Daily Inspiration

I get daily inspiration from a variety of different sources, some of them ancient turns of phrase, some of them new reflections on the same wisdom we all tap into. I have mantras that I write for myself, or occasionally get from somewhere else. I have  Morning Prayer which incorporates some of those ancient turns of phrase – some of them only a thousand years old, and some of them more like three thousand years old. I move and twist my body while I do yoga and that seems to move and twist my mind and my spirit and delicious ways. And I have things emailed to me every morning that are inspirational.

Why?

Funny you should ask. It’s nice at any point in my life, and right now it’s absolutely necessary. It’s a stressful pot of crabs over here – moving out of a commune, getting married, the job I’ve created for myself over the past 3 years finally materializing, every other vocational thing taking off and taking time, and the necessary balance… Let’s just say I go to bed grateful that I can rest and I wake up grumpy, despite saying Compline or Night Prayer with my beloved.  My daily inspiration is the way I transform GrumpMuffin into Grateful, Smiling Sarah.

And so I share with you here two pieces of that daily inspiration. The first one in the picture above comes from the magazine Real Simple who, despite its grammatically sketchy title, provides a lovely ‘Daily Thought’. I subscribed to their magazine for a few years, but grew beyond it. I have yet to grow beyond the Daily Thought, and I deeply appreciate it. “If you can dream it, you can make it so.” – Belva Davis.

The second comes from the mac widget produced by The Secret. Today’s ‘Daily Teaching’ is a quote from Marcel Proust. “We don’t receive wisdom. We must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.”

I hope you all have a very lovely day.

The Clarity of Hope

What does desire have to do with faith?

When we feel a strong need, there is desperation in that need. Even if we’re not used to putting it quite that way, it doesn’t take a whole lot of introspection to identify it. God doesn’t dwell in desperation. Faith is where God is found – faith, hope, love, joy, peace, bliss, light, life… Yes this is the stomping ground of God. This is, in fact, That Which Is God.

When we feel desire – and here I take the stance that we can feel desire apart from need – there is no desperation, there is no fear, there is no sense of lack or incompleteness. There is a freedom and openness in desire – the exact opposite of desperation. When we feel desire, this open, free sensation makes faith easy. And faith isn’t about buying into a belief system, a set of historical events that may or may not have occurred. Faith is about placing your heart inside of this Hope-Love-Joy-Peace-Bliss-Life-Light thing that is God. Faith is about saying ‘that’s what I want, that’s how I want to live, that’s what I’m going to do, that’s how I’m going to be’.

When we feel desire it is easier to sense the abundance around us and we can very easily be in tune with the stomping ground of God – we can be faith-y, placing our hearts inside of hope, love, joy, peace, bliss, light and life.

When we have faith, we can know that our desires are possible. It is God’s happy joy to answer our prayers, but when we are trembling in fear or anger then we’ve already separated ourselves from God… and it’s that separation which needs to be addressed before any other prayers can be heard. God is, loves, and wants faith, hope, joy, love, peace, bliss, light and life for all of us, and God wants it RIGHT NOW.

So… Get in the groove. Practice giving up the desperate sense of need (which is a spiritual practice all on it’s own, popular in every major religion, under different titles), and embrace Holy Desire – where we can have the clarity of hope and the fullness of faith. Also, Joy. Lots and lots of joy. (All the joy! All of it!)

Migraines and Self-Care

Turning Migraines into Mountains

Once again, I have a migraine and once again I’ve taken something for it. Now, there’s the night time stuff and the day time stuff – both over the counter, not prescription medications mind, my migraines aren’t quite that heinous (though trust me, they’re migraines, so they’re pretty heinous), but the night time stuff makes me drowsy and stupid for about 12 hours and the day time stuff has caffeine in it.

Given that I woke up at 5:45 this morning with this puppy, at 7 am I was practically bouncing out of bed with a grin on my face. But that’s  the thing – the medication takes me to a silly place, really, one where I all too easily forget that I’ve given myself a migraine and perhaps a smidgen of self-care is warranted. Now yes, there are things I’ve scheduled to do today, but some of them could happen another day. I could take it easy. But it’s not easy to recall that when I’m bouncing out of bed ready to climb Mount Everest.

So, let’s talk about this conundrum of self-care,  yes? Continue reading

Spiritual Direction?

Have a cup of health!

Spiritual Direction.  Maybe you’ve heard of it.  Maybe you’re wondering if it’s a special type of cartography.  Either way, the question that might be rattling around right now, since I’ve mentioned it and all is… What the hell is Spiritual Direction?  Closely followed, perhaps, by Is Spiritual Direction right for me, right now?  And then of course, there are other questions to ask…

So if you’re curious, do read on! Continue reading