Saturday, August 22, 2015

wisdom in a tin ...

I often need to remind myself to lighten up. My tendency to be close in to my life (perhaps a product of my slight near-sightedness?) has me often overlooking the bigger picture. Usually when I am ranting and raving about something (hmm ... and I wonder where Cowgirl gets her knee-jerk reactions? Her  It's not so good for me! cry as a toddler a favorite family expression now), I am brought back to earth by an unexpected flash of humor, absurdity, beauty or love reinforcing the truth that
 
Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.
-Oscar Wilde 

My position being that life is best lived rather than obsessively analyzed, considered, plotted and planned. 

Getting out of my own way is a good operating principle for me. Being aware that each moment offers me a choice, I can consider "What action will contribute to happiness? Joy? Not just within myself, but for those around me? I've been reading and working with the ideas presented in Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga. A friend shared this book with me and now we text each other to support a daily practice on one of the principles or "laws."  

Today's focus is on the Seven Law, the law of Dharma:

"... every sentient being has a purpose in life. You have unique abilities and your own way of expressing them. There are needs in this world for which your specific talents are ideally suited, and when the world's needs are matched with the creative expression of your talents, your purpose - your dharma - is realized.

To be in dharma, your life force must flow effortlessly without interference."

To be in flow with life is to choose happiness and to extent it to others. Here is how we practiced being in flow, honoring the Law of Giving and Receiving (Law #2), and my favorite, The Law of Least Effort (#4):

Nature is held together by the energy of love, and least effort is expended when your actions are motivated by love. When your soul is your internal reference point, you can harness the power of love and use the energy creatively for healing, transformation, and evolution.
- The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga

 And for making dragons:




 

When I sent my obsessive inner task-master and deep-thinker on a vacation cruise, I am able to see clearly the easy choices right before me that bring me back into flow, into a field of happiness, joy, and a celebration of love.







This weekend I am working on a gift for my niece who just headed off to college. What kind of a care package would offers real support and nourishment for this threshold stage of her life? 




I am calling it "Wisdom in a Tin" and selecting the quotes to write upon the enclosed cards is a gift for both my niece and myself.


 
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
- Oscar Wilde



Happiness, purpose, aligning myself with the flow of life ... this is the practice. It is about choice and remembering and staying open and present. Honoring the fullness and wholeness of being alive. 


Giving thanks, extending and receiving love.

3 comments:

  1. oh. my. i very much needed to read this today -- it's an affirmation/confirmation, i think. this has been the mighty year of letting shit go - a whole boatload of shit. a barge of mammoth proportions. big, yes. :)

    mostly, all that feels good -- but there's this niggling voice [probably my internal task master] that says to take the path of least resistance is Lazy and that i'm in peril of living too superficially. so why, then, am i feeling more content than i have in years? surely that means something? {TFT notwithstanding, of course -- now THERE has been an eye-opening reveal into my innner rage!] but i digress.

    oh, how i LOVE your doggy portraits!! and your niece is so very fortunate to have the Coolest Aunt Ever -- that wisdom tin is truly magnificent and i'm sure she'll treasure it and derive great value from it. *sigh*

    so much more i'd love to blather on...but i'll save it for a letter --- oh, and i'm trying very hard not to let the turkeys get me down. ;)

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That Law of Least Effort tipped my world right-side up! And now I am reading a book recommended to me by Ms Lulu in the Woods "Refuse to Choose" which is akin to the Red Sea parting although instead of "finding" my way, I am seeing I can now accept MY Way which is that of a Multi-passionate Creative. Such exhaustion from these revelations require me to collapse in the armchair with lap blanket and cup of tea.

      BTW ... Sausage Dog photo, portrait shot, is being requested :) xo

      Delete
  2. Hi Lisa, popped over from Mel's blog to see you. I do love your wisdom in a tin- what a special thing to do for your niece. I may have to borrow that idea, in the 'imitation being the sincerest form of flattery' bracket :o) CT x

    ReplyDelete