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9 years ago
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Dreams are Whispers From the Soul Movie
Dreams are Whispers From the Soul Movie: There are many different aspects that live inside of us and two of them have respectfully been dubbed the Dreamer and Doubter. When it comes to pursuing your dreams, The Dreamer is often gung ho while the Doubter can provide a laundry list of concerns and issues. Your movie today will inspire you to find your purpose and passion in life while you strive to live your dreams.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Blue Moon Lodge: Being the Transformation
https://shiftnetwork.infusionsoft.com/go/see/J1951/
The Shift from Ego to Essence | The Shift Network
theacetraining.com
The Shift from Ego to Essence offers you the keys to shifting from your egoic “local self” to your Essential Self -- giving you access to divine guidance and the ability to live with grace, confidence, creativity, purpose and joy.
https://shiftnetwork.infusionsoft.com/go/see/J1951/
The Shift from Ego to Essence | The Shift Network
theacetraining.com
The Shift from Ego to Essence offers you the keys to shifting from your egoic “local self” to your Essential Self -- giving you access to divine guidance and the ability to live with grace, confidence, creativity, purpose and joy.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Remember
Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is. I met her
in a bar once in Iowa City.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe. I heard her singing Kiowa war
dance songs at the corner of Fourth and Central once.
Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.
Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is you.
Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember that language comes from this.
Remember the dance that language is, that life is.
Remember.
~ Joy Harjo ~
(How We Become Human)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
How Genuine Care and Compassion Affect Us
Did you know that your immune system, the body’s complex process of protecting you from illness and disease, is profoundly influenced by your emotions? It’s true: Anger, joy, love, depression, compassion and any of many other possible emotions affect your immune system and, ultimately, your health and well-being. Positive emotions, naturally, can help strengthen the immune system, while negative emotions can deplete it.
The effects of two specific emotions – care and compassion – on the immune system have been of particular interest to researchers, who have studied this phenomenon for decades.
How Genuine Care and Compassion Affect Us
In the mid-1990s, Institute of HeartMath Director of Research Rollin McCraty and a research team wanted to go beyond a 1980s experiment by Harvard Psychologist Dr. David McClelland, who found that immune-system functioning, as measured by IgA, or secretory immunoglobulin A levels, increased in students who were shown a video about Mother Teresa.
McCraty and the team wanted to know whether self-induced care would have the same effect as vicarious care, so they began by duplicating McClleland’s experiment and produced very similar results in their study, The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger. After study participants had learned the Institute of HeartMath’s Freeze-Frame® Technique, they were instructed to employ it to help them intentionally feel care and compassion for five minutes.
Several days later, they were asked to feel five minutes of self-induced anger by remembering a situation or experience that made them angry and trying to recapture the feeling they had at the time.
The results McCraty and the team obtained were quite remarkable: In both cases, IgA samples were taken immediately after and then every hour to six hours. After five minutes of intentionally feeling care and compassion, the subjects had an immediate 41 percent average increase in their IgA levels. After one hour, IgA levels returned to normal, but slowly increased over the next six hours.
The researchers observed that self-induced care resulted in a much larger rise in IgA than the care experienced by viewing a Mother Teresa video. In some individuals, IgA increased as much as 240 percent immediately after they performed the Freeze-Frame Technique. Interestingly, there also was an 18 percent increase in IgA levels when the participants experienced anger, but an hour later, their IgA levels had dropped to only about half of what they were before the anger. Even after six hours, their IgA levels were still not back to normal.
Key findings: Heart-focused, sincere, positive feeling states boost the immune system, while negative emotions may suppress the immune response for up to six hours following an emotional experience. Read the abstract or the entire study: The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger, 1995, Rein, Atkinson and McCraty.
Differences in mood change before (solid bars) and after (hatched bars) experiencing anger and frustration (5a) and compassion and care (5b). Moods were assessed using the Profile of Mood State test. TMD refers to total mood disturbance. Results are expressed as mean (±SEM) for the 10 subjects in each of the two groups. * p < 0.01 for the Wilcoxon sign-rank test, ** p < 0.05 for Wilcoxon sing-rank test. © 2011 Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek, Calif.
Care, But Don’t Overcare
"A drop of genuine compassion is more effective than a gallon of drama-based sympathy, which often drains sender and receiver as the day ends." – Doc Childre, founder HeartMath
The quote above appears on Childre’s website, www.heart-basedliving.org. There he explains the difference and importance of distinguishing between care and overcare. The following is excerpted from that explanation:
Care from your genuine heart regenerates your system, while overcare drains and debilitates your system. Overcare is when the mind and emotions cross the line of balanced care and get too attached and bogged down with whomever or whatever they care about. Once you become too entangled in another’s web and realize your energy is drained from overcare and attachment, you often can be seduced into blaming and resenting the people or issues you care about.
As you become trapped in the blame and judgment loop, you drain energy further because judgment and blame are energies that are not aligned with our heart of hearts or the way of spirit so they feed back into our system. The nature of our true heart is designed to care and support others, but it’s an individual responsibility to learn to discern and balance the personal energy and feelings that go out to others and within yourself.
Judgments are energies that are accountable, and their deficits play out within our mental, emotional and physical systems, even if we are unaware of it. Storing judgment and blame is counterintuitive and counterproductive to personal empowerment, wholeness health, and resonance with yourself or others.
A HeartMath Tip: Below is a simple exercise adapted from HeartMath’s Cut-Thru® Technique to help you achieve emotional coherence, which has been shown in many studies to improve the efficiency of the immune system. The Cut-Thru Technique is discussed in greater detail in the HeartMath book, Transforming Anxiety by Childre and Deborah Rozman.
Be aware of how you feel about an issue at hand.
Breathe a positive feeling or attitude.
Be objective, as if the issue or problem is someone else’s.
Rest peacefully in this neutral state, allowing your heart intelligence to offer new perspectives and possibilities.
Soak and relax all resistances and disturbing or perplexing feelings in your heart’s compassion.
Ask for guidance, and then be patient and receptive. While awaiting an answer from your heart, find something or someone to genuinely appreciate.
For a deeper understanding of this topic, read the IHM newsletter article, Overcare – Make Sure Your Care is Helping, Not Hurting.
"Increasing your care for the concerns of the global whole brings spirit and increased empowerment to the personal self. Practicing wholeness care advances your effectiveness in self-care and manifestation of joy and personal peace." – Doc Childre
The effects of two specific emotions – care and compassion – on the immune system have been of particular interest to researchers, who have studied this phenomenon for decades.
How Genuine Care and Compassion Affect Us
In the mid-1990s, Institute of HeartMath Director of Research Rollin McCraty and a research team wanted to go beyond a 1980s experiment by Harvard Psychologist Dr. David McClelland, who found that immune-system functioning, as measured by IgA, or secretory immunoglobulin A levels, increased in students who were shown a video about Mother Teresa.
McCraty and the team wanted to know whether self-induced care would have the same effect as vicarious care, so they began by duplicating McClleland’s experiment and produced very similar results in their study, The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger. After study participants had learned the Institute of HeartMath’s Freeze-Frame® Technique, they were instructed to employ it to help them intentionally feel care and compassion for five minutes.
Several days later, they were asked to feel five minutes of self-induced anger by remembering a situation or experience that made them angry and trying to recapture the feeling they had at the time.
The results McCraty and the team obtained were quite remarkable: In both cases, IgA samples were taken immediately after and then every hour to six hours. After five minutes of intentionally feeling care and compassion, the subjects had an immediate 41 percent average increase in their IgA levels. After one hour, IgA levels returned to normal, but slowly increased over the next six hours.
The researchers observed that self-induced care resulted in a much larger rise in IgA than the care experienced by viewing a Mother Teresa video. In some individuals, IgA increased as much as 240 percent immediately after they performed the Freeze-Frame Technique. Interestingly, there also was an 18 percent increase in IgA levels when the participants experienced anger, but an hour later, their IgA levels had dropped to only about half of what they were before the anger. Even after six hours, their IgA levels were still not back to normal.
Key findings: Heart-focused, sincere, positive feeling states boost the immune system, while negative emotions may suppress the immune response for up to six hours following an emotional experience. Read the abstract or the entire study: The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger, 1995, Rein, Atkinson and McCraty.
Differences in mood change before (solid bars) and after (hatched bars) experiencing anger and frustration (5a) and compassion and care (5b). Moods were assessed using the Profile of Mood State test. TMD refers to total mood disturbance. Results are expressed as mean (±SEM) for the 10 subjects in each of the two groups. * p < 0.01 for the Wilcoxon sign-rank test, ** p < 0.05 for Wilcoxon sing-rank test. © 2011 Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek, Calif.
Care, But Don’t Overcare
"A drop of genuine compassion is more effective than a gallon of drama-based sympathy, which often drains sender and receiver as the day ends." – Doc Childre, founder HeartMath
The quote above appears on Childre’s website, www.heart-basedliving.org. There he explains the difference and importance of distinguishing between care and overcare. The following is excerpted from that explanation:
Care from your genuine heart regenerates your system, while overcare drains and debilitates your system. Overcare is when the mind and emotions cross the line of balanced care and get too attached and bogged down with whomever or whatever they care about. Once you become too entangled in another’s web and realize your energy is drained from overcare and attachment, you often can be seduced into blaming and resenting the people or issues you care about.
As you become trapped in the blame and judgment loop, you drain energy further because judgment and blame are energies that are not aligned with our heart of hearts or the way of spirit so they feed back into our system. The nature of our true heart is designed to care and support others, but it’s an individual responsibility to learn to discern and balance the personal energy and feelings that go out to others and within yourself.
Judgments are energies that are accountable, and their deficits play out within our mental, emotional and physical systems, even if we are unaware of it. Storing judgment and blame is counterintuitive and counterproductive to personal empowerment, wholeness health, and resonance with yourself or others.
A HeartMath Tip: Below is a simple exercise adapted from HeartMath’s Cut-Thru® Technique to help you achieve emotional coherence, which has been shown in many studies to improve the efficiency of the immune system. The Cut-Thru Technique is discussed in greater detail in the HeartMath book, Transforming Anxiety by Childre and Deborah Rozman.
Be aware of how you feel about an issue at hand.
Breathe a positive feeling or attitude.
Be objective, as if the issue or problem is someone else’s.
Rest peacefully in this neutral state, allowing your heart intelligence to offer new perspectives and possibilities.
Soak and relax all resistances and disturbing or perplexing feelings in your heart’s compassion.
Ask for guidance, and then be patient and receptive. While awaiting an answer from your heart, find something or someone to genuinely appreciate.
For a deeper understanding of this topic, read the IHM newsletter article, Overcare – Make Sure Your Care is Helping, Not Hurting.
"Increasing your care for the concerns of the global whole brings spirit and increased empowerment to the personal self. Practicing wholeness care advances your effectiveness in self-care and manifestation of joy and personal peace." – Doc Childre
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Cosmic Story: Taurus Full Moon, November 10, 2011
By Cathy Lynn Pagano (about the author)
The Cosmic Story:Taurus Full Moon:
November 10, 2011
Life Flashing Before Our Eyes
This month's Taurus Full Moon stands across from the Scorpio Sun, making us aware of life flashing before our eyes during this season of death. The Taurus Moon energizes the beauty and possibilities of life that we want to conserve and protect during the coming months of darkness and cold, so they can blossom again next May. At this full moon, we stand at that moment before death when we see what we have chosen to believe is important in life. Look deeply at what you value and decide if it's still important to you. If it is, conserve it; if it's not, let it go -- let it die.
Since this full Moon lands right on my Taurus Venus, I will take this opportunity and tell you what I'm seeing as I face my yearly Scorpio shedding of skins. I see the beauty of the Earth and wonder of the Cosmos first and foremost. A brisk wind blowing through the mountains, glinting sunlight on the Seine, the dance of ritual fire, the changing landscape, the starry night sky. I also see how climate change affects my world and my people in burnt-out forests, dry riverbeds, giant dust storms and early snowstorms. I see my children, my family and my friends and they fill me with love and hope. I hear exotic rhythms, I see radiant colors, I smell fragrant cheeses and baking breads, I hug myself in scratchy warm wool, I taste delicious Italian gelato! I remember new and unexpected experiences. I see old wounds healed and integrated. And the most wonderful thing I feel is hope - hope of changing the world as I see my sisters and brothers gathering around the world to stand up for freedom and a new peaceful vision of Life here on Earth.
While many of you might see something different from what I'm seeing, this is a very Taurean inventory of the beauty life holds in store for us. Stewardship of the Land, loyalty and love of family/friends, sensuality, and a sustainable future are hallmarks of a Taurean's strength and endurance. While the Sun moves through Scorpio, the Earth slowly sinks into sleep in the Northern hemisphere and dreams of the future. (yes I know my southern friends are waking up to Springtime! Joy for both of us, since I love Winter.) Our Mother Earth takes a time out to rest. Are you resting enough? With the seasonal shift in light that comes on cross-quarter holidays such as Samhain/Halloween and the end of DST in the United States, people are exhausted and need to remember to rest. That's definitely a Taurean trait!
Our Collective Taurus Full Moon Experience
Scorpio by Cathy Pagano/Kepler
This 2nd full moon after the Autumn Equinox urges us to form collectives, working with others to create change within and without. Once the Sun moves into the second half of the zodiac, from Libra to Pisces, we gather together in collectives to sustain life through the cold and the dark. Like ancient tribes, we gather together to sustain each other during the hard winter months. In Libra, the idea of cooperation and partnership is generated. In Scorpio, we are forced to look at the emotional issues that arise as a result of those partnerships and tribes.
So it makes sense that we look outside to the collective this month and see how this full moon plays out in the culture. The Occupy movement is a wonderful example of how this energy is manifesting just before the arrival of the first of the 7 Pluto/Uranus squares next year. The Occupy movement is only six weeks old and it is growing like a miraculous hero/hera (Uranus in Aries), bringing in supporters across the world. The ideal (Neptune in Aquarius on America's natal Moon) is to stand in our truth (Libra) before power (Pluto in Capricorn) and demand justice (Saturn in Libra). Any astrologer could have told you that the hippies would be back playing drums during the demonstrations -- after all, the 60s are back.
Now with Scorpio energy in play, we are seeing both the strength and the weakness that each group must face. When the darker energies arise, how do we handle them? On the plus side, Occupy Oakland shut down the port for a day. We are building coalitions that will work together toward common goals. There has been plenty of debate about the "demands' of the Occupy movement, but it's easy to read. People want change -- not the false promises of politicians but real, observable change in an economic and political system that no longer works. We're educated and conscious enough to get it right this time but we have to stay peaceful, we have to stay united and we have to be courageous. Innovation and imagination blossom in these situations and issues become interesting problems to be solved rather than hurdles to overcome.
That's why we have to face the reality of Scorpio's death and transformation, both within and without. Only the strength of Taurus and Scorpio combined can see us through the darkness of Death into the light of new Life.
The Scorpionic dark side of the quest for real freedom is beginning to manifest -- the violence that is the "other way' - to "fight' for freedom as all oppressed peoples have done against tyranny. That's why I like the fact that people are "occupying' things instead of "fighting' things. We are putting our bodies on the line by standing up for our beliefs, not fighting for them, which is the old way. We cannot stop war with other wars. We stop wars by facing Death and not fighting. Already the Occupy groups are de-crying the use of violence in Oakland and standing in their truth. "We will do this peacefully. We will not go away. We will win, for we are the 99% of people in the world. We've been taught about freedom, and now we really want it."
Violence begets violence. The Scorpio energies bubble with that kind of raw, volcanic violence. We can choose that way, but we will only recreate a violent world or an angry life. Or we can learn to walk calmly over that lava flow of destructive fire -- firewalking at its best! If we want a new world, we have to birth it with labor -- which might include the pain of channeling the fire instead of letting it consume you -- with love, with determination, with hope and with vision. A new Aeon, the Child of the Woman in Revelations, is being birthed now within so many people. These are the testing times, when we let go of the last bit of ego-darkness -- a fake darkness fraught with unfounded fears and unexplained terror -- and allow the healing darkness of Feminine Spirit to fill us. To rest in the Mother is a gift, not a punishment.
Scorpio initiates emotional release and transformation within the psyche if we are ready for it. This means releasing old, ugly hurtful emotions and fears that live in our unconscious and which get activated when we're with other people. I know many people are ready for it. Just as the Occupy movement is establishing new ways of living and making decisions communally, each one of us is doing the same within our own groups. We are growing together, and any emotional distrust, fear of betrayal and loss of love will be felt by others. Instead of hiding our feelings, we can listen to and understand them. Then choose what to do about them. Ignoring or repressing our darker side isn't the answer. The answer is to understand what those feelings are and to find ways to ease their pain without giving in to them. We need to get down to the truth of our Being and not be afraid to BE who we are meant to be.
1 | 2
By Cathy Lynn Pagano (about the author)
The Cosmic Story:Taurus Full Moon:
November 10, 2011
Life Flashing Before Our Eyes
This month's Taurus Full Moon stands across from the Scorpio Sun, making us aware of life flashing before our eyes during this season of death. The Taurus Moon energizes the beauty and possibilities of life that we want to conserve and protect during the coming months of darkness and cold, so they can blossom again next May. At this full moon, we stand at that moment before death when we see what we have chosen to believe is important in life. Look deeply at what you value and decide if it's still important to you. If it is, conserve it; if it's not, let it go -- let it die.
Since this full Moon lands right on my Taurus Venus, I will take this opportunity and tell you what I'm seeing as I face my yearly Scorpio shedding of skins. I see the beauty of the Earth and wonder of the Cosmos first and foremost. A brisk wind blowing through the mountains, glinting sunlight on the Seine, the dance of ritual fire, the changing landscape, the starry night sky. I also see how climate change affects my world and my people in burnt-out forests, dry riverbeds, giant dust storms and early snowstorms. I see my children, my family and my friends and they fill me with love and hope. I hear exotic rhythms, I see radiant colors, I smell fragrant cheeses and baking breads, I hug myself in scratchy warm wool, I taste delicious Italian gelato! I remember new and unexpected experiences. I see old wounds healed and integrated. And the most wonderful thing I feel is hope - hope of changing the world as I see my sisters and brothers gathering around the world to stand up for freedom and a new peaceful vision of Life here on Earth.
While many of you might see something different from what I'm seeing, this is a very Taurean inventory of the beauty life holds in store for us. Stewardship of the Land, loyalty and love of family/friends, sensuality, and a sustainable future are hallmarks of a Taurean's strength and endurance. While the Sun moves through Scorpio, the Earth slowly sinks into sleep in the Northern hemisphere and dreams of the future. (yes I know my southern friends are waking up to Springtime! Joy for both of us, since I love Winter.) Our Mother Earth takes a time out to rest. Are you resting enough? With the seasonal shift in light that comes on cross-quarter holidays such as Samhain/Halloween and the end of DST in the United States, people are exhausted and need to remember to rest. That's definitely a Taurean trait!
Our Collective Taurus Full Moon Experience
Scorpio by Cathy Pagano/Kepler
This 2nd full moon after the Autumn Equinox urges us to form collectives, working with others to create change within and without. Once the Sun moves into the second half of the zodiac, from Libra to Pisces, we gather together in collectives to sustain life through the cold and the dark. Like ancient tribes, we gather together to sustain each other during the hard winter months. In Libra, the idea of cooperation and partnership is generated. In Scorpio, we are forced to look at the emotional issues that arise as a result of those partnerships and tribes.
So it makes sense that we look outside to the collective this month and see how this full moon plays out in the culture. The Occupy movement is a wonderful example of how this energy is manifesting just before the arrival of the first of the 7 Pluto/Uranus squares next year. The Occupy movement is only six weeks old and it is growing like a miraculous hero/hera (Uranus in Aries), bringing in supporters across the world. The ideal (Neptune in Aquarius on America's natal Moon) is to stand in our truth (Libra) before power (Pluto in Capricorn) and demand justice (Saturn in Libra). Any astrologer could have told you that the hippies would be back playing drums during the demonstrations -- after all, the 60s are back.
Now with Scorpio energy in play, we are seeing both the strength and the weakness that each group must face. When the darker energies arise, how do we handle them? On the plus side, Occupy Oakland shut down the port for a day. We are building coalitions that will work together toward common goals. There has been plenty of debate about the "demands' of the Occupy movement, but it's easy to read. People want change -- not the false promises of politicians but real, observable change in an economic and political system that no longer works. We're educated and conscious enough to get it right this time but we have to stay peaceful, we have to stay united and we have to be courageous. Innovation and imagination blossom in these situations and issues become interesting problems to be solved rather than hurdles to overcome.
That's why we have to face the reality of Scorpio's death and transformation, both within and without. Only the strength of Taurus and Scorpio combined can see us through the darkness of Death into the light of new Life.
The Scorpionic dark side of the quest for real freedom is beginning to manifest -- the violence that is the "other way' - to "fight' for freedom as all oppressed peoples have done against tyranny. That's why I like the fact that people are "occupying' things instead of "fighting' things. We are putting our bodies on the line by standing up for our beliefs, not fighting for them, which is the old way. We cannot stop war with other wars. We stop wars by facing Death and not fighting. Already the Occupy groups are de-crying the use of violence in Oakland and standing in their truth. "We will do this peacefully. We will not go away. We will win, for we are the 99% of people in the world. We've been taught about freedom, and now we really want it."
Violence begets violence. The Scorpio energies bubble with that kind of raw, volcanic violence. We can choose that way, but we will only recreate a violent world or an angry life. Or we can learn to walk calmly over that lava flow of destructive fire -- firewalking at its best! If we want a new world, we have to birth it with labor -- which might include the pain of channeling the fire instead of letting it consume you -- with love, with determination, with hope and with vision. A new Aeon, the Child of the Woman in Revelations, is being birthed now within so many people. These are the testing times, when we let go of the last bit of ego-darkness -- a fake darkness fraught with unfounded fears and unexplained terror -- and allow the healing darkness of Feminine Spirit to fill us. To rest in the Mother is a gift, not a punishment.
Scorpio initiates emotional release and transformation within the psyche if we are ready for it. This means releasing old, ugly hurtful emotions and fears that live in our unconscious and which get activated when we're with other people. I know many people are ready for it. Just as the Occupy movement is establishing new ways of living and making decisions communally, each one of us is doing the same within our own groups. We are growing together, and any emotional distrust, fear of betrayal and loss of love will be felt by others. Instead of hiding our feelings, we can listen to and understand them. Then choose what to do about them. Ignoring or repressing our darker side isn't the answer. The answer is to understand what those feelings are and to find ways to ease their pain without giving in to them. We need to get down to the truth of our Being and not be afraid to BE who we are meant to be.
1 | 2
Thursday, November 3, 2011
IN PRAISE OF THE EXUBERANT
And as you stand there
Sunshining all over our Rain Parade
Voice cheering
Toes tapping
Eyes dancing
Let us now praise you.
You, the mango-coconut in our vanilla world.
You, the red balloon in our blue sky.
You, the hooray-for-your-new-job (or hooray-for-your-engagement or hooray-for-your-wedding or hooray-for-your-new-baby or hooray-for-your-divorce) party-throwing friend.
Your door is always open
And don't think we don't take advantage of it.
Your heart is always open
And don't think we don't take advantage of it.
You have a particular kind of bravery:
The not-being-afraid-of-feelings kind of brave
The stand-up-and-be-counted kind of brave
The jump-off-the-high-dive (again) (naked) kind of brave.
We always know when you're in the audience, because
We recognize your laugh.
And as you sit us down and give us your full-beam attention and as you ask us for every detail of our latest adventure (how do you always lead us to the conclusion that our life is an adventure?) and as we, flattered by your unwavering, bright-eyed gaze, end up going on and on and on and on, we have to mentally waft away the annoying, fluttering thought,
"Yes, but: Who takes care of you?"
Because we know that underneath the nonstop carnival there is a lot of
Damn hard work and that some of
Your sparkle
Is the glitter from the parts that got
Broken.
We've seen you fall and get right back up and assumed that it must not have been that much of a
Tumble but the truth is that
You alone have the
Strength to Rise.
And so it is from you we learn that while we may not always
Feel happy
We can always feel
Joy.
And as you Gush and Exclaim and Twist and Shout and Wiggle with pleasure and Yelp and Hoot and Swear out loud and Burst into tears and Rush in and Hug and Holler across the room in a way that some might think of as
Embarrassing, we
Bask in your fearless conviction that
No human experience is unlovable.
Thank you for that.
So let's break out the
Sequins and the feather boas and
Have dessert first and
Grin at strangers and
Let's do the Hokey-Pokey and really
Put our Whole Self in
And order one more bottle because it's so nice to all be together
Under the Abundant Sun.
© 2009 Samantha Bennett
And as you stand there
Sunshining all over our Rain Parade
Voice cheering
Toes tapping
Eyes dancing
Let us now praise you.
You, the mango-coconut in our vanilla world.
You, the red balloon in our blue sky.
You, the hooray-for-your-new-job (or hooray-for-your-engagement or hooray-for-your-wedding or hooray-for-your-new-baby or hooray-for-your-divorce) party-throwing friend.
Your door is always open
And don't think we don't take advantage of it.
Your heart is always open
And don't think we don't take advantage of it.
You have a particular kind of bravery:
The not-being-afraid-of-feelings kind of brave
The stand-up-and-be-counted kind of brave
The jump-off-the-high-dive (again) (naked) kind of brave.
We always know when you're in the audience, because
We recognize your laugh.
And as you sit us down and give us your full-beam attention and as you ask us for every detail of our latest adventure (how do you always lead us to the conclusion that our life is an adventure?) and as we, flattered by your unwavering, bright-eyed gaze, end up going on and on and on and on, we have to mentally waft away the annoying, fluttering thought,
"Yes, but: Who takes care of you?"
Because we know that underneath the nonstop carnival there is a lot of
Damn hard work and that some of
Your sparkle
Is the glitter from the parts that got
Broken.
We've seen you fall and get right back up and assumed that it must not have been that much of a
Tumble but the truth is that
You alone have the
Strength to Rise.
And so it is from you we learn that while we may not always
Feel happy
We can always feel
Joy.
And as you Gush and Exclaim and Twist and Shout and Wiggle with pleasure and Yelp and Hoot and Swear out loud and Burst into tears and Rush in and Hug and Holler across the room in a way that some might think of as
Embarrassing, we
Bask in your fearless conviction that
No human experience is unlovable.
Thank you for that.
So let's break out the
Sequins and the feather boas and
Have dessert first and
Grin at strangers and
Let's do the Hokey-Pokey and really
Put our Whole Self in
And order one more bottle because it's so nice to all be together
Under the Abundant Sun.
© 2009 Samantha Bennett
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