So Much Is To Be Found In The Preparations

We prepare for many different things in our lives. Everything from the arrival of a guest, moving to a new location, a favorite meal, a special event, or even the ending of relationship. Preparations help us be more fully present in our lives. They help us move through painful memories or to engage in positive ones.

As I prepare for the arrival of family for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I am aware of the way preparations that feeds my soul. As I prepare the guest rooms for my returning family, I lovingly create a familiar haven for them to step into to feel embraced, welcomed and at home. As I prepare the menu for our family meals, I am sure to include favorites of my children to please their palates and tease their memories. As I give thought to the gifts for the following holiday season, I bring loving and appreciative energies into the gift choices, enjoying the anticipation of the recipients pleasure when they are gifted.

The preparations add to my delight, my connections and my intentions. My soul awakens with delight as I plan and create. My heart is full as I fix and fuss and enjoy the beauty about to unfold. My mind recalls memories of holidays past and is filled with appreciation and warm thoughts.

Preparations help us garner the energies for the moment. Sometimes those energies help us move through a difficult situation. Sometimes the energies help us to remember the important details. And then there are those times that the energies help us to connect to the needs of others and be sure that we tend to ours as well.

Preparations, an important part of living a full life. An important part of being present and open to the possibilities. When we are prepared, it is that much easier to embrace what the moment brings us. We feel complete, whole and empowered. We move with the flow and embrace the gifts in the moment. Even in times of loss or disappointment, we can be prepared enough to be present and in the discomfort, find our truth.

We never can really know all that we need to be prepared for, but if we move through our days seeking our truth, aligning our intentions, stepping forward in integrity and holding love in our heart...everything seems to flow as it should. Everything we need is to be found in the preparations.

Blessings, Lisa

Present and Mindful

Thich Nhat Hanh once stated, "When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love." When I read these words, my soul soars with understanding. I have come to a place in my life where I fully understand this. This is not to say that there are days when I find the challenge in the act of mindfulness. We all do.

But life changes when I live this way. The saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff" rings in my ears. There is no need to. Instead the focus is placed upon the moment I am in, not the one left behind or the one to come. In that moment, my focus sharpens and I begin to see life differently. Without projection I place all my energies into what I am doing now, who I am with now, what I am saying now, and who I am being now. When I do that the door of peace and grace swings open. Struggles do not seem so large. Solutions are easier to find. Beauty is obviously present and my heart sings.

The work of the soul is timeless. When I fully embrace this concept I recognize there is little to be gained in projecting my worries or having relentless regrets. My soul is able to  flow throughout the layers of my energies and my lifeline to blend the lessons and gifts and love designed for me. I simply need to be present and embrace. To open myself up to the potency and expansiveness that is found in the now.

Riding the surface in life is not an option for me. I want to dive deep, dig deep and breathe deep. I want to explore the layers and pull out the weeds, dig up the roots and uncover the treasures. I want my moments to be filled with joy, surrounded by peace, coated with acceptance and open to potential. The only way I have found to create this is to live mindfully and remain present.

Blessings, Lisa

The Natural Response

Life has its cycles; historical, rhythmical, and natural. I have noticed so do I. The cycle that I have been honoring of late is the way in which my life and my body mirrors the cycles of Nature. 

Nature serves me as a mirror, reflecting to me patterns and actions that resonate within me. As we move through the transition month of November I feel myself moving into my preparations for the winter months ahead. I notice my time and energies are focused on wrapping up projects that were begun this autumn. I bring them into a place of closure, most complete. Those that need the respite of winter to lay dormant and percolate in the slower months of pause will be resurrected in the spring to see what will be birthed.

I feel my body transitioning as well. I notice shifts in my sleep cycle as I retire earlier and awaken before the sun, hot cup of tea in hand and energies at a slower but steady pace. I feel a longing to hunker down, to not be among the crowds, but rather walking in the snow, listening to the trees creaking and swaying or sitting before the fire meditating with the flames. My fuel choices for my body shift with the seasonal availability as well. No longer will the fresh greens from the farmers market be available, but instead I will turn to the root vegetables and stored seeds and grains. Dig deep the roots remind me.

Dig deep and use this time to do some inner work, because now is the time. I will visit the goddess Inana and do down to the depths to return with the freedom found and the treasures to welcome to the awakening of spring. I will sit with Hestia, goddess of the hearth and spend time with family building the inner relations that memories are made from as we celebrate the many holidays and family birthdays of the winter months.

It feels as though my body and soul have a natural response to the changing seasons that surround me. I use them as reminders, mirrors and guides. I feel the cycles weave through my days and months and years. I recall the seasonal changes of my life over time and find comfort in the rhythmic flow that is there.  

Using Nature as a map to guide and direct me feels like a natural tool. Her consistency brings direction. Her wisdom brings assurance. Her beauty brings wonder. As winter in New England begins to present itself, I look forward to the practices and the patterns that will surely come as well as the wonder and delight that will be found as I go to my inner cave to just Be.

Blessings, Lisa  

Is There A Duty To Serve?

Often there is great pride to be found in doing our duty, in answering the call and bringing our best self to the duty for others. But sometimes people have a different response to being told it is their duty. For some it feels forced, not authentic or genuine. 

To be in service to others and to have it be a a beautiful and intention filled gift, one's heart needs to be in it. The energy behind our service or duty to others is the primary gift. The results will be far more impacting, inspiring, supportive and beautiful if this energy comes from a place of fullness and joy. For it to be a gift to others, the genuine intention held with desire and love needs to be present.  Anything less, the purpose is lost.

So how can we be sure that our service to others is a heart filled duty? Perhaps it comes down to giving ourselves permission to gracefully say no.  Putting ourselves first sometimes feels uncomfortable for some. But we must be sure to tend to our own needs with as much love and intention as what we bring to others. When our heart is full, our body is whole and our soul's messages are heard, we come from a place of fullness and are able to give without conditions. We respond with the most beautiful Yes.

Pearl S. Buck once said, "To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart." Understanding that it is an act of self-love to look after our needs before we take on those of others is an important part of giving and being in service. It is not a selfish act.

Serving with intention and integrity will insure that the bringing of our devotion to our service will be delivered with love and positivity to all that receive it. Being in service to others needs to be fluid and gentle, filled with our passion and our grace and hold the best of our energies and insights.

Blessings, Lisa