julian of Norwich, who lived in such times as we do.

The world has changed in general, and I expect it has in smaller, personal ways for everyone, and even though CoVid restrictions are lifting and changing for everyone, I am finding that there is no going back to "what it was"; that we are all affected in some way: anxiety, actual fear of others, especially of the unvaccinated, even though vaccinated people have also been getting sick too, and even dying. 

So it is up to each of us to consciously choose our ways to stay grounded and even peaceful in this disturbed and disturbing world. And there are many! I have noticed, and received countless course offerings on meditation practices as well as body relaxation practices; breathing practices and present-moment practices, all of them helpful as the fear and anxiety grinds on. Media is no help, as its emphasis is always on the hyped fear of what is happening everywhere, and only that.

So I invite you who are reading this to join me in the practices I do each day - not literally join me, but find your own among the many offered and see how it might change your life, supporting and encouraging you at this time. Search the internet for such practices, and you will be amazed at the responses, in numbers and in kind...

I write this blog in the realm of increasing confusion, and desperation that I see in our present world, especially these past two weeks receiving reports - constant and consistent - of the confusion and long wait times in our Canadian Airports. I sense the desperation to travel at all costs, with no forsight for what it will now involve. Yesterday, when the news reported that a young mother with an infant and two small children was advised to sleep on the floor of the Toronto airport - no blanket or covering - by "the authority of the airline", I stopped in my tracks and said "We are lost."

And I believe we are. There are no signs that anything will settle soon. New forms of CoVid seem to be reported every week. And now a fourth dose of the shot will soon be advised. 

How can we live steady and settled lives in the midst of the madness all around us? This feels to me the most significant question of our time, since settling doesn't seem to be a real possibility any time soon. And each of us - in our own circumstances - needs to face the question and decide, for all our circumstances are different...except the need to settle and stop, both in our hearts and in our minds. Decide what? How it is we will choose to do so, even in small breaks in the day...deep breathing...five minute meditations...going out into nature's quiet presence for five minutes...there are many.

I offer you this poem of mine, which has been used a few days ago in many Solstice celebrations. In this time of darkness on so many levels - fear, war, rejection of others, fear of others - take a few minutes to allow this poem to sink into your own heart and soul:

                                                      The Loveliness of Light

When the sun herself turns -

when she offers more Light to the world

in her soft, gentle way -we are relieved, though

not always aware of it -

a collective breath, a sigh

of relief opens our world again,

and we - bathed in darkness -

turn with the sun

into the loveliness of Light.

The darkness of this year -

these two years - has been

a darkness of more than Light.

It has been the black sky

of fear, of division, breaking

the closest of ties.

Fear - that most ancient

of demons, that blinder

of even the deepest love,

triumphs over and over

in our world, destroying even

the strongest links of Love.

Still, the sun opens to Light,

offers Light to all, not

distinguishing, not judging -

the Sun is not Fear's slave

and never will be.

May the Light of Solstice

blind us with Love.

May the Light of Solstice

so widen our hearts, that

Fear loses its grip and ground.

May the Light of Solstice

wrap us in its heartening embrace,

warming our cold and frightened hearts.

May Solstice gather all our hearts

into its embrace of Light,

its music of Love.

I apologize to all who keeo visiting this site that I have not added to for a few months. I announce now that I'm back, and will add something every couple of weeks at least. There is much inspiration to be found during these dire times, and I have been collecting some for my own thinking and being. That is what I will share here in the blog.

Thanks to those who keep visiting here. Each Friday I receive the number of those who have visited since the Friday before, and I am always amazed.

If there is one thing I would say to those who do visit and read, it would be to encourage you to keep a journal during these strange times.  It is becoming evident that - whether or not restrictions are lifted - we cannot go back to living as we were before the pandemic. Too much has happened to change the way we see the world, and that change will deepen and continue in the years to come.  Keeping a journal will also help you to get to know yourself better, as you record your responses - positive and negative, and there must be both - to whatever you are experiencing. It is just as important to name the difficulties as the the joys...and to remember, please remember, that we are all - ALL- in a time of grief for what was and will never be again. I will write more about this in next week's blog. 

Layers of life are peeling away...