The new photo atop this page is of a tiny community in southern Colorado that has called my name and entered my heart. Much is unfolding! If you feel drawn to the idea of living 50 miles away from a gas station or grocery store; being fully present to the vagaries of weather and wind; and basking in the reverent quiet of prairie, mesa, and canyon, drop me a Comment and I will tell you more.  PS: Both photos are by a local high school senior who is brilliantly wrought beyond her years.

Las Animas County, Colorado

I can scarcely tell you where I’ve traveled
The maps have yet to be drawn
Terrain emerges from heights and depths in every moment,
Uncharted landscapes arise with the sun.

I know only that I wandered among the dunes
Weighed down by ancient sacks stuffed full of recrimination
Earthen pots brimmed with incomplete assumptions
Sacred oils nested deep within the skins of alabaster jars.

I turned down dusty highways ringed by sage and supposition
Met my own gaze behind bovine eyes and waving prairie grasses
Only to be jolted out of a creeping complacency
By the applause of thunder and hot-white lightning
Rumbling and riveting their way across an unsettled sky.

It is not words on paper that make the poet
But the way in which one creates the poetic life,
The deft melding of rhythm and meter
The juxtaposition of long, languid strokes of yearning
With staccato bursts of becoming,
The full and rich laid up against the dark and empty
Glorious containment coupled effortlessly with the unknowable everything
And a fractal patterning that presages cycles now run their course.

My poetry lives in my every step
Every in-breath and exhalation,
It unfolds from the deepest recesses of a heart
that will not clang shut the drawbridge,
From a soul whose Divine connection may sway
under the weight of human machinations
Yet will steadfastly refuse to exchange faith for fear,
or compassion for complicity.

These scratchings on the discarded bodies of trees
Are not byproduct but prima material
They rest in the marrow of every bone
Until they wrestle themselves free in the face of most formidable foes,
Stanzas irregular, ponderous executions of wordplay obsolescent
Rhyme schemes interwoven in a crazy-quilt of flash and introspection
Neither pen nor ink hastens the dredging.

I sat on the wall,
Flanked by the generous abundance of summer
And the passionate celebration that autumn brings,
The sun, the moon, the stars embrace me with flagrant arousal,
My poembody arcs in erogenous splendor.

Weary of the shifting sands
I have come down off the dunes
Lassoed my own roots and tilled my inner soil,
No longer do I offer entry to boulders of immeasurable size,
The tongue of the mesa licks clean my wounds
As Creation’s immensity comforts a chafed and weathered heart.

Let it be said
that my first gesture was to smile,
That I did not shirk when called to action
That I put down my knife, my sword,
Tempered the call of my drum,
And moved on with not a glance behind me.

If I carried doubts
Let it be said they remained unnoticed
That my fear receded quietly and without pause,
That hesitation made no appearance on the empty stage
And resistance slumbered on ‘neath a blanket softly tossed.

Let all who observe speak of a quiet glow surrounding my crown
An inexplicable flurry of wings
Echoing a muffled heartbeat cross twilight-kissed skies,
Let them remember that birdsong filled the trees
And made its way in all directions,
That a gentle peace descended o’er me
And that my footsteps carried me Home.

These words are from a book on Faith currently under development by a publisher who shall remain nameless. The NASA image of the sun is not a Summer Solstice photo-but it sure gets me in the mood!

Ultraviolet-wavelength picture of the sun, 10/23/03, NASA

Be Awestruck

Although it isn’t always easy,
the toughest times require you
to believe in the greatest, grandest possibilities.

Can you allow yourself to be brought to your knees by miracles
and finely orchestrated “coincidences” that defy rational thought?

Can you soften your gaze and recognize the truly extraordinary
when it happens right in front of you?

If you think small,
if you believe that your own mind contains
every potential outcome,
you miss an infinite universe of possible scenarios.

Are you willing to see the unseen at work,
to marvel at how your simplest steps can lead
to unimaginable conclusions?

Can you sufficiently chip away your armor
and swoon before the unmistakable awe that exists
just inches outside your usual concerns?

Untold beauty and inexplicable synchronicities
are at work in every moment.

Toss aside your rigid pictures
of how things are supposed to occur
and acknowledge the grandeur of how they actually do.

Only then do you reclaim the true meaning
of the word “awesome”
and the vastness and beauty of all it contains.

This excerpt is from my out-of-print book, What There Is To Love About A Man.
The art is by British artist David Preston-Earley, who adds,
” This image is about a mythical journey where the people of the world
are carried on the back of a turtle. The turtle is a symbol of
fertility and long life. To the Native Americans
it was associated with the lunar cycle and also female energies.
The spirit of the turtle can also teach us about our relationship with time,
it does not move fast, the turtle knows it has all the time in the world.”

Journey, by David Preston-Earley

When a man goes on his true journey,
it’s hard to know who might return.

His quest requires that he strip down to his authentic core,
that he litter his pathway with the baggage he no longer agrees to carry.

He will pass through uncharted territory with no map
and little understanding of where he’s headed.
The trees will be covered with thorns
Large, lumbering dragons will appear without warning
and breathe hot fire into his face.
Winds will shift
and golden fruit will hang just out of his reach
when he is starving most.

It is a pilgrimage he must make alone,
though able guides are recommended.
He begins when he is ready,
When he can no longer tolerate who he’s become.
When his only choice seems to be
implode or explode.

Loved ones, wait patiently.

When the journey’s complete,
the pilgrim is reborn.

I am an inveterate nomad who carries the DNA of a migratory desert dweller. When I feel called to relocate, I prepare with little or no hesitation. Oftentimes I pack and stand ready for months while the energy lines up for actual physical movement. For me, moving is a sacred ritual and a potent symbol of an engaged life journey,  and I bring to bear as much presence as I can muster.

Suddenly, it seems everyone is on the move. They’re moving away from relationships, jobs, houses, towns, cities, communities, states, and heading to something new. Something unknown, perhaps. Some of you have had the rug pulled out from under you and feel desperate and dislocated. Others are manifesting long-held visions and await “The New” with radiance and outstretched arms.

Indian Family & Belongings, from "Material World"

Ultimately, no matter why, where, how, or with whom you are on the move, the energy you bring to the experience is wholly up to you. So, what’s it gonna be? Pain or Pleasure? Resistance or Surrender? Miracles or Madness?

Truly, what do you want to take with you? In even more blunt terms: How are you dealing with your stuff?

Each and every item you live with carries an energetic signature and is imbued with memories and past experiences. I recently watched someone throw old, dusty, rumpled, mismatched, broken, dirty pieces of life into crates and boxes. I observed quietly (No small feat, that!) and saw the patterns in this individual’s life. Things are never brought to completion. Everything is left half-finished. Beginnings and endings are glossed over, never acknowledged, let alone honored. To “let go of” is fraught with loss, grief, and the emotions they carry.

Nope, this isn’t about housekeeping, and it’s not about living on a limited budget. Nearly everything I own has come to me via consignment and thrift stores, free boxes in front of homes and in alleys, and as a result of helping others clear their clutter. I routinely ask friends if I can review their castoffs — and generally then offer to take the bones to the donation drop-off. I continue to be astounded at the new and nearly new items relegated to dumpsters: Why not just crumple up dollar bills of every denomination and roast marshmallows over the fire?

Japanese Family & Belongings, "Material World"

Everything is vibration, therefore, everything is “alive.” These so-called inanimate objects have a life cycle, too. They need to be with people who love them, appreciate them, and will give them the opportunity to express “themselves” in appropriate ways. If they’re “done” in their current form, they’re free to go. Face it: If you reincarnated as a blender, wouldn’t you positively yearn for the opportunity to puree, mix, froth and whip? (More on this concept in my earlier post, The Secret Life of Words Revealed, found here.)

There is no better opportunity to wipe your slate clean, than when you are moving house, apartment, double-wide, tipi, or shop. Do you actually desire to drag all your old baggage (physically and metaphysically) into a brand-spanking-new life?

Does it honor the memory of your dear, departed mother if you toss her old things into a box that once transported chicken breasts to your local Chinese restaurant — or might it be a more loving gesture to wipe them off, wrap them up with gratitude and love, and then give them another shot at being enjoyed by someone else?

If you haven’t already seen “The Story of Stuff,” check out this quick tease below. For the whole story, click right here.

I just found the guts of this poetry scribbled 6 or 7 months ago on
three little pieces of paper stapled in the corner.
I then stumbled upon the work of Steve Banks,
a wildly creative artist from Davenport, Iowa.
I couldn’t resist this image, or his description of it,
“…The all-seeing Priestess straddles two worlds. One of technology
and sensory over-stimulation, and the other world,
one of loosely flowing organic serenity.”

Priestess, by Steve Banks, mixed media

You are your own responsibility
Uphold your end of the bargain!
You have been asked to walk in fields of glory
To sing with angels and push through idle fear.

Time after time,
You have been given the wisdom to make choices that will reverberate beyond eons
The strength to catapult rippling beacons of hope over fiery ramparts
Greater fortitude than you could scarce imagine
Lambent predisposition in endless supply
Still, you have faltered in the shadow of hesitation.

Your influence, called forth to righteousness
Has sputtered and arced by the side of the road
You have radiated a whiter shade of pale
Voiced arguments laced with rhetoric yet weak in substance,
Relied on the machinations of uninformed minds
And demanded that others listen
Whether or not you had anything worthwhile to say.

With responsibility comes reward
With devotion, amaranthine recompense
The sparkle of salubrious reclamation echoes through unmapped canyons
What rests at your feet is yours alone!
Do not let precipitous pride disallow your kneeling to pick it up,
All you once sought now fades in the rearview mirror
A newly visible landscape unfurls before you (did it ever exist?)
Unseen by eyes half-closed in limitation.

Step up into the face of your own ill-served behaviors
Old assumptions must be cleared to make way for the new!
Question each action as it careens helter-skelter the ziggurat
Temple steps recede beneath your every footstep
So-called mistakes require correction and nothing more.

Reach past your paralysis and speak the words I Love You
Travel beyond your blockades of fear and cry as the eagle, I Am
Shatter the walls you have erected in the name of protection
It is no one else’s job to scale your breastwork with blood-scraped hands!
Step aside with a smile when asked to dance with charlatans
Save your deepest bow for those cloaked in naught but truth.

Your response is the initial salvo in a heart-splitting symphony
How long must others peer deeply for a glimpse of recognition…

…before you deign to raise the shades?

Saints be praised! I can feel the stirrings of a new cycle of blogging, poetry, and other shared pursuits. While I’m shaking off the residual cobwebs, enjoy this poignant classic by Billy Joel.  These poetic words and his sensitive performance seem to characterize where many of us are these days: Letting go of the old (whether by choice or circumstance) and opening our tender hearts to new ways of being, feeling, and engaging with others.  Enjoy! Both tears and smiles are appropriate responses.

PS: There’s no footage of Joel singing; only a black background with the lovely, touching lyrics.

To encourage and support your becoming, here are three words excerpted from my book, Words of Wisdom for Women (Barnes&Noble/Fall River Press). Though the book’s title is gender-specific, the content is universal.

If you enjoy these, hop on over to my sister blog, Just Say Yes Now!, for a trifecta including Refuse, Remember, Restore.

Be

Remember that life is in the being, not the doing. Be every bit of everything that you are. Be tough, be soft, be dramatic, be subdued. Be a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Be the one who always shows up on time or be the one who lives according to her own inner clock. Be the one who never forgets a detail or be the one who never remembers. Be happy when you feel like it and be sad when you’re down. Be who you are — not who they told you you should be. Be able to cry in front of someone you hardly know, if it’s time to cry. Be willing to be real. Be talkative if you are; be quiet if you’re not. Be ready to drop your masks and your protective armor and be genuine. Be in the moment, be in the light. And just when they think they know exactly who you are, be prepared to be something altogether different.

Begin

Start something! Put one foot in front of the other and inch forward ever so slightly. Show up. Say Hello and begin a conversation. Ask Says who? and begin a revolution. Write one sentence and begin your novel. Begin again, this time in a different key, at a different tempo. Begin putting yourself first. Begin enjoying it. Begin an intentional community if that’s how you want to live. Begin a reading group and focus on women who made bold new beginnings. Begin a new way of eating, a new way of moving, a new way of getting your needs met. Begin as soon as you finish reading this page. Begin at the beginning and don’t even think about where it will take you. Now begin!

Believe

Believe in the power of believing. Say I believe and believe it. Believe in fairy tales for what they can teach you about real life. Believe in happy endings, and believe that they don’t always happen. Believe in something, anything, that gives you the courage and strength to continue on when it would be so easy to give up. Believe it when a friend says you’re beautiful. Believe it when you hear the words You deserve to be happy. When someone tells you smething, believe the parts that feel right, that resonate in your belly, and discard the rest. Believe that you have choices and that you can choose wisely. Believe your own instincts above anyone else’s. Believe that you can do more with your life than you’re doing, and then do it. Above all, believe in yourself. When something seems truly unbelievable, it may be worth believing. Can you believe that?

Excerpt from my out-of-print book, What There Is To Love About A Man (Sourcebooks), which honors and celebrates masculine qualities of body, mind and spirit. Used and imperfect copies can be found here and there on the Internet, if you feel like digging.

Turbulence, from www.physicscentral.com

How can I show you who I really am, when I don’t even know myself? How can I share with you my vulnerable side, when everybody told me I had to be strong? What if I want to spend the rest of my life with a man? What if I want to spend the rest of my life with a woman? How can it be that I’ve trashed my marriage vows all in the name of love? Who’s going to teach my son how to love, when his father can hardly figure it out for himself? How can I become my own man, when my job and my church and my country always said I belonged to them? How do I stand in my personal power without stepping on other people’s toes? How can I let go and not lose everything I’ve worked my whole life to get? How am I supposed to listen to that still, small voice inside, when the rooftop chatter in my head just gets louder all the time? What if I change — really change — and you don’t like who I become? What if I don’t, either? How do I follow my bliss and still pay the bills? How much longer can I keep doing the same things in the same way — and expect everything to turn out differently?

After a gestation period of way more than 9 months, my second blog, Just Say Yes Now!, has emerged. Bear with us as we get into the new rhythms that accompany a family with a newborn as well as a very active one-year-old.

The new blog is a bit more directed to women – though all are welcome.  I’m seeing it as more of a community effort — and want to integrate more of your ideas, your comments, your art, your writing, and your stories.

The more voices that are included, the more freely we can all inspire, be inspired, and, most important of all — Be The Inspiration That Changes Our World.

The painting is done; the brown paper has been pulled off the windows; and the door is unlocked.  Please stop by for a visit and tell all your friends in the blogosphere and beyond to Just Say Yes Now! Click anywhere in this paragraph: How easy is that?

Here’s one of the many beautiful and insightful videos from Humanity Healing, a worldwide organization that can help enlighten you on the subjects of personal and global transformation; spiritual living; starseeds, angelic humans and twin flames; and awakening from a variety of traditions.

Enjoy! There’s a significant list of credits at the end of the video, with good links to check out.

Learn more about Humanity Healing Foundation at www.humanityhealing.net.

Check out the Humanity Healing Social Network here.

I am nearly ready to birth my new sister blog: Just Say Yes Now. Stay tuned here for news…