“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”~ Rachel Carson
“There is new life in the soil. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is great strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer.” ~ Calvin Coolidge
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the wind longs to play with your hair.” – Kahil Gibran
“Rivers and rocks and trees have always been talking to us, but we’ve forgotten how to listen.” – Michael Roads
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.” ~Anne Frank
(What I heard as I awoke this morning. A gentle whisper in my ear)
The Arms of Fear
This automatic writing is a direct way I pray and listen. It is in many ways my meditation, the technique I use to find answers to the deepest questions of my soul. This is the original response, heard in words of my own voice and seen in symbols inside my mind. Nothing has been altered or edited. I typed the words as quickly as I “heard” them. I believe the Spirit resides in each and everyone of us. You are precious and dear, and very much loved.
You will never die.
You will never be alone.
Release this fear of dying alone without love, without notice.
You are noticed every breathing moment of your life, inside the seconds, inside the flashes of moments too small to calculate or for one to take note.
You are beauty in all its truth. There is only one truth, and none can erase this truth.
There is a reason all spiritual truths speak of US as a unity and a coming together in love and peace. There is a reason for all that Is and all you see, think and feel.
Too much time is spent in idle fear: reasons and circumstances blown out of proportion, in that the degree in which energy need be spent (if spent at all) on a perceived problem is gigantic in degree to said problem.
Seek not outside yourself for solutions; instead seek within where we stand waiting, arms outstretched in gentle acceptance. So much suffering is over done, and over due to stop. Like the book that is borrowed and late in being returned, thus is your worry and apprehension. You have borrowed this so called “fear” and instead of returning what was once borrowed, you hold onto it as if this fear is of value, and your possession. Go back and return this fear to wince it came. If the fear came from before, go back and revisit, only in returning leave the fear behind.
There is no use of fear after the lesson and growth has occurred. The only use for fear is in what you choose to use fear for.
We see you using fear to control you; you have come to think this fear is the entity that has borrowed you, and has kept you long over the time you were due to return to wholeness. The question to ask yourself, when fear is perceived as “borrowing” you, is from whom did fear take you from. Whom does fear need to return you to? The answer is quite clear. Is it not? Fear took you from us, from the light, from love.
He is a dancer without a partner, who finds what he can to occupy the empty space between his arms. Choose not to climb inside his shaded and disguised embrace. For what fear offers is like the lion who offers the lamb a chase, the bird who offers the worm a tug, the carrion that offers the rotten to life. What good is this gift from fear, this empty space that folds its spiny arms around you and offers nothing but pricks of thorns? Why do you thusly run towards his arms time and time again, as if something will change? As if an alteration will transpire equivalent to a miracle. Why do you seek miracles from the face of fear? While here We stand awake, outside the shadows, clear and untarnished, available and ready to embrace you in Truth, Power, and Kindness beyond limits; so why do you turn your back on this eternal love and instead run to the shadows of an empty promise?
We know the answer, but we ask you still the same, for your own betterment and trusting of self and truth. Trust in the Truth. This is simple enough. When faced with fear or US, choose us. Every time choose us, and watch how we are always here, watch how we treat your wounds as whole and perfect, your journey as necessary and triumphant, your experience through perception as interesting and heroic. We shall not judge, or steer you in the wrong direction.
Yet, this fear, this shadow in need will feed on you, spinning and dipping you too fast and too deep. You shall see no light with fear, only shadows of what could have been had you not slipped into his spindly grip.
Search not this fear. We will be your everlasting partners, never ceasing to support you, never vanishing for one second (or less), and never once questioning your deeds, intention or purpose. For we have seen you before us. We have seen you behind and above. We have seen every side of you like a holographic image, and in so doing we know YOU. We embrace you. We know you even greater than you know yourself.
So when these thoughts of fear start a circular dance within your mind, call on our name, the name that rings true to your soul, and we shall be there, like it is said with bells on our toes and circular, everlasting love in our hearts.
There is no need to fear My Precious Child, for we are with you and have always been. This dance you lead is for your benefit. Lead for US, and release this need you carry for Fear to lead. He is no greater leader than the ant that has deserted his line and hoarded the bread crumb for himself alone. He is none greater than the chariot without a driver, an ox without a rein, a beaver without teeth. Fear is useless, selfish, and above all goal-less. He has no goal. He has no plan. He only runs wild and feeds without knowing why.
Pay him no attention and watch how the echoes grow louder—the echoes of truth and justice. Release this fear, this bed partner you no longer need to rest beside. Come find true rest with us, and with intention only we shall vanquish this fear and banish not your trust but your distrust. You are so deserving of our love. You need only release.
I came across this list I wrote over a year ago, in 2011.
In This Way I Shall Live
Recognize power is not in money but in the perception and energy granted to the illusion of money.
Explore avenues and options, and discard thoughts that are built on foundations of hopelessness and failure.
Acknowledge the limitless of the universe within.
Welcome abundance into life.
Confront feelings of “being nice.” Discover what “being nice” has meant, what it has brought, and what it has cost. Replace “being nice” with “living authentically.”
Honor true feelings and opinions without judgment of self.
Release the need to be anything to anyone.
Understand and embrace inner potential.
Prioritize what is most vital, including health, clean environment, communication, fun, and gratitude.
Welcome order into life.
Partake in a health cleanse to detoxify the body, mind and spirit.
Continue cleanse day-by-day based on individual needs and desires, and not balanced against the outcomes of others.
Pay attention to what is put into the mouth, where food comes from, who provides the food and at what cost to society and the environment the food is made.
Welcome clean healthy food into life.
Be gentle with self.
Welcome accomplishment into life.
Release the need to contribute.
Pamper the self.
Give back to the giver.
Give by receiving thankfully and fully, without excuse or diminishment of the experience.
Allow others to love the beauty carried within.
Believe in the worth of the glorious embodied spirit of love that resides within.
Reach not for answers.
Relax in just being and knowing essentially all is enough.
Welcome nurturing into life.
Sacrifice for growth. To break through spiritual blockages make a sacrifice through spoken word, written word, or other form of creation.
Take a risk to honor the self.
Speak up.
Claim the right to be heard.
Speak for self and self alone, not dependent upon outcome or response.
Honor the self enough to give voice to passion and need.
Replace silence with truth.
Welcome growth into life.
Let go.
Release anyone, everything, anything, any thought, any memory, any worry, and any entity taking energy from spirit.
Release and know that in releasing in return there is increased compassion and love.
Replace anger, resentment, regret, bitterness, and blame with increased empathy, patience, love, and forgiveness.
Forgive and then forgive again. Make forgiveness an every moment process. Awake and forgive. And awake and forgive again.
Welcome freedom into life.
Let loose the pattern of looking for infractions, wrongs, and imperfection.
Notice the limitless beauty in imperfection.
Know if this was to be the last day of breath, the day will have been spent in thankfulness.
Welcome life.
Forest in Great Northwest Washington Photos by Sam Craft
He sailed most of the year up the Pacific Ocean from Central California (Monterey) to Alaska.
He was the designated cook on the ship, because of his talent for creating a scrumptious meal from the gifts of the sea.
I thought of him today, as I walked along the docks.
I thought of him today, and his journeys; how I wish I could speak to him now—hear his rough Italian dialect weave the ocean tales of sea monsters, mermaids, and giant jellyfish.
The sea is in my blood.
I know this now.
I can never live away from the ocean again.
The salt water is my refuge.
The seagulls my angels.
And the waves, as they move, confirmation that I am just as source intended.
Whether I wash ashore, retreat, break, or beckon onlookers, I am exactly as I was made to be—an endless ocean of mystery harboring the secrets of generations.