And above all,
watch with glittering eyes
the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets
are always hidden in the
most unlikely places.
Those who don't
believe in magic
will never find it.
-Roald Dahl
I am is a beautiful way to express all the parts of us. Every experience from moment to moment shapes our existence. I am is a powerful meditation tool. Lie down on your back on your yoga mat or bed and close your eyes. Breathe deeply and keep asking the question who am I? We are so much more than the labels that have been placed upon us throughout our lives. The meditation is to go deeper into your awareness of who you really are. As you ask the question, who am I...listen to the answers. Who is asking the question and who is listening to the answers? Who is the observer inside that never changes? We want to be the observer in our lives. The part of us that never changes. We have tapped into our truest self. We are connected to our purest essence.
I was profoundly changed the first time I did this meditation. I am so much more than the labels. It is so easy and human nature I suppose to make judgements about ourselves and what we see in another at first glance or what we think we know about someone. I invite you always to go deeper and look through a new lens...look through the lens of undiluted love and acceptance. We are the culmination of all of our experiences. What we find is that we are at our essence not really that different than anyone. We are all on the path of life and their is a richness of our experiences and a depth of expression that is uniquely our own. I am reminded of something the Dalai Lama said, "When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new." Stop talking and learn to listen. There is freedom in letting go of preconceived notions and judgements of ourselves and others. Go in search of something that is not known.
We are the creators of our lives. We are a very creative species. I grew up thinking that I was not creative at all. That was a belief that I had. But when you look at the word, "belief" there is "lie" right in the center of it. When I let go of the lies in my beliefs...magic happens. Don't hide the light of you. The essence of you. The creative part of you. Let go of judgements, doubt, long-held beliefs, and find out who you are and how creative you can be and share it. After all, there is only one you. Shine that light of your uniqueness and share it with the world. The world is filled with possibilities at showing your creativity. There is no end. We all are filled with creativity and our own signature of that uniqueness. Shine on my beautiful friends. What would you like to create and share with the world? Write, sing, dance, do math, paint, laugh, act, plant, create something and anything that is uniquely yours. There is inspiration everywhere. Find what inspires you to create and just start playing and find the child inside that used to know how to create without thinking and just started doing.
I love life. I am always evolving from one moment to the next. I have experienced many things in my life that have shaped me. I do not stay in the story of my past for too long. The past is behind me and the future is out in front of me. I am in this moment of now. Right now I am loving to express myself through writing about my life experiences and sharing with others. My hope is that anyone who reads my words can see that the human heart and spirit are incredibly strong, resilient, expansive, creative and truly remarkable. We can heal from our wounds. We all need acknowledgement, appreciation, affection, and love. We can rewrite our story. We can get up and be grateful for this life every day. Life is a gift and the experiences of life teach us who we are at the core and that all of it can enrich the lives of others when we share who we are and what we are capable of becoming. We can choose to live a joyful life.
I find inspiration in witnessing the talents and gifts each person I am around has to offer. When you see someone in the flow of a moment and they are expressing their gifts they exude such magnificence...tell them. Wow! That was amazing. Celebrate them. There are so many things that really touch my heart with awe and bring me to tears. When watching someone teach, build, paint, do public relations, sales, using their accounting and business skills, caring for children, cooking, writing, creating, singing, playing instruments, dancing, practicing yoga, teaching yoga, communicating with animals, communicating with people, diffusing situations, nursing, interpreting dreams, whatever your talents are it can be anything. I beg you to share who you are and you will not be disappointed.
When I quit working at the middle school it was to start taking care of a few of my grandchildren. They reminded me of living in the moment. Kids are brilliant at not having a story to hold onto from their past. They feel everything with their whole self, in the moment, ready for anything and everything. We loved going on adventures outdoors, in the garden, the park, and hiking in the woods. We would practice yoga. I would chant while I pushed them on the swings. It was my way of counting and lifted my vibration.
When we would pull out the art supplies to create with markers, crayons, colored pencils and paints; never once did they say, "I can't paint or I can't draw." They just started painting and drawing from their hearts. They used all of the colors, all of the paper and their imaginations. I started to paint with them. I just started to paint and I had to remind the inner critic to, "shut it" and just paint what came from my heart, too. There is such freedom in learning from the innocence of children. If we get quiet and become the observer, children are brilliant teachers. Allow the children in your life to teach you something from their perspective it is refreshing.
I was at the craft store one day looking around for new supplies and ideas and I found little wooden boxes. I purchased a few of them and I painted them for the grandkids I was taking care of during the week. Kids are very curious and love little treasures they would find on our walks. They loved collecting rocks, shells, acorns, sticks, etc. I painted little treasure boxes so they would have a special place to put their beloved treasures. I am a little behind on the painting treasure boxes for the grandchildren. They came fast in my life. I went from being a grandmother of 1 to 5 in 3 years. I now have been blessed with 10 grandchildren in 8 years. I have some painting to do!
I was intrigued by painting the little treasure boxes for the kids and they have evolved into prayer/intention/meditation boxes. I painted one for myself. It brings me joy and comfort. I write down my prayers, special intentions and I tuck them into the prayer box and I let them go. I have given a few for gifts over the past few years to people I love. They have all experienced a loss of someone dear to their hearts. I thought maybe if they could have a little prayer box next to them at night they could jot down a little prayer and put it into a box painted especially for them. My hope always is that it might bring a little comfort or they could let any worries go to God or to the angels to be transformed back into love and to find rest.
I believe in the power of creating, prayer, setting intentions and meditating. All are ways that bring me comfort and are very powerfully healing. If my boxes, created and painted with love from my heart, bring joy, comfort, and a reminder that you are not alone in whatever you are going through, that is a wonderful feeling. I listened to inspiring music while I painted. I thought about the person I was making the prayer box for and put insights, feelings, images, colors, textures, words that spoke to me of that person, beautiful papers for them to write their prayers, thoughts, intentions onto and infused the papers and boxes with love and essential oil scents. Made with love. Don't keep your love and creativity inside of you...share it with the world.