Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Life at Findhorn

I have been here at Findhorn for 3 weeks now. It has been a pure joy in many ways and then, of course, my stuff (patterns and issues) has been coming up which is not always so pleasant. One of my patterns is getting too busy. I try very hard to leave space in my day and in my life. Space for spontaneity, space for my thoughts, space for others, space for connection to the Divine and Nature which to me are one and the same.

When I first came here many years ago I remember thinking I was coming to a monastery sort of place where I thought I would be free to spend much of my time in prayer and contemplation and connection to Source. While that is certainly possible here, it is only possible if you are on a workshop or can learn to be connected to the Divine as you are doing everything else. In many ways this is the core of "work is love in action," and "hearing the small still voice within." It is being able to be connected and still enough within to hear the voice and feel the connection so that all one's actions come from this source.

The longer I am here the more my pattern of busyness, with the loud obnoxious, voice of "gotta get things done," fills my time and presses me. It is also a pattern of this place as everyone who lives here is often very busy and stressed. There is so much to do, so many people to hold, meals to be cooked, rooms to be cleaned, huge gardens to be tended. It seems hard to keep space within in the midst of so many people and things that need doing, hard to find quiet enough to hear the voice. So the question for me is how do I give Nature/ Spirit the value and space as an equal part of my life along with all the busy things of making money to live and taking care of all the physical things? How do we as members of the community give Nature/Spirit a voice and equal seat at the table? How do we structure our lives and organizations with Nature and the spiritual as a valued member? How do as humans in the collective of humanity live as if the living systems that support us and make this planet inhabitable for us really mattered?

There are some interesting efforts being made around the world to do just this. One that I am aware of is in Ecuador where the people have worked to include Nature in their constitution as a being with rights. In the US, corporations have legal rights as individuals without the accountability and responsibilities, they have also been given more rights than individuals now in some ways. So recognizing Nature as a being and valuing it by giving it rights seems a logical and good and important move to me. I would like to see this be the case in all countries - a recognition that our environment is of value as more than a commodity to be exploited. That it is actually a living participant in all of our lives can not be denied or neglected. As the oil continues to hemorrhage the life blood of our economy into the ocean that is the source of life it seems a good opportunity to take pause, to stop and reflect upon where our drive for progress is progressing us to? What is our constant drive for economic growth growing us into? As we damage and foul our oceans, air, water, soil where will all the animals go, how will plants continue to grow, what will feed us, what will we drink, what will we breathe, will we construct a biosphere bubble to live in? What are we doing as a species? What have we become? Is this what we want? Are the corporations who rule the world creating a world that we want to be living in, or even one that we are even able to live in?

As my pattern of filling my life with busyness fills my hours I forget about all of this. I get frustrated, irritated, and have no time to interact or connect with others. But then, I am at Findhorn. There are guests and sharings that happen. I hear the voice of a guest who says, "thank you for giving me permission to stop and connect and hear the voice of Nature." And I remember what I am doing here, and what I value. Then I get an e-mail from a friend who says take a look at Eileen's guidance for today and I know that I am connected and that I can indeed hear if I only take the time to listen . . . .

Daily Guidance
from Eileen Caddy's book Opening Doors Within

Tuesday 29th June 2010

Be not over burdened by all that has to be done. Simply learn to take one step at a time and know that each step leads you one step nearer the goal. Do not try to run before you can walk, or undertake something that is too much for you, so that you have to drag yourself along, with every step an effort. Doing so is not the right attitude; it is not being filled with My joy and freedom. It means you are trying to do it on your own strength; it means that you have separated yourself from Me and have lost the vision. Stop what you are doing, and then change your whole attitude. Hand it all over to Me, and then relax and enjoy what you are doing in a completely new way. Change of attitude can come in the twinkling of an eye, so change and change quickly, and dance and sing through this day hand in hand with Me.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Arthurs Seat



These are pictures from Arthur's Seat which is an extinct volcano located on one side of town. In some of the photos you will see parts of the city through sort of saddles in the hills. All the yellow on the hillside is the gorse in full bloom. It is such a rich beautiful yellow and smells strongly of coconut and apricot. There is also a picture of Holyrood Palace which is where the Queen stays when she comes to town and some lads enjoying a game of football on a lovely sunny day.






I had these in order but the blogger program doesn't seem to care. So sorry about the willy nillyness of the photos. Hopefully by next post I'll have it worked out better.

Next stop Findhorn.










Edinburgh #2



Next is a picture of a beautiful Iris blooming in her front garden and of Lulu her rescued greyhound who has been a gentle companion on many of my wanderings about Arthur's Seat and town.

Edingburgh Scotland 2010



Aloha from Edinburgh.
I arrived a few days ago and have been having a wonderful time wandering about, eating great food and enjoying the company of Jeanne my mother in law, and her dog Lulu. At left is a picture of the front of her house which is in a tucked away little lane in the midst of Edinburgh. On the right is her front gate which I think is lovely.

The only way I can see to do this is to make several separate posts because I can't seem to upload the pictures in the context of my words. It always wants to put them up top at the beginning. If anyone knows a better way to do this please let me know.