* Queen Bee *
all about me
I am writing from the kitchen of the Walnut City Homestead! I will be writing more about that after spending some time really sinking into life here for a while.
In preparation of departure this week, I was at the magic of memory as it is tied to location! As I completed my last errands, had my last (for now) meetings with friends, I got to spend a lot of time looking out windows of cars and busses, riding my bike and walking. I passed so many familiar places. It seemed that every street held the remembered presence of some interaction, some happenstance, some encounter or emotion or voyage that took place there at some point during my time living in Albuquerque over the past 10 years. As I said goodbye mentally to all of these places, it was like parting, also, with past forms of myself and ways that I had been in relationship to my world. These reoccurring passages of release feel peaceful and necessary to being able to experience a new place with my full attention.
One of my favorite places by far is the petroglyph Mesa on the West border of town. In addition to having spent much reflective time there in many seasons, states of mind, and times of day, it is a place that reminds me more than ever of my family. Release does not mean regret; parting does not mean forsaking; opening to the new is built on the foundation of the old, not the forgetting of it. For roads that brought me here and roads that lead me forward, blessed be ~
* Workers *
for doers and makers
Some bits about sewing (from: Apron-making with the left-over pieces of my blanket project, made out of my favorite old wrap-around skirt).
POINT ONE: A hole on the edge or loose seams can be easily mended by simply...
- fold the two pieces facing each other
- Sew about an eighth of an inch from the edge
- Folding the edge over itself to make a straight line
POINT 3: A Pocket can be sewn by...
- Cutting out the pocket shape
- Folding the edges in to make straight edges
- Pinning it to the back surface
- Sewing about an 8th of an inch from the edge
POINT 4: A handy trick when changing directions is to lift the foot and keep the needle in the fabric; then you can rotate the fabric using the needle as an anchor. Finished apron!
POINT 5: when your needle breaks it is time to go to bed
* Gatherers *
for savorers of the sweet stuff
Thank you Melanie
* Drones *
for lovers
The story this week is about safety and danger, and the power of voice. The quote that keeps guiding me in quiet moments this week is where I shall begin here as well:
"Awareness melts the ice of the automatic into the flow of evolution."
The automatic is the system of brain patterns that we have been taught, learned, or picked up, directly or indirectly throughout the course of our lives, since the time we were born into this world. These patterns have served a purpose and have at times been useful as a way of operating in the world. The problem with something frozen solid like ice glaciers, though, is that it's rigidity inhibits it from being able to freely interact with and participate with what is currently taking place around it. This is the part about evolution. I understand evolution here as the constant, active dialog between a creature and its environment. As climates, landscapes, populations, food sources, and needs change, most creatures are able to notice these happenings and adjust their behavior to accommodate for the new circumstances. The magic of life within their cells can even begin to adjust physical characteristics and abilities. This miraculous process of adaptation can be seen as a dance between the inner and the out, the tiny piece and it's larger context. When we as humans accept rigid brain patterns that cause us to act based on an old story we tell ourselves about how something SHOULD be done, then we are cutting off some of our other senses, which are deeply in tune with what is CURRENTLY taking place, and which have the awesome ability to show us the best way forward through a situation, when we are listening.
The practical life situation that I have seen correspond to this concept in the last few weeks is speaking up for oneself in uncomfortable, out-of-balance situations. Many friends and I have recently experienced some kind of situation in which we felt mistreated, disrespected, invaded, or not appreciated. For us, the automatic brain patterns that we had learned to accommodate over time and which had become like frozen solid ice in our psyches, usually led us to react to these situations and people by keeping the status quo, avoiding confrontation, and immediately silencing our inner voice of instinct or "gut feeling" in order to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. In the end, this only left us feeling used, sad, discredited, dissatisfied, and worst of all, a subtle but terrible sense of self-betrayal. "Why didn't you stand up for me?" The inner child seems to ask; "Why do you honor me less than every other person you encounter?" the inner God-presence notices; "Why does keeping peace in the situation always have to come at the cost of my own well being?" the truest version of yourself urges. When we became aware of these patterns of interaction with people, my friends and I made a decision to really pay attention to that inner voice of intuition that always seems to notice immediately when something is "off" in a way that compromises our own dignity and integrity as people, and as women. After choosing to pay attention to this new awareness, we then have ourselves mental permission to act in accordance with that inner urging, even when that meant standing up to someone and speaking our own truth. A wonderful "melting" took place then! In a liquid form, we are able to respond much more readily to the needs and information offered by the situations taking place around us. Guided by a new sense of instinct that is in communication with the present moment, it is amazingly possible to FLOW with and around the changes in circumstance and environment that we find ourselves in. This active participation with the dance of adaptation, the give-and-take of life's evolution also seems to have some beautiful properties! Although it may SEEM that keeping quiet when something feels wrong and ignoring your own needs so someone else can feel comfortable, we don't actually know that, that "non-disrupted" outcome is actually the best thing at all! It seems that there are actually much better results when we act honestly and bravely in alignment with our inner sense of knowing! Whether we can see the positive outcome or not, when we respect ourselves and act accordingly, our honor and integrity inevitably work good for everyone else involved as well ~
"Awareness melts the ice of the automatic into the flow of evolution."
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