Happy New Year, 2012!

The end of 2011 is here and 2012 is about to begin. As you look toward 2012, what do you want to create? What accomplishments have you been able to manifest? What habits or behaviors have you been able to release? What is working for you and what is not working?

What do you want to invite into the new year? What do you want to "feed" this year, love or fear? It is important to make conscious choices and set clear, positive intentions. Whatever you put out into the world is what you will manifest. If you choose to feed love, love will grow wherever it is focused as you join with other like-minded people throughout the world. However, when you connect with the daily barrage of fear-based news stories or conversations you feed fear. It is a choice.

Currently there are tremendous, ongoing, global and individual shifts. 2012 will continue to bring change throughout the world. How we perceive and respond to these changes will determine our future as inhabitants of planet Earth. So, instead of reacting from fear, anger, and/or resistance, I want to encourage you to respond to any challenge with an open heart and trust that this energetic shift is creating our personal and global transformation.

The global perspective can be overwhelming so I suggest that each of us begin with our personal growth. It is what we become that changes the world, not what we do. So what changes do you want to see in your own life? What fears do you want to release and what hopeful, positive expansion to you want to envision?

This is a powerful time to sit down and write out your goals and wishes for the coming year. One suggestion is to choose the areas of your life where you want to grow and write about them, in the present tense, as if the changes have already manifested. The more succinct you are in the writing, the clearer your vision and resulting manifestation will be. Consider some of the following questions:

1. What do I want this year in my personal life?
2. What do I want this year for my financial life?
3. What do I want this year for my business life?
4. What do I want this year for my spiritual life?

Now take out your new, 2012 journal out and write about each question.  For example:

I now have the financial freedom that a stable cash flow provides. I now have a monthly income of at least _____ each and every month, with ease and grace, and I am able to meet all my financial agreements plus put away money for travel and extra expenses. 

Do this for each question and then read them daily. This will help you shift old limiting beliefs and change out-dated paradigms in your life. Have fun and be creative! You can also create vision boards or a collage to provide a visual representation. What you do is not important, it's the intention, focus, and passion you have to recreate your life!

I wish you the happiest of new years.

May 2012 be filled with personal expansion and blessings for our world and for all sentient beings on Mother Earth!

Blessings of peace, love and light ~ Gretchen

Inner Light

The days grow shorter. The temperature has dropped and today I'm sitting at my computer wearing sweats with a cozy wrap around my shoulders and a cup of steaming Peach Blossom White Tea beside me. 

Winter is approaching. Solstice is just a few days away and the holiday season is in full swing with parties and celebrations everywhere.

This is a festive time of year but it is also the time of year to reflect on the previous months of experiences and lessons, honoring areas of growth and expansion. The soul's journey requires tending. My past experiences have provided opportunities for learning and my life is enriched because of these life-lessons.

Winter is the final phase of the twelve-month cycle of Earth’s seasons. Like all cycles, winter holds evidence and clues within it about what came before, what is and what will likely be. The energy of winter is an ending and a new beginning. There is increasing darkness, the darkest point and then the shift toward increasing light.

At this time of year I look to nature to show me her rhythm, her way of "being." She is quiet. Her leaves cover the ground, decomposing. During the process of decomposition, the decomposers provide food for themselves by extracting chemicals from organic wastes to produce energy. The decomposers will then produce waste of their own. In turn, this will also decompose, eventually returning nutrients to the soil. These nutrients can then be taken up by the roots of living plants enabling them to grow and develop, so that organic material is naturally recycled. Virtually nothing goes to waste in nature.

During this season of quiet reflection and review, I encourage each of you to recycle your energies. Renew, refresh, and envision the richness of your journey to date and the possibility that lies before you. 

I love to search for quotes that inspire. May these quotes help invoke that spirit within.  

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
~Albert Camus

One is wise to cultivate the tree that bears fruit in our soul.
~Henry David Thoreau

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.
~Mary Dunbar

This is the season we are invited to go within and honor our personal journey. In the darkness of winter, may we find our own light. May we shine and, collectively, may we brighten the world.

Happy Holidays!

Gretchen

Chaos to Order

Fall is a gentle season. In Southern California there are subtle changes of cool nights, early-morning fog, falling leaves, and withering vines. Monarch butterflies continue to grace my garden but there are fewer now and the milkweed is no longer being consumed by their offspring. The earth seems to be drawing into herself, preparing to rest. She will continue to provide winter fruits and vegetables to nourish our bodies but there is a shift in the elements, even here in sunny California.

This is the time of year when I begin to prepare for my own wintering. My stack of non-fiction books is growing by my bedside ready to assist me in gathering new wisdom and insight about myself and the world I live in. I love this time of reflection and discernment through the written word.

Lately I've been reading Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World by Margaret Wheatley. Margaret Wheatley writes, teaches, and speaks about radically new business practices and ideas for organizing in chaotic times using quantum science and nature for guidance. She works to create organizations of all types where people are known as the blessing, not the problem.

Leadership and the New Science was published in 1999 but the wisdom and insight Wheatley shares is even more relevant in today's chaotic world than it was a decade ago. Daily we observe chaos in government and the global economy. Unemployment plagues once-thriving countries and communities and depression is at an all-time high. There is a growing fear of disorder and chaos.

Yet chaos and disorder, and the falling apart of antiquated systems, is exctly what is required in order to move into the prophesied new era. Old systems that no longer serve must fall away and be replaced with sustainable systems that do not deplete the natural resources of our beautiful planet while supporting the growth of communities.

But where do we look for inspiration, hope, and wisdom? Where are the systems that can serve as a model for more sustainable systems? Nature. Nature is constantly changing from one cycle to another. Look at the cycle of a butterfly, the migration of birds, the seasonal transformation of deciduous forests, and the life cycle of all sentient beings.

Perhaps if each of us makes the commitment to reflect on our own inner nature and spend time each day meditating in the arms the natural world, especially wild places, order will begin to emerge within and without. Inspiration can replace fear and ideas for creating order from disorder can begin to emerge.

Nature is filled with cycles and rhythms of change, order and chaos. What plants thrive naturally in the wilderness habitats where you live? What seasonal changes can you observe around you? What natural systems are working together to create balance in your garden or neighborhood? What is not working and needs to be changed?

We live in evolutionary times, more globally intense than at any other time in recorded history. Human beings are amazingly adaptable but we have forgotten how to live together in balance and harmony. We have lost our interdependence with Mother Earth and are out of rhythm with her cycles. She is reminding us that the world within is reflected in Nature. None of us can live alone. We need each other and our communities to solve the daunting problems in our world.

During this season I encourage you to slow down and look within. Is there any chaos in your life that you wish to transform? Spend some time in nature and allow her to speak to your inner wildness. Reflect on what is working and what is not. Let the chaos within and without guide you to creative solutions as you bring order to your life and hope into the world. Be willing to let go of the things that no longer serve you and embrace the invitation to transform the internal and external chaos. Allow nature to be your compass.

"One is constantly reminded of the infinite lavishness and fertility of Nature -- inexhaustible abundance amid what seems enormous waste. And yet when we look into any of her operations that lie within reach of our minds, we learn that no particle of her material is wasted or worn out. It is eternally flowing from use to use, beauty to yet higher beauty; and we soon cease to lament waste and death, and rather rejoice and exult in the imperishable, unspendable wealth of the universe, and faithfully watch and wait the reappearance of everything that melts and fades and dies about us, feeling sure that its next appearance will be better and more beautiful than the last." ~ John Muir

Compassion

Compassion is defined as a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. Wikipedia states that compassion is a virtue in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism.
 
Last week a dear friend forwarded a video of Tenzin Robert Thurman speaking at Chautauqua Institution in 2009. Robert Thurman is the first American to be ordained a Tibetan Monk by the Dalai Lama. He is a scholar, author and tireless proponent of peace.

In this video Robert Thurman asks that we develop compassion for all, including our enemies. He prescribes a seven-step meditation exercise to extend compassion beyond our inner circle, encouraging universal compassion and responsibility. Although he shares from the Buddhist perspective, his message is at the heart of all spiritual traditions.
(http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/robert_thurman_on_compassion.html)

I began reflecting on the meaning of compassion in my own life and my limitations in seeing beyond my inner circle. At my core I believe that all human beings carry both light and shadow but I recognize that I often experience judgement about others, especially leaders, who appear to be void of compassion for others. However I want to become a universally compassionate person who lives from an expansive heart space.  How do I become part of the change the world needs? How do I begin to expand my perspective of compassion to include all of humanity? How do I become peace?

These questions sent me on a Internet search for deeper insight and awareness about this principle of compassion with the intention to move from my head into my heart, for myself and the world.

I found that Buddah said, "Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed." Christ challenged mankind to forsake their own desires and to act compassionately towards others, particularly those in need or distress. Through the ages Rabbis have spoken of the "thirteen attributes of compassion." The Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child.

During my exploration I came across an organization called "Charter for Compassion." The original contributors of the Charter are a group of multi-faith, multi-national religious thinkers and leaders. The council of contributors has grown and includes many spiritual leaders as well as muscians and writers throughout the world. (http://charterforcompassion.org/share/the-charter)

The Charter for Compassion states...

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the center of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

I encourage everyone interested in world peace to explore this amazing website. There are inspirational resources and ideas for acting with compassion on a daily basis. By affirming your participation in this project you join thousands of others, worldwide, who have made the same agreement.

May we become the change we want to see. May we practice universal compassion, finding joy in living in kindness for our self and others. May we practice peace!

Blessings of PEACE, COMPASSION, and LIGHT ~ Gretchen

Reveal, Release, Transform: The Soul's Journey

My parents loved to read. They loved the language of a well-told story, especially historical fiction, and passed that love for reading down to my sister and me. Sometimes my mother or father would share a story from their own childhood as a value lesson. My grandmother in Oregon loved to take me out into her garden where I would help her pick peas or feed her flock of chickens that cackled and scratched around the yard. I always felt as if my parents and grandparents, especially my mother and maternal grandmother,  saw me as their hope for a better future. They courageously dreamed new dreams for me, hoping to release old family limitations and patterns in their own life.

I remember times during my childhood that were filled with laughter, times when my mother, my sister, and myself would be thrown into hysterics by an unexpected mishap during one of our songfests or a family outing. We would roll on the floor giggling! I have passed many of those stories on to my children and hope they will be shared long after we are gone.

But I'm also keenly aware of the many secrets my parents and grandparents harbored. There are family secrets that I have spent a lifetime uncovering, trying to unravel the patterns that have unfolded throughout my own life, patterns repeating themselves over and over again in my family's history. What was my mother hiding and why? Why were my grandmothers so angry at the world? Why did my father mistrust anyone who got too close to him? Was it shame, guilt, fear, or self-judgment? How can I shift their grief into positive lessons for healing, not only for myself but also for my ancestors and my descendants?

I just finished reading a beautiful story, The Silence of Trees, by Valya Dudycz Lupescu. Here's what an editorial review on Amazon.com says about this book:

"Too often the women of history have been silenced, but their stories have power - to reveal, to teach, and to transform. This is one such story. In Chicago's Ukrainian Village, Nadya Lysenko has built her life on a foundation of secrets. When Nadya was sixteen, she snuck out of her house in Western Ukraine to meet a fortuneteller in the woods. Ignoring the threat of Nazis and Russians, Nadya was driven by love and a desire to learn the unknown. She never expected it to be the last time she would see her family. Years later, Nadya continues to be haunted by the death of her parents and sisters. She clings to her traditions and stories from Ukraine, the only parts of her past that she can share with her family. The myths and magic of Nadya's childhood are still a part of her reality: house spirits misplace keys and glasses, dreams unite friends across time and space, and a fortuneteller's cards predict the future. Her beloved dead also insist on being heard, through dreams and whispers in the night. They want the truth to come out. Nadya needs to face her past and confront the secrets she buried within-THE SILENCE OF TREES."

This book has stirred my sleeping and waking dreams with thoughts about my own story and how I can use it to reveal, to teach, and transform myself and others. It brings up memories of my father and my mother and the parts of their stories I know and the parts I don't know. As I grow older I realize that both of them wanted their daughters to love them and respect them. They wanted my sister and me to experience success and happiness and they wanted us to love and respect them.

But neither of my parents loved themself. My grandmothers were angry and felt that the world had been unfair to them. There were too many secrets in their closets that brought personal shame, disappointment, and fear. The untold stories created festering wounds and they were afraid that they would be rejected if the family knew who they really were. They never felt safe enough to look deep within and release the subconscious beliefs that lay hidden deep within their very being.

It's only now, having reached the maturity of my 60's, that I have come to have deep compassion for my parents and grandparents and have uncovered enough of their personal histories to allow forgiveness and healing to permeate my inherited DNA, releasing and transforming the past for my ancestors and the future for my descendants. 

My prayer is that I find ways to share my own story with my children and grandchildren - to reveal, to teach, and transform. As I move through elder-hood, may I remember the lessons learned from my parents and grandparents and my own childhood and weave these memories into the fabric of my relationships with the people I love. May I be transparent in the journey I have taken to get to this point in my life and may I release any secrets that need to be transformed.

"Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey." ~ John O'Donohue (Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom)

Blessings of peace, love, and light ~ Gretchen