Letting it go is a soul grower.

I was talking with a girlfriend about a family who was being torn apart over money after their Dad had passed.  I couldn't grasp it.  Why would family chose money or power over each other and the richness of family?  My friend laughed at that and said I know right?  When was the last time you saw a uhaul attached to the back of a casket?

She was spot on.  I'm not taking anything other than my spirit with me.  No art, jewels, cars, furniture, houses etc.  The most important thing I can do is let it all go emotionally prior to death even and leave this world bit better off than I found it.  That's it.  This my friend, is indeed another Soul Grower.

Aging Is A Big Soul Grower

I'm sitting at my gate in the airport.  I was lucky with a TSA pre board :-)
The airport is relatively quiet this morning so I had a moment or two to talk with the keeper of the gates.   You know the folks who look at our license or passport to see if we are who we say we are?  We remarked about how quiet the airport was this morning.  I said I don't know what it is, but the older I get the less silence bothers me.  She stopped and looked at me a moment and said , "Sweetie, I started to really enjoy life in my 40's, the 50's were better, the 60's were better than the 50's and now that I'm in my 70's life is smooth and good.

This woman didn't look to be in her 70's at all, which doesn't have anything to do with anything but I love to see people who have taken care of themselves.  She said just enjoy your life.  Let it happen.  She was so calm and peaceful but had good energy swirling all around her.  We agreed I would.  Then we both agreed  having faith that there is something beyond this world is just icing on the cake to aging.  So yes in deed my friends.  Aging is a big ole soul grower. 

Being Our Organic Selves is a Soul Grower.

I've been thinking about all the anti-anxiety disorder meds that are often over-prescribed in our country as well as addiction.  Drugs, alcohol, sex and gambling easily come to mind  but there are so many others.   Addiction to perfection, food, money and approval of others.  Addiction comes in lots of forms and is an equal opportunity agent. It'll accept anyone. 

What if high anxiety and addiction could be attributed to our belief  that we should all follow the same general path in life? That we should all strive to be the same.  We should live in a certain style home, drive an acceptable style car, have similar education and on and on. We should never become too excited, too loud, too outspoken too different from others.  Never draw attention to ourselves. 

What if, metaphorically speaking, we are all struggling to be bricks?  You know, the bricks we use for building.   Brick is made from clay and shale - some of the most abundant materials on earth - and then fired in a kiln at up to 2,000° F. By going through a chemical-transforming, vitrification process in the kiln, the minerals in the clay/shale unit fuse together and become a material that looks great, lasts incredibly long.

Bricks are popular for longevity and for their uniform appearance.  They go into the mold as one thing and come out another.  Again, there is a chemical transformation that occurs when they are being created. They lose almost all of their originality as they undergo intense pressure and heat to become a new creation. 

What if instead of becoming bricks we should be striving to be field stones?  A fieldstone is a stone that is found and used in it's natural state.  That's it.  It's collected, washed and used just as it was found.  No chemical or physical transformation.  They are used in different areas depending on their organic shape. 

Bricks are often used in building homes.  They are loved by builders for obvious reasons  If one breaks, that's okay.  It's just tossed aside and the bricklayer reaches back, without even the need to look,  and picks up another.  No big deal. Remember......they are all the same!   But a fieldstone.........a fieldstone when it breaks can not be so easily replaced.  The mason has to search for another fieldstone to take it's place.  He has to go through many to find just the right stone that will replace the previous one.  Yet it will not be identical to the one it is replacing. The new stone will still be just as it was.  No transformation required. l

What if we could stop trying to be like others and just be as original as a fieldstone? We wouldn't have to behave in a certain manner we could just be free to be what and who we were created to be.  We wouldn't need to go through a chemical transformation or fit into a pressure mold to become something we were never meant to be. 

Is it plausible to say, without the pressure to be just like everyone else we would see a drop in addiction and less prescribed anxiety disorder medication?   We wouldn't need to run to an experience to make us forget who we are or how we behave. We might find that every day is a new rush because we would be comfortable in being exactly what were created for. Absolutely nothing more or nothing less.  Simply free to be ........

Being Unique is a Soul Grower -

Wouldn't the world be so boringly generic if we all succumbed to fitting in?
Sometimes we have a choice to be different.  Other times it's forced on us like
Kermit.  Either way it's a wonderful thing.  Embrace it!

Friends ARE Soul Growers.

A new friend sent me this video on Facebook. 

She said she thought of me when she heard it.  I loved that the song reminded her of me but mostly I just liked being thought of.   Period.  Who doesn't like to be thought of in a positive way?  

What a great world it would be if we all complimented each other when a thought came to mind.  No censoring.  A simple "nice shoes", "good haircut"," great job", "I like that about you" can be a game changer in someones life.   

If you have a couple of minutes listen to the video below.  It's a great tune!

Separate ourselves from nature and what do you get?

Watching the Republican debates recently and watching the news covering all of our presidential candidates left me with a question. 

 Where had we as a people learned it's all about me? That if it's not my idea, my accomplishment or for my benefit it's not important?

 It's not just political figures who are teaching us not to play well with others. They just seemed to be the most televised of late.  We are receiving this "what about me" message from all sides.  Our commercials on television, our movies, working in a corporate environment and it's hard to even write this but our religion may as well.  "Our God is greater" is a song I remember singing.  It never sat right.  No need to even mention Cupcake WARS.  WARS!  It's Cupcakes for crying out loud! 

How did we become a nation of "What about me?"  Here's a thought and you tell me where I'm wrong.  Many of us are removed from nature. I see God as the source of nature.  What if we were still getting our food from backyard gardens or chickens in the coop, cows in the pasture? If we as a community were all more dependent on ourselves and neighbors for our meals how might that change who we are?  

Try to picture yourself planning a garden. Running your fingers through the dirt as you plant seeds, watering, weeding, fertilizing and watching the fragile shoot emerge from the ground.  Then watching that same small shoot grow becoming a harvest of  tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, peppers  whatever it is you chose to plant in the Spring.  Then gathering that food and bringing it into your home and sharing it with your neighbors. How fulfilling that might be.  What an immense sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that could bring.  How it might possibly cause us to wonder about nature, God, the universe and connect us with each other. Maybe it'll even take away a bit of the question, "What about me?", and we'll begin to ask, "what about you?" 

A Grief-Stricken Father and Daughter Search for Peace at Burning Man | B...

I was watching a video on "Beliefs" this morning that included a healing at Burning Man.  

The video is about a Dad and Daughter who had lost their wife/mom and daughter/sister.  The two were not able to heal on their own.  They had no personal faith to fall back on.  

Together they agreed to experience a radical week to try to heal emotionally and spiritually .  They chose to attend "Burning Man".  Burning Man is an eclectic group of people who come together in the middle of the desert and express themselves through art.  For some it can be very spiritual.  The week proved to be very healing for this fragmented family.  

As this Dad and daughter went into the temporary temple it made me wonder.  What might our small village benefit from a community temple?  Nothing fancy.  No electricity, water, heating.  Just an open structure set in nature with the soul purpose of drawing souls together in their own experience of faith.  How might any community benefit?  No rules other than respect, meditation/prayer and open conversation if wanted.   We could bring our sorrows or our happiness and experience God together.  No special time of day.  An open house experience. 

Here is an abbreviated video of the daughter and father's experience.