Gentler times are on the way. Quietly, the hours have returned of self nurturing, and more rest. The time has come to go inward, to restore after a busy summer, to create, to instill harmony and peace for the upcoming cycle that will repeat again and again. The time has come to be more mindful, to meditate and to be still.
It’s time for soups, and comfort foods. For smells that linger in the air from baked goods and tea’s that warm us during a cold chilly day.
It’s time to cozy up just a little closer and snuggle with a good book. It’s time to engage in whatever nurtures our soul. Give yourself the gift of slowing down and put you first.
It’s time for dreams being envisioned and born, for plans being forged, deciding what seeds we want to plant and cultivate for next years harvest.
It’s time for early nights and earlier days, observing a sunrise to add a few more hours to our day while watching the world come alive in the still of the wee hours.
It’s time to reflect on the year and the seasons passed. Just like the land becomes dormant, so are we. We look back on what we have achieved, how far we have come and what has unfolded. What gifts has time bestowed us with?
It’s a time to be gentle with ourselves, to be patient and understanding, a time to forgive all the things that didn’t turn out the way we hoped they’d do. It’s time to forgive yourself and trust that you have done your best.
It’s time to build up new strengths, to acknowledge our shortcomings, and the lessons that they brought.
It’s time for friends and family. To be more present and enjoy each others company.
It’s time to be grateful and give thanks. To not focus so much on what could have been or be, but to show our true appreciation for all that is and all we have already.
It’s been awhile, nearly a year since I posted last. Fact is that I missed you, missed writing and if you are an old friend, a follower, or a new comer to this site, waive me a hello and say hi.
Of course a lot has changed in a year and I hope that just like me, you are finding yourself in a good place and are doing well. I am not in a position to say that I’m back for good and that I will again post daily like I used to, but I do want to be a presence again, whenever I can be, whenever there is something to be said, something to be shared. No pressure…
Here is a little something about a profound moment I found myself in the other day and I hope you enjoy the lines as I once more share my heart with you. Thank you for caring, for taking the time and for simply being you. You are the best bunch and I missed you greatly…
Profound moments…
You too have experienced them before, we all have. I’m talking about the moments when something suddenly clicks, when we get IT, when everything makes sense that might have been a mystery before. When the veil is lifted and we are no longer left in the dark. When the lightbulb goes on and something integrates within us, leaving behind a lasting impression, an imprint on our soul that changes us for the better. Those are the moments profound, when we upgrade and leave an older, outgrown version of ourselves behind. With love of how far we have come within our previous, older self, we start the cycle once more. Armed with new wisdom and knowledge, our approach to life and the way we see things has changed, and that’s more than ok. It’s essential, and it signals progress. It’s a part of growing nicely and wisely.
Standing in my nearly full storage unit, I was busy rearranging boxes and freeing furniture to be painted in the near future. Standing there I recognized the journey I have been on and it became apparent that I will remain busy for years to come. Perhaps there will never be a sense of being “done” of having learned it all, of where there is no longer magic and wonder, and that’s quite alright. I don’t want to be done.
You see, being busy and being busy can vary greatly and I love the new being busy that I have found. Where I can arrange my day the way I want to. Where every turn and twist yields a new surprise. I love being along for the ride, seeing change every day and dropping expectations but letting life and the universe surprise me. Believe me when I say that the surprises are not always pleasant but finding the lessons in these Moments and knowing that even those times have purpose is half the battle.
Today I stand in continuation of working this giant puzzle that is my life. Of finding and adding yet another piece, seeing the picture become clearer and clearer and being in awe of everything that is unfolding as my birthright, meant to be. Therefore I stay busy, creating, adding and crafting this dream, this life, my future and my here and now.
And here it is…what could be the last post for some time, perhaps. Something has shown up on my radar and is growing stronger. It’s been here in the background for quite some time now but I wasn’t ready, nor did I want to acknowledge it, and so I sent it back, trying to mute and dismiss it.
It surely feels strange to arrive at this point and life has a new intense ness, a new feeling of being alive and most of all actioning things, vs. letting them pass me, watching from the sidelines as an onlooker to my own story. To feel everything with yet increased awareness, to truly pay attention and grasp the opportunity to choose, whether we want to listen, take note, act on what has bubbled up or dismiss it for yet another time. But believe me when I say that what is meant to be will always return, and soon or later it comes to the surface once more until we finally deal with it.
When it comes to this blog, it has been my companion for quite some time. It has been my constant and it has listened and allowed me to shed/share my heart while being herd and understood. And that understanding has come from you, my beautiful dear fellow bloggers. It has been my outlet, my friend, the one that has heard my cry’s and struggles. The one who has been a witness in the “Becoming ” and has attended a hundred funerals of the old self that once were me. It has witnessed this Phoenix rise over and over after fighting my battles with a chronic dis-ease and the many cross roads weaving it’s way through this life in general. Best of all, it has brought me to you and allowed me to make some pretty special connections and friendships. I am rich because of it and I know that it has been a big part as to why I dismissed the call before.
In a way it felt like I would let you down by not being present here on a daily basis. You who might have found something useful in my ramblings. You who might have needed me and you who have been my constant, my loyal supporters. You who have seen me through, and you who stopped by on a regular basis to comment and not let me walk alone. I felt like losing something very special, something I value a great deal, an old friend, my outlet and the precious connections we have built together. Now, I don’t believe that anymore. The blog is not going anywhere and is here for me whenever I need to type my heart and thoughts onto paper or into virtual space like here. And true friends are forever and today I refuse to believe in the old adage that says “Out of sight, out of mind.” And yes, I am doing “ME” (finally) in the process of it all, while releasing myself. I have acknowledged the call….finally.
And yet it’s with a partially heavy heart that I have arrived at the conclusion to stop writing for awhile and to embrace a new chapter. As with all change, it will take some getting used to and God knows that I have had this feeling a few times before, and God knows that I have resisted it.
As I walk through the doorway of new possibilities, I will still post to Aspendell_Retreat on Instagram, building my new future, building a tiny house in a remote area in the wild. Many of you have my contact and email information to stay in touch and I would love that.
I feel that I have gathered many lessons over the past couple of years and now is the time to integrate this learnings. I am grateful for the foundation to put all these learnings into action and let them become the new me. Eventually I will revamp this blog and go back to how it started so I can tell a more precise story without filler distractions. So if you are interested, please stay tuned and continue to join me on this next adventure of my journey.
Until then my friends…I love you to the moon and back.
A powerful helper has shown up for this month reminding us that now is the time to co-create with Spirit. We have done so all along right, but now is the time to see it through as harvest time is just around the corner. Before us comes a time to slow down from the hard work, from everything we have sown and witness our surroundings by taking it all in.
As you look around you, can you see the magic that pulses through the world? Have you witnessed how every thought can become a thing? How every intention can call the universe into action as the sacred laws shape what you experience? The universe works in perfect order. When you align your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs with Spirit, you will want to crow with delight, feeling the excitement and wonder of being in harmony with something much larger than yourself. Have you felt the shifts happening? Have you taken a moment to witness how far you have gotten?
Crow Spirit says you are right on target now to see your dreams magically come into being in the visible world. The laws of Abundance, Compensation, Frequency, and Praise are operating in your favor now. Remember to be grateful and praise what is yours, even if it is still coalescing into form, still residing in the invisible realms of co-creation. No matter what area of your life you’re concerned with now, what you hope for is on its way – for Spirit is your co-creation partner.
Protection message: Crow Spirit wants to know why you think there is no magic in the world. Or do you believe that there once was, but it ran out, leaving nothing but ordinaries? Although conditions have become challenging, you have no reason to believe that everything you’ve set an intention for will elude you. Right now, the outer world is shifting. Can you feel it? Maybe you are fretting about experiencing the results of some of your poor choices or judgements from the past. Crow Spirit is here to remind you that you can always course correct and get back on track.
Maybe you’ve been hit by a loss or disappointment as a result of an event that had absolutely nothing to do with your manifesting, yet it has shaken you to the core. Crow Spirit asks you to trust that no matter the temporary conditions, things will right themselves very soon. The Law of Balance makes it inevitable that this too shall pass.
If you have followed me here for some time, then you know I am a sucker for quotes. There is been so much growth, so much awakening, so much spirituality over the last few years, even the quotes come at me at a whole new level these days. Maybe it is me, being on a different level that I also understand them at whole new level and see them in a new light. One that is gratifying and shines just a little brighter. I couldn’t leave here without sharing a few. Let them sink in and really understand them. Perhaps you too will see them as if you’ve read them for the first time. Enjoy…
“In order to write about life first you must live it.” ~Ernest Hemingway way
“On the journey to myself I’ve been so many people.” ~Unknown
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” ~Socrates
Inside every person you know, there is a person you don’t know. ~Unknown
“There’s no coming to consciousness without pain.” Carl Jung
I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her real name was grief. ~Unknown
“Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say.” ~Mitch Albom
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~Maya Angelou
“Writing like life itself, is a voyage of discovery. The adventure is a metaphysical one: it is a way of approaching life indirectly, of acquiring a total rather than a partial view of the universe.” ~Henry Miller
Once awakened, you realize the pain wasn’t punishment, it was preparation. ~Unknown
This one was too powerful not to share with you. It spoke to me on so many ways and it sums it all up when we grow tired of explaining. I hope you enjoy this post, before this blog takes a little break and grows more silent.
“I say ‘Namaste’ because I like what it means, not because I am Hindu.
A lot of people here think I am a Christian because they think I talk about Christian values, but the truth is I am really talking about Human values.
I’ve been asked if I am a Buddhist, just because I have discovered inner peace.
A lot of my friends are Pagans, and they think I am one too because I say that being in Nature is my idea of going to church.
Do you really want to know who I Am? It’s very simple. I don’t need a label to define me.
I Am a piece of the Uni-verse, sentient and manifested.
Belonging and deprivation go hand in hand. When we lack a sense of belonging it is usually because something we needed in order to feel appreciated and needed was deprived. Not being needed and a lack of appreciation to what we have to contribute to this life makes us feel insignificant as if we didn’t belong to this world. Soon we wear the label of an outcast, someone of less importance, spiraling down into a painful hole of self doubt, minimal self confidence and a growing feeling that something is wrong with us. We simply don’t belong…
These feelings and issues always seem to be imposed from our external experiences, the behaviors of others, because why on earth would we put ourselves through that torture, or otherwise bring it on, right? We are good at justifying our sense of not belonging to the faults of the other parties involved. What do they know! They have no clue who we are! They don’t understand! They are wrong! They are selfish and have written us off! They have not made us a priority and therefore we are not important might all be thoughts you have entertained at one point or another. These are all reasons and facts we have told ourselves to justify and explain what happened. How else could we make sense out of it. We push any fault and wrong doings away from us because it is much easier to deal with someone else being wrong vs. us being wrong. To recognize our own wrong doings involves a brave and honest look, and it is here where the work really starts if we want change and authenticity.
So what about this deprivation thing, is it always someone else’s fault, always our perception or could it also have something to do with our own behavior? In my travels around the sun I have learned that perception is often the furthest from the actual truth. Things are not always as they appear and to believe in such I had to take an honest look into the perception of others as well as my own. I had to learn that I am not always right, that I can be wrong just like everyone else and that my perception may also be the furthest from the truth. For example: Maybe you have felt yourself neglected within a friendship at one point and your mind had no problems coming up with all the possible reasons as to why, placing fault on the other person for making you feel this way. Your feelings got hurt and you soon withdraw, causing an even further rift. The other person feels your withdrawal, unbeknownst to them as to why because in their own mind they never were aware that you felt neglected, nor did they do anything wrong in their own mind that could have caused these feelings. When it comes to our feelings and emotions they are a fickle matter and are not always the same on a daily basis. Sometimes we are more sensitive and sometimes the ego plays misery loves company with our minds, making up stories and scenarios that couldn’t be further from the truth. And so the torture begins…
In our attempt to stay away for whatever reason, because we don’t meet the expectation of others and life itself, because we feel we are in the way or not wanted, we inadvertently choose to have less contact. Our mind admits that something is wrong with us and that we are not worthy. And now we have reason enough to feel sorry for ourselves and nurture our hurt feelings, again deflecting the reason and the cause. But by doing so we hide a part of ourselves away that we no longer make available for others. We are the ones who are depriving ourselves of the sense of belonging. When we look back at our lives, can we see how many times we have removed ourselves from a situation or even a friendship, from the sense of belonging? How many times have we not felt good enough and worthy! How many times was it actually our lack that brought on the sense of not belonging while it never had anything to do with the other party involved. We have to take a look back at our life and find where this wound of not belonging was created. Where our sense of not belonging came from and what caused it. Only then can we do the work and heal, while going forward and stand firmly in this world knowing that each and every one of us belongs.
While I was in Germany earlier this year, I found one of my old Halloween costume’s Mom had kept. Carefully tugged away she had placed it in a spot for safe keeping. Instantly the memories flooded back and it wasn’t only on Halloween that I was wearing it. I was always the Indian and Mom was always the white person, tied to the kitchen chair while my tomahawk and me decided her fate. All while smoking the peace pipe of course. I felt drawn to Native American wisdom from an early age and I can’t wait to unpack and display my authentic war bonnet in the house I am planning to build by next year.
I didn’t keep my Indian costume and did indeed part from it. I probably wold have kept it had it sill fit me lol. But what I held onto are the memories of such time and they will always be dear to my heart. However I did keep some things during my stay and carefully packaged them up. Just like me, these possessions have been on a long journey not only to get here, across the ocean to their new home, but in life in general. What these pieces must have seen over a War, times of poverty, happy and sad moments, and the changing times. I can only imagine and I feel their energy. I have narrowed it down quite a bit in regards to what I was keeping. I’d say that everything that made the list has the most meaning to me, and some of the things that didn’t make it were hard to let go. What helped was to see and imagine them fitting into my new life and not burdening myself down with things I didn’t need. It was a long and painful journey, but I feel I did the right thing.
It was the 30th of May when these belongings were picked up for shipping and their journey across the ocean. I haven’t seen them since and I’ve been waiting. They arrived in Florida weeks ago, cleared customs and were processed, but it has been hard to get a driver and truck to deliver them to my area of the world. Two weeks ago the possessions were finally loaded, to arrive in 7-10 days, and after finding out that the truck has broken down, I am still waiting for the delivery which most likely will be this weekend. I am lucky that I am not depending on these pieces and that they will go into storage anyways. Still I will be glad when everything arrives and is delivered in piece, safe and sound.
“Rebellion can make us feel ostracized from the group, turning us into the black sheep of our family or community. But the black sheep are the artists, visionaries and healers of our culture, because they are the ones willing to call into question those places which feel stale, obsolete, or without integrity.
The black sheep stirs up the good kind of trouble. Her/his very life is a confrontation with all that has been assumed as tradition. Her/him being different serves to bring the family or group to consciousness where it has been living too long in the dark. As the idiom implies, she is the wayward one in the flock. Her life’s destiny is to stand apart. But paradoxically, it’s only when honors that apartness that she finally fits in.
The world needs your rebellion and the true song of your exile. In what has been banned from your life, you find a medicine to heal all that has been kept from the world. We must find the place within where things have been muted and give that a voice. Until those things are spoken, no truth can find its way forward. The world needs your unbelonging. It needs your disagreements, your exclusion, your ache to tear the false constructions down, to find the world behind this one.”
It was this very excerpt from the Book “Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home” by Toko-pa Turner which actually made me order it. It spoke to me on so many levels and it is not the first time that I have written about the black sheep. I loved reading about her perspective on the subject and see it in a different view as all too often the black sheep is perceived as someone who is difficult, a little extra, a little hard to handle. But what makes them a little extra, a little difficult and hard to handle? Perhaps it is because they know, see and feel too much, often challenging things that feel out of alignment. To another, not yet willing to confront these issues, this behavior must feel overwhelming and daunting. Perhaps even so stressful that they avoid contact at all or at least minimize it. The black sheep in return often can’t realize or understand the inner working of such dynamic and begins to feel like an outcast, like being punished. It appears like another prime example of prime timing and how fragile, detailed and perfect everything has to be between all involved for life to unfold in a perfect manner. There will always be misunderstandings, different opinions, different points on our journey that will lead to different realities. But what a beautiful description to view the black sheep from a new and much more positive angle.
I am sure that many of you will relate and feel or have felt like this at one point of your journey. Remember that your special gift is needed in the quest of authenticity, uniqueness and finding the world behind this one. And remember that if you ever felt like you are not fitting into this world, it is because you were chosen to help create a new one. So go ahead and inspire on, you are amazing just the way you are.
Rhapsody Bohème 