Let's Begin

I feel deep sadness; hardly any joy or happiness. I feel like a waterfall is suspended, frozen in time, behind my face, waiting for me to say yes to it's flow. I feel disconnected from God, me and others – all others!

This was my journal entry a few days before I noticed a corner of blackness in my left eye. "If it doesn't clear by the weekend, I'll call the ophthalmologist," was my thought. When the darkness neared my central vision, I got on the phone. The emergency visit to the eye doctor's office confirmed I had a detached retina.

This seemed like the physical manifestation of the detachment I was feeling in my life. I was disconnected from myself and my loved ones. I was disconnected from enthusiasm, passion, peace, joy and purpose.

On Monday my eye was repaired.

As I was pulled by some invisible force through the days and weeks of my healing, fear arose in mighty splendor. Yes, I was afraid about what might happen to my eyesight. But other fears from my past and about the future, both big and small, propelled themselves into the present moment. It was as if they were all clamoring to be dealt with compassionately and openly. I made the decision to do just that.

To my relief and delight I found that the light of wisdom and love were always present to help me see my way through the darkness. The light was there to guide me through my next step which generally took me to greater peace.

These are stories of personal transformation. I wrote them to remind myself of wisdom revealed, lessons learned. I wrote them to remember how to move through my fears and return to love and a sense of wholeness and joy.

It's important to know that we can discover helpful insights and manageable, amazing solutions to our challenges. We can discover and use beautiful practices to comfort and support ourselves through our pain and to enliven us to our natural joy and the wonder of life and living.

Gratefully and with true humility I open my heart and extend my hand to you. Let's walk this healing path and take the journey into wholeness together.

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Grace upholds me as I move through my fears and challenges.

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Longing

I went out to garden this hot summer evening. Well, it's not officially summer but the 90 plus degree weather makes it seem like mid July in the mid west. It's the kind of weather where I am moist all over even before I get my garden gloves on. I feel healthy and energized. My garden is looking healthy and energized this season – the plants stand so tall and lush. It's almost as if they are bragging about their beauty. I just smile.

I haven't wanted to do much in the way of gardening the last several years. This season is different. With every weed I pull, with every seed or seedling I plant, I feel as if I am coming alive again. It's a good feeling and I am curious about what this could mean.

While digging, I notice a storm brewing in the distance. The sky is dark to the north. My skin senses the temperature dropping degree by degree and I find myself beckoning to the clouds, "Come this way, come over here and water my little piece of heaven!" When the wind becomes fierce and the sky quite black, I reluctantly head for my house with a squeal of delight. The probability of rain is increasing with every hurried step.

Thunder, lightning and rain saturate the earth and my soul feels strangely refreshed. Sometimes, I wonder if I should just step out of the chaos of life and plant melons and tomatoes. There is an orderly pattern emerging here and I experience such comfort and safety within the confines of this little plot. All the while my heart is silently singing: There Is Only Love.

I wonder if the world would miss my song if I stayed solidly rooted in the fenced in area behind my house. I wonder if my heart could stand the isolation even in the midst of such exquisite beauty. I entreat nature to share her wisdom with me; to allow answers to reveal themselves as systematically and effortlessly as the moon appears to rise. I want to know.

Song by David Kisor: Bend Willow Bend

Bend Willow Bend by David Kisor

Bend, willow bend
Till your branches touch the ground
Fly, snowbird fly
Till a warmer home is found

Turn, seasons turn, burn, wildfire burn
Take me with you as you go
There's so much I don't know
There's a lot I want to learn

Dance, thistle dance
In the rustling of the breeze
Flow, river flow
Till your waters kiss the seas

Die, sunset die, rise, half moon rise
Take me with you as you go
There's so much I don't know
There's a lot I want to try

From the earth to the stars, all the dreams you are
As you rise to fall, teach me all

So when I die I'm not afraid of death
Having lived my life till there's no living left
Like my weeping friend
Grow to touch my roots again

So bend, willow bend
From the earth to the stars, all the dreams you are
As you rise to fall, teach me all

So when I die I'm not afraid of death
Having lived my life till there's no living left
Like my weeping friend
Grow to touch my roots again

So bend, willow bend

Thought

Thoughts arise out of our life experiences. We form ideas about what this all means to us, about us, about others and life. We assume we are correct in conjuring up what these experiences are saying. We assume what others say about us and about life is correct. We usually never question our creations/our beliefs, but we live by them religiously.

Thought is creative. Our thoughts and beliefs can be fearful and limiting, or they can be expansive, positive and full of possibility. But whatever we choose to think, that is the way it is for us.

In the past, I have attached my happiness and sadness to what happens in the world. Backwards! My happiness and sadness are generated by my interpretation of what happens, not by the actual event that takes place.

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"We are disturbed not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens." Epictetus

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When we really get that our experience of life is a reflection of our thinking, then we become mindful of choosing thoughts that mirror back to us the peace and happiness we desire. Whatever we send out returns to us. Naturally, we want to give what we would be glad and grateful to receive.

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All of my thoughts are in support of my best life ever! Patrick Cameron

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Song by Karen Drucker and Joyce Ripp: I Send My Love

I Send My Love

Music: Karen Drucker; Words: Joyce Ripp from Songs of the Spirit

Copyright: TayToones Music, BMI

I send my love over the mountains
I send my love over the sea
I send my love into the heavens
And it returns to me ...

I send my love over the mountains
I send my love over the sea
I send my love into the heavens
And it returns to me ...

I send my joy over the mountains
I send my joy over the sea
I send my joy into the heavens
And it returns to me ...

I send my power over the mountains
I send my power over the sea
I send my power into the heavens
And it returns to me ...

I send peace over the mountains
I send peace over the sea
I send...