Choosy mothers choose jif
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out
Mind your manners
Take a breath
Random thoughts
all mulling around
I’m looking to pitch my tent
to find solid ground
But am lost within
the swirl of my thoughts
Jumping from my childhood to the future
Sandwiched in today
Where am I now, I ask?
What do I need?
What am I feeling?
What do I see?
I can’t tell what’s mine
With my emotions roiling around
And what belongs to stories
From last night’s movie
Just like the witch in Oz
Random thoughts pass by my windows
Where am I going?
Is it going to rain today?
My have-to’s come up
With what’s on my calendar
This is truly a jungle
With my thoughts free to wander
Breathe I remind myself
Take a breath in and out
I see the ledge I can sit on
Be gentle with myself
Black and white thinking
It’s either or
I try to stay away
from the buts
and what if’s
This is my head as I sit in meditation
My body is still but my mind is in motion
I’m triggered one minute
And calm the next
Breathe in and remember
I’m okay just as I am
We are in the eye of the storm
Surrounded by change and far from the norm
It’s hard to see to the other side
I can’t possibly prepare for what’s next
None of us can predict the world
We live in
So I sit in my spot
Breathing in and out
Reminding myself I am okay
Just as I am
When I doubt my words
I envision my child within
And feel compassion to offer
Words of comfort and love
I see her there and kneel down
And say you are safe
You are loved
I’ve got your hand today
We’re in this together
Our safety is in the now
Stay in the present
That’s our solid ground
PARTICIPANTS’ REFLECTIONS:
You did a gesture after the reading. I wasn’t sure what it meant and why you did that, but it spoke to me. I am so sad and mad today. I need no platitudes. It's a hard day. But your gesture spoke to me.
“Choosy mothers?” It is a monkey mind that goes and goes. I hang onto the phrase “all will be well”. It is comforting. I heard the line “do the next right thing”. Yesterday, I felt dispirited. I made phone calls and reached out. I’m struck by this time of year, how spring goes by at lighting speed. It is a time for change. I feel sadness in how quick it happens. The buds are there, and then they are open. I loved your analogy of the witch from the Wizard of Oz. This time is like a tornado blowing through
I am staying in the now, it is my solid ground. This became my meditation. If I don’t stay in the now, I am not grounded. That thought brings me back to my body and to the now.
That space you've found is becoming familiar to you. I look for that same feeling. Sometimes it takes a while to find it; it’s like looking through files.
I was reminded of authenticity, of my being honest about my process. I can’t keep my mind quiet either, even if I teach about it
During the meditation, I was walking with my younger self. When I was a child, I did a courageous thing. To do so, I took on the persona of Annie Oakley. This is about finding your allies. In the meditation, I saw myself connecting with trees, the grass, nature as an ally. I saw a geometric pattern connecting me to the world.
I love the monkey mind concept. I hadn’t heard it before. I have one today, and I was mentally beating myself up about it. I have a meeting later and I have no agenda for it. Which is scary. But if I plan everything, there is no room for creativity. I am making space for my workers to express their ideas.
It takes trust which is a good thing.
Your words are spot on for me today. You talked about being sandwiched between the child and the future. I have been having so much uncertainty and fear. I can have black and white thinking. There is safety in now. I got a tick bite yesterday, which scared me because I’ve had lyme disease in the past. Your reading helped me to come back to now.
I heard on NPR the story of a survivor in her 100s, who survived Spanish flu, WWI, and COVID-19. It was hopeful to hear.
This was a great reading. This coming back to now, this sense of wholeness. During the meditation, I experienced a vision of the Earth: as a beautiful planet, shining with beauty radiating from its center. The quieter we are, the more beauty there is. We are seeing things we haven’t seen before. It is important to focus on that wholeness and to diminish our petty differences. In the greater scheme, so many little things are not important. Let the beauty shine.
I am clearing my own smog.
In Florida, we have alligators crossing our lawns. Nature is showing itself.