Somewhere in Ireland and Iowa my ancestors hold poetry in their closed eyes and silent tongues. Somewhere in Montana a baby deer is born and scrambling to be upright. From the quiet mountains of Tibet to the lazy shores of Cabo, a soundless strength beyond time and appearances connects us.

And somewhere here, right where you are, a greater aliveness is calling you to engage with life, to bring all that you are and contribute what you hold in your heart and hands. To begin living a fresh, evolving vision.

The energy of winter, of now, invites risking your identity as a separate self. It invites embracing a radical commitment to a unified truth of existence. New levels of living and awakened possibilities can shape through your dreams, inspirations, visions, insights and revelations.

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Life is about being here

growing in truth

coming out of hiding

and wiggling in laughter.

It’s about aware attention

crying babies

tired mothers

and radiant moons.

It’s about skinned elbows

lost hair

and voices like angels.

Life is about living this simple moment

as your mind is touched by fingers of grace

and your heart is held in arms of grace.

Yes, life is about falling into boundless, wide-eyed amazement.

Photo by Elizabeth Gadd

 

It might appear as ragged, tired, or raw

an overlooked one in a dark alley

or a lonely one in the cold of night.

Though it might echo a chilling wail

or bellow with pompous forgetting

listen closer, friend

come here, friend.

Under your torn heart

shattered by worn threads of forgetting

a glint of sunlight

like answered prayer

reveals an ancient language

of brokenness becoming love

and truth finding voice

and birdsong landing in fresh morning dew.

Photo by Elizabeth Gadd

Winter Solstice is a cornerstone inviting deep rest and balance outside the fray of activity. Like turning a corner to come home from a long weary journey, early winter points us to a soft landing and soft heart.

Under the surface of things, deeper than the noise of things, different than how things appear to be, we are invited to meet each moment as it touches us.

If your circumstances require being in a busy mix of things, the deep rest that comes with conscious breath and presence will nourish and support you in grounded balance.

2016 has been a year of radical change. This evolution continues. Trials can also open the way to an enriched and beneficial life when you stay committed to the energy that is here now, without believing a story about it.

December is a time to root deeply and be in cooperation with life’s deeper intelligence. This will prepare you for the new year and galvanize your path of authentic aliveness.

We live in surprising times. Gut wrenching times and times too beautiful for words. As Fall streams in on the power of summer eclipses, the invitation is to meet the gut wrenching in presence and kindness, where it naturally reveals life’s unspeakable beauty.

Fall brings reminders to be awake to everything. To access the heart of life, however circumstances appear to be. Life is expanding. In the next 3 months, we can find balance in a wider landscape than we might have previously known.

Life is a continual series of beginnings. Each day arrives in grace and asks nothing of us other than to turn attention to unfolding presence. We are to live moments freshly, not as continuations of what has come before or in what is anticipated to follow. We are invited to drop expectations and, moment upon moment, stay awake to what is here. This is the way we live forward without struggle. Read more

Sometimes we feel inspired to come clean and be honest.

If we’re lucky, we tire of holding things together the way we think they should be.

If we’re listening, we fall silent.

Life isn’t what it seems. It doesn’t ask us to come clean. It asks us to stop and come to this moment as we are. To bring attention home here and now. To deeply rest.

We are shaped in mystery and enveloped in wonder. We burn like fire and shine like stars.

New universes are coming alive in our heart. Welcome them in.

Those of you who remember the bouncy doo-wop song, Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime by the Jamies, may also remember simpler times. Life in today’s world is vastly more complex than those Leave it to Beaver days, yet the heart of life remains simple. Learning to open and stay in your heart is the foundation of these creatively transformative times.

The great discipline of transformation is to live at the intersection where life is simultaneously arising and passing away. We seem to live our best at a crossroads where we don’t cling to the old or push away what is new. Most of us have experience demonstrating that this isn’t always easy. However, in this space where things come into existence, life moves freely and creatively. So do we. Read more

Have you noticed that you are different than you were a year ago? Or even different from yesterday? Perhaps you feel less attached to how you think things should be, more open and willing to meet unpredictability, more available for spontaneity and showing up compassionately without needing to be certain or in control. At the same time, you might feel more committed to what matters to you. These heart qualities are getting stronger for everyone. Read more

It is through you that love expresses in this rare and precious world of paradox and mystery.

Walk with dignity, friend. Open to the profundity of each fleeting breath.

Let love spill awake and shower your cells with miracle.

Be a home for wonder, awe and majesty. Provide safety for heartbreak and dissolved dreams.

Know kindness as mystery weaves its tendrils, seeds grace and splashes fresh fragrance through its wild blossoming.

Melt in life’s embrace. Hear its pure secret that you are loved beyond words.

Photo by Sandra Bartocha

Winter season’s theme is humanitarian unity. No matter our calling or contrasting realities, the unprecedented nature of life calls us into fuller expression of who we are as we dig in and get serious about our personal and collective quality of life.

As winter progresses and life’s waves of change get bigger and more sudden, the invitation is to open to what is moving and coming alive in us. This sets us in coherence to offer our presence to others who are on challenging thresholds. Our integrity and unique artistry will increase this season as we risk opening to palpable surges of change. Read more