Greetings, dear Sunny Buddies,
Each week in the run-up to writing The Sunny Optimist on a Friday, I open my curating basket. I love to see what comes into my awareness that might be fun to share with you. Invariably a phrase will attract my attention that I then play with to see what comes to me as worthy of your time.
This week it was an article by Nina Simons, the Co-founder of Bioneers. (Thank you to my dear friend FireHawk for the introduction).
Founded in 1990, this incredible organisation has acted as a ‘fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges’. What I love most is they ‘inspire a change of heart and a sense of wonder and reverence for the genius of nature and the human spirit’.
And they have lived this purposeful and diligently for over 20 years now.
Just wonderful!
And so the phrase that Nina uses that caught my attention this week was 'Navigating the Nexus'. I stayed with this for a while. The definition of the word nexus is 'an important connection between parts of a system or group of things'. This feels rather pedestrian as a definition. So instead, I sense that a nexus is a hub, a place of resonance of the connections that have the potential to delight, surprise, and invigorate us.
The other phrase I appreciated was 'the challenging confluence of crises we face these days'. Confluence is another word that describes coming together, just like nexus. I love when a writer has the skilfulness to weave a theme like 'coming together' into our awareness with such subtlety.
The juxtaposition between the 'confluence of crises' and the 'navigating the nexus' was intriguing. Yes, there can be concerns and worries that have the potential to take us out of balance. In her article Navigating the Nexus - Nature, Culture & The Sacred Nina responds to this by saying:
To find some footing amidst all this instability, I've had to dig deep within my heart, body, mind and intuition to identify some anchors, some practices that can stabilize and help me to stay centered to move forward in a good way.
The anchor is a powerful symbol of security and stability. The cross within the image below reminds us of the sacredness of anchors in our lives. I also love in this photo how the anchor is bathed in the diffused sunlight of the Divine. Heartwarming and life-affirming.
The anchors in my life are my intimate partnership with David, my lovely daughters and grandkids (wee lump of emotion in my throat as I write this), my friends and family, my love of the natural world and my Earth Wisdom training. And, of course, The Sunny Optimist, which brings so much joy. I also appreciate the wellbeing practices and practitioners that help me age with ease.
The one anchoring practice I wanted to highlight this week is meditation. I love how moving into silence can bring spaciousness to my awareness. This centring then enables me to access a deep well of stillness. As I seek to calm the mind with meditation, I settle into a sense of presence where I feel an inner alignment. This then allows my intuition to stir. I can then, hopefully, respond with grace to the 'confluence of crises'.
I thought it might be nice to share my recording of May, The Clearing from the book 'Meditations through the Year' by Dorothea Breitzter-Kings. I love this little book. In this guided visualisation, she takes us on a walk through a forest of rhododendrons. She invites us to connect with the pulsating energy of growth that surrounds us to build our 'trust and openness to the good things in life'.
Click here or on the image to view the guided visualisation—my gratitude to Tim Uffindell for the piano accompaniment and his support and guidance in making this recording.
Questions for this Week
In Nina’s article, the nexus she explores is between Nature, Culture & the Sacred. However, I sense that I am more in the territories within a nexus of Spirituality, Vocation and Wellbeing. Mmmm, interesting - I will spend a bit more time over the weekend exploring this further.
And so, dear Sunny Optimists, my questions this week for you are;
Is there a nexus that resonates for you at this time in your life?
Which relationships are crucial to your ‘stability and security’?
What anchoring practices do you have that help you stay centred?
As always, I would love to hear from you.
Ann
Thank you Ann and Tim for the the meditation. Mmmm nice.
In answer to your questions Ann. I think my nexus is my heart. Its the place I go to for stillness and centeredness with my daily meditation practice called Heartfulness - my anchoring pratice. My heart is also a hub from which my sense of purpose comes which in a way is another nexus. My sense of purpose is also another anchor that grounds me as I manifest it into the world, turning it from a thought or an idea into a reality that makes a difference for me and others.
My relationship with my husband is crucial for me as he is so different and provides me with much needed perspectives that are not available to me in isolation. My relationships with my friends are incredibly important for the deep connection I feel when I am with them. They welcome the whole of me light and shadow. Thank you for being one of my friends Ann.
Thank you Ann for sharing your heartfelt message of wisdom and centeredness with us. I am honoured to be a part of your community ❤️🌼