Be the Ballast

These times mark a turning point.

Such a broad range of emotions swinging wildly across the planet. For some: elation! Victory! Righteousness. For others: fear, disillusionment. Grief. Anger.

With such widely divergent energies in a powerful swirl, where - and how - do we land? The answer to this question is likely different for each of us.

I'm a little surprised by where I'm landing. I feel my fierceness. I feel resolute.

I feel fiercely protective of all that is life affirming, of all humans on this planet. For the planet herself. Fierce in my knowing that the principles of creation are actively at play in this world, and are guiding us along our clumsy, jiggedy-jaggedy trajectory toward the evolution of human consciousness. These energies are guiding us, like tugboats nudging the large ship of humanity, keeping us on the path of love.

Large ships require something called ballast to keep them stable and steady on their course. A heavy material, such as gravel or iron or water, is loaded deep into the belly of the ship. This grounding force prevents wide swings in the wind and the waves; it allows the ship to stay on its trajectory.

The wind and the waves of change are rocking our country right now. We're looking into the face of our future, and the potential exists for a massive change in trajectory. We need some ballast.

I believe we're being called to be that ballast. To put our stake in the ground for all that is life-affirming. For all the dreams we hold for our future.

Yes, push your stake firmly in the ground, stand tall, put your shoulders back, open your heart, and hold your ground.  Do not surrender to wide emotional swings into righteousness, fear, disillusionment, and anger.


It's time for us to move in the world from a solid place of personal truth and self-authority. Because we've just been tapped to kick it up a notch. It's not enough anymore to pray and hold the dream. Yes, we must keep praying and dreaming. And...we must walk those prayers and dreams into our day-to-day lives.

This is less about fighting back than it is about holding ground. Steadfastly creating the world in which we want to live. Taking "Be the change you want to see in the world" to the next level and, with fierce and resolute action, building a world that is life-affirming, self-sustaining, in balance with nature, for the people and by the people. Perhaps the reality is that only the people can create that world. Maybe its time we stop thinking our government or world leaders will usher our vision into existence.

What does that mean for you? Listen carefully...when you feel life tap you on the shoulder; when your heart surges forward, pulling you into action; when life asks you to step in, DO IT! This can manifest in countless ways, from the seemingly small actions to large social endeavors. It may be deep, internal change, or shifts within your immediate family, or stepping up in your community. Maybe running for office, or supporting a cause that speaks to your spirit.

Together we can create a solid, very real version of our vision that will exist side by side with the broken systems that are currently in the forefront. As those structures get dismantled and fall, it's then a side-step into the new. Rather than annihilation, let's be prepared to move forward and care for humanity, the planet.

We really are Stronger Together. We need each other to help us hold our ground. The time is now.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

With love and respect,

Zardoya

What is Prayer?

I've been turning this question, What is Prayer, over the past day or so, ever since my last post. It's unusual for me to use the word prayer to describe my inner journey, much less post it in a public manner. Actually, maybe unusual isn't the right word...it's new for me to frame my journey in this way.

Historically, I've thought of prayer as it is described in the first two definitions above: a request to God or an object of worship, a religious service of some sort. This form of prayer is powerful, and manifests in so many ways, through the traditions of so many faiths. Millions, maybe billions, of people pray in this manner every day. When it comes to speaking of prayer, the image of a God or a religious service probably comes to mind for most of us.

However, this method of prayer is not the way for everyone. Many don't resonate with a formal place of worship, or with structured religion. The term "prayer" has been so strongly associated with those things that it hasn't been part of my personal language for many years. My way has been to get still, become quiet, to meditate, to get out in nature and center myself...a deeply internal process that helps me feel connected with source, which could be described as God. It's a process that always brings me back into balance when I'm off-kilter.

Something is shifting for me, though - and, I believe that shift is happening on a larger scale, as well. The deep personal and internal process is still very present for me, and I'm aware of something else, a pulling forward, a drive to focus not only on myself, but on the whole. Humanity. The planet. All of it. And that feels like prayer.

The third definition above hit home for me: prayer as an earnest hope or wish. Yes. That's what it feels like. My heartfelt longing for a world in which we care for each other and for the planet; where we treat each other with kindness, are aware of our impact, and our actions are life-affirming.

It feels to me that prayer is about intention. It starts with that inner process, getting quiet, centering, coming into balance. Many folks do this in a place of worship, some get outside in nature, or listen to music...the possibilities are endless. From this place of quiet emerges our longing. Our hope. Our wish. And when we focus our intention and send that energy out into the collective, we send a prayer.

No matter how we pray, whether in forest or a mosque or a temple or a church, whether in front of a statue or a crucifix or a mountaintop, underneath the thoughts or feelings or chants or verses lies the simple essence of longing. Of hope. Of our wish.

That is beautiful.

And so...I pray.

With respect,

Zardoya

And So, I Pray...

Today was one of those days.

One of those days when everything was, on the surface, fine. Great, even. And, for the entire day I was aware of a tugging feeling. A disturbance in the force, as it were.

I've been trying to stay on top of the news, to follow the world events during this time of huge transition. It isn't easy. I feel myself recoil from the ugliness and flat-out manipulation seeded in every article I read about the election. My heart contracts with horror when I watch a video clip of the stand-off at Standing Rock. Everyone, on every side of every issue, is making a strong case for their truth. Even people with the best of intentions (which translates into those who's stance resonates with mine!) are working hard to get their side of the story out.

Truth is, I'm tired. Tired of the constant attempts to spoon-feed me what I'm supposed to think. The efforts are so transparent they might be funny if they weren't so calculated and relentless. Maybe "they" are trying to beat us down, like if you say the same thing often enough - even if your actions are out of integrity with your words - eventually people will believe you.

Today I felt a sense of helplessness, of fear, of a sort of bewildered state of What the @#%&! Dis-heartened. As if I'd stepped into an energetic pool of overwhelm that's floating around our collective field. Not exactly sure what to do with myself.

And so, I went outside, built a fire, wrapped myself up in my wool poncho, and I sat. With a sliver of a moon and brightly shining Venus in the western sky as my witnesses, I prayed.

In the prayer, I found home in my center again. I could sense the solid wisdom of the ancestors, and the deeply held hope of those yet to come. They, too, are praying.

I see the web that connects us all; I feel it..any time there's a disturbance anywhere in that web, it affects us all. Sometimes it feels like a gentle tapping, barely noticeable. Other time it feels like a herd of elephants jumping on the web like it was a trampoline!

And I know that when I pray myself back to my center, it affects the web, too.

Photo Source

What do you do when you find yourself caught in the web of fear or overwhelm, when you feel dis-heartened?

How do you pray?

I invite you to share how you re-locate your center in the comments section, Maybe we can co-create a pool of ideas, simple ways to plug in. Or maybe to unplug! To find home in our center.

Because when we share our prayers, they become stronger. 

With love and respect,

Zardoya