Category: Thoughts + Inspiration (Page 3 of 18)

Visualization, by Lindsey

February 20, 2013 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

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Think of a time when you felt so free, so strong within yourself, where you were having the time of your life, completely in your element.

Close your eyes. Go there to that exact moment. Breathe it in and re-incorporate it into your being.

Breathe the YOU in that moment…into yourself here in this moment.

Let that effervescent experience be your medicine in this moment.

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Beautiful Things Today

February 7, 2013 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

The aspen branches I brought in a couple weeks ago are flowering…

It rained last night, instead of snowing — a most unusual occurrence — and this morning was so fresh smelling, and frosty…

This book I’m reading is a thing of beauty, too. It’s called Heaven On Earth, by Sharifa Oppenheimer. It’s about the Waldorf approach to early childhood — but if you let it, this book could be a life-changer even if you don’t have children. The environment created at home for the young child would in fact benefit anyone. The other thing of beauty in this photo is the page holder!! What a great invention…

Spring is coming! I thought the single-digit temperatures in January had killed my lettuce crowns. Not so!

From a longtime friend… a most wonderful, old fashioned, hand written letter full of love and soul arrived in the mailbox this afternoon, and contained these handmade hearts for our window!!!

*****

Today

January 29, 2013 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

It snowed last night. It was such a peaceful sight, and our ground needed the moisture badly. And every single person in the city awoke to a wonderland this morning!

I shoveled the walks, took a few pictures, and enjoyed tea inside the warm house as the morning sun began to break through the clouds.

This day was spent doing quiet things; resting, addressing neglected piles, picking up messes, sweeping, making soup with homegrown hubbard squash.

F and I had set out our five boxes full of things we’re giving away, and they were picked up today from our front porch. How great it felt to send those things on to their new lives, while paring down and simplifying our own.

And being, as it is, a day on earth, it also had its challenges. Sweetness and challenges…like yin and yang, dark and light — always hand-in-hand.

Surprising rudeness at the grocery store. Surprising insurance bills. Being tired and cranky. Frustration with my bum hand and the things I can’t do right now. Assorted worries and fears. Overwhelm regarding the future.

Some days just have a heaviness to them.

That’s okay.

Other days have the most incredible lightness.

Tonight, F and I decided not to turn on the TV for the PBS program we were planning to watch. Instead it was a quiet night. I got a batch of kombucha going, candle in the kitchen window, and the soothing sounds of Steven Halpern music coming softly through the speakers.

After the counter was wiped clean and the lights were lowered, I made tea and sat down with Renewal, the magazine of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. I love this magazine. I received it when my mom and I visited a Waldorf school for its winter fair in December. I’ve read every word and am going back through it a second time. I’ve been noticing which magazines and articles sit around unread, and which ones I grab first these days; so I’m letting Taproot and Mother Earth News lapse, and have excitedly bought a subscription to Renewal. Learning about the Waldorf approach to early childhood, and then extrapolating that info to life in general, has really grabbed me of late. It strikes such a chord. The importance of gentleness and goodness, the importance of beauty and quality and simplicity and meaningfulness. The deep connection to nature.

And what else can we do, really, but follow our interests. I can’t see what my future looks like. All I know is that I aim to lead a joyful and authentic life doing the work I am meant to do, even though I’m not totally sure what that is right now. The only way I see getting there is to follow what really grabs me. And then, trust that it will knit itself into a future that fits me perfectly.

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~May you all have a peaceful night tonight.~

*****

Nope, slower than that~

January 24, 2013 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

In figuring out what works the best for each of us in our own lives, I think it’s helpful to sample the extremes through personal experience; we figure out what we do want, and what we don’t want.

I fractured a bone in my hand (my dominant hand, naturally), so I’m sampling the extreme of being-rather-than-doing. No art. No sewing. No major projects. Very minimal writing (I miss that especially). Minimal typing.

More reading…more sitting…more thinking and pondering. More time spent working around my hand to do things I want to, and have to, do — like preparing food. While it is an extreme — and I very much look forward to having my hand back — being forcibly disallowed to do much of what I’d normally be doing allows me to see, more and more, that I’m happiest when living a very simple life, conducted at a pleasant pace. I feel like I’ve said a variation of this so many times here before, I think I’m starting to sound like a broken record.

I’ve certainly sampled the other extreme — of living frenzied and stressed, always with one eye on the clock. And I sure didn’t like that. I’m learning, now, how to live a new pace of life that’s much more viable for me, and far less likely to result in general life burnout. My inclination has always been busyness and activity, with minimal lounge-around time, so pacing myself feels very strange sometimes. But when I downshift my whole pace, I arrive at the end of each day feeling more balanced and not so drained.

As I lay on the acupuncture table yesterday, words drifted into my head… I wish I could remember exactly what they were… something about “Learn to live comfortably in the slow, quiet moments. That’s when life’s the most enjoyable.”

And later as I mentioned to my acupuncturist that I often feel ill-at-ease during days of lower energy and minimal activity or accomplishment, worried that I’m not doing something concrete toward my future… she replied “There’ll be plenty of time for all that. And really, all we have is time.” All we have is time! I’d never had that thought before. It’s true. A long time, a short time, that’s not for us to know… But all we do have is time.

Let us make sure we are enjoying the time we have. Because otherwise, what’s the point!

(And let us try not to be worrying why this is the second bone that has broken, under only moderate impact, in under a year’s time…)

*****

Philosophy Friday: Bare feet on the earth

January 18, 2013 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

For many thousands and thousands of years, human beings had contact with the earth for the better part of each day. Walking barefoot or with shoes made from natural plant or animal materials; sleeping on the earth; touching plants, animals, trees, lakes, soil, oceans.

Wild animals have this connection, still.

I’ve noticed that children try to hang on to this connection as long as possible — preferring bare feet above shoes, and a trickling stream to splash in above even the most enticing indoor activity.

It tickled me to see children in New Zealand walking to school barefooted.

I’ve watched children throwing tantrums and have noticed that they will often throw themselves onto the ground during the tantrum. It does feel better to lie on the earth when you are hurting. I remember times of deep grief soon after losing my soul sister Sonja, where the only place I wanted to be was flat on my stomach on the grass in the back yard — and so there I stayed until the earth had absorbed all my tears.

Once, I was nearly hit by a car while crossing a busy intersection on foot; it was as if I had been invisible and the car simply didn’t even see me. The close call really spooked me. Once I was safely across the street I was so shaken that the only thing I could do was make a primal beeline for the nearest tree and lean my whole body against its trunk. It wasn’t something my conscious mind even thought about — I had never actually hugged a tree before. I couldn’t believe how good it felt.

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If your winter weather allows you to be outside barefooted on the grass or the dirt or the beach (or barefoot in the snow as I remember doing as a kid!), then take advantage.

Put yourself directly onto the earth.

If it’s too cold for bare feet, or too snowy to sit on the grass…have you tried hugging a tree? Wrapping your arms around it and pressing your cheek against its bark? Mmmmmm.

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After some serious single-digit cold weather, we’re having a string of 50°+ days. So my cat and I go outside, each of us barefooted, to connect ourselves to the earth. And one of us particularly enjoys rolling in dirt.