chaos

Effects of Stress – ND #95

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Like Pacha, I just want to hide my head – Photo: L. Weikel

Effects of Stress

Sometimes the effects of stress we’re feeling come out in ways we don’t expect. And sometimes we don’t even realize we’re feeling stress, since technically, for all intents and purposes, we’re doing well.

I know that’s true with me. I’ve noticed over the past several days that my jaw and teeth ache on one side in particular – and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’ve been clenching my teeth while I sleep. It’s become obvious I’m going to have to resurrect my mouth guard from the bowels of my bedside table.

Let’s face it: I have no reason to clench my teeth. Sure, we’re all at risk – all of us, all over the world – when the amoral brutality of an unchecked dictator continues unabated. This is especially true when you consider that he has more nuclear weapons than anyone else in the world at his disposal. But that’s such a broad-stroked, bordering-on-amorphous threat to our existence that it’s honestly not something I feel warrants clenched teeth.

That’s why I’m surprised I’m clenching.

The Innocents

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not just kids and animals. Given the fabricated pretext of the invasion, I doubt you could characterize anyone in Ukraine as ‘guilty’ of provoking the Russian war on Ukraine. But the images of families being split up, mothers lugging babies and toddlers, and people carrying their pets miles and miles (because they’re family too) brings me to an edge within myself.

I feel stress when even considering how we would manage transporting our three cats and two pups if faced with similar forced refugee circumstances. What if we had to run to Massachusetts or New Mexico or Oregon for safety? How would we keep our family of familiars safe and together? How would we all manage to weather the brutal cold and snowstorm that’s hitting our area at this very moment?

Yes, from thousands of miles away, we can make donations of money or items needed to rebuild lives after escaping with essentially nothing but the clothes on their backs. Diapers, sanitary products, warm clothes, food – for people and for those beloved pets – can at least be provided in a stop-gap fashion. But there’s so much to life and living we take for granted. Right down to the ache in my face from clenching my teeth. It’s nothing compared to the pain and wounds of those enduring this hell first-hand.

I want to end on a positive thought – but all I can think is, “Peace Eagles.”

(T+95)

Where Am I? – Day 1004

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Sunset 10 Aug 2021 – Photo: L.Weikel

Where Am I?

“Wuh – what? Where am I?” That’s a mini reenactment of my experience about five minutes ago. As many of you know, I mostly tend toward being a ‘night owl,’ which enables me to hunker down to write my posts starting at about 11:00 p.m. or later. I’ve tried many times to begin writing them earlier, only to dump almost all of those sad early attempts into my drafts folder, never to be seen again.

So it’s been my lot to exercise trust over these many days, weeks, months, and – wow – it’s now true that I can literally say years and not be hyperbolic! Every evening, I exercise trust that something will get written. While I may not crank out stellar prose, it’ll at least get the job done in the moment.

Fast forward to ten minutes ago when I was awakened by <<shudder>> my own snoring. Good grief! This aging thing isn’t pretty.

It’s the Weather

I’ll blame it on the weather. Why not?

The last two days have lain a blanket of oppression over our area. I break into a sweat just thinking about walking outside. It seems ironic that it’s actually hard to breathe on the East Coast right now primarily because of the amount of water in the air. The humidity is so high, it’s as if we’re breathing through a sponge strapped to our faces like the monster in Alien. (Dating myself here, woops.)

I say it’s ironic to have so much water in the air here on the East Coast when our loved ones on the West Coast (and other areas of the world, to be sure) are literally burning up. The air out there is so dry that it practically spontaneously combusts. I can’t imagine living through that for any length of time, and I apologize for complaining about the humidity here, when I realize you would give anything for it.

And then there’s the Midwest, which is just basically choking on the smoke wafting through the atmosphere of their states, burning eyes and clinging inside throats. Awful enough if you have a home with air conditioning. Horrifying to contemplate if you’re housing impaired or can’t afford air conditioning.

Who Are We Kidding?

I’m going to guess ourselves.

But I’m also going to refuse to accept the notion that we are powerless to stop the chaos unfolding around us. We started this thing; we’ve enabled this thing; and we can not only stop it but turn this thing around.

I truly believe that if we just even reach out to Mother Earth, she will do everything she can to reach back out to us. What I mean by that is that we must dig deep and we must try. We must resist the temptation to yield to despair and assume there’s no hope. While it may not seem as though our efforts will yield the magnitude of change we desire (and think is unquestionably necessary) I urge us all to give Nature – Mother Earth herself – an opportunity to match our efforts, to work in partnership with us (if we would only just try).

Here’s an interesting article I just read. It may be from 2016, but it feels relevant now, given the overwhelm so many of us are feeling right now. And I’m curious to read the book coming out next month from Paul Hawken, Regeneration, Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation*.

But right now, I think I need to go to sleep.

*affiliate link

(T-107)

Smackdown – Day 989

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Who’s Fenced In? – Photo: L. Weikel

Smackdown

Well, so much for all the good feelings I was experiencing last night when I wrote about being an Olympics geek. Yeah, I do enjoy watching them and welcome the inspiring stories as a distraction from the utter insanity that’s unfolding all around us. But wow, I don’t know about you, but tonight I felt like a pro-wrestler on the receiving end of a smackdown – and no amount of distraction can help.

Of course I’m talking about the testimony that was given by the four police officers present and defending the Capitol on Insurrection Day. I’m not going to discuss that testimony nor am I going to link to any clips.

Suffice it to say, it’s heartrending to hear their first-hand accounts of the despicable behavior heaped upon them by their fellow Americans.

Appalled

And while I did watch the Olympics tonight, there was a sadness in the air, which made it much harder to use them as the distraction I’d hoped. I’ll probably write a separate post on the maturity, wisdom, and grace exhibited by Simone Biles. The lessons on our humanity just keep on coming.

But I’m sad to say I’m sitting here trying to write this post and my heart is fluttering a mile a minute. I just made the mistake of looking at Twitter, which had a clip of one of the officers who testified today, Michael Fanone, appearing with Don Lemon on CNN just this evening.

The clip contained an unredacted telephone message that was left for Fanone while he was testifying. And it is horrific. I’m linking to it here because we need to know that this is the type of stuff that’s happening in our country now. We need to face this head-on. This is how a police officer who testified to his personal experience of being brutalized, tased, and threatened with his own gun, all while defending our elected representatives, is being treated. And know this: this behavior is being actively stoked by Fox, among others.

It’s appalling.

A Gentle Reminder

I’m literally feeling short of breath as I write this. Never would I ever have believed people would feel comfortable doing what they did on January 6th, and worse, feel even more emboldened six months later. These home-grown terrorists feel so self-righteously empowered that they feel free to to heap this threatening and unhinged diatribe on an officer. For testifying to the truth as he experienced it.

Where do we go from here? I’m not sure.

But as simple-minded as it may seem, I keep seeing in my mind’s eye a photo I took just the other day of a deer standing right beside me as I walked along the road. It was probably the fifth or sixth deer I’d seen that day – two earlier had literally been ‘young bucks,’ with gorgeous furry antlers budding from their crowns.

Perhaps I keep seeing that deer in my mind’s eye because I need to bring gentleness to myself. I need to breath into my pain at witnessing such shocking hatred and ask for the wisdom of calmness in the face of abject fear. Not my fear. Their fear. The fear being stoked every day by right wing media and morally bankrupt politicians who will do anything for power.

Gentleness. Wisdom. Oh – and maybe I (we) should also call to mind the Protection offered in the card I chose for us the other day.

(T-122)

Perception – Day 658

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Karl’s Magic Ball – Photo: L. Weikel

Perception

After one of my posts last week, a number of people suggested that I take a ‘news fast’ or otherwise not pay attention to what’s going on in the world, and in particular our country, at the moment. There are a number of rabbit holes I could go down in response. But for now, I want to focus on choosing a card for all of us to contemplate as we enter the first week ‘post-convention.’ Knowing things will only escalate exponentially (why would things change now?) as we start the final countdown to the election, I asked for a guiding concept for us to focus upon this week. The card I chose: Perception.

I’ve chosen and posted cards from this deck before. It’s the Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards/Tools for Transformation deck by Cher Lyn.

The imagery on this card feels particularly appropriate for the times we’re experiencing, especially the inclusion of the White Buffalo, which has been a fundamental aspect of prophecy for native North Americans for millennia. I hope you’ll take a moment to really zoom in on the details of Cher Lyn’s artwork and allow it to speak to you.

Here are the words she shared with this card:

Perception – “Blue Star Pe’Tanka”

The Star people watch, a new cycle birth

White Buffalo appears …good ways return to Earth.

Anticipate this Creation, it’s shifting,

All illusions, the veil is thinning and lifting.    

– Cher Lyn

“In the painting “Blue Star Pe’Tanka,” you see the spirit of a White Buffalo in gestation readying to birth abundance into the new world. She floats in the cosmos of non-linear time and space. The white owl flies in and brushes her wing through the symbol of creation to spin the wheel round again in a forward motion. The void is the cosmic eye of the buffalo, a portal into other worlds of untapped potential and adventure.

All humans see differently. You see one thing and someone right next to you can see something completely different. Everyone sees through his or her own eyes their own personal movie. See the diamond facet of yourself that is clear vision. It is here you find the Perception of the Divine…all of us has it. Sometimes it’s just covered up with dust, or emotional misinformation, attachments, or unconscious motives.

An ordinary mirror simply reflects back what it has been shown, but the mirror to your soul has a far more transformative multifaceted viewpoint with infinite potential. As you continue to heal, forgive, accept and love yourself you gain wisdom and can release the “you, who is not you.” You break through the conditionings and the dust of your illusions.

The appearances and experiences in your world are your personal mirrors of your creation. Every simple thought you have, every moment of appreciation or angry projected expression, every breath you take or scream you make, any kindness you give, and every moment of joy alters the world in some way and creates a future scene in the movie of your life.

With the Perception medicine card comes informational codes, which provide opportunity for clear vision. In your meditation allow for the intelligence of this concept, clear Perception, to reflect onto all the facets in the diamond of your life lens, projecting conscious truth and light into your personal movie called life.”

My Take

The sense I get from this card is that it would be fruitful for us to reflect upon what might be coloring our perceptions of the events that unfold this week. How might our past experiences be shading or influencing how we process the information we’re hearing and seeing projected to us now.

Is there a way for each of us – in any given moment – to consciously rise above the emotional charge of whatever it is we’re being told or shown and See things from a higher perspective? Perhaps now more than ever we’re being called to be vigilant over the use of our creative abilities: the immense power that is inherent in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Ultimately, we’re all living in our own unique bubbles of perception. But we are also combining our perceptions to create our shared reality. First and foremost, each of us must take responsibility for our own unique thoughts, words, actions and, perhaps even more importantly, our choices of how we want to perceive the world.

Things are gestating. Change is coming. In the midst of the chaos maybe we can “mind our perception” and each do our best to perceive within the chaos the seeds of a new world that’s just, compassionate, and based on love and mutual respect.

It behooves us to pay attention to our perception.

(T-453)

Intense Days Ahead – Day 352

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Intense Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

Intense Days Ahead 

There’s a lot going on in the cosmos right now. Intense ‘aspects’ between planets that, traditionally, are associated with sudden, intense disruptions, rules and norms, and discipline, to name only a few.

Obviously, so much is being played out on the national and world stage.

But I’m also seeing it play out in our day-to-day lives.

Intensity. Change. Disruption.

Dare I say…chaos.

This is a short post. I want to write more on this subject, but now is not the time. Perhaps tomorrow will bear more fruit.

In the meantime, I want to share with you some glimpses of the intensity so many of us are feeling, as reflected in the sunset.

Hang in there. You’re not alone.

Sunset River of Light – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-759)

Don’t forget the EoP! – Day 323

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Essence of Perelandra – Photo: L. Weikel

Don’t forget the EoP!

By the time I post this, it will be October 1st. As I shared both in late August and on September 1st, there is a pretty cool way to enlist the aid of Nature spirits in bringing our environment into balance.

If any of you have looked into the concept behind Perelandra and possibly purchased a bottle of Essence of Perelandra (EoP) with which to participate, you will realize that this is not some nefarious money-making scheme or anything like that. Yes, you need to purchase a bottle of Essence of Perelandra in order to participate. But the entire process, called the monthly EoP Biodiversity Project only requires use of 10 drops from a dropper and five minutes of your time (at the most).

I encourage you to check out the links I’m providing in this post as well as the ones I provided in my two earlier posts, if you care to learn more about Perelandra.

An Added Bonus

One perq to checking out Perelandra and purchasing some EoP is the fact that you can (and probably should) squirt some of those drops into your mouth as you engage in the Biodiversity Project. (Well – before or afterward would probably be better.) That’s because EoP can be effective in bringing balance to you and your emotions, as well as bringing balance to the systems comprising your environmental biome.

If you poked around the Perelandra website at all, you may have seen reference to ETS, which stands for Emergency Trauma Solution. (This is similar to Rescue Remedy®, which is a product put out by Bach Flower Remedies.) Personally, I’ve found ETS to be really helpful when I’m feeling particularly anxious or upset over something. And it can be something personal or, as is more often the case, something going on in the larger world – such as politics.

With this in mind, I’m thinking it would probably be beneficial for all of us to make sure we have a bottle or two of ETS handy in the coming days and months.

Photo: L. Weikel

Chaos?

I’m not intending to be hyperbolic, but taking into consideration the factors I often keep an eye on, such as major astrological aspects, numerological influences, but even more so my own increasing sensitivity – not to mention just simply paying attention in general – I feel it is incumbent upon all of us right now to do whatever we can to hold our centers and remain balanced and calm in the days and weeks to come. ETS can help. So can EoP. And taking them throughout the day (and keeping them handy) is something simple that can really help you cope – which in turn can influence how you react to others and influence others.

Yes, I feel things are going to get incredibly intense, volatile, and perhaps even take some turns that none of us would have ever imagined possible even last month, before they eventually get better. And if you’ve even been paying attention over the past 12 hours, you may have a sense of the genesis of my concern.

Personal, Local, National, Global

It doesn’t matter where our greatest or most immediate stresses are originating. Indeed, for most of us, I’d wager we’re ‘feeling the love’ from every sector. What matters is how we respond.

What matters is whether we give ourselves strategies – some small scale and some much more complicated, depending upon our resources and connections – to cope with challenges to everything we hold dear: the environment, our families, our health, the rule of law, integrity, and justice, to name a few things that matter (at least to me).

We’re in this together. I’m feeling the agitation in the air. And I’m sure I’m not alone.

Tomorrow/Today

Tomorrow we can take a couple small steps toward creating balance and harmony. We can take five minutes to bring our attention fully to our environment and offer ten drops of EoP to the Nature spirits on our property. And we can take some ETS to help us hold our centers.

Perhaps we might also thank our stars that we’re not personally embroiled in the cluster@#%$ that’s unfolding before our eyes nationally.

I know this may sound sappy, but please: hold a vision in your hearts of the principles our country was founded upon holding firm and carrying us through this crisis. May we learn from what is unfolding before our eyes and use these lessons to all our benefit: personally, locally, nationally, and globally.

Little guy – pre-transformation – crossing the road; Photo: L. Weikel

(T-788)