Blythesong – Bliss through whatever may come

We bathe in the waters of our love every minute of our lives. As we look at the physical manifestations of our nurturing love…our families, spouses/lovers, pets, garden, home, seedlings on the windowsill, we know that our love is the most powerful tool of manifestation in the world. It never reduces, never demeans, never condescends.

So I embrace my family and home with love.  I nurture my work with love. I renew my soul in the love that is yoga and Spirit.

But, my writing. Do I always come to it like a lover? No! So often I come to this sacred essential part of my life as though the act of writing is immediately judging me! I feel uninspired, cold, tired. I forget too easily the joy of just letting the pen float and flow over the paper. Instead I am expecting goals fulfilled and completeness in each and every session. Writing, though, is like life; like the river we don’t want to push. My writing is craft, yes, but it is also the stirring of my soul. It is my reflection of nature all around me. It is the sunlight streaming through my hand as much as it is the demons and night riders finding their way into fiction. It is something that takes time and life and most of all, love. I am not a self-destructive person. Why would I be a self-destructive writer? There is no sense in that…no reason…no good payoff. Most of all, there is no love in that.

And I strive to live in love…….

As I look out on the beautiful white snow blanketing the yard, I am struck with gratitude for this pristine new year! Once again we are given the chance to use the calendar as a guide for our goals, yearnings and accomplishments. As the last year ended we celebrated the rebirth of Spirit and joy. Within this rebirth we are free to pursue the dreams we hold so dear.

We have just returned home from Costa Rica. I emptied our suitcases and took advantage of the snow and cold to throw them on the deck to clear out and get some sun! I was just looking out at them and laughed. They are so empty and full of space! Then it came to me. In this new year I want those bags to be light. What and where am I carrying around stuff, conflict, old goals that no longer apply, beliefs that are no longer valid? Will I let them lay around and rust? I don’t think so. I want to find them and then release them with love and peace. They must have served me at some point but that time is long gone.

Of course my bags will not be completely empty. I believe I need some baggage. I treasure my sweet memories, and learn from the recollections of how difficult a trial may have been. These are valuable parts of my heart. But there is plenty that just hangs around to cause me stress. We all know what these things are; The toxic relations we mentally harbor rent free, those people we have come across for a moment in the past year who just keep coming back for some bizarre reason, the regrets of long ago for which we continue to reproach ourselves.

This is our new year. Let’s all look inside ourselves with love for our actions and for our gentle hearts. Let us find the freeloaders and nasties and release them from our souls, our hearts and our lifetimes with a sweet “good-bye.” Let us think of where we want to be at the end of this year and set our goals to enjoy our life and manifest our dreams!

Let’s fill up our internal baggage this year with beautiful goals achieved, love shared, little moments of sadness embraced by Spirit and acceptance. What we create in our soul is reflected in our lives and carried on. In our baggage let there be smiles, laughter, and tears. May there be precious dreams come true and brilliant goals achieved. May our hearts rest secure in the knowledge that we are carrying what we truly desire. Let’s carry on in our life only the best!

Live from your soul.

It is vast.  It is rich. It is pure health and light.  It knows your needs and heart’s desire and will provide the means to achieve all good.

The seat of true contentment lay within.

You, who breathe,

Who trust in the stirring of your soul,

Who come to this place, your unfiltered love streaming forth.

You are the dream of a million stars who cradle you in their soft amber warmth.

In your breath is the birth of a new clear sky,

In your form, life victorious over dust.

In your chant is the music of our spheres,

In your faith, our most full love.

Your quest, itself, is the very manifestation of our dream fulfilled.

You are alive. You are free. You are blessed.

© 2016 Carolyn Mora

I love my house gardens.  I have waited a long time for them and I can’t wait to start digging when spring arrives.  A large part of my front garden is perennial.  This brings with it the patience of waiting for the roots to burrow deeply and find their home before they spring up as permanent residents, and the sweet bouncy joy of seeing them popping up(without any apparent work from me!).

My back garden is smaller and apart from basic stonecrop, bleeding hearts and hostas, an annual garden.  I haven’t really brought together my idea for this space, so most of the time it is awash with green.

This year has been a busy one for us outside.  We had the house painted, spent much time in the front gardens, experimenting, weeding far too often and just appreciating.  Rich had given me my long- wished for path through the bed behind the mailbox.  This involved much moving and weeding, but is very sweet and will look beautiful next year!!!!!

The back garden really suffered this year.  We moved most of the hostas to the front at the end of last summer to border a staircase.  In addition, any activity back there this summer was hampered by the visits of several yellow jackets, wasps and hornets!  It wasn’t until the end of August that I was happy to even be out there….but my poor sweet garden looked very sad indeed.

Then I had an idea.  A Fall Garden. I had never done that before.  I’ve always loved impatiens, but never really planted them late in the year.  So off I went to the nursery.  I bought the leggiest impatiens, puffiest begonias, and, oh yes, a hydrangea.  I was sad to have to wait for mums.

I weeded (I think weeds like me entirely too much, God bless them their perseverance) and then I planted.  I split up the begonia plants to make power puffs where the bleeding hearts were.  I planted a border of impatiens along every edge.  I also did my favorite impatiens job of bunching them together to just burst and laugh in color!  I filled a few pots.  Then I found the perfect place for my hydrangea!  One of the loveliest aspects of doing this was that I wasn’t over-heated and sweating while I was planting!

And now?  It is the end of September.  I’ve just come back from a few days out east.  I walked out my back door to a fairy tale garden of color.  The stonecrop are pink, the impatiens like splashes of finger paint in the air.  The mums (which I did plant a week later) are sitting with great dignity awaiting their golden season.

It cost next to nothing; took maybe four hours over two days.  It is bliss at a time when the days are getting shorter and a little cooler.  I can still sit out and look at the color in the afternoon sun and walk among my early fall blooms.

And there is still a bit of time left for mum and kale and whatever else is still out there!  Find a spot that maybe you have forgotten about and plant some fall color!  I promise it will make you smile!

As I begin this blog, I think about how I begin my day.  My husband and I attend a 6:30am yoga class once a week.  Even though it is difficult to get up and out and it creates a “crunch time rush”  for me to prepare for my straight job, it is a happy experience.

Last week we slept in.  Around 10:00 or so I reflected on the class while at my job and felt sad that I had missed the chance to do that good thing for myself (and for the world).  Today we made it and I am thrilled!  No matter what world weary craziness comes at me during the day, I can choose to rest in the beauty of my morning’s beginning.  I may even project a kinder self to the people I encounter.  I am better able to commune with my coworkers having first communed with myself.  I am so happy for this gift!

So now my gift to you…Imagine this!  You have permission and loving support of spirit everywhere…

What good thing can you do to begin your day?  Think big and wild and blissful and bright.  Think cozy and kind and gentle.  Maybe for you it is taking a walk by a placid stream or a sunny beach.  It could be bringing yourself to that special place in your meditation.  Perhaps today is the day to grab your first hour to write in that journal or play your guitar.  Your gift to self could even be to give those who live with you the biggest hugs and most heartfelt kisses in the world. (Remember, hugs and kisses work both ways!)  Look into the limitless universe of their eyes and tell them that you love them!  Know that it doesn’t matter one whit whether those loved ones are humans or dogs or cats or birds or flowers!

Whatever you do, please enjoy it completely with love!