Archive for October, 2020
Promises
We all make promises. With maturity and wisdom comes an awareness of our capacity to fulfill the promises made.
To maintain our integrity we learn to not make promises that we cannot keep…to ourselves or to others. And, if finding ourselves in the embarrassing and awkward position of being unable to keep a promise, acknowledge it, confess to the shortcoming, for whatever reason.
This powerful quote from Carl Jung is good food for thought about giving and receiving promises.
“The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition.”
Blessings!
Time
Time is both a noun and a verb. It measures the progress of events in the past, present and even the future when when taken as a whole. Time is a schedule, a measurement of activity, a plan for the unfolding of future events.
A cornucopia of phrases exists relative to our experience of time: ‘Best of times, worst of times’, ‘Time is money’, ‘Time waits for no man’, ‘Time flies’, ‘Time is short and there is long time’, ‘Out of time’, ‘Passing time’, ‘Quiet time’, ‘Time out’, ‘Time is now’, Time zones’, ‘Time management’, ‘Race against time’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Time is of the essence’, ‘Wasted time’, ‘On time’, ‘Timely’, ‘Timeline’, to list a few.
The sundials of ancient Babylon, popularized in ancient Egypt, are the earliest man made tools for measuring time. Monoliths throughout the world both large and small marked the passing of seasons…the equinoxes and solstices. Examples like Stonehenge, Ahu Akivi, Chacko Canyon, Machu Picchu, and the Sphinx, still do so today, with remarkable accuracy.
Tracking time evolved from ancient sundials through mechanical clocks that required water to function, to the pendulum, then to the spring drive and into the myriad forms present today…digital, electric, analog, hybrid, touchscreen etc.
Steve Jobs said, “It’s clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
We all have a time budget. How we spend it has a direct influence on the quality of daily living, on our physical, emotional and spiritual health; and often upon those around us. Knowing our own bio-rhythms, our individual tolerance for activity or lack thereof, our goals, desires, passions, creativity, all contribute to spending time.
Albert Einstein reportedly used the following analogy to explain his relativity theory, “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours.”
How we spend or endure time has the same quality. When doing what we enjoy, what we love, ‘time flies’. Time spent doing what is unpleasant and ‘time slows to a crawl’.
This week I invite you to examine your ‘time budget’. Is it working well?
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have. and only you can determine how it will be spent.” ~Carl Sandburg
Blessings!
Serenity
I recently came across this analogy from Zen which says that ‘trying to find serenity in a chaotic world is like trying to catch a river in a bucket.’
I am still (over a week later) ruminating on this. I feel I see the obvious. I know from personal experience that staying centered, grounded and serene is like the ebb and flow of the tides. When the tide is in I am in the zone. Staying in my inner peace place is easy, daily prayer and meditation are effortless. Then the tide goes out. I am aghast at how easy it is to slip out of my daily routine. But it is not just about the timing of my daily exercise; there is also a qualitative aspect.
When I am not expending great effort ‘…to catch the river in a bucket’, I feel so connected to the Holy Spirit.
I believe I understand the cyclic nature of this process, yet rather than total surrender, I still find myself looking for a bucket for my trip to the river.
Seemingly, now more than ever, serenity has an aura of great value. To achieve moments of serenity amidst the swirling maelstrom of social chaos is a considerable accomplishment.
“To become mindfully aware of our surroundings is to bring our thinking back to our present moment reality and to the possibility of some semblance of serenity in the face of circumstances outside our ability to control.” ~Jeff Kober
We are living in a remarkable era; a time that will forever change the landscape of our personal, social and global community.
This week I invite you into serenity.
Blessings!
Journeying
For the fourth time in three years, fire ravages my heart.
I was born and raised in St. Helena. I moved to the Sonoma Valley when I was 29; later moving to Santa Rosa, and subsequently migrating to West Sonoma County in my early forties.
I spent the second grade at Foothills School in Deer Park; spent decades swimming the warm waters of Putah Creek and then Lake Berryessa after the dam was built. I have hiked the Pallisades, lived in the Toll House on Lawly Toll Rd; swam the icy waters of Las Posades; spent hours playing at the Old Bale Mill before it became a historic State Park. I love Glass Mountain and my ‘…hills of home.’
I have hiked hours and hours in Annadel and Armstrong; several Regional Parks; Sugarloaf; part of the Kortum Trail and Bodega Head. I have played at Goat Rock and Portugese Beach, flown my kites at the top of Coleman Valley Rd.; swam in the Russian River and Lake Sonoma after the dam was built; marveled at the history of the Round Barn…loving the ‘hills of my second home.’
Watching the tree-filled landscapes and landmarks of childhood through to my twilight years, that have so unconditionally supported the journey to my authentic self, being transmuted by fire, brings a flood of grief into my soul-self. Tears flow unbidden, crossing my cheeks, dripping from my face into the abyss of change.
The heat in the crucible of growth is more intense than I ever could have imagined at this time in my life. Peace and comfort come as the authentic self accepts and allows; observing and engaging the unfolding.
Blessings!
Photo Credit – Alvin A.H. Jornada/The Press Democrat, Sept. 29, 2020