Archive for the ‘Gaia’ Category

What does my wild heart desire, #2

Monday, February 4th, 2013

The second process I’ll use to explore what my wild heart desires is photography. I went on a walk in Catalina State Park, which is a treasure right next to my house. (I know, my wild heart is already grateful.) I took some photos—not thinking too much about why, except I was attracted to that scene—and now I’ll dialogue with them.

Seeing the great Catalinas, touched by the setting sun, I remember that my wild heart’s desire is always to live near beauty, with beauty surrounding me, and to be on the Beauty Path. That is, if for some reason I find myself in a place that doesn’t seem beautiful, I will find beauty there, or create it. Thank you for reminding me of how much I love beauty.

I am reminded that I am always looking for my path. That the exploration–the finding and following my path–is a lovely adventure in itself. My wild heart loves that exploration and isn’t nearly as attached to the destination or the end result as my mind and my ego. Another good reminder!

This scene reminds me that reflections–even in an ordinary rain puddle–can be lovely. The way nature is reflected is a treasure, if we just remember to look. My wild heart loves to find lovely reflections, both in nature and in my own inner landscape. She loves the process of taking time, of looking and remembering to remember. She wants me to always allow time for this.

Finally, I stop and see myself–my shadow–in the landscape. What does this show about my wild heart? The photo tells me that my mind and ego tend to think my shadow–the parts of me that aren’t visible to me in “normal life”–show up in natural ways in order to be recognized and accepted. That means the parts of me that aren’t so nice and pretty are going to show up in my outer life through my relationships, and they’ll also show up in my inner landscape. And that is a good thing. My wild heart doesn’t care if I have imperfections. She’s all about discovery, exploration, venturing into uncharted territory. She says we can all have wonderful discoveries when our shadow shows up. Sometimes these involve healing old wounds and other times they involve seeing and recognizing our gifts.

What do these four photographs say to you about your own wild heart? I invite your comments!

Is this a reflection of you?

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Are you familiar with fractals?

This flower might not technically qualify, but it’s close. We can look at the whole thing and say it’s a flower. Then if we look at each section, it’s made of…miniature flowers. Flowers within flowers. Other more “exact” fractals might include a cauliflower.

Mini-worlds. That’s what fractals remind me of. The macro and the micro.

Our bodies are, of course, magnificent examples of the macro and the micro, of mini-worlds contained in a framework that is contained in a macro world that is contained in a galaxy…cells within cells. Bodies within bodies.

What worlds do you contain within you? What physical ones and what examples of cosmic consciousness?

I believe that in some sense, we contain everything, just as we are contained.

And what do you think?

Plane Shadow

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

plane shadowIn the fall my husband Jon and I flew our Cessna 182 from Tucson to Taos to visit friends who have a wonderful mountain cabin. On the way, we saw fall leaves coming to their peak, almost as quickly as time lapse photography on the Discovery Channel. By the end of the long weekend when we returned, spots of gold like this one had spread, and whole swatches of forest were brilliant gold and orange. Superimposed on it all, I would see a moving shadow of our little plane, projected onto the screen of nature.

Plato saw reality in a way similar to this, as I recall–shadows projected on the back of a cave, like a camera obscura. Is everything we are so attached to a moving set of illusions?

Part of the Flying Lessons process I teach is the notion of seeing that we can move our vantage point around, seeing ourselves and our lives from above when that is helpful, defying the gravity of events on the ground level.

Another flying lesson is about opening our hearts to the beauty and wonder of nature, and to the beauty and wonder of our inner words as well. After all, we are part of the creation, and when we see that we are full of gratitude and a sense of connection to the whole web of life. The stories that fill the “middle world” which we usually inhabit are like this shadow of a small vehicle moving across the canvass of nature.

The key here is that we can observe all this. We are the first species that is conscious of ourselves. We have choices no part of creation has had before. What will we do with this awareness?  Where will we travel on our journeys? What will our relationship be to the planet? What will our exclamations be as we observe our interaction with the planet; will they be utterances of wonder or cynicism? Small views or large? How curious are we to see what the extent is of our powers? How will we use them?

Or is the plane shadow just a “plain shadow,” just an illusion, just a passing image that no one saw anyhow?

What do you think? If, like me, you are a “philoser,” as I used to call myself when I was a child, and you too are sipping from a pot of tea, drop in and share your observations.

What is it?

Friday, March 5th, 2010

B&W aerial

Is it a piece of crumpled paper? a well-worn piece of leather? Or an aerial photo of  a river system?

One of the things we can see from the air is the similarity between the surface of the earth and the surface of some of the smaller things we find on earth. Did you know, for instance, that the mathematical relationship between rivers and their tributaries is the same as the mathematical relationship between veins and arteries of the human circulatory system?

The airplane, as St. Exupery pointed out, “revealed the face of the earth.” And then of course space flight revealed the body of Gaia. So now we can see what no other generation has ever seen, except in their mind’s eye.

So, what do we want to do with what we can now see? How do these visions of the connections between your body and Mother Earth’s body affect you?  What are you inspired to remember or be or do?