Welcome to the art/life trail and to the world of 2017!

This is a critical year for taking a stand, having a vision. Let’s be willing to move forward without fear and without having the who, the how, the when, the why or the where in place. Sounds unsettling and confounding…also highly opportune for new levels of creative collaboration.

The Great Escape, Drozda, Acrylic/canvas, 48 x 36″, private collection

We are now several weeks into the Mystery quadrant. This 90 day period takes us into the realm of the deep feminine so that we might restore, refresh, rejuvinate and renew. We keep in mind that the spring and summer are primarily active/masculine/get it done…grow, grow, grow moon/months. During fall and winter the feminine energy rises to support us in resourcing inner strength, intuitive awareness and the urge to midwife a creative birth. As we round the curve into winter the 12 weeks are infused with Mystery.

The Mystery is the unknown, the unexplored, the never felt.

Mystery: noun

1. something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.

“the mysteries of outer space”

What does Mystery mean to you?

During this cycle (December 29 – January 27)  the energy offers relaxing into the deep inner world where the quality is akin to loosening resistance, opening to intuitive guidance and generally lightening up. To help move in that direction take a moment to regularly sense into the pattern of your breath.

Breathwork Work Wonders

Pause a moment and create breathing space.  Acknowledge Renewed Vitality.  Each breath moves you into the uncharted territory of the Mystery. Explore. Be a pioneer.

Enter the Mystery. The breath directs your communication. Keep in mind that your words matter. What you say to yourself throughout this month and all through this year will continue to grow (or rot). 

Honoring the Roots of the Mystery

With each post between winter solstice and spring equinox I share two entries from my book Twenty Two Prayer Poems for Care Givers…

The Prayer/Poems were written while I was a hospice volunteer. The words that came as the result of my experience helped me to breathe in the Mystery. Choices helped me to take wise and good care of what Tibetan Buddhist’s call this “precious human life”.

Living in the Present

This holy instant I give to You, be You in charge.
ACIM

Dear One,

There are times like this when I feel insecure.
I am willing to see this situation differently.
When I imagine my response to the experience
It seems as though my need to defend
comes up so strongly.
I want others to see me as good and qualified.
I feel like screaming from the rooftop that
I AM OKAY!
And yet I admit that at this moment I wonder
If I have what it takes.

I find my thoughts wandering into the future.
I see the suffering around me and I question:
Will I be able to age in good health? 
Will I be surrounded by love and support?
I offer up these fears to You.
I ask for a new view in the present moment.

I ask
that You send in all of the Mighty Companions.
I ask that They accompany me.
I ask that They drench my thoughts in gentle delight.

Release me from the pain of imagining that I am
not enough.
Settle me into the arms of the Ones Who Care.
Allow me the space and the trust to
radiate a new idea.
Give me the joy of possiblity!
Help me to remember Your teaching,

This holy instant I give to You.
For I would follow You, certain that Your direction
Brings me peace.
 If I need a word You bring it to me.
If I need a thought You bring it to me.
If I need but stillness and a gentle quiet mind
These are the gifts I will receive of You.
You are in charge by my request.
You hear me and You answer me…
For You speak for my Creator and
I am my Creator’s holy child.

Thank You in advance,

Amen

Harmony and Harmlessness

I pledge to do no harm.

Dear One,

It feels as though I need to protect myself.
It feels as though I am being attacked.
Wherever I go at this time it feels as though
I am an outsider.

I am bereft of hope and I fear that all of my attempts to
Learn to walk in balance are for naught.
I look about me and try as I may to see the beauty
My eyes seem magnitized
to the pain and suffering and ugliness.

Humbly I ask that You
Give me new eyes in this moment.
Remind me that this world is all an illusion.
Remind me that nothing real can be threatened.

Teach me to forgive the world.
Teach me to forgive myself.
Show me how to correct my thinking.
Bring me back to balance.

I am willing to step back today and let
You lead the way.
I am willing to be taught…
There is another way of looking at the world.
I am willing to give over my fear.

Again and again throughout this day
I will be still an instant and go home.
I will listen to Your gentle guiding voice. 

Amen

Passing of the Dream, Drozda, Acrylic/board, 12 x 14″, private collection

As we begin 2017 we’re in the last quarter of the Natural Year. It’s time now for clearing away the cluttering thought forms and emotional baggage that would make us feel that we are not prepared for what will be meeting us on the trail up ahead.

We’re Moving through the Mystery of a deep inner landscape and these coming weeks demand a lot from us. The Mystery is naturally difficult and impossible to understand.

What’s beneficial now is resting in a hammock of restorative dreams.

Isn’t it odd that resting can seem so out of reach, often like a burden!

The weeks leading up to the spring equinox give us time to dream the dream. There is deeply rooted power in 15 minutes a day invested in quiet reflection, piddling, gazing, focused breathing, daydreaming, doodling, playing, reading poetry, birdwatching, napping.

Rest in a way that feels natural for you. Imagine that you are being resourced and rejuvenated in the arms of the deep feminine. Imagine that you are safe and cozy, nesting deep down in her roots. Imagine resting in the silent deep dark. Feel into the power of Being.

Notice, without needing to fix, how much resistance you feel to taking time and making space in your busy life to simply Be.

I invite you to share this post with your dear ones so that together you might collaborate on deepest good care. We have 11 weeks of traveling through the restorative time of instinctive renewal…I’m so glad that you are here. 

See you next time on the art/life trail.