Pause and Quench

Good morning – I missed posting my word for P due to pain in my back and my inability to sit for any length of time.  Today I decided to combine my two letters for my post ~ Pause and Quench.

Seldom do we allow ourselves to really pause in our daily life.  It is as if our Type A ancestors genetic makeup has blossomed into a full fledge robotic life for us.  Driven by a need to stave off death and destruction our ancestors hitched a ride from their homeland to the new world.   A place where they thought they could find peace, happiness, and safety.  For the most part everyone found something.  There were thousands who were  forcibly taken from their homes and forced into a life they hadn’t chosen; a life of slavery.  Many found themselves in a life of failure and isolation and many did discover a new start yet not necessarily a 5 star life.  All of them created anew and birthed generations that still carry the desire for peace, happiness, and safety.

With all the knowledge that has been unearthed for us in the 21st century in America there is still a large resistance to pausing daily to quench ourselves.  Many of us have a daily religious practice that has been effective in showing a path to reflection and the abundance of peace, happiness, and safety by pausing to quench our souls.  There are still many who rush through their daily life on their way to attainment never pausing, never quenching their deeper essence.

How difficult is it to incorporate these two words, this habit into your life?  Is it really something that takes hours out of your routine? Is your desire to accumulate and complete your list of daily tasks so long, so intensive that a pause to hear the spring birds, smell the freshly mowed lawn, feel the rain, or listen to the snow fall completely impossible to allow?  Does the ability to curve your lips upwards create such pain within that you cannot smile as you pass each person you meet?

Pausing and quenching yourself and others can become a trait of the Type A personality.  If it makes it easier for you to incorporate this action, to add it to your list, it has been proven to increase your ability to accomplish more tasks.  It has also been shown to intensify your sense of accomplishment of peace, happiness, and safety.

Starting today, pause just once and allow the beauty and uniqueness of today to quench your soul and add a little bit of fun into your pursuits.  And don’t just stop there.  Make P&Q a daily practice in your Type A life.   It just might alter your future generations and bring a big smile to your ancestors.

Pause and quench…. ahhhhhhhhh!

O is for Ouch!

For the past several weeks I have been very fortunate to be working part-time at our local nursery.  Per colleagues I hear I am in the prized section called WIP also known as Work in Progress.  I have to agree with them.  I get to help plant all the hanging baskets, the flower bowls and all special orders for their commercial customers.  It is actually a dream come true to be playing in the soil, the sweet aroma of the flowers and the color filled greenhouse.

It is amazing to be surrounded by living, breathing plants after a long winter.  The winter this year has been very long for so many in the US.  In this zone planting is not advisable until after Mother’s Day which may even prove to be to early for 2014 with snow once again forecasted.

With all the beauty and fun I am having there is one item that continues to plague me.  My lower back is having a dialogue all its own.  I am not sure if it is jealous of all the attention the plants are receiving or if it has decided to just be contrary.  I receive great sympathy from my planting buddies even at 19 their backs are behaving the same.  This knowledge is a huge relief.

The stretching, core work, heated rice pads, ibuprofen, and words of love have not made much of a difference.  It must be that my back needs to be heard.  Suppressing a single syllable word has become taxing.  I have decided if I recognized the Ouch in my back perhaps it would cease.  Ouch, Ouch, Ouch!

Times up! Heat pad is calling!!

M is for Memories and Moving on

It seems that in times of loss we are not allowed to sit for long.  Within a short time life starts to pull us forward requiring us to make decisions of movement.  There is a need to fight against this request.  It is almost imperative.  Giving into the forward movement too quickly removes opportunities that will come slamming back.  Rushing headlong back into life can negate all that has been lost.  Refusing to move back into life can reward the insanity of denial.  It is a very delicate balance.

We are gifted with gems, perks if you will, to support us in hitting the right moment to move into the fray of life.  We are not lost forever.  Signs and maps are present.  They often must be dusted off or discovered by seeming accident but they are none-the-less there for the asking.

What are some of these gems, signs, or maps?  They are our memories.  The memory of the first kiss, long overdue birth, the blue ribbon or first home.  Those times of laughter, joy and sorrow.  The first argument although filled with confusing signals is still a memory and useful in our forward journey.  The burnt dinner, experienced as embarrassment, fills your heart with laughter recalling the gulped mouthful.  In the first moments memories almost seem painful but they are opportunities for growth.  They heal your heart when it is broken.  They give you permission to release the anger.  They remind you of the gift of life and its call to return.  They help you to release the attached identity.  They remind you that all is not lost.  They tell you, if you care to listen, what is precious, valuable and rebuilding.

Memories were never meant for lingering in the past.  They were meant to be a map to discovering you and the value of your life.  If you look closely you can see there are not traps or handcuffs built into memories.  They are of our own making.  Look closely, you will see what I mean.  Memories give us permission to move on.  They actually open the door to moving on.  The key is, if we let them speak their purpose and welcome their wisdom, moving back into life is refreshing.  The freshness of a new discovered aspect of you blossoms in a forward motion.  Watch Nature.  It doesn’t move backwards in its memory of growth.  It strikes out brave knowing and trusting the map of its memory.

All life moves forward.  It pauses, reflects, grows, bursts, and then dies to return again.  We seldom give permission to the one facing loss whether it is a life of a loved one, job, position, or sock to move through the natural rhythm of life.  Pushing before it is spring kills the first blooms.  While staying too long in the cave molds life.  Allowing the natural flow, nurturing the tiny buds, quenching the thirst ensures life returns to bloom again.

Life doesn’t just happen.  It is created.  What do you want to create after the storm?  Can you use your memories to guide you to your next deeper journey in life?  Are you willing to move from the cave heeding the call of your battered heart?  Are you willing to allow your memories to soften the jagged edges trusting the openness of your bruised heart to welcome moving on into a stronger brilliant life?

I took the chance.  I know there is a brilliance to my life that flows nourishing my jagged heart reminding me that love comes always.  My memories have never faded.  They are refreshed by my willingness to embrace life and live again.

 

No loss is too great to give up our memories and not move on.

 

 

I is for …… I

 

 

The poor letter I takes a beating every time we think we need to fix ourselves.  Why do we do that?  Isn’t there something good about I?

Apart from all the self indulgent, narcissistic crap that we see each day, let’s for a moment really concentrate on I.  There is a way to reflect and focus on ourselves without becoming a true drain on our souls and society.

For one minute focus on what I has to offer the world.  Could your love of self expression in nature bring a deep fulfilling quality to the world and help it to heal?  Could your ability to sit and see your I as it truly is be beneficial to someone?

We think now that to be reflective and caring of ourselves is dangerous and arrogant.  So many times that reflection is stopped because our refusal to care for self is blocked.  Narcissistic behavior showing up in the world is only a barometer to help us measure.  Is our self care expressing itself at the detriment of others?  Actually if you are being narcissistic your would not even reflect on how your are showing up to the world…  you would show up louder and not care.

Viewing your I as a loving, nurturing part of a valued society will bring forth a new caring world.  Take care of your I.  Give it love and a place to contribute to the world through self expression.  Help the world see their I‘s as valuable.

 

 

Buckwheat???

Seriously buckwheat?  Why in the world would that be the word for my “B” post?  Because!

“I want pancakes, I want pancakes!”  Screamed my inner child as I yawned and stretched pouring liquid gold into my cup.  The older saner adult perused the request for flaws.  Pancakes are consumed at the risk of hips and hearts.  Filling the stomach with all matters of putrid ingredients unbecoming a highly educated adult and lacking the sensible choices of a refined palate, I chose to go with the adult.  Completely non-plussed, “I want pancakes, I want pancakes!!”  chirped the inner child.  Strolling upon the scene the always wise 20-something chimed in, ‘Buckwheat is nectar from heaven.  It is not a wheat.  It is actually a fruit and grrreat for your cholesterol!  Lots of fiber, top with sliced pear to sweeten and Bam you’ve hit a home run. Or we could just play

and perhaps distract her?’

Not knowing what I truly wanted to do except to consume more liquid gold, I gave in and began the search.  My inner child distracted by the morning dance with 20-something missed the compilation of ingredients for buckwheat pancakes the nectar of adults.  Amidst the jubilation of her inner most desires being met once again, I turned and pondered, what had I been feeding myself.  Was the food worth the effort?  Was my strict adherence to “all things best” really what fed my soul?  Could combining all the wisdom and desires of all aspects of self be the super nutrient?  What was I lacking in my soul diet?

Sitting and savoring this incredible often misunderstood food, I realized what fed me …  joy.

 

 

Copyright © 2014 Teri Connolly. All Rights Reserved

 

And with the wind comes …..

Saturday night – and I find myself drawn to the computer – as I am sitting here typing I listen to the giggles and screams of grade schoolers visiting my neighbor downstairs.  Such fun! Teasing her as they call her grandmother.

The weather begins to change to the threat of a storm, much like last night and I wonder will we be the recipients of the storm tonight or be spared again?  I am still learning how to read the weather here.  In Colorado I grew up learning about the weather.  It was important to know it so you weren’t caught unawares and could avoid danger. At the same time it was more than just sticking your hand out to see if it got wet.  It became a contemplation, a conversation, and sometimes a communion.

Even now as I type I have turned the music off that was quietly playing so I can hear the sound of the wind as it passes through the trees.  The pines have a song of freshness, the cottonwoods their brittle leaves add the staccato, the poplar pulls you into its whisper as the leaves show you their underside, their willingness to be vulnerable.  Some trees stand silently allowing the others their performance and then they all join together.  Twirling, moving, bowing, touching each other, giving the wind freedom.  Giving the wind a voice.  There is the rush and the pause, the rush and the pause just before the burst.  How I love the metaphor!  They show me the rhythm they experience is the same as mine.  Some times when I am busy being present to whatever is happening in the moment for me, my path is crossed by what I call a needling or issue.  They generally appear when my ego is sparked by something it thinks needs to take center stage.  Ego, as wind rushes up to my focus, rustling my calm demeanor causing me to respond.  Is it a twirl and bend or is it a resistance and crack?  As the tree has choices in its response to the wind, so do I.  My soul has shown me that moving with the wind rather than resisting the issue creates a rhythm that allows the weather to appear and move on.  Embracing the wind or moving with it allows me to decipher the essence of the issue.  Am I really upset about the driver who just pulled out in front of me or is there a deeper story here? Is it only about not being seen or is there something deeper?   Going deeper with my soul always takes me to the burst of release.

What else am I learning from watching the weather?  Is it only about issues?  What about the shared movement of the trees?  For today might the metaphor be about dancing together enjoying the moment and the shared experience.  How is that present in my life?  The family below eating dinner and sharing tall tales of feats of courage – giggling together when caught. And myself enjoying their play and togetherness feeling their communal energy as it moves around us.

Or how about the days when it is sweltering (relatively speaking the West’s version of sweltering on a scale of 1-10 in the South is a -20) but sweltering none the less.  What you hope for is rain …. and when you see that there is nary a cloud within a 1000 miles ….”could we just have a breeze please?”   What benefit is a breeze?  It can come so slowly and then move past in a wisp.  As you are sweltering with the issue at hand what benefit is it to create a breeze?  Perhaps a moment to pause, feel some relief and maybe allow a new perspective.  Perhaps a moment to be still and not fret.  Or perhaps the realization that just the request for a breeze gave you the nudge to let go of the story.

Wind in all its forms is a change maker.  The gall force winds of a hurricane don’t tiptoe in, they come raging in, grabbing your attention and you know your life is about to change!  But the breeze can trick you into thinking ‘ah there is nothing to worry about’ and within a split second you life just changed.

I love the wind