There are a whole lot of things going on in this world that you and I can’t change by ourselves. And, just between us, I’ve got a big case of Sleepless in Atlanta going on.
It’s 5:15am. Dark, rainy, heading rapidly for cold. (Well, what passes for cold around here!)
Hot bay laurel tea helps some.
MSNBC is doing a credible job of trying to convince me that I have, as the familiar old saying goes, “Nothing to whine about!”
But, here’s the thing…
Grandmother Moon, who’s feeling very chatty lately, has helped me learn that… Us and Them is just not a helpful construct. It’s really all Us.
And, so, I’m busy doing my version of making light.
Candles. The battery kind, because I spent years trying to make the world safe for a very large blind dog.
Dots. Dots of light. And hope. Like the ones in this glimpse of my Tree of Life work-in-process.
Dots bringing much of my being into making hope.
Some of you are shaking your heads as you read, wondering what a bunch of gold spots on a canvas can do about war and poverty and intolerance and a plague of folks wanting to decide everything for everybody.
Well, the first thing those dots are doing is helping me get through the day. Soothing the perceptive parts of me frantically noticing all the tragic, dangerous, utterly unnecessary stuff going on in the world.
And there’s more.
I don’t know if one of my teachers, back in the days before Intentional Creativity® found me, knows about dots, but what I learned about Qigong from Chunyi LIn works much the same way. You see, for years now, as often as context allowed, Chunyi has been doing his version of dots.
My favorite story involves his strategy of taking a group of Buddhist monks from Minnesota on a cruise during the week between Christmas and the New Year to chant prayers for Peace between the stars and the waters.
Here’s the cool part… those of us who couldn’t join in on the actual cruises were invited along to chant with them virtually, at certain times each day. According to Chunyi, we were all adding energy for Peace into the Universe.
Now, granted, making dots and chanting with monks won’t fix everything that needs fixing in any obvious, instantaneous Shazam! kind of way.
But, what if – just maybe – those kinds of intentional activities allow us to stay on the road? To keep putting one foot in front of the other for love and justice and peace in the world our Littles are inheriting???
To keep learning and sharing.
To be light.
To embody the old tale of feeding the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes. And a whole lot of willingness to try!
Here’s another way I’m reminding me…
A Menorah has appeared on my path to Bethlehem!
Right there with the part of my recent #FlowNouvea painting which claims my ties to then and now and what is still to be.
How is your story changing?
It matters. You matter. We matter. And, as Mama Cloud used to say…
Mattering matters!
For this moment, a quick nap… code, around here, for space to hatch the next bit of how!
ps… in the painting at the top, there’s a Hebrew word which can be read as a combination of “strong water” and “mother” or the “glue of the family.” Let’s be glue for the human family!!!
pps… wondering what that would look like for you??? Let’s talk! 45 min. My gift. Oh – and make a bit of space on your calendar for December 30. The night before the night before 2024! I’m hatching a power-full plan! (And fun!)