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Transience on a
Coneflower
A beautiful, large coneflower soaked up the
summer sun in our front garden. One day I noticed a
substantial white spider on the coneflower. She had a large
white body, but not large enough to be intimidating. She also
had a red racing stripe down each side, which gave her a
little more pizazz than an ordinary spider.
One day a bee began buzzing around her.
I wondered what would happen and was fascinated to see her
shoo the bee away in very short order.
If I got too close to her she would
scoot under the flower and hang out there for a while. She
seemed to be a very self-possessed spider. She was also
positioned in such a way that she was the first thing I saw
when I walked out the front door.
One day I saw the bold spider and a bee
hanging underneath her flower. "Oh no!" I said to myself
thinking the bee had come back for her. Upon closer
examination, I discovered that she was just fine watching over
her latest prey. She seemed to me to have a very strong and
steadfast presence, even if it was just on a
coneflower.
Well, after I enjoyed her company for a
few weeks, one day she was gone. Gone? Yes, without a trace.
No web. No small footprints. No hiding under a flower. She had
vanished.
So, there before my eyes was the transience
of life. Here one day and gone the next. Isn't that true for
all living things? And what do we do with
this uncomfortable truth? I think we live more slowly,
smell the flowers more often and appreciate what is important
to us.
Copyright 2008 All Rights
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Slow Down - Summer is Almost Over
Chronicles of Change
III
This is the third installment of a new
column which will appear in each issue of E-News.
I saw an ad today saying, "Hurry! summer is almost over".
I thought, "Slow down! summer is almost over. Why would we
want to hurry and then miss it altogether?" Hurrying all
of the time is a behavior, promoted by our culture, that
doesn't serve us. There are many others.
It is a
good time to let go of expectations. These are unprecedented
times. Consider:
- The worldwide increase in food prices
- The mortgage meltdown and foreclosures
- The emergence of India and China
- The shifts in Latin American governments
The list goes on and on and all of this is occurring at the
same time. The rate of change has increased. Along with this
the pace of our lives has increased as well.
It is no longer realistic to expect business as usual. If
you think of life as a board game, it is now a game that is
morphing and changing with increasing rapidity. If you think
of it as a basketball game, then the hoop keeps moving around
and people are changing teams in the middle of the game. It
can be difficult to maintain one's center and focus amidst
this dizzying array of change.
This is where meditation, prayer, your soul mission, time
in nature, creative time, service work, and writing music and
poetry come in. The more firmly you reside in who you are and
the more you embrace who you are becoming, the less often you
will be off balance.
You must be strong in who you are and strong in your
body to maintain this center. This is not to say that you need
perfect health because you don't. I recommend striving for
outstanding health and vitality and being strong in the body
you reside in today. This means no places that are lacking
consciousness. All body parts must be on line and connected to
your center and your energetic flow of life force. You want a
place inside yourself to go home to when things are chaotic,
frightening and unpredictable.
It is tempting to turn to those around us to help
find ourselves, but many people are so filled with their own
fear that they cannot help us. They may not admit it, but they
need help themselves.
Having a solid center inside
yourself that you can count on is a comfort in troubling
times. I think this is what will sustain you best in the days
and years to come. It gives you a solid place from which to
evaluate and make decisions.
I have a private
practice in which I offer support and guidance with just
these kinds of issues. In addition, as a service to my
clients, I do 3 short healing meditations for them each
week. Click here for more
information and to schedule an appointment.
Copyright 2008 All Rights
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Guitar
Class
South Bellevue
Community Center
This is a beginning guitar
class in which you will learn the basics of playing chords,
strumming patterns, finger picking, music theory, improving
and more. Ages 16+ are welcome in this fun, effective and
light hearted class.
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Women's Guitar
Circle
Strum Your Bliss - Women's Guitar Circle continues
on Wednesday evenings in Bellevue. This circle is suitable for
beginning and intermediate guitar players. We work on reading
musical notation, playing songs as an ensemble, basic music
theory, strumming patterns, fingerstyle and scales and
improvising. It is a spirited, joyous and supportive group.
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Book
Recommendation
My Grandfather's Blessings by Rachel Naomi
Remen, MD
"I've spent many years learning how to fix life, only to
discover at the end of the day that life is not broken.
There is a hidden seed of greater wholeness in everyone and
everything. We serve life best when we water it and
befriend it. When we listen before we act."
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