Maui Condo with a View

Aloha! We have arrived safely, but still adjusting to the four hour time difference! We had a lazy day settling into the lovely condo. After making a run to the grocery store ( gas is $4 per gal and a 12 pack of soda is $9 ) we made our first of many trips down to the beach. The beautiful sandy beach is just minutes out the door. It was around 76 degrees and windy. There were many little hand gliders/wind surfers flipping about and kite wind surfers were quite impressive!

We drove to Lahina for a great dinner sitting outside watching the sun sink into the ocean. Then we wandered through many shops, but I haven't come across any treasures just yet.

The condo is on the fifth floor so we catch a wonderful breeze coming through the sliding glass doors in both the living room and bedroom each having it's own lanai. The living room lanai has comfy chairs with a table. We have a fantastic view and actually watched a huge whale working his way across the ocean today!

Wish you were here!

Yang, Male Japanese Beta Fish

Yang is my male Japanese Beta fish. I have left him in the very capable hands of a friend while Rustic and I travel to Maui. My friend reports that Yang has been throwing wild parties, having pizza delivered at all hours, and keeping her up all night. I don't think this is true as nothing would keep her awake at night!

Russ and I hope to soak in the sunshine, lounge by the ocean, and commune
with all of nature.

I will be posting pictures as our return trip to paradise unfolds. Aloha!

A Hunting Party by Hafiz

A

Hunting Party

Sometimes has a greater chance

Of flushing love and God

Out into the open

Than a warrior

All

Alone

   Quote from Hafiz

Faces of Time

Time is an illusion that fascinates as it displays expansion and contraction as though it were a rubber band.   Sometimes it is a bookmark so we can find where we left off or it is a comma enabling segments of life to be linked together.  We can be suspended in time, lose track of time, or be passed over by time.  Where did the time go?  What time is it?  When do you find the time? 

The great imposter becomes even more apparent once we are in a position where life is no longer governed by time.  We can let time unfold without consequences or unrealistic expectations.  What we don’t get done today, we can always finish up tomorrow without pressure or demands.  We notice the duality of time as well.  While the days, months, or years seem to accelerate at high speeds, individual hours are in slow motion allowing an awareness of the beauty that surrounds us. 

Time is a dictator orchestrating life until we relinquish the watch from the wrist and we begin to march to the cadence of our heart’s desires.  Life becomes full of rich moments, deeper relationships with friends, nature, and the very essence of life itself.  Instead of beginning the day with the shrill of an alarm, we embrace the crispness of a morn with sounds of silence, reflection, and gratitude.

Admittedly, time brings order to the chaos we live in, but my appreciation is reserved for my antique clock properly displayed on my mantle. Although I miss the deliberate tick-tock of the swaying pendulum that once partitioned life, I no longer crank the key nor hear the endearing chime.  The aged timepiece simply reflects another face of time.

Fear and Love by Alan Cohen

"Fear tells us that we are small, powerless, and separate.  Love affirms that we are great, creative, and connected.  Which voice do you choose to be your guide?" 

A Deep Breath of Life by Alan Cohen

                            

Amanda Rose at the Labyrinth

Amanda Rose ...

The most fragrant flower in my garden.


       Labyrinth at Grace Cathedral
          San Francisco, California
                    June 2010

              

Glancing out the Window

Glancing out my window accompanied by my morning coffee, I see that as predicted snow is on the ground.  I clutch my mug in both hands, hoping the warmth will spread through my body and take away this morning chill.  My good mood dissipates into darkness as I realize that I won’t be going anywhere today.   I begin to feel cut off from everything while feelings of resentment and isolation seep deeply into me.

When I step back from the window, I cannot help but notice my sun catcher.  Is it coincidence that this heart hanging in the window reminds me of my morning meditation prompting me to look through eyes of love to bring light into darkness?  I wonder to myself if the landscape of life could change by simply altering a lens.

Positioning myself once again in front of the window, I close my eyes and bring my hands over my heart.  As I breathe in, the light of love radiates with all things possible for me.  As I breathe out, I release all limitations confining me. 

As my eyes slowly open, they warmly embrace an entirely different view.  The heavy blanket of snow has been transformed into a lovely cloak protecting the little seedlings and tubers hibernating in the rich soil.  The snow laden bushes now seem to be entwined supporting each other as if it were the kindest thing to do.  The trees proudly stand with this white decoration as though it were an honor to have their branches blessed by snow.  The dark green ivy wintering on the fence adds creative depth to this scene, and the birds in flight seemingly carry small badges of hope on their wings.  The old wooden gate stands half way open ready to embrace all creatures inclined to come or to go.

Seeing through my heart with the eyes of love I once again feel connected to all there is and to all there is to know.  I am in awe of the artistic beauty and the silent grace of this early gentle morn.  I am humbled by the simplicity of nature and enhanced by the messages it brings.  I will embrace this day and hold this morning dear.  It has been a lesson of my heart and how love effortlessly transforms a view.

                                                  

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the words of Alan Cohen:
"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of my heroes. I respect him because he relied on the power of God, truth, and love rather than falling back on base instincts. Even more important, he walked his talk. Rather than sending other men off to war, he marched in front of his troops., Rather than making a particular person or group the enemy, he singled out fear and prejudice as the enemies to be overcome. He went to jail rather than compormise his integrity. He lived his vision and died with great courage. He didn't just talk about world transformation,. He lived it."

(Quotation from Great Spirits, A DEEP BREATHE OF LIFE by Alan Cohen)

THE ART OF DREAMING II

In the first section of THE ART OF DREAMING (posted on Virginia’s Voice January 10, 2011), it was established that dreams are a form of communication having a unique language to be individually interpreted.   Everyone dreams every night in full color having approximately three dreams per night whether remembered or not.  Dreams open a pathway into a deeper understanding of life when the reflected information is unraveled and applied.

My childhood was filled with a very colorful dreamscape.  The dreams were rich with details and symbols, none of which I understood.  By repressing fears and emotions, nightmares grew into recurring dreams.  The only avenue of escape available to me was writing.  Jotting down experiences and dreams helped me to memorize and normalize events in my life, but I was too young to actually decipher any of it. 

The summer before my senior year of college my parents down sized and relocated. The one box left for me was filled with the testimonies of my life.  Enclosed were numerous one year, two year, and even three year diaries.  Included were two novels I had written between 7^th and 8^th grade.  Lastly, there were very dark writings from high school. 

My father had always discouraged my writing and I knew that my box of collected writings were no longer safe.  Building a fire in the burn barrel, my father instructed me to ‘just get rid of the trash’ and so I foolishly burned it all.  I mourn taking that action to this day.

Twenty years later, I met a woman working on her thesis entitled, HANDBOOK FOR JOURNALING, Techniques for use in Psychotherapy. The friend offered to let me read her thesis and it was within those pages that I discovered validation for my writing as well as the importance of dream recording. The term “journaling” had yet to become popular and with the arrival of computers spell check quickly redlined the word itself. 

In 1988, I purchased the book The Mystical , Magical, Marvelous World of Dreams by Wilda B. Tanner.  It easily explained differing types of dreams, the ability to recall dreams, interpret dreams, and recognize dream symbols.   It became the bridge between my internal and external worlds and I have been journeying back and forth ever since.

Dreaming will bring both negative and positive aspects of life to the surface.  It is capable of releasing sadness, extracting the forgotten, initiating healing, and creating joy.  As a valuable tool to integrate parts of the self, dreaming is priceless.  It is a mirror reflecting that which may not normally be seen.   Dreaming restores a sense of wholeness, brings a sense of magic to life, and turns life into an adventure.

THE ART OF DREAMING III will discuss one of the many dream categories and will contain both dream examples and interpretations for consideration.  This discourse will create an awareness and exploration leading to a wonderful journey.

                                        You may say I’m a dreamer,

                                        but I’m not the only one,

                                       I hope someday you will join us,

                                      and the world will live as one.

                                                                         - John Lennon

                                                          

THE ART OF DREAMING

 

THE ART OF DREAMING was a presentation I made on January 8, 2011 for the Branford Foundation.  The forty attendees gathered together to explore a variety of dreams, dream symbols, and directives for dream recall.  Embracing dreams as a means of communication, the audience was encouraged to discover the unique meaning to personal dream language.  Through storytelling examples were given reflecting the magic of dreams.

Attention was distributed amongst cultures, historical figures, and current dreamers.  Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese cultures honored dream interpretation.  Native American Indians daily monitored dreams; listened to the dreams of children and elders; participated in sacred dream days; and held dream festivals.

There are so many other dreamers:  Ramanujan, a mathematical genius from India received formulas in his dreams from a Hindu goddess.   Mary Shelley’s idea for the story of Frankenstein came to her in a dream.  Robert Lewis Stevenson’s story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came to him in a dream.  Mr. Stevenson wrote, rewrote, and published his classic within ten weeks.  German organic chemist Frederick August Kekule von Stradonitz’s “Structure Theory” resulted from his dreams.

Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine dreamed that he was taken captive by natives.   He was in the middle of the natives circle fearing death, when he noticed the spears being pounded up and down into the earth had small holes in the tips. It was from this nightmare that he was able to perfect his invention.

Louis Agassiz, 1807-1883 was the Founding Father of Modern American Scientific Tradition.  He was working with newly discovered fossils.  For three consecutive nights he dreamed of a particular fish with explicit markings.  On the third night, he finally got up and sketched the design of the fish.  The next morning he found a fish amongst the fossils that perfectly matched his sketch and that had never been previously catalogued.

Madame C. J. Walker 1867-1919 was an African American woman who became the first woman millionaire.  She had a scalp condition that would not heal no matter what she tried.  In a dream, a large black man appeared to her telling her of a potion, the exact ingredients, and how to apply it to her scalp.  Upon awakening, Madame Walker prepared the tincture and applied it to her head.  Much to her surprise, her scalp healed.  She continued experimenting with tonics, lotions, and cosmetics becoming a very wealthy woman.  She was a highly respected business woman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

In our current day, Jack Nicklaus credits his improved golf swing to a dream; Paul McCartney credits the song YESTERDAY to a dream; and Stephen King credits many of his bazaar book ideas as coming from dreams.  Authors, song writers, poets, inventors, and all human beings have the ability to tap into their dream source where unlimited discoveries can be made.

(Enough for one sitting!  I will continue, as Paul Harvey would say, “The Rest of the Story” as time allows, working my way through the entire presentation.  I will follow the outline sharing quotes and references as I report.) 

Quoting the wonderful lyrics of the Carpenters:

                                We’ve Only Just Begun …

                         Sharing horizons that are new to us          

                        Watching the signs along the way

                        Talkin’ it over, just the two of us

                        Workin’ together day to day, together …



Looking for the Light ...

Keep looking for the light. 

Breathe in the richness of what is now, knowing that it will expand. The light will carry you into the darkness until it is dark no more.

                    

                             

The Challenge of the Inclining Road

Dreams are a form of language that is not only unique, but intimate. 

We have the choice of declining or accepting information in our dreams

and of determining how we will utilize them.  Dreams open a pathway

into a deeper understanding of the self.  It is only when the dreamer brings awareness to the dreamscape that the hidden desires unfold.

There was a time in my life when a relationship began to interfere with my spiritual path.  My beliefs were constantly challenged and I grew defensive.

As I minimized the importance of differing opinions, a heaviness

grew inside of me.  Suppressing my spiritual journey created

internal turmoil that I unwisely attempted to ignore. 

Then I had a dream:

I was happily walking up a tree lined road with sunshine warming my face. Feeling sure footed, I traveled up the incline as a gentle breeze

played with wisps of my hair.  I was being propelled up the road by a deep conviction to follow this path.  Even though I could not see over the

horizon, there was no question as to where I was being led.

In spite of the protection from the arched trees, perspiration began

to trickle down my spine and my legs began to buckle from

a mysterious weight.  I began to stumble and fall.  I knew as

this weariness increased I would never reach my destination.

I abruptly stopped in the middle of the road.   With grace and ease,

I lifted the man off of my back and placed him on the ground. 

Without any hesitation I turned and easily proceeded up the road. 

When I awakened from this dream, the message was brutally clear. 

In order for me to pursue my spiritual path, I could no longer

be weighed down by the relationship with this man.   As I recorded

every aspect of this dream in my journal, the right decision

resonated within me. 

Perhaps it would not be wise to alter the course of your life

based upon one dream, but frequently the accuracy of dream

content will bring repressed emotions to the surface.  When

you understand the language of your dreams, the results

can be profound.   Wisdom from dreams is delivered in living

3D color with heightened stereo sounds and physical sensations

making the message difficult to ignore! 



End of Day

 

The day had been filled with sunshine brightening my every move.  I firmly planted my feet on the snow covered earth and stretched my arms towards the sun hoping warmth would slide into my soul.    

The night too soon approached, hanging a cloak of darkness around my lonely heart.  Nestled in my favorite chair, escaping into written words I dared to wander into thoughts of what life would next present. The evening hours slipped into a painful passing as I waited time for bed. 

The evening finally came to a close and I snuggled in my bed.  I cleared my mind of all chatter and lists while hoping sleep would gently rock me into the realms of vision and flight.  There I would be suspended in time and restored to peace by a lullaby until the morning light.



Bookmarks

Some bookmarks have torn edges and creases galore,
while others script brilliance like rockets that soar.

Indiscriminately shuffled through pages unknown
would not be pleasant nor a choice of my own.

I would rather be ink, permanent and bold,
imprinted on pages for all to behold!