Dear Wise Women,
The past few weeks have been intense, both in our circle, and outside. We have all felt the collective pain of the unbalanced masculine and unbalanced feminine in the world. Many of us have felt the impact of the recent full moon and its challenging energies. Several of us have been directly impacted by the death of a young boy in our community. Last week we courageously dove into vulnerability and it couldn’t have been more timely.
This week, I felt with resounding clarity that it was time to focus on gratitude, but not in the love and light kind of way that has the tendency to sweep over the darkness. No, I wanted to explore and feel the real energy of gratitude. The essence of it. Not the “be grateful for your dinner, there are children starving in Africa” kind of gratitude, but something much more.
The readings I chose to share helped point us in the right direction, but it was the sharing circle that really blew the roof off! The insights each of you shared were so profound.
My question has continued to resonate and deepen within me: “I wonder if gratitude is the spark of life that we feel at the moment of our conception?”
I am also feeling deeply connected with what each of you shared. I find myself feeling into the intense and pure gratitude that one feels while in nature, the sensation of a heart explosion, and the often confusing art of weaving together gratitude with the painful injustices of humanity.
I am also deeply grateful for the words Delona shared after class which I paraphrase: “The deepest wish of any child is to see your face light up when they enter the room.” If that doesn’t embody the energy of gratitude, I don’t know what does! Thank-you Delona.
My sincere gratitude to each and every one of you!!
“GRACE AND GRATITUDE
Through gratitude, joy expands.
Card meaning: The secret to expanding joy is to cherish the preciousness of life and everyone and everything around you. It’s simple, easy, and so very powerful. Be grateful for as much as you can. Thankfulness is modern day alchemy; it can yield happiness, grace, and peace beyond imagination.
The Sacred Traveler Wants You to Know: The secret to a remarkable, fulfilling journey is to allow gratitude to flood you at every juncture. No matter what twists and turns there are in the road, whether you are comfortable or uncomfortable, whether you are confident or unsure...no matter what you are experiencing, even if your challenges seem insurmountable, feeling grateful will ease any challenge, replace darkness with light, and allow you to hear a chorus of the angels. Your entire life can transform when you take time to fully, deeply, and profoundly allow the grace of gratitude to fill you.”
“I RAISE THE pipe of my being to the rising sun in openness and humility. With my eyes closed, I give Thanks to the Life Giver and ask for the strength to be humble through the course of this day. I smudge myself with sacred medicines and give thanks for the blessings that are already present in my life. I ask for nothing. I only offer Thanks. Then, in gratitude and humility, I enter the journey of each day. This is wakefulness, this is becoming, this is ceremony - and I am made more. ”
“ME: What if we’re wrong?
OLD WOMAN: Wrong about what?
ME: All this ceremony, prayer, meditation. What if at the end of, all there is is nothing?
OLD WOMAN: Then we still come out better people.
ME: How?
OLD WOMAN: Can you think of a better way to live than in gratitude? Can you think of a better way to be than to be kind, loving, compassionate, respectful, courteous, truthful and forgiving? Even if we’re wrong, can you thin of a better way to breathe than through all of that?
....
I couldn’t. I can’t. I continue. ”
“YOU ARE THE MIRACLE, AND YOUR LIFE ENERGY IS THE MIRACLE. IF YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR MIRACLES, LOOK FOR YOUR MIRACLE POWER DEEP WITHIN THE CORE OF YOU, THE CHI.
Make no mistake, your life energy is no less a miracle because it is inside of you. Your life energy is a piece of the Tao, the original life force that created and sustains the entire cosmos. By reconnecting with this power through the vehicle of your own life energy, your power is virtually infinite. ”
Our circle of sharing was followed with a deep and long qigong practice today. Much gratitude!
xoxo
