Welcome to the flow

Logic brain is our Censor, our second (and third and fourth) thoughts. Artist brain is our creative, holistic brain. It sees a forest and thinks: Wow! Leaf bouquet! Pretty! Gold-gilt-shimmery-earthskin-king’s-carpet!” Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

I almost got distracted again when I open my computer and saw 80 message, I started to read some of them but pull myself up quick before I was lost in Blogland and Facebook. Before I could write today I had to get to Target to buy some Memorex CD-R’s to unload some of the photographs I had piling up on iPhoto, my laptop would just not handle any more, I could not even move photographs over to my desk top so that I could submit them here or on redbubble. So I had to get that done of some of them moved to disk, I really need to organize my work better, right now it is mostly just titled with the date when the photos were taken, so I know if it is spring or fall, winter, put I don’t always know what is in those files unless I look through them somewhat. Crazy as it may seem, usually I know the file well enough to know what is in it once I take a quick look. Yet I know I find myself searching for shots every once in a while that seem to want to allude me and finding, somewhat frustrating. No one to blame but myself.

Fox Glove (in our garden)

So while transferring files I caught up with blogs and emails, finished reading The Artist’s Way Chapter Basic Tools in which the quote above come from. This chapter reminded me to rediscover the language of my Artist Brain, to not listen to the Censor brain that would keep me stuck, not allow myself to see and experience the walk in the woods, the fragrance, the feel if the cooler breeze while under the trees, because in the past two days it has been in the 90’s. This morning on our first walk there was hardly any dew until we reached the grass of the football field. Normally the leaves brushing my face and arm splash us with cool refreshing wetness. Not today. The ground was dry, the leaves rustled with the wind leaving us with their touch and nothing more.

Little Reds (Macro?)

I begun reading the next chapter in 8 Weeks to Optimum Health by Andrew Weil, M.D. for my next turn on my Life Harmony path: A lot of what he is asking for this week agenda I have already begun to incorporated into my healing/recovery. First project is to inquire in health food stores and grocery market about organic produce. I have been searching that out for weeks, and long before that, I just did not consciously begin to buy organic because of the inconvenience of where the stores are, and the cost of the products themselves. Two weeks ago I went on a Tour of the Whole Foods Market with a women who owns business High Living Well in which she is a Holistic nutritionist . For about two hours we circumvented the market starting in produce, and work our way around the perimeter and then into the aisles. Being informed of different qualities of produce, how to read the little tags, that all of Whole Foods produce is tag, there are cards above the units informing one what is what. It was a impressive experience, who would have thought to offer a tour of a food store?

In Week Three Dr. Weil ask us to eat more fruits and veggies, eat fish twice this week, doing whole foods vegan fish is not really on my plans but a good piece of fresh caught Salmon I usually won’t pass up.

The big thing I have purchase is Vitamin E and Selenium: I think that is the end of the vitamin regiment. We started with C 1000-2000 mm with each meal. And than mixed carotenes with Breakfast, 25,000 I U. Good God I don’t think I have been this healthy ever!!

Lavender Daisy (marco)

I realized I sort of write these pages to an audience, knowing that people are reading this, so I have consciously sought to block that out until now, mostly to tell on myself, to let the pages just flow, write what is happening, write what you are feeling and or doing or not doing… whether I have an audience or not, and I know I have because I have been receiving wonderful feedback about this process. I am honored to have this support and encouragement. Part of this journey is for me to expand my social and creative network, to be challenged as well as to be encouraged as an artist and a person. I am glad that I am beginning to reap those benefits, for too long I have avoided, escaped, ignored human contact as much as possible. Knowing now, and I knew before I need to have these relationships in order for me to grow emotionally and spiritually, therefore growing creatively. God through Neale Donald Walsch in Conversation with God Book 1 writes,

“It is only though your relationships with other people, places, and events that you can even exist (as a knowable quantity, as an identifiable something) in the universe… Once you clearly understand this, once you deeply grasp it, then you intuitively bless each and every experience, all human encounter, and especially personal human relationships, for  you see them as constructive, in the highest sense… to construct Who You Really Are.”

Muffin posing !

These words ring true to me once again, I once believed them but I was in the wrong place to manifest them as true, not only did not like the people who were around me, I did not like who I saw myself reflected back. The veils are beginning to fall away, the artist mind begins to flow, to dream, to create, accepts what is and honor that.

Growth Question: What brain rules your life? Censor Brian, or Artist Brain? Or have you learned to dance together?

I am Love, Jeff

Affirmations in actions

“Affirmations are like prescriptions for certain aspects of yourself you want to change.” Jerry Frankhauser.

Sunshine Yellow

I always started with a quote on my first time through The Artist’s Way, I think it is a great Idea to continue the practice. Sometimes the quotes have something to do with what I right and sometimes not. In the first chapter in The Artist’s Way Week 1 Recovering a sense of safety, Ms Cameron suggests this; “Affirmations help achieve a sense of safety and hope.” They allow me to gleam some wisdom from other sources, other creative beings that  have travel this journey to success and abundance. Or they are just a nice way to remind myself where I have come from and where I am going.

I had breakfast of Kasha: “Kasha is a cereal commonly eaten in Eastern Europe. In English, kasha generally refers to buckwheat groats, but in Slavic countries, kasha refers to porridge in general and can be made from any cereal, especially buckwheat,wheat, barley, oats, and rye. At least a thousand years old, kasha is one of the oldest known dishes in the Slavic cuisines of the Eastern European cuisine.^[1]“ this morning, I had bought it sometime ago, as another source of grain for meals, and it was interesting texture as well as flavor, nutty, grainy, and filling. I had it with some soy milk and Cinnamon plus a touch of strawberry preserves. I will definitely have more in the near future.

Not much to write about today me thinks, I had an interesting mid-week check in with Laurie and Life Harmony work about my relationship with my Mother, and was as honest as I knew how to be in rating our relationship from 1-10 and the scale being some where between 3 and 4. Mom is a source of support financially at the moment, and she is generally not here at the house because she is in a relationship with a Lee and they shuttle back and forth from Vermont, his home, and winter in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. So our relationship has shifted to one of acceptance and casual conversation. Her support for my creative work is one of sharing about it to others but not directly with me, and that has been her source of support for many years. I have accepted that.

My father died at 50 of Heart failure, when I was in my mid 20’s and just home from the Air Force. He was a man I never really got to know since as children, he work shift work and was often not around for weeks on end. We did have 3o day vacation is the summers of our teens and travel around the country camping and visiting family in other areas. So there was sometime to spend with dad and family, yet much of those moments are very vague. I once had a very strong intuition to research dad’s life and write about him for my own knowledge but also for future generations for my brother children never knew dad at all.  Maybe I will pick up that thread and weave it again?

Honeysuckle

This mornings first walk was chilly in the 60’s and the perfume of honeysuckle and wild rose was just as rich and fragrant as ever, mixed with the smells of green leaves and dying leaves. The second walk was a photograph session and a bit longer and much warmer a hot 70 in the sun, yet refreshing under the trees along the paths. Muffin and Riley just love to run about sniffing and digging, chasing the animals up trees, into borrows, up into the sky. As well as rolling in the grass, and splashing in puddles. I am amazed at how lush and green, overgrown everything is, damp with dew, finally some fungi and mushrooms to photograph. Finding those is always a fun discovery, but not an easy one sometimes.

First mushroom of the season

I am off to the food store after this to procure some items to add to the changing diet of whole foods and healthy eating. When eating more healthy a trip to the store is a more adventuresome experience, allowing to take in the surrounding, to touch and smell the veggies and fruit, choosing the freshest but also the in season items, as well local. This attention offers greater knowledge and creativity to my diet and food preparation. Yes I have to go to the store more often but it allows for the freshness, variety to enhance the menu.

Growth Question: What affirmations are you using to create safety and positive change in your life?

I am Love, Jeff.

P.S. I looked for a photo of my parents but could not readily find one, stay tuned. There is a photo of my mom in an earlier blog.

to stay in the light

Pink Mountain Laurel

Well it is still morning here on the east coast… I have caught up with myself, had green tea, toast with organic peanut butter and Strawberry preserves (Polaner’s sweetened only with fruit juice). Part of my Life Harmony program is to shift my diet, so moving more into organics and whole foods… What a place into my body is just as important as how I think and respond to the world around me. Creating healthy attitude towards foods/diet as well as the consciousness around what I am preparing in each meal, not just blindly, making the coffee, drinking that for the first two hours of my day, and not eating until lunch, was not a very energetic supply to run body, mind and spirit. So now it is organic green tea, and usually oatmeal, with fresh fruit in season, some ground flax-seed for omega’s, nuts or seeds for flavor and protein! Broke the coffee habit about 2 months ago. Fresh water (filtered) is always handy.

Tiny Blue

One of the important things in this practice is to breathe, to consciously get full breaths from your belly, in through your nose, out through the mouth. Now that we have caught up with all of that. I am now here to write my second “morning pages” in less then 24 hours because I allowed myself to get distracted yesterday and the writing did not happen until 9:30 pm last evening. Better than not at all.

I used this mornings wandering around on the internet to inspire, to infuse, to cultivate some creative juices rather then distract me, from this wondrous paper on Tibetan Art of Healing which I shared on my friend Laurie’s blog Speaking from the Heart in which we have been discussing energy healing. I great source of enlightened practice there.

Yellow and green

Then to my friend Kathy’s Blog:Lake Superior Spirit in which she share about why she writes her blog, to record what she is doing, to capture the essence of time with words and Photographs. There is a paragraph that Kathy wrote the really resonates with me, she writes,”I have been learning to take photographs during the past year or two.  Learning to look closely at the details of lives.  The photos so often flesh out the story of the day.  Whatever photographs present themselves…thus the particular story of the day blows its wind across the lake of WordPress.” I have watched her grow as a photographer, learning to be more comfortable with camera, challenging herself in a fresh way each time. Her words and action resonated because I picked up the camera for much of the same reasons. To capture the everyday, that we may miss, as Kathy also wrote in an earlier blog to” capture the ordinary and make it extraordinary” or something to that effect. Thank you Kathy.

Dandelion Puff

Then there are comments from last night blog that have placed a new creative adventure into my path. The suggestion of posters and or book of nature photographs with inspirational quotes, or poems which I have considered sometime back. My Brother and sister-in-law own and operate a Christian book store in Glassboro NJ The Way Station. In which such items would be salable but I have had some second thoughts about that because I am not fully comfortable with some of the Christian beliefs, causing me to consider if I would be shifting my own beliefs to sell my work? Just a thought.

Yet a book would be great, I can create it and sell it through Blurb which I will truly look into later today. If anyone has any poems or quotes, affirmations that they would like to suggest please do so. Also my Photography is available here .

Last night in my sleep or dreams I kept thinking about this blog and this “morning pages” that I did not link everyone because I was tried and didn’t want to jump through hoops to create the links, I am grateful for all the creative juices that flowed to me over the week, the people that I came in touch with that are sharing their gifts of art, of performance, writing, creating, dancing, singing, or just hugging!!! What special people you all are. I am grateful to the universe for place me and them in the same energy field to vibrate with all the juicy creativity that makes the world go round!!! Wow What a Honor!!  That includes all you folks I mentioned here today.

Moss pods

So as I was saying there is no wrong or right way to do “morning pages” just to get them done! Julia Cameron suggest “There is no wrong way to do morning pages. These daily morning meanderings are not meant to be art. Or even writing. Writing is simply one of the tools… ” So I am using this blog too as a tool to get to the other side, “the other side of fear, of negativity, of my moods. In doing that I may find a quiet center, the place where I hear the still, small voice that is at once our creator’s and our own.” (paraphrased from The Artist’s Way)

I know this is most likely not three pages, it is only maybe 900 words, yet it is what is! My meanderings, my thoughts, my creative juice cultivating my creative recovery and in hopes that other creative recoveries may occur due to my posting this practice.

I also came across this this morning as well and it fits the theme of my blog/pages today!

To Stay in the Light

To stay in the light, one must remain close to it. To stay in the bliss, one must do the same. That is why you are urged, while living with your present Illusion, to do whatever else it takes — meditate, exercise, pray, read, write, listen to music, whatever you find that works — to ignite your awareness daily. Then you will be in the holy place of the Most High. And you will feel high, and think highly of yourself, and of others, and of all of Life. Then, too, will you be able to create and to contribute to Life as you have never contributed before.

Communion With God Neale Donald Walsch Pages 201-202

Growth Question: Are you aware of the Light that you are walking in?

I am Love, Jeff

Arts in Bloom

A Shock of Color

This morning I was to write my “morning pages” and the day kept getting later and later because I had breakfast first, and was checking emails while doing that. So one thing lead to another and the day got away from me.  Here I am now at 9:34 pm EST putting into practice what I wrote I was going to do. I wanted to load the photographs I took yesterday at the Arts in Bloom event in Woodstown NJ. Which is a Salem County event that has artist in venues such as garden, greenhouse, etc, through out the weekend inform locals and gather tourist to the area to experience art and plants in real time. Our Venue was La Rosa Greenhouses in Woodstown NJ. Fellow artist Sharon Fanning was there already painting when I arrived at 3 to walk about taking photographs, talking to the interested people about the Salem Art League which I am member. Fellow Photographer Terry and Jack where there as well, at one point Terry ask if I wanted to get closer shots of the flowers, that I could use his macro lens, I was like Wow, sure, I would love to. So I switch lens and off I went, to see what I could get into. The first thing was to become comfortable using the lens, feeling it out, testing the shots, adjusting the view and vision through the macro lens. I was thrilled and delighted with the work I got.

Pale Pink Gerbera Daisy (macro)

Peach Begonia (macro)

To load the new set of photographs I had to move old shots from iPhoto on to disk, and dump some useless documents that where clogging up my space. I have way too many photographs on my computer in iphoto. Time to buy a back up source or more disk.

I had photographs from Thursday evening when I went to an event at the William Way center; The Arts for All Ages: A Creative Conversation sponsored by Creative Arts and Aging Community. It was an interesting mix of people mostly women, a few men to add a little flavor and down to earthness. (made up word). There where four panelist, who discussed their relationships with the arts and the elderly at senior centers throughout the city and suburbs of Philadelphia. I was asked to photograph the proceedings, and if  there was anything they could use they would be submitted to the William Way Center news letter. I better get to sending some of them soon.

The Arts for all Ages:

Therefor I had about 800 photographs to load up and view once I got done checking emails, responding to blogs, fooling around on Facebook. And a couple of walks in the wet misty day with the dogs through the wood where the fragrance of Honeysuckle and Wild Rose is just lush in the nose it is perfumes everything so wondrously even with the sent of diesel fuel from the FedEx truck service station that butts up against the wooded area we walk each day. The power of those little walks are a blessing for me and the dogs. Our walk in the morning is one of the first things we do, before breakfast and computer/communication time with the world. The time feel the presences for the wood spirits, to sense the trees, and wild animals, to be amazed of the changes each and everyday. The wood is my muse, my photography model, my source for inspiration, more so my source of connection to my inspiration. For it was and is nature that inspired me to begin to photograph her, to offer the world a view of our planet from the ground up. My journey is to photograph the that which we my not see, that nature wants to be seen, shared, honored, Loved. This is my purpose, my commitment to nature for the gift of photography through spirit.

Blue Mist (macro)

Morning pages accomplished, new challenges completed, new adventures to seek out, to behold.

Growth Question: Are  your arts in bloom? What do you have to do to cultivate them?

I am Love, Jeff

Creative Journey

On exhibit

When you “Think of the universe as a vast electrical sea in which you are immersed and from which you are formed, opening to your creativity changes you from something bobbing in that sea to a more fully functioning, more conscious, more cooperative part of that ecosystem.” p.1  Julia Cameron begins her first chapter of “the Artist’s Way”, she is suggesting as an artist that we begin to see our creative connections as a spiritual/electrical/energetic flow. Tapping into that source will allow our minds sets of doubt, fear, confusion about being an artist, and allow us to be open to the synchronicity that surrounds us when we change our minds, make new choices.

“Creativity is harnessing universality and making it flow through your eyes” Peter Korestenbaum

A few weeks back in this blog I stated that I would begin using this space as my morning pages. At that time I was at the end of the 12 week program of The Artist’s Way and in that weeks work it ask the creative to reread, recommit to this path, this program. So here I am  immersed in the energy flow once again, starting from the beginning.

Not only will I do my morning pages on this blog but will attempt to do the essays, exercises, task, and weekly check in, as well as discuss my “artist’s dates” .

On the Path to...

The path is laid out before me, I open myself up to be fully present in the venture in a cooperative part of the energy system that will inform, guide, stand in my way, make me doubt, a fear the process. Yet here I lay myself open to be as authentic as I can be.

The first time through the process was informative, enlightening, much of the exercises I have done before, I have done self inventory, I have look at my past, I have wandered around in my shadows, even in some really dark places. These path takes me there again, and again, Julia states that this process is a spiral, and it will take us back though places, choices, fears, shadows, illuminations, joys, hight creative moments to inform us of new choice, new ideas, moving beyond our old self. Ms Cameron says that we are “the substance we withdraw to, not from, as we pull our overextended and misplaced creative energy back into our core.”

Pink Peony

I must tell you that the process works, That I have moved out of my own way, left the ego do its thing and then gett back in touch with the spiritual energy that is the creative energy that begun this process for me when I began taking photographs 6 years ago without any real knowledge of what I was doing, no knowledge of the camera I was using. I knew I enjoyed it and was moved the first time I down loaded photographs, watching them flip by in slide show accompanied with music. When a fellow artist said to me “these are really good, why are you messing around taking psychology courses, you should go to concentrate on this.”

I never doubted my talent, I walked with my head held high, I remember the first time I told someone I was a photographer, I had gone to the GLBT Center in Albany New York, to look in to their gallery, I knocked on the, they weren’t open yet for the day, young man answered, and I said “I am Jeff Stroud and I am a photographer and would like to see your gallery.” I heard the voice in myself say “did you just say your a photographer?”  Wow !  I never got into that gallery but it was a beginning of walking in to coffee shop, photography groups, joining the artist coop in Cambridge NY, and the path just kept opening and continues to do so. It was me that put a stopper on the flow, I had lost my mojo, or whatever when I returned to NJ, two years ago. I began to search out places to learn, to exhibit, to sell, and continue to still do that, yet my attention was not always with it, I withdrew socially from a lot of things last year, the opportunities where there but many I just could not get myself to accomplish.

So the reason for “The Artist Way”, the reason for Life Harmony work I am doing with Laurie Buchanan, At Holessence, the reason for the blog is to expand, to open, to evolve emotionally, spiritually, and creatively.

Join me on this path, share with me your journey creative or emotional, even spiritual because they are all intertwined. On this path we can encourage and support each other joys and the scaries !

Juried Art show Exhibit Opening reception

Growth Question: Where are you on your creative journey, is it where you planned to be, if not why not, if so how did you get there?

I am Love, Jeff

PS: I almost did not post this!

All work can be found on red bubble.

Exhibit Exhibit

Juried art show 2009

To my wondrous surprise I receive a phone call from the Candice at the William Way Center, I had enter two photographs in the centers annual Juried Art Show. Last year my work was rejected, when I went to pick up my work I saw that the photographs had bubbled up off the backing. So it was a relief that the art was not rejected because they did not like the work ( I think, because they don’t inform you why).  I went to the reception to photograph and to support my fellow artist in spite of my disappointment. These first two photographs are from that show.

last years exhibit

So when I check my messages this morning I had a a call once again from the Center. Candice informed me not only was my work received but I had won, Second Prize! Which is a shared exhibit sometime later in the year. As I stood there listening a second time, to get the phone number to call back, the most amazing feeling of joy over came me, I was dancing with excitement in my room! Wow! Wow! Wow!

I came downstair and told Mom,  her reply was “Good for you, any sales?” Always being practical. Than I called my BF Linda she was so thrilled and supportive, she may come up for Ocean City NJ, for the reception which is Friday May 14, 2010, 6-8 pm at the William Way Center, 1315 Spruce St Philadelphia, Pa.

I than posted the news on Facebook and the response has been wondrous, full of congratulations, and such! I am truly touch by the support and encouragement everyone has offered! I really am!

The photographs I chose are two completely different for me, one is a impromptu photo shoot last year at fellow photographer friends first friday reception at his studio Peter lien where he offered to allow me to use the studio lights, I was thrilled with the offer for I had not really work in that medium. During the evening friends and guest came to the backdrop to pose and clown around it was a lot of fun and a wondrous experience. Out of that came the Kiss, a shot of two friends, Fellow Radical Faeries, Rudy and Ken,

This Kiss

The response from this photo has been amazing and I am thrilled to have had the honor to have photographed such a moment!

The second photograph enter was taken a few weeks ago at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pa. Can also be found on my portfolio . Now title Hall of Closets. This structure is a amazing journey in cold damp, dark cells, falling down walls, peeling paint, and just an eerie feel to it.

Hall of Closets

These photographs are a departure for my usual nature shots of the evolution of our planet, the world around us. Challenging myself in new forms of art, taking risk, allowing my self to grow as an artist and a person in this pursuit allowed me to enter this two photographs in this Juried Art Show. To make a statement with art.

Growth Question: Have you challenged yourself in your life or your creativity lately?

I am Love, Jeff

The Christening

Caroline Ann/Grand Niece

On Saturday April 24, 2010 the family attended the Christening of my Grand Niece Caroline. My brother’s second grandchild, the first child of his daughter Lauren and her husband Doug. Two of the most loving enthusiastic parents I ever saw! Really!

At first I was not going to attend because I always feel like such a stranger among my family, for many reason, one being I had not been around all that much in the past 10 years or so. Yet I decided to go at the last moment, ripping throw draws and piles of cloths to see if I had anything decent to wear. I did and I went, I went to record this momentous event as a documenter of family gatherings, for history, to tell a story or just record the history. So there I was among all the other family, both sides, with all types of cameras, cellphone, mini cameras, two video recorders, I am like oh my how do I get around with all those people flashing and recording? I am in a church, should I act like a family member or a photographer? I chose photographer, I got around the people, got on the floor, shook around the back of the priest, I wanted these shot, I wanted to record this moments, that will be only memories in a year or so!

God Parents

I had the revelation that I find a way into the family gatherings from behind my camera, I can interact with people in different way, I get to see with different I eye, have different experience because I move all over the space, from group to group, person to person, moment to moment, candidly as possible catching those moments… So I am glad I made the choice to attend this Christening, this family gathering.

Mom & Dad, Caroline

Growth Question: How do you respond or react in family events? Are they pleasant or a challenge?

I am Love, Jeff

Photo: are for purchase at http://www.redbubble.com/people/jeffstroud

The purpose is…

The purpose of this blog is to write this blog, to connect with people, sharing my thoughts and journey in writing and photography, as well as other creative opportunity’s that may present themselves.

I have truly lived up to my “reluctant bloger” name this past week or so. As much as I wanted to blog/write I could not concentrate, my mind and thoughts were distracted by distraction of the constant TV in the

Constant TV

background, even with ear pods and beautiful music playing the sound and energy of that idiot box was drowning out any sense of well being I would have to free flow write or to have a continued thought.

The space I share is the dinning room table to be able to hook up to the internet which the TV room is not more then five feet behind me with the sound coming directly into my hearing. So for peace and to write my morning pages, I have either gone to my room or when the weather is nice outside in the yard.

Magnolia Confetti, under the bush.

One would wonder what is difference is today: my intention, me ability to go through the challenge, and thus far no TV on!!!

Growth Question: What do you do when confronted by a challenge? What are your methods of extracting yourself, to find peace and serenity?

I am Love, Jeff

If your are interested in my photograph, please go to http://www.redbubble.com/people/jeffstroud

Moving meditation

shot of my work space

There was this wondrous paragraph in the Artist’ Way that stuck me to the core so I think I will write it here to share with people and the path that is now beginning to unfold for me. I have been working the Artist Way path for the past 11 weeks or more, I missed a week, somewhere alone the way, but I was always aware that I wanted to go through the process completely once. My intention is to begin again when I finish week 12. I am on week 11 now, and that is where the quote that I wish to use tonight come from: “ Creativity requires action, and part of that action must be physical. It is one of the pitfalls of Westerners adopting Eastern meditation techniques to bliss out and render ourselves high but dysfunctional.” This is really what hit me, for this is so where I have been. The paragraph goes on, “We lose our grounding and, with it, our capacity to act in the world.” For me fear and mistrust in the world has caused me to doubt  myself, doubt if I had a place in it anymore, my spiritual knowledge and wisdom, confused me and I could not feel comfortable around others any more.  Julia Cameron offers a remedy for that once we wake up again. She states, “In the pursuit of higher consciousness, we render ourselves unconscious in a new way. Exercise combats this spiritually induced dysfunction… “What we are after here is a moving meditation.” She is talking about walking 2o minutes a day,

Sunset, over suburban NJ

I have been doing that for years now… who knew. And I do it several times a day with the dogs and my heels, and my camera in hand, we travel in our little wood, my mind calms, I listen to the trees, I hear the birds about the din of traffic from the NJ Turnpike less then a mile away. Yet here in our little wood we can enjoy the sound and sights of nature, sit under a tree, route for mushroom, and flowers unseen under the growth of sticker bushes and such. All this time I was in a moving meditation. Now that I am more conscious of this practice, and a practice it is, because I can readily walk through the trees unseeing and un-hearing, unaware of anything else but my own concerns and worry’s and that is not why I went out side… “The goal is to connect to a world outside of us, to lose the obsessive self-focus of self-exploration and simply explore. One quickly notes that when the mind is focused on other, the self often comes into a far more accurate focus”

fresh green spring

Growth question: What is your moving meditation, are you going to begin a practice of a moving meditation now that you can consciously begin to see the benefits of the practice?

The Passing Through

Magnolia NJ spring path

I was truly being the reluctant bloger today! I thought about what I would write all day, even now I am not sure what will present it self here!

We, the family, my sister Arden, her husband, Jim, and Mom attended our cousin Teresa viewing this evening, she transitioned on Monday her  83th Birthday . 8 weeks after she found out she had cancer.

She lived and Loved well, she was a constant companion to my mom, they shared many travels and paths together around, lost of husbands, and children. Yet always ready for a new adventure. So now Teresa adventures have sifted to the other realm, her travels not over but only just begun to emerge in the state of angels, ever gracing those around her with joy and caring.

So I guess our path today is our journey home, are complete trip from this form to the next. Where our Oneness is truly One, or is it, maybe once we get there we desire to come back to a planet and try life one more time? Who knows? In our dreams, in our intentions, in our intuitions, which are full of wisdom and knowledge, does the answer lie there?

Just musing about life and death about Oneness, and our journey Home? Or are we already home? And have just forgotten?

Seems I have created more questions than answer. But as long as I am still asking the questions the journey continues, continues here anyway!

Spring apple blossom buds