Diggin' in the dirt

Yes, this is my humble compost pile!

I spent some time with my compost pile today...not very pretty, mind you, digging down under all the yucky veggies, turning over the clumps of last week's leftover salad rejects, not to mention what I found in the bottom of the veggie drawer in the fridge.  But the focus, time, water, energy, leftover veggies and sun are all worth it because what you find underneath is this rich-healthy-bursting with life-energetic-perfect moisture-teaming with life-soil that is great nourishment for my flowers that brings smiles to our faces when we see the butterflys and humming birds feed off of them, and the veggies that make our meals so delicious!

If you haven't ever popped a little plum tomato into your mouth, still a little bit warm from the afternoon sun straight from the vine, you've missed one of the finest moments in life, in my humble opinion.

Very satisfying ~ very delicious ~ very nourishing for our trinity of bodies - physical, emotional and spiritual.

Yes, how symbolic - by giving some water (our tears for release and cleansing), focus (really looking at what's there), some sun (our energy) to our internal compost heap (all those issues that have piled up as we stuff them down) we can uncover a rich-teaming with inspiration-new ideas-new perspectives-energetic-newly nourished-Self ready to enjoy more smiles in our every day. 

I wonder if that's where we get the phrase "turning over a new leaf"...although it's more accurate to say "turning over the new pile" but that doesn't sound so poetic...

The Hummingbirds love this Petunia!

Spider and Infinite Possibilities

I was beginning to feel a little bit like Lil Miss Muffett...

It was Day 5 of my latest manifesting journey and I noticed I was finding spiders in the most unusual places...scooting across my living room rug (this guy was so big he cast his own shadow!) one scurries into the kitchen sink as I was doing the dishes, and another hovering over my hands as I was slicing cucumbers for our dinner salad!  Okay, I get it... time to check in on what Spider medicine (or totem) messages are all about.

Ted Andrews, a favorite author and I consider a teacher of mine who is now in the Spirit world, writes that Spider is at the heart of creation stories, and is related to the Wheel of Fortune card in the Tarot because both are about creating a balance between past and future, flow and flux, male and female, etc and the rhythms of it all.

Physically:
Body is the figure 8 = infinity symbol
8 legs

Taking this a bit further, with Spider's physical attributes being about infinity and the metaphysical message is about creation and the connection and balance between, then Spider's web-thread is that what connects human world with Spirit world or the above world with the below world, as in As Above, So Below.

After sitting quietly with this information, I checked in with Source and my Ancient Ones and here was Spider's message to me:

Infinite possibilities.

Remember we are infinite Beings who will continue to weave patterns of life and living throughout time.  

As Spider's thread connects the human world and spirit world, 

we are also connected through our threads of living to Source.

Is it easier to stay in the vortex, the flow of the Universe, if we remember we are infinite Beings and this lifetime is temporary?  Does it make it easier to embrace "this too shall pass"?  

Are so many afraid of spiders because maybe instinctively, at some level, we understand they represent our infinite Being, our infinite possibilities and that, quite frankly, can scare the hell out of us?!?

We want more structure, more things to weigh us down - could this be another slice of the pie to why we are an overweight society with too much stuff? (I have seen a change in awareness about this lately - I think we are beginning to understand the ramifications of material wants and needs being out of control.)

What if we all became energetically light as feathers, light enough to fly on our own threads from object to object always connected to Source and therefore, secure with our threads?

And the fact that we manufacture our own threads from within our own bodies, how cool and self-sufficient is that?!?

I am creating my own thread from my Heart Center today - how about you?

Thank you Spider for your wisdom and guidance ~ 

p.s.  you can leave my house, now...

Soul Mates - what's the deal?

South Carolina's Governor Sanford "My mistress is my soul mate."
Jerry Maquire  "You complete me."
Richard Bach (of Jonathan Livingston Seagull fame) "Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life."

For over a year now, I've been cogitating over this term "soulmate" that seems to get bantered around as easily as the proverbial ping pong ball.  This term, this sometimes unattainable-can't-possibly-live-up-to-missing-piece-person... do they exist or is this another form of Prince/Princess Charming that we read about in the Green Fairy Tale Book. (Yes, I have the volumes Brown and Blue, too, still on my shelf, along with Brothers' Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson...Brothers' Grimm...that should have been a clue for us!)

Personally, I've been in my relationship with Larry since 1974.  Others have called us "Soul mates" - I don't recall us ever referring to ourselves that way.  We love each other, we've figured out how to live happily with each other - first as a couple, then as parents with two sons and now, again, we are remembering what it's like to be just the two of us in the car, at the dinner table, with Matt and Nick having their own homes.  Our relationship has grown for over 36 years.  Does that make us soul mates?

When I first watched the movie "Jerry Maguire" I bristled at the now famous scene where Jerry tells Dorothy "You complete me"  What?!?!?  Is that really her responsibility to complete him???  My friends were all talking about how much they loved that scene...I kept quiet and thought "what's wrong with me?  I thought that was awful!"  Not just corny...corny I can appreciate.  There was something at the core of me that said "nope...that's not right".

Over the years, I've heard the "soul mate" card used as the great eraser to bad behavior.  Being a legal secretary in a Family Law office, I heard a lot of excuses - very similar to Gov. Sanford's - about how it wasn't their fault they found their soul mate and their partner wasn't it, as they sign the court documents, kicking their partner to the curb and arguing over the spices in the spice rack.

What makes a Soul Mate?  I've come to my own conclusion:  A soul mate is found within - not in the outer regions of someone else.  You are your own soul mate - and you are the only one to complete yourself. 

I'm not expecting Larry to complete me - that's my responsibility.  If I work on my own truth, my own self-care, then I bring my whole self along for this ride of life.  And that makes me a better partner for Larry, my kids, my co-workers - anyone and anything I do.

Here's one more quote for the road:  Jason Zebehazy "Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and familiarity breeds contempt.  According to this, my soul mate should be in Thailand."

It just made me laugh ~ that's all ~ and I hope it made you laugh, too.

Be your own Soul Mate - invoke some Bear Medicine and spend some time going within.  Introspection is a great step to finding your own inner Soul Mate, and bringing you to wholeness. 

Meet Blinky the Raccoon ~ a great messenger!

About 10 minutes ago, I got a phone call from my son, Matt.  He said "Mom, this raccoon just showed up at our door.  He's very content to just look in and watch us.  He's only got one eye so Nick (his brother who is visiting him) and I are calling him Blinky.  What's Raccoon medicine about?"

I pulled my Medicine Cards book off the shelf, read about how they are the Generous Protectors - looking after others, speaking up when hearing others gossip about someone, making sure you can give them a hand up not a hand-out, as you want to make sure you take care of your own needs, instead of wasting energy on self-pity do something nice for someone.

Matt thought it would be helpful for his friend, Jess, to also hear the message so he passed the phone to her and I repeated Raccoon's insight.

Once the message was delivered, I heard Matt say "thanks, Blinky!"  and off he went!  Just turned and walked away...message delivered... his job was done!

Here's a pic that Matt was able to take as I was talking to Jess - my son, Nick is the profile there - see how close they were?  The raccoon didn't seem to mind at all!

Love the messages from our Animal friends ~
Paula

Winter Solstice for the Senses ~

My family has a Winter holiday tradition...ok, to be honest, we have many Winter traditions...but this one stands out today because I'm in the midst of it.

Since discovering an English Toffee recipe on the TV talk show "People are Talking", I've been making this toffee for family and friends.  How long?  Well, let's just say long enough that I've had to buy a new candy thermometer - not because I wore it out, but because I needed one with bigger numbers - oh, the better to read it, my dear.

Nowadays, they would say it's Crack-Toffee..and actually that's not far off because you have to cook it until it reaches 300 degree crack temperature - but I digress.

The tradition...I make toffee and my boys (that includes my hubby) eat as much as they can before I put it in a Christmas-tree-Santa-sleigh-or-any-other-holiday-du-jour-container to give away to friends and co-workers.  It's a great tradition - and I've learned to adjust my ingredients list at the grocery store to include the invasion so I'm able to give away some of it!

As the butter melts, the sugar is added and melted into submission it becomes bubbling gold - or bubbling flesh, as my nephew, Jason used to call it - but that was when he was 9 and it was really cool to try to gross out your aunt.  The house fills with melted butter aromas - now I know what Julia Child's kitchen smelled like (I loved that movie!) and there's a hint of sweetness with all that added sugar...and then comes the melted chocolate that gets smoothed around like frosting...love it!

bubbling up ~

sprinkled with almonds~

Making this toffee is also therapeutic ~ it makes you slow down because you have to pay attention to the temperatures and the timing - it has to reach 300 degrees at it's own time, not yours.  It bubbles up with such fury after adding the baking soda and you know you have seconds to pour it onto the cookie sheet - but then you have to wait for it to harden before you can top it with the chocolate.  Once I get started, I can't be interrupted - it helps me to focus focus focus.

I love traditions - and this one especially - because it brings such smiles to the faces of my family and such wonderful aromas to our home.  It feels like I accomplished something really cool.  Or maybe it's the Greek in me - for some reason, I grew up with the notion that Greeks are candy makers - maybe because we had relatives and friends that owned the best candy stores in San Francisco - and I got to go behind the scenes and pick out my favorite creams - orange, raspberry or those light green ones we never knew what flavor they were - all layed out on those long marble slabs...loved that!

Blessed Solstice, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ~
I wish you Peace within your hearts and Sweetness in your Life every day~

Ceremony

From Wikipedia...
A ceremony is an activity, infused with ritual significance, performed on a special occasion.

Ceremony, ritual - lots of conversation lately about ceremony and ritual.  The latest being the sad news of a sweat lodge ceremony gone so horribly wrong that lives were lost, lives were changed from this day forward.  Was it because there wasn't a true understanding of the ceremony where those around the circle are releasing, discovering, and healing?  I certainly hope, being that it was led by a popular spiritual author, it was not because of the money.  I don't know him very well - just interviews I've seen over the last couple of years.  I know he is a mentor for some in my line of work and I highly respect their opinions.   No judgment.  I just know he will be forever touched by this - maybe even defined by this - what a way to learn a lesson.  My prayers are with them all.

I know that my lesson from the sidelines is that there is sacredness in the ceremony - not the numbers.  My guides whispered to me in the middle of the night that it's about understanding these ceremonies and the power associated with them.  To honor that power is also integral with the ceremony.

When I was a teenager, my father said "Come help me with my Ritual work"...he was a Freemason and now, as I think about it, I held that little book and helped him memorize his lines.  I sure wish I could recall the hidden mysteries that were at the time, just words that I checked to make sure my Dad said in the order they were written .  I think it was his way of including me in this sacred ceremony that was not available to young girls then or today.

Thanks, Dad, for helping me understand the sacredness of ceremony, and including me in yours.
My prayers are with those touched by the events in Sedona.

Our Newest Angel Patrick Swayze

I just saw the tribute that Dancing with the Stars did for Patrick Swayze...I miss him already~

They did a great job, but no one can do that last Dirty Dancing number like he did...

Sending much love and blessings to his family and friends...I can only imagine how they must miss him. 

"It's amazing Molly...the love inside, you take it with you."