I am glad to be alive in these compelling, chaotic, tumultuous and horrifying times. That may seem strange to say, but it’s true. For reasons beyond my understanding, I’ve been aware of the injustices of the world since very early childhood and have done my best to change those dynamics, often feeling helpless and alone in those endeavors. I’m a true elder now and was beginning to fear I would not live long enough to experience the tipping point, but I think this is it. It can’t get worse than this, can it? So I am choosing to believe that we have arrived at the tipping point, or at least are very close. Human injury to the life force and our enslavement of Earth,  human disregard for and subjugation of other humans, the human desire to have only one right way and that is HIS right way, all those viewpoints and behaviors have persisted for many more years than just the existence of the United States. The humans in charge for thousands of years now have not wanted to reckon with the fact that enslavement of anything and anyone is unsustainable.

I don’t celebrate July 4^th. It’s always been a hard day for me
as it is filled with duplicity, further war mongering and terrorizing fireworks.
Now, I absolutely can’t go there.
Independence? For whom? For What?
May all humans everywhere wake up to our interdependence,
make amends for our atrocities, our shortsighteddimwittedness,
seek the goodness in our hearts
and heal the ubiquitous, ancient wounds we all have.

I’m glad to see the infected wounds finally erupting everywhere. I wish we could have awoken more gently, but evolution may not work that way. Think of what it takes for a new star to be born. Think of the force it takes for a seed to split open for new plantlife, the energy it takes to crack open the shell fiercely protecting the life within. Think of the sundering of child birth. Birth is painful, messy, disorienting. Labor requires trust and endurance, holding faith that the struggle to open is worth the new life coming. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our world, our culture, is actually in the final stage of labor, ready to push through to a new story for how we humans live with the planet.
May we humans open our eyes to the miracle of life on our fragile Earth, our home, spinning in the immeasurable vastness of the universe tethered only by gravity – invisible yet real- to its planets and star and galaxy. May we modern humans honor our original ancestors who made it through tens of thousands of years so we could be here NOW. May we care enough about our own descendents that we choose to change our habits of seeing, honor the ineffable, and listen deeply to what the world as a whole wants US to learn.

In case you didn’t recognize the form of those preceding statements, they are blessings. Writing them felt good. They hone my vision of possibilities, and energetically feed the matrix of ideas circulating on our globe. In addition, I’m practicing what I preach!

Kathryn Lafond and I are delving deeply into our class called the Power of Blessing to Change Everything. We’ve just completed our second four session series, have begun a third, and the fourth begins July 8^th. A fifth begins Tuesday August 25^th.  We now recognize that Blessing is a powerful and forgotten practice – another victim of so called human progress which we need to reclaim since it transforms our relationship to life.  Blessing truly does change everything. From taking ALL OF THIS forgranted, we remember the miracle to which we are beholden. As I’ve prepared for the class, I discovered an old book by Pierre Pradervand: The Gentle Art of Blessing.  It’s rich with wisdom and very easy to read. He describes how to bless everything and absolutely everyone, even our enemies.  By choosing to see a stranger who looks different from us as another person who reflects the richness of our uniqueness, just like the endless variations of life in the forest, the garden, the desert, the ocean, we make a choice that quells fear and thus diminishes anger. Choosing to bless in this way, changes our sensations in both belly and heart from constriction to expansion, easing tension and contributing to a sense of well-being.  The felt-sense of shifting from hatred to compassion, from worry to trust, transforms our “seeing,” and frees up options for relating differently.

And now I’ve discovered the power of doodling our blessings. I call them illuminated blessings. Doodling is accessible to everyone and with the simplest of materials – pencil and paper. I was inspired by a book called Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth. Here’s an example of a doodle which began with the rosette form, blob shape in the middle with radiating lines. By drawing little shapes along each line, ( I used only two lines – straight and curved. ) everything changes, just like life!

THIS CLASS IS FOR YOU IF YOU ARE WANTING TO:

*expand your emotional and spiritual capacity to engage with our time…

*  feel more resilient, inspired, and compassionate…

*  find companions on the journey, the ones who are ready to stop clinging to the bank and join the flow of the river…

*  raise your consciousness and join the ranks of subtle/sacred/quantum activists…

*embody the new story for how we live on the planet.

* be inspired by poetic expression, explore links to other media for inspiration, welcome creative prompts for hoNework, and engage in meaningful dialogue.

Please contact me if blessing calls you. deborahmltn@gmail.com

You can learn more about Kathryn here: https://www.kathrynlafond.com