Love Thursday

Happy Love Thursday

Heart Opening

This is my shout from the rooftop:  I love  Jen Lemen!  Every visit to her world becomes an opportunity to open my heart and connect.  Jen inspires dreams and supports the birth of hope everywhere.  After years of holding her dream in balance with her mothering, Africa is now knocking on her front door.  Please support her yes.

In the spirit of dreaming freedom for us all…

 

Sacred Life Sunday: Small Miracles

My 9 year-old son, Noah, erupted into the house from baseball practice.  He was obviously in mid-interaction with my husband, Alex, who was still in the garage. 

 ”Dad.  Dad.  Dad!” Noah called over what sounded like rumblings of lecture.  Noah’s hand became a stop sign aimed at the garage door. “Dad, hold on a second! I hear you!  Okay?  I got it.  It’s a school night, no friends over.  I hear your no, okay?”

A muffled “Great!” came from the garage and then nothing.

Noah approached for a hug.  I couldn’t resist commenting, “Wow, nice job of hearing Papa.” 

Noah said, “Yeah.” Then he squeezed me tighter.  “I’m sorry I didn’t hear your no earlier today, Mom.”  I squeezed him back, ”It’s true, you didn’t.  Thanks for noticing and saying sorry.”

He pulled away and threw me a grin, “Everyone says you gotta fight fight fight to get what you want.  Sometimes it’s hard to know when to let it go.”

Amen.

Yes. Thank you.

As a spiritual woman and mother of two who has been growing her worklife alongside her kids, the last 13 years has seemed like one long juggling lesson.  The path of caring for all my beloveds while tending to my individual needs has generated a constant awareness of balance.  

The practice of balance involves tangible issues like who is taking my son to baseball practice while my daughter has hip hop (and somewhere in here we need to eat dinner, go grocery shopping and walk the dog!) to introspection about how I can cultivate peace in the midst of this full life.  Balance is a foundational part of practical spirituality for me.

Because balance has been so big for me, when I visited Grace over at The Wild Pomegranate  and read Balance I was surprised to realize I haven’t been contemplating balance lately.  Instead, I’ve been focusing on integration.   In a comment to Grace, I wondered about a conversation between balance and integration.  Grace often inspires me and this time her direct encouragement  sparked something in me.  It has felt big all week.

So, Grace, I am saying yes to a conversation between integration and balance.  I’m not sure where it will go from here but I’d like to begin by saying thank you for noticing.  Thank you, Grace.

Here’s to the learning from each other in the blogesphere.

Sacred Life Sunday: Inspiration

My dear friend/family Pam and I were on the phone talking about the latest email going around regarding Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain researcher who shares the epiphany she had in the midst a massive stroke at a recent TED conference. 

If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth all 20 minutes.

While discussing Dr. Jill’s insight about the left and right brain hemispheres, Pam referenced Grandma Agnes  Baker Pilgrim the eldest member of The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers saying, “Grandma Aggie says we need to learn how to move from the head to the heart.  Maybe we don’t even have to travel that far!”

I liked that and Pam said I could pass it on.

Integration

When funding for Homestyle Midwifery was cancelled and I completed my full time job as coordinator in July of ‘07, I needed to replenish from the experience.   Homestyle’s absence created space for a new unknown regarding my work life and the only direction was a whispered word:

Integration. 

I found myself hibernating; even when I wanted to emerge illness kept me down.  In the quiet I began writing non-fiction again.  Then in November of ‘07 my mentor friend suggested I start a blog and quickly I was amazed. 

Around the same time people approached asking for input regarding different aspects of their businesses.  I was puzzled.  Who?  Me?  Then I started looking back on the last 15 years of communication and organizational support I’ve offered small businesses.  

Still, I was a bit resistant.  How did this potential avenue relate to my writing and healing work?  More invitations arrived.  As a follower of synchronicity I started saying yes and noticed how many parts of myself appeared during one “business” interaction–the communicator, organizer, writer, editor, energy reader, personal processor, visioner and even the sacred dancer.

Did integration mean I was to create a new business? 

Almost simultaneously I learned that a personal essay is about to be posted on a national website (more on that soon). 

Some truths seem as close as the tip of my nose, yet in actuality, looking too hard leaves me crosseyed with a headache!  Perhaps because some truths are more powerfully felt than seen.  

The moment I heard about the essay being posted, I was suddenly transported from an either/or story about the direction of work (businesswoman versus healing practitioner versus writer) to another place.  In this new land, I could accept–and celebrate–all parts of myself.  Saying yes to a new aspect didn’t make me less.  In that moment, I felt integration as a state of  wholeness.

I hope to be able to take up permanent residence in the land of integration.  But whatever happens, I am grateful to have found a place here in the blogesphere to keep exploring and connecting. 

In the spirit of yes, I am welcoming  Staci Boden Consulting to Practical Spirituality as another opportunity to discover how insight and everyday moments offer meaning.  It seems fitting because after all, practical spirituality is ultimately about the journey along the way. 

What is whispering in your ear?