Sunday, April 25, 2010
Repositioning the Spirit Canoe
There is a river flowing endlessly and each of us have a soul canoe that allows us to ride the river of spirit. We don't have to set goals to get to the destination because the river already knows the way, the way to our own purpose. Each one of us has an individual soul canoe.
Its ours to care for, position in the water and learn the language of the sacred river.
The river flows towards our own True North without fail. We do not have to turn our canoe around to fight the current. There is nothing up river I need. What I need is to release the idea that I am in charge and I know where I am going. I often lose my sense of direction and get confused. When this happens all I have to do is open my heart, mind spirit to the inspiring messages and movement of the sacred spirit river.
Slowly but surely the canoe repositions itself without my EFFORT. It just goes with the flow. And after all the struggle of trying to PUSH my way upstream, I suddenly realize I am flowing on the source of creation towards what I want.
Its ours to care for, position in the water and learn the language of the sacred river.
The river flows towards our own True North without fail. We do not have to turn our canoe around to fight the current. There is nothing up river I need. What I need is to release the idea that I am in charge and I know where I am going. I often lose my sense of direction and get confused. When this happens all I have to do is open my heart, mind spirit to the inspiring messages and movement of the sacred spirit river.
Slowly but surely the canoe repositions itself without my EFFORT. It just goes with the flow. And after all the struggle of trying to PUSH my way upstream, I suddenly realize I am flowing on the source of creation towards what I want.
Leaf and Bubbles, #7340
© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: April 16, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/250 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 100mm.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
Owl Remembering
A white Owl flew into the windshield of my friend's car as she drove from Kona to Hilo. The white majestic bird of prey flew out of the darkness directly towards the lit up vehicle headed to Mauna Loa - the great living volcano.
As the white owl lay dying, Mauna Loa was creating new life. The Goddess Pele reminds us that she changes everything she touches and everything she touches changes.
So it is with the great mystery and with the circle of life.
Owl speaks to me regularly. She calls in the night, though sometime ominous sounding it is always affirming I live on a dynamic planet spinning magically through space.
The owl's howl calls for change, evokes transformation, and re-members me.
I howl for change. And when the echo reaches my ear I hear the call of the Screech Owl.
AHO!
Kilauea Caldera, Hawaii, #8343
As the white owl lay dying, Mauna Loa was creating new life. The Goddess Pele reminds us that she changes everything she touches and everything she touches changes.
So it is with the great mystery and with the circle of life.
Owl speaks to me regularly. She calls in the night, though sometime ominous sounding it is always affirming I live on a dynamic planet spinning magically through space.
The owl's howl calls for change, evokes transformation, and re-members me.
I howl for change. And when the echo reaches my ear I hear the call of the Screech Owl.
AHO!
Kilauea Caldera, Hawaii, #8343
© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: August 31, 2007; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/125 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 800; 17mm.
__________Saturday, February 6, 2010
What If?
What if?
What if I was never born?
What if I never met him?
What if I had studied Marketing instead of Social Work in college?
There really is no way to live life looking in the rear view mirror. When I second guess my past, I am discounting the present moment. Life is happening now. It is not happening is 1976 or in 2024.
My life is right now.
I am exactly where I supposed to be.
If you are not where are supposed to be, are you willing to take the necessary steps to get there?
We are all just bozo's on the bus traveling towards bliss or away from pain.
Which is it?
Detour, #5280
© 2010 James W. Murray, All Rights Reserved
(click on image for full-sized version)
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Sunday, January 17, 2010
New Beginnings
My father is almost 80 years old, and continues to be hospitalized for falls, infections, high and low blood pressure. It is very hard to feel so powerless over the health and care of a loved one.
My parents moved away to the California desert for warmth and retirement about 15 years ago. They were younger and in fairly good health. As they have aged, I have felt their distance more profoundly, in my sense of powerlessness to be available to help them on demand. I have my own family in the Bay Area, and my sisters live in other states. They too have the pressures and feel the demands of just getting by in today's economy.
It is of deep sadness to me that I cannot be with my father every time he is hospitalized, holding his hand and being the voice of the family to the hospital providers. My father is shuffled between home, hospital and nursing home, where he is sent to recover following every hospitalization. Even when my father was young, robust and active, he was as stubborn as a mule. He likes to say, "it's my way or the highway, baby!" And, while I know he meant that in jest, I also had enough sense to take him at his word.
Tonight, it is not his way. Tonight it is God's way. I pray tonight my father feels the love of his children in his heart. I pray that my mother knows she has support even though it is not right
around the corner as I would rather it be. Tonight, I pray for my sisters, even the one who no longer speaks to me. I pray for their health and comfort. And, tonight I ask God to comfort my little girl who wishes she could magically fix all the problems in the world and in my life so everyone would be okay.
around the corner as I would rather it be. Tonight, I pray for my sisters, even the one who no longer speaks to me. I pray for their health and comfort. And, tonight I ask God to comfort my little girl who wishes she could magically fix all the problems in the world and in my life so everyone would be okay.
My father is elderly and I am 47 years old. I am not a child anymore. Yet, when faced with some of these "grown up" issues I revert back to feeling like a one. I must call on my adult to be the first foot forward towards support of my parents and family. My child can come along for the ride but she is not responsible for the causes or conditions of the situation.
Jay and Loretta Book, March 16, 2006, #6984
(c)2010 James W. Murray, All Rights Reserved
(click on image for full-sized version)
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Year in Review
We are at the 11th hour literally, to the next decade. It is now 1:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard time) and in eleven hours we will be ringing in 2010. At this point it is a good time to review the year for highlights and disappointments.
Highlights include our health, recovery, and blessings. We are both employed and have a home which we own. We woke up everyday in 2009 indoors.
James' highlights include a wonderful art show in December, his ability to participate in his mother's passing, his 50th birthday and his 20 year recovery celebration in April, and the growth and establishment of his success at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Library in San Jose.
My highlight is my promotion to Unit Leader in Partylite, and the birth of our new Unit "Lovin' Lites." Other highlights include my daughter, who is beautiful, healthy, smart and capable of doing much more that she has been in the past three months; my husband, a champion of the downtrodden in the program of AA, and who never stops being of maximum service; Thanksgiving in New York (2008) with my sisters who all are alive and healthy, along with my beautiful niece and nephew and their husbands who are also alive and healthy.
I remember my brothers at this time, and give thanks for their presence in our lives, the memories and the gifts they bestowed upon the family and the community while they walked on the planet. Here's to you Jay and Tom!
Disappointments include the loss of Jame's mother, Johanna Lynn Elin, in November 2009; changes in leadership at work; not passing the licensing exam on my first try; not losing all the weight I hoped I would, and not being our new home by Christmas.
We look forward to 2010 with gratitude and grace as our creator gentle guides our lives to be trusted servants in the world, and to be good examples of love and peace.
Highlights include our health, recovery, and blessings. We are both employed and have a home which we own. We woke up everyday in 2009 indoors.
James' highlights include a wonderful art show in December, his ability to participate in his mother's passing, his 50th birthday and his 20 year recovery celebration in April, and the growth and establishment of his success at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Library in San Jose.
My highlight is my promotion to Unit Leader in Partylite, and the birth of our new Unit "Lovin' Lites." Other highlights include my daughter, who is beautiful, healthy, smart and capable of doing much more that she has been in the past three months; my husband, a champion of the downtrodden in the program of AA, and who never stops being of maximum service; Thanksgiving in New York (2008) with my sisters who all are alive and healthy, along with my beautiful niece and nephew and their husbands who are also alive and healthy.
I remember my brothers at this time, and give thanks for their presence in our lives, the memories and the gifts they bestowed upon the family and the community while they walked on the planet. Here's to you Jay and Tom!
Disappointments include the loss of Jame's mother, Johanna Lynn Elin, in November 2009; changes in leadership at work; not passing the licensing exam on my first try; not losing all the weight I hoped I would, and not being our new home by Christmas.
We look forward to 2010 with gratitude and grace as our creator gentle guides our lives to be trusted servants in the world, and to be good examples of love and peace.
Door(s) Stop, #3809
(c)2009 James W. Murray All Rights Reserved
(click on image for full-sized version)
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Limiting ourselves through loyalty
Human beings need choices. Choices can balance powerlessness with hope. We must hone our vision to see possibilities.
I limit my own possibilities. I believed I was designated to be mediocre because I was born into a middle class family. My father used to say "we are blue collar" with pride. Blue collar was the gold standard. Why? I never gave this much thought. I just sort of accepted this attitude, along with many others. Those attitudes, beliefs and limitations eventually just become unconscious processes running all the time.
After high school, I went to college. I drifted about trying to figure out what I wanted to "be" for the rest of my life. I did not have a clue as to the vast choices available. I only knew what I knew. My degree was largely selected by default. I know this sounds closed minded, and it is. Our closed mind is the result of programming by family, society, education, etc.
How is one to know what lies beyond their own personal horizon?
Up until the 20th Century man had not discovered galaxies beyond our solar system. Mankind's notion of the sum of the universe was unimaginatively constrained.
Do we keep our universes small in order for us to conform to familial or social expectations?
Do we limit our possibilities to remain in a contract that was hoist upon us in childhood?
Maybe we stay small minded in order to play it safe?
We each have to go back and review agreements we have made in the past about who we are and what we believe is possible. This type of inventory aids us in seeing where our loyalties lay. Are we loyal to ideas and misinformation which diminish us?
I limit my own possibilities. I believed I was designated to be mediocre because I was born into a middle class family. My father used to say "we are blue collar" with pride. Blue collar was the gold standard. Why? I never gave this much thought. I just sort of accepted this attitude, along with many others. Those attitudes, beliefs and limitations eventually just become unconscious processes running all the time.
After high school, I went to college. I drifted about trying to figure out what I wanted to "be" for the rest of my life. I did not have a clue as to the vast choices available. I only knew what I knew. My degree was largely selected by default. I know this sounds closed minded, and it is. Our closed mind is the result of programming by family, society, education, etc.
How is one to know what lies beyond their own personal horizon?
Up until the 20th Century man had not discovered galaxies beyond our solar system. Mankind's notion of the sum of the universe was unimaginatively constrained.
Do we keep our universes small in order for us to conform to familial or social expectations?
Do we limit our possibilities to remain in a contract that was hoist upon us in childhood?
Maybe we stay small minded in order to play it safe?
We each have to go back and review agreements we have made in the past about who we are and what we believe is possible. This type of inventory aids us in seeing where our loyalties lay. Are we loyal to ideas and misinformation which diminish us?
Once we are conscious to limiting beliefs we have about ourselves and the world we can change our minds. With new understanding we can see choices previously unfathomable and then we can manifest exponential expansion in our lives.
Steps and Window (Abstract #2406)
(c)2009 James W. Murray All Rights Reserved
(click on image for full-sized version)
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