Tapestry Threads

For the past week, travel took me to Columbus, Ohio.  While the focus of this trip was the ordination ceremony of my beautiful and compassionate daughter, Lisa; it was very apparent that the trip also offered a time of reviewing the tapestry threads of my life.  

The first morning's walk along paths at Mingo Park in Delaware, Ohio---where I lived for many years---was followed by a customary drive by all the places that filled our lives while the girls were growing up.  There was a distinct feeling of Ariadne's thread showing me where I had been---that I could go into crevices and crannies of long ago without worry that I might not find my way back.  It didn't take much to reconnect with how blessed I feel....how perfect it all is, the challenges, too.  I wept tears of joy in knowing that the way is always guided, in knowing the threads are strong and varied.

This trip quickly filled up with family and friends' time----many reconnections occurred during this week long visit.   Each rendezvous renewed my sense of how meaningful these people are in my story and how layered, nuanced and beautifully detailed the tapestry of my life is.  Some friends I had not seen in recent years, but we pick up as though no time has passed.  How comforting that always is!!

In this time of reinventing my life path going forward, it was enormously relevant to remember and renew what has supported and given meaning to all the years already walked.  It is clear that these magnificent people go with me into the days ahead. Thank for this!!

Are you experiencing, right now, a renewed sense of the threads of the tapestry of your life?  What has shown up for you?

a murmuration of Starlings

http://vimeo.com/31158841

Enjoy the order that is embedded in the wildness of natural phenomenon...........heart opening!!

Thank you for sharing this Kaylynn!

Hear the Voice of the Heart---and SPEAK

November 5, 2011
It is blustery and snowing this morning.  On top of that, there was a power outage for almost four hours.  The house became very quiet---no major appliances or forced-air furnace humming, no phone or internet, no coffee pot brewing a warm cup, not even my own or another's voice.  Quiet.

When things are this still, the inner voice is more easily heard than on the typical morning.  What do you hear?  What part of you speaks?  And how might this serendipitous solitude reframe the inner dialogue?  It is so important, what we say inside....as what we feed inside manifests around us.  I want to be very careful about this inner dialogue; redirecting, if it sounds fearful, judging or confused. Hm?

A few weeks back the voices of many diverse and creative women were given space and time during the New Mexico Women Author's Book Festival.  Lots of time and lots of space!  It was an honor to be among this multitude of voices with Removing My Seed Coat and a brief talk on creating The Heart-centerd Garden.  Topics varied widely, and while this made the event interesting, what was most powerful was how each and all spoke from a knowing depth, including the inherent and essential questions in their topic and expertise.  With heart and mind entwined, each woman spoke from a place they know well and are skilled at commanding.  Witnessing woman after woman stand and speak from their deepest knowing is a healing experience.  This could be how we redefine leadership.  Some of this leadership is to raise important inquiries to the light of day...for often what we know from the heart center, is that answers come when we risk sharing and listening in equal measure.....and so we keep expressing, fleshing things out as we go.

What seems important to me today is that we find and offer our deep and heartful voices to the public discourse; even as we use our voice to shape our own thinking.  We are still figuring some of this out, i.e. how do we take present conditions and find it is really showing us the way to a higher quality of living...and I don't mean more stuff, square footage, etc.  What is at hand is more than just finding our next job, home, elected officials, but a way of life that reestablishes the common good.  We must not fail at this!

It is messy, this open and often chaotic discourse---no matter whether from the halls of government, the Tea and Coffee Parties, or the Occupy groups.  Hearing ALL the voices is essential in reinventing society for a sustainable path forward.   This is good; it has value.  I hope it stays messy for sometime.  Most of these voices have been way too silent for decades....and it is only by speaking from a heart/mind connection that we make progress.