The Heart Breaks Open.......

The Heart breaks open until it stays open to life  - a hard thing to do in the face of such loss, violence and cruelty  in the world. In much of my "wisdom" readings, I see this concept over and over again.
I know as I have aged so many of my shields to ward off the pain are disinegrating and my heart breaks over and over again is more unprotected. It has been said that keeping the heart open is the only way beauty and love can enter and the only way compassion and solace can be offered to those wounded and needy souls. 

This morning a friend forwarded me pictures of a beautiful, young couple prior to his deployment
and dismemeberment.  He may not be whole in body, but their love has survived and her comittment
to him is even stronger. As I scroll thru these pictures my heart is breaking once again and any small-minded problems I may have fall away in the face of this kind of open-hearted love.  May we all keep our hearts open in this new year ahead and replace the fear and anger with love and trust. Namaste to all.  Ginger

opening the heart with gratitude

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_embedded&v=nj2ofrX7jAk

Waiting - Just being present

At the beginning of my morning meditation, I start by reading a passage from one of my favorite writer's
Mark Nepo.  Here is an excerpt from this morning's:

At times life seems an enormous waiting room with no destination, in which some walk stiffly to and fro, waiting for the pain to stop. Others wait for something good to happen. Still others fear that something bad will begin. The driven plan while they wait. I am each of them.

It is such a struggle-has always been-for each of us to settle deep enough into the wait, into the weight till we discover that there's nowhere to go.

Perhaps the greatest challenge, once fully awake, is to drop all reaching and simply open like a clam waiting in the deep until life in all its guises floods through the half-closed center that is us.

Then God enters us like a brilliant stone falling in a lake, and the past ripples behind us and the future ripples before us and we are breathing in eternity.

           as you enter your day, try not to reach for life, try not to leave or arrive, try to let life enter you.

Is this really spring?

Spring is the season for reemergence; moving up and out; a very strong energy to begin again. Everything that was hidden begins to break ground and open. Nature is our model as a deeply buried seeds crack open and reach for the light. The many shades of green,yellow and pinks are everywhere and we want to throw off our heavy winter protection and put on our lighter and brighter selves to match the world around us.

Since the climate this winter was so mild, we may not have had enough time to go inward and

cultivate the energy needed to reemerge. The reemergence was not gradual as everything burst open at once and the pollen flew in great abundance. Are we being asked to move along our path more quickly? This accelerated energy can feel overwhelming for some of us as nature buffets us back and forth between spring to the heavy heat of summer from one day to the next. Since we can do nothing about mother nature's whims, honor your own personal energy and timing to reemerge. Namaste Ginger

All Hearts Are One

If you place two living heart cells from different people in a

Petrie dish, they will in time find and maintain a third and

common beat - Molly Vass

Wishing that everyday was Valentine's Day; the day of expressing

our Love for another I wanted to share (paraphrase) some thoughts on our connection to every sentient being from one of my most favorite writers- Mark Nepo from The Book of Awakening.

This biological fact holds the secret of all relationship. It is cellular proof that beneath any resistance we might pose and beyond all attempts that

fall short , there is in the very nature of life itself some essential joining force. This inborn ability to find and enliven a common beat is the miracle of love. This force is what makes compassion possible, even probable. If two cells can find the common pulse beneath everything, how much more can full hearts feel when we stop fighting how our hearts want to join. It is then that we find both the strength and peace that come from our hearts beating in unison with all that is alive.

The Energy of Winter
Making friends with Silence and the Art of
Listening
　
Life slows down during the winter. We tend to stay close to home.
The Earth invites us to rest in silence and solitude. She encourages us to draw
from the well of collective wisdom during this season or retreat.
The three months of winter are called the period of closing and storing.
Water freezes and the Earth cracks open. We are wise to retire early and
rise later in the morning, waiting for the rising of the sun.The
Chinese medical model sees Winter as a time to go deeply into one ‘s
self, meditating, finding the silence within.It is being in harmony
with the season of gestation and regeneration.
Water is the element of winter and its vast reservoir of creativity, love
and compassion holds all possibilities. In this reservoir the truth resides.
The creative source provides all life, nourishment, rest and restoration.
Listening deeply in this place, the silence soothes and restores us, allowing
the truth of our oneness with all sentient beings to open our hearts. It
is listening that dissolves the obstacles that keep us separate from one
another and the whole of all life.
It is by listening that we become like a womb, fully receptive to the unknown
willing to wait, to allow the gestation and manifestation of the creative truth.
I give you my listening and you speak your life... and together we bring
forth the world in peace.

finding the video of the last post

I am told that clicking on the URL gets you no where. So here is my suggestion to view it.
Go to www.vimeo.com and search for The Great Bell Chant. Please post comments to let me know if you can view it. Ginger

A Blessed and Peaceful New Year

I want to share this beautiful video that calls forth the best of humankind. May we each cultivate and share the best of ourselves. Namaste Ginger




URL:http.//vimeo.com/6518109