angelbirdflies

Those who will not slip beneath      the still surface on the well of grief turning downward through its black water      to the place we cannot breathe will never know the source from which we drink,      the secret water, cold and clear, nor find in the darkness glimmering      the small round coins      thrown by those who wished for something else. -David Whyte

When I am in nature, cradled in her wide arms, far from the proximity of human and cell reception, I exhale fully, from the bottom of my belly. I relax. Why?  I don't harbor a rose colored illusion of nature.  I often encounter mountain lion scat and approaching storms.  Nature is exactly as it is.  I respect it but I don't pretend to understand it and have no desire to change it.  I don't hurry to the next season or horizon.  I am too busy being thunderstruck by the waving grass, the changing leaf, the colors and smells, the melody and vistas, the beauty.  Nature is as it is and on some deep level I accept that, trust that and relax. What is it in human that causes us to push against the NOW of our own experience?  Are we unnatural?  Or do we mistakenly believe ourselves to be and act accordingly?  As I turn to face my life, as it is right now, uncertain, vulnerable and changing, can I exhale from the bottom of my belly with a d...

 Bodhi often wakes me on the weekend with a singular goal, to watch the sun rise. Together we bundle up and drive toward one of our favorite hikes and climb the steep incline of a bare mountain in the grey light of predawn.  We wait. We listen.  We watch.  And the sun always rewards us.  It kisses sky, clouds and earth in an ecstatic embrace that leaves both of us awed and speechless (which as many of you know is something spectacular for Bodhi). If I could give my children a single gift, it would be a deep awareness of themselves as natural.  Not merely a love of nature, something separate to be admired and visited but a deep identification with the interdependence of life and their natural place within it; a sense of celebration for the simple act of living and a reverence for the diverse expression of life in, through, around and as us.  That is my most fervent mama wish.  The rest will take care of itself.

This kid!!!! Owen woke Bodhi at 5:15 AM to get ready to head to their school for Owen's 6AM drop off for his epic Bioneers trip to San Francisco.  When Owen turned on the light and leaned over the bed saying, "Wake up little buddy", Bodhi sat bolt upright and said, "I'm wide awake. Just let me get a horse under this here saddle!" before face planting back into his pillow. Gotta love that boy!

Love is simply what we are, prior to the exhausting and seemingly endless search for it. No need to seek love – it is already here, closer than breathing. - Jeff Foster

There are times in my life when I feel weak and fractured: when I worry about my heart that beats erratically and aches for constancy, when the to do list grows longer than the can list , when loneliness takes a seat at my table and refuses to leave.  But when it comes to my boys there is a strength that can not be measured, a love that has no end and a courage that can meet whatever the day brings.  They are and continue to be, my best reason for drawing oxygen.  They are my first breath of gratitude in the morning and my last breath of thanksgiving before I surrender to sleep. Today was a beautiful fall Sunday spent in the company of my two bright lights. Here are some of the highlights:  And as the day closes I find myself overcome with soul satisfying gratitude.  A very good day.

Emotionally leaden would be a good descriptive for me during the past few weeks.  Two days ago I heard myself bragging.  Bragging.  I'm not usually a braggart.  I will sometimes put on a bit of confident moxy but brag…hardly.  I was bragging about all sorts of nonsense…I was a fashion consultant in San Francisco, I am super smart and graduated with top A's in all my classes, I'm going to get a PhD, I got this honor or that honor, yada yada yada .  Rather than gag (which was my first response), I turned around to face myself with loving compassion.  That is when I saw it clearly: a sadness, a longing, a need for validation. As a kid, my house wasn't heavy on validation.  I found validation in SCHOOL.  I could go to school and know the drill.  I could ace any class I walked into and I was a people pleaser to boot so teachers liked me.  I was starving for information BUT equally hungry for the stars on my paper, the 100% in ...

School is back in full swing.  This year there are no graduate classes to juggle amidst my teaching schedule, which should of course fill me with an exponential sigh of relief.  And perhaps somewhere I am sighing with peaceful abandon but I must confess the relief is overshadowed by a longing for my academic community and the rigor associated with it.  I find myself somewhat daunted by the task of recalibrating my mind to pre-grad school levels of activity.   Perhaps I need to practice sighing…I could surely take lessons from my two boys… SIGH……………..SIGH……………..SIGH. Now off to shower and bed.

Back in Colorado, surrounded by my familiar foliage and life, I find myself remembering the tropical flowers.  I find myself wondering at the flower of self…the unique expression of life that expresses as you and I.  I find myself wondering what pleasure I might find in the texture, color, petals and expression of my own life if I simply step aside and smell the flowers.

This is my beach.  Not because I own it (as if owning any corner of life actually makes any sense, regardless how many wars are fought or money spent), but because my soul purrs when I arrive on its shores and my heart beats wildly in the face of so much beauty.  Each time I stare out at a wide blue horizon from this particular sandy perch, my heavy satchel of worries , need to's and oughtn'ts  is suddenly empty and I am left with a deep and unexplainable exhale…..  HOME .

On Monday morning I had a seizure.   In life I have seldom settled into the inherent vulnerability of being human, nor acknowledged, with any kind of grace, the burning desire to be cared for and nurtured by “ other ”.   I have diligently cultivated self-sufficiency, independence, competence and strength.   I have given to others with abandon but found receiving difficult and receiving nurturance nigh impossible.    That approach to life no longer feeds me.    It is as necessary to accept care and to receive it, as it is to pour it forth in giving. Crying in my Godfather’s arms after the shock wore off, attended by a warm tropical breeze and the songs of Hawaiian birds and water, in a home so beautiful that it belongs on the cover of Dwell magazine, I felt safe and cared for. Not just by a beloved human other but by the whole of life.   And all of Life seemed to be whispering softly and caringly within the grace of its own myste...

Nature is sanctuary... home... life. When I am surrounded by the natural world it is easier to discard my sense of pompous separation and acknowledge my interconnection with life's many disguises. When in nature it's ridiculous to assume a Pollyanna approach to its brilliance, waxing on about its kindness.  I know that I don't understand it. I know that I must remain open and alert to the possibilities arising in each moment. Nature demands respect and careful observation. Nature demands that we come to our senses. Literally. And practice once more our neglected sense of: smell as the scent of pine, wildflower, rain, moose, earth and wind speaks its olfactory dialog with our nose.   taste as our tongue receives the fresh tangy air of a pine forest.   hearing as we silence our cellphones and internal chatter long enough to listen and hear the rustle of wind in trees and the various sound each plant and tree and flower makes as it moves in conversation with t...

As many of you know I have had a very full year…heart surgery, brain trauma, grad school, motherhood, teaching. A full year. This week I complete my master's degree in Educational Psychology.  Last week, while walking alone near the foothills of Boulder, I experienced the first major arrhythmia since surgery.  Its after effects of dizziness and near fainting lasted for several days.  In typical Angelina fashion, I pressed on, ignoring the simple invitation to feel. On Friday morning as I forced myself up the steep incline of a beloved and often traveled trail, my dear body would go no further.  Half way up I lay down on the gravel path, staring at cloud blue dappled sky, surrounded by birdsong, warmed by sunshine and the clear sound of wind in tall grass.  I lay for several minutes drawing in the energy needed to make the descent.  I noticed hundreds of sunflowers, all of their golden faces turned in welcome toward the sun- drawing in energy, drawing ...

Butterfly,          slender stalk,           petals and pollen,           blossom nectar,           wings stir,           breeze blown,                      f          l           i           g           h           t. I used to wait for the time when all would be well, when the ever changing tides of life would shift to calm, clear waters reflecting idealized bliss and saintly assurance. I used to wait for "enlightenment" and "transformation" and "redemption". I used to work hard to that end…books, classes, hours on zafus, practicing inadequacy. The butterfly,      becomes the butterfly,            only by relinquishing all that it...

Where to begin? The first word written on a black page sets the trajectory of thought. Where to begin? I don't know. I stand captivated by uncertainty and the gross human need to explain the unexplainable,       define the undefineable,           comprehend the incomprehensible. I listen to the jumble of   w    o    r    d    s      bumping about in mind and wonder at the preoccupation with thoughts and the artificial buffer they create, affording us the illusion of control and certainty. I wonder what it might be like to       b     r     e     a     t     h     e ,     without judgment or criticism of the breath itself or the quality of the air…     just breathe. I wonder what it might feel like to cease, for a moment, our mental/emotional hustle and let all that is arising BE exac...

" I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars; (I am large, I contain multitudes) I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable: Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof... Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the soul. Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune." -----Ah Walt Whitman and the Leaves of Grass

Sleep was a wayward bedfellow last night.  By 4 AM I was already sipping hot tea at the kitchen table, eating gluten free toast coated with cashew butter.  By 5:30 AM I was winding my way up the mountain, newborn sun kissing my morning face, wind softly caressing my curls and birds talking in aviary chatter like music on a new day. Nature!  In her embrace I always feel at home, even after the most restless of nights, I walk into her arms and I am reminded again and again to let go, to relax and to trust. What better gift could I hope for?

Make a wis h?        A   desire,   longing,   or   strong   inclination   for   a   specific   thing.    When walking with children,  wishes are everywhere.   Dandelions are plucked from slender stalks.    Fuzzy promises        brought toward puckered lips              exhaling wonder                   from lungs filled                        with possibility.   Great gusty breaths,  hearts strong with belief,        send  delicate wish seeds  on a dance across the sky.   Children don't see weeds to be plucked or worried over.   They see wishes,       everywhere,            and a world ripe with possibilities. Next ...

Okay, I am falling once again, with abandon, into the beautiful poetry and deep reflective wisdom of David Whyte.   Here is a beautiful treatise on pain by that amazing artist: “ ...Pain is a lonely road, no one can know the measure of our particular agonies, but through pain we have the possibility, just the possibility, of coming to know others as we have, with so much difficulty, come to know ourselves.”