Marvelling at the spectacular sunsets of late

Last night the Royal Gazette posted a most magnificent photograph of the sunset over Crow Lane taken by one of its readers and it made me think about the beautiful sunsets we have been treated to in Bermuda these last few nights. The sky like blood orange bursting through the twilight treating us to a spectacular light show of the fading light of the sun. A few times when driving home I have had to catch myself, remind myself I was driving because I was so mesmerised by the sunset light.

Wisps of red clouds dancing across the sky while others lazily drifting slightly heavier than the wisps. Red. So red they look like the collective blood of all of us. The beginning and the end. Looking ominous yet delightful at the same time. Frightening yet enlightening. Just like life unfolding before my eyes. The very things that frighten us are the ones we need for growth. For our own spiritual wellbeing and intuition. Just like the dichotomy of the night skies unfolding before my eyes.

The natural colours of the Universe are sights to behold. Enrapturing us. Fuelling us with its beauty and light when we are open and receptive to it. When we stop and take the time to appreciate the beauty of the Universe. Its natural beauty. Freely available to us all. In it simple and daily existence such as the setting sun.

Driving home and taking in the sunsets lately have filled me with such joy, such abundance, such faith in our Universe because it goes on around us regardless of what we are doing or thinking. It continues to provide for us even when we think it does not. It continues to replenish itself and in doing so us as well.

The redness of the twilight sky takes me back to my childhood rhymes, “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning.”

These red skies of late have been a pure delight for me. Filling me with hope, love and peace. Allowing me to take in the wonders of its light. Allowing me to inhale the ending of the day and exhale the setting sun. Accepting life goes on no matter what. There is always an ending and a beginning. Beginning and ending. Namaste.

In gratitude to my daughter for reminding me to live in the moment

Saturday evening my daughter and I were driving home from her rehearsal for her upcoming performance in South Pacific when she said, “Sunday is my least favourite day of the week.”

“Why?” I asked her.

“Because the next day is Monday,” she replied. “A whole new week of school and work for people.”

“You know, I used to feel the same way,” I answered her.  “I used to dread Sundays because all I could think about was Monday being the next day and having to start all over again. And a lot of people feel that way. But now I tell myself to be grateful for waking up to see another Monday. To have the ability to start all over again. To have the wherewithal to begin anew. Some people never get that chance. Some people go to bed on Sunday and never see another Monday. So there is a lot to be grateful for.”

“Wow,” she answered. “True. I never looked at it like that before.”

“Neither did I until I was 50 years old,” I told her. “Be grateful that you are thinking about it now and you have someone who has given you a head start in gratitude. Gratitude will take you a long way and get you through those days when you dread everything around you because you will realise no matter what, there is always something to be grateful for. Like waking up on a Monday morning.”

“True,” she said. “Very true.”

“And you know what else, just enjoy the rest of this day for what it is. Stay in this moment. And don’t think about tomorrow. Don’t think about Monday. Enjoy having the rest of this evening and tomorrow before Monday comes and that way you won’t overlook whatever it is that comes your way.”

“Okay mommy,” she replied. “Okay.”

Then because she had sparked a joy for life in me as well, I turned to her and asked, “Do you want to go to the new yoghurt place before we go home?”

Her little eyes lit up. She could not believe her luck. “Oh yes, please” she answered. Her eyes dancing mischievously as our child spirits connected joyously taking in the moment of frivolousness. Both of us fully present in our mutual understanding of gratitude.

As we got out of the car, she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight and I felt her love pouring into my whole being so I squeezed her hand back. We walked hand in hand, mother and daughter, sharing a silent space of gratitude and love between us. Of girlhood. Spontaneity.

We got treats for ourselves and for our men waiting for us back home. Then we drove silently home together reflecting on what we both got out of our conversation. Me feeling good for helping my daughter to get over the Monday blues. Hoping she will remember our conversation and our spur of the moment trip to the Yoghurt shop for a long time so she won’t feel bad about Sundays any more but will cherish each and every breathing moment she has on this earth. As will I. As I hope will you too.

In gratitude to my daughter for reminding me to live in the moment.

Happy Monday everyone. Namaste.

A lazy Saturday morning

Lazy day for me today and hence the reason why my blog is late. So sorry to my morning coffee readers but this morning I decided to give myself the gift of time and rest. The time to rejuvenate and reconnect with my soul through dreaming, sleeping and resting and I feel so good for having done it. Granted I am behind on many of the things I was supposed to do today. But I am telling myself that I am where I am meant to be. Some things were not meant to be done today because more importantly I needed to rest.
I rolled over in my bed at 5.45 and realised it was Saturday morning. Not a work morning so I smugly closed my eyes and went back to sleep. Telling myself there was nowhere I had to be and no one I had to see. I can't tell you how overjoyed I felt to be able to do that. To sleep without any demands.
Next time I woke up it was 8.36 and I started to get out of bed but my body refused to budge. Telling me the best place for me to be was in bed. I thought about all the morning coffee drinkers who read my blog and said you will understand that I needed the rest more than writing this morning so I rolled over again and went back to sleep. My whole mind, body and soul grateful for my choice.
The next time I woke up was at 10 am. I can't tell you the last time I slept in that late. Even then I had to drag myself out of bed. Making sure my son was ready for tennis and his bags were packed for all the commitments he has today. Checking in with my daughter and finding her curled up in her bed reading a book. My husband shocked at how long I slept.
So I am going to indulge myself for the rest of teh day. Giving myself the gift of time to rest, rejuvenate and reconnect with my essence self. Off for a 90 minute hot stone massage next compliments of my family. So here's to a lazy Saturday doing me. Have a good one everyone and remember it's okay sometimes to do us.

When we are feeling overwhelmed

When life gets us down

And we are feeling overwhelmed

That is our cue

To stop

To go outside

To feel the light of the sun

On our faces

Its warmth circulating through our beings

Allowing us to remember

It’s the Universe asking us

Willing us

To feel its abundance

Asking us to inhale deeply

Surrendering to all that is

Then leading us

To exhale slowly

Awakening us

To our essence self

Asking us to reconnect

To remember why we came here

To push aside all falsities

To cast aside all that is dragging us down

By directing us

To close our eyes

And feel the warmth of the sun

Embracing us

Its rays

Dancing behind our closed lids

Igniting the joy in our beings

The dancer in our soul

The poet that resides

Deep down inside

Of us all

We are all crafters

Of our story

Living proof of endurance

Peace and love

But sometimes we get so bogged down

In all the excess

That we neglect to reconnect

With what is

With who we are

With our Essence self

The One source

And as a result

We become lost

Trapped in the jungle

Of our thoughts

In other people’s story

And forget our own

We allow ourselves to be led astray

Wandering around in the dark

With our eyes wide open

But seeing nothing

It is those times

That the Universe

Is calling us

Asking us

To stop

To remember

Why we came here

What we asked to do here

To be of service to ourselves

And to those who cross our path

To not destroy

But to create

To not always take

But to give as well

To not lie about who we are

To not be ashamed of who we are

But to embrace our differences

As we are all of the Once Source

Connected by the silver cord

Weaving our stories together

To form the human story

Of connectedness

When we are feeling overwhelmed

When we feel like we can’t go on

It’s the Universe asking us

To go back to nature

To stand outside

To feel the rays of the sun

Permeating our mind

Our body

And

Our soul

Asking us to open our eyes

To the world that goes on

Lives on

Right in front of us

Every single day without fail

To open our eyes

To see the abundance that exists

Even when we believe there is none

Reminding us

We must step into our story

To be our story

To live our story

Only then will we know joy

And wonder again

Because we will remember

We are joy and wonder

Because we remember

Everyone has their story to tell

To live

And everyone of us

Have lessons to learn

Paths to cross

Journeys to take

With no one being better

Or worse than the other

So when we feel overwhelmed

Burdened

Frazzled

Remember

It’s the Universe nudging us

Willing us

To remember

It’s is our time

To stop

To express gratitude

For who we are

And why we are

Under the auspices of the radiant sun

Awakening the dancer

The poet

The weaver

Of our soul

To live again

To love again

To inhale our joy

And to exhale our pain

To remember who we are 

And

Why we are

The crafters of our own stories

Namaste

Finding our passion

Finding our passions is one of the most liberating things we can ever do for ourselves. One of the best gifts we can give ourselves. Because our passions allow us to have something to wake up for in the morning. Something that keeps us going even in our darkest hour.

Finding and practising our passion gives us a sense of grounding. A sense of purpose. And stepping into our passions and owning who we are when we are where we are is a gift to not just ourselves but to others as well because it allows us to go out into the world full of passion and compassion. Full of love and sharing. Giving and receiving.

Passion gives us the ability to see the possibility in everything. To explore all that is there for us from within us. I am so privileged to have found one of my greatest passions and it is in my writing every single day. Waking up in the morning sitting down to meditate then writing my blog are two of the greatest joys I have in my life.

Writing allows me to set the tone for the day. To explore so much about the inner me and helps me to understand my gut instinct. It allows me to go with the flow. To take the path that my writing leads me down. Some days I start with one thought but go off on a completely different tangent than what I originally started with. Allowing me to accept and understand that life is not always the way we want it to be but it is always the way we need to to be.

Following, exploring and standing in my passion have allowed me to be more nimble, more flexible. More empathetic to myself and in doing so more empathetic to others that cross my path. It allows me to be more discerning as well. Picking up on the energies of those who cross my path allowing me to know whether they are worthy of being in my circle or not.

Finding our passions helps us to know more about who we are because we are able to explore so much about our own vulnerabilities when we expose our passion to others by accepting it for ourselves. Because standing in our passion requires putting ourselves out there and risking being rebuked for doing what we love. Accepting that sometimes we will be rebuked. Our passion will not resonate with others but if we are truly following our hearts, we will know the rebuke is to help us change direction but not to abandon that which we love.

I always knew I wanted to write but thought I would be writing in a much different way so I resisted it for the longest time. Hiding from it. Keeping my passion hidden because of the career I have found myself in. But what I am learning is sometimes our passions are meant to be that which helps us to get through our daily lives and this is what my writing, my passion, is for me at this present time. So I write daily without expectation. Without direction. Without forcing it. I write because it brings me joy and allows me to explore my inner wisdom.

Because I am learning sometimes passion does not translate into the grandiosity we thought it would but it certainly does gives us a sense of self. Of grounding. Of purpose. And for finding my passion I am truly grateful. And for writing every day and putting myself out there I am truly grateful.

Passion is who we are. Our essence self come to the forefront. It is in the surrender and embrace of vulnerability. Leading me to this wonderful quote I found giving me the perfect way to end my blog for today, "When we focus on leading a passionate, meaningful life, we are also inadvertently creating a spectacular ripple effect of inspiration in the lives around us.  When one person follows a dream, tries something new, or takes a daring leap, everyone nearby feels their passionate energy; and before too long, they are making their own daring leaps while simultaneously inspiring others."

Namaste.

Learning from technology gone haywire

My energy seems to be off at the moment. Computers and are don't seem to be on the same wavelength. I keep losing documents or my computer breaks down. I write a blog and then it disappears. I start a poem and then the computer freezes, My desktop has finally quit and I miss its large key board and screen as I have moved to using my tablet. And though I am grateful for having a backup I miss the comfort of my large and probably dated desktop.
I even seem to have the same problem at work on my computer there. I have forgotten my password for certain sites so I can't get in them or if I do get in them, they freeze. My spirit mother says she has never met anyone like me who has so many problems with technology. Either my Internet is down or I can't get onto the sites I am trying to get on.
So I am starting to get a bit paranoid. Is it really me and if it is what in the world is the Universe tryig to tell me? This morning when I was getting ready to type my blog, I could not open my blog at all. The Google frequent spot had disappeared so I had to type in my blog address and I could not remember what it was so I had to mess around trying to find it.
By the time I got into it, I was so grateful that I decided instead of posting the blog I was going to post that I would explore this whole energy thing to see if in fact I do feel as if I am contributing to my technology issues. And perhaps I do know deep down inside it is my energy. But why I'm still not sure.
But here's what I have decided,  I am going to keep going for it and not let this energy thing get in my way of continuing to write my blog because it is my morning inspiration - that which sets the tome for me for the day. Writing this blog also helps me to centre on what it is that is whirring through my mind so there is no way that I will allow this mysterious energy thing to keep me from connecting with my inner core. My essence self.
Obstacles do get in our way from time to time to test us. To allow us to see just how committed we are to certain aspects of our lives, To help us to explore what it is we truly want out of life.
So despite my connectivity issues, my lost data, my missing apps, my blog is written and signed off for today. As the old song goes, "Ain't  no mountain high enough, nothing can keep me, keep me from you...My blog that is.
Here's to perseverance and dedication even when we feel we can't go on. Especially when we feel we can't go on. Because here's what I know for sure when things don't work out the way we planned, it is because we are being redirected to where we are meant to be. so for all those lost blogs, missing apps, and strange energy, my energy is what it is and I am being wired and rewired to be exactly where I am meant to be. It isn't technology. It's me.

Goodbye September, hello October

Wow, September certainly went out with a bang for us in Bermuda yesterday. The violent thunderstorm cracking through the air. Torrential rain. Flooded roads. Dark, dark morning making us feel like we were going to work in the dark as lightening sliced through the dark morning sky followed closely behind by booming thunder.

I have to admit, there was something refreshing about the storm for me which is very strange because normally thunderstorms terrify me. For some reason yesterday morning, I felt a great respect for it. No fear of the storm whatsoever but a great appreciation for what it was doing for our atmosphere. I thought to myself I either could be grateful for the force of nature or afraid of it. But whichever way I felt, it would not change the force or the outcome because nature is what it is and has no direct bearing on what I think and feel. It will do whatever it has to do in spite of my fear of it.

So I inhaled deeply and allowed the booming of the thunder to resonate through me. I watched the lightning flash by me and offered a silent prayer to the Universe that my family, my home and everyone in Bermuda would be safe from the storm. I drove with caution through the downpours trying to avoid the flooded roads as much as I could to prevent being stuck in the floods.

By the time afternoon came, the evidence of the storm had long gone replaced by the full and hot sun. The afternoon very different from the dark morning. The heat of the sun more than making up for the rain and dampness of the start of the day. For the last day of September. As I drove home last night, I looked up at the night sky thinking I had left home in the dawn light of the new day completely surrounded by thick, heavy, dark, cumulus clouds and heavy rain but yet I was now driving back home under a dark sky but this time it was meant to be dark because it was the night. The night sky felt very inviting because compared to the morning sky it was fairly clear with a large star in the West shining down on me. As if it was guiding me home.

Realising I was seeing the ending of another day, another month, I revelled in the glory of the beautiful night sky with gratitude. The air feeling fresh. Possibility abound. Abundance. And I said thank you to the Universe for showing me that though we may start out stormy and dark, the storm eventually passes allowing us to appreciate the splendour and beauty that exists in our everyday lives.

So I say goodbye to September with its stormy passing and greetings to October with its calm arrival by comparison with gratitude for still breathing, living and experiencing. Knowing whatever storm I may be experiencing, it too will pass and I will go on to appreciate the calm after the storm. Here’s to a whole new month, October, the true month of Fall in earnest. With gratitude,honour, and respect. Namaste.