How Important is it Really?

What's a different approach that may help us all develop the proverbial roll off a duck's back approach to life?

Gratitude. Patience. Understanding. Flexibility. Awareness.

Today I went with a friend to see a movie called "How to Train Your Dragon". Not my usual kind of movie choice, but the reviews were good and this weekend happens to be the Coastal Dream Machines
event where noisy airplanes fly over my home and the coast is flooded with well meaning and enthusiastic folks who are looking for a fun time, all of which to many of us locals means go find something else to do if you don't want to hunker down. So off we went, and did I ever enjoy this movie; great animation, good message, fun, and I didn't think about anything else for 2 hours while I watched the movie. A short break from life. And entertaining too!

Most things aren't really all that important in the long run. The challenges of today will be forgotten soon enough as we move forward in life, focusing on something new. So when you find yourself in a bubble or a little bit of turmoil, find something else to focus on for awhile and see if your mood improves. I know mine does.

Dreams

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."    Henry David Thoreau

God is Awake

"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones;  and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."

Victor Hugo

Strength

"To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."      Helen Keller

When Life Gives You Lemons

"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands".

Richard Bach

Your Daily Rumi

"Come, for today is for us a day of festival;

henceforward joy and pleasure are on the increase.

Clap hands, say "Today is all happiness";

from the beginning it was manifestly a fine day.

Who is there in the world like our Friend? 

Who has seen such a festival in a hundred cycles?

Earth and heaven are filed with sugar;

in every direction sugarcane has sprouted.

The roar of the pearl-scattering sea has arrived;

the world is full of waves, and the sea is invisible."

-Rumi

Love After Love

LOVE AFTER LOVE 
by Derek Walcott




The time will come
When, with elation,
You will greet yourself arriving
At your own door, in your own mirror,
And each will smile at the other's welcome.


And say, sit here, Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine, Give bread, Give back your heart
To Itself, to the stranger who has loved you.


All your life, whom you ignored
For another, who knows you by heart,
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,


The photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your image from the mirror,
Sit. Feast on your Life.

Dreaming

Stars shining bright above you

night breezes seem to whisper
I love you
Birds singin' in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me.

Say "nighty night" and kiss me
just hold me tight and tell me
you'll miss me.
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me.


The Mamas and the Papas  recorded in 1969
music and lyrics by Andre and Schwandt




What is a dream? There are night dreams and day dreams, dreams of the future and dreams of the past, dreams which we hope will come true and dreams that we hold only in our hearts. Dreams which we pay attention to as they whisper to us, and dreams we ignore as they are too outlandish and impossible. But are they really?

Australian Dreamtime mythology says that each person exists eternally in the Dreamtime, that this part of them existed before they chose to be born, and that each person has special dreaming medicine such as "kangaroo dreaming" or "snake dreaming" based on the land on which they live. Dreamtime is an integral part of their lives as their waking and sleeping experiences are merged and held as equally important. Many indigenous cultures encourage their young to remember and then share their dreams with the elders who look to dreams for information about each child including what their purpose is as well as their unique gifts and talents.

Our culture however is a mixed bag in this regard and you will find many variables with regard to dreams and their relevancy or importance. Night dreams are often categorized as "good" or "bad" depending on the content as well as the reaction of the dreamer which neglects the rich landscape of the dreamworld unless it is positive and friendly. But what if some of those unpleasant dreams are really past life memories which the dreamer is seeking to integrate and which spring up from the unconscious through the dream?

When I was young I dreamed that I was driving along a bridge which soon became steep.  I drove higher and higher up toward the sky on that bridge until we reached the peak where I tumbled over the top, falling through the air to a certain death".  


This dream has to do with processing a past live when I fell off a cliff to my death. Once I reached the age (in this life) when I had died in the previous one, the dreams stopped! I still am wary of heights but I do believe the dream helped to bring my fears to consciousness where I could experience them while dreaming,  then processing my feelings once I woke. Not easy, but a growthfull opportunity to resolving the past. Of course, not all dreams are past life related, but many recurring nightmares from early childhood often have to do with an immediate past life which becomes vivid during our dreaming, providing us with a glimpse into the past as it intersects with the present.

Other dreams explore areas such as astral travel, working out issues from our daily lives, exchange of information with other folks, as well as creating different scenarios which can then be tried out during our waking hours. What is most interesting to me is that some people have no interest in dreams or claim they don't dream which begs the question is Dreaming a World Truth? Do all people dream and just not remember it? Or could it be possible that dreaming extends to all sentient species on our planet and beyond?  Lots to ponder. Regardless, dreaming offers a panoply of possibilities if you are open to it.

Resistance is Futile

Resistance - the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with 

Resistance - any mechanical force that tends to retard or oppose motion

Resistance - a material's opposition to the flow of electric current

"Resistance is Futile"  The Borg, Star Trek, TNG

A teenager resists the dictates of his parents as he begins to make choices for himself and as he does, engages the third monad.

We push against a door which seems to be stuck, encountering resistance which then gives way.

Faced with difficult changes in our lives, we resist "what is" and suffer.

Is it possible that some forms of resistance can create positive outcomes as in the case of the teenager? Maybe. But cannot this same teenager when prompted by his parents to do it their way simply choose not to without resistance?  Yes. He can allow the force of their intention to pass by him or flow around him rather than meeting it head on. We can also do the same in our daily interactions with people; take the example of a neighbor who wants you to prune your roses so he has a better view to which you reply with a smile rather than a "hell no!". The co-worker who pushes your emotional buttons on a daily basis to which you usually respond with hurt, anger, upset and indignation; try allowing the energy to simply flow by you as you offer no resistance. This approach to life offers less suffering and allows us to maintain equilibrium and energy rather than extending our resources toward blocks and power struggles. 

When we flow with The River we remember we are One with All.