There was a moment for me this Fall of moving deeply into the element of water…

Because of a profound “ending” for me I was once again diving into the watering of my heart more deeply than I ever imagined would be necessary or possible.

I came home one night after driving in the dark… my tears were waterfalls creating a well in me that I must have been unknowingly digging long before this moment. I was singing at the top of my lungs in my car to the song,

 

 
 
 
“A Case of You,” by Joni Mitchell… one of my all time faves. The song’s words and tone and rhythm were like deep blue water that glided in and out of my tears and my breath as I joined in it’s soothing lilt…

 

I slowly turned off my car and stepped outside into the night… the water on my face was turning to flurries of small icicles as I drifted upstairs to my place…which at the time was a little dreamy haven in the mountains of Park City.

 
 
 
 

A close friend allowed me to stay there for several months. I realized that the gift of this place during this time was like a warm fire in the middle of winter, or a very warm sun on a cold winter day…

 

 

Every time I would go upstairs and sit by the fire and look out of my window at the beautiful night sky of Park City I would feel the nurturing warmth of this well of divine love.

 

 

 
 
 
On this particular night… after being down in the watering well of my heart… I laid down by the fire and the tears and the words began to flow. I was looking online for some images of silk weavers, singing and the ocean… some themes I am often obssessed with.

Right then, I came upon a word that will forever alter something in me… it breathed a new space of knowing in me about the watering of what we feel is heartbreak… the way that the water moves into our heart and makes a deeper space for all that wants to be expressed…more love, more knowing, more vision, more intimacy, more light, more dark, more open view, more now… the word I found was…

~Chaikhana~
…even the sound of the word as it rolls off my tongue is like silk to my soul.

Chaikhana…”a teahouse along the legendary Silk Road pilgrimage and trading route linking China to the Middle East and Europe. It is a place of rest along the journey, a place to shake off the dust of the road, to sip tea, and to gather together to sing songs of the Divine.”

 
 
 

All of the sudden it struck me… this time of my life, this very moment in this middle of this “soul watering” and being high up in the warmth of this homing haven was what I wanted my weaving songs and the place of my heart to be for others… a warm, soothing, silken home of song that gently beckons the heart and soul to dance with the divine.

 

 

As I sunk more deeply into this place deep inside of me the words of this song came into my being as if someone was dictating them outloud… I began to write and I could barely get the words down fast enough before the next line would appear in my consciousness.

I’m sharing this song for the first time. My gift to you of a place high within your soul…high up in the mountain tops on the silken road of the divine where you can sink into its soothing sway and dip deeply into the watering well, feeling the warmth of the fire within.

 

Drink in the soothing silken spices of these words. May they bring warm moonlit waves of nurturing to the very core of you.

“Chaikhana”

Deep water running
Heart break can be stunning
Twirling me into canyons of come what may
This time can you please linger a bit longer in the sway

Before I’ve fallen off the edge of this crevasse
I vow to the hold the inside of my loss

The heart she moves slowly to unwind
While whispers from her past remind her to be kind

The familiar shadows waver from beneath
Blowing wind into the quivers of my breath

Listen to the wind now in your despair
It’s weaving poetry through the lining of the tear

All of this gentle breaking
Is moving you toward waking

This silken road has many a traveler known
A pilgrimage into the very depths of this roaming home

A humble sacred house of tea
to sit and feel the responding to the music of your plea

Chaikana I bow to the essence of your shade
Holding me from the bleeding of this blade
With every new heart that enters through these doors
Surprising waves of love drip from my pores

I’m changed… It’s strange
I’m sideways, upside down and rearranged

I’m entering now through cracks I thought were walls
The space where light seeps in
The trees… the path along this mountain…
Water calls…

What I once felt as wounds are now
moonlight in my skin

Chaikana my heart is baking in the sun
I kneel to feel the silence mending me to one
I will continue this pilgrimage along the silken stones

To sip this tea and sing the songs that
kiss the very center of my bones

We think the growing comes
from falling back into surrender
And yes this plants the seed that meets the green
that calls us to remember

The waves that pulled us down
from the core of our own ocean
Now carry the blue we’ve always craved
that powers our devotion

Chaikana I’m settling now
into this peace of earth that rocks me home

This pilgrimage has taught me how to sing into the very edges of my roam

Diving in now I see
This place of pilgrimage is falling home to me
©Chaikhana~Rebecca Holt~

Every element of the universe is in a constant state of vibration manifested to us as light, sound and energy. A person can tune his or her own consciousness into the awareness of that totality with the use of a mantra. By vibrating in rhythm with the breath to a particular sound that is proportional to the creative sound, or sound current, one can expand one’s sensitivity to the entire spectrum of vibration. It is similar to striking a note on a stringed instrument. In other words, as you vibrate, the universe vibrates with you. ~Yogi Bhajan

“Divine sound is the cause of all manifestation. The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe.”
-Hazrat Inayat Khan

Join me in surfing the Sea of Divine Sounds that remind us of the true essence of who we are and make us feel alive!

 

 

This will be a Night of Sacred Sound Weaving with crystal bowls, drumming, chanting and Sounding your own unique Note of Creativity in this Divine Sea.

Location: 515 S. 10th East, SLC UT
Time: 7:00pm-9:00pm

 

 

 

Go to Store page for online registration and payment.
Cost: $25.00

Email me at wordsthatbreathe@gmail.com with questions.

 

 

 

This is a powerful time in the New Year…

A time of discovery and creating intentions for what we would like to experience more of in our lives.

A time of beginning with a fresh new canvas and setting a new foundation for what we will bring forth.

A magical time of sensing our own rhythm in this process and finding balance and harmony in our own expression.

 

 

The VESTIBULAR SYSTEM within the Inner Ear Canal is the first system to begin developing in the womb. The VESTIBULAR SYSTEM, which provides your sense of balance, directly affects your movement patterns and your ability to develop a strong core.

 

It may be the most important sensory system you have, shaping everything about you: your sense of self, your reality, your balance, your posture, your ability to learn, your experiences, everything.

Sound and vibration are literally at the core of shaping who we are. Join me for this night of Weaving the Sea of our own Divine Sound!

 

 

Rebecca has a masters degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in prenatal and perinatal psychology. She has trained in shamanic energy medicine, yoga teacher training and sound vibration healing, as well formal voice training.

Our lives are a beautiful woven mosaic of wonder…

The essence of renewal of the flow, life and love that springtime brings, resides in all of us. We are a breathing wave that moves inside and outside of ourselves with the tides.

At times we are riding the outward edge of this wave of expression and at other times we are lying in the deep blue inward stillness; the renewing heart of the wave.

 

 

We are reminded of its gifts while lying on a blanket watching a fiery orange sunset

 

 

 

 

Standing outside in a twilight rainstorm feeling the water wash down our face

 

 

 

 

 

Lying under a tree, watching children play and hearing their laughter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking up the soft moon silhouette swaying in the trees on a deep blue summer night

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also for me… in every bite of my dad’s famous homemade fresh raspberry pecan ice cream.

 

 

 

This essence wave of love and creation doesn’t leave when the blossoms die, or when the tide flows in, or when the winter comes. It is reignited in each moment with the process of our breath: our willingness to inhale (breathe in, allow and accept it to fill us up) and then exhale (breathe out and express) share it with others! Inhale (inspire), Exhale (express)…

 

We move through the ebbs and flows of life like this ocean tide…riding the waves in and out and following the flow of darker days where we are feeling sad or down. The low tide is also part of the beauty of the ocean and assists with the gathering of energy so that the waves can rise and break upon the shore once again.

 

 

Today do you choose to believe that your essence resides only in the vibrant seasons of your life?

You can tune into the deeply witnessed place of God inside of you. The divine is in each and every moment, and this silent inner knowing seeps in when you are present and listening.

 

 

 

What brings you closer to feeling your place in this wave today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you feeling the need to lie in the deep blue inward heart of the wave and let the water flow over you, bringing on the cool…

 

 

Or are you needing to ride out to the outer edge and go outside, move your body, express, share, connect with others and with nature?

 

 

WHAT IS CALLING TO YOU TODAY?

ARE YOU LISTENING?

Dive into the unfamiliar
Seeking tones that melt your bones
So silently that stillness feels the wait
Pulling you down
Into seas that charter and guide
Madly into the flow
Wild yet slow
Following the lowest notes
Into the deepest heart of the earth song
Sing!
Sing and all shall fall
into its place
In this inner symphony
~Rebecca Holt~

What can you do today to feel the embrace of the divine in your life? We are literally being held and carried into each and every moment of our existence.

The message that I am feeling today down to the very soles of my feet is…
Slow down
Turn off everything and go outside and breathe and take in the gifts and messages that all of the beauty around me has to offer
Listen
Embrace and be embraced by all that surrounds me

The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or “essential qualities, innate disposition”, and in ancient times, literally meant “birth.”

Nature is birthing us into every aspect of our innate selves, inviting and nurturing us into remembering who we are and living from that place.

“What is this wild embrace? This slipping away of heat from air at daybreak, these clothes made of bird cries being peeled from my body? …”

Lao Tzu invites us to listen to the world “not with ears but with mind, not with mind but with spirit.” Some days I hear what sounds like breathing: quick inhalations from the grass, from burnt trees, from streaming clouds, as if desire were finally being answered, and at night in my sleep I can feel black tree branches pressing against me, their long needles combing my hair.”
- Gretel Ehrlich, ‘The Fasting Heart’

Slow slower slowing
The wind swaying it’s pace
Of the earth’s renewing embrace
Teaching us grace in each pirouette
This whirling dance fills our cells
Moving through the heart beat’s homing swells
Being silently pulled into the edges of now
Held by the anchoring caress of each breath’s bow
Listen, can you hear her gentle whisper
…We are holding you in your becoming
…All is well
-Rebecca Holt-

Where Does the Dance Begin, Where Does It End?

Don’t call this world adorable, or useful, that’s not it.
It’s frisky, and a theater for more than fair winds.
The eyelash of lightning is neither good nor evil.
The struck tree burns like a pillar of gold.

But the blue rain sinks, straight to the white
feet of the trees
whose mouths open.
Doesn’t the wind, turning in circles, invent the dance?
Haven’t the flowers moved, slowly, across Asia, then Europe,
until at last, now, they shine
in your own yard?

Don’t call this world an explanation, or even an education.

When the Sufi poet whirled, was he looking
outward, to the mountains so solidly there
in a white-capped ring, or was he looking

to the center of everything: the seed, the egg, the idea
that was also there,
beautiful as a thumb
curved and touching the finger, tenderly,
little love-ring,

as he whirled,
oh jug of breath,
in the garden of dust?

~ Mary Oliver ~
(Why I Wake Early, 2004)

Spring is blooming and whispering its song on the wind, and I am in love with the blossoming trees all around me! Trees are one of my most favorite things in the world and especially the cherry blossom tree, (“sakura” in Japanese). Every time I turn a corner I see the evidence of spring! This past month I think I have taken over 100 photos of all of the variations of blossoms in sizes and shades of pinks and whites.

 

 

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up to a lightly dusted layer of soft snow gently resting over the blooming trees. Every time I looked at the joyful pink branches with their white flurry snow covers, my entire being was smiling!

 

The spring air and the blossoms always remind me of the years that I lived in Washington D.C. and I loved to go down and walk along the pathway to the Jefferson Memorial. I was in awe of the breathtaking blossoms. Their awakening season always bringing a sense of renewal of new life and a feeling of hope in the air.

I truly fell in love with these sense-arousing blossoms
In the way that they weave themselves through the windy twists and bends
In layered shades of pinks
Appearing from afar as plush feather blankets Lightly covering the angular golden green branches
With natures backdrop, a contrasting vivid hue of deep blue skies
As they bow to their place in this yearly dance
~Rebecca Holt

 

Living in DC was a truly dreamy, magical time in my life. I had an amazing group of close friends who were living there on what I liked to call our “Extended Vacation Adventure.” Every weekend we took a different road trip to a new place. I remember us laughing all of the time. One particular trip we took was to Virginia Beach and I remember one day of that trip so vividly it’s as if it were today.

 

On the beach that day in the beaming warm sunlight with my feet in the sand, I turned to my friend Steph and said, “How does it get better than this magical life?” Laying out in the sun by the ocean, feeling the water and sun on me, laughing and eating yummy food.

 

Every part of me was connected to the warm, sunny, vibrant, feeling of creative joy and adventure, and being in love with my life! Being in the flow of this magical, creative “springtime” energy inspired me to look for more photos of sakura in all parts of the world.

In the first part of my photo adventure, I came across this inviting photo (right) of a lush white living room beautifully decorated with clean white natural lines, sheepskin rug covered cushions and a low table containing a contrasting large clear glass vase holding tall winding branches with round light pink blossoms. I was immediately drawn into the center of this room, with its fresh enlightening vibe of sensing springtime coming, and the

 

perfect light cascading through the windows highlighting the bending blooms. I found myself in my mind sitting on one of the soft sheepskin covered cushions alongside the low table.

The writer commented on her recommendation of placing blossoms throughout the home in order to ring in the spring. She was anticipating her annual drive to admire and celebrate the Cherry Blossom trees. I was instantly taken back once again to my magical time in DC. These images inspired me to look back through the historical journey of the Cherry Blossom tree. The word Hanami, (花見, lit. “flower viewing”), is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying and celebrating the Cherry Blossom.

To the Japanese, Hanami is not just an annual tradition of admiring flowers. The annual search for sakura carries the metaphor of “Mono no aware” (物の哀れ), a Japanese aesthetic sensibility, based on the buddhist concept of impermanence, that focuses on the awareness of the fleeting nature of things and a sense of wistful nostalgia at their passing.

 

To honor these breathtaking harbingers of spring, and their deep ephemeral symbolism, the Japanese have created this gathering with food, friends and celebration, beneath the blossoming Sakura.

I loved discovering that the practice of Hanami has been around for centuries. Originally the Japanese used the Sakura to bless the year’s harvest and to announce the beginning of rice- planting season. Through many traditions, poems have been written in honor and admiration of the breathtaking blossoms and their beautiful, yet wistful reminder that all things fade away.

 

 

 

Saigyó Hōshi, a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period wrote many verses about this melancholic longing for the spirit of the cherry blossoms. Here is one of his famous verses below that many refer to when talking about the concept that spring-like, magical, joyful moments in life are fleeting.

 

 

 

Ne-ga-wa-ku wa (I would die in the spring,)
ha-na no shi-ta ni te (under the blossoms,)
ha-ru shi-na-mu (in the second month)
so-no ki-sa-ra-gi no (at the time of)
mo-chi-zu-ki no ko-ro (the full moon

 

 

 

 

In early Japan, the people believed in “kami,“ known as the spirits or forces of nature dwelling in the trees.” The people gathered around the sacred trees to honor and pay tribute to them. Originally Hanami was practiced by only the wealthy. The emperors would hold “flower viewing parties” in their courts.

 

 

 

Over time, farmers began the tradition of climbing the mountains nearby in the spring and eating their lunch under the blossoms. This practice called the “Spring Mountain Trip,” combined with the elite gatherings, formed the tradition and practice of Hanami that is celebrated today.

I love the practice of Hanami and the honoring of the breathtaking Sakura. However, I do not believe that the deep, rich moments of creativity, love, laughter and incredible joy in life are fleeting, and confined to only one season. In every moment we are literally breathing a new birth and a death of the passing moment before and with each new moment we have the possibility of renewal.

I believe that our deeply succulent lives are more than just a “Spring Mountain Trip!” Our lives are waiting for us to climb down from the mountain tops, where we are merely observing from a distance, and we are being called to Join The Dance!!

I realize now that on that sunny mystical day in Virginia Beach, I remembered an ancient part of my soul. The beautiful woven tapestry of the “MAGIC CARPET” of life was reignited within me! I didn’t leave it on the beach that day… I gathered up the light warmth of the sun and that feeling of being in love with life and carried it with me in the soles of my feet and in my heart.

I realize that I am here on this planet to spread an endless supply of love, creativity, laughter, adventure and sunshiny joy to others… and to sing out with the news that our lives are a beautiful woven mosaic of wonder just waiting for us to jump on the “Magic Carpet Ride.”

The contagious renewal of the flow of life and love that springtime brings, is inside all of us. We are reminded of its gifts in every sunset, misty rainstorm, in every child’s laugh, in the full moon, and for me in a favorite bowl of my dad’s homemade raspberry pecan ice cream!

 

This expression of joy, love and creation doesn’t leave when the blossoms die, or when the tide flows in, or when the winter comes. It is reignited in each moment by our breath and our willingness to accept and share it.

 

We do go through ebbs and flows in life like the ocean tide, riding the waves in and out and following the flow of days where we are feeling sad or down. The low tide is also part of the beauty of the ocean and assists with the gathering of energy so that the waves can rise and break upon the shore once again.

 

“JOY is a state of GRACE. It is the art of being in love with your life! It is the understanding that your unique existence is like a splendid thread of silk that is continuously weaving itself into the MAGIC CARPET of life.” (Mystic Angels inspiration cards)

This “GRACE-FUL” state of being in love with life is part of our birthright on this earth. We exist and therefore we are deserving of love, joy and light!

It is up to each of us. Do we choose to believe that our joy resides only in the vibrant seasons of our life while on a “Spring Mountain Trip” and is momentarily fleeting like the Sakura? We have another choice!

We can tune into the deeply witnessed place of God inside of all of us. The divine is in each and every moment as long as we are present and listening. I love this quote below from Iyanla Vanzant.

“Your story keeps you distracted from your greatness. Can you believe or are you willing to consider that right where you are, God is… Can you believe or are you willing to consider that God wants your perfect happiness? So right where you are and perfect happiness is right here. What is stopping you from stepping into that perfect life? How you treat yourself is how you treat God because you are the representative of God in your life… In your life, you have to be as good to you as you want to be to God if you want to be of service to others in the world.”

What brings you closer to Falling in LOVE with your LIFE?
What is SINGING through your “SOLES” today?
Are you LISTENING?

Moments pour in
Experience weaving her silk layers
Like dark earth prayers
Echoes of story gently lifted
Deeply rooted core restored as history’s dust is sifted
Senses heightened voices streaming
Fields of joyful stillness dreaming
~Rebecca Holt 

 

The beauty and profound messages of our lives are unleashed in the silence of our curiosity… once we let go and accept the mystery in the unknown…

 

 

 

I love these poetic words by Mary Oliver…

Let me
Keep my mind on what matters
Which is my work,
Which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished… 

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.
–St. Augustine

 

How can we find more acceptance in the daily, what seem like ordinary, moments of our lives? How can we trust in the mystery, and that we are being divinely guided and supported? This question lives on my heart.

I love how the poet Rainer Maria Rilke prompts us to ‘live in the question, that is where the answer lies.’

When we are trusting in the mystery, we are moving out of our own way and allowing the beauty and support of all that is around us to assist. We are allowing God to answer the questions that we may never know the answers to.

 

A very wise mentor of mine, Tawny Avonne recently said…

Tune in, and listen for guidance…”Guidance-God and I dance.”

I read a posting today on www.lifebyme.com about Georgie Gwynne Gruber. The brief tagline next to her name was ‘rapper, screen writer, devotee.’ I love words, and today the word devotee popped out at me. I have never thought too much about the word devotion until I read this post. I think I have often seen it more like an obsession, or being overly intrigued with something or someone. Lifebyme.com one of my favorite websites that showcases different people living life passionately and sharing their lives, expression, hearts, gifts and love with the world to make a difference. She described her journey of being sentenced to prison when she was younger for drugs and when she came through that experience she became fascinated with the art and science of devotion in all of its forms and that if she was going to be truly happy, she must live devoted.

The secret of devotion seems to be a heart willing to surrender to The Great Mystery. When I remember to feel and breathe the Mystery and to be the Mystery, I’m happy, and all kinds of more-than-wonderful events occur. And when I feel happy, I’m in a much better position to help and love others. To be happy and to love … what greater joy is there?
~Georgia Gwynne Gruber

Rumi says-wake up, do something you love…“There are never too many ways to kneel and kiss the earth”

I am in awe and deep appreciation for the miracles and support that are all around me. I continue to be amazed just when I start to feel a little shaky and out of my comfort zone, the showers of light and support pour in. When I am doing what I love, the light pours in and dissolves the shadows.

 

Two of my closest companions right now that assist me to feel the grace and to internally arrive in each moment are my favorite tree, “Emma,” and my camera.

 

 

 

 

My camera is one of my best mates when it comes to viewing the unknown edges and seeing life from all different angles. When I started taking photos every day, I began seeing life each day through a different lens, I began to breathe more deeply and each moment of my life was like a photo frame with its vivid colors.

 

I remember one particular night on July 4th, this summer, where my senses were heightened and the mountains, the rain, the colors all around me felt like they were whispering to me that the mystery, adventure and joy of life is all around me. I drove home along the scenic route, Wasatch Rd., one of my favorite tranquil drives on the way to my house.

I literally had to pull over because of the breathtaking beauty. I was watching the rain earlier and the night sky and it was as if the sky was speaking to me. I grabbed my camera and began to take photos of the many facets and changes in the colors of the sunset.

 

 

 

 

I took photos for over an hour of the misty, smoky mountains with their high grey peaks… majestic and beautiful and mysterious just like life.

 

 

 

 

 

I sat and watched the flashing lights and bright bursting smoke of the distant fireworks and I decided to really listen to the sky and feel the messages that it had to share.

 

 

On this night, the drive really seemed to match me. I was overwhelmed with so much gratitude and love for this planet, for god, for the beauty all around me… for the gifts of all that is undiscovered in my heart, mind, and life.

“The Journey,” by David Whyte, illustrates eloquently the art of arriving in and loving the mystery…

Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again

Painting their black silhouettes
on an open sky

Sometimes  everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavens

So you can find
the one line
already written inside you.

Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find that
small, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.

Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out

Someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life

You are not leaving
you are arriving. 

I am deeply devoted to my own journey of arriving, and devouring each mysterious, magical moment and breathing in its messages. I continue to “find myself still and astonished.”

Living in the Mystery
Woe is me
or wondrous be
Majesty and wonder here
Diving in no drown from fear
Look ahead… I dread
Look behind…. I’m blind
In this moment
MONUMOMENT
I am breathing
I am
I
~RHolt

 

In the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness
~Erich Fromm

When I found this quote it felt like music to me. I have been contemplating lately the deep place inside of each of us, where our gifts that we offer out into the world ignite and shine light on our inner purpose. It is in these edges between the moments where our passion lies. The more I listen for those moments of grace where I can offer gifts of love, service, expression, I feel more connected to everyone and everything, which makes me feel more ALIVE!

Recently I was talking with a very wise friend and mentor about the principle of making an offering with no expectation.The beautiful thing about the gift of expression in its pure form is that we send our offering out into the world with life, blessings, and love and then we let go of receiving something in return.

 

My friend shared a simple, yet profound example with me of her ritual of “Simply feeding the Blue Jays.” Every few days she looks forward to filling her bird feeder and she loves watching the birds curiously moving into and away from her yard.

 

She does not watch to see if they like the food, if they turn their nose at it,  or if one bird devours the whole feeder in one sitting. Once she fills the feeder, she enjoys the pure exchange of energy and the feeling of providing sustenance for the birds and the beauty that they bring to her yard and to her heart when they come to eat.

I love the beautiful symbol that her story provides of listening to and noticing the ways that we can make an offering with love and blessing and then let go. In her own process, she looks for no approval, validation, feedback or gift in return.

 

She simply feeds the blue jays.”

 

These words have been echoing in my mind and heart since I heard them. I believe that all gifts when given with genuine heart come from the same place within us and they spring forth life inside both the giver and the receiver.

 

 

 

Recently I was fortunate to go on a trip to Kauai with my dear friend Tresa and an amazing group of friends and colleagues. We did a six-hour hike one day up to Makaleah Falls, led by Danny Hashimoto, an outdoor guide and nature enthusiast, native to Kauai.

 

Once we got up the mountain a ways and hit the first turn, we came to a large, mystical bamboo forest, and just before the bamboo was a giant rock larger than all of us combined. Danny stopped and said that he wanted to bless and give his offering of gratitude to this amazing loving rock. I could feel the peace and reverence and spirit of this rock. I felt this deep sense of the ‘love in the land’ all day, and the respect and gratitude that Danny had for this mountain, the rocks, trees and sacred water falls there.

Danny hugged the rock and we all followed with our own offering and deep reverence and love to our “dear rock friend.”

We got to really take our time on the hike exploring the mountain, swimming and experiencing the falls. Danny took special care and time to gather, prepare, and share the natural fruits of the island, cacao and coconut to prepare us a beautiful offering. It was so delicious.

 

He put this amazing display together for our group with so much love. He is giving the gift of the island that he loves to everyone he comes in contact with. What an amazing example to me he was of offering himself and his love of the island to us, to the land, and to all people and, plants and creatures that he comes into contact with.

A Huge MAHALO to you Danny!

Aristotle says of inner purpose: “Where talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation.”

Recently I synchronistically picked up an old book that someone had given me. One of my favorite books about living our lives passionately on purpose, “I Will Not Live An Undied Life,” by Dawna Markova.

 

She describes “inner passion” as:

“The natural life energy that exists inside of each of us, urging growth. A deep and natural pulse that tells us to live from the inside out, to reach in and reach out, for all that is possible to know, to contribute, and to receive.”

We begin to uncover our inner passion and purpose by practicing and aligning our gifts, intuition and talents with the needs of those around us. The more we combine doing what we love with unconditional service for others, we are creating a beautiful tapestry of passion and purpose for ourselves.

 

Markova shares that passion is truly “expanded and experienced in relationship of ourselves to other people, things, moments, the rest of our lives. It is hidden in the seeds and roots of what we love and become devoted to.”

She poetically weaves spirals of stories about quieting our minds and lives enough so that we can begin to hear the subtle whisperings that lead us to the edges of passion and purpose inside of our deeply rooted selves.

 

 

I was born loving to explore and search out new places, people, and moments. In the past several years I have been on an internal quest to uncover and share my own passion and purpose. This has taken much cleaning out of the dusty corners and looking into cracks to pick out small pieces and tiny seeds, each one sacredly planted and now growing more of what I love.

The more I dig out these amazing pieces to the puzzle of my own passion, I want to share what moves and ignites joy, fire and life in me, in the hope that others will feel inspired and will feel more love both for themselves and for their own beautiful, amazing lives! I am deeply inspired by the devotion, creative expression, love, service, and passion that Markova’s stories and words continue to create.

Most things become more clear to me when I hear them in terms of music, rhythm, notes or sound. I wanted to include one last quote from Markova that struck the deepest chord inside of me.

Our passion ”lives in the rest in the place where music is born, the fertile void, the silence between notes. It emerges slowly as a sunrise, as we search through our gifts our darknesses, our losses and loves. Our lives are a work of art waiting to be completed.”

Maya Angelou said, “who and what are you serving?” I have made a new committment to ask this question to myself every day. There are days that I don’t feel inspired…that I don’t want to give to anyone or anything. These are the days that I know that a smile, a simple hello, an anonymous gift of a coffee paid for the next driver behind me in the drive through… can make someone’s entire day. We can begin with simple offerings and then when we are planting seeds that grow and the energy spreads.

 

We all have people in our lives who carry an abundant contagious giving energy. I have a friend named Jenee who makes me literally want to jump for joy and break into laughter whenever I see her! She is one of the most genuinely loving, giving, joy spreading souls that I know. She is always sharing abundance and joy, and genuinely serving so many around her through inclusion, invitation, information, intuition… (notice these are all acts of turning in before turning outward).
She truly walks the walk she talks.  I am inspired by her sparkly “pied piper” essence!

 

 

The times when I feel the most alive and connected is when I am out in nature. The desert of Southern Utah holds a sacred place in my heart for the times I have spent there in stillness going inside and discovering my own deep places inside that hold my desire to give and live!

 

 

The root of the word “spirit” is the Latin spirare, to breathe. Whatever lives on the breath, then, must have its spiritual dimension. -Jane Hirshfield

-SIMPLY FEED THE BLUE JAYS-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creation happens to us, burns into us, changes us, we tremble and swoon, we submit. Creation – we participate in it, we encounter the creator, offer ourselves to him, helpers and companions.
-Marin Bube 

 

It’s time to go beyond the sky!

Wandering facets of sunset
Finding your way early
Pouring the covers over my day
Tucking in the brilliant waves of now
Sheets of smoldering greys and pinks
Strokes of precision
Sky’s palette of vision

 

 

Paintings of possibility
Each moment blending into night
Moonlight brushing over the day’s canvas
Stars echoing the shimmer of dreams

I have always been intrigued with the magical, mysterious, soothing beauty and wonder of sunsets. The other night as I was watching the sun wind it’s way down through the sky, it was like watching a giant paint brush on canvas. I think I have taken more photos of sunsets than any person or thing. They always bring me such peace and inner expansion. The variety and number of shades and shapes of sunsets remind me of a prism with their many beautiful facets. In each moment the entire perspective and mood changes.

The sunset sky is such a truly beautiful canvas of creativity. While writing this post, I was reminded of the old phrase “The sky’s the limit.”

 

This is an interesting set of words. Obviously it was written and it’s widely used meaning is that we have limitless potential just as the sky seems infinite and never ending. For me, this phrase is tired and overused.

It is time to go beyond the sky and realize that we have an infinite universe that is our canvas of vision and possibility just waiting for us to take out our paint brush and begin.

I strongly believe in and have experienced the literal creative power of words and choosing them with clarity and intent. Therefore, I strive to choose my words wisely, clearly and creatively. Thus, the sky’s just the beginning for me… there is no limit! It is the blank canvas and spring board that I can start from. From there I can move out into the universe of possibilities. The sky’s my palette of infinite vision and creativity!

The words and stories we repeat impress images on our mind. These images and words create our boundaries and limits. The more time I take to clear my mind of worn out, overused, negative, limiting words, stories and beliefs that drag me through old experiences I have worked to let go of; then my body, mind and spirit are freed up for more creativity and possibility. I am then able to speak with more forethought and my words are more powerful in assisting me to create and attract more joy, peace, laughter, and abundance into my life.

Once using more clear, intuitive, concise words my sky’s “paintings” are more vivid, they are more like me.
I am more like me.
My truest self.

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne Dyer says…
“Clear your mind of limits, and move into spirit, whose presence, as Rumi tells us, is “more beautiful than the stars.”

 

The Garden of the world has no limits
Except in your mind
Its presence is more beautiful
than the stars
With more clarity
Than the polished mirror of your
heart.
-Rumi 

 

 

We are all made up of breathing cells waiting to be part of our creative expression. What false, negative, or overused words are you repeating or saying to yourself or others today that you want to change?

Move Beyond the Sky and pick up the paint brush of Possibility, Vision and Wonder!