SOLSTICE

Sol - Sun
Sistere - To stand still

Today, June 20,2012 marks the start of our splendid Summer!


The Solstice is an auspicious time to honor the sun and allow the welcoming arms of nature to embrace you. Summer makes me think of dancing in lush grass with bare feet, or a sandy beach....lakes, rivers, oceans...or splashing in puddles of warm June rain.


Mostly during these summer months I think of how easy it is to live from a place of inter-connectedness with nature. I think of animals in nature that signify this time...and for some reason I always think of a butterfly. To me, it represents beauty, creativity, and endless freedom. Then I think of how that all relates to...life.


We're all so open and free during this time of year...enjoying time outdoors with friends and family. Playing games outdoors, bbq'ing, soaking up as much sunshine and fresh air as we can. Smiles are plentiful and our hearts are radiating with warmth.


Take this sense of warmth with you as you celebrate your Solstice and enjoy this time of year. Like a butterfly, take flight in the direction of your dreams.


~Namaste~

DETACH

Emotions...swirling all around.  

Something, someone, somewhere always makes you want to lose yourself.

Emotions are tricky, and feeling them is an open invitation to reacting to them.  Actually, scratch that!  Just their presence alone sends out the invite!  Control isn't always an option when it comes to emotions...because first of all, you  need to know what each one means to you. 

I've met people who are unable to identify emotion (me about 7 years ago).  Then, there's the crew that are deeply terrified by emotions, either theirs or someone else.   More human beings than not are just...ya know...a little stuck on the control part of emotions rather than letting them run it's course.  Control is what turns into reaction.  Why?  Because emotions are our own personal tidal waves...and they're not MEANT to be controlled.

So...here's this novel concept.  Detach.  

Very, very, very, very, very simple, no?  No.

More times than not, the emotions and the drama they bring with them don't even belong to you!! Human beings are sensitive to other human beings moods.  And we get caught up.  Good, not so good, or indifferent somehow these emotions become ours and we find ourselves in a reactive phase.

Detachment for me always meant distance.  Running far, far away from emotions...only to have to deal with them at some point in the future.  What detachment means is, really, observance.  Simple observance of what's swirling about in it's natural state. 

When I found myself getting caught up in anothers emotions...I'd mentally pull myself out of the equation.  I'd then imagine all the emotions and drama swirling around a particular person or event swirling away in a cloud of dust blown by the wind.  Sometimes I'd imagine containing the drama in a jar, or a box, or anything that once was closed could never be open again.

By imagining these things, I'd bring a sense of grounded sensibility to MYSELF in the situations I'd find myself in.  No more reaction...just plain ol' clarity!!

Slowly I'd start asking myself about my own emotions and drama's...

*  How is reaction helping?

*  How is it hurting?

*  Is there a pattern?  (am I reacting to the same thing in different clothing)

*  What is it that I'm REALLY reacting to?

And just as slowly as I started to ask myself those questions (...and I mean SLOWLY!  My reaction cycles were vicious until I REALLY started giving them the attention they needed)...a clearer sense of detachment FROM reaction started to occur.

It's been hard, hard work to get to a place where detachment is almost natural (I did say "almost", right?).   But the point is pretty much to START the observations....start the end of the vicious cycle.  If I had to put a couple pennies on it, I'd bet that NONE of us like ourselves in our various reactionary phases, hmmmm?

Take a look.  Take an example....maybe your reactions are mostly at work, directed towards your mother, or a spouse, or a pet, or an ensemble that's making you look fat, or just a flat out bad decision.  Ask yourself the questions above and any others that come to mind.

Once the clouds of judgement and reaction clear....you'll learn a bit about your emotions but in a completely detached state.

...and then a welcomed change.  Peace.

SIMPLICITY

sim·plic·i·ty

[sim-plis-i-tee]
noun, plural
1.  the state, quality, or an instance of being simple
2.  freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts:  an organism of great simplicity.
3.  absence of luxury, pretentiousness, ornament, etc; plainness: a life of simplicity
4.  freedom from deceit or guile; sincerity; artlessness; naturalness:  a simplicity of manner.
5.  lack of mental acuteness or shrewdness:  Politics is not a field for simplicity about human nature.

...even as I type the word....the world starts to melt away.

All the self created clutter in my mind toward any given person/place/thing is always illuminated when I allow some SIMPLICITY to expand into the situation.

No worries...it's simple to just..ya know...TALK about simplicity!  I know you're hovering over there in a dark corner...guilty of letting daily additives ultimately affect your decision making. Guess what?  ME TOO!  

Come out into the light, and bring your complications with you!

There's plenty of reasons we get carried away and let the simplicity drift out of any given situation.  Fear plays a role in that, doubt, insecurities, and conditioning also play a role in it.

But....WHAT IF WE SHIFTED TO A SIMPLER PROSPECTIVE?  Where we allow only FACTS to outline our current situation?

Nothing but the facts...simplicity gives big ideas BIGGER meaning.

The truth here, though, is...it's easy to get caught up.  I realize that more than anyone, but I also realize there's always a element of simplicity at play to the things we humans complicate.  If you ever look at nature or animals or what have you and think they have the "easy life"...well so can YOU!  Nature, animals, etc aren't using thoughts to cloud their judgement.  What is, is.  Simply and effectively.

As a culture, we live in our heads.  Simplicity does not.  Simplicity EXISTS.   In every situation, every day, all around us.  To find it...we're not going to go through a mental checklist.  No way, Jose.  Put your good ol' pen to paper and simplify what it is your working on.  After you do, go back through and weed out ANYTHING that's not fact.   Then, after you're done impressing yourself with the ability to see the simplicity, identify some simple action steps.

At some point you're going to want to spend some time with the complications and why they're present in the first place.  While you identify simplicity, you may also start moving on from some conditioned self-sabotaging habits.  You'll start moving with a clarity, but more importantly....an ease.

See?  SIMPLE!