Posted in Uncategorized on March 28, 2011| 12 Comments »
Simply Blessed is on an indefinite hiatus. Enjoy the over 600 posts still available here — every post a stepping stone on an increasingly personal path that’s been building for nearly four years. The path ahead is yet to unfold and I feel compelled to let that unfolding happen privately. Thank you to everyone I’ve met here and to those who silently supported me.
Posted in Life, Poetry, tagged Japan, Music, Youtube on March 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This is dedicated to the many who have suffered as a result of the devastation in Japan. Yes, indeed, we were here when you were “full sail”. And though, we may not know you personally, you touched us all.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2vw189q4U]
On the floating shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
‘Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving into your isle
And you sang, “Sail to me, sail to me, let me enfold you.”
“Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you.”
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was full sail?
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks
For you sing, “Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow.”
Oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow.
Well, I’m as puzzled as the newborn child
I’m as riddled as the tide
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or should I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing, “Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you.”
“Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you.”
Song to the Siren
Lyrics as sung by the Cocteau Twins
Original lyrics by Tim Buckley
Posted in elizabeth adams, Inspiration, Life, Poetry, Spirituality, tagged Poems on March 27, 2011| 2 Comments »
until a tiny beacon of light cut through the night:
sorrow has its inner light, murmured the new day
in the arc of stillness, it burns away the emptiness
gone so long now, I yielded to the rays of a sun drenched morning
closed my eyes and drank the golden elixir of sun
warmth caressed my throat, as if it would hold me there forever
I awoke in the spaces where love never fails
my spirit quickening to the footsteps of a new day rushing in
a breath, a pulse, a desire carries me forward
@heartsdeesire
Posted in Inspiration, Life, Metaphysical, Spirituality, tagged Godself on March 20, 2011| 6 Comments »
I took a short little jaunt, this past week, in search of the sun. The moment I got off the plane I thought: what are you doing here, Bethie? You left your whole family at home just to catch some sun rays. Guilt. Now the question was, would I fully succumb to guilt taking the wheel and allow it to ruin my trip or would I let myself have this time and fully enjoy it.
So, I arrive at my destination. I then leave my purse in the car with my driver. Next, I check into the hotel and I leave my carry on and coat in the lobby. All things I never do. My former mentor termed events like these: dreamwalking. He said they were love notes from the Field. This all felt very dreamwalky, as if there was an inherent message — leave the emotional baggage behind, you won”t be needing it here or anywhere.
During my stay here a friend of mine, Holly S., posted a message on our little women’s internet group. It spoke to me of recognizing my inner Godness, who I am as a Source-filled being. I took it to heart and began looking through the filter of my Godself from there forward.
So I and my Godself bought homemade baubles from the lady with her blanket stretched out by the seashore. Her prices were ridiculously low. She basically would take whatever you could afford. I gave her several dollars more than she asked for and she had the hardest time receiving it. Kept trying to give me something more or tell me she’d bring me change tomorrow. Finally she relented and let herself receive it. Later I was walking by an outdoor coffee stand, a voice called out to me, it was her and she thanked me again and blessed me.
I saw that she was all of me, the one who receives and the one who has to be convinced to receive and the one who isn’t always willing to receive. And the one who leaves her essentials behind, as in purse and carry on so she can re-learn what is really essential in her world.
Posted in Happiness, Inspiration, Life, Poetry, Spirituality, tagged Spiritual Poems on March 11, 2011| 1 Comment »
Artist: Freydoon Rassouli
The Island
Islands of bliss and everlasting youth,
Floating like flowers on an endless sea
And never touched by sorrows from this world:
Such happy islands thou wilt never see.
Behold: what thou hast dreamt of may be real,
It is not elsewhere, it is what thou art
If thou rememb’rest God; then thou wilt find
The golden island in thy deepest heart.
The singing of a flute came from the sea;
The waters vanished, and the flute was me.
~Frithjof Schuon~
Music of the Sky
An Anthology of Spiritual Poetry
Posted in elizabeth adams, Happiness, Inspiration, Life, tagged Musings, Nature, Spring on March 9, 2011| 2 Comments »
The earth is my new employer. My job now is to look for the signs of Spring.
And no, I’m not going to tell you that it’s a tough job but somebody’s gotta do it.
I’ve been asked just to notice and this is what I observed:
here the green grass awake from its dormancy
and in need of a trim
here the heather bushes: bright pink, lilac and
creamy white eruptions of color
there the rhodies, blossoms contained in tight buds
not even hinting yet at their spring finery
and finally
a single
yellow
dandelion
in a field
by a pond
whispering
the promise
of another season
and a new beginning.
Posted in Inspiration, Life, Metaphysical, Mindfulness, Spirituality, tagged Buddhism, Consciousness, Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart on March 3, 2011| 7 Comments »
“Non-identification … stop taking the experience as me or mine We inquire of every state or experience: is this who I really am? We see the tentativeness of this identity, then we are free to let go and rest in awareness itself. This is what Buddhist psychologists call the abode of awakening, the end of clinging. True peace. Nirvana. No longer bound by fears and illusions of the small sense of self.” Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart
I’ve been listening to the audio version of this book. I do highly recommend this book though I would think twice about buying the audio version. He’s not the liveliest speaker I’ve come across. Sorry, Mr. Kornfield!
So, I’ve actually been using the question … is this who I really am? … for any unwanted feeling. It’s a great tool to disengage from that feeling before I become emotionally flooded in a whirlwind of attendant thoughts. Try it the next time you feel fear or jealousy or anxiety, for instance. Notice where you are headed and ask yourself: is this who I really am? Most of the time your answer will be – no, it is not.
Most of the time. I hit upon one exception so far. Asked the question and I received the immediate response of yes. This was very telling about what I take to be real. Rather than wrestle that baby to the ground, I’ll lead with — just for now, that’s how it is. That’s another concept mentioned by Jack Kornfield. It’s a radical acceptance. Seems there’s always so much resistance to what is unwanted it starts a perpetual dance of push, pull where nothing really changes. Jack Kornfield terms this resistance, flavors of “the wish it weren’t so”. Yet it is, so why not accept it, just for now, or as they say in 12 step, Just for Today.
I think I’ll add to “just for now” an open curiosity. In the same manner that I can witness or watch myself in a dream, I can do this consciously — witness with non-attachment in the awake state. I can ask myself — what is it like to believe this? Where do I feel it in the body? What thoughts belong to this belief? How do those thoughts feel?
And finally … Where is my Spirit in all of this? This gently leads me back to the original question — is this who I really am? I already feel a softening of beliefs. An opening has been created into what is possible, and what was taken to be the truth, begins to quietly fall away.
