Greeting my Sunny Optimist Friends
Welcome back. I hope you feel rejuvenated by the Winter Solstice and are ready to move into this week’s contemplation.
Last week you reviewed the year going by to give you a more profound sense of what unfolded during that time. You looked for highlights and lowlights that you then translated into a visual image.
As I explored alongside you, I can see how I have arrived at this point at the end of the year. I am also in appreciation of the unfolding clarity of how I want to be in my life now.
I would love to hear from you if you wish to share insights from your looking back.
Ann
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Gathering in your Two Baskets
In our contemplation this week, we will review the findings from your looking back time. The metaphor this week is to have two baskets ready to receive your insights.
In one basket, you will place anything that you decide no longer serves you. Aspects of the year that you are 'letting go.' In the second basket, you will place elements of the year that still have juice for you. These are aspects that you are 'carrying forward' and will weave into your intentions for 2021.
As usual, I have created a recording of this week's contemplation to guide you. You can access it by clicking here or on the photograph below. At the end of this newsletter, I have also provided notes to help you make the most of this process.
This Week’s Poem
I have chosen As You Go through Life by Ella Wheeler Wilcox to guide us into our contemplation. Here she invites us to be curious and appreciative in our exploration. She encourages us to be open to what might be behind our remembering. She hints that there may be new insights to be revealed if we take the time to explore. Playfully, she opens us to the Majesty and the Mystery of Life. She reminds us of how fleeting our time on Earth is and to make most of flowing with the Divine Will of Life.
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As You Go Through Life by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Don't look for the flaws as you go through life;
And even when you find them,
It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind
And look for the virtue behind them.
For the cloudiest night has a hint of light
Somewhere in its shadows hiding;
It is better by far to hunt for a star,
Than the spots on the sun abiding.
The current of life runs ever away
To the bosom of God's great ocean.
Don't set your force 'gainst the river's course
And think to alter its motion.
Don't waste a curse on the universe--
Remember it lived before you.
Don't butt at the storm with your puny form,
But bend and let it go o'er you.
The world will never adjust itself
To suit your whims to the letter.
Some things must go wrong your whole life long,
And the sooner you know it the better.
It is folly to fight with the Infinite,
And go under at last in the wrestle;
The wiser man shapes into God's plan
As water shapes into a vessel.
Guidance Notes
I hope you enjoyed the recorded contemplation. If you wish to take more time to complete the process, here are some notes to support you. ( If you cannot do this physically, you can do this in your imagination.)
Please write down your insights on pieces of paper or gather elements of nature (leaves, stones, sticks, acorns) to represent them.
As they arise, place the notes or pieces of nature in their respective 'baskets.'
Keep going until you feel there is nothing more to say.
Once you feel complete, take your 'letting go basket' out into nature, and there give the content away to Life.
You can bury them or place them in a river or in the sea. If they are paper notes, then you could consider giving them away to the fire.
You can say a prayer or some words to honour the experiences and the learning.
Know that Life will take them and let them flow back to the Divine. Nothing is lost; all will be healed and returned to Source.
Then when you return home, place your 'carrying forward basket' somewhere safe until it is time to revisit your insights at the turning of the year. More to come on this :)
Wishing you a powerful time of remembrance and as always, I would love to hear from you.
Sending you my appreciation for this journey together.
Ann
After a quiet evening of post Christmas blues. Mild I must emphasize I found hope through the austere sad and reflective slow movement of Mozart’s final piano concerto no.27. I almost felt that in its simplicity I could hear words. This healed me. And helped me.
Words imagined to the slow movement of piano concerto no.27. They are of course corny next to Mozart. But for me I think the words came to my conscious for a reason music is therapeutic and brings out ideas in me which always helps my mood
Always grateful for your blog. Please please keep posting. It’s always inspiring. Richard. :)
This.... is how you write a song
One idea leads to another
And when
Your idea is going wrong
The star helps you to recover
A melody
That’s just a few bars long
Will help you reach
Your sister and brother
A note
That resonates so strong
Brings a new world to discover
The star for me is one sudden bright piano note in that slow movement.
Ahh, dear Ann - thank you for the 2 baskets metaphor - I really like having somewhere to put my stuff :-)) My deepest prayers and wishes for manifesting the 2021 that your heart's desire. Love to David. Hawk