Trip Out West 2012

Here are a few photos from our trip out west in August 2012.
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Eight Hour Thunderstorm

Have at it all you insomniacs! This will last al lnight long!!

A Mulitcolored Canvas of Diversity

Watching the recent presidential inauguration ceremonies I was struck by the images of the spectators in the vast crowed assembled along the Mall in front of the White House. I saw a beautiful canvas of diversity that really moved me. In this vast sea every kind of human had assembled to rejoice in the swearing in of a man who embraces the value of diversity and who supports the ideals of equality.

As the camera roamed the faces I saw many skin colors, hair styles, dress styles. Some faces were young, some old. Some folks had tattoos and some folks wore suits. In all there was the common hope that this president would continue to advance the cause of equality, however slow that advance might prove to be. This president would not just seek to please the privileged few but would fight for the little guy. I want to believe this, and I do believe it,  though I know that some of my friends will call me naive.

I wondered how the crowd might look different for a different swearing in, that of Mitt Romney. I doubt there would have been the same diverse palate. I imagine many would have been home wondering how such a person might represent them at the table. I would have been home. I would not have been watching the proceedings though.

But that did not happen and my hope in the process was renewed. In Obama's speech he included references to the value of all citizens, especially citizens whose voice may be weaker than their neighbor's voice. For the first time ever in an inauguration speech he included LGBT people in his broad and sweeping vision for a better, more humane society. In many ways for me he described a society that I want to believe is possible in spite of the difficulties along the way.

Standing in line at the local Earth Fare I watched the faces passing by. In varied ways people were expressing their own individuality, living life in their own colorful ways. It was beautiful to see such diversity and to watch how beautifully everyone flowed together along their way. There was a certain tangible joy in the faces I saw. What would it be like to live in a world where people were afraid to live their lives in their own unique ways? What joy would there be in such a colorless world where everyone conformed to narrow expectations about what was acceptable?

We all benefit from great diversity, though some have a hard time accepting the value of people who are different from them. There is a certain resistance to being forced to conform to a label. The fact is we are all human and as such have similar needs, but we are all driven to live our own unique lives with authenticity. And we want to be valued in that pursuit. There is much to unite us in a common quest for full equality including the desire to be treated with dignity, to be free to pursue happiness, to love and be loved without fear.  Everyone can get behind those ideals. It is simple really. Ask yourself how you want to be treated. Then treat others in that way.

Allowing Space For Miracles

There are amazing miracles happening all around us at every moment yet we sometimes dwell in a place where it seems nothing special is happening. Often when I sit to write an entry into my "daily" journal I can't think of anything special to say. Sometimes I even write "Nothing special to report". How can that possibly be the case!

Our Western culture does not value subtlety much. We are nearly constantly bombarded by sensational attempts to grab our attention, both from the media hype necessary to get us to buy things we don't need, and from the people that we come in contact with who often carry very dramatic emotions which can overwhelm us.The result is that we often become uncomfortable just allowing space to surround us and observe rather than do.

It takes time to get there! Sitting still is about the last thing the mind desires. This represents a kind of death and as such is avoided at all costs. Just about anything will serve to fill the space created by sitting quietly, and usually what comes up in the mix is the feeling of how wasteful it is to do nothing with one's time.

Of course we are not just doing nothing. We are allowing something to happen. We are trusting that this will bear some sort of fruit, that some sort of  flowering will happen in our consciousness which will nourish the seeds of happiness and help us open to the miracles that surround us.

I once had to spend a week alone camping while waiting for a transmission to be installed in a car. The rest of my group had to leave me and return to town for work. We were camped right beside a lake in a very beautiful place in the mountains of North Carolina, lake Santeetla. While I was surrounded by the activity of the group, busy with this and that little project or adventure, everything seemed perfect. It was paradise and I really appreciated the beauty. Then they all left and suddenly my little paradise became a kind of hell!

The first three days nearly killed me. I was so bored I thought I would die. The minutes were like hours. I felt caged in the middle of the wide open spaces. It was a humbling experience. My mind raced here and there alternately plunging me into depression, fear, resentment, self-loathing, jealousy, and on and on. It seemed my mind could not just settle down and allow the present to flower. My mind was like a little Hitler.

On the fourth day I began to surrender somewhat. Cooking breakfast I realized there was no point in rushing things. I took time to watch how the dry oatmeal floated on the waters surface in the pot and how it danced with the bubbles created by the heating water. I took time to move the spoon from the bowl to my mouth, watching how the movement gracefully arched to my awaiting lips. I noticed the feel of the oatmeal as I slowly savored it in my mouth. I traced its path to my belly and felt its warmth as it coated the lining of my stomach.

I did this with everything; building the fire, cleaning the campsite, watching the light sparkle diamond-like on the water's surface. Every action became an observing meditation. I entered the present moment in a way that I had never done before. At the end of the week I had regained my little lost paradise and was sad to have to leave my little spot by the water.

That is where happiness can flower, away from the constant demands of the mind moving between past and future but never alighting in the present. Trusting that with enough silence, enough stillness, our earthly tethers will slacken their hold just enough to let the soul breathe.

Guided Meditations

Follow the link for a list of audio meditations by Tara Brach. Tara's teachings are a blend of Western psychology and Eastern Buddhist philosophy. She is the founder if the Insight Meditation Center of Washington DC.

http://www.tarabrach.com/audioarchives-guided-meditations.html

Falling Heavenward

Falling Heavenward

All around signs of expectation

Sound deep within...

A lone string grown slack

On a forgotten instrument

Vibrates with renewed hope.

A veil lifts from the eye

And falls in a soft breeze...

And through a chink Light enters

Ancient obscuring wound

Transformed with healing truth.
Deep up-welling tenderness

Overtakes the shadows

We, newly adorned and released

Are falling heavenward. 

WPS

Asheville

12/13/12

(Note: For best experience start the voice recording at 1min 15sec into the video and open video to full screen view)

Richard Blanco One Today

Richard Blanco was chosen to read the inauguration poem for Barac Obama. The choice of Richard is very meaningful to me personally as he represents so much of what it means to be American; to live in America. Richard was born in Cuba to working class parents, raised in Spain, and then finally immigrated with his parents to the United States. As such he is a visible reminder that society is evolving inexorably toward acceptance of a greater diversity, toward the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of equality for all. As Obama says in his speech,

“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall."

We are still on that journey of course. But choosing Richard to read his poetry is a sure sign that we are still moving in the right direction.

As Richard approaches the podium, he takes a moment to look out. Eventually the camera will show us what he sees, a sea of humanity stretching off into the distance and toward the Washington Monument. This is a moment he will never forget. He stands before America, a humble man born into humble circumstances. A man who was not provided the advantages of money or class to arrive where he stands. Just a simple man who writes beautiful and evocative poetry which has a way of uniting so many diverse people under the same sky.  And yes, let us not forget. A gay man!

Hawkscry (A Poem By Linda Metzner)

New Hawkscry Poem by Linda Metzner

via Hawkscry by William on 8/26/12

This poem was written at Hawkscry on Saturday, August 25th, 2012










Hawkscry

Alone on the Earth at Hawkscry, all quiet,
     a fullness of beauty, of light.
In sun and shadow on the mountain peaks,
     a circle of love.
Lying here long upon our Mother’s warm skin,
     one feels a sound, deeper than any sound,
     energy reverberating from within Her Heart.
It is late summer, 
     when the Earth speaks through singing.
Do you hear Her song?
A soft warm cradle of Her singing,
     this hum of the Great Mother
     we can only feel.
In Her soft warm cradle, in the circle of Her arms,
     She sings for all of us,
     the finned, the furry, the feathered.
She sings, too, for the Stone People, Her most ancient ones,
     the peaks and valleys and rivers where Her waters run,
     Her oceans and Her air.
Can you hear Her song, so huge, so wild,
     so deep within, yet immanent in all things?
That song is for us, for you and me,
     here where we lay close to Her on the Earth,
     and where e’er we walk,
     each step springing from Her deepest heart.

Annelinde Metzner
Hawkscry, August 25, 2012

Sacred Tibetan Sand Mandala (Time Lapse)

Campfire

Sitting around a campfire with friends at Hawkscry Fall 2012.

Hawaii Magic 2012

Summer Trip to Hawaii 2012

originally published on Hawkscry on 9/10/12

Sometimes one meets someone who embodies something very special. Such a person is Danny, a guide we hired to take us into a remote part of Kauai , HA called the Kalalau Valley in the remote northwestern part of the island. There we hiked the Kalepa Ridge that looked down into the valley thousands of feet below. The hike was breathtaking and at times quite hair raising as the ridge narrowed in some places to only several feet in width with sharp drop-offs on either side. There would be no second chances in some areas. Even our experienced guide had some harrowing tales to tell of careless slips and near misses. But even more impressive than the hike for me was Danny and I'll tell you why. At 64, he possesses enough positive energy to light a city. He goes about every small task with an abundance of attention and enthusiasm. Not once did he have a negative thing to say during the entire day. He managed to turn every negative comment, no matter how small, into a positive. There was just no negative vibe emanating from this man at all. Watching and listening to him, I had the distinct feeling that I had to change my life. I want to be that kind of person. It is beautiful to behold. And more, I could see how that positive energy had the power to change the universe. When he spoke of rainbows, they somehow suddenly appeared , as if to please him. When he praised the light falling on the volcanic flanks of the valley sides, it shone even more magnificently, dazzling us with even more spectacular changes and variations.  Preparing the mid hike dessert was an unforgettable experience. All along the way he collected the most amazing flowers and leaves with which he decorated samples of different exotic desserts he had concocted the evening before the hike; cacao mousse with various other live super foods mixed in, coconut mango mousse, and a third treat made with passion fruit. The attention he paid to the presentation and to the preparation was impressive and eating them was quite near a religious experience. 

Summer Trip To Hawaii 2012