Take An Appreciation Break :-)

Click here for more of Martin Spina's art.

Right now, give yourself a few moments of your time. Take a couple of long slow luxurious breaths. After you have relished that sweet release, ponder and appreciate at least one thing that went right today... and if that feels good, keep going! ♥

I found this image on the Facebook page Sun Gazing.

When I Become A Superhero...

When I become a superhero one of my powers will be to open people to their own hearts. I'll have several cool ways to do it including a love bomb ;-) I promise you, the only thing that will ever bring real change to any situation, internal or external, is love. Since I am not a superhero, yet, I am beginning by working on opening my own heart and offering love to everyone and everything in all of existence. Love is the way, I know it with every fiber of my being.

And while we're on the topic of superheroes... my favorite superheroes are the Green Lanterns. The beautiful artwork at the top of this post is Gloria Gypsy's interpretation of Anahata, the heart chakra. (Click on the image to go to her shop.) The beautiful artwork just above this paragraph is the Green Lanterns' symbol. Oddly similar, no? Ha ha ha! Green Lanterns receive a special ring and a lantern that allows them to channel a magical green energy. The story says that they need sufficient will power to wield the power. They wear the symbol on their heart chakras, and the green energy is the opposite of fear. When they channel it they can create anything, literally anything, that they are able to imagine. Their ability to not be controlled by fear, their will power, and their imaginations are truly what the beings bring to the table and the green energy does everything else. As far as I know the only thing that controls our fears is trust, either in ourselves or in a higher power... and that, my friends, is why I love Green Lanterns! I even have a tattoo of the symbol. Love and joy from me to all of you!

The Most Sacred Place of All...

I've been in a cocoon for awhile, but I feel my wings sprouting again... so let's play!

Click here to find this fabulous watercolor from Megan Welti.

Would you like to 'hear the music' Nietzche was referring to? If you play around with the following meditation every day, eventually you will hear the music, and much more. If you are already hearing it, then it will just get clearer and more defined.

Close your eyes and take three long slow breaths as you bring your awareness to your internal workings. Imagine the breath flowing all the way to your fingers and toes. After the third breath, bring your awareness to your heart chakra, in the center of your chest. Imagine a beautiful, warm, cozy cave inside the center of your own chest. Take a moment to feel the boundaries of the cave and then imagine you are there, sitting on the floor in the center of your beautiful heart cave. Feel the soft carpet, what color is it? Mine is lavender! Breathe swirling gold and white light into that space, illuminating the walls... as you release your breath feel the sensation of being in that space deepen. Play with this, look around with your mind's eye and see what shows up. Check in and see if you notice that things feel different to you when your awareness is focused in your heart. If you begin to feel a physical sensation in your chest, like a gentle pressure or slight cramping feeling, give yourself a pat on the back! That means you are doing a great job! Enjoy!

Love, love, love to all y'all! ;-) ♥

The Wayseer Manifesto

I've Been Drinking from the Cup of Hafiz!

The Ceiling at the tomb of Hafiz
Photo from Roozbeh Taassob @ Wikimedia Commons

There is no sweeter nectar for the heart and soul than the poetry of the great Sufi master Hafiz. I have taken to opening up my copy of "The Gift" in the morning to begin my day with some pure unadulterated joy. I have fallen, and fallen hard, for Daniel Ladinsky's translations of my beloved Hafiz. Pick up a copy, you will most certainly will not regret it. Here is my favorite poem of all time:

If The Falling of a Hoof

If the falling of a hoof
Ever rings the temple bells,


If a lonely man's final scream
before he hangs himself


And the nightingale's perfect lyric
Of happiness
All become an equal cause to dance,

The Sun has at last parted
It's curtain before you-

God has stopped playing child's games
With your mind
And dragged you backstage
By the hair,

Shown to you the only possible
Reason

For this bizarre and spectacular
Existence.

Go running through the streets
Creating divine chaos,

Make everyone and yourself ecstatically mad
For the Friend's beautiful open arms.

Go running through this world
Giving love, giving love,

If the falling of a hoof upon this earth
Ever rings the
Temple
Bell.

Oh My God! I love that poem soooooooooo much. I feel such unimaginable bliss and awe every single time I read it. I can almost see Hafiz sitting on the steps of a temple, giggling away as a passing camel's footfall rings the temple bells... Oh what a beautiful and wondrous world it is that we live in!

Holy Valentine Batman!

If you follow my other blog TempleGreen you know that I lost my Chihuahua, Mae, last Sunday. Even though she was very old, 16ish, it's really hard to let go, the loss was devastating. My mom sent me an email with these photos this morning, in an effort to cheer me up. The email included the following explanation;

A PUPPY has been born in Japan with a large, clear, love-heart-shaped pattern in his coat. The Chihuahua was born in May as one of a litter to a breeder. Shop owner Emiko Sakurada said it was the first time a Puppy with the marks had been born out of a thousand she had bred. She had no plans to sell the puppy, which has been named 'Heart-kun'. The long-coated male Chihuahua puppy was born in Odate, northern Japan.

Oddly enough I have been finding hearts in some very strange places over the past year and this puppy is not the craziest one... but certainly the cutest! I wrote about some of the crazy hearts I found in the post "Love from Above and Below" in TempleGreen. I've found a bunch of hearts since I wrote that post last February, including a fried calamari heart floating in marinara and a big heart of bubbles floating in my bath tub! If you think I sound crazy go check out the dog pee heart, fluff heart and cloud heart on TempleGreen and judge for yourself.

Happy Valentine's Day little Heart-kun, you are most certainly loved!