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Every once in a while the things I see happening around me are absolutely baffling to me. I have to admit ~ recently more so than say a decade or even longer ago. Back then things seemed to make a lot more sense. They seemed to have a certain order to them, a certain predictability. And looking back I have come to realize that I liked that...
In those days when in the Fall the leaves first colored in reds and yellows, and then fell from the trees ~ that was part and parcel of Autumn. And while they would be swept away from the streets to prevent a slippery layer to be formed ~ in parks and gardens, and of course in the forest plenty fallen leaves were left for the kids to play in and for all kinds of small critters to seek shelter from Winter’s cold.
Throughout Winter the grass would stop growing and turn brown or even disappear completely ~ only to return again as soon as the warmer days of Spring would come.
Nowadays, as soon as the first leaves start falling off the trees, city workers appear with hearing protection and leaf blowers ~ not just on the streets, but also in the parks. And yes, even clearing the leafs off the shoulders of roads well away from the city center. Leaving every nook and cranny of town immaculately leafless...
And yes, this is one of those things that baffle me.
In this time of economic hardship in which the City Fathers are tightening their belts kicking and screaming ~ they have still managed to allocate the money for each and every last leaf to be picked up in Fall.
Perhaps even more baffling ~ in this day and age in which so many people feel it is so important to do the ‘right thing’ for our environment, without a second thought all the little life-saving hiding places for little critters like the field mouse and the hedge hog are cleared out. Taken away. Gone...
And pretty soon so are the hedge hogs... And the field mice...
Without the leaves, the kids really do need to go to the forest to find any to play in.
Without the leaves the grass stays green a little longer. Only to turn brownish anyway when it gets colder. And having taken the leaves, the natural fertilizer, away in the Fall, come Spring I’m sure those city workers will re-appear to spread some artificial fertilizer...
It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Truly baffling.
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Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The Inner Voice
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The inner voice is that which speaks from our core; from our connection to our source. It is that quiet stream of information that knows all we would ever need to know...
In a sense ‘the inner voice’ is a misnomer as a lot of people ~ even those who listen to it on a regular basis ~ may not actually hear a voice, yet rather receive sensory information from this quiet, all-knowing place. In other words, the information comes through a sense of feeling, a sense of knowing. And yes, there are also those that ‘get it’ through the sense of sight, of taste, or indeed through the sense of hearing.
As the inner voice stems from a quiet place it makes sense that we need to be quiet ourselves in order to actually ‘hear’ it; receive the information it is giving us through whichever sense is easiest for us to pick up on it...
That is where meditation comes in.
Meditation can be described as seeking a connection to our core, our source. It also allows us to be quiet enough to ‘listen’ to what we need at that moment. Whether that which we need is a plan to reach our goals, a way to handle a certain situation, or to take a day of rest.
And while taking the time to listen to our inner voice, to meditate, can be very helpful in our life ~ we also need to be aware enough to register what our inner voice is actually telling us...
In our busy lives, even when we take the time to meditate, to listen, we often still need some trigger from outside of ourselves to truly become aware of what we are being told. And these triggers can be anything! Anything that gives us the right association.
It can be a picture, or a story, or a color. It can be a question someone is asking you. It can be something as down to earth as ‘that movie’ being shown on TV. And yes, even an advertisement ~ whether on a billboard along the freeway or a commercial on TV ~ can do the trick.
The only thing it requires to work as a trigger is that you are on the lookout for it; that you are aware what it is telling you on an inner level ~ that you are listening...
Once you have become aware of what your inner voice is telling you ~ it is up to you to either use that information, to act on it, to shelve it, or to discard it.
Your inner voice gives the input; what you do with the input is free will choice...
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The inner voice is that which speaks from our core; from our connection to our source. It is that quiet stream of information that knows all we would ever need to know...
In a sense ‘the inner voice’ is a misnomer as a lot of people ~ even those who listen to it on a regular basis ~ may not actually hear a voice, yet rather receive sensory information from this quiet, all-knowing place. In other words, the information comes through a sense of feeling, a sense of knowing. And yes, there are also those that ‘get it’ through the sense of sight, of taste, or indeed through the sense of hearing.
As the inner voice stems from a quiet place it makes sense that we need to be quiet ourselves in order to actually ‘hear’ it; receive the information it is giving us through whichever sense is easiest for us to pick up on it...
That is where meditation comes in.
Meditation can be described as seeking a connection to our core, our source. It also allows us to be quiet enough to ‘listen’ to what we need at that moment. Whether that which we need is a plan to reach our goals, a way to handle a certain situation, or to take a day of rest.
And while taking the time to listen to our inner voice, to meditate, can be very helpful in our life ~ we also need to be aware enough to register what our inner voice is actually telling us...
In our busy lives, even when we take the time to meditate, to listen, we often still need some trigger from outside of ourselves to truly become aware of what we are being told. And these triggers can be anything! Anything that gives us the right association.
It can be a picture, or a story, or a color. It can be a question someone is asking you. It can be something as down to earth as ‘that movie’ being shown on TV. And yes, even an advertisement ~ whether on a billboard along the freeway or a commercial on TV ~ can do the trick.
The only thing it requires to work as a trigger is that you are on the lookout for it; that you are aware what it is telling you on an inner level ~ that you are listening...
Once you have become aware of what your inner voice is telling you ~ it is up to you to either use that information, to act on it, to shelve it, or to discard it.
Your inner voice gives the input; what you do with the input is free will choice...
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Friday, November 23, 2012
Knowing
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Tell me about the things you know...
Each and every one of us knows a lot of things. Whether it is something we have learned, or something we know about a friend. We all know common sense type of things like it is a bad idea to step out into traffic without looking both ways.
And then there are perhaps even more things we think we know. Like we think we know how someone will react, we think we know how we are supposed to behave in a certain situation. We think we know how other people see us, or think about us...
Yet as soon as it is about us ourselves ~ we seem to be at a loss about what to think.
We appear to not know anything. And that does strike me as odd.
Because we do know a lot of things about ourselves. We know what foods we like and don’t like. We know how to do all kinds of things. We know which colors suit us and which colors we shouldn’t wear at any time.
But those are all fairly superficial things.
On top of that we all know more about the more inner things, even important things. We know that feeling that something ‘is not right’. We may not know how to react to that immediately ~ yet it is clear that there is ‘more to it’.
From a spiritual perspective it is often said that we know all we need to know ~ even if we don’t know what that is. That ~ for instance through meditation ~ we can reach to our Source for the answers to pretty much any question we might have.
So from a spiritual perspective, we know a lot of things!
So between that inner sense that there is ‘more to it’, and the spiritual perspective that we know everything we need to know ~ we most definitely know how we are doing. We can tell another person the things we know about ourselves, about how we feel. Perhaps about an uneasiness, or something that seems to have changed within ourselves just recently.
And while we may not be able to put the pieces together and make sense of it all ourselves ~ for someone who doesn’t know us that is often a lot easier. To someone who is a good listener, the things that to us seem to be unrelated, unimportant things about ourselves ~ can speak volumes. They can paint a picture that is clear and succinct.
So, if we know all these things ~ it makes me wonder why it is so hard to become aware of them so that we can act on them...
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Tell me about the things you know...
Each and every one of us knows a lot of things. Whether it is something we have learned, or something we know about a friend. We all know common sense type of things like it is a bad idea to step out into traffic without looking both ways.
And then there are perhaps even more things we think we know. Like we think we know how someone will react, we think we know how we are supposed to behave in a certain situation. We think we know how other people see us, or think about us...
Yet as soon as it is about us ourselves ~ we seem to be at a loss about what to think.
We appear to not know anything. And that does strike me as odd.
Because we do know a lot of things about ourselves. We know what foods we like and don’t like. We know how to do all kinds of things. We know which colors suit us and which colors we shouldn’t wear at any time.
But those are all fairly superficial things.
On top of that we all know more about the more inner things, even important things. We know that feeling that something ‘is not right’. We may not know how to react to that immediately ~ yet it is clear that there is ‘more to it’.
From a spiritual perspective it is often said that we know all we need to know ~ even if we don’t know what that is. That ~ for instance through meditation ~ we can reach to our Source for the answers to pretty much any question we might have.
So from a spiritual perspective, we know a lot of things!
So between that inner sense that there is ‘more to it’, and the spiritual perspective that we know everything we need to know ~ we most definitely know how we are doing. We can tell another person the things we know about ourselves, about how we feel. Perhaps about an uneasiness, or something that seems to have changed within ourselves just recently.
And while we may not be able to put the pieces together and make sense of it all ourselves ~ for someone who doesn’t know us that is often a lot easier. To someone who is a good listener, the things that to us seem to be unrelated, unimportant things about ourselves ~ can speak volumes. They can paint a picture that is clear and succinct.
So, if we know all these things ~ it makes me wonder why it is so hard to become aware of them so that we can act on them...
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Too small
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Have you ever noticed that a space that is quite reasonable in size tends to shrink really quickly as soon as animals are involved?
Just the other day I saw a picture on Facebook of a three-sitter couch with no room to sit on it. And cars have a similar problem; a fairly big SUV seems to shrink to the size of an old 'mini morris' as soon as the dogs jump in. Equally, a sizable living room feels like less than half its size when a dog gets excited and starts to playfully run around in it.
In my living room the furniture is covered with nice, soft, fluffy fleece blankets to accommodate the three cats.
Yet the problem occurs in the bedroom.
The bed that is easily big enough for my partner and me, is definitely too small for three cats. And when I am claiming my space, taking up part of the bed a quiet scuffle ensues: which cat gets the right to cuddle up. And again, the bed has become too small...
The funny thing is that in all these cases at least part of us thinks that what is happening is cute!
When any of the above situations would involve another person, or even a couple of other people ~ then there is nothing cute about it anymore.
Like when someone comes to visit unexpectedly, telling you that they are just dropping in for a few minutes ~ yet two hours and a continuous stream of complaints later the visitor finally takes off, leaving you totally exhausted; almost feeling like you were a stranger in your own space.
Or someone coming asking for help, for counseling without ever intending to do anything about the situation they are finding themselves in; taking your time and space ~ and energy...
Either way, the space has shrunk to a somewhat uncomfortable small size.
The question that comes up is why we often happily give up (part of) our space to our pets ~ and feel it is a nuisance when it concerns other people.
Part of that may be that pets offer their energy, loyalty and friendship in return for taking over our space ~ unconditionally. With people that is usually more complicated.
Another question, and perhaps this is the more important question, is why we seem to have a tendency to give up our space to begin with ~ be it to our pets or to other people ~ and to then come to the conclusion that the space we are in has become too small...
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.
Have you ever noticed that a space that is quite reasonable in size tends to shrink really quickly as soon as animals are involved?
Just the other day I saw a picture on Facebook of a three-sitter couch with no room to sit on it. And cars have a similar problem; a fairly big SUV seems to shrink to the size of an old 'mini morris' as soon as the dogs jump in. Equally, a sizable living room feels like less than half its size when a dog gets excited and starts to playfully run around in it.
In my living room the furniture is covered with nice, soft, fluffy fleece blankets to accommodate the three cats.
Yet the problem occurs in the bedroom.
The bed that is easily big enough for my partner and me, is definitely too small for three cats. And when I am claiming my space, taking up part of the bed a quiet scuffle ensues: which cat gets the right to cuddle up. And again, the bed has become too small...
The funny thing is that in all these cases at least part of us thinks that what is happening is cute!
When any of the above situations would involve another person, or even a couple of other people ~ then there is nothing cute about it anymore.
Like when someone comes to visit unexpectedly, telling you that they are just dropping in for a few minutes ~ yet two hours and a continuous stream of complaints later the visitor finally takes off, leaving you totally exhausted; almost feeling like you were a stranger in your own space.
Or someone coming asking for help, for counseling without ever intending to do anything about the situation they are finding themselves in; taking your time and space ~ and energy...
Either way, the space has shrunk to a somewhat uncomfortable small size.
The question that comes up is why we often happily give up (part of) our space to our pets ~ and feel it is a nuisance when it concerns other people.
Part of that may be that pets offer their energy, loyalty and friendship in return for taking over our space ~ unconditionally. With people that is usually more complicated.
Another question, and perhaps this is the more important question, is why we seem to have a tendency to give up our space to begin with ~ be it to our pets or to other people ~ and to then come to the conclusion that the space we are in has become too small...
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Headaches
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Headaches are no fun.
Whether it is about a real headache, the painful affliction; a migraine even ~ or more like a problem that refuses to solve itself; they are no fun.
And come to think of it ~ one may actually cause the other...
This in itself should be reason enough to have a look at what is causing the headache...
A person suffering from a literal headache usually knows the underlying cause. It can be stress, tiredness, too much work at the computer ~ whatever it is for that individual.
The problem that we may be nudging, kicking, screaming at, reasoning with; and still it refuses to get solved ~ to get out of our hair ~ can have entirely different causes.
In being unique, individual human beings, what is bothersome to one person is great fun to the next. What is a nuisance to me, might be just where you always wanted to be. As such two people may be working against each other solving an issue as their goals can be vastly different.
From a more spiritual perspective, there is always the possibility that while we have our eyes set at one thing, yet the universe has something entirely different in mind for us ~ chances are our troubles with solving the issue aren’t going to be over anytime soon...
And this then gives a direction to look at...
My wise teacher Julian ~ www.julianteachings.com ~ used to say: “A problem is an obstacle in the flow to a predetermined outcome.”
In other words if we are dead set to handle a situation or issue in a certain manner without looking at alternatives, we may be setting ourselves up for trouble...
But alternatives for what?
There are always different ways to go about handling a situation. If you can’t reach your goal turning right ~ then turn left and go the other way around...
But what if it is the goal itself that needs an alternative? What if the goal is a step along the way at best; and all the while we are treating it as if it is the ultimate solution? And the closer we get to resolving the issue, the more we find ourselves pushed to keep going ~ like an irritation, a bother that every time you think you got it solved pokes up its head again...
It seems that for those headaches it is necessary to think outside of the box. To start thinking of not just another goal or a different path to a solution ~ it is likely to be very beneficial to think of an ultimate goal. Something we always wanted to do and never thought we would, or could. And when turning our attention to that ultimate goal, we may suddenly realize that the headache that has been bothering us for so long has quietly disappeared.
.
.
Headaches are no fun.
Whether it is about a real headache, the painful affliction; a migraine even ~ or more like a problem that refuses to solve itself; they are no fun.
And come to think of it ~ one may actually cause the other...
This in itself should be reason enough to have a look at what is causing the headache...
A person suffering from a literal headache usually knows the underlying cause. It can be stress, tiredness, too much work at the computer ~ whatever it is for that individual.
The problem that we may be nudging, kicking, screaming at, reasoning with; and still it refuses to get solved ~ to get out of our hair ~ can have entirely different causes.
In being unique, individual human beings, what is bothersome to one person is great fun to the next. What is a nuisance to me, might be just where you always wanted to be. As such two people may be working against each other solving an issue as their goals can be vastly different.
From a more spiritual perspective, there is always the possibility that while we have our eyes set at one thing, yet the universe has something entirely different in mind for us ~ chances are our troubles with solving the issue aren’t going to be over anytime soon...
And this then gives a direction to look at...
My wise teacher Julian ~ www.julianteachings.com ~ used to say: “A problem is an obstacle in the flow to a predetermined outcome.”
In other words if we are dead set to handle a situation or issue in a certain manner without looking at alternatives, we may be setting ourselves up for trouble...
But alternatives for what?
There are always different ways to go about handling a situation. If you can’t reach your goal turning right ~ then turn left and go the other way around...
But what if it is the goal itself that needs an alternative? What if the goal is a step along the way at best; and all the while we are treating it as if it is the ultimate solution? And the closer we get to resolving the issue, the more we find ourselves pushed to keep going ~ like an irritation, a bother that every time you think you got it solved pokes up its head again...
It seems that for those headaches it is necessary to think outside of the box. To start thinking of not just another goal or a different path to a solution ~ it is likely to be very beneficial to think of an ultimate goal. Something we always wanted to do and never thought we would, or could. And when turning our attention to that ultimate goal, we may suddenly realize that the headache that has been bothering us for so long has quietly disappeared.
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