GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF PEACE..........

A Morristown Winter Day..


I LOVE WINTER! There is something pure and silent and sacred about first snow, it is so magical....
There is nothing like walking in fresh snow, knowing it has never been walked upon.
It makes me walk more consciously and more mindfully, then my mind slows down and my heart sings.......
It becomes an infusion to my spiritual practice, the kind that reminds me of animals hibernating in winter.

Most people do the opposite at this time of year.
They run around shopping, wrapping, giving or going to parties, eating and drinking more than they usually do and often not the stuff that gives them energy but weakens their energy.........and then the Holy Days are over and a new year has begun.

After many years of not really enjoying the Holidays, I have made a commitment to have them be what I want them to be.
I know this may be easier for me, for I have no family in the U.S. and I have no children.
I do however have friends and my beloved, Norman who has a small family and 2 sons: one is a young son of 12!

Still, the Holiday Season for me (since I do not consider myself a Christian) is about rest, silence, additional spiritual practice and reading non spiritual books: i.e. good fiction that brings me peace, inspiration, relaxation and joy! And KNITTING!!

I listen to my heart and follow what feels right. If that means shopping for gifts: I do that. If it means sending cards: I do that.
If it means NOT: I don't. My days seem longer and I refuel for the year to come.......

Give yourself the gift to do what fuels you during the Holiday Season, even if it is for a few hours.
Remember to do your spiritual practices and show up as LOVE, as LIGHT and/or as PEACE.
Letting that make the difference in the world.
Letting that be your gift to the world.
YOU ARE A GIFT! YOU ARE THE GIFT.
Know you are loved.
HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON.

When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs for what it has found. Sufi Proverb

Dear ones.....I have had my share of grieving.....losing 2 siblings, both my parents, most uncles and aunts, and at least 6 really close friends. Grieving has truly become a spiritual practice!!

But listen up (don't pity me.....................like you would need too....)

There is something about grieving the loss of someone I love....something delicious......

It makes me feel so alive, so real, so naked, so raw.
I cannot hide, I cannot pretend, there is just no room for that.

So, all of a sudden life seems to become more real.
Suddenly, every moment becomes precious. Suddenly, I take nothing for granted. I check in with myself to be without regret, without forgetting to tell my loved ones I love them and without realizing how loved I am. Somehow, it is time to connect more deeply with my loved ones and to take MY OWN "inventory" rather then someone else's (which somehow always seems more easy to do. (DARN IT!) It truly is a time to forgive......to love..... to really see life for what it is!

So, my friend and colleague Jeffrey very suddenly and unexpectedly made his transition on Wednesday December 3rd, 2008.

This was my e-mail message to the e-field of my colleagues ( there were close to 100 beautiful heart filling e-mails being shared about how they felt for days............)



Our love unites us even more deeply because Jeffrey lived!


Thank you, beloved spiritual family, for your beautiful words. I am flip flopping between my heart (breaking) and my soul (laughing).........my heart aches...and then there are the words of Rumi who called the night of his passing 'Shebi-Arus', his wedding night, the occasion when he was finally united with his Beloved, God, in eternal life.

Jeffrey loved that.

Rumi said that night:
"Why should I be unhappy?
Each parcel of my being is in full bloom".

I can see Jeffrey's head tip slightly to the side and his sweet smile (ahhhhh) appear on his lips.
This picture (on top of this blog) was taken 6 weeks ago at our first ICSL Board meeting. It sucks, that it was our last.