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sometimes inspiring, sometimes personal meanderings of the Heart's opening in the every-day-ness of life...

Monday, October 10, 2011

Thriving...

Fall in Colorado, before “the Freeze”, is really a melding of Summer, Fall and Winter. It’s as if Nature isn’t really ready for the change of season. The natural cycles and rhythms of Nature can seem to be a little out of sync. One day near 90, then a dip into the 40’s with rain/snow mix leaving a wisp of white, and then back to Fall with its crisp Autumn night air, flashes of color, and “Indian Summers” – and hooing owls :). Yes, she is still in the neighborhood! Ya hoo! :)

It’s a playful mix of learning to live in transition with no clear delineations or definitions, just a fluid movement of all 3 seasons blending into one before “the Freeze.” Blooming Impatiens expand, overflowing the limitations of their container with full exuberance, while the Maple leaves overhead begin to turn yellow, although I found this one with a touch of red.

The first snow is Nature’s signal of a new season to come, leaving a brief taste to tantalize the senses. And then a melting of the mantle to allow Fall to finish her song – to thrive once again before the hibernation of nature begins.

After the first snow – a show of endurance from the Petunias reclaiming their life color in one more flare before the hard freeze. In my being there is this same blend: an exuberance - felt as restlessness and erratic energies; an excitement for the shift from Summer heat into colorful, cool Autumn. Thoughts of hot chocolate, apple cider and popcorn waft through, as well as the feel of fatigue and an inward pull to start settling in for Winter’s inner hibernation.

These signals of Nature remind me that I need to pay attention to my own cycles and make some changes in order to live according to my Natural Rhythms, to thrive according my True Nature. But recently that has been my dilemma: How to honor my natural rhythms – while life and the needs of others pull me away from those rhythms. I find myself asking: What is needed for my Essential Nature to thrive… What is It pulling me to… What environment allows Being-Spirit to thrive… Or, is it really just a matter of attitude, just accepting life as it is? Am I still attached to a personal me who just wants her way? That is what I am looking into…


“What environment do you thrive in?
Plants need different conditions to thrive in
and when you try to grow it in a different environment –
it can’t thrive.

It’s not about 'preferences',
or about 'accepting life as it is' -
but knowing what you need for your spirit to thrive.”

“This is about the recognition of what it truly is
that lives, thinks, sees and breathes,
through and as [the person].
It is the One substance – Presence Awareness…”

“…preferences, likes and dislikes are recognized
as some of the countless ways the One appears
to ItSelf…”

Leo Hartong
from his book: From Self to Self


How about you…
What allows your Spirit, your Inner Being, to thrive?



12 comments:

  1. I thrive in quiet places of natural beauty with green and space. I love spareness and order in my environment. I am inspired by listening to spiritual talks (Dharma talks). They remind me of what is really important. I feel alive when I feel like I am contributing in some way, that I am not wound into a tight ball of self.

    Thanks for the opportunity to contemplate this! May you have the time and space to thrive!

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  2. And thank you for sharing ZDS! Ahhh, yes quiet places of natural beauty... I also may borrow some of your other ingredients... :)

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  3. for my essential nature to thrive, i need time to contemplate, and time to be with others. I tend to be routinized, to balance my Libra flighty nature. I prefer to feel loved, yet sometimes I find myself in the presence of angry people who do not love me, apparently. who seem to resent me. and my spirits descend.

    a walk in nature or a petting time with the Bibs can sometimes rebalance me.

    I wish I could be more comfortable with no clear delineations. be well, suki

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  4. What a great question... ‘What allows your Spirit, your Inner Being, to thrive?’ I think all of us actually know what that is.
    Connection with human beings and nature, honesty, authenticity and sincerity, beauty, natural color and texture, music and the Sound of nature, kindness and compassion, humor, surprise and a wild element, change, no boundaries or forced control, quiet and stillness.
    And Dear Christine....

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  5. Suki ~ Thank you! Yes, time in solitude for me is a big "thriver." Lots of "down time." And I know what you mean about angry people. They suck the life right out of you! May you always feel loved! C

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  6. Leslie ~ How sweet you are... Wonderful "thrivers"! I hadn't thought of "surprise and a wild element" - but yes! that works! :) AND -
    Window Sitting! LOL :) Lovebeams - C

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  7. Christine--thank you for the walk through your changing seasons...and YOUR changing seasons. What do I need to thrive today? Lots of free time. Alas, not quite yet. Much love! --Maria

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  8. Maria ~ Oh yes I know! Free time! Me too. Taking it when I can get it... And this morning it came to me that we thrive in Awareness - that wonderful expanded field of Awareness that is right here - and Free! :) Much Love back to you! C

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  9. "............we thrive in Awareness - that wonderful expanded field of Awareness that is right here - and Free! :)"
    YES!!!!!!
    xoxo

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  10. I thrive with:
    - zazen as the foundation of my life
    - my blogging friends and their great big hearts
    - creating in every corner of my life
    - vigorous exercise and stretching
    - supporting, encouraging, caring for my "peeps"
    - a cappuccino Cubano around 3 o'clock

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  11. Dear Leslie ~ Yes! How interesting that that came to me this morning as I was laying in bed! Another post in the works :)

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  12. Kris ~ ooo - very nice! Yes I resonate with the need to "meditate" more - have gotten out of the practice - ie: being in Silence and experiencing the Ground of Being on a daily basis. Became aware of that this morning. Oh if I could only drink caffeine, I'd be joining you at 3pm :) Lovely "thrivers." Thanks for sharing them!

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