What's Hidden In the Numbers of 2016?

If we haven't already, we will soon find ourselves reflecting on this past year and looking forward with anticipation to the next. 2015 was very much about clearing away things that were no longer working to reveal a balance in our lives we may have been seeking for some time. The 2 is about love, balance, harmony, business, diplomacy, and fairness. If these things were not present in our lives, the 5 was able to shake things up and create that for us. The zero allows for the divine in all things to be present. 1 is about movement, taking off, taking care of and being true to ourselves. The quintessential "looking out for number one". The number one embodies courage and leadership. It's about taking control of our lives again.

2016 will take all of these energies into it as well, but will lead us in more of a family and community direction, a settling down from the dust we stirred up in 2015. We will become more focused on service, humanity, and selflessness. The two will help create more of an interdependence with those we love, striking a nice balance between honoring our own truth and creating a nurturing space for our home and family. The changing of the five to the six will stimulate a greater sense of responsibility and honesty. "Taking care of ourselves before we can take care of anyone else" becomes an easier concept in the upcoming year. Both the two and six are heart associated, our love and business affairs, especially those associated with service, will take the forefront and guide us through the year; the determination and perseverance of the 1 energy will give us the drive we need to keep moving forward and bring to fruition our new and exciting ideas brought on by our unexpected and seemingly non-stop experiences of 2015.

This waning year was an overall "8" year, giving it a big picture scheme of karmic lessons and materialization of things we had been thinking and feeling for some time. It was a year that allowed us to see things from a slightly different perspective, one of those "from the outside looking in" kind of  places and urged us to make an executive decision about our life has we had come to see it. As we enter into the upcoming and expansive "9" we will find many opportunities to express deep forgiveness and reverence for ourselves, mankind, and humanity as a whole. The "16" is a karmic number and it being overseen by the 9 suggests there will be some resolution and healing of karmic relationships and/or wounds. This approaching year is also very much about service, and with the support of the 6, it only be asking that much more of us in the giving of our own unique gifts to the world and each other. It will be a year of bringing together, it's an "all encompassing" number, possessing all the best qualities of the numbers before it. A great year to wrap some things up and truly start a new. Happy New Year & blessings abound!

May we step forward with Grace & Gratitude...

Christianity Isn't About Self-Actualization?

I read a lot of articles. Today I read an article written by a university president regarding one students perception of a sermon received on campus. Honestly, I liked the article. I would agree and offer elaboration on the subject, but that is not the purpose of this particular piece.

"The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self actualization." 

This statement literally stopped the air from moving in and out of my body and not in a good way. I thought, Oh my God, how repressing. I heard, "Let us focus on your faults. Let us have you focus on your faults instead of your Light and weaken your sense of self." Wow, that's not terrifying at all, that makes me want to run to the nearest church and sign up! (Please note the sarcasm) No "self-actualization?" That's like saying, to me anyways, "We don't want you to know who you are, so we can tell you who you are and you won't question us." That statement blew my mind, for a lack of a more eloquent description. This is in no way an attack on Christianity or this writer, just a statement that provoked thought within me, that will probably provoke conversation. It became apparent to me in that statement how easily it is to subconsciously create the very thing we are opposing or unknowingly separate ourselves. I recoiled from Christianity in that moment as if I had touched a hot stove. How are we to know God if we do not know ourselves? How are we to guide and serve others if we are still searching for ourselves? How are we to spread joy and truly feel God within our hearts if our hearts are surrounded by fear and guilt and shame? It's so simple, if God is Love, why aren't we focusing on that? Seeking to understand, seeking to connect and support our fellow humans? If God loves each and every one of us, then what are we trying to prove? 

With Grace & Gratitude...

Reset

In my mid-twenties, I had the privilege of taking care of a red-headed, ninety-something, Jewish lady who became the oldest best friend I ever knew. She was sharp and intuitive, all four feet and eleven inches of her. She lived in the long term care facility I worked in for about three years; her limitation was physical. She kept her hair dyed and had the smallest, darkest, most "beady" eyes I had ever seen. She was sassy, and I adored her.

I'd come to work some days holding back tears because love was again slipping through my fingers or overjoyed with the new potential I had recently encumbered, she'd lean back in her chair and ask me to sit. She had my number, and as I would profess my exuberant emotions with my elbows on her over bed table about how this one was so much different than the last because it felt this way or that way and how much I didn't think I could love another like this, she'd smile. And she would let me ramble. She would let me be my twenty-something self with nothing but love in her heart and then tell me a story, the same story, every-time.

Her and her husband were married for most of his life, and he was love of hers. He came down from upstairs one night, grabbed both her hands, looked deeply into her eyes and kissed the tip of every single finger. He told her he loved her and went back to bed. He died that night from some unexpected event. She always told me that story with a conclusion of that is true love. Adoration. The small things. That quiet and steady current. It was not over the top. It was not raw with emotion and energy. It was gentle. "It's not what you think it is, kid" she'd say. I'm hard headed; maybe that's why she told me that story so many times. Then again, maybe it wasn't even about me; maybe she just liked to relive that gentle and quiet current that still flowed beneath her heart between them. Whichever, it was palpable enough that I could feel it, too. It was strong enough to calm my antsy nature and racing mind. Then I'd kiss her cheek and go back to work. I knew her words had truth, even though I couldn't entirely wrap my head around it, then.

I just turned thirty. My three and a half year relationship ended about three months ago because I sent the wrong text message to the wrong person. I had found an interest and connection in someone else, and chose not to honor the boundaries of my relationship. It was intense. I wasn't looking for it, and when it hit me like something bursting out of my gut and into the open, I spun around in my chair with a hushed and knowing, "fuck" as she sat next to me.

It has been four and a half months since that moment, and less than twenty-four hours since I told her I needed a break; we needed a break. I needed some time and space to heal, time to reset. If we were truly going to work long term, I needed to take a break  and only hoped she would understand. I've carried that beautiful and sassy woman's truth of love with me for some time now. Lately I've been asking myself what I believe true love is and what it means to me. 

And So We Ran

"Run wild, until you find someone just as wild to run with." 

Nothing thus far has fit us more perfectly. It's morning. I was weird yesterday. I missed her for the first time since this whole thing happened and thought for some reason it would be a good idea to tell you. I really do say dumb shit sometimes. I am a person of method, of rules, of guidelines. I like lists and organization. I like tasks and getting shit done. I can only imagine this part of me comes from my unwavering Libra heart to balance unbridled dance I do with life when I'm not doing lists and paying bills. Loosing myself in circular motions and head throwing laughter. I'm a girl who's in love with the world, but nothing reaches the depth of who I am like this moments, these quiet, alone moments.

I met you at a time in my life when I stood still but conscious watching my sense of my self fade away, arms stretched, hand out with some voice I didn't recognize or trust, trying to convince me it was okay. Compromise. Balance. Safe. This is what you need. Someone to calm you, someone to balance you. Someone not like you. I felt like I was dying. I felt my light dimming and my breath slowing; the inperturbation before the death.

Then I saw you. I saw me in you. I recognized your spirit as someone with whom I had danced before. It was that aha moment for my Spirit when it clicked, a sudden all-encompassing understanding of your role in my life and mine in yours. When you went from someone I felt I knew on some level to knowing exactly who you were. It's like discovering that face you recognize and can't put a name too is actually your most adored childhood friend who somehow got lost in the shuffle of life. There is so much catching up to do, so much excitement. So much instant re-connection, everything else in the world seems trivial. So we ran with it.

Bowing Out

I know there will come a time when I will want her back. A moment, or string of moments which will make me second guess her leaving, my motives, and my own truth. This relationship was wrong for me in so many ways, for both of us, I just wish I would've had the courage to tell her that before I cheated. This has kind of been my mantra the last couple days. Reviewing the course of a relationship is tricky. Perception is reality, and we look for we will find. Right now I'm looking at all the "bad" things. All the things that tore at my self-esteem, encouraged a loss of self, all the things that support the idea that "Yes, it was time for this relationship to end. We are both better off for it." But what about later? When I cross a threshold of a place in my life I had planned go to go with her? What about those nights when loneliness crawls into my bed? What will I look for then, in the analysis of my once relationship? I'll tell you what I will look for.... I will look for those times that she forgave me for being a little crazy, those times she kissed my face and told me how much she loved me. The surprises she gave, the yogurt she kept stocked in the fridge, and the beef jerky she'd bring me on a bad day. I will remember the football games, and the random dancing emoji's. I will see her nephews faces and feel her mothers arms around my neck telling me how much she loves me. I will smell fall and fresh cut grass. Then, I will remember when she took an hour out of her day to bring me scrubs and in return received a text message not meant for her. My heart will ache for forgiveness and for her sadness.. Tears will fall for being the executioner of the life of everything she always wanted, and I will want her back. I will want another chance to give her the life I promised her when she put that ring on my finger.

When those moments come, because they will, I will remind myself of these things.... I never felt I could be myself in this relationship. I struggled to find balance between my relationship and my passions. She didn't like my family, and I am ashamed I allowed her so much freedom in dictating how often and how long they could visit my home. There was always something missing. Some kind of block, added pressure, some kind of something that created tension. Like puzzle pieces that fit, but barely. You had to really push them down and no matter what, there was still that tiny section that just wouldn't touch. I will remind myself that she tried; we both tried. That in the end, it was the best it had ever been, We loved each other deeply, but still that voice inside of me said it was time to go. I will ask myself, even with her flaws, if she helps me become the best version of myself. I will ask myself, if I stand in the way of her path. Those are deal breaker questions.

So here I sit, in the aftermath of a three and a half year break-up allowing the healing process to happen. I sit in the house we bought together, in the town she grew up in, two hours from the place I've called home for the last decade. But that's okay, I love this house and I like to think there is a reason I am still here. This is real life. It's my life, and for the first time, I finally feel I can live it without consulting anyone first.

It's a freedom I have wanted for a long time and was way to afraid to admit it. But I'm here now, and if this relationship wasn't right for me; I can only imagine it wasn't right for her either. Otherwise, we still be in it together. It's about allowing what doesn't work anymore fall away. We fought the good fight. We will both be better for it.

"To know know when to bend and when to leap- when to bow out, and when to hurl our passions like buckets of paint across a stage."


With Grace & Gratitude...

I'm Gay, and I Support the Right of Small Business Owners to "Refuse Service to Anyone."

When the first utterance of "the religious freedom law" found my ears a few months back, my first thought was hasn't that always been a thing? Hadn't small business always "reserved the right to refuse service to anyone?" It just seemed like something old with a new name. I was dumbfounded.

The recent declaration of a couple of business' utilization of this "law" and claiming their allegiance with a set of beliefs that did not support homosexuality has caused an uproar in the LGBT community and it's allies. While I appreciate the support, I feel it important to remember we cannot use anger to negate anger. We cannot strip someone else of rights and pride in their own lifestyles while screaming equality for ours. So they don't want to serve gays? Okay. Moving on. I appreciate the heads up, I will take my business elsewhere. I will not add fuel to the fire. So what if they don't want to serve me? My future wife is considered a small business owner, and I hope she always possesses the right to refuse service to anyone for whatever reason. I will not focus my energy on "discrimination" or "inequality". I choose to focus my energies on the things I wish to see more of in the world. To do otherwise is counter-productive.

We can co-exist. We as in every single person. No two people have exactly the same set of beliefs. There will always be a disagreement somewhere. It's about acceptance from both sides. You can only keep what you give.

I believe in allowing people freedom to be who they are. If we all did that, hate and discrimination would dissipate as a by-product of choosing a more positive focus. I can admire someone for standing strong in their beliefs. I can respect someone for their honesty. Making it known that your business does not wish to serve any particular race, sexual-orientation, religion, sub-culture, etc is quite courageous, for it is self-limiting in nature. Any breathing person would expect some sort of backlash. You are minimizing your clientele pool and risking your own livelihood. None of which effects me. I have no battle to fight here.

Racism and discrimination will only fade out when we stop reacting to it, looking for it, and opening it up to be fed by the emotions of people. Let it go. Bless it, and keep moving. It's one thing to not hide the fact that your significant other is of the same sex and fight for the ability to marry that person and another to paint your life all shades of rainbow and expect someone to not be thrown off a bit.

So, let's put down our pride flags and our #blacklivesmatter signs. Let's just live our lives to the best of our ability and allow others to do the same. Let each of us see ourselves as equal, and we will be equal. Continue to pursue equality but not be mislead by miscellaneous matters. Let's hold a space of trust that maybe someone has good intentions, and maybe we all have something beautiful to offer to the world.

With Grace & Gratitude...

Feed It

The words seem so far. The rhythm which wrapped and warped and freed my soul seem bumpy. I've spent too long reading too much. Ingesting the opinions of others and allowing my own voice to wither away. Leaving me here in the middle of the night grasping for it not because I'm dying inside, but because I want to breath it in, to pull that intangible piece of spirit into my equally impalpable being. There are so many things in this world I just don't have the knowledge of to formulate an opinion strong enough to argue about. Vaccines; Presidents; Politics, to name a few. Many things I don't understand, and even more things I embrace on feeling alone. Because it simply feels right, at the time.

Do it because it feels right. Do something because you've spent enough time in meditation, in prayer, in stillness, in quiet... in whatever the fuck opens your spirit, your heart .... to know what's right for you, then. Do that. Then move on. Let it go. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Find what speaks to you innermost, honest and pure self. Do you know what that is? Where it is? How to hear that voice?
I've written a couple of articles I thought were almost awesome and submitted them to your local online article distributor, but because I used "you" they felt it separated the reader and the writer, and told me to re-write, re-vise, to change my piece to better fit what they felt would be a better piece.

Needless to say, I haven't gotten published yet.

With Grace & Gratitude...