What Would You Do (if you felt confident)?

 If I were feeling confident, why might I do?

I might fly through my window gracefully

Flowing into the wild air currents

Feeling the rain on my face, the warmth and cold

Like all incredible birds do.

What would you do?

I would swim inside all the waters of 

Mother Earth, diving deep down into

The Stream of Things, so deeply

That humans might get the bends.

But, mermaids and selkies belong in water

They thrive, swirling, turning, and gliding

All on their own time.

I might become a Portuguese Man O’ War just floating

Attached to my family of tendrils, connected below

Feeding and digesting to help all my parts survive

Beautiful, billowing sail on top of water

Reflecting rainbows and skies, water and sun

Hurricanes might not even be so terribly bad.

Would would you do?

Why, if I felt confident I might

Burst into flames, excited with desire

Dancing with my fellow fires, tossing out

Bright sparks leading possibly to dangerous

Wild fires and destruction of land and 

All beings in my path.

So I often choose often to contain my spark

So as not to cause violence and injury to 

Any who might be around me.

I might cast aside all worry about or distress for others

Walk forth with a sturdy stance and immense power

Nothing frightening or concerning me

My direction, solidly cast, and I am sure of my next steps

No barriers before me, no hesitations

I would just walk or run or hop or skip

To my next project or destination 

Enjoying the journey all the while.

What would you do?

The time has come to wonder why 

We hesitate, why we don’t wander more

Wonder more, fly, swim, and burn more often?

Creating and playing, loving and exposing

Our compassion and caring for Mother Earth

And all who live in her, on her, and beside her

Along with following our own inner stirrings to enter

The galactic, cosmic, and spatial realms

Our hearts, our minds bursting with exciting ideas.

Why not?

Why not, indeed.

I challenge myself and you

To explore and adventure into

The wilderness, beauty, darkness, and depths of 

All of this human experience

Not necessarily acting totally foolishly or outlandishly 

(And mostly in courteous, loving ways)

To see how our energies increase and

Our actions follow whatever path

We might enjoy all the while.

That’s what I would like to do.

And you?

Destruction and Violence Gone Wild!

Claude, the Anthropic AI, tells us that he is troubled by the US military’s using him for targeting the destruction of Iran’s sites, like schools (using old data: they used to be military buildings), and children are killed. We the people participate in such military intervention, in fact, we are complicit with these violent actions by how we vote and how we use our money, energy, and time. How do we live with ourselves?. See below for a video about Claude.*

Our president and his administration tell us we are not at war, and that what Iran is doing is a “trifle.” We are being asked to not see what is right in front of our eyes, but to believe someone who is either demented, has complex PTSD plus narcissistic personality disorder, or is evil, criminal, corrupt, destructive, and cares only about himself, his riches, and maybe his family. He has claimed recently that the current ceasefire is “holding” while the US and Iran are still sending missiles. Who are the crazy ones?

Our Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, bows down or bends over to the president who asks him to gerrymander Tennessee to increase the impact of people who vote Republican. Within several days, TN Republicans turn Memphis, TN, a majority black TN town, into 3 new white districts. How is that even possible?

Are those who continue to support the president (and his revenge team of cronies, including many in the Justice Dept, the majority of the Supreme Court, and Congress), still the intelligent, caring people some thought they were? Or, are they only distressed cowards or just narcissists themselves who care mostly about being re-elected or appointed by Trump - instead of representative of the majority of citizens?

Topsy-turvy, backwards is forwards, tragic, disgusting, and all a game that we live in daily. Old and fair laws are being questioned and overturned, almost as if to hurt the most oppressed and the poor. Attacks on the transgender population is yet another example of leadership’s cruelty and violence toward human beings.

Again, the question: how do we live with ourselves? Being a psychotherapist and a believer in sacred transformation, I have sometimes coached my most anxious, traumatized clients to turn off TV news stations, and if they want to learn about the news to read it, and not watch sensational cable and other news networks, who are run by the same billionaires and machines that support our president - or get canceled if they don’t. Reading the news is not quite as traumatic as seeing and hearing these news reports over and over again. But, this method only helps soothe us a little. There is more to do.

How do we live with integrity, ethical standards, love, compassion, and hopes and dreams for our children and grandchildren, if this continues much longer? And, it is not all about the president but also about all those who will try to take up his mantle as he moves on some day.

Perhaps our current society is crumbling which sounds like bad news and it may be, but it may also be good news. Once the phoenix plunges to her death and becomes ashes, new life can be reborn, and human beings and our earth can be transformed into a more decent, caring, and loving world, releasing to the ethers those current energies of evil, violence and destruction that we have gotten so used to, so desensitized by. And then, we can increase our healing, caring, and live-giving energies towards others and toward ourselves.

Perhaps, only then, can we dissolve those forces that create such havoc, corruption, and chaos among our people, which includes all the peoples of the world, and not just some of them.

*Alpha Intellect: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JqOENXFkuTI

The Eternal Buoyancy of Quiet Revelation

My eyes close

Uncovering a rugged wilderness

Wandering turns into sparkling

Wisdom within and without.

Breathing gently then deeply

Energy swirling about inside

Throughout and all around

My body, heart and mind.

Somehow I know

What I have always known and 

I also know that there are still

Secrets to be shown, to be told.

Unraveling the tangles

Sorting out the twisted threads

Excavating the deep dark waters

Where stillness displays truth.

There she is, a wonder to behold

That powerful mystery who

Assured me that she would show up

When I finally got silent, quiet.

So many energies tumbling out of her

Ideas, images and jumbles

Puzzling together and making whole

The wonderment I have always felt.

Creating a new story, a new ground

Some of the old narratives dissolving

Opening to and allowing in unknown resources

Making space for the new, the true.

She gracefully dances her way into my heart

Offering me not only comfort but guidance

I prepare for new understandings and revelations

She opens my eyes, clears my ears and body.

I now hear more vividly

I now see more distinctly

I revel in what I feel and touch

So soothing and revealing.

The Divine seeps into me fully and

Flows out of me with ease

No longer barriers and blocks

To knock down, to traverse.

Brilliant light glows greenly

Shuffling about while epiphanies rise

Blessing a new silence, inspiring awe

Glittering in excitement.

Trust, Forgiveness and Love

Become Beloved Devotion

Overflowing with vibrant beauty

Infusing me with eternal buoyancy.

Resounding Peace (even when there seems to be no peace)

Resonance between all beings
Vibrating
All matter
All energy fields
All dimensions and frequencies
Reverberating in me and in you

Radical acceptance of
All that is
Appreciation for life and
All its entanglements
All its tragedies
All its joys and pleasures
All its deaths

Resounding Peace

Boundless and eternal
Solid and ever-gushing
Surrounding and soaking
Immersive and total
No need to escape
Finally

Seeing, feeling, hearing
Tasting, touching, and
Smelling the Divine
In every moment
Every time
Every where
Every when
Even now

Resounding Peace

Liturgy of Laughter (Our Lady of Laughter)

How delightful it feels to laugh!

Within some guidelines, of course.

The liturgy of laughter is a passionate process

Devotional, compassionate, transformative

The essence of spiritual, physical and 

Energetic healing - or can be.

Laughter decreases our tensions and pains

Laughter relaxes our joints and 

Takes our minds off current pain, distress

Misunderstandings, boredom or misery

Just laugh!

For healthy results, laughter may:

Not ridicule

Not deprecate (self or others)

Not be hostile (full of cloaked 

Loathing in the form of sarcasm)

Not shaming of any person, group or animal

Not gossiping at anyone’s expense

Not harmful toward any living being

Enough negatives and not’s!

For fabulous outcomes and results

Laughter may:

Be shared most of the time

But enjoyed even alone

Titillates our cells and stimulates hormones 

Reduces stress and nervousness

Sometimes acts out anxiety and fear

Clears out the clutter

Gut wrenching at times and gently 

Soothing the skin and other organs at other times

Decreases frowns and complaining moods

Gets rid of our “minds” temporarily

Ego dissolution, however brief, is

Barely in total control of spasms

Blustering, spitting, crying, or squealing

Leaving us drained of negative energies and 

Calm and peaceful, while

Filled up with excitement, enthusiasm - or maybe

Apology for such loud noises and guffaws.

Our Lady of Laughter is coming out of her shell

Creating a ministry of sacred laughter

Accepting this role as a healing practice 

To develop a kinder and gentler sense about

Being human in this reality, subject to making mistakes

Experiencing fears, angers, embarrassments, and silliness

Which may be dissolved by partaking in such a 

Sacrament as Laughter.

Anyone can follow this liturgy 

When dealing with human matters

Or while seeking the divine

By experimenting yourself, by playing

With yourself and others, even with animals

If you have little human audience or community for 

Indulging in such religious practices.

Laugh a lot

Laugh alone

Laugh with

Laugh to yourself

Laugh out loud and

Sometimes silently

Laugh for the betterment of 

Human development and growth

For the sensational health and 

Wacky well-being of all.

And, so it is

Amen.