A Reflection on Time

What would you say if I told you that time is mostly irrelevant? That what really matters is our perception of it.

When I was a young boy I found that I could extend time by standing still. As a young man I found the way to stretch time was to be complacent. But as an older man I now see that time is the means to an end. Some times it needs to be romanced, to be enjoyed and reveled in whether past, present or in the future for it is a quantity that most assuredly will not always be with us.

Today I sit and remember so many sad and happy times from past adventures and venues that have grown together to weave the fabric of my life. Today and tomorrow I will be venturing into even more rich and wonderful territories, places and experiences that can only add to it and thus embellish it.

I now know that time is a vessel that holds our soul in suspension. It is the pot in which we place the soil of life and nurtures the seeds from which grow our experiences. It catches the waters of emotion and grows our very being.

So let us dance through this day and sing of others. Plant our seeds today so that they can be harvested tomorrow, remembering that we are in fact just children of this universe from which we came and to where we will finally return as star dust.

A Perfect Day

I have always maintained that if one has a positive attitude and is of good spirit than an aurora exists around them which can be see by others and will thus lead to positive encounters ...

It is Cinco de Mayo today three days after my day of perfection. It has been so long that true joy has filtered through my days of desperation but it feels like the touch of an old friend who has returned. A feeling that resonates in both mind and body.

Last Sunday the day began at 6am when I was awakened by the song of birds signing just outside my window. It seems that they already new that this would be an exceptional day, a day that had been so long waited. I had decided to welcome the spring by having an afternoon party and invited friends to join me in the opening of my house and gardens to the season.

The preparations were mostly done. The new fountain was standing strong in the back garden beckoning the robins to join in my celebration and I was rushing around to make sure that everything was perfect. This was the day that our cherry tree usually puts on its coat of blossoms and the rhododendron bursts forth in a profusion of color as if blushing at the spectacle. That was other years however, this year nature bloomed prematurely. Never the less their bloom still resonated in my mind and the azaleas framing the deck and garden more than made up for my disappointment, after all it was still going to be a perfect day.

Than came the gathering, a gathering of friends old and new. Friends that had seen me through this and many other long winters. Friends who bought with them their own blooms of joy to this celebration of life. As the afternoon turned towards twilight the lanterns glow illuminated the deck and the guests began to dwindle. I sat with my entourage and talked of celebrations past, some almost ancient now but none the less decades of joy and laughter that are still alive in the shadows of my mind. Days of light and laughter that do not fade away as long as there is life.

That night my "entourage" and I set out to extend this perfect day not wanting to let it end. I felt as though I was being transported to another perfect day that I remember so vividly 28 years ago when I met my soul mate, the love of my life. With a single glance he had made that day perfect - that was then. But wait, as I stood with my entourage, dressed in my white linens and my straw hat and feeling every bit the part a tall and handsome stranger came out of the crowd and walked towards us. He stopped in front of me and said at once "I like your hat. You are very handsome in it". Was this a perfect end to an already perfect day? I hope not I thought, but it could be the beginning of another.

The Inner Space

There is a time - There is a place
But more than these an inner space

A space so vast and yet so small that in times of need we can build a wall

A wall that protects and isolates

Provides a refuge from ignorance and hate

When the winters of life become too long

We desire to hear the robins song

A song of hope, a song of love

A song that heals us from above

The time is spring, the place is here
The inner space our inner ear
The wall is strength from deep within

The universe is our next of kin

An Early Spring

It is April 16th and I am sitting on our tranquil and sequestered deck watching nature in all it's beauty unfold before me. Although rather early, the Rhododendron and the Cherry Tree are in full bloom and a chubby bumble bee is already eagerly collecting nectar. I have impatiently planted the planters and am looking forward to this new again season.

There is something however that is missing this year. That which in past seasons made it all so special. I still put on my summer face and dress the house and yard with traditions long kept but this time they are a little less important. I think that maybe we take too much for granted in our daily patter and, until it is brought to our attention, fail to realize what we have and how important it is to us. While I will sing of the spring this year again and revel in it's beauty I will also remember springs past. Moments of joy and beauty that will not be here this year but will echo in my memories of them and will press me to journey on to the next season and it's special memories as well. For as long as we press on we are still part of this present.

Step by step we all journey on to the next season. Either gleaning from it joy or rejecting it as sorrow. But in the end it will bring us to a conclusion, an extension or hopefully a reconciliation. What was is no longer and that which might be could still, but that which is truly desired can and will be. As long as the sun shines warm on our face and the soft breeze caresses our hair, the energy is still with us and indeed within us. We carry dreams of a life of experience which like a great book can be conjured up at any moment to comfort and confront life's many challenges.

THE ART OF LIVING IN THE MILLENNIUM

Just what in fact is the art of living in the millennium? I have been asked this question many times and my response is always the same and it is always different too. Each one of us has our own way of coping with life’s challenges and each in turn a special place kept safe in their hearts that allows the universe to pass through their lives without grounding that energy and keeping them safe. For me that special place has always been the ability to ride on the tides of time, to embrace every day as a new beginning and to except life’s obstacles for what they are – potential opportunities to grow although this last year has more than tested my ability to coup.

So there you have it “the art of living in the millennium” is merely nothing more than the art of “surviving it" …

A Celebration of Spring

And so it is Easter the moveable feast that occurs in the month named for Ostre the pagan goddess of the dawn. Passover is drawing to an end and with it we have passed over to the season of resurrection and renewal once again. That circle of life so to speak. And as the Sun shines down the Earth awakens and Winter's memory melts. It is time to break out! Feel alive and enter into the dance of life again. Listen to the rhythms of the Earth and connect with our inner exuberance. The Earth is surging with vital energy and in turn so should we.

We are alive on this green planet called Earth and we have every reason to celebrate. What ever we call it - Easter, Passover, Beltane or Ostara - the Spring is within us not merely around us. Listen to the outward signs of the universe and then seek their answering echoes within. Listen to the calm ... Ommmm

Take It Slow

A much needed Spring came early this year to the Midwest. As if sensing the need mother nature anointed us with the miracle of renewal and regeneration. Now mind you I am being a little selfish here, or maybe I should say self indulgent as the rest of the nation has certainly had it's challenges. You see this last year, I feel, was a year that should not have existed and should most definitely be stricken from all records and remembrances. For just as Don McLean's composition "Bye bye, Miss American Pie" expounds on the 60's and 70's I think that the year 2009 must sum up the disappointments of the decades that preceded and perhaps was manifested by them.

A much needed serenity has descended upon me this Vernal Equinox. For as the sun passes over the Earth's equator it gives us the sign that not only will our physical food supplies be restored but also our spiritual essences, much as those of the ancient civilizations before us, become fertile again. As I move forward I feel that I must not only weigh things more judiciously but also will become more prudent in my judgements.

Once upon a time not so long ago "the music used to make me smile" and now it has the chance to do so again. Maybe this is "the dawning of the Age of Aquarius". Time to "let the sun shine in" again? This time however I have new lyrics. They are inspired by a group called Pink Martini and this is what they say -

"Life is moving oh so fast I think we should take it slow,

rest our heads upon the grass and listen to it grow".