Friday, October 5, 2012

Thankful for the beauty of life

This morning I read, "Two years ago today.... and I thought what was happening for me two years ago. Then what popped up was one year ago and not quite today... but around this time. Learning of cancer afflicting two people I love.

Then a fall many years ago presented itself. I was spinning a story about University bullshit, paying tuition and unrealistic expectations and not being understood, when, from out of now where, I felt the warmth of the sun on my face. Then saw all the amazing colours of the autumn leaves fluttering on the trees. In that moment I smiled and sighed. This was something no one could ever take from me. I connected to this powerful beauty and tenacity of nature. A feeling of complete safety and peace swept over me. It would all be okay, it already was okay.

Recognizing that even in the sad news, confusion and fear, there can still be beautiful fall colours and bright sunlight, today I will look around me for that freedom and peace, even if just for a moment. What an amazing remembrance going into the Thanksgiving weekend.

And I am very grateful to still have these two people I love in my life.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Gifts

What is your gift?
I am stealing this question from Stephen Cope, from Kirpalu.
This is what really got me interested in Yoga five or six years ago, this and a few very unexplainable moments in savasana.
I journeyed to Colorado, sat in a room with a practiced Yogi and committed myself to many journalling experiences that led me down a path of self understanding at one level deeper than I had prior to the experience. I have since continued to study and practice and realize that like the layers of sediment a geologist studies, there are many layers of self understanding.
And yet... it does always come back to the question of whether I feel I am living a fulfilling life. Am I using my gifts?

How does one know if something is ones gift? Often the gift isn't mastered when it is first being used. Even our greatest athletes and musicians put in ten's of thousands of hours of practice before being considered a great athlete.

I think you know because it is the thing you must do above all others things. It is the thing that you lose sight of time and space doing. So what is it you do that gets you lost?