Tidbit Tuesday: Generosity

This poem was offered to my classmates and I today by our teacher Diane. Thank you Diane. I offer it out to you.

The Sun Never Says

Even

After

All this time

The sun never says to the earth,

"You owe

Me"

Look

What happens

With a love like that,

It lights the

Whole

Sky.

By Hafiz

Taken from "The Gift" Poems By Hafiz

The gift I received from this was a reminder to be generous. How, you wonder? It's not about money (though charitable contributions to organizations that you love are wonderful).

It is (for me) about being open-minded rather than, as I like to say, "judgey-wudgey." It is (for me) about offering my support in whichever way will serve rather than playing tit-for-tat. It is (for me) about remembering that, not everything is about me, and I need not take things so personally; I can allow the situation or comments to be for the other. And, it is (for me) about unconditional love; which has absolutely no bounds. In this place of being generous in this way, healing happens here...from within me, to without.

What is it for you?

Tidbit Tuesday: Taking out the Trash

In our house sometimes the garbage will sit for just a bit too long before making its way to the trash chute in our building. Lately though, I have been taking things on the quick. This is interesting to me because I really do not like the trash room or the garbage chute - maybe because I get a little germaphobic and wash my hands obsessively following each little trip.

See generally, I just hope and pray and silently wait for Matt to take care of the garbage and recycling, like maybe if I do the dishes enough he will want to take out the trash. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. I have decided that I do not enjoy having the garbage in the apartment and it is really not worth the wait. Though, it has taken me awhile to get here.

I spent a bit of time thinking about why now I am suddenly more willing to visit the trash chute. And I am thinking it has something to do with the autumn. Because, in the autumn, just like the leaves outside falling from the trees, we can let go of what no longer serves. And garbage is no longer serving.

Clearly garbage can be used in this context for any waste products in our lives that might be hanging around unnecessarily like grudges, or memories that are not nourishing us, feedback that we have chewed on - learned from - and are now done with, or even the shoes that no longer fit and we are just too attached to let them go.

It's funny how in our culture we mostly talk about Spring cleaning; since learning about Chinese medicine its mostly Fall cleaning for me. It's not just the closets in my apartment; its the closets in my mind that are storing habits, thoughts and patterns that do not add, yet takeaway from my ability to be present with life as it is today.

Just like my filled up kitchen garbage pail, it is really time to let these things go.

Helpful ideas for how to let go:

• Get together with a group of trusted loved ones and make a "letting go circle", light a candle - set the mood, and say out loud to these friends what you are declaring to let go of. No worries if the item comes back up again - they will help you remember that you have let it go.

• Write your let-go down onto a piece of paper. Thank the let-go for teaching you something about yourself - your life. Then, throw it into your lit fireplace, or tear it up and let it go into the wind (not to liter, you get the idea though!)

• If it (habit, thought, grudge etc.) is still quite alive, journal about it. Write and write until it is out of your system. It may even include shedding some tears or yelling into a pillow. No worries though - that is part of the gig! When you are complete, seal it up into an envelope and add it to your compost or fireplace. No need to read it over, or edit as you go. It's about letting it all out of your system - unedited.

• Maybe your let-go's are physical items? Gather these items into a special place in your home. Spend a moment with each one. Hold it, take a deep breath and cherish whatever memory may be associated with it. Thank the item if that is appropriate. Place it lovingly into a donation bin or garbage/recycle bag knowing it will nurture someone else's life moving forward, or will go back into the earth as part of the cycle.

When I clear up this space in myself- my life, I am creating room for healing and growing where there was not necessarily this space before.

Tidbit Tuesday: Find a little nature and breathe it in

I'm spending a few days out in nature with all of my classmates. Nature is everywhere here, well everywhere everywhere. Find your little piece, take a moment even if it's just a minute and take a deep breath. See if you can hear a bird, a cricket or the movement of a leaf. And enjoy... This Is Life.

Tidbit Tuesday: Where do you feel the weather?

Today was one of those perfect days where I could actually feel in my body that the weather is different. I could sense from various aspects that we are moving into fall. Full force or not - it's hard to say. Here in Maryland things change with rapidity and sometimes go back and forth. Surely at the end of the week I could be wearing shorts again. But today, well, today called for a jacket.

And since I didn't leave the house with my jacket, I really felt all the cold and rain coming into my body, viscerally. I felt it in my neck, my back, my hands and my feet. I was keenly aware that a scarf or jacket would have done me a great deal of good today.

The fabulous thing about a "sudden" - seemingly so - change in weather is that I become more aware of my body and all of its parts again. Something I tend to forget a little once I settle into a season. E.g. when I am in the middle of July, and it has been hot for awhile, I am less aware that I am warm, maybe sweating, I am unaware of the heat (within reason); I've acclimated. Conversely, in February I am more adjusted to the cold, it does not feel terribly cold to me (also within reason), I am in a routine with my winter coat, scarf, hat and gloves.

Today I was reminded that the season is in the midst of transition, and it is time to adjust once again. What I thought was just awesome though, is that it provided me the opportunity to really tune into my body and acknowledge the parts of myself which are "more susceptible" to the cold. Since I have not adjusted, I am not taking it for granted. It is time to make sure I have a scarf for my neck, a jacket to cover my back and socks on my feet. Simple. That might even keep me from getting the change-of-the-season cold which I would often get in my younger years.

So, what part of you was more susceptible to the weather today? Did you notice where you felt the rain or the cool breeze? Was it your collar bone, your face, your low back, your hands? Did you not feel it at all? Did it not feel cold to you? Maybe you were busy thinking about all of the day's upcoming events when you stepped outside today, and did not note what it felt like outside at all?

For me, these transitions between the seasons are an opportunity to touch base and check in with my body, and if I pay attention...caring for it comes with more ease.