As a part of my personal practice, it brings me a lot of joy to be able to extend these meditation sessions to you as a gift. Meditation has long been a resource in my life, and it is so freely available to us all. The benefits that come from meditation are so life-enriching, that I want it to be accessible to all. Please give yourself this time today.
Today the Sun is in Scorpio and the Moon is in Virgo, nourish the health in your body and mind, and in your soul.
2020 Team
It’s easily a cozy autumn day, a time for family and relaxing. The autumn colors are here, and they are subtle. Often times people don’t think the seasons change here, but we do have seasons and it always smells wonderful after it rains.
Day 8 of Nano Poblano: https://cheerpeppers.wordpress.com/2020-team/
Sometimes I get a tickle in my throat
for the words I want to say
but really it’s the language in my eyes
gazing here, and far away
what I want to show is the magic
of this hope I’ve kept inside
brewing up a vision of a life
built on trust and allied,
where sincerity and promise
are demonstrated by actions
fueled by integrity and intention
led by openness and satisfaction
I’m dreaming up a world of peace as I always have. This day marks a day forward and my hope is that all the obstructions for our progress as a Nation, and a planet, are removed, one by one. I want to see this planet and it’s inhabitants thrive! Let this be the beginning of that world we dream to make in peace and harmony, for the highest and best good of all.
I’ve posted this blog post for the Nano Poblano challenge. I am honored to blog beside these other cheerpeppers.
Another day has gone by in the Nano Poblano challenge. Here’s my post for today. I felt fortunate this hummingbird let me get a photo with my phone. Sending out wishes for peace. Grateful for the simple things in life, like the beautiful, vibrant flowers on a cacti.
Hello friends,
Today is the 5th day of the Nano Poblano writing challenge, and I feel the crunch! Yesterday in preparation for today, I managed to record another meditation track and create a Soundcloud account. I definitely don’t understand all the bells and whistles of the devices/apps I’m using, but I’m getting the job done. In fact I’ve been hoping/dreaming, for years, that I could get back into recording and composing music again. I was only really ever an amateur, but I absolutely enjoyed it with all my heart. So it will be therapeutic for me to get back on that music train again, but for now, I’m starting with this meditation track project for YOU!
Actually, I’ve been wanting to make these meditation tracks for months. This is the first one I’ve made since a few years ago. So, I’m delighted to be able to offer it to you here with this link to my soundcloud account.
Ode to the Clothes
Every morning you wait,
clothes, over a chair,
to fill yourself with
my vanity, my love,
my hope, my body.
Barely
risen from sleep,
I relinquish the water,
enter your sleeves,
my legs look for
the hollows of your legs,
and so embraced
by your indefatigable faithfulness
I rise, to tread the grass,
enter poetry,
consider through the windows,
the things,
the men, the women,
the deeds and the fights
go on forming me,
go on making me face things
working my hands,
opening my eyes,
using my mouth,
and so,
clothes,
I too go forming you,
extending your elbows,
snapping your threads,
and so your life expands
in the image of my life.
In the wind
you billow and snap
as if you were my soul,
at bad times
you cling
to my bones,
vacant, for the night,
darkness, sleep
populate with their phantoms
your wings and mine.
I wonder
if one day
a bullet
from the enemy
will leave you stained with my blood
and then
you will die with me
or one day
not quite
so dramatic
but simple,
you will fall ill,
clothes,
with me,
grow old
with me, with my body
and joined
we will enter
the earth.
Because of this
each day
I greet you
with reverence and then
you embrace me and I forget you,
because we are one
and we will go on
facing the wind, in the night,
the streets or the fight,
a single body,
one day, one day, some day, still.
– Pablo Neruda
Poems that take the mundanity and animate it, supply magic to our every day. Pablo Neruda could do this; he had that particular talent. When I read about clothes as he writes about them in his poem above, I think about a time when clothing was made better, when items were sewn to last. Objects and tools used to have more value over the longer term. I long for those days, when we had such great care for our possessions, not in a purely material sense, but in such a way where there was longevity in the relationship–which to me, is a little bit different from attachment.
To me, this appreciation for these material items in our lives goes along with my background and appreciation for animism, how I consider that all of life is considered ‘alive.’ The official definition for animism is, “the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.” To me, however, the power is more magical, and need not be supernatural. Again recently I was reminiscing of the story of the Velveteen Rabbit, the rabbit who was ‘made real’ by love.
To me, animism as a philosophy is more harmonious and congruent with nature. It is in sync with material durability, in communion with time. In our expendable economies today, we have a “use once and throw away” culture. While I enjoyed seeing all the Halloween decorations this year (more than usual), I couldn’t help but think of the world’s trash problem, and how desperately we need to change our ways in society and in our economies. As an anthropologist, I would say that cultural change is necessitated first. I get excited when we learn about new bacterias or enzymes that can break-down plastic and resolve the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but we are still far from having the intellectual wealth and intelligence of our planet focused on solving these problems. Many people don’t know, for example, that it rains plastic.
My post is an appeal and a wish to “put the mental and emotional energy” for the planet on solving these problems. We need to have solutions for protecting our Earth, and we need to support our scientists. Yes, each person can make a difference by using re-usable items, and reducing their foot-print; however, I think we have to highlight using our voices, and sharing our hearts so that more people are inspired about what can be done.
Thank you for listening!
Happy Peppering!
Hedgehogs are one of my virtual therapy animals or totems. Hedgehogs have the ability to protect, and their medicine is one of being “untouched” by the dreadfulness of unsafe situations. Hedgehogs are supremely cute, I think, and I delight in these little creatures.
“Chuang Tzu was a philosopher in ancient China, who, one night went to sleep and dreamed that he was a butterfly. He dreamt that he was flying around from flower to flower and while he was dreaming he felt free, blown about by the breeze hither and thither. He was quite sure that he was a butterfly.” (Philosophyfoundation.org)
I dream I am a hedgehog, or maybe I am a hedgehog dreaming that I am a human. There you go. It makes sense to me!
All the above photos are from Unsplash a free for use photography site. Speaking of splashes, it’s time to give my kiddo a bath! Happy Peppering Tomorrow!
Under the golden, full moon the mouse yawned. She gazed up at the moon from the terrace wall, her eyes aglow with the magic of its fullness. As the now-amber moon rose up, it was low on the horizon, and the mouse looked but a speck of dirt on a luminous disc by size in comparison.
She gave a little cough and then tapped her tiny podium with her tiny wand. Another petite mouse came from the fire escape nearby, scurrying along quickly, nearly breaking a sweat, and he had on a bow-tie. The two mice sang for a while, mostly covers.
Then, the tiny wand winked up and down, drawn by the mouse’s swift outstretched hand. Tracing a triangle into the dark air, there popped a cello with a player (and this one was a cat!). Then, she traced a rectangle right straight out in front of her, and there popped a snazzy piano!
The night lights twinkled and the moon grew dizzy. After all the hours gone by, there formed around the moon’s crown were grey clouds, stirred up from hours of the night, filled by her imaginings as she reflected down into the distance, listening to the melody from the marvelous mice during the night.
See the link down below for just some of the mice music.
This post was created for Nano Poblano, the world’s least-official November blog writing challenge. I’m participating in the blog challenge this year, trying to post every. single. day. for the month of November. The plan is to be random about what I blog about. This is the first time I am using the new editor on the computer, and I’m not sure how to change the font size yet for the link and block below. Feel free to click on it to learn more about Nano Poblano!
These are tasty and make a fun and nutrition- packed treat for everyone. My toddler loves them, and I make them differently just about every time. I cook food from my heart, so I basically measure only about 50% of the time. Here’s my creation:
Here’s what’s in them:
Almonds 1 cup
Dried apricots 1 overstuffed cup
Rolled oats 1 cup
Almond extract 1/4 tsp
Goji berries: handful
Dried mulberries: handful
Golden flax: small amount
Unsweetened coconut shreds added during rolling.
So the pictures above are from the batch I made today. They all have different levels of beauty. This might not be my most pristine group of yums, but I know they are yummy and so does everyone who tries them! If I were doing professional food photos, I would have probably been more selective and taken my time and used a filter.
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I signed up for posting daily. I don’t know why. I am already quite busy, and I probably won’t post every day, but it sure seemed like fun to try to make a post everyday about something random. Random is my style for this, I like to have some free flow and no pressure type of activities, so maybe you will see a lot more of Fiestaestrellas in November! WE shall see!
Sign ups are here:
https://cheerpeppers.wordpress.com
I’ll have to get the banner and come back and paste it on this post, at some other time.
Tis the season for blogging, holidays, fun, and writing! 🧡
today is a new day to
join the center,
live in the warm embrace
of our spirited home.
I coil inward like a snake
as part of nature that hums
with the sounds of earth,
and the moisture of the rain
that’s incoming,
makes transitioning gentler.
the weather has cooled
with the crow’s caw.
the trees are more relaxed.
here, where the sun shines
consecutively, we get a chance
to dance along the edges of
clouddrops somersaulting;
its tiny splash of autumn
dives into me and my heart
is at rest.
Today’s infographic comes from life and well-being coach Shawn Fink. She’s the founder of the Abundant Mama Project. I regularly get her newsletter in my inbox. She was talking today about her 14 year old daughter who struggles with boredom and how her daughter is an extrovert while the rest of the family tends to be introverted, and she an ambivert.
Do we want to thrive?
I was going through a difficult time several months ago, and I was working with a coach (a different one than I mentioned) who wasn’t hearing me out. She kept asking me to say I wanted joy. At the time, the pandemic had just started and her organization was in the denial of Covid camp. “It was like the flu,” they insinuated. No, it is not. I was having trouble with the “stay positive at all costs” belief systems in my New Age communities. I wanted/and want to see real action and sincerity in the response to this viral threat. Being “high-risk” myself, I wasn’t walking around acting like “well, I have my spiritual bravado to protect me.” For me, I experienced all the humility of being a person who is in charge of being healthy for a young family. I took it (and take it all) very seriously. Spirituality aside, we live in a world where these threats are real, just like the possibility of any other danger, such as fire burns.
Do we want to thrive?
Yes.
Even in the midst of the pandemic (and the life changes because of the worldwide pandemic), even when our most inner self-sabotage can come out to get us, even while struggling to make ends meet.
Yes, we want to thrive.
When so many are suffering, are we even allowed to thrive?
I say yes, and I consider how wonderful and simple the above infographic is, knowing I’ve inwardly been using the above strategies without that coach who I was better off without for the time being.
How are you thriving in ways you don’t even know it? How have you indirectly benefited from the pandemic? What changes have you made that turned to be better for you since you had to make the changes?
We can see that our busy, bustling lives and economies are not in best with the environment. It doesn’t even take all the data and science to see and witness how the environment is affected by our human habits, waste, and extravagances.
How can our environment thrive with us thriving, too? Maybe we can reach up and reach out to our environments? Maybe we can take small steps in social action, maybe we can focus on what brings us joy today. I’m ready to talk about joy, again.
Once again I have been inspired to share from my private grimoire, a small piece from my 15 month body of work, during the Rite of the 12 Celestial Regents. Here is my ode to Mercury at the retrograde station. I am still in review process/month and soon the moon will be new again, and I shall have moved on…
Ode to Mercury:
When I am understanding
That life is not demanding
And the virtues of clarity and reason
Are very much in touch with the season-
When my tendency to think
Has me spinning and on the brink
I can turn to you and you will
Find me a reason to open and fill
My heart with connection.
And the virtues
This interview popped up in my YouTube feed for some reason. Many of us from the United States remember the president well from the 1980s and 1990s and we are well-acquainted with his character. I’m sharing this post for many international viewers who might not “remember” back to 1994.
We are at a critical point in time when women are still trying to be recognized as equal citizens on the planet. There are a lot of differences of opinion out there. I believe in women. I believe in the future. Please consider voting him out. For my international friends, please consider who you trust when you are researching and looking around online. Many of us are alive long enough to know a person’s story longer term.
Hello my friends,
The editor is different! I didn’t expect that 🙂
Well, I have been away from blogging for a very long time. I am only around here and there and quite infrequently because I have been busy with motherhood full-time and graduate school full-time, finishing up my last semester in my Master’s program with only 7 more classes to complete my doctorate in Traditional Chinese medicine. If I choose to do that. I also have some straggling onsite clinic work to do when the pandemic becomes less threatening. Meanwhile I’ve been a senior intern in our telehealth and finishing classes.
Also, I am finishing up my 15 month Medicine Woman certification for Rite of the 12 Celestial Regents. As you know, I haven’t had time for my other hobbies like art-making: painting, poetry, or sketching, blogging or photography. My outdoor garden (which is only an urban tower) has been silent and nothing happening there, either.
Oh, but I have been cooking so much and experimenting and having the best time with it!! There’s been no time to prepare posts to my food blog, so I don’t. Life has been pretty darn good during this pandemic despite all the craziness that is around. I’ve enjoyed celebrating Mabon this year with one of my tribes over zoom and with my family. I’ve always been a member of so many different communities. So here I am, back with my own community, on my blog. I love you all so much!!
I wanted to share one of my odes that I wrote for my certificate for Medicine Woman studies: Rite of the 12 celestial Regents. It was an intensive program full of self-development and unveiling shadows, and it was truly a blessing. Here is my ode to the Moon recorded from my private grimoire I created during these last 15 months.
Mother moon I cannot lie
Under you I cry
For in the night I’m fearful and shy
But your love’s not for reason or for whys
You keep my heart safe and wise
And you gently remind me where my true love lies.
Deep inside surrounded within pure prize
Lots of gratitude to my daughter for napping peacefully while I quickly transcribed this message. Wishing you all a beautiful rest of your week! Looking forward to seeing you over at your blogs!
Ka
When Great Trees Fall
http://thecoddiwomplerscauldron.com/2020/09/20/when-great-trees-fall/
— Read on thecoddiwomplerscauldron.com/2020/09/20/when-great-trees-fall/
When I read this poem, it made me think of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. May we remember with gratitude her tremendous strength and commitment to service. 💗🙏🏽💗
The gift of her life and her offerings brought so much awareness; her life was a real gift of love.
Fiesta Estrellas 
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