The Blessing of Disaster

A woman made a pilgrimage to the mountains. She joined a guided tour, for the mountains were wild, and it made sense to travel with one who knew the way. As the jeep climbed higher, she gazed at the wondrous landscape, marked by stark contrasts. A mature thicket of trees was abruptly replaced by an expanse of jagged trunks. A tumble of surprisingly uniform rocks streamed downward - strewn with vivid wildflowers in full bloom. The jeep rounded a bend and there was a tiny forest of fresh, young maples, bright green leaves reaching for blue sky.

While the woman drank-in her surroundings, the guide described mighty forces that had carved the panorama. A flash of lightning created a hauntingly lovely stand of blackened branches, now home to particular wildlife that thrived in just such environs, an avalanche was responsible for the flower-strewn river of rock, a mudslide for the mountainside meadow, dotted with daisies; disease had wiped out leaves to reveal pure artistry in gnarled branches. The woman was surprised to realize that the most GLORIOUS pockets of scenery spawned from DISASTER! Natural disaster.

She viewed the landscape with new eyes. What would she see if lightning and fire and avalanche and mudslide had never occurred? How would this vista appear had disaster never struck? Rolling green hills, she mused; pretty enough, but no comparison to the bold magnificence of the present view. No comparison at all.

See it right.

All is well.

Our Magnificent Flaws!

Do you strive to be perfect? It cannot be. Not because you are imperfect, but because you are PERFECTION: Magnificently flawed!

What we perceive as flaws are nothing less than the brightest spark of creativity. Our imagination bubbles up and flows forth most freely in the face of contrast. For example, a carpenter finds a corner that is off-kilter and feels inspired to transform it into a thing of practical beauty - crafting a cupboard or a casement to house crockery or treasure. Upon viewing his handiwork, he spies a knot in the wood. An imperfection? No! A beautiful rose. He carves a winding vine of leaves and petals and stands back once more. What does he see? Magnificence! A seamstress accidentally rents a garment, only to repair it with shimmering embroidery. She has created a work of art.

You, dear One, are perfection. Just as you are. Right here. Right now. In this moment. You are a treasure, a work of art that is far superior to the plainness of convention, or what you might imagine “perfection” to be.

Let us see our flaws as they are: Inspiration to create our dreams come true.

Spark on, Spirit!

All is well.

Gotta Dance!

I've always thought life should be a musical, and now it seems the idea is catching on. First, YouTube lit up when a handful of U.S. soldiers produced their music video rendition of Lady Gaga's Telephone; then Israeli soldiers countered with choreographed "man"euvers to Kesha's Tick Tock. Cool... I get it! See an adversary? Think: DANCE PARTNER! Nice shift.

When I was at Miramar, I often found myself daydreaming that my co-workers and I suddenly burst into song and started tripping the light fantastic. Think I'm crazy? Bet you'd pay to see it at the Theatre! My view of The Office, or, Top Gun II - The Musical. Picture this: the scene opens with pilots in flight suits and combat boots, dancing onto the set (very MANLY dancing, mind you), stomping and leaping from government-issue desktop to desktop. They're joined by a few good SME's (Subject Matter Experts), in white shirts and ties. Then the ID's (Instructional Designers - that's what I was), come twirling and high-stepping along, smiling in their skirts and heels. Finally...the government contract liason (looking suspiciously like Snidely Whiplash), oozes onto the scene, and we have our villain! Can't you just see it? Wouldn't the whole day have been SO much more fun! Wouldn't we have gotten along that much better? After all, the villain wasn't really a bad guy; he just provided a handy foil for the rest of us.

What would Dudley Do-Right be without Snidely? Admit it; you love Snidely. Don't worry; we all do. At heart.

It's something to think about.

No bad guys. Just DIFFERENT guys. With different ideas. If there weren't people whose choices make us cringe, how would we ever clearly define what we want for ourselves? We make them cringe, too! We learn from each other, what we like and what we don't. That's how we change and grow. We really are all in this together; and life would be boring without contrast.

Love is in you. Love is in me. So is PEACE. So is HARMONY. We can't find it without - because that's not where it lives. We must accept that it's within. And then live it like we mean it.

Let's all blow someone's mind today. I dare you. Put on a BIG SMILE, walk boldly up to your worst "enemy" and plant one GIGANTIC KISS, smack on the face (cheek, lips, you pick). Then just keep on walkin'. How much FUN would it be to shock a person like that?

Deep down (maybe waaay deep down, in some cases ), it would remind each of us that we are actually the best of friends - in Spirit.

Life's a dance if we swing it. Swing on, Spirits! You're eternal.

Keep it twistin'.

All is well.

Shine On!

Shortly before the turn of this century (you remember the 1900's, right?), I had the pleasure of hosting a small group of spiritual visionaries in my home for a meal and conversation. One of the questions we pondered that evening was, "Has the human race really improved in the 2000 years since Christ brought his message of Universal Love?" We did not reach an agreement that night. Today I am here to tell you where I stood then, and where I stand even more firmly now: The answer is, a resounding "YES!"

You may have your doubts. If so, you're not alone. Just last week, a dear friend lamented that in all her years she's never seen such hatred, so many lies, such poisonous expression of "ideals" by fringe groups (not to mention music groups) as is common today. I've heard people in their eighties say the same. I admit there's some evidence for this view. Fortunately, that's only part of the picture!

Consider this: It's likely that the people who today spew hatred via mass media have harbored similar beliefs for a long time. In fact, unkind perspectives are often passed down through generations. Historically, corrosive comments were expressed in the relative privacy of homes and on front porches, or over the back fence. But ugly thoughts existed. And persisted. Whether these same views were shared in public was an entirely different matter. This meant we might have regularly encountered "wolves" who wore "sheep's clothing" and been none the wiser. Today these beliefs are coming to the fore, "seeing the light of day." Celebrate. Exposure to LIGHT ultimately reveals TRUTH. See?!?! Obvious ugliness can be seen as great news!!!

Let's get these harmful thoughts and feelings out in the open where error can be revealed and suffering healed. Make no mistake; people who harbor hatred in their hearts are suffering its effects, often physically. If revealing and healing takes a while, it's okay. At least we're moving in the right direction, and we have a far better chance of knowing where we truly stand with one another in the interim.

But that's just a sneak peek at what's working. There's much more good news than that. If it's true that things have never been darker, we don't have to look far to see that they've never been LIGHTER, either! The latest marketing for Kraft's Triscuit cracker is heavily touting (get this) HOME FARMING! Did you read that right? Yes. You did. Check it out. It's pretty cool. McDonald's has an ad featuring yoga. (That's YogA, not yogurt, but either one is good.) McDonalds. Yoga. Yep. Shift-shift-shift. We're moving in the right direction.

The polarization of humankind is guiding us inexorably toward a glorious tipping point. As a species, we are moving from fear to FAITH. We are. It wasn't too long ago that our collective preoccupation with a certain white Bronco kept us from caring about (or perhaps even knowing about) the disaster that devastated our brothers and sisters in Rwanda. That would not happen today. Since then we've had Katrina and Rita, and the Tsunami, and several earthquakes, including those in Haiti and Chile... and we have responded with an UNPRECEDENTED outpouring of love and support! These were natural disasters made worse by lack of care in government planning. Now we have the completely man-made disaster in the Gulf. Certainly these human failures are painful, but, they serve a Higher Purpose. We are waking up! People are taking notice.

I'm sure you're familiar with numerous "end of days" predictions associated with the coming of 2012, thought by many to be astrologically significant. Some people even wonder if the end of the world or the human race may be near. Nah. It's the end of days, all right. It's the end of an old era that was built on fear and corruption and greed. What we're experiencing now is all of that, which was hidden, coming into the light. It's being exposed as toxic... and shall gradually fade away.

Be not afraid, dear Ones. The battle is already won. We know that the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness shall never overcome it. Now, remember why that is so: Light has no opposite.

There is only light, and the absence of light. BE THE LIGHT.

Keep it bright.

All is well.

The Gift of the Present

Much has been said about "staying in the moment," but most of us can benefit from frequent reminders. We may even wonder HOW to "open" (or receive) the "gift" of the present. Let’s start with a quote from contemporary spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle’s modern classic, The Power of Now:

"Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry —all forms of fear— are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence. Time is the cause of your suffering [and] your problems."

If we think about it, we realize that we have always coped with what is happening in the Now. One way or another, we make it through to the other side. After all, we’re still here.

The beautiful TRUTH is that when we are fully conscious and fully present in each moment, we discover we can cope very well in the Now. The reason we haven’t always coped well is that we’ve rarely actually been fully present in the Now of any given situation. When we are angry or fearful, it’s virtually always fueled—at least partially—by something that has happened in our past. Rarely does any single situation merit the measure of fear or anger or any particular pain we may evoke. Instead, our reactions are cumulative. Typically, in any given moment, we are either lamenting (or missing) the past, or we are anticipating the future – either with hope or concern. This preoccupation with what is in our minds, rather than with what is in the Now, causes us to respond out of balance.

We do not have to live this way. We can Stop. Right. Now.

If we drop our fears and concerns, if we stay present in the moment, we discover that we can actually ENJOY the vast majority of "moments." It doesn’t matter what we’re doing; we can find pleasure in all but a rare few situations. We need only choose to do so. Do you doubt this? When we’re driving, we can delight in the scenery; the trees, the sky—has there ever been anything more lovely? Put simply, we can LOOK. Or, we can LISTEN; to the birds, to the music floating through the speakers in our cars. Even traffic makes a melody. When we wash… be it dishes, or our bodies… we can take pleasure in the water, the scent of the soap. We can delight in cleansing.

Where are YOU Right Now? Look and Listen. Feel and BE.

Beautiful sights, harmonious sounds, softness to touch… wondrous gifts surround us at all times, in all places. We need only give them our attention to RECEIVE. Life is a game if we PLAY it; and the more we play Notice the Now!, the more joy we will experience. Delicious PEACE will find its way into our hearts; our minds will at last BE STILL; and torment will fade away… as if it never was.

Keep it fun.

All is well.

On Truth and Change

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said it best, "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." The same may be said about the need for change.

As the damage from the gulf oil spill continues to become increasingly evident, we all become increasingly more aware of the need for CHANGE. The reason this particular lesson is so PAINFUL is because our use of oil is so prevalent as to be embedded, in one form or another, in nearly everything we do. We don't WANT to change. And so we long-ago passed up learning the "easy way" and then we passed up learning the "hard way." Now we're approaching learning this major (global) lesson the "HARDER" way.

Petroleum does so much more than fuel our vehicles. No matter the industry, its use is ingrained. In fact, we're so reliant upon oil and petroleum products that we'd be hard pressed to find anything tangible that doesn't depend, in some form or another, on its use. Wherever you find yourself, right in this moment, look around and see the truth: We each rely heavily on oil.

If we're all involved, that means BIG change is required. This is precisely why we may need to get SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE before we finally surrender to the inevitable.

There is GOOD NEWS! Once we reach our collective "Tipping Point," change will not be as difficult as we now fear. How do I know? Because change rarely, if ever, is as painful as we fear at its onset. Do you doubt this? Think of all the times we've feared the worst. Consider history. Remember SARS? Anthrax? Surely you can think of five more examples in but a minute or two. In truth, we could go on for a very long time listing all our collective fears that never fully came to pass. We humans tend to rise to the occasion, and so does Mother Nature. Not overnight, perhaps, but often sooner and more fully than we project from our place of fear.

Have faith.

Here is a more gentle reminder that the measure of pain which precedes change is, more often than not, up to us. Consider the Duchess of York. I mention her not because she is anything less than whole and perfect, but simply because she and her painful need for change are current and publicly known. The media has labeled her "greedy," but that's a judgement. Let's remove judgement and find the lesson. When Sarah Ferguson made the choice to profit from her connection to the prince, she may or may not have been motivated by greed. She may have been motivated by perceived need. We don't know. Often, we feel we have needs when they are actually wants. Distinguishing between the two may be a first-grade lesson, but it's one that many of us don't master until well into adulthood. Whatever the case, Ms. Ferguson made the choice she did because she - at least in that moment - valued monetary gain over morals.

I'm guessing it's not the first time she's made such a choice. It does appear as if she took a pass on learning the easy way, and then passed up learning the hard way... and is now experiencing an opportunity to learn the HARDER way. On the world stage, no less. Again.

Morals over money. That's a lesson we all must learn. Surely the Duchess is not alone in her pain. In truth, she is whole and perfect at the center of her Being. As are we all. The only "change" she need make is to see past illusion.

Keep it kind.

All is well.

Have You Seen it From Above?

The oil spill in the Gulf has a lot of people worried. I'm not going to add to that by repeating our concerns. Instead, I invite you to consider a higher perspective.

We have known since the 1970's that it was time to switch from oil to renewable sources of energy. The problem is that requires a major shift - and change is difficult. Usually, we don't want to do it! We put it off. Again, and again, and again... but that's okay, because the opportunity for change doesn't go away. It just keeps growing! Eventually, what needs to happen always does. One way or another. If we don't learn our lessons the easy way, then we have to learn them the hard way. If we don't learn our lessons the hard way, then we have to learn them the HARDER way. What is ours to learn will be taught. Eventually we shall surrender to what was inevitable all along. The oil spill in the Gulf is one gigantic wake-up call. Look at it that way and consider it good news.

The spill is just one more part of the grand Divine Plan now unfolding. All our old power systems, based upon greed and fear, are falling away around the globe. At the moment, it's painful. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it takes a good deal of pain to dislodge us from the familiar.

If and when the spill crosses your mind, keep it elevated in your consciousness. See it as an agent for much-needed, positive CHANGE. Hold the power of GOOD in your mind. Think of all the people who are finally - really - waking up to the need for releasing our dependence on oil. Think of the bonds that will form when hundreds of people answer the call to action, coming out to mop up.

We have a mess in the Gulf... It heralds a sustainable future!

Keep it clean.

All is well.