Tuesday, August 17, 2021

This is Life - A Lesson from Nature

 

It's all right here XO
I went out under the moon in the wee hours last night after I'd been working, to take a break before sleep. I often like to go out and clip a few little flowers and sniff the fresh air, so I did. Brought them in and filled my little bunny who lives on my desk, carrying tiny blossoms to make my heart sing.

Today I looked at it and realized that it tells the story of LIFE. There's no escaping it. Like the Dutch Masters' paintings of long, long ago of flower arrangements with fruit, flies, bugs, decay, and spectacular perfection, it's all there, the whole ball of wax. We can edit our "presentation" or representation of ourselves all we want on social media, but underneath it all, we each experience the whole ball of wax, and I for one, won't deny the existence of any of it.

In this image, what I saw was the detritus that has fallen from the beautiful rose that was in full flower when I picked it, but fell, once it was away from its roots. Little tiny flecks of what I had to ask my husband about. He told me that what had fallen was called the "anther" or the vehicle that holds the pollen for the bees and insects to carry away - the pollen that brings life. The shedding of the anther represents to me, our physical bodies that carry our spirits, soaring through life, and when we're done, we drop them.

The little pink bud on my desk tugs at my heart, and represents possibility that doesn't come to fruition. Some of us know that story way too well.

Vulnerability and Strength

As I continued to look at this beautiful little bouquet I noticed that the rose on the right had some scars. Oh it wafts out the most gorgeous spicy fragrance, but one of its petals has been consumed to some degree by some creature who now has been nourished by its offerings. Some might think this mars the perfection of the blossom, but to my mind, it shows that we can continue to shine and be quite glorious, as well as give some of ourselves to others in need. We can rock that, and not be ashamed of it. It's like wrinkles on an Elder's face. So beautiful. Why feel ashamed of our imperfections when we've earned them through our giving and our love?

I love that the little bud sits right next to this ongoing cycle of life, the bud is the promise, the beginning, the innocence.

Secret foundations XO

Then I turned my little glass vial held by the rabbit and discovered a pristine red rose with a little bud sitting next to it. And to me, this represents what underlies everything, beauty, faith, possibility happening, growth, the cycles of life. I feel a sense of constancy from it. It says to me, "You couldn't see me from the other side, but step into a different perspective, and TA DA, Here I am! And I'll always be here on the other side of what you think you can see."

Hm, quite a gift, this little moonlight bouquet.

Keep the faith peeps. And remember to let yourself view things from different perspectives if ever in doubt. The beauty isn't always right up front, but it's there all right. It's there.

In love and light, Namaste
~Jen



Thursday, August 5, 2021

I Don't Know How to Gossip!

I might like it....

The kids gave my husband a lovely book for us to read and digest and discuss called Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari. It's interesting.

The author writes about many things, one of which is gossiping. His contention is that it is foundational to culture and society and the hub around which all organizations, groups, and institutions revolve, and even thrive.

Welp, I didn't get that memo. Does everyone know how to gossip? Do you know how? Do you do that? Is it a good thing? I've heard so much about the subject, and been the subject "of" it a million times in my life, having moved all over the world about every two years, and sometimes more often than that, so I was always "the new kid on the block." Great fodder for gossip since I was always "different."

The new kid on the block, if she's smart, doesn't talk much, she listens. Well it took me a long time to get smart, so I opened my mouth and spit out what I had been taught: "Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, and great minds discuss ideas," attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt. She was quite something if you know anything about her hidden history. And if you knew her history you'd not be able to resist gossiping about her.

Throughout all my working years, my career years, I was taught by my father (early on) to be task oriented. Get the job done. Do an excellent job. Focus. Learn. Teach. Work hard. Don't waste your time. Don't waste anyone else's time.

I'd lived in big cities for much of my life, then moved to a small town when I was in my late 30s. Hm. That was quite different, and peeps got along by talking about other peeps a LOT. I just listened. I think I judged them too, my bad. Leaning into early admonishment about ideas vs. people.

What Harari proposes is interesting. And I would agree that this IS what happens. And now I understand why I wasn't the sunshine kid on the block. Peeps didn't know what to make of me because I didn't know how to join in the gossip.

And I often made the mistake of sticking up for the underdog they were gossiping about, oops. But I still do that every time. If it's nice talk I'm in. If it's throwing people under the bus, welp, that's been done to me so many times you'd think I'd be flat as a pancake, but pasta, bread, cheese, and good wine help me to avoid that. Not flat. But still stickin' up for the underdog.

Because through all the adventures of my life I've learned not to judge, and that every single person has the right to choose to be who and what they are at any given moment. It's not my business to stick my nose in.

I haven't yet decided if this is a good decision on my part. To stick my neck out, to stand with the underdogs, to admit that sometimes I'm the underdog, very loyal, friendly, love those pats and belly rubs, but not a biter, no not for me. My teeth were put there to chomp meat and grind grains and mush up veggies and fruits for nourishment.

And the best nourishment of all, I have found, is LOVE.

Can there be love in gossip? 

Maybe.

It's not a club I miss. I prefer celebration of others. All the happies. Me and my rose-colored glasses.

Your reputation is safe with me XO!

That's all.

Namaste