Friday, June 16, 2006

Weaving webs and tapestries

While I posted this on my other blog, I think I want to repost at least part of it here at Merry Dragon.

Vicki, a woman who teaches people about labyrinths writes about meditation with a reference to spiders as weavers. I have long been fascinated with the idea of webs as a metaphor for the connections we all "weave" as we create -- many times, completely unaware -- the "tapestries" of our lives. It's a rich, deep imagery that holds a lot of meaning for me. Here's part of Vicki's thoughts:
Spiders are weavers... their webs can become quite large and intricate. And so very beautiful, especially when they capture the morning dew...

The human part of us sometimes has difficulty quieting the chatter in our mind long enough to hear what our soul is trying to tell us. Meditation is the art of paying attention, of listening to your heart and learning to be present in the moment. Sometimes without being fully conscious of it, we withdraw from the present and live in the past or the future.

We stay in the past by holding on to learned negative behaviors and patterns that no longer serve us. Perhaps we are angry or unhappy about our current circumstances, not realizing that we can untangle ourselves from this web of our own making. Our soul continually creates circumstances so we can learn life lessons, whatever they may be. Until we learn these lessons, we stay caught in the web with only the circumstances changing... more than likely looming larger as the need to learn the lessons grows. Meditation brings us into the present and teaches us to accept the past and let go of these old behaviors.

Some of us are fearful of the future. The human part of us doubts whether we are capable of making correct decisions on our life path. By releasing this tangled web we learn to be in the “now,” transforming these fears and learning to trust our intuition or soul voice. Faith is born of this trust and our lives become more simplified. Meditation can help us live more fully, more effectively, and more peacefully.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Catch some Brain Rain in your life?

I subscribe to BlogLines and get an RSS feed from 43 folders. Here's an article from six weeks ago that I liked.

I'm re-posting it here (among other places) as a gentle reminder to myself:

Keys to catching the brain rain:
  • set aside 10 minutes, each and every day
  • have pen and paper handy
  • allow yourself the freedom to think crazy thoughts
  • don’t worry if nothing really productive springs to mind right away
  • periodically scan over your notes from these sessions as things may pop into your mind after they have “marinated” for a while
  • if no ideas pop into your head pick a fun topic and doodle a bit
  • use word association to get things rolling if you feel stuck e.g. thinking -> thoughts -> mind -> brainstorm -> brain rain

The original posting was entitled "Warm, Partly Cloudy, 100% Chance of Brain Rain."

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Questions to ponder

So ....

I met with my good friend of twenty-plus years, Carol, last night, somewhat unexpectedly. She lives in another state and was visiting here. We dined at a fashionable, family-friendly restaurant in Royal Oak.

Here's some questions she asked me in the course of our conversation (probably not exactly as she phrased them, but as I remembered them):

-- What are your dreams?

-- Why not take this time for some travel? Open yourself up to other possibilities?

-- Have you thought about searching out a progressive, spiritual community?

-- What makes your heart sing? (Carol was actually speaking of what made her heart sing, but I internalized the question!)

-- Would you consider going to therapy again?

Because of our longstanding friendship and some of the strengths and skills Carol possesses, I value beyond words her listening and questioning and counseling of me.

What are my dreams, indeed?