Stretch Heartstrong

Listening for the beat, I am caught off guard with a message...

A message that brings comfort and makes elasticity strengthened and strong.

There are times in life where things seem to be more than what they really are. Times where things are less than what we want or desire or need to have.

In a month of less, in this month of more, I turn to Divine guidance for comfort and stability. An anchor, if you will, to help me see that what is really real, does not have a place here on earth. The truth is, that what is here, is necessary to reach what is promised. But within that, what kind of promise will you make? Will you honor the covenant designed for us, fashioned for us, waiting for us?

Scatterbrained with hunger, thirst, and yearning, I am working to find a place where I can express eloquently what my emotions are experiencing. A tug of war, a 'to and fro', a gamble, a prize yet to be determined, I am wavering in thought, but not in choice.

Unsure of the reality of tomorrow, of today, of tonight, of the next 10 minutes, I agree to accept what I do and what I choose. I agree to what will be and what will not. I am finding comfort in the Divine Decree. Something I think we all have to constantly struggle to accept and help facilitate.

A time of less of the permissible, and more of the essential, the time has come to once again, make amends with who we are, with who we've become, and with where we want to be when the things of this world can no longer benefit nor harm us...

Don't just stretch until you can no longer snap back, until you can no longer feel because your nerves have twisted and become non respondent to tears, until you have to wrap yourself around something so many times that you do not know where one side of you ends and one side of you begins....

Be Heartstrong. Show the strength to love and give what you have without giving up what you need. Be flexible enough to want more and be more to more people. Be you.

Throwback - Fall 2007

*Rose from my Grandmother's garden

Title: My Former Life...As A Rose

Bismillah (In the name of God)

Curling over the sweet smell, I hurry to embrace the next nose. Many pass by but few really seek the beauty that has been given to me. Folding and molding petals of silkened pearl colored skin, my cheeks are sometimes blush red. I intensify naturally, but the new cloning sensation has stripped me of my scent. Longing for sunshine and rain, I have blossomed into a full mass of curls that are used to decorate and enhance boring scenery. Pressed, I become re-usable on tables to add sweet smells to an empty place. Snipped and cut, I can decorate a man or woman without losing my identity. Dried and hung for memories to linger, I can remind you of when you smiled or when you cried. Falling beautifully on fabric, I enhance the patterns that are cut to form and reproduced for an endless ream of fashion. Mesmorized by the variety of colors I create, from pearl white to cobalt blue, natural and unnatural, cherised and thrown away, adored and hated, sweet smelling and distinct, I carry the burden of flowers, and began the struggle for the spotlight. My tireless beauty becomes weak, as my head droops from dehydration or lack of light and care. The end is inevitable unless firmly planted in rich soil.

CLE - "Going Places"

The slogan to the landing and launch pad of my place of origin and destination has become the current theme in this chapter of Forever Amber.

Two days past my decision, I am beginning to find the bitter sweet of what may take place. Closeness to those who are closer than close, distance from those who are a part of my spiritual upgrade experience... Listening to the quiet to come has relaxed me even in the busiest of streets and the skip stop announcements (missed because the shuffle played my favorite song too loud).

In addition to lately being enveloped within my thoughts, soundtracked by the notes of my favorite iTunes, I sit closer to dreams that have already begun to come true. As my dreams and I converse, the path becomes clearer and the passion more grounded. Reality as we know it is built for our success. The lines of communication are open if we are intent and listening to what is around us.

Living in a way that is bent on living for the goods...is not good. But if you strive for life within its limits and remain true to yourself and your limits, then living becomes bliss where the heart and soul can convene.

Regressing to the topic ahead and behind, I work to prepare myself for the challenges and blessings of home sweet home. Refamiliarizing mind and body to welcome family and writing have become my inspiration for moving forward. The small things heard about via wireless talk will become front and center and within distance to be heard in real time. Patience exponentialized will become priority for now as I prepare to set out on a journey to bring my heart to home.

The Name Game

1: to represent as similar

2 a: to examine the character or qualities of especially in order to discover resemblances or differences
b: to view in relation to

3: to inflect or modify

Definition for 'compare' courtesy of www.merriam-webster.com

To compare is to bring doubt of yourself and of your capabilities. The dissemination of knowledge can get lost in the scenes of double vision. What is and what is hoped to be. The loss of reflection is given flight and the eyes are now consumed with things outside of themselves.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but if your eyes are attracted to something you are not, then they eyes become the window that invites pressure and resistance. A rose is no longer a rose, it is something you wish you emulate, to become, to consume as your reality. Petals fall as you age and mature into stages unreconizable. After all, who recognizes a flower sans petals?

We must keep close the things that beautify character, the very things that bring us into congruence from disconnect, the important things that enjoin correct thoughts meeting correct actions.

The positivity within comparison is that which drives us to be unique and self-improvers, self-movers, self-motivators, self-sufficient, self-loving, self-strengthening...being, our-selves.

Be you, compare those very things that bring strength and prove beneficial to growth. Start what moves you and what makes you, what sets you a part and brings you to a higher state of consciousness and clarity, goal setting and accomplishment, awareness and realization.

Just flow...

*Instrumental - Nic's Groove by The Foreign Exchange

Unpleasant (making it minus the 'un')

It is not male or female, nor man or woman. It does not discriminate and can come at any age or state. Hurt.

There are times in our lives where we are hurt by others, ourselves, inward and outward, deserving and undeserving, inevitably unavoidable. It is written, "makhtub" for hurt to come and change us, to bind us, to break us, to mend and heal us, to free us from fear, it has a purpose and we must over come it.

Life contains expected and unexpected challenges. Those that we plan for and those that take us by surprise. The problem lies, when we become stuck in our state of sadness or pain so much so, that it stunts our growth. The venom of revenge boils in us and proves to be and additional parasite that eats at our happiness.

From this, we must look forward. Fulfilling our next dream, destiny, step and success...we must prove to ourselves that we can build and move upward. We must realize that time heals all things. To keep from sounding optimistic, I will say that the light at the end of the tunnel is not always visible, depending on how deep the hurt is for you. You must convince yourself, however, that there is a light, a Divine light that is urging you to come to greatness, to succeed.

If you are the helper to the hurting, a few tips:

*Be Private!!!! - Don't go running and telling Any One's business. PERIOD.

*Be Sincere - If you can help, help. If not, then say something encouraging and move on. No one hurting needs pity, they need support.

*Be Honest - Giving your honest opinion of the situation (emphasis on you saying 'your opinion') is key.

*Encourage Reflection - Ask the person to recount the story of hurt and let the person process their feelings about the situation and the actions contained. Don't press for information that you don't need (i.e. - names, location, familial ties...)

*Validate - Let the person know that you acknowledge their feelings. Many times, we disregard the hurt of someone we may see as very strong. So comfort and validate, all things can happen to anyone.

I could go on forever, but be a friend, encourage the person to live in the moment and in the present and to reflect on the lessons that can be learned and looked forward to.

Here are some quotes from a blog I frequent. I pray that may also touch some of you out there who are hurting or helping the hurt. Blog Address - http://lessonsoftheday.blogspot.com/

"The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor hand well. Hurt is a fact of life. until we accept and allow the hurt as inevitable, we cannot begin to deal more effectively with the hurts of life. As human beings, we will hurt and be hurt. None of us is invulnerable. Not only do circumstances upset us, but we hurt each other, not necessarily intentionally or maliciously. We disappoint, criticize, oppose, anger, injure, and withhold from one another all the time.

"Because we refuse to accept and include hurt and the suffering that may follow as an inevitable aspect of human experience, hurt takes us by surprise and we never learn effective ways to deal with it. It is not wrong to hurt, but it is tragic that we let our reactions to hurt and our fear of hurt run our lives." [Judy Tatelbaum, You Don't Have to Suffer]

"We hold hurt as wrong. We think that hurt should simply not happen to us. We imagine if we were good enough or mature enough or strong enough, we would not hurt. Longing to be superhuman-----not human-----we deny the inevitability of hurting and being hurt. As a result we are outraged and often overwhelmed when we are hurt or disappointed.

"If we only accepted that hurts happen, we would be much more effective in dealing with them. Then we could freely admit to inflicting or feeling hurt. With such a consciousness, we could simply recoil momentarily from pain and not feel damaged by every hurtful event in our lives. We would certainly be freer to forgive and forget, the most powerful way we can overcome hurt." [Judy Tatelbaum, You Don't Have to Suffer]

Sin Sonido (Without Sound)

The very questions that we desire to answer or have answered can be inaccessible and un-figure-out-able, we must persevere. Delving into our own roots and dirt we must strive to build a knowledge base that can provide us with the 'know' how and come to correct conclusions.

The absence of silence in the city is making me crazy. I've clung to the familial, social and religious aspects to feed my insanity, but at times the silence is never enough to quench my thought-filled thirst. I then ask, from what others have already stated, why is it that I feel so alone in a city, in a place, where so many people occupy every single nook and cranny?! I am unable to cozy next to a tree of my own, due to the surplus of others who wish to enjoy the limited green afforded to us in this concrete jungle.

Caged birds forget how to fly. A singer in a room of loud music forgets her sound. Running in place is void of scenery and inevitably, moving forward.

Do not be afraid of the silence. Your thoughts wish to be loud and clear and HEARD. Gravitating to your dreams and facilitating goals that are clearly labeled and organized are your 'All Access' pass to happiness.

How do you know what you want unless you ask? How do you ask if you do not have time? How do you make time when you have so many other things to do? How do you do what you need to do, in order to make time? Now what? ...make time.

Persistence in all things linked with our Creator never fail. Goodness wins, always. Intention is key. We were not created to wait for things to happen. We were given intellect and consciousness which lead us into knowledge and light. The light of space and time to reflect. These reflections make for very clear plans of our future.

We listen to the cries of a child across the room, restaurant, street or train. We do not understand his/her feelings, wants or needs. It takes a personal connection of a parent or close one to really know. How do we then, expect to know our own needs if we do not even know ourselves?

Get to know that child, that inner being, your thoughts, dreams, goals, desires, wants, needs, fears...know them so you can respond to them, react properly to them, and plan for when your most wanted and desired things (of this life and the next) manifest themselves and penetrate your thoughts as reality.
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Fantasia

Hay un mundo de fantasia. The hold is muy fuerte. Pero.... Pues.... Podrias sobrevivir.

A world full of fantasy can cripple you if you let it. A friend once questioned aloud, "Does life imitate art or does art imitate life?" Well, what do you think? (This is a rhetorical question I might add)...

We are given reality mixed with fantasy every day. Love, Grief, Life, Death, Happiness, Struggle, and Triumph. It is up to us to decide what we take into our unconscious and what we leave to fly away into the world of fantasia.

Of course I've had my share of falls into the fantasy world, some hold on to me tighter than others...

Leaving behind a world of brutal criticism and unbelievable competition is a treat. Absorption in a song (Mo Better by Raheem DeVaughn), a book(s) (Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer), a movie (The Shawshank Redemption), a website (Zen Habits - Leo Babauta), in nature (Caumsett Park, LI), and of course, the constant streaming of your thoughts...can be, a wonderful "stay-cation" (lol).

Making decisions that go against the nature of Divine Decision is not the smartest thing to do in reality. Swimming in thoughts of fantasy or non-reality can influence you into wanting what you think you need, versus inquiring and striving with The Creator to make your plans. After all, wouldn't you consult your Guide before walking off the path? ...yes.

We waste so much time projecting our thoughts on what could be (future) that we totally miss...Totally...TOTALLY....MISS, what our today can bring us. If we spent more time watching the details and paying attention to the scenes, act by act for signs that show us what is to come, we'd be better off, better informed, and better PREPARED.

I mean seriously, how many times do we watch a movie more than once, only to find that we've missed intricate details that could have given us clues into what is next, or helped us to see more details and make more sense of what is happening? How much better off would we be using the reality of "paying attention to detail" to actually watch "art imitate life" or "life imitate art"...

I'll let you ponder on that, meanwhile, I'm going back to paying attention to the details that will inform my next move.

*The pic above is from Forks, WA (...yeah.)
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