Everywhere You Are-THERE IT IS!

Life force…

In the blue eyes of a client trusting me with her deepest heart.

In vast sky, floating clouds and iridescent, golden glow of setting sun.

In grackles, hawks, hummingbirds.

In giggling 5 year old soul sisters skipping exuberantly.

In the presence of my beloved husband...heart leaping, spine shimmering...joy bubbling.

In the most delicious avocado I have ever eaten.

In purple flowers- luminous at dusk.

In this breath, and the next.

Everywhere I look…

In you.

In me.

Life force is everywhere, all the time, all at once. Isn't that just amazing?

The Main Event- Don't Miss It!

Stay awake to the present moment.
Everything is revealed here.
Everything is done here.
In this moment, and the next, everything we need for our soul evolution is being offered.
This present moment, right now...
That is the main event.
Look no further.
Don't miss it.

3 Reminders to Inspire Your Day

I read these three quotes in an old journal this morning and felt totally inspired by them. I will allow them to fuel my day...maybe you will to.

"Krishna is the complete giver, why should we beg?" Bhagavad Gita

"The lord is my shepard, I shall not want." Psalm 23

"Find something in each person that makes you feel like the Sun" Dr B

Simple. Potent.
May we all receive the magnificence and radiance that is always, already present.

Bless up!
G

The Great ReInvention of Life-A One Love Nugget

Every circle completes and begins again.

I welcome the disintegration of expectations, continuities and neurological grooves.
I am not the same person I was a month ago, or even a minute ago.

Throw all pictures, parameters and ideals of who we think we are, of how life is or how it should be to the wind.

Witness the unfolding of this divine design.
Raw, organic life force~unrehearsed, unknown.
Seeds of essential being flying free.

Right now. As it is. This breath. This moment.
Luxuriously fresh and ALIVE.
Evolution rocks!

How to Live Art Everyday Part 2

At the midpoint of the Art Everyday Month Challenge, I am both delighted and humbled. There were moments this week where it took real choosing to create beauty, ease and art with life...especially when I was very busy, tired and tempted to reactivity and survival chemistry. Though every time I choose to live my life as art, my mood lightens and I feel my commitment to my essential values.

That is what creating art does for me...kicks a log in my fire of divine love!
Here are some nuggets from the week in review:

Day 8: The Art Of Simplicity After a juicy, fun filled day of friendship, intuitive consults, family time, and all kinds of details in the marketplace, I snuggled in bed with four 4x5 postcards and a pencil. Simple- 4 line drawings, before dissolving into dream time. Turns out these wee pieces captured potent energy, and really nourished my soul. It doesn't take much. As the Bhagavad Gita says, about the path of yoga, "Even a little of this practice will shelter you from great sorrow."

Day 9: The Art of Going with the Flow Though a long to-do list met me in the morning, I looked at my journal and line drawings and knew the agenda was out the door. Today (unlike yesterday), I would make Art Everyday my first priority. I sprawled out with bright brush pens, layered papers, wrote haiku, adorned and framed each line drawing. Each was written for and since given to 3 precious peeps in my life. Later, going with the flow, found Talia and I sharing a picnic and romp at Sabino Creek all afternoon. I also shifted my evening city plans as the flow led me to a sweet mountain sunset with the hubs and snuggling our cutie to bed together. Following the current of energy, and letting go of agendas once in a while is golden.

Day 10: The Art of Shopping I am not a fan of shopping. Though I love quality, groovy, functional goods and gear, consumer madness, is cuckoo. Today, however, I set out to create an art form. I was a stealth, zen shopper. I was on a mission. And a fruitful, affordable and fun one it was! Here are my art of shopping pointers:

1. Have a list- yet be open to surprise purchases.
   
2. Get only what you *love* and need.
3. Welcome bargains (second hand can be first rate).
   
4. Have fun.
   
5. Get in, get out.

Day 11: The Art of Chanting I am a big fan of singing Kirtan and devotionals. Every week, right here in Tucson, over 150 folks from Tucson gather to sing Global Chants together. We sing songs and prayers from the Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Native American, Buddhist and Goddess traditions and more. I love that we are all a totally diverse cross section of humanity. We are mixed in age, gender, ethnicity, size, color and background. Yet we all have in common a sweet, singing devotional heart. I love attending with Kenya and Talia. We sit in the inner concentric circle, surrounded by guitars, drums, harmonium, violin, shakers and bells. Tonight Talia danced in the center, until flopping into my lap and falling asleep to the lullaby of a Sanskrit chant.

Day 12: The Art of Zenjoyment (a word I created and use often). This day, (and all weekend solo with Talia as hubs was out of town) cross referenced with The Art of Least Resistance, The Art of Non Reactivity, and The Art of Patience. I chose to practice Zenjoyment all weekend, saying yes to life, letting go thoroughly to the moment, being wildly grateful for my experience, no matter what.

Day 13: The Art of Altars Creating a little (or big) space, here and there to welcome, honor and remember the divine is a gift you give yourself and your family. It doesn't matter if that place is where you meditate or on your kitchen counter. Adorned with fresh flowers, images of family, divine archtypes, sentimental trinkets, beautiful elements of nature, seasonal goodies, candles, and more, nurturing this space is a way to nourish ourselves. Today, I cleaned and cleared my kitchen altar. It is fresh with a trinity of Kwan Yin, Mary Magdalene and Lakshmi, with offerings of pumpkin, mesquite pods and eucalyptus. Everyday, I light a candle and some incense here and notice I immediately slow down, breathe more deeply, and relax into love.

Day 14: the Art of Sabbath A day of rest and worship...who couldn't use one? As Rumi wrote, "There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the Earth." Whether in the church of the great outdoors, your home, a spiritual service, solo or with others, taking a Sabbath day is a loving, sane practice, and truly an art given our fast paced culture. I love unplugging, enjoying time in prayer, and communion, savoring unhurried 'down' time that is focused on connection. Today, we did just that, all day long! Yes! A sweet exhale of gratitude.

How about you? How did you create art everyday, in big or small ways this week? I would love to know. Please remember to post your comments on the Blog itself. Use the "comment" link/space at the end of each post. Hitting "reply" to your "emailed" post never gets your comments to me. They are words of wisdom. I want to hear them! May you go out and "Artsper"... prosper too!

In loving Gratitude, G

Practice Being Present-Over and Over Again

The other day I spent about 30 minutes recoiling a hose in a new direction. It was like wrestling an anaconda. It was worn in a specific direction, molded to the pattern of its coil. This task practically had me cursing...which I only do when I am really mad and provoked. The hose was stubborn and resistant. It required all of my strength, all of my focus and all of my weight (literally, standing on top of it) to get it to change course. I kept at it, knowing that as I redirected the flow, it would get easier and easier over time for the hose to follow its new pathway. I thought... "this is just like life!" Sometimes there are stubborn habits to change, and it takes action to shift the pattern and create a new functional way of literally "rolling" with life. And, with practice, the rerouting gets easier and easier. Whether shifting an attitude or a neurological pathway, no matter how challenging the internal or external change may seem, the willingness to practice presence makes all the difference.

Waking up to the moment, in a tangle of hose, I saw that I was being resistant and stubborn. Further, I was not present or connected. I wanted to get through my chores quickly so that I could get on with the other "more important", less mundane items on my to do list. I laughed at myself. I wondered...Why am I hurrying, making this a "chore", and getting angry at a hose because it will not cooperate with my agenda? And what is more important than being present to whatever is before me? Life as it is, appearing moment to moment is always the obvious and ideal opportunity to open to, rather than contract to life. It is what is most important. And, when I eliminate mental gyrations, past rumination and futurization, all that is real is now, and now, and now.

In an instant of humble self reflection, I took a deep breath and noticed I had been gripping internally with shallow breathing. I dropped the hose that I'd kept tugging, forcing and reshaping, and went to the base of the coil, directly to the kink that needed attention, and focused there. I stopped and looked up, breathed the floral scent in the air, marveled at the crisp blue sky, and became more attuned to my surroundings. I felt the current of life take me, instead of struggling against it. From that moment on, getting present allowed for a more seamless, enjoyable flow to my day...even while recoiling the hose.

Sometimes these shifts are easy, other times, not so much. Dealing with a relentless internal critic, a whining child (or adult, including myself), or an argument with my beloved can be more heart and gut wrenching. It is one thing to blast my frustration at a hose...it is another to be reckless with the heart of another. I watch myself snap, lash and bite...and I pray for presence, patience and forgiveness. Being in reactivity, resistance and control serves nothing.

I am in the process of rerouting pathways that jump to react without pausing to respond. While I still hit tangles and kinks, I stumble less and practice presence more. Coming home to what is essential becomes more natural...the breath of life, real connection, seeing and feeling what and whom is before me, honoring the miracle of existence is always accessible.

This morning I woke up with a stomach full of butterflies and excited anticipation for the ZaBoomBa premiere. I so much want to give my best. I could feel the potential of spinning out on worries and fears and mentally generated strategies. Yet staying present to the moment IS giving my best (and far more effective, actually, than any other options). As I allowed deep breath and a humble wash of tears, I recognized how far I have come in just "being with" and practicing presence. In the past I might have tried to "fix" that anxiety away, to inflate or push my way through this uncomfortable tangle of feelings inside, to resist and struggle, just like I did with that hose last week. Instead, I did as my dance/life mentor, Rosangela Silvestre encourages us to do, "be naked. Get out of the way and let the Universal Energy flow through you."

In staying present and shedding layers of all that I think I know, and want to control, all that I think I am or should be, I allow space for The Universe to shine through. This is a present moment experience and cannot be forced or calculated. Surrender. This is becoming the Universal Body and dancing the dance of Light! I humbly pray to practice being present, over and over again. How about you? How do you embody the Universal flow and call yourself to the present moment?