5-7-5 is Worth A Million Sentiments....

 The Thinker

cerebral chaser
swallow me in your abyss
surrendered, I weep

Sena's Haiku:

Eyes Climbing the Skies
Empress, She stands tall, unscathed
Marvel at her feet...

 

 The Chef 

She concocts her love
Naked she lays, baring soul deep
On a plate--Feed Me!

Bearers of Good Will

"The pendulum of the mind swings between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong."
             -Carl Jung

In the last couple of days, had I deposited a nickel in some jar every time I heard someone talk about "right and wrong" or "good and bad" in the context of Osama Bin Laden's death and capture, I would very well be on my way to owning that Lamborghini I have been wanting! I am terrified by the callousness and insensitivity that is driving the celebration of the loss of a man's life--Osama or not!

I was inspired to capture this in the blog because it doesn't even appear that people are celebrating for the right reasons, if such a thing exists in this realm. Folks are running around in the streets not because of the potential and opportunity for peace and unification that this instance has provided, but because a "bad" man is dead. I cringe at the thought because as I watch American news anchors describe the terror that Osama instilled and the lifelessness he left in his path, I think about the turmoil, pain, violence, and havoc we leave in our paths everyday, especially as a nation masquerading as bearers of good will in places like Libya, Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, to name a few. We have very short attention spans and soon forget that America and Americans are often perceived as evil tyrants in many nations across the globe-we are the "BAD" man.

So as I watch people celebrate death and killings, and hear young children barely old enough to spell their names correctly, chant in laughter and glee because another man's life is lost, I writhe in my own skin and fear that we are fostering hatred--mini tyrants who may one day, shun difference or become intolerant pushers of bigotry and prejudice. We celebrate in the name of good/bad and right/wrong, and yet, disregard the fact that these dualities are often entirely based on perception and the lenses through which we observe the world--they are on opposite ends of the same spectrum. What makes sense to one may be nonsense to another, and yet, to call one thing right and the other wrong, may be arbitrary and rooted in some kind of false sense of being.

W .edge. D

Desire

      Willingness

                        Faith(ful)ness

                                             Hoping

                                                        Enduring  Patiently

                                                        Compromise
                                                        Doubt
                                                        Insecurity
                                                        Irrational
                                                        Fear
                                                        Faithless
                                                       Ambivalent
                                                       Stand Still--Removed from You
                                                                                                       
                                                                                       Exit Wound

                                                                                                      Reflective

                                                                                        Acceptance

                                                          Peeling the Layers

                                   Transforming

  Hopeful and Fearing

                                                   Breathing Mine Own Breaths

The Art of Love-Making

I grew up learning that Love is Patient, and Love is Kind; My Mother molded this notion into me-into different states of consciousness-I watched the practice of love unfold, manifest, and come into being within the spheres I took up space-my Sunday School teacher even repeated this intuitive, practical stance-yet in some moments, it seemed so foreign; still does!

While I have come to embody the imperfect art of love-making-of love creation in my heart, the piece that I sometimes am challenged by-the piece with which most of us struggle-is the notion and fact that Love does not insist on its own way; this point, my Sunday School teacher did not do such a great job embedding into my being-not because I do not buy into this concept, but because when I am busy compromising, who else is meeting me half way? And when does the art of compromise become an impediment in one's own world-a deleterious gene that mutates our circumstances-that morphs our selves--that shakes our understandings of who we are at the core?

Butterfly Love Creation; HD Wallpapers

While I am busy Making Love in My Heart--and NOT insisting on having my own way, am I gradually compromising my own integrity and values--to ensure that Love is Patient, and Love is Kind for those who are on the receiving end of this Gift? While I am diligently becoming a Master of this timeless, Love-Art Form, who is ensuring that my experience of Love is Patient and Kind?

Cradled

Collections from Hillcrest Chapel

Own this day, for it is yours. The universe is designed to cradle every step, to hold it perfectly, a harmonious fit, a lock and key. Unhinge the blockades that impede illumination through the flow of breath; Go within, and channel the sun's light and warmth, for the energy that rejuvenates the surface, is the same energy that replenishes strength, faith, hope--pure, perfect confidence.

Live into this day, and let thyself reflect the perfection in the universe. Accept flaws and know that for now, they mark your place in the carefully woven tapestry of metaphysical existence.

If Water Had a Daughter...

Image from Nature Harmony

If water had a daughter, would she flow through the cracks of a broken heart and seal open wounds with her pristine sealants? Would she wash away the salty tears that dry up on the visage--bringing life to one's spirit and carefully replenishing tear ducts like oases in the dearth of desert sand storms?

If water had a daughter, would she saturate every lysed cell with vitality, and seep through vessels, as oxygen diffuses through space in search of breaths to be inhaled--would she drown our beings in love and security, and resurface on the epidermis as beads of nourishment permeating into existence, the way the dew drops appear on springy blades of grass in search of new heights?

I do not know if water has a daughter, for I have not encountered her, and yet, I know that if water had a daughter, she would grow with me--I would wade inside of her and she would carry me without any judgments--no preconceived notions--and she would hold my hand with a certainty that dissipates all doubt--the mindless chatter that is self-doubt. I do not know water's daughter, but if water had a daughter, she would befriend me, from foam to wave. I would surf her peaks as she led me to her own mother at the ends of the earth--we would reach new horizons where her mother's belly meets the blissful tranquility of the sky, and we would reach new destinies.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

"My home is the home of peace. My home is the home of joy and delight. My home is the home of laughter and exaltation. Whoever enters through the portals of this home, must go out with gladsome heart. This is the home of light; whoever enters here must become illumined"- Baha'i Writings

 A life of consequence in my life, Sonya, posted the aforementioned quotation on her Facebook wall, and it completely encapsulated all that I had been feeling around the home, the notion of a haven-a safe dwelling that shelters my own templed being. 

When anxiety, question, resistance, and tension exist in the home, it is challenging to come to peace anywhere else in the world. To be able to rest one's head in a place of complete serenity is a true gift, and if turmoil exists anywhere else in one's life, they must work to disengage that discord before entering the walls of the home. The home is a place love, of comfort, of complete acceptance, and of spiritual healing. In this place occurs rejuvenation and illumination--the energy in the home may completely alter the flow of energy in one's body, syncopating with heartbeats, desires, and thoughts, grounding us into the earth and into our selves.

Layout Sparks: Jade Drago Serenity Glow

Let the energy in your home be the light that shines bright, that guides you through your days--let the energy in your home be that of complete calm and tranquility so it may transform your relationships with those who exist outside of you...

Fear of Flying

Fine Art America

I'm at a complete loss when people reject for what they so desperately yearn..when people repeat vicious patterns of destruction in order to maintain mediocrity, when people surround themselves with those who do not strive for anything greater in order to stay in an envelope of comfort, no matter how contrived. Why we sabotage our own successes, I do not understand, and yet it must be excused because it is part of the process. Bystanders are quick to judge because to the rest of the world, why wouldn't you want to escape cycles of violence that have served noone--does it not make the most sense to flee from the circumstances that have for so long challenged your ability to reach your fullest self?

This "fear of flying" is marked by second-guessing one's self, an anxiety stemming from a belief that the universe might reject us, even when we are showing up as our best possible selves. This limbo in which we exist, though exhausting, is often perceived as a haven, for it is comfortable and warrants no change, nor the need to do the work to overcome the inertia and build momentum towards our goals and successes.

I yearn for the day when we can gladly and openly accept that the universe does not work against us, it works in concert and is for us--it is opened to and for us...inhale this truth, and exhale an open-hearted, open-minded being. Release this into existence and free-fall into the possibility...

 

 

Under Construction

Image from Monitor Outlet

Spring is here; it sprung a while ago, and yet, on this day, on Easter, a day that marks resurrection, renaissance, rebirth, renewal, all that is beautiful about process--natural, man-made, or otherwise--I am reminded that I am Under Construction--we are all works in progress. And once we have a complete product, life may no longer be worth living!

I was reminded this morning that from captivity stems opportunities for deliverance--so in those situations where we feel shackled against our will, the key to the cuffs are inconveniently being hidden somewhere in the dungeon. People will have their expectations and their own versions of what your life should look like, and somehow, none of those scripts manifest as the film, starring you. Because human nature predisposes us to rejecting change, others are inclined to question or challenge who you have become, particularly when whom or what you have become is a confronting truth that reveals their own lack of growth and stagnation. Negativity breeds in spaces where people want you to be the same person you were when the foundation was being laid down, a weaker, smaller, less confident version of yourself, yet the beauty of being "under construction" is that you get to become bigger, better, magnanimous versions of the once fledgling structure.

This reminder is enough for me to keep pressing on, for I am continually under construction, until I am not, and those willingly accompanying me on this journey will undoubtedly be present when the scaffolding on the edifice comes down.

Renaissance : Friendship

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
  ~Albert Schweitzer

We all experience moments of insularity, where we retreat because it is easier to convince our hearts that we are completely alone or isolated, though our minds know better. Over the last year especially, I have learned to be okay with feelings of solitude, with the lonesomeness that sometimes accompanies growth and change. And yet, I have also realized that friendship, those friends who know exactly when to reach out, or those who know exactly what to say to get you off the edge right before you plummet, those friends make metamorphosis worth while.


In my solitude, I never forget that there are spirits walking the earth, spirits in my universe, who absolutely are holding me. So in living a life of consequence, I believe that "those people who rekindle the inner spirit" when that fire burns low, or goes out entirely, must absolutely come along for the journey, for the journey would not be the same without them, and in some cases, the journey may not even be possible without them. 


We must have those with whom we can share because it makes it all worth while--the heartache, the pain, laughter, serenity--infinite possibility, all makes more sense when in the solitude, we know that there is someone who regardless of whether or not they comprehend our circumstance, will show up, consistently and unyielding, wielding love and friendship as weapons of mass construction (of the heart and mind)...

Dedicated to D.M.P

Good Friday

Joyous Transformation: Love Dance; 2005

In the last few months, I have been moved to actively seek ways through which I may transform my life for the better. Oftentimes, experiences of trauma inhibit life, and we become drones of lifelessness and stagnation. The few times trauma becomes a tool of empowerment, self-reflection occurs, and we provide ourselves with opportunities to take accountability for our actions and meditate over how we contribute to our own circumstances, as we desperately seek light in the darkness: growth and transformation.

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that I would be embarking on this journey to document my process of self-love, self-care, reflection, and change. In honor of Good Friday, I read a few meditations in search of inspiration--the first set of words that drew tears were these:

"Rather than do the tough work of reflecting on our attitudes and actions, we simply do what we want and, if people are hurt in the process, we wash our hands, while claiming Christ’s forgiveness ... Rather than take responsibility for our brokenness and destructiveness – which would open us to the possibility of real transformation – we simply wash our hands and claim the forgiveness of Christ. It frightens me when Good Friday becomes the excuse which turns Christianity into an escape from responsibility and self-reflection" (Godspace; Washong Hands: A Reflection on Good Friday; April 19, 2011).

After meditating on this notion of self-absolution and acknowledging that it's sometimes easier to play the blame game or to wallow in feeling like a victim, I cried a little. I wanted to be proactive about the changes I sought for/in my life and was contemplating the multitude approaches I could take. Overstimulated and impacted by my inability to sit still, I visited Amherst College's website, and at this moment, I don't exactly remember why the interest, other than that my sister will matriculate in the fall, and I was curious. But of course, why I went to the website seems so irrelevant now in context; I sought for some truth or confirmation (subconsciously) and found it, or perhaps it found me--this is where I came across Amherst's "Lives of Consequence" campaign, which set off this chain reaction within: what is a life of consequence? Who has a life of consequence? How do I attain a life of consequence?...I decided to start this blog to track lives of consequence from which I (we) may learn, for we are all connected to one another and the universe, and this may be a way through which I may master my own life.

So in honor of Good Friday, I'm acknowledging that it is not enough to pray/meditate/reflect, whatever you prefer, and hope that whatever force with whom or which you are aligned will deliver you from yourself and your circumstance. The healing is in the ownership of accountability and taking responsibility for our own actions and circumstances, though difficult. The healing is in the awareness therein, and the proactivism that hopefully, follows the acknowledgment. It is no longer enough to wash my hands of the confronting truths and to claim the forgiveness of a larger force. For those of us who are Christians, or have some Christian values, or practice Christianity, for all of these classifications are different, let Good Friday be a day of reflecting on our brokenness from whence potential and transformation may come. For those of us who do not identify with Christianity in any way, let this day be a day of taking accountability for actions that may have resulted in less than optimal circumstances, for life often lives within the lifelessness and is waiting to break free!