Space where I don't feel like a Space Cadet!

The space where I feel fully attentive, fully present in whatever or whomever I'm engaging with... I notice there is a special kind of joy, one of feeling very alive, yet calm and connected...

I find I often live for these moments... And now I begin to wonder how to open up more often to such moments...

Perhaps that's why I'm drawn to certain people... Somehow they can help trigger off or help me enter into that calm and connected space... where everything feels like it slows down a little bit... an alteration in time and the feeling of presence...

Why I Love to Practice

There's something magical that happens through concentrated persistent effort... With faith, changes happen, sometimes too little to notice in the moment... But after sustained effort, something we once could not do, suddenly becomes a reality... What was hoped for and imagined, springing to life, coming to fruition. A beautiful moving tune once out of reach, now flowing with life: Expression and communication heightened. A space for communion opens...

Putting Our Entire Being into Each Note

I was watching a google vid featuring Jake Shimabukuro, and while speaking to the audience he mentioned his efforts of putting all of his focus and energy into each of his gestures/strums/movements... essentially letting his essence or being flow throw the movement in the moment, concentrating on staying in that space...

I feel inspired, and hope to learn to put more of myself into those special moments... letting the energy that surges forth from me flow, touching and communicating with the unseen in all of us... I hope to learn to infuse more into each note, each moment... I want to learn to be more present when trying to connect...

Celebrating Life

For the most part I tend to take each moment for granted, not fully acknowledging the randomness of it all. The last few months I keep seeing people I know unexpectedly lose someone...

There are aspects of our lives that are out of our hands... Instead of saying "life is too short" I now find myself saying "Life is too random"...

At this moment, the randomness is a reminder for me to Celebrate Life more... moment to moment... as best as I can...

The words "Happy Birthday" or "Congratulations" seem to take on new added meaning after seeing so much loss around me...

Although I say all of this now... I find I'm easily forgetful when it comes to celebrating each of life's special moments...

It's my hope that I'm able to remember as best as I can...

Deep Sighs...

Today I sigh deeply... Sighing at what was... and now sighing at what is...
Situations change... what I wish to hold on to.... sometimes slipping away...

All I have left is the gratitude from the short moments in the sun...
Thank you for sharing that with me...

NVC Card Game: Core Need?

I am feeling Sad because I yearn for Harmony both for myself and for others.

Language of the Heart

It seems like finding different means of hearing the hearts of others, as well as mine... And also learning to speak from the heart via many mediums, words included... This seems like a constant area of continued exploration for me...

Lately I've come across Marshall Rosenberg's ideas of Nonviolent Communication... I feel the listening skills adds an entire new layer of listening to the hearts of others. Though at the same time I still find I get frustrated because of my need to be competent with the material so that I can better contribute to life, as Marshall would say. Allowing beings To Be, and allowing myself To Be, still remains a struggle.

As above, as below. As below, as above... The language we use with others, and the energy we use with others, is the same energy we use with ourselves. There is no separation. Any type of aggression in either direction creates life-alienating energy and language. To continue to speak and listen with the heart feels like a path toward freedom.

Contemplating "What is likely my highest goal?"

The repeated themes in photos I take or writing I partake in suggest... I want to learn To Freely Love with an open heart free of tinted lenses, free of the hardened shells that prevent proper seeing. I want to be able to see with clarity, the essence that exists in others, and learn to hear the deep inner callings. I want to learn to attend to that depth, so that the beautiful light within another is reflected back at them, so that they too can appreciate their own beauty...

What is Mourning?

Today I ask myself what mourning is... I'm thinking it's a celebration of something we loved dearly, but now have lost. Through our grief we show our gratitude at how we've been touched by whomever or whatever it is we mourn...

Moon Light

This is the way of being I seek...
That of soft reflective light,
so that others may see their own light,
and be calmed by the beauty of seeing oneself...
Seeing the inner-radiance that shines from within..
Honoring the light shared in between...

What is Love?

I don't know what love is
But I know I love you the way poets love
The words that flow through me are vestiges
They are shrines
They are symbols of my continued adoration

Evening Stars

And the Sun sets
Now I know which direction I must go
The Evening Stars beckon me
So much to explore
So much to take in
But I secretly hope to fall asleep
And to awaken to the warmth I long for

Invitation

What if we were able to hear every word or see every interaction as an invitation, as an opportunity to share in the inner life of another?

Mental Constructs and the Effects on the Psyche?

I've began to ponder mental constructs and how they possibly affect the psyche. I remember as a young child in 2nd grade, I recall my teacher suggesting to my mom that I participate in a program called Project Self-Esteem. It was a program featuring Harmony the Bear or something like that, and I guess it was supposed to teach young kids about Self-Esteem. Back then I didn't really want to participate, and opted not to. I also didn't know anything about the concept of Self-Esteem: It wasn't a concern, and it wasn't important at all.

I also recall as a very young child, grownups talking about me, giving me labels. One label I consistently heard was "Timid." I had no concept of what "Timid" was. I knew I was quiet, and that it implied some state of being quiet. But over time as I got older, I learned this concept, this word, this label is associated with a lack of strength. I remember being quiet as a child, but I don't ever recall thinking about being weak or being strong. Those ideas never crossed my mind until I kept getting older and older.

The word "anxiety" I never really understood until high school when I started to experience uncontrollable sweating and nervousness in front of others. The idea of "Self-Love" I never knew until my hormones kicked and I experienced not getting the person I wanted to want me back. As a child "Self-Love" was never a needed concept, it was never even a thing. It only became a thing when the idea of Self-Loathing arrived into my consciousness. The constant needing of approval from others created these new ideas of "Self-Love" and "Self-Hate." I wonder if these are even real things, or if they're mental constructs that arose out of our methods of controlling each other (and attempts at controlling ourselves) through reward and punishment. Without the aggression we show to ourselves and to others, I don't think the idea of "Self-Love" would even exist. It's a word that implies of a lack within, when there may have not been a lack to begin with. Our perceived lack may be a result of the punishment and reward system that we've been taught throughout our lives.

And ironically a new kind of mental construct or paradigm is needed in order to return to a state more similar to childhood before we learned of so many different concepts and labels: A mental construct that relies on intrinsic forces from within.