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"What blocks most people from manifesting their dreams in life is their fear of being who they are. Sometimes this is a fear of non-acceptance from others. Sometimes it is a fear of failing. Sometimes it is simply because their whole life has conditioned them to live in a manner entirely alien to who they really are.
Once you 'be' who you are, then you must do what is necessary to be you."
--Ted Andrews, Animal Speak
Just a little conversation can begin a revolution. Speaking from inside of ourselves or out loud with someone we know, we all have the seed lying in the center of our beings for love, transformation and growth. When birthed into words, that which moves us from our centers can manifest into movement.
I love to gather. I especially love to gather to honor women, and I leapt at the opportunity to assemble a small group of moms to initiate a dear friend into the mothership circle. What began as a subtle, spoken yearning by Keri to be surrounded by "mama energy" before the birth of her son culminated in an amazing, whirlwind weekend of food, fall color, mommies and babes in Woodstock, NY.
I'm beginning to be at a loss for words, so visit Wendy who found a beautiful song that I think describes what happens when we gather perfectly.
What stands out for me most of all, is the mighty courage it takes for women to fly and drive great distances to support another woman in her rites of passage, and how this is a lost practice in our culture that is making a comeback. It might be easy for someone to shy away from other women or artists for fear of being judged or thinking that they may not have much to bring or offer others. Nevertheless, women are sitting on floors and couches, on the earth and on the chairs of their ancestors with each other, sharing stories, fears, and finding their voices.
We must all keep having the conversations, sending out the smoke signals for support when we need it, asking for what we want, listening for the drumbeat, and answering the call to quest.
Here's to four amazing mothers, two curious boys, one brilliantly growing seed, and two that are being dreamed of today. You are all brave and shining.
"If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced that it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear. People who can open to the web of life that called us into being, and who can rest in the vitality of that larger body." --Joanna Macy
Greetings everyone! This is the 'B' Pixie sometimes refers to. I will be your 'Guest Poster' this evening ('Blogjacker' just didn't sound right).
As I write this my two snuggle-bugs are hopefully sleeping soundly in Virginia after their long drive from the Catskills today. It sounds like they had a most excellent adventure!
Out west I've had a few days completely to myself - which always sounds like a great time for a little R & R... and to catch up on that old sleep defecit I can never seem to shake. But, alas, I end up taking on project after project, attempting to burn through that haunting list in my mind and finally get organized. I'm not complaining, it gives me something to do and I take pleasure in knowing that I might have made it a little bit nicer for my family's return. I did compromise and spent the evenings relaxing with some movie rentals and playing my guitar (and maybe a Guiness or two slipped into the mix somewhere - 'Brilliant!'). I also found a really cool teepee for Miles at a thrift store ($10 american!) that I've set up in the living room. I can't wait to see his face on Tuesday morning!
Over all it's been nice... and productive, but I miss those two cheeky monkeys and can't wait to have them in my arms again!
As I look at their picture I am completely aware of how lucky I am.
Give yours a good hug tonite, and if you're rolling solo give yourself one.
Cheers,
B
You can't have a son and not wonder just how much Judy Garland is too much.
M and I are off on another adventure. This time we are flying into D.C. to dine with this fabulous artist and her family, then pile into the car next morning and head up to meet another of my favorite hippy mamas and celebrate an amazing mama-to-be in Woodstock, NY. It will be a motherboy explosion in the Catskills if ever there was one.
See you next week!
It seems that everywhere I turn, the people in the various communities that surround me are experiencing little deaths. From a shamanic point of view, we journey to undergo psychic death of an idea or something we just can't seem to figure out, in order to come back with the energy and perception of someone who has been born anew.
I find it exciting to know that I live during a time where people speak openly about what it is they struggle with, that healing comes to us when we refuse to repress our mistakes and weaknesses. I am so thrilled that my son gets to grow up in a generation where many of us embrace that it is okay to make mistakes!
Like mythical heroes, we get to leave our challenges behind and plant our feet firmly on the path to our adventure of self-discovery and greater conscious awareness. We can choose to be "unstuck" from the sticky mess the generations before us may have been mired in, and blogging, meeting with, and talking with friends helps this process unfold. It seems that by exposing our stories, we find ourselves acting out or embodying the plots of the heroes within us and rising to heights up and beyond what we may have felt set up to do. This is so inspiring to me. I feel grateful.
Today seems time to move further into my journey.
"Today there are support groups and twelve-step programs for almost everything. Just a few years ago, people were embarrassed if they had to see a psychologist; now they discuss their therapists over lunch with their friends and colleagues. We have seen a proliferation of self-help books that have avid readers. Ours is, in some ways, a culture that wants to get well, and one increasingly open to spiritual as well as scientific means for getting there."--Carol S. Pearson
GREAT JOURNEY RESOURCES THAT NEVER GET OLD:
The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell (or anything by Campbell or Jung).
The Heroine's Journey, Maureen Murdock.
Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places, James Hollis. (sounds dreary, but really a good resource for any challenge any of us face-great, too, for anyone with residual anxiety, fear, doubt, angst, among the other depressed states)
Soul Retrieval:Mending the Fragmented Self, Sandra Ingerton (a good source if your soul was really abused by neglect, abandonment or trauma).
Way of the Shaman, Michael Harner.
The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By, Carol S. Pearson
and, of course, anything by Jungian analyst, Robert Johnson.
How will you hear your truth speaking to you today?
The little monkey got an early start on Halloween, trotting over to grandma's house in full regalia.
We took him to "Pioneer Village" in town, which is a museum of old structures including houses, schools, trains, and a church from around turn of the century. Each building was moved carefully into this setting and surrounded by sycamores and maples. Most of the homes were moved in the 1950's and the trees tower among them, creating a backlot-at-Universal Studios feeling. Creepy and fun!
B the Pirate blended right in with the Kern County Pirate Guild members who had set up an award winning corner featuring rowdy swashbucklers who swigged Dr. Pepper from their rum bottles and arrrggghhhed menacingly.
We ran into my ex-husband while we were there. I should have never moved back to my hometown!
;)
