From my flower morning (3/1/09) at Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, Ohio
Being present is a trait I'm always cultivating.
But I'm committed to doing so — because it is through presence that I connect and appreciate the people, things and events I encounter in a deeper way.
Presence gives me access to the fullness of my life in every single moment.
For me, one of the most profound gifts of motherhood is how it calls you into the present moment.
Chidren are masters of the present. It is where children live. It is their space of rapt attention and wonder.
For me, though, the most heart-breaking and profound lesson children teach us about presence is through teaching us about impermanence: How the baby you held and rocked all day, seemingly just yesterday, now runs ahead, all lanky-legged, to get into class with her friends.
Time flies as parents, and if we're not present, the moment is lost.
We never get that precious present of that moment back.
I was so moved by this video, a collaboration between videographer Michel Sandy and the uber-talented photographer and blogger Tara Whitney. It's a record of a family photo shoot of the Falconbridge family.
I {{heart}} Emily's blog, both for her art, her kind spirit and that she is a sister Waldorf parent. (Our husbands both play guitar, too!)
For me this video is all about noticing the profoundly sacred gift that life offers each moment if we only pay attention.
If you're a sensitive type, you might want some Kleenex on hand before watching.
I think about the woman I have become lately, about the life that I am now living, and about how much I always wanted to be this person and live this life, liberated from the farce of pretending to be anyone other than myself. I think of everything I endured before getting here and wonder if it was me - I mean, this happy and balanced me...who pulled the other, younger, more confused and more struggling me forward during all those hard years.
The younger me was the acorn full of potential, but it was the older me, the already-existent oak, who was saying the whole time: 'Yes - grow! Change! Evolve! Come and meet me here, where I already exist in wholeness and maturity! I need you to grow into me!'
...Knowing already that everything would be OK, that everything would eventually bring us together here. Right here, right to this moment. Where I was always waiting in peace and contentment, always waiting for her to arrive and join me."
A dear friend celebrated her 55.6 moon nodal birthday this weekend — a special time that occurs every 18.6 years. It's when the sun and moon are in the same position as when you are born, and according to biography, or life cycle, work, as given by Rudolph Steiner, your soul purpose and lessons are highlighted during this time as you are called on to meet your soul's tasks in deeper ways.
My friend marked this momentous event by going on a three-day vision quest on a beautiful 100-acre farm that is being turned into a sacred retreat center. (She gets extra points of doing it in Wisconsin, in the chill of March!)
On Saturday evening, we gathered to mark the end of my friend's quest by walking the stone labyrinth at dusk.
Then each of us four women who gathered to honor our friend shared a blessing around the fire. I wanted to share something about how wonderfully perfect the journey of our lives are, and so I selected two quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert. The one above and this one:
I’ve come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call “The Physics of The Quest” – a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: “If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself….then truth will not be withheld from you.”
Tell me, what is your wise oak self calling you to grow into?
P.S. Another message from the universe came at this gathering: When I got to the center of the labyrinth, I asked for guidance to find my direction and my right place in the order of things. And, magically, overhead a line of geese flew in a straight line, and two who had been out of line fell in. Head toward your true north. Your instincts know the way, I heard. Go and all will fall in place. Thank you, universe, for the quick answer!
P.P.S. You've probably already seen this amazing talk on a different way to look at creative genius that Elizabeth Gilbert gave at TED. But if you haven't seen it, you must — it's amazing.
I have one of her small works of art hanging in my office. It says:
"At any given moment you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end."
It always empowers me to remember that I am the author of my own life.
I am writing the story, and I am the story.
I decide the next chapter. I get to write my own happy ending. I can craft scenes of magic, create characters that I adore, and capture the poetry of life.
We are born creators. Amazingly talented and gifted. All of us: You. And You. And You. (And me, too. And yes, truly, you, too.)
We all are writing the stories of our live each moments, with our thoughts, beliefs and actions. We share our souls through the thumbprint of our lives — each unique to us alone.
On my desk I have an index card that says: "What will you create today?"
It could also say: "What story will you tell about your life today?"
Or as Christine might ask: "What are you waiting for?"
Our dreams are important. They need to be written into being, each and every day.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 1:02AM 
