The Sunshine Observer: SO… V18

Happy Full Moon!

Some of you following along know that last year I started a project for meditation focusing on the Moon.

Why the Moon you ask?

The Moon represents expanded thinking. It’s also the first stop before the rest of the Universe.  (How cool is that?)

We exist in rhythms and cycles, consciously or not. Often living our days by the rising and setting of the Sun. Much of these cycles are driven by time, culture and every day structured life. Meanwhile the moon is silently present. Where is the moon now? Above us? On the other side of the world?

Focusing on the moon gives us an opportunity for new perspectives. Every day the Moon is changing, going through 8 phases in a 29 ½ -day cycle. By bringing our attention to the phases through meditation, we connect at a deeper level with the physical world and the Universe beyond. This acknowledges us as part of the Universe. Meditation can help us see the Universe inside ourselves and connect us to our wisdom.

The 8 Moon phases:
New Moon – Crescent – First Quarter – Gibbous – Full Moon – Disseminating – Last Quarter – Balsamic – New Moon

Each phase of the Moon supports us for both expansion of potential, and release of that which no longer serves us. The waxing moon increases in light from the New to Full moon. From dark to light is a good time to focus on personal growth. The waning moon moves from Full to the next New Moon. From light to dark, perfect for expanding our agency within our communities and the world. Regardless of the phase, releasing old baggage we’ve been dragging along is always beneficial.

As we connect, whether through meditation, prayer or ritual…

Don’t mistake the finger pointing at the moon for the Moon. -Proverb

Onto our daily 5-minute meditation. The Moon is Full!

Preamble

As all is being illuminated. See what is right. If we see problems, note, our problems aren’t the problem, our idea of them is.

Meditation

Welcome the possibility of the Universe into our hearts
All is mind
Bask in the illumination of our existence. 

Poem

We are glorious
above the simplicity of good or bad
beyond the limitations of constructs
we are everything
we are glorious

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V17

Bridges are necessary to get us to where we need to go. Just make sure you take the right bridge.

Yesterday while transplanting baby seedlings, I was reminded of a story my mother would tell about living in Virginia. When my brother Gig was just a tot, he ran through a glass door and cut himself badly. Gushing blood, my mother grabbed him and the other kids (I wasn’t born yet) and jumped in the car to rush to the hospital. It was rural living, and some distance to the hospital involving going over a river. Choosing the right bridge was paramount. Speeding to get there, she went to the closest bridge only to find it nonfunctional. There was a crew working on it. A foreman came over to the car nonchalantly. My mother with fear in her voice and a bleeding child in the back seat, being held presumably by one of the older siblings, asked when they’d be able to pass. The man slowly looked at her, the situation in the back, then the bridge, and casually said “It’ll be a right smart spell”. Infuriated by his lack of apparent care or urgency, my mother turned the car around and went to another bridge. Everything worked out, Gig is still with us.

This story has always stayed with me. How situationally, people’s awareness and responses are so different in crisis.

Why it resonates now, is how similar that predicament was to today.  Our foreman’s responses to our current crisis is, often, well, puzzling. As it’s been a right smart spell getting everything we need. We citizens are left to build our own bridges. Which is beautiful, painful, and infuriating.

My aim is to send prayers of Love and heart opening to our leaders every day. Believing, meeting a problem with the same energy/consciousness that created it only prolongs the problem.

Back to baby seedlings, they don’t need to hear all about what’s wrong with the world. They thrive with nurturing and Love, as do we.

BodyMindSpirit

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The full moon is tomorrow, when all is illuminated how will we greet her?

Meditation

Gratitude is easy when we see the beauty in all things great and small.
 Acknowledge the beauty everywhere, thank it.

Poem

waiting
waiting for the wisdom sweet, sweet wisdom
in gratitude we wait

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V16

Today we’re all about BodyMindSpirit here in Sunshine Lane.
I was watching a nutrition expert on the tellie, and they said something I hadn’t thought through before. The time between our last food at night and our morning meal, we are fasting (duh). Thus Break-fast (double duh). Our first food for the day sets our metabolism, one reason I try to eat breakfast salad.

Applying a similar logic to our state of mind, the first things we do in the morning sets the stage for our day. When I used to have my fancy corporate job, I figured out after many years, that if I got up before everyone else in the household and meditated, I always had a better day. I would start calm and centered.

Today I was reminded of this important practice. I made the mistake of looking at email before I started my meditation. As a result, I brought my email into my meditation, not the desired experience. Folks have different times they like to meditate. Whenever that is, consider mental fasting first, whether the break is sleep, a walk, or singing. Clear the head first.

Onto our daily 5-minute meditation.
The waxing moon increases toward full.

Meditation

Truth requires a conviction of love and will. Look the heaviness in the face, see it for what it is, then give it space, learn from it. Enemies become friends. Stand firm in love.

Release ideas of what things are supposed to be and accept what is. It is a death, a crumbling of old ways, a release. Release the cultural baggage and conditioned mental constructs.
Even if it’s just for 5 minutes, release will allow for expansion- in your soul you know your truth. Sit with it, visit in comfort, ease and grace.

Poem

I feel her eminence rising behind me
teasing
whispering
looming

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V15

It was a beautiful day here on Sunshine Lane, I spent time in the garden weeding.

Before I got to the task, my neighbor wandered over, threw up her arms and extolled her freedom. It had been 3 weeks since she’d put on a bra. I too have been blessed with not strapping in. This of course gave me contemplative fodder whilst I weeded. Wondering first, whose idea was it to strap them in? Wouldn’t a form fitting undershirt have done the job, keeping them…under control? And why do they need to be controlled anyway? Some might call it fashion, others bondage… From binding feet to corsets to bras, I’ve resolved it to being, the age-old story of oppressing women. Once something becomes mainstream, it’s very hard to break free. Unless of course you’re under quarantine.

I did a quick internet search for old bra ads and found this gem. I included it because of its moon theme. Speaking of, enough rehashing the past/present, let’s focus on how we move forward…

BodyMindSpirit

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The waxing moon is now Gibbous.

Preamble

This time right now, need not feel cruel. Consider this time a luxury. A moment to come to our center, to bring clarity to what matters. Want what’s best. (Bras or no bras)

Quiet the mind. Sit peacefully and listen to every aspect of ourselves. What is the loudest thing we hear or feel? See where it leads, give it space to just be without labeling it good or bad. There is and always will be something vying for attention, use our power to know what deserves focus.

Meditation

Move into our hearts, there is no shadow there, no cruelty, just Love.
Basque in your Love.
Seriously, spend 5 minutes experiencing your Love.

Poem

Hey beautiful
Stay beautiful

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V14

Today we hunted; on and off Sunshine Lane.

Mine was delicious. He threw his up.

Exhausted from the hunt, time for some TV. But not before…

BodyMindSpirit

Never forget where we’ve been. However, what regretful anchors from our past are we ready to dump?

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The waxing moon increases, tomorrow it’s Gibbous.

Meditation

There is a sliver of darkness that still holds on. Thank it. Give it wings.

Feel the silky soft space of release.

Poem

As the light chases the dark, the dark gets more concentrated.

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V13

I often take pictures from our deck looking out onto the wetlands. It’s a mostly unobstructed view for some distance, giving the impression we are isolated in nature. From the opposite perspective, you can see we are indeed near other houses. It’s easy however to tune the neighbors out and focus on the beauty in front of us. This may not be possible for those living in close quarters, but there are other ways to tune into different perspectives.

BodyMindSpirit

Perspective and Perception

I realize I repeat myself, a lot. However, when I sit to meditate or get centered, the themes of Love and personal truth are always recurring. It’s my baseline for everything worth exploring. The bottom line being, we either start from Love or fear and go from there.

Our existence is directed by what we believe, and what we believe comes from our perceptions of what is. The cycle goes like this: our experience informs our perspective, and in turn feeds our perceptions of reality. It’s as simple as that. We have all the power to believe what we want. The trick is finding experiences and perspectives that keep us in alignment with our truth.

Ultimately, our life and intentions are our own personal business, only we know our personal truth. Our truth can get complicated by culture (institutions, church, friends…). So, if you’re not jiving with your current perspective, change it. When we change perspectives, our perceptions will follow.

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The waxing moon increases.

Meditation

We are each on a hero’s journey for our personal truth.
No other person, place or condition determines our truth.

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V12

Been fighting the poplars here on Sunshine Lane. Just before we bought the property, the neighbor to our north cut down 2 huge 3+’ diameter poplars to improve their view. The trees luckily fell their way and were left to be immediately swallowed by blackberries. They also left 2′ tall healthy stumps. Desperate to survive, as nature is, the stumps now produce hundreds of shooting starts seasonally. We do not want hundreds of malformed poplars, so goes the clipping. The good news is we have lots of straight sticks to play with. Currently, they’re being stockpiled for a later creation. As we have more sticks than you can shake a stick at, we’re thinking of fencing, or perhaps a knitting project for really big hands. Oh, the possibilities…

BodyMindSpirit

Today our theme is Now Here – Pay Attention.

Going from Nowhere to Now here is simply the expansion of space in the right place. Knowing where the right place is for the expansion is the key.  Sometimes it just about pausing, changing focus and emphasis.  If we want a new or different result, focus on something different.

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The waxing moon has reached the first quarter.

Meditation

Be here now, pay attention and feel any newness.
This is our time to contemplate our existence.
Be here now.
Pay attention to the waves of our breath.
With each breath give thanks to our body from our toes to our head.
The expansion is coming be patient with the reveal.

Poem

Perfectly balanced between dark and light
She is shining bright – yet half in shadow
Then why do our hearts wail?
We long for love, to belong
With patience, our beauty is being revealed, do you see it?
My beauty is reflecting upon you, receive it with love

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V11

Been juggling a few hats and personas here on Sunshine Lane. So, will leave our daily update with a blast from the past, when we were physically social, albeit alter ego’d.

Moving on…

BodyMindSpirit

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The waxing moon increases, first Quarter is tomorrow.

Preamble…

First, turn off the distracting video of questionable taste…

Our theme today is “Welcome and Release”. Welcome our best intentions with no attachment to how they show up. Listen carefully to our higher will, surrender to change for the best and highest good. See our ego, and release what we can shake off and make peace with what we can’t. If met with muddled thinking, imagine moving up, and the confusion falling away, leaving us only with our vision. Now is the time to embody letting go and Welcome – balanced spirit, emotion, and intellect. Be in alignment and create a flow towards our intentions.

Meditation

We step in and see ourselves in our vision.

Note– I recognize this thoughtful meditation and the distracting video of questionable taste may seem counter to each other. This is part of our learning to balance and let go. With everything we encounter, move forward in the appropriate direction.

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V10

Today Sunshine Lane made contact with another side of the world. Using technology, we hosted our first Zoom session “art? across the miles”. Me on Whidbey the kids in Lisbon. We’re planning a party and making different elements each day (favors, decorations, games…) with the intention of self-partying on Saturday. We had fun, little kids like making stuff and doing stuff. Our session serviced both, it’s great.

While other folks in nearby counties have experienced rain and hail today, we’ve had sunshine, clouds and wind. Our very tall Douglas fir trees are dancing like crazy; may they stay in place.

BodyMindSpirit

Our daily 5-minute meditation. The waxing moon increases.

Preamble…

As we move toward the first quarter, it’s a good time to make decisions and act in alignment with our intentions. Stay in the flow, step over fear, no scab picking. We are changing and change disturbs fear and our murky depths. Don’t judge it, just hear it, feel it, sit with it. Part of our truth is our shadow. We are not trying to fix anything; we are perfectly imperfect. We are the magicians of our life. All conceived from love will succeed.

Meditation…

Still waters run deep
observe them
do not disturb

The Sunshine Observer: SO… V9

Love <———————–> fear
If our focus right now is closer to fear than Love, course correct.
There is a difference between internal truth/our moral center, and external influence. Fear is the consequence of misplaced attention.

Turn off the news. It will still be there tomorrow and the next day. Stop letting it chase you down and hold you hostage. Seriously, why spend another second in the shit? Especially if you are doing nothing about the shit? And sharing the shit doesn’t count as doing something, it perpetuates chaos.

Consciousness is our superpower – direct it accordingly

OK, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system we can move on to happier times.

Spring is still happening here on Sunshine Lane. Although it’s a bit nippy, nothing is keeping our feathered friends from continuing to feather their nests and sing their best songs.  

Tomorrow I’m leading an art class “across the miles” with the grand kids in Lisbon. Wish me luck.

Onto our daily 5-minute meditation. Waxing toward first quarter.

Meditation…

We balance and adjust as the moon continues to illuminate our truth.
Ditch the party line.
Find the light.