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There’s such a challenge to be magnificent in life, especially these days. Just to get up. Just to step out.

Yesterday I got 100%s on my two comprehensive tests, both written and practical. They were called that, even though they weren’t the comprehensive, comprehensive tests (and one day: Boards). Lessons in misnomers: they abound.

I don’t always get perfect grades. It’s not that big of a deal – at least to me. I am graded endlessly. (which means I am tested endlessly – and who is prepared/present 100% of the time?)

*breathe, Ka*   The reality is that no one is.

But there are people… who…

At Gangaji’s retreat she said, “We meditate, because, no one is good at it! It keeps us humble.”

I mean, it is important to me to score well, because I do work really hard (and smart!), every day, so it’s important to me to have something to show for it, but when I work really hard and still have nothing to show for it (until maybe one day in the future) it’s important for me to love myself even more (Thanks Matt Kahn!) for giving my heart to my work, to my every day, for just being, and for doing it, for awhile!  By the way, I am good at being. I really am. I am. I am. (there’s my plug.)

It’s the touch that I’m after, though: “the touch” on many occasions, I’ve been told that I have, but not all the time, 24/7.  There is no guarantee with these things, there’s no 100% in real life.  Of course the goal isn’t to be in the spotlight.  The spotlight has always felt uncomfortable. The goal is to be really effective.  The goal is become more effective at being effective, over time.

Different things matter to different people.  We score in different ways.

One day I was gifted (after a particularly challenging test because I was too exhausted to prepare properly) with a sweet croissant (I’m not gluten free at the moment but I still support gluten free options). Anyways, this wasn’t GF, but it was delicious! and my body is ok with gluten, and my body did devour said croissant.

My friend said it was because of something I did or said. I don’t expect this. This is not why i do anything! ever.

People who know me, know. i do not just do things out of obligation. my heart has the arms and legs and the voice. my brain is there. it hangs out with my heart. they share notes in their own ways.but obligation does not make me doeth.

I’m a little bit tired of being in graduate school, and I have years to go, so grades have literally made themselves irrelevant (thank you program!). Our TA’s are always like “no one is going to ask you what you got in such-and-such class, and on that one in a million test.”  Maybe so. but some people do like to compete. I try to stay away from them. I know they are cool, too. They are super focused. I admire that focus, and determination. I know they want to be a better version of themselves – and they are pre-occupied with that. I have something to learn from them.

But different things are valued by different people. Different magnificences, if you will.

unique.

I know that when a fellow student (or myself on a bad day) gets a bad score, I don’t believe they are ineffective, and especially do not believe that they are unsuccessful or less magnificent. I believe that they were having a “a day, or a moment.” Honestly I don’t care what their grades are, or even if their hands are cold (because body-work! is always happening in cold rooms) I care that they are trying their best, and loving themselves (because that translates over to us all).

When I see my classmates show up, I feel inspired. It’s just like that.  We have already all graduated. That’s already done. Now, it’s different, now it’s about that ‘inside work,’ and that’s the priority. If we are “caught being cool or magnificent and seen doing something” on the outside, in the world, that’s a particular bonus. Though we need our little nest to nurture ourselves, and maybe it’s a small nest, focused.

We all show up in different ways.  That is magnificent.  I am Magnificent.

My classroom patient had some neat experiences after she left my treatment table. I don’t take credit for them. She should [my patient]. Plus, my supervisor’s diagnosis was fascinating. My supervisors are Magnificent. We did spirit work. It was a good learning experience.

I am magnificent.

Eventually, one day, AGAIN, I will be paid in money for my learning experiences. I just want to really honor that process, because right now, I am rewarded in many different ways. I am the money. I am magnificent. I do wake up. I do show up. I do love myself. I am here to be “whatever i am.” It is golden. I have a cup of source, and it belongs to the ocean, so it is endless, and we each have it.

What’s more magnificent than the usual, everyday, though…?   I don’t know. Now when I say “here we are” to my classmates, it makes me giggle. It’s like the same place that we have always been, but it’s brighter, shinier. It just is. because it is. My friend adds, “and there we were.”

And we share this paradise of struggle and overcoming.  Someone remembers how we started out…and how far we’ve come.

There’s more ease. It gets easier; and that is magnificent, too.

*Thank you to Linda Litebeing at Litebeing Chronicles for hosting this challenge.She’s offering a free astrology reading so that’s awesome, right?! Go check her out.

This card came up in a reading for myself recently. It’s from MY favorite deck: Tarot of Spirit, by Pamela Eakins, PH.D. This deck has been working for me since 1998, and moved everywhere with me over time. Let’s give it an applause! I know I am in awe. This was the deck that inspired me to make my own, which I never did (at least yet!).  To my credit, I was busy with school (undergrad).  Sometimes in life we sacrifice for a better future (just like my ancestors did), and eventually, we do, we do arrive – and then, we keep arriving!

Meditation from Tarot of Spirit:

Leo, Virgo
Earthed/Grounded
Mountain Power
The Fire Father in Earth
builds lasting gardens
that produce and produce
the Earth Father
moves
through Cycling Time
surrounded by
Fire and Sea and Sky
Sons and Daughters
of Cycling Time:
steady!

Earthed/Grounded
Abounding Joy
tilling vast lands
investing well
and Time will tell
as intellects rise and shine and die,
fires rage, lovers sigh

Time will tell
the Earth Father
helps them all
through their Dark Age
constancy —
he knows them well
he himself was ill —
before he came to Man’s Estate.

Yes, I made it for the last day. This conference was local, and with my S.Node in Aquarius, and my old (balsamic) moon, it’s like being around family. How many lifetimes have we shared in this together? Here’s to the stars and the lovers of the stars!

 

 

These days are filled with joy and challenge. It’s a wonderful marriage of opportunity meeting moments of “I can do this.” I noticed along the way that my blog writing has drifted off, as a lesser goal, while my primary one remains the same: to be healthy, whole, and happy. I don’t expect much from myself, just the ability to show up, be a witness to this process that is transforming me into the type of practitioner I will become, while appreciating the one that I am now. I am appreciating that much of my meditations, reflections, and “duties” to myself throughout the years are paying off in the way I face my experiences. It’s not always easy; but it’s becoming easier. I know when a bad day can wash over me, and I truly find that the following day usually ends up being so much better – as if some grace from nowhere is supporting me in my being “good enough, ” too. The whispers have been great since the moment of my birth, perhaps. Those whispers have been just good. And, just good, is sometimes, even better than great. And yes, we’ve heard the quote, “great is the enemy of good.” Nevertheless, great still exists, and it can’t go away no matter how much we fear it.

I enjoy what I do every day so much so that I am not so focused on my performance, nor my appearance – and the results are better than I could expect if I had planned on it, to my surprise – to my eyes! There’s no niche that I’m advertising for, at least not at the moment. And, the truth is, I fear not any development on that part, because what I see happening is so profound that it’ll be simply joy in the coming days, just to wrap my words around its essence, and draw out the nuances and flavors of my experience, describing as time permits, how easier days come with lighter steps.

While there’s an astrological story here, I will save that for another time, much, much later on. This blog is still dedicated to the stars. The stars that shine whether or not we talk about them.

Peace be to you all.

*Unconditional*

This poem has me in a loving gasp
for air that
meets me in the center of my soul
and gently says “let go”
and burrows in for a longer show
of moving Spirits inward, connecting
joining in my heart the real of love.

Dear friends, bloggers, new followers: Welcome!

Lately I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate astrology posts back into my life. Astrology is still very much with me, and I am having a wonderful time with it. Especially lately, as this a particular eclipse cycle has brought me into some wonderful places in my consciousness.  I’ve practiced astrology in a shamanic way for several years now (maybe a decade?), and that aspect is growing. Shamans experience time differently; they really do.

My poetry book has been written, but perhaps looks to the end of Mercury retrograde, for its next step/s, who knows? We shall see. I’ve given over certain aspects of it, and put it into others’ hands.

This is a delightful and wonderful autumn on its way. I cannot say any more. No really, I cannot. These days I have journals for everything, journals for shamanism, journals for Qi Gong, journals for Reiki. I have my personal journal. There’s really no end to writing and communicating, it would seem. Lately, there’s been an increase on the “telepathy” wavelength; and I find that those in my closest sphere can get messages across by using the shamanic worlds we create; and oftentimes its much easier than that, just by virtue of the surrounding energies these days. It would seem that there is less in the way of sending and delivering messages. Many of you, here, just hang out in my heart. Mercury retrograde is sort of on the periphery, a minor blip, a quaint artifact of mental processing.

Last night I had a bit of a breakthrough. Normally, I do not “remote view” but while working on a land healing, and after having a bit of performance anxiety beforehand, it ended up that many of the details of my journey were confirmed by her as “actually there.” Stairways were where they would belong, and the ceiling (and fan) was exactly as my shamanic body witnessed. I had never been to her property before; and prior to, I had never had any reason to even know that she had a home at all! I did not know I would be working with her.

I will be quite honest, this is an area of my life where I had never expected improvement. I am so deeply a skeptic, it’s amazing that I am even gifted with such developments. Apparently belief hasn’t much to do with witnessing: this is something I am reminded of again, and again, especially in my Reiki work and with acupuncture. My massage therapy work has always sort of explained itself. We understand the mechanism there. The point is, the world really is magic (not grammar, on purpose), and magic is just a word (same with world: a word, a vessel, fill it with what you will).

My days are filled with warmth and laughter, and lots of people in it!  I trust this message finds you well, and that you are hopefully experiencing some ease and grace in your life.

Many blessings!

Ka Malana