Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


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Unseeing

The gift of sight is precious.

And the gift of sight quite limiting.

Energy bent,

refracted,

contorted,

to fit the confines of the mind.

Even with eyes closed,

the mind is seeing.

All of it fabricated.

If the image banks once overflowing were purged,

all unseen,

what would remain?

The seer.

The knower behind and beyond the images.

The opportunity to reimagine,

as in dreams,

as in daydreams,

as in reality,

all for the sake of being seen.


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Potentiality

The light turns green.

Out of the depot pours the continuous stream of yellow-orange pods.

They move like ants,

single file at first,

jockeying for the lead,

then dispersing.

Like homing pigeons

with seemingly choreographed maneuvers,

they dance across the dashed lines and in between the rows of trees.

They scurry off to their destinations,

one single mission,

primed to transport their precious cargo,

conveyors of potentiality.


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Struck

The current flows through me like a lightening bolt.

Jaggedly it rips at my center.

The burning wake of hollowness almost crumbles me to the ground.

As the charge hits the earth,

it dissipates,

diffuses,

extinguished in a flash.

Breath and smoldering flesh hang on.

Roots cling to the soil,

unhinged by the destruction.

The sky still dark,

the air now still,

droplets descend from the clouds as a small peace offering and attempt to soothe.

Shhhh….

calls out the rain.

You will prevail.

Forever changed, yes.

Wearing the beautiful mark

of challenge overcome,

and your willingness to be a conduit

for the powerful energy of

change.


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Boldly Going Nowhere

Frenetically charging ahead.

Pushing to make something happen.

Squandering the gift time has given of ponderance.

Moving and changing is exhilarating.

The powerful rush of adrenaline

on the grand loops and dips of the roller coaster.

Is that sustainable?

Movement for the sake of movement can release and even bring progress.

Advancing into action

can relieve pain and fear.

It can also bring injury and dis-ease.

There is great potential for harm with repetitive movement absent proper supports and conditioning.

Every decision is filled with regret or acceptance.

Every decision is likely being made in response to fear.

It may be the greatest fear we have is remaining where we are.

Every decision can be empowering.

It may not require striving,

movement

or big changes

to demonstrate prowess,

intellect,

and power.

It may be adventurous.

It may untangle the bonds of current conditions.

Or, it may be escapism,

grandiosity,

avoidance.

It may be a means of hiding

or running away

from the lessons available right where we are.

Just being,

in the stillness,

in the simplicity,

in the temporarily perceived lack

and stagnation

could be just what is needed

to truly free the heart,

open the mind,

and honestly and gratefully embrace one’s spirit.

To boldly go where no one has gone before

may be an invitation

to stay right where we are.


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Peace of the Heart

In the space of silence and stillness,

there is an enormous void,

fabulous,

wide open,

freeing.

Or hollow,

isolating,

lonely?

It is one space.

In encountering this space,

there is a choice made instantly.

Inquiry,

assessment,

judgment

all rush in to

analyze,

identify,

interpret.

The recoiling in the stark emptiness is natural –

that moment when the stillness startles and unnerves as it presses against the constricting familiar.

And, each and every time,

that space can be met with

curiosity or fear,

acceptance or resistance.

It is the potentiality that resides in the peace of the heart.

It is a choice to receive it

as a gift

or a challenge

when feeling so fully

and completely

into ourselves.


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Misunderstood Magic

My friend, we are not unicorns,

But dragons!

Full of fire.

Welling with generosity.

Sensitive to every tide

and shift of the barometer.

Fueled by passion.

Righteous in ancient tradition.

Bleeding tenderness and hope.

So sorely misunderstood

and under valued.

Especially when we love most deeply,

reveal our sensitive nature,

and suppress our power.

We submit to others

so that they can feel strong.

We are so powerful that we can suppress our very own needs,

to the point of falling ill and weak,

until inside us awakens the dragon heart

and we become so much love,

so much joy,

that the entire world lights up from our magnificence

and all doubt and judgment fades,

revealing our scales,

our scars,

and our wounds.

Stepping

proudly,

unapologetically,

fully

into our power.


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Dear charioteer

Be firm in your direction of travel,

humbled confidence as your guide.

With peace, kindness, and assuredness,

go forth.

Fulfill your dreams.

Don your most regal robes of passion and creativity.

Harness the flames of focus and determination.

Let the earth quake and rumble,

the skies fill with darkness,

and ride not into conflict and challenge as a battle,

but as an opportunity to demonstrate your

strength,

intelligence,

and fortitude.


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Allow Me

Root my grounding cord deep into the earth.

Open my mind to the wisdom of the universe.

Flow endless love and joy through the river of my heart.

Fuel me with confidence and clarity.

Allow me to be a humble reservoir of harmony and balance,

in the space between earth and sky,

in this space of being human.


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Showing up

I can.

I will.

I am.

Because someone needs it.

My voice,

my intellect,

my pulchritude,

my courage,

my strength,

my kindness,

my grace,

deserve to be

seen,

heard,

felt,

held.

I will make a big, beautiful, bold, magnificent mark on the world…

Because I already have.

Flock to my greatness.

Celebrate me.

Show me pure,

authentic,

loyal,

sweet,

daring,

unconditional love,

the same way I am showing up for you in this world.


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Flourishing

Are the flowers each their own?

Are their petals each their own?

To whom do the seeds and leaves belong?

Do they come together to complete the plant?

Is the plant completing them?

Are the flowers extensions of the plant?

Could one survive without the other?

Each part grows uniquely,

in its own special way,

and still, they all contribute to something bigger.

Each part is invited to do their own work,

and to serve one another.

Each part seems separate

and yet only together

do they truly flourish.