Gratitude Gumbo 1-21-13

I love those moments when stuff comes together.  I suspect I may have a higher tolerance than many people for being able to sit while things are bubbling way in the alchemical laboratory of life, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good reveal with the best of them.  And that’s kind of how I felt this weekend.

I’ve been going through a bit of a bumpy ride lately. There’s nothing overtly wrong, but I keep catching myself in a none-too-useful state of anxiety – feeling that something big is about to change but not quite able to make out any of the details yet.  And so I’m feeling out of sorts, which is my least favorite way to feel. 

But there’s so much to be grateful for, and I feel I have so much support as I navigate in what seems like such a great unknown.

• I’ve always really liked knowing that we come into this world seeded with clues as to who we really are.  I believe that’s a given and it’s true for everyone; but it also fascinates me how we all have different ideas of what that looks likes/means.  And while I hold an expansive view of the range of clues that are available to us, I’ve always delighted in thinking that our natal charts, the astrological snapshot of the heavens when we were born, provides a rich remembering of what we had planned for our visit here.  I don’t hold the belief that planetary positions CAUSE things to happen, but I like to think of each energy as a particular doorway through which we can explore and express ourselves always looking to find wholeness.  So having said all that, I was delighted to receive a mini-reading over the weekend from Stephanie Gailing of Planetary Apothecary.  The reading focused on how the current square alignment of revolutionary Uranus and evolutionary Pluto between 2012 and 2015 which is affecting all of us, specifically impacts my own chart.  And boy it does – it’s dancing with my Sun, Venus, Saturn, and Chiron.  No wonder I’m feeling wonky!  But I’m grateful to have a context and some ideas of things to help me move through this with a bit more grace.

•  One of the things my guides have been putting out there for a while is the importance of forgiveness.  But extending the meaning of forgiveness outside what we normally think of it as, and particularly working with self-forgiveness.  I imagine I’ll write more about this at another time, but for now suffice it to say I’ve been thinking about this extensively.  And I’m grateful for the gift the Ho’oponopono mantra (“I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.”) has been bringing into my daily practice.

• I’m grateful for the Jennifer Berezan & Friends album In These Arms, A Song for All Beings.  This has been my turn-to music lately when I’m hit with a wave of anxiety.  Have a taste here.

• I’m loving playing in a community as we explore what wisdom means to each one of us.  It’s all part of a 8-week course called Bones of Wisdom, and it’s the first offering from the beautiful spirits at Blue Stocking Salon.  While this course is closed now, trust me, you’ll be hearing more about them in the future.   But I’m grateful for the invitation to dig deep, and for all the amazing stuff that’s been coming up for me.  I’m practicing my posture so my wisdom crown doesn’t keep slipping.  😉

• I’m grateful for the blessings of a brief power outage last night.  Extreme winds brought in some very frigid air, and also knocked out the power.  But it felt like such a wonderful blessing – a bit of time out of time.  And there were plenty of candles, and warm woolen polka-dot socks.   And with a respite from the ambient light in the neighborhood, Orion was breathtakingly handsome standing post in the sky.  

So there are some of the ingredients in my gratitude gumbo.  How about you?  What are you appreciating?  I’d love to hear.