A Balanced Approach to Wellness

Archive for the ‘Connections’ Category

The Season of Consumption

HeartsGifts must be bought. Meals must be sumptuous. Family gatherings must be filled with surprises and wish fulfillment. Holiday clothing must be special. ‘Tis the season of consumption.

Advertisers push the idea of holiday consumption. Schools add to the pressure. Supermarkets provide over-the-top holiday incentives to festoon your home and deplete your wallet. Department stores and online stores do too. ‘Tis the season of consumption.

How about viewing this season as the season of connection? Coming together to spend time, exchange stories, entertain through laughter and music, and build relationships. Eating together without exhaustion from too much food preparation or nausea from too much food ingestion.

This season can be the season for opening your eyes and seeing the beauty of the connections. Let everyone know that this year is about you and them, and not about the things that don’t really matter. Buy gifts that are socially responsible and plan gatherings that will be filled with laughter and foods that nourish. Quality over quantity can be the guide. Connection rather than consumption can be the focus.

‘Tis the season of connection!

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Connections

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Connection, 3 of 3

caring

People are suffering from flooding in one country. People are suffering from restrictive governmental policies in another country. Drought and food shortages create suffering in a different country. Armed conflict devastates people in other countries.

People are suffering throughout the world in different ways and in different circumstances. The suffering is connected in that the world reverberates with cries of the desperate and weak. Their cries might not be heard, but the tears swim in an ocean of anguish that flows into the lives of those who are not suffering.

The suffering alternates: sometimes these people and sometimes those people. The people who suffer less have joyful respite from difficulties, but their joy can be lessened by self-inflicted anguish.

When one person suffers, those around can uplift when possible. When whole groups of people suffer, the uplifting activities are harder to do because they require investment of resources and interest.

Connected anguish may be invisible, but it winds its way through the lives of all. Taking time to see the anguish is humanity bettered. Helping those nearby and those afar gives back to empathetic souls, because the ocean of anguish quiets. Connecting through empathy and awareness eases the times that are hard.

“Connection, 3 of 3” is the reminder to care.

See also “Connection, 1 of 3” and “Connection, 2 of 3”

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Connections

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Connection, 2 of 3

 

Spiritual connection

Finger presses is how I receive connection to spiritual wisdom (see “How I get the information” on the About page). Sensations of pressure in the gut—that are not physically or emotionally caused—are messages from spirit to others. Tugging at the heart is another notice from spirit.

Each person has connection to spirit. It is built in to the soul. The access is always open, but the messages can be camouflaged. Finding the messages within the hum requires familiarity with inner rumblings and productions. So much noise inside the body can overwhelm the messages from spirit. External pressure to reject the connection further distances from the messages.

Whether or not people connect to spiritual care—it exists! The caring is apparent through the possibility of connection. The caring constantly calls to us when we are open to receiving spiritual input.

Following intuition is a first step to receiving spiritual input. Moving beyond intuition to notice the other sensations of input is the next step.

“Connection, 2 of 3” is direct input to remind us to listen intently.

See also “Connection, 1 of 3” and “Connection, 3 of 3“.

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Connections

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Connection, 1 of 3

Muslim and Jewish women

Last week, there was a gathering of women—Jewish women, Muslim women, and Christian women. This gathering took place in the north of Israel in an Arab village. The gathering was an opportunity to hear an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) speak about her work for women’s rights.

I attended this gathering, together with friends from my community. There were women from cities and villages, some in traditional dress and some in tight jeans. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and I felt welcomed.

The first speaker, a woman from the village, told us about her meaningful life advocating for women. She described her struggles in a patriarchal community—within her family and within the society—to reject a traditional role, and instead, build a place in society that gives her challenge and satisfaction. Her determination felt contagious and her words were inspirational.

Sharing a sense of sisterhood, we received her words. Some in the room face the same struggles, giving up or pushing forward. Some, like me, have freedom to choose our paths, held back only by self-imposed barriers. Connection was built that night through the shared space and receiving of emotions and inspiration.

Each opportunity to connect with unfamiliar is an opportunity to experience sameness and surprise. I received warmth from women who seem different from me and I returned it in kind. We experienced connection for a short time, and that connection can lead to familiarity, understanding, and acceptance.

Opening to others can open ourselves: opening through shared experiences and determination to connect.

“Connection, 1 of 3” is the first look at connection possibilities.

See also “Connection, 2 of 3” and “Connection, 3 of 3“.

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Connections

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Communal Involvement

 

be involved

“Each person is capable of affecting the community in which he or she lives; each community is a reflection of accumulated actions; and the sum of the efforts and actions influence the future inhabitants of the community.  All actions made in a positive manner uplift the community…” These words from the “Introduction” in “Pond a Connected Existence” remind us of the importance of communal participation.

Communal involvement is olog-ful. An olog is a new descriptive method for describing relationships mathematically. Communal involvement is relationship possibility realized. Each community effort contains objectives and means to the objectives that beckon people in varying numbers and with varying purposes. The development of and continued need for communal efforts require awareness by community members who are available and willing to act. The connection of one communal effort with another communal effort is achieved through preservation of each individual effort while recognizing the requirements of other communal efforts.

In other words, a community has various needs that are ever-changing and that differ in importance. The elderly need to be cared for, as do the teenagers. The animals require attention and so does the regional government. Trees and plants give shade and beauty, and they require upkeep and protection. The poor must be seen and the recycling must be gathered. Each person in a community can participate in an endless number of community efforts, and the more each person does, the more the community radiates warmth and support.

Affect is the goal for each community member. Caring for self and caring for others. Acknowledging needs and addressing them. Connecting with people, relating to the environment, tending to animals. Developing oneself through the attention to community.

Relationships develop when communal involvement occurs. These relationships sustain and uplift when times are difficult or saddening. When a community has mixing of peoples of all ages and ideas, the community is enriched and the people are support for one another. Searching out ways to better the community sustains its members and leads to more satisfying living.

In societies that exist within large metropolitan areas, the importance of communal involvement grows. Rather than be anonymous in these large settings, people must find connections that nurture the feeling of community and shared experiences.

This blog post is from the book, Exploring Energy Guidance Complete, My Journey. The book is available on amazon.com:  https://amzn.com/1508539715cover for Exploring EGC

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Connections

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Experiencing Nature’s Outline

Gift of nature

 

 “Living with compassion and with understanding lends color to life, adds substance and texture to being…‘Helping those who need help!’…Compassionately approaching, the preferred approach, relieves tension, balances health…‘Spending time with loved ones! Playing with babies! Teaching children in the customs and traditions of one’s forebears!’…pitching in, helping out, lifting up…‘Watching animals! Caring for pets! Preventing abuse of animals! ‘” – from “Oneself-Living” and “Pond a Connected Existence”

The outline of nature is the framework for connected living. The outline of nature has headings and symmetry and subdivisions. Rules and extensions bound the experience of living within the outline. Definitions and relationships fit within Nature’s outline, deviating when dramatic conferral occurs. The entirety of creatures with vegetation is a cyclical, rhythmic composition.

Connected living requires seeing the participation of all the parts. Living within the seasons and within the boundaries of the lightness and the darkness bring the body into alignment with melodious cycling of life and death. Recognizing that part of all is me brings overwhelming satisfaction and calm.

There are magical moments that occur when Nature’s outline is recognized and received!

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Connections

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Gatherings are opportunities

gatherings

“A wedding. A funeral. A baby naming. Coming of age ceremonies. Important anniversaries. Unimportant occasions. Unimportant? All occasions that bring people together are important. Gathering together forges ties and friendships, support and community. Whether the occasion is happy or sad or tension filled or relaxed, gathering together leads to emotional release, emotional awareness, or emotional expression,…

… Sometimes people don’t gather because of fear of judgment by others or because they fear outbursts or trouble between attendees. Sometimes they don’t gather because they don’t value the gathering or the occasion or the societal norms…

… People are meant to gather. People are meant to intertwine. People are meant to do for one another, support one another, receive from one another. People have the ability to enrich and entertain and inform one another. Gathering and intertwining, supporting and participating, empathizing and sympathizing are natural aspects of humankind…

… Attending an event is not enough. Being there physically is not enough. Mouthing nice words without meaning them is not enough. Criticism is best left at home. Envy, too. But, heartfelt joy can stay! As can supportive thoughts!…”

Gatherings are opportunities for people to connect and forge relationships. Their importance is presented in Pond a Connected Existence:  http://amzn.com/1494793008

Cover for Pond a Connected Existence

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