Underwear or Outerwear?

If you are a person of a certain age, well, almost any age, you have heard the phrase, “put on some
clean underwear – what if you had to rush to the emergency room today”.    Of course, if you need an emergency room, it’s good to have one and they really don’t care about your underwear.

But sometimes it’s what you are wearing underneath, in your heart of hearts,which is critically
important, no matter what kind of heavy outerwear you try to drag on over your body to protect that heart.
I realize we all carry cultural or age-related protective covering.  What is expected
in some circles is being completely closed in and it is seen as
a sign of ultimate strength, or being completely open and it’s seen as a sign of spiritual
development. However neither mode of “dress” which is straight off the clothes rack
fits all the seasons of our lives.
It’s finding that balance in all things which allows us to tough it out sometimes and
at other times to open naturally and beautifully, remembering we bring together opposing
forces within ourselves, as we come into Oneness with each other and the Universe.
The other balance point here, whether you believe in running naked on the beach
or huddling in your Carhartts in August is to realize part of the time it is all about you,
and  part of the time you actually are modeling best outcome behavior for someone else.
We can’t fix them, but we can control ourselves in a way which lets our inner light
shine through, but still observe needing shirt and shoes to enter someone else’s space.
It’s just something else to consider before you decide what to reveal and what to
keep in a private place; there is no right answer here, but there is a need to
think about it before you refuse to share what’s inside or before you keep
doing the same self-reveal to your friends and family.
I guess the bottom line here ( forgive me) is keep your pants on, clean or not, and keep sharing and caring in a mindful way. All of us are still learning
to discern the difference without judgement.
With blessings to all as we continue our journey together.
Namaste.

Norma

Breathe in the Sun

We have passed another benchmark in our annual trip around the sun, known as the summer solstice.
From time out of mind, this has been observed by every living thing on Mother Earth.  The myths, the
awakenings, the very particular celebrations following the protocol of certain groups have been
repeated over and over and gained a certain peace and power in the observing of a shared ceremony.

It is also a time when the streets are clogged with traffic, and homes with no “air” are feeling a little
too close, even if you are helping out our planet by not using the extra electric power, and we fret
as we stand in lines that are too long to get in more food for the company from downstate.

But let’s just stop a moment, just like some feel the sun stops and takes a breath, to glory in this shared
moment, and at the same time observe the sun begin its gentle, but relentless journey back to fall.

And in that moment, on that day or on this day, let us reflect on the beauty of pattern and ritual.  Some

have such difficulty with any holiday – any shared marking on the calendar – that time has passed and it’s
your birthday or it is Christmas, when some glory in getting out the tattered angel Mom always put on the
top of the tree.

Let us at least consider at least the possibility of shared ritual; of shared celebration or grieving, of

coming together with parts of yourself which are not yourself.  Whether it is your family, friends, or co-workers or it is simply being aware the person who is standing behind you in the check-out line at Meijer is another human being, who in fact, is part of you.

The universe is a living, breathing entity and our sun a beloved carrier of light and love to us.  Let
us take a moment today,just past the Solstice,  to breathe in its goodness, and breathe out love to all who share
their ways and their walk with us.

Many blessings on our journey around the sun this year.
Namaste.

Norma