Kiyowara

Acceptance

And She said to me, "Choosing is easy; just make the choice and it is so. Only you can choose. Holding onto that choice amidst the noise of Life is what feels difficult. That is where I can help, if you will let me."

Circle of Life

LIfe brings strange opportunities sometimes, and learning occurs often when you least expect it.  This wasn't the blog post I had planned for today, but it is the post that feels most appropriate. 

Thanks to my friend, Rebecca, I ended up doing a task that while I have been taught this skill, it's been many decades since I have had to use it.  While growing up, I was taught to dress meat and fish, to prepare all kinds of animal protein for food consumption. I have had the luxury in my adult years of not really having to deal with this aspect of food preparation.  The plethora of good quality markets in the area in which I live combined with having the means to purchase fish and meat already dressed has been lovely.  

So, when I was offered some fresh caught Alaskan salmon from a great fish market in Half Moon Bay I said yes - forgetting that fish from a real fish market needs just a *bit* more preparation than I have become accustomed to!  After looking up several recipes for whole salmon, I headed into the kitchen to start preparing the fish...and then I realized that I would have to scale the fish at the very least!  

Oh my, I had created a great case of amnesia about scaling fish!

It took me a few minutes to remember the "use short, enthusiastic strokes" as one web site said to bring the scales up.  The first half of the fish took me three times longer to do than the second side!  Removing the fins was more exciting than I remembered since I haven't the knives sharpened since December; removing the tail got a lot easier when I remembered that I owned a large cleaver!  I had to hip the dog out of the way; her dog food is a salmon and sweet potato mix and I'm sure the smell of this fish being prepared was just delicious to her! (Did I mention that my dog is tall enough to put her face on the counter?  Talk about exciting food prep!  Fighting for my food in my own kitchen!)  I also found myself growing shaky towards the end.  The reminder, as I finished with the carcass, that this had been a living animal only a few days ago, a fellow inhabitant of this blue marble on which we live, struck a chord in me.  I had to breathe and talk my way through the final moments.

Nonetheless, I feel really proud of my efforts.  The resulting fillets looked lovely on a tray waiting for garlic butter and lemon.  There is a small mound of flaked salmon rescued from the rest of the body after I removed the fillets that I have gently poaching on the stove.  

The theme I felt running through all this was remember: Remember where we come from, that we are all interconnected and interdependent, and any idea that we are separate and can afford to mindlessly use up our world without Love and Honour are just very dangerous and expensive illusions.  Times may come soon where I need to remember these skills again, and I wish to do so remembering the honour and thank that which has given it's current life for me to continue to walk this path.  

Remember, remember, return to Center. Reach out, breathe, and feel the interconnectedness between all the beings of our Universe.  We come from the same Source, and we will return to the same Source, and only the loving actions we take in between make any difference in the end.  

Namaste.

Steadiness and Ease

I have written before about the need to find by steadiness and ease, sthira and sukha, in my yoga practice.  Yesterday it dawned on me just how much this concept applies to other aspects of my life.  I have been working these past months on being strong enough to do the Divine Work I am called to with ease and grace, and this answer was just before my eyes the whole time.

I have already dug into the idea that part of my sense of "pain" when I do deep work is that I don't always have vocabulary to describe the sensations I feel without classing them as pain.  I also dug into the idea that I somehow needed to have this look difficult or painful in order for others to believe in the experiences I was having. In both cases I have reached a place where I understand that neither idea is true: sensation can be just a message saying, "look here", and I do not need to look like I'm in pain to be believed.  

Nonetheless, when I am deep in the work of listening to my Guides I still scrunch up my face and feel tension in my head, neck shoulders, and body.  That tension certainly can result in actual pain sensations, but I really want for others to see the Joy that this Work and Commitment entail rather than see it as a burden or punishment.  

So, there I was in yoga, relaxing my face as I attempted an advanced pose that my instructor joking referred to as a "circus pose"...and then it struck me that the practice of intentionally relaxing my face, my eyes, my jaw, my neck, while still holding my core strong, of sthira and sukha, was directly practicing for the relaxed opening that would lead to my growing to encompass the scope of the Work before me with ease and joy.

 

Sthira and sukha, steadiness and ease, may we all open to this peace.

Namaste

 

A road, not a destination

Yesterday I was reminded of how far I have come in the past year.  Though certain types of work still tax my strength, I have so much more resilience now than I did last year, and I found myself trying to keep this in mind last night.  I had done good work during the day and as the evening set in I felt exhausted.  My first reaction was disapointment in that I still run out of energy...and I remembered to congratulate myself on how much better I felt than I did last April after doing similar work.

Today I got a reminder of how far I have yet to go.

I have worked hard to learn to slow down, center, and focus in my daily life.  I often remember to apply this when times get tough.  However, even with all this work I have miles to go...my teenaged daughter reminded me to practice Center and Circumference today as I was winding up.

I feel grateful to have such a great daughter, one that has listened and is starting to apply this kind of strength buidling reminder in her own life.  

Perfection is indeed a road, not a destination.  

Namaste