Insights – Melannie Thomas

Archive for the ‘Finding Your Center’ Category

I recently came across this quote from Duke Ellington, “I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.”

This is a good example and great inspiration for re-directing the negative energy that we all feel and experience at times. We do have a choice. We can choose to entertain negative thinking or we can switch gears and re-frame our thinking along more positive paths.

In the quote above Mr. Ellington didn’t try to push his pout away or try to force himself to get over it. Instead, he used the creative, energetic process to give voice to his negative feelings thereby transforming them into a beautiful, powerful expression of feeling. He used his energy in a positive rather than negative manner.

One of the books I am currently reading is Entering the Castle by Carolyn Myss.  One short sentence is having an enormous impact:

‘Intention without discipline is useless.’

In my personal struggle to secure my daily bread, incorporating the spiritual component has precedence for me.  Yet, the daily demands of the mundane clatter ceaselessly for my attention.  Discipline is the heart of my effort.  Discipline is a word that for me means can’t; can’t have, can’t do, can’t become, can’t, can’t, can’t.  The favorite chant of my negative chatter-box. 

As part of my personal growth work,  I am focusing on countering that definition of discipline.  So following definitions (discipline as teaching; teaching as guidance; guidance as nurturing) I am now working to change the negative impact of discipline to a positive, supportive self-nurturing.

My intention is to grow in spirit, to mature wisely, to live a disciplined life.  I am having great success in some places and not so great in others.  And discipline is becoming the well-worn path of self-nurturing as I seek my daily bread.

Seasonal change is upon us. Spring brings renewal. As we prepare for spring-cleaning and yard sprucing, I invite you to look into ‘spring-cleaning’ your mind and renewing your spirit at this most sacred time of year.

Take a day. Honor the gift of life in all it’s myriad forms and all it’s magical beauty.

I recently read an excellent article in Spirituality & Health by Thomas Moore in which he stated what is to me a basic spiritual truth.  It is not what you believe that reflects your spirituality, but rather, “…the way you live.”

There are many times in life that we are left feeling helpless.  Certainly the situation in Japan is one of those fateful moments.  Yet, we are not powerless.  Beyond the rescue efforts in myriad forms, there is the power of prayer.  I invite you to prayers of comfort and healing for our fellow man.

This quote  from a book I read yesterday really stuck with me and I wanted to share it with you: 

“Look to this day!  For it is life,  the very life of life… For yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision;  But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Pussywillow  by Mama San Ra-Ab Rampa

As we stealthily move into 2011, I invite you to seize everyday however it comes to you.  Everyday presenting the opportunity to put your best foot forward.

As we get closer to Christmas and all the celebrations occurring in the Winter Season, take a moment to catch your breath and relax.  It is so easy to overlook this very important process.  Taking a time out is a good thing.  It helps not only one’s energy and attitude, but the immune system too.

So sit back, take a deep breath, have a cup of tea and bask in the quieter moments of the season.

This is my ‘Word for the Day”.   I invite you to meditate throughout the day on the various elements of/in your life.

Ii is remarkable how hard it is to stay in touch with family and friends.  The techno-age certainly offers a variety of means to do so, but they can be challenging in and of themselves.  It really seems to boil down to time and the demands of time.

A sure-fire indication of how stressed and pressed for time Americans are is in the lack of time we have for connecting with family and friends.  For me, both gardens are rather large and I find myself either ahead or behind in tending them.  Yet, when I do spend time in the gardens, I come away refreshed. 

I was reading this morning about women and stress in the workplace and the subsequent increase in heart attack associated with such stress.  Finding a few precious quality moments to spend in the garden can certainly go a long way to helping reduce this kind of stress.