Gee Whiz It's Christmas!

"For fast acting relief, try slowing down." ~ Lily Tomlin

As a kid I loved watching variety shows. They were filled with a plethora of unusual talent. One of my favorite acts was the guy attempting to keep several plates spinning atop sticks. At this time of year, I find myself recreating that old familiar balancing plates on a stick stunt. 

The additional frenzy of the holidays can make the stress of our daily workload reach turbo charged levels. Santa Claus will soon be coming to town with visiting relatives and friends packed and stacked in his sleigh after all. Sure makes me wish that like good Ol' St. Nick, I had a workshop filled with elves to help with getting all the extras done in time.

"I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear." 
~ Steve Maraboli

This mad dashing and scrambling about sets the stage for distraction and can cause us to be less careful travelling between home base and our workplace grind. So far this week I have received calls that two close friends had been in serious auto accidents. 

As we look forward to time off spent with loved ones, let us take pause to ponder this year's opportunity for fellowship. We are spending so much energy to make everything perfect from decorations, to meals, to gifts with little thought about being present and really actively participating in enjoying the moments. 

"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths." 
~ Etty Hillesum

In each moment and each breath you share over the coming days give yourself, your family and friends the gift of presence. Instead of trying to "enjoy" yourself, intend to exist "in joy". Eat and laugh heartily. Exchange gifts as a cheerful giver. And when you feel like you are about to lose sight or control of one of those spinning plates, take a deep breath, giving thanks for every plate, and let the plates fall where they may.

Choose this holiday season to exist "in joy".

Are you breathing?

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A Couple Days Off

"It's 4:58 on Friday afternoon. Do you know where your margarita is?" ~ Amy Neftzger

"Thank God it's Friday!" is a familiar refrain. A dominant one across cultures. Four words that carry the weight and cares of an entire week plus three in many cases, especially for those balancing other responsibilities like family, school, second jobs and side gigs.

Commitment to our work is imperative, however, we must also make self care a priority. If we are not well in our mind, we are without clarity. If our body is sick, our daily functioning is limited, and if we are ill within our spirit, we are unable to receive. Attempts to live with imbalance leads to incapacity and our ability to operate at maximum capacity for giving in our service to humanity through our work becomes distorted. 

"Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us." ~ Dr. Maya Angelou

Balance is a necessity and we must seek it in every aspect of our lives. When it is not a priority, we decrease our opportunities to experience joy. When this occurs, our peace is disturbed and resentment sets in. Most times, we don't hate our jobs, we have just allowed the frustration that comes along as a result of depletion of resources to dominate our lives. Our resources are our minds, our bodies, and our spirits and we must protect them.

Are you living for Fridays?
What is causing the loss of joy in your work?
In what ways can you begin to recover balance in your life?

Garden Great Reads: The Art of Being and Becoming

"There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is best given by producing harmony in one's own life."

~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

As a Sufi teacher from India, Hazrat Inayat Khan, has created several beautiful writings exploring human evolution one of which is "The Art of Being and Becoming."

In this work we receive instruction concerning getting to the center of life. Master Khan believed we could produce harmony in our lives through "the tuning of the heart." As we commit to this work of "tuning" we can change its vibration, he has said, which allows us to experience the joy and ecstasy of life and as a result we can offer the same to others.

"The natural tendency of every soul is towards harmony, and the tendency towards inharmony is an unnatural state of mind or affairs. The psychology of man is such that he responds both to harmony and inharmony." ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

Much is discussed in this offering concerning the great unrest and discord in the world and from where it emanates. As humans we have the natural tendency to give back what we receive, be it criticism or praise. And Khan says it is from our ignorance of this one fact: that inharmony creates inharmony and that by giving way to inharmony, we allow inharmony to multiply.

As inharmony exists within our responses to inharmony if we learn ways to change ourselves for the better from within, we can help transform our world into a more peaceful, welcoming, and loving place.

A study of this reading might encourage you to examine the following:

Do you function in harmony in your daily living?

What habits have prohibited your ability to increase harmony in your life?

What mechanisms can you begin to apply to help increase your ability to live  in a more harmonious way with yourself and others?

Spiritual Gifts in Our Work

"God has never created a soul without giving them a gift." ~ Steve Harvey

As an active part of Creation,  all we do produces a ripple effect in the Universe.

We don't often give much conscious thought to the fact that each of us is operating within spiritual gifts poured into our being by our Creator. Consider how the work you engage in serves humanity in big and small ways. Though not in the traditional sense as what we experience at church, mosque, temple, or synagogue, each of us has a ministry. 

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God at work." ~ I Corinthians 12:4-6

Most spiritual gifts will fit along the categories of serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, compassion, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, faith, healing, and helps to name but a few. And it is within these realms of service we find our divine purpose in the Earth plane.

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." ~ I Peter 4:10

As you enter your sacred space this week, consider asking for revelation in the area of spiritual gifts. Allow the Creator to reveal how your hands become His in the service of your fellow travelers. The needs of humanity are great indeed and God operates in abundance through each of us. 

There are enough hands in the Earth to break every chain and meet every need once we know how we fit into His Plan. Submit to His Purpose by becoming a good steward of the gifts He has endowed and watch Him work through you in mighty ways.

Have your spiritual gifts been identified?
In what ways have you been applying your spiritual gifts through your work?
How has sharing your spiritual gifts with others broadened your human experience?

The Healing Power In Our Work

"Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." ~ Buddha

The third chakra, the solar plexus, is our seat of empowerment. The energy of this center allows us to meet challenges and move toward goals with confidence. "Fired up and ready to go" would be the mantra associated. Blockage here stunts a desire for growth as it determines our level of self worth. A well functioning manipura aids the belief that we have something meaningful to contribute to the world in an excellent and effective way.

Fortunate are those who find their vocational niche early in life. My work with students gives me great joy as I have a passion for encouraging them to develop their best selves so they can make informed choices that set the tone for the rest of their lives. Though I cannot choose for them, I can walk alongside them as a guide through the process of discovery, courage, planning, and perseverance. My excitement for them is palpable as they are just beginning and are awakening to the possibilities.

"The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world." ~ Marianne Williamson

We are all servants and vessels of healing. What we offer, we receive in like kind within ourselves whether positive or negative. Consider the work you have chosen or that which has chosen you. If you examine your motivations closely you can identify an internal need that drives you toward it. You are either giving from an abundance of joy or pain. 

It gives me joy to serve as teacher and encourager in my work. I have been abundantly blessed and it provides an opportunity for me to give back in a way that suits my talents. Even at the end of the most challenging of days, I am fulfilled.

We are ever seeking balance within and our vocation plays an active role in this process. As you walk through your day, meditate on the work to which you have committed your gifts and time. Discover the place from which you are giving, to what purpose, and whether you are left with the feeling of being half empty or half full.

Like energy begets like energy. Be healed as you are healing.

"All work done with love is healing work." ~ Eric Micha'el Leventha

Are you making a daily offering from a place of joy or pain in your work?
What parts of your internal self are you seeking to heal through your work?
Did you choose your work or did the work choose you?

They Will Know You By Your Fruit

"Though we cannot see the heart, we can see the life." ~ David Paul Kirkpatrick

In the school setting, when someone visits your space of teaching and learning, they should immediately know the subject you are charged with instructing. For example, a literature teacher's classroom may have Shakespeare, Dickinson, and Dunbar quotes lining the walls. While in a science room, depending upon the discipline there might be a periodic table, a skeleton, a rock collection, microscopes, or a snake aquarium. The point here being that it is easy to surmise from the outside evidence the seeds of knowledge the teacher is sowing in that classroom.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." ~ Galatians 5:22-23

The same can be said of the spirit in which we are cloaked daily as we work. Each of us possesses a different vocational personality. Some perform well on their own, while others excel under a team based model. More often than not, we find ourselves positioned in circumstances with personalities very different from ours. As a boss, you may be an overbearing micro manager who would rather delegate for fear of taking responsibility or you may be working alongside negative absent minded individuals with far less experience than you. 

If this is the work environment in which you currently find yourself, we might pause here to consider the purpose inside these sticky circumstances and the seed we are producing. If we are open, we see endless opportunity for pruning, for growth, and for sharpening of self.

Each day in our work we are called to examine the fruit we bear. None of us is perfect mind you, but when our staff and co workers think of us, consider their witness and the impressions they might share if asked. 

"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." ~ Plato

Work toward learning to "be" present in your breath. And remember, your fruit is showing.

As a personality, how do you approach challenges in the work place?
Which fruit of the spirit is most evident in you at work?
What areas in need of sharpening are being revealed to you through your interactions at work?

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

"Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others." ~ Virginia Woolf

As school children, we all wrote the infamous "what do you want to be when you grow up" essay. Most of our responses described what our family envisioned or the juvenile hero/heroine fantasy of following in the career footsteps of our parents. 

I recall that I marveled at the speed of my mother's fingers and the ease with which she deciphered those little squigglies I later learned were shorthand. I was so impressed at her transcriptionist skills and though she was proud of her education and business training, she encouraged me to aim higher. "You have to be better than me. That's why I work so hard, so you can be better and smarter than me." Many years into my own professional experience, I finally understood what she meant.

"Growing up happens when you start having things you look back on and wish you could change." ~ Cassandra Clare

Little did we know as children how much our parents were juggling and sacrificing. With just 24 hours of breath, sometimes 10 to 14 of them were devoted solely to earning a living. In addition, there was bill paying and budgeting, meal planning and grocery shopping, house keeping and home repair, homework help and teacher conferences, laundry, doctor appointments, birthday parties and family time. All of which left little time for making self a priority. Yet without attention to self care, the must do lists are just dreaded chores that become impossible to manage over time. 

"Where'd the days go, when all we did was play? And the stress that we  were under wasn't stress at all just a run and a jump into a harmless fall." ~ Paolo Nutini

I chose a different career path and I am pleased I was given the freedom to do so. As a mother, my advice to my children will be the same I was given with one caveat. 

Seek balance. 

As you regroup and look forward to a new work week, reflect upon that long ago essay and the work to which you find yourself committed and consider where creating balance might be necessary.

What holds true today from your original essay?
How are you spending your 24 hours of Breath?
Are you in need of greater balance between your work and personal lives?

It's Monday Again

"If Monday had a face, I would punch it." ~ Unknown

The Word says in Deuteronomy 30:19, "I set before you life and death. Choose life." This truth can be applied to our work and professional life. 

More often than we slow down to realize, God allows us to enter stages of major discomfort to alert us to the fact that He is ready to do a new thing in our lives, to introduce us to a new level. When we are paying attention, we submit to His will and release our strangle hold on that thing that is no longer feeding life into our existence. 

When we are not walking in awareness, we continue to hammer away at holding on to a thing until it all but threatens to choke the very life out of us. How often do we become panic stricken on Sunday night as we begin preparing to invest our energy towards another work week? Yes, Sunday night is when it begins.

"It's just been a long week that's all."
"It's Monday night, Jess."
"My point exactly."
~ Scott Westerfeld

In her book, Thank God It's Monday, Roxanne Emmerick, takes to the mission of making us so excited about our work, we cannot wait for Monday to arrive. In her writing, she suggests the reasons at the root of this dread as boredom, drama, commute, and being overwhelmed. As the means to remedy these concerns she offers, choosing a pet project at work as a distraction, networking with others in your field outside your place of employ, asking for assistance, and adding a personal touchstone item from home to your work space.

Of course discovering the work that brings us the greatest amount of joy and seeking a means to commit our days to it would be the ultimate solution. Take time to listen and awaken to what the Creator is speaking. 

Choose life in your work.

"When you start to do things that you truly love, it wouldn't matter whether it is Monday or Friday; you would be so excited to wake up each morning to work on your passions." ~ Edmund Mbiaka

Is your current vocation speaking life to your existence?
Do you face Monday mornings with dread?
What is the Creator speaking to you concerning your career direction?

Meaningful Work

"Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad."    ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

Approaching the autumnal season can bring on significant shifts in our lives. As many plan a return to business as usual following a few weeks vacation, others are entering a stage of reinvention in work and career life, embarking upon altogether new vocational challenges.

Work can become a four letter word or that thing that adds purpose and worth to your existence. Whatever your circumstance, consider your definition of work and where it fits into your life spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Job satisfaction can mean a great deal more than a hefty pay check. Though a more than adequate salary can soften the blows of unhappiness at work for a time, toiling in malcontent hours each day that stretch into days each year can weigh upon the spirit  inviting sickness and disease. It is a sad story to tell of those who spend their entire working life unfulfilled to be afforded just a few years of long sought retirement. 

The definition of responsible adult means our priorities lean toward the practical matters of provision and protection when we have family to consider. Admittedly it is difficult to change course midstream due to lack of joy in your work when you have a mortgage and children to feed, clothe, and educate.

But what of the possibilities if you were to even consider dusting off the dreams and passions you cast off or put aside for whatever the reasons. This may be your season to revisit, to reinvent, and re-envision.

"Don't worry about being successful but work toward being significant and the success will naturally come."    ~ Oprah Winfrey

How do you define the meaning of work in your life?
Does your current work and career situation energize you or do you feel drained by it?
If a change in vocation is what you seek, what has kept you from moving in that direction?

Garden Great Reads: How to Meditate

"If we can train ourselves through meditation to be more open and more accepting toward the wild arc of our experience, if we can lean into the difficulties of life and ride of our minds, we can become more settled and relaxed amid whatever life brings us." ~ Pema Chodron


Pema Chodron presents the idea that many of us spend our lives running. Either we are racing toward experiences we believe hold the promise of complete happiness or making mad dashes away from unpleasant ones we imagine will rob us of it. 

"Our life is an endless journey: the practice of meditation allows us to experience all the textures of the roadway, which is what the journey is all about." ~ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche  

Meditation provides a training ground for the mind. A place to cultivate the on going lessons of mastering our emotions. A place to grow brave enough to meet the 'self within the self' confronting who we think we are so that we can awaken to who we are truly meant to be. It is in our meditation practice we can begin the process of unfolding, peeling away the layers that keep us stagnant in suffering.

Following this reading, you may be encouraged to explore the following:

Have I committed myself to running?
How can a daily meditation practice bring greater meaning to my life?
Am I willing to confront that which might prevent my full awakening?

Garden Great Reads: The Five Levels of Attachment

"When we become too attached to an ideal, the first thing that we lose is respect; first for the people around us, and eventually for ourselves." ~ Miguel Ruiz, Jr.

How attached are we to our beliefs?

In this work, Miguel Ruiz, Jr., explains how extreme levels of attachment serve as potential causes of suffering in our lives. As he unfolds the details of each level, Ruiz provides significant insights along the attachment spectrum and how they impact the ways in which we function.

As you examine your attachment to various beliefs, a clearer view of self can emerge along with seeking answers to what dictates your response patterns. These revelations can lead to attempts to diminish the strongholds of negative attachment levels in our lives.

"Looking at the story of your life, do you take action as dictated by your attachment to knowledge, or do you use knowledge to take an action based on the awareness of your present moment?" ~ Miguel Ruiz, Jr.

After this reading you may be encouraged to look at the following:

What are your current core beliefs?
At what levels of attachment have you been operating?
How would adjusting the levels of attachment to your beliefs transform your daily existence?

Garden Great Reads: Fear

"The only way to ease our fear and be truly happy is to acknowledge our fear and look deeply at its source. Instead of trying to escape from our fear, we can invite it up to our awareness and look at it clearly and deeply." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

In this work, Thich Nhat Hanh, writes on the importance of releasing the practice of repressing our emotions. He states that because we live in a world of distraction, many of us have large blocks of pain and suffering buried in our consciousness we cannot bear to face. He believes distraction as a method of coping only leads to increased pain and suffering in our lives. 

Hanh suggests instead allowing our emotions to speak to us, transform us, free us. In Fear, he says we can begin trading the paralysis of dread and confusion for the clarity of pause and acknowledgement through the practice of mindful awareness. Hanh says facing our discomfort is the path to peace and freedom.

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

This reading might encourage you to explore the following:

What emotions have I had difficulty facing?
In what ways would learning to look deeply at my emotions transform my life?
Am I willing to face my fears and allow them to liberate me?

Garden Great Reads: A Return to Love

"It takes courage to endure the sharp pains of self discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives." ~ Marianne Williamson

A Return To Love is based upon the teachings in A Course In Miracles. I was introduced to the Course some years ago and found the insights from Williamson's book useful as a practical reference for applying Course principals in my daily life. Both texts have been a great addition to my personal transformation journey and I share it here in the hope that others might find it helpful as well.

In the book, the author shares her perspective on how the decision to see yourself as God sees you; as love, transforms your thinking and therefore your outlook on life. 

"I accept the beauty within me as who I really am. I am not my weakness. I am not my anger. I am not my small mindedness. I am much, much more. And I am willing to be reminded of who I really am." ~ Marianne Williamson

Through this reading you might be led to explore the following:

In what ways have I not been loving toward myself?
How has not showing love toward myself manifested in other aspects of my life?
What can I do to love myself better and open the doorway to self discovery?

Garden Great Reads: The Untethered Soul

"The only permanent solution to your problems is to go inside and let go of the part of you that seems to have so many problems with reality." ~ Michael A. Singer

In The Untethered Soul, Michael A. Singer introduces the concept that we are not the voice in our heads, but we are in fact the "observer" of that voice. He explains the importance of examining how this constant inner chatter influences the way we experience our thoughts and emotions and their eventual manifestations in our behavioral choices.

Here, Singer proposes that the key to staying happy begins with understanding our inner energies. Once we learn to observe inwardly, we can start to grow into a truer version of self and operate with increasing clarity in our daily lives. With continued awareness, we can live with an open heart and become freer than we have ever been.

"So there are two ways you can live: you can devote your life to staying in your comfort zone, or you can work on your freedom. You can devote your whole life to the process of making sure everything fits within your limited model, or you can devote your life to freeing yourself from the limits of your model."  ~ Michael A. Singer

This reading might encourage exploration of the following:

What are the messages the voice inside my head has been sending?
Have the results of my inner chatter manifested peace or chaos in my daily life?
Am I willing to work towards living as a truer version of self?


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What Gives You Life

"All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are." ~ Barbara Brown Taylor

The nature of the Creator is alive inside each of us in every moment. 

Often when we find ourselves in a hot pocket of pain-filled circumstances we forget that we exist within His power to overcome. It is during these episodes, in that space where we are alone with our breath, that the mirror of self reflects clearest. 

"For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain." ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Experiencing setbacks be it through material loss or an emotional ripping is a call to commit to peeling back the layers of distraction. In that space of vulnerability, we can discover what speaks peace to our inner being and with patience we can begin to discern what gives us life. 

"Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it." ~ Brian Tracy

Out of my quiet audience with self, I have found that when all else is stripped away from my experience, having my children near and frequent visits to the coast to rest in the cool mist of the ocean grounds me and increases my joy. As a result of this knowing, my retirement plans now include an oceanfront cottage where I can regularly commune with the sea. As Alan Watts writes, "you didn't come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave in the ocean. You are not a stranger here." 

And when my children come to visit we can sit, listen, and take peace in the sound of the waves together.

Yemaya Assessu

Assessu Yemaya

Yemaya olodo

Olodo, Yemaya

Are there people or circumstances currently drawing you away from peace?

How would releasing those people and circumstances change the state of your inner being?

In your most profound moments of reflection, what have you learned gives you life?

"Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part." ~Hermann Broch

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Place it Upon the Altar

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." 
~ I John 3:19-20

Easter season is upon us. It is a time of self-reflection, renewal, resurrection, and rebirth. Many are engaged in spring cleaning, simplifying their lives by rounding up all the outdated items past serving a purpose in their homes clearing a space for evidence of things hoped for though yet unseen. 

As we lighten our closets, dresser drawers, attics and garages, what of our hearts, our minds, and our spirits. This time of year provides an opportunity to confront and confess the disturbers of our peace, the blessings blockers we have submitted our will to as the habit of remaining in our comfort zones. 

"I have learned that the person I have to ask for forgiveness from the most is myself. You must love yourself. You have to forgive yourself." ~ C. JoyBell C.

Of course the beginning of this lightening, confronting, and confessing starts in the full acceptance and forgiveness of the self. It is impossible to clear the heart, the mind, and the spirit without taking this step. Showing compassion toward ourselves aids us in shedding our old garment heavy laden with self condemnation. Self love is ripe with the energy of freedom.

Embrace this season of inner spring cleansing and awaken the spirit of renewal from within.

Place yourself upon the altar.

Are your heart, mind, and spirit in need of spring cleaning?
What do you need to clear a space for in your life?
Can you leave what is no longer a necessity upon the altar?

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Available Soon on Amazon!
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Always A Pearl

"There is a kind of strength that is almost frightening in a black woman. It's as if a steel rod runs right through the head down to the feet." ~ Dr. Maya Angelou

The Black woman is the manifestation of the Creator's Divine Mother energy. We are crafted according to His Original vision, the vessels through which He birthed civilization. Somehow we have lost sight of this Truth.

"Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined." 
~ Toni Morrison

The Word of God says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." As a Divine manifestation, let us return to the lessons of old and represent well the energy of our truest selves seeking to be reborn in us. 

As the fortunate Daughters of Genesis dust we are entitled to call upon our inherited legacy, the royal lineage of the great Ancestor Queens of Kemet. Cleopatra, the stateswoman and master of many languages and Nzingha, the great strategist and conqueror. Nandi, proud and resilient mother of Shaka and Tiye, wife of King Amenhotep whose inner strength and wisdom was of invaluable support to her husband. 

"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear that results from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been injured then we will not produce the pearl." ~ Stephan Hoeller

It is time to draw upon the strength of character in the women whose lives provide the blueprint for survival without rights and resources. Yes, our slave mothers whose stories we must never be made ashamed to share continue to fortify our courage. Their essence is yet alive in our veins. 

Sojourner Truth reminds us of our womanhood that commands the respect due us, Harriet Tubman, who journeyed tirelessly to give us back our stolen freedom. Mary McCleod Bethune made in roads so we could redevelop the brilliance of our minds through educational opportunity, and Sister Betty and Mrs. Coretta, shining examples of how to be a supportive help mate to our men when they heed the call of God to be a Moses for our people.

"The pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens." ~ Unknown

So what are we teaching our daughters?

Are we raising them in the awareness that the Breath of Life was first breathed into them and telling them of the glory perpetually coursing through our Being. Or have we become examples of degradation, teaching them to function in the anger and self loathing that threatens to destroy us from within and cause the great Mothers of our past to weep from the Zion shore that yet awaits us all. 

Let us Awaken. 

Let us return to honor and self love. Embracing the wholeness offered when we pursue a spiritual relationship with God above the blind heated chasing after unevolved men and other false ideals we think will complete us. Let us see our bodies as vessels of Healing Light not playgrounds committed to folly and foolishness. Let us begin to study to show ourselves approved, rededicating our minds to higher learning and creative development that will empower our children and elevate our people once more.

Never forget we are that coveted black pearl, the Sacred sun kissed Mothers of the Earth. Recall that we nourish our children twice, first from the womb of our loins and then from the womb of our minds. Let us commit once again to our Becoming. A collective positive elevation as we transform in mind, body, and spirit.

Black Woman, heal thyself and reclaim your place. The daughters of the world are watching. Be a pearl. 

Always a pearl.

"Dipped in chocolate, bronzed in elegance, enameled with grace, toasted with beauty. My lord, she's a black woman." ~ Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan

Creating Sacred Space

"Peace is a sacred space within, it is the temple of our internal landscape. We are free to visit it, whenever we seek sanctuary. Underneath the chaos of everyday living, peace is patiently awaiting our discovery ... go within." ~ Jaeda DeWalt

My children hail from the "we just loud" tribe. As a creative, I agree with Aaron Powell when he says, "there's nothing worse than being violently jerked away from creativity." It is imperative I find time and space to connect with solitude and having a busy household makes it difficult to find sacred space.

Though accomplishing my daily writing goals is more about the habit of discipline than waiting for inspiration when Seshat makes a surprise appearance, I must retreat immediately to hear what she has to share. 

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again." ~ Joseph Campbell

My meditation corner has provided sacred space for my prayer and communion time with the Creator. It is where I go to be still, study, listen, and wait. Though I journal during these personal altar calls, I do not work on my writing projects there. 

During the school year, my children make a steady foot path through my office study to access the computer, printer, and anything else that might suit their home work needs. This being the case, I have need for a private corner where I may receive inspiration uninterrupted. My project for the coming week is to work at setting aside a space just for this purpose.

Yet even when the availability of a physical space proves inconvenient, the Creator is ever present within me and my sacred space is wherever I am. 

This truth holds fast. 

Do you have a desire to create sacred space?
To where do you retreat to be still and listen before the altar of your heart?

"Sometimes the muse comes in, more often she does not. But she can never claim that she has not found me waiting in the right place." ~ Peter Prange

Keep Living

"People never learn anything from being told. They have to find out for themselves." ~ Paulo Coelho

My Grand Mother.

I believe I will never meet anyone smarter. Yes she was Grand, always ready with a pearl of wisdom.

In the shine of her firm, loving correction I expressed through the prism of an untested ego mind my unlimited knowledge. "Keep living," she would say, "sometimes you just have to bump your head and Grandmama will be here to pick up the pieces." 

Mind you, I was a college graduate. Fortunately, my Grand Mother knew more in her 5th grade education than I could glean from any book. She had allowed her life experiences to grow her into a useful guiding spirit in the earth plane. 

She returned to the Ancestors almost 20 years ago, yet she still speaks to me: 

"A chain can't rattle by itself. Your heart doesn't have any brains. Tongues don't come with an eraser. Careful, God has the power to show you who He is anytime He feels like it. Sometimes you just have to keep quiet and listen. The next time somebody gives you their ass to kiss, remember that we don't kiss ass. You won't see what I'm trying to tell you until you have your own children."

"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child." ~ Proverbs 22:15

At varying stages of life we find ourselves thinking and behaving in ways that are "foolish". My daughter is, at fourteen, an authority on all things seen and unseen. As I am still growing through my "foolishness", it is now my turn to help her navigate the waters of hers. The child inside us is still progressing through the stages of awakening.

When we are open and mindful to receiving incoming wisdom, the lessons are absorbed with minimal shock to the system. But sometimes we just have to bump our heads.

As my Grand Mother would say, "Keep living."

Who is the smartest person you have ever known?
Have you bumped your head recently?
From what episode of "foolishness" are you awakening?

"How many things have to happen to you, before something occurs to you." ~ Robert Frost

The Intuitive Healing of Nature

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order." ~ John Burroughs

For weeks, my sister was stalked by bees. I suggested she look into the significance of bees and what this phenomena might communicate. 

Working full time, launching a business, and starting work on a Master's, she had begun feeling scattered and was concerned she had taken on too much at once. Enter the bumble bee, which reminds us we can accomplish the impossible. Recall that a bee's body is too heavy for its wings, though someone forgot to tell bumble bee. 

At a time of deep despair in my life my tears rained like acid upon my heart and I felt I was being burned alive in my pain. My losses were profound ones. And as Earth lights who had kept me secure and grounded, providing anchorage to my existence began to transition back into stardust, the agony of my grief spiraled me into a dark night of depression to which I could see no end. My only comfort was music and meds to help me sleep. 

Though I had always felt a close affinity with animals, especially horses and cats, I soon discovered I was being visited by dragonflies.  

"Animals are not only beholders of great beauty, but they are also beholders of ancient wisdom." ~ Molly Friedenfeld

Native American culture says, dragonfly is the symbol of departed souls. Dragonfly draws near when we are stuck in attempts to adapt to new situations. They are a symbol of joy and rebirth coaxing us open to Light and new life. Sensing my desperate need for comfort, a dragonfly sat on my window for hours at a time and between restless bouts of weeping and dozing, I would wake to see that dragonfly was there. 

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." 
~ Psalm 34:18 

The Creator attends to the needs of His children through means both natural and supernatural. His Love is unconditional and His resources unlimited. Through the gift of the dragonfly He proved His omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent care and comfort, just as His Word promises. 

Have you been privileged by recent animal visitations?
Are you open to the wisdom nature can provide?
What has nature been speaking to the circumstances in your life?

"All animals speak to those who listen. When we learn to speak with the animals they become our teachers, our friends, and our companions." ~ Ted Andrews

Checking Our Posture

"If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong." ~ Masaru Emoto

As life in the earth plane is about each soul becoming better there is truth in the words of the late Dr. Maya Angelou who has said, "When we know better, we do better." 

Padma is the Sanskrit word for lotus and the symbolism of the lotus points to the purity of consciousness and the journey of transformation from ignorance to awakening. 

"Be like a lotus. Let the beauty of your heart speak. Be grateful to the mud, water, air, and the light."  
~ Amit Ray

The lotus flower is a metaphor of the process of unfolding. Arising out of the unpleasant, less desirable spaces in our lives into a higher place of knowing. In the practices of yoga and meditation the lotus posture holds special significance that transcends time and religion.

In Ancient Egypt, the lotus was a symbol of the Sun, representing creation and rebirth. In Buddhist thought, the growth pattern of the lotus "signifies the progress of the soul through the waters of experience into the bright sunshine of enlightenment and as virtue develops, the blossom opens."

The Lotus Sutra speaks of the "great hidden treasure of the heart" and teaches that a heart open to change can transform every aspect of our lives. The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way, and that your body may keep well even as your soul keeps well and prospers." ~ 3 John 1:2

Our moment to moment experience lends itself to our "unfolding" and drives us toward awakening. Just as the body by way of consistent yoga practice moves into increased mastery of the lotus posture, through meditation the inner heart can rise out of difficulty and darkness to bloom and welcome the glow of enlightenment. 

Commit to the task of balanced "unfolding". Mind, body, and spirit. When we are open, we are learning. When we are learning, we are growing. When we are growing, we are becoming better.

Like the lotus flower, we can emerge from the mud awakened to the Light of love, compassionate wisdom and new life again, and yet again.

Check your posture. 

What areas of your life require an awakening?
Is your heart open to the changes required in your becoming better?
Are you prospering spiritually along with every other aspect of your life?

"Push the door open, the discovery could be great that when the rain is long gone the sun might shine." ~ Edward Malatji

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The Favor of Rejection

"Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence." ~ Henri J. M. Nourven

My daughter is a self motivated, hard driven violist committed to serious study and practice. Part of her journey involves working with excellent teachers and more seasoned players. Her attempts at these ventures are not always successful. And being turned down can translate into feelings of not being good enough. Encouraging her to see each opportunity as a learning experience is challenging but is a life lesson I would have her embrace early.

"It's common to reject or punish yourself when you've been rejected by others. When you experience disappointment from the way your family or others treat you, that's the time to take special care of yourself." 
~ Christina Enevoldsen

Rejection is another way the Holy Spirit redirects our energies toward new life and a transformed heart. It is often a brutal blow to the ego that bruises us sometimes in agonizing, seeming irreparable ways. We must be reminded that our Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. He has the blueprint for our lives and knows how to lead us to what is best. His no makes way for a bigger, better yes to unfold on our behalf.

The Creator knows where He can use us best as instruments of His love and healing. In addition, He knows the lessons we must learn to receive increased love and healing within. Always know that when it appears you are being rejected by someone or some circumstance in life God is seeking to bless you.

Know that His favor is always near.

Have you experienced a recent rejection?
When has favor been disguised as rejection in your life?
Are you internalizing rejection you receive from others?

"But a closed door leads to clarity. It's really an arrow. Because we cannot go through that door, we will go somewhere else. That somewhere else is your true life." 
~ Tama J. Kieves

What Are You Giving

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." ~ Mark 1:35

As the Bible makes mention of prayer and fasting, there are no specifics concerning the custom of Lent. For many believers, these 40 days are a symbolic remembrance of Yeshua's time spent in the wilderness overcoming temptations in false promises offered in the whisperings of Shaitan (Satan). Yeshua emerges victorious, empowered and fully surrendered to God's charge.

"Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I have done it thousands of times." ~ Mark Twain

Many are focused on "giving up" something as a sacrifice of atonement during the lenten period. I have decided to "give in". To listen for the areas within me where I have harbored unforgiveness towards myself. To make peace with the successes I have not celebrated, the blame I have not released, and to accept the gifts from the Creator that await to take root in my spirit. 

As I lay prostrate before the altar of Jehovah, I will surrender in faith as Abraham did and give in to the promise of His pardoning. I will make a sacrifice of self to return to self love, forsaking the whispers of Shaitan that seek to keep me tethered in the bondage of unworthiness. I will instead listen for the voice of wisdom that is love unconditional. I will seek the guidance of Almighty God in a more profound way, from a deeper place.

At the end of this 40 days I hope to emerge purged, strengthened and girded in the full armor of God. Renewed and fit for battle once more. There is still much healing work to be done.

What do you need to give up or give in to during this season of reflection?
Are you willing to sacrifice the parts of self in need of healing upon the altar?

"Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me." ~ Psalm 51:10

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