Affirmation: “My grape vine of friends will wrap me in happiness.”
Tag: friendship
First Wedding! June 6th 2013
A few months ago, I had the honour of co-officiating my best friends’ wedding in Westerlo, NY!
It was a truly inspirational process filled with love.
I will let the photos do the talking for me. I hope they inspire you to live a life overflowing with nourishing Love.
Namaste
Photos courtesy of Andy Kainz Photography
What is your spiritual goal?
When I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a priest, but only because I felt it was the only way to save myself from damnation.
Then, when I turned 13, I began my quest for enlightenment, because I knew I was worthy and felt I would be able to help others along the way.
Since then, I have become an Ordained Minister and Spiritual Shaman.
I have studied Shinto, Taoism, Kabbalah, Buddhism, specifically the concept of bodhisattvas.
I have studied the Ancients: Native American, Egyptian, Sumerian, Indus-Valley, Mayan, Aztec, Inca, Nazca, Olmec, Celtic, Druidic.
I have studied philosophy and other seekers: Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Hypatia, Leonardo da Vinci, Margaret Cavendish, Bertrande Russell, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oscar Wilde, John Keats, Theophile Gautier, Voltaire, Shakespeare, Newton, Albert Einstein.
New Age esoterics has changed within me, from when I was a little Wiccan studying Silver Ravenwolf, Scott Cunningham, Raymond Buckland, and any Element Encyclopedia I could get my hands on; to now, 13 years later.
The New Age world is a hard place to maneuver, especially when you are young with limited resources.
It seems now, that I can freely communicate with my higher Self on a heart-to-heart level. I find it easier and more meaningful to glean enlightenment by listening to those whispers on the wind, instead of reading semantics and ritual. Please, do not misinterpret, I am thankful for my young enthusiasm, but as we age and mature, so does our bookshelf. It doesn’t mean we invalidate those dustier covers. If anything, we smile deeply to ourselves, to our youth, as we dust them off periodically.
Now that I am fast approaching 26, my bookshelf has gotten quite extensive. (Ask any of my friends who have continuously helped me pack and unpack load after load of books.) Now, my nightstand honours Ted Andrews, Caitlin Matthews, Jon Kabat-Zin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Angeles Arrien, Sandra Ingerman, Jeanne Achterberg, Elson M. Haas, Starhawk, Deepak Chopra, Joanna Powell Colbert, and the uncensored writings of Samuel Clemens.
I guess you could say that my spiritual goal is still to gain a sense of enlightenment, but I am much more concerned with allowing it to happen naturally with time. I simply wish to live a spiritual life close to nature and filled with love. To meditate, and to live a life worth living. To be a source for others to come to for guidance and friendship. Because I will be the first to admit, I am no saint. I am no better than any one else who lives in a world where life is a constant battle between what is right and wrong. I just chose to follow the temptations of my spirit: love, partnership, friendship, nature, embracing wildness, Reiki, honesty, kindness to all creatures, tea, chocolate, moon-light and sunlight, hearth-fires, community, meditation, wine, and of course: laughter.
Those are my spiritual goals.
What are yours?
Namaste.
Solar question posed by Caitlin Matthews, Celtic Devotional.
Lunar meditation: An absent friend.
This one does not pass any of us. There will come a time for everyone where you will be absent for someone at a time who needs you.
It is heart-breaking, and with it comes much guilt, however, you mustn’t blame yourself too harshly.
I myself have been an absent friend in the past, much to my dismay.
However, there have been many who have been absent for me as well.
I cannot fault them any more than I can fault myself. And I am sure you can do the same. The most we can do however is light a candle, apologize to ourselves, say a prayer, and apologize to our dear friend, and try to stay in touch as much as possible.
Some roads though are forced upon people to go it alone, and if that is their path, they must have some sorted lesson to learn.
Sleep well tonight dear ones. Believe that you are a good friend, because no one person can be perfect all the time. Sink away down to sleep knowing you can find your peace.
Ask your guardians or spiritual guides to show you the way to be cleansed of the hurt and pain as you sleep.
Sweet dreams. Good night.
Lunar meditation posed by Caitlin Matthews, Celtic Devotional.
Which of your neglected friends would most enjoy hearing from you?
Friendships last a lifetime.
True heart connections can never be cut no matter the distance or time.
When you “have a caring, compassionate response to another,” there is this bond that is formed of unconditional love. You understand, “shit happens.” And that things can get carried away.
You understand that life takes hold, and life’s focuses and journeys sometimes have to go separate ways for a time to ultimately reconnect. You “honour the Divine in each other, as your connection brings healing and joy.”
We lose touch even though we said we wouldn’t. But there should not be guilt there. A true friend knows and understands. What friends have you lost in contact with? Did some need to be discarded for other reasons? Which ones are you willing to welcome back into your life? Even for just a moment to catch up. Trust your heart, and search yourself. Who would most enjoy hearing from you? They may just need it.
“My heart is full and open, as I recognize the Divine in my beloved” friend. – Joanna.
Lunar Meditation: The support of friendship
Tonight, Caitlin Matthews inspires us to ponder true friendship as our heads are layed on pillows waiting to dream our next day.
A friend is someone who loves you, unconditionally. Period.
Friends of conveinence, are not friends. Friends who cannot bare to help you through hard times, are not friends. Friends who talk ill of you behind your back, are not friends.
Period.
The support of friendship is timeless.
It is a soul bond that cannot be broken no matter the distance. True friendship lasts.
A true friend is that person who you could spend days and nights with. Who takes you in when you are misfortunate, who clothes you, who feeds you, who saves you from a flood, and offers a cup of tea. Who makes you laugh in your hardest of times, and makes you cry in the best of times.
The support of friendship is the support of family.
I hope you dear ones are as fortunate as I. Because I have been truly blessed with
Thee best of friends.
Namaste dear ones.
Good night, sweet dreams.
Under the Knife
It has been exactly one week since my very first surgery.
On one hand:
cold, sterile, metallic worries.
Plastic. Tubes. Long IVs.
NPO hunger & thirst.
Mechanical beeps.
Drips of saline and morphine.And on the other:
warm, comfortable, soothing smiles.
Fabric. Soundscapes. Hugs.
Drips of laughter and love.
Hand holding, kisses, and Reiki.
Those of you who know me, know that I have basically LIVED at the hospital. My position in times past has been about taking care for the people we supervise, even in a hospital setting. It’s pretty much 24/7. I have showered, slept, and breathed “hospital” for many straight hours, the longest ever being 34 straight, and 72 with “breaks” in between.
Is this against labour laws? Hells yeah! But did it stop my previous administration? Not so much. (That’s why they all got sacked, amongst other things…)
So, I’m used to being on the OPPOSITE SIDE of the ghastly uncomfortable hospital bed, no matter how cool those buttons are. There can only be so many times you can harass a nurse to change the temperature of the room or find which channel Maury is on.
Furthermore, I’m a caregiver, I do not do so well with people taking care of me. Having said all of that, and that I have never broken a bone in my body, nor ever been hospitalized before in my Life…I was not too thrilled about the post-op regimen.
I’m used to hiking, spelunking deep into caves, and cliff diving on a sheer whim. How was I going to manage being “a gimp” for however how long this whole healing process was going to take? And plus, people were telling me that it was going to feel like I was hit by a bus…(Thanks guys. Lol.)
Well…they LIED. Haha, it was more like being punched repeatedly, over and over again, in the abdomen. Okay, like someone kicked me in the balls. (Just a few times). Needless to say, yes it did hurt, but evidently I’m in good shape. And I am recovering very well.
The whole process wasn’t as bad as I thought. My surgeon, 5′ 5″, late 30’s something, HILARIOUS, Italian walked into my room with her crazy Hello Kitty surgeon cap, and said, “Alright, let’s party!” She warned me that “the Johnnies will be a little tender, okay, and black& blue for a while, so the sexy-times…will have to wait for now.” And with a wink and giggle, she was like, “Okay, let’s do this, We gotta big party waiting for you and we can’t lay HERE all day.”
She is utterly fabulous, and I am so glad I chose her out of all the others in the Capital Region.
And, of course, it being me, I WOULD have the funniest and most kick-ass of surgeons anyway…
And, of course, it being me, I WOULD have the funniest and most kick-ass of friends anyone could be lucky enough to have.
To all of MY caregivers & healers: Thank-you for getting me prescriptions, and ginger ale, and soup, and milk, and water, and tea, and Graham crackers, and hot dogs, and chicken, and waffles, and pancakes, and toilet paper, and napkins, and corn meal, and a food processor, and books, and movies, and CDs, and art supplies, and games, and energy work, and massage, and dancing for me on occasion too. For being my chauffeurs, my pillow fluffers, for reading to me, and picking out my date clothes, and for putting up with everything else I failed to mention. *Note: Not everyone is pictured in this article, but you do not go under appreciated. I have received so many emails and messages and hugs from all sorts of people. You are ALL Beautiful Beings…*
For reminding ME that I am not like anyone else. That I shine my beautiful self in and out. That I am an amazing free spirit, a writer and poet. Reminding me what it is that I fight for every day, and who. For being my family and my Shirley, you know who you are. For chasing rainbows with me, and frolicking in the woods (even when it is slow and with a limp.)
That everyone hurts sometimes, and that we all heal in our own times and in our own ways.
Love you guys, I truly do.
Delanson, NY
Healey Institute for Healers 