Gardening in the Ground: You, Me, Collectively

Deep within each of us is the ground of our being.  In this place and in each moment, we plant the seeds of our life experiences.  In moments of light, the seeds are nourished.  In times of dark, we create compost to fertilize our field.   As time goes on, we prune and harvest and delight in what we have grown.

We as individuals and as community may place limitations on what plants we grow in our garden.  We may attempt to define what is weed.  In reality, if we nurture these “weeds,” we may discover a bumper crop of possibilities.  Nothing grows in our gardens by chance.  Nothing.

Creating limitations and definitions prevent organic evolution and transformation in our lives. Each of these illusions creates a place of stagnancy — the light dims; the darkness expands across the ground of our being. In time our garden becomes wilted and puny. The challenge then becomes to turn the ground of our being into a thriving, flourishing place once more.

The power of belief, encouragement, and hope cannot be underestimated.  When we believe in our own ability to foster what grows in our garden and encourage others to flourish in their gardens, we give birth to hope.  With hope, we form a collective of warriors of the ground who not only sew the seeds of transformation but also , with awareness and courage, reap each organic possibility.

As a community of warriors, our lights merge and we transform into an incredible iridescent light that combats the dark.  The darkness edges further and further into the margins of our existence not disappearing but waiting for a time when we need its compost. 

I believe in organic transformation in the ground of my being, your being, and in the ground of our collective being.  But, it is only possible when we do not limit or define.  When we encourage others and believe in the individual and collective potential of radical transformation, our world will become a place of compassion and peace.

Gardening in the Ground,

Vanessa

Vanessa is a Community Builder, Intuitive Healer, and Compassionista Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action

www.intentandaction.com

Four Universal Balms for Healing Our Self & the World

I’ve read many blogs, Facebook posts, and news articles about the dire spots we find ourselves in.  But, I don’t want to focus on the problem…I want to suggest a possible long term resolution to what many call the human condition.  What do I call it? Living with abject unawareness.

This week an amazing quote happened into my inbox — thanks to gratefulness.org.  Gabrielle Roth reminds us “dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal balms.”  Universal balms or the long term resolution? I would suggest both. 

How can these four balms bring us into greater awareness?

Let’s begin with the environment — silence.  For me, silence is not a place without noise, but a way of being in which we find clarity and answers.  Resting in silence encourages us to be aware, to notice.  It wraps us in a warm embrace, nurturing us, and preparing us in the very ground of our being to act compassionately and without reserve.

Within this space of silence we can hear, feel, see, taste, and smell the rhythm of the universe as it coaxes us to match our rhythm to it.  We flow, we move to the beat.  We are dancing with life.  When we are attuned to the universal rhythm, even in times of challenge we are able to connect to and rest in our silence.  Here we learn, laugh, and dance surrounded by love.

The rhythm of our dance vibrates along our vocal cords.  Heart opened, we sing a new song to the Sacred — to the extraordinary in our life.  We sing because our song needs to be heard.  We sing in harmony with all in the world.  In this harmony lies the possibility of peace.

We create our life story as we sing and dance.  Through our telling we share our hopes and dreams, our sorrow and suffering, and our wisdom and grace.  As each of us shares our own unique story, we form community.  

So today, in this moment, I want to be like Dewitt Jones and focus on what is right with the world.  Let’s not ignore the challenges we are presented with as individuals and as community.  But, let’s not dwell on this darkness that feeds on our fears and angst and anger.  Let’s commit to dancing, singing, and storytelling in the silence so that we may be beacons that banish the darkness to the spaces beyond.

Dancing, Singing, and Storytelling in Silence,

Vanessa

Vanessa is a Community Builder, Intuitive Healer, and Compassionista Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action

www.intentaction.com

Blowing Life Into Our Spark

The image of a piece of the Sacred being carved from the Divine and then placed within our essence has been a source of great comfort.  The knowledge that the divine rests in us resonates with me.  For a moment, enter into a quiet space.  Can you feel the piece of the Sacred encapsulated into your essence?  For me, this spark is the seed from which all of our compassion grows.  We nurture, grow, and then share the wild flowers bursting forth with compassion.

At this time of year it is easier to act compassionately.  But, it is not so easy to commit to being a compassionate presence in the world after this Season of Light.  What if we truly committed to be an agent of compassion throughout the year? What if we agreed to share at least one compassionate act a day?  What if we placed no limitations about what this act of compassion looked like? What if we agreed not to judge the compassionate action of another?

I believe that we would create a raging wildfire of compassion.  Soon the world would be ablaze with compassionate action.  So great the fire, so bright the blaze, so hot, we would be unable to see or feel anything other than the connection the heart of compassion has forged within us and others.  With each compassionate act, we would burn away a bit more of the fear and sew seeds of hope and happiness in its place. 

While we wouldn’t forget differences, compassion would build the bridge to the common ground of understanding.  In this place, community is built and sustained.  We would thrive not in spite of our differences but because of them.  Compassion would give birth to respect and unconditional love.

I know that the world is filled with anger, fear, and polarization.  But, I’m filled with hope.  What I am proposing is not a story straight out of the Twilight Zone or a fairy tale.  I believe we can build this world by allowing the flames of compassion to consume the illusions that separate us.  I believe this is possible when each of us commits to at least one compassionate act a day.

Wishing you one compassionate act today.

Vanessa

Vanessa is a Community Builder, Intuitive Healer, and Compassionista Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action

www.intentandaction.com

The Ultimate Act...of Compassion

This month, everywhere I turn, 

I see an overwhelming outpouring of compassion.  On the news, in shopping centers, wherever I am, I see proactive compassion as many respond to opportunities to prevent suffering.   

Perhaps you may be thinking, “That’s not compassion.”  

But, I say, “Compassion, like beauty, lies in the eyes (and ears of the heart) of the beholder. 

We may find our self so outward focused that we ignore those whispered cries for self compassion.  We deplete the well of compassion within and the subsequent compassion drought may manifest as a shortened reaction time to our life triggers. 

What do we do when we find our self reacting in compassionless ways?  Do we barrel through the moments or do we find the resources to fill our well so that we may dip our toes in the refreshingly cool reservoir of compassionate presence?

Our well, this reservoir of compassion, fills when we take a moment for our self.  In this moment,

• focus on your breathing
• ask yourself what is depleting you, bringing your fatigue
• then, ask your self what is the most loving, compassionate response you can have for your self
• what will fill your reservoir? 
• then shower your self with the droplets of compassion flowing from your well. 
• know that when you share compassion with your self, your well fills up more quickly

Compassion — especially self compassion — is not easy.  But, it is vital to our relationship with our self.  Without a strong relationship with our self, we are unable to fully live in relationship with others, the Sacred, and all of Creation.  Inwardly focused compassion is the moisture that nurtures the roots of all our compassion.

To the beauty of compassion that lies within,

Vanessa

Vanessa is a Community Builder, Intuitive Healer, and Compassionista Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action

www.intentandaction.com