Inner Gardening

I Have a Dream - Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In our painting, the light that Dr. King is approaching represents the dream achieved. He is accompanied by the spirits of equality and justice. To keep the dream from fading, we must always keep moving toward it.”  (Cover art by Leo & Diane Dillon)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was one of America’s greatest visionaries. He was at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. His leadership was fundamental to the movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of blacks in the South and in other portions of the United States. Dr. King was instrumental in bringing about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which legally protected the rights of African Americans to live, work, and vote without discrimination. He promoted nonviolent tactics to achieve civil rights, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

King’s peaceful and nonviolent resistance was inspired by the teachings of Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi (who led the peaceful struggle for India’s independence from Great Britain.) "I came to feel that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom." King’s work was helped in the civil rights movement by such people as Rosa Parks, who served as a catalyst for the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.

~ Foreword in the book by Coretta Scott King ~

“My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., had a great dream for America. He believed that people of all colors and religions could learn how to live together and treat each other like brothers and sisters. In his dream, the people of America would put an end to hatred, injustice, and violence, and a new spirit of kindness, sharing, and unity would spread across the land. He believed that we could achieve this dream if we would all make a commitment to forgiveness, justice, and love for each other.

In this beautiful book, “I Have A Dream”, fifteen artists have provided their creative illustrations to demonstrate the beauty of his dream and the beliefs that motivated his life and leadership. Their artistry blends beautifully with the inspired message that he shared with millions of Americans at the March on Washington on that magical day of August 28, 1963. His vision of peace with justice and love for everyone still inspires and challenges us to create the beloved community. His legacy of courage, determination, and nonviolence still lights the way to the fulfillment of his dream. May God give us the wisdom and strength to carry forward his unfinished work!”

~ Ponder these words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

“…Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter…”

“…We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends…”

“…An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity…”

 

What will you do to honor and celebrate his universal message of unity, peace, love,

and kindness throughout this new year of 2011? Live the Dream!

Doors of Happiness

"They say when one door of happiness closes, another opens. But the problem is... we look so long at the closed door that we never notice the open one." 

~Author Unknown

 

Activity:  Think of a time when your specific situation, event, relationship, etc.  was no longer filling you with happiness. Reflect about what it took for you to move on and to allow that door to close.

Suggestion:

• Acknowledge what assisted you in moving forward. Explore if any new insights surface, noticing any support that you now see in hindsight.
• Was another door available to you at that time which you didn't see?  If so, what changed within you so that you could see those things?
• How have you grown to enable you to surrender or let go more easily than you may have in the past?  Do you have things that nurture and support you in times when your door of happiness is closing?

May you have many doors of happiness that surround you, and the wisdom and self care to know that when the doors are closing it is time to reflect, renew, and redirect.

Blessings...Susan

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, let me sow pardon.
Where there is doubt, let me sow faith.
Where there is despair, let me sow hope.
Where there is darkness, let me sow light.
Where there is sadness, let me sow joy.
O Divine Master, grant that
I may not so much seek
To be be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

~St. Francis of Assisi

Activity:  Read the Prayer of St. Francis and notice any insights you receive. Reflect upon any ideas you would like to explore more deeply. Allow your heart to speak to you.

Suggestion: 

• Explore what you really receive when you give...how you are pardoned when you pardon another.
• How can you transform yourself into an instrument of peace for yourself? your family? your workplace? your community?
• Can you think of ways in which you can sow joy within sadness? To understand rather than to be understood? To love rather than be loved? To console rather than to be consoled?
• Acknowledge yourself for bringing light into a situation where there was darkness...or for sowing love where there was hatred.

Blessings...Susan

Note:  The following information is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Prayer of Saint Francis is a Christian prayer. It is attributed to the 13th-century Saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912, when it was printed in France in French, in a small  spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell) as an anonymous prayer, as demonstrated by Dr. Christian Renoux in 2001. The prayer has been known in the U.S.  since 1936 and Cardinal Francis Spellman and Senator Hawkes distributed millions of copies of the prayer during and just after World War II.

An alternate version is found in Chapter 11 (Page 99) of the "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions", a book published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

 

 

Playing and Growing Old

"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."

~Author unknown

Playing for the sake of just having fun is a way of life for a child. I remember building summer tents, with a special fabric door that I could pin up to create my own cocoon-like haven. I would read for hours, write notes, ponder thoughts while allowing my imagination to dance freely.  We played outdoor games like kick-the-can, hide-and-go-seek, statues, kickball, etc. until the street lights came on. This was the neighborhood's universal signal that it was time to go home.  If anyone was late, you'd hear the parent's barrage of first names being yelled out into the warm night air to remind us. 

Winters in my hometown of Hamburg, NY would get huge snowfalls being so close to Lake Erie. We also built our snow forts with several rooms, complete with hidden compartments carved in the icy snow where we could stash countless snow balls. We'd place a large slab of icy snow across the top to serve as a nonconspicuous lid covering our emergency snowball supply should we need them immediately.  No one could surprise us...we were already prepared.  FEMA could have taken a few lessons from us! Then we'd go back indoors to remove the iceballs clinging to our mittens while removing layer upon layer of insulated clothing. Awaiting us was always a warm mug of home-made cocoa with marshmallows and cookies, especially after we had shoveled the driveway and sidewalk before coming inside.

Play wasn't something we planned, it was who we were...just being in the moment. As I grew older, I worked in several jobs and wondered where was the play. When did you engage with your co-workers in a way that the lightness of being enabled you to work together more easily and less stressful when those deadlines and tension existed in projects? All too often play is viewed as "unprofessional" or "not the time or place".  How can you bring yourself to collaborate on something when you are so often expected to leave the best parts of you outside of the moment?

Tell the truth now...when you're alone do you ever catch yourself singing and making up funny songs or speaking in various dialects just for the fun of it?  Or does some part of your mind try to censor yourself with judging you as being "too silly" or better yet "not acting your age?"

Activity:  Spend some time today reflecting on some of those things that gave you joy when you were growing up.  Did you stop them because you truly wanted to or because you felt that you would not be "acting your age" or some other critique from self or another?

Suggestion:

• Allow yourself to just play without having to plan it...run or skip outside, sing in the shower, play in the rain, jump in the leaves, etc. Observe how children play and join them, allowing them to teach you.
• Create a list of things that you can do to engage the play aspects of yourself...include items you can do immediately, add some things for the next few months, and build a list for your future.
• Rent the movie, "The Bucket List" and notice what insights you receive to add to your own list. 

Remember, have fun and don't stop playing! 

Blessings...

Our Valuable Children

 
Today I'm sharing one of my favorite inspirational messages about the value of our children, how they continue on beyond the adults around them, and the essential importance of showing them the value of love for all.

One proud father said to his little boy, "I've got news for you, my big boy. God has sent you a beautiful baby brother."

"Great!" yelped the little boy. "Where's Mom" I can't want to tell her!"

His sister, however, wasn't nearly as excited about the arrival. After a few days her father asked, "Aren't you happy about having a new baby brother?"

"Not really," she admitted. "I wanted a little sister so we could play girl games when she got bigger. And we can't give him back. We've used him for five days."

She may likely grow to cherish her little brother. For children the world over should be cherished. They are, and always have been, our most valuable resource.

Peter De Vries has said, "The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults." It's today's children who will be tomorrow's adults. We must treat them with the utmost care; we must responsibly educate and train our young people; we must, above all, show them the value of love for all people.

An unknown author put it succinctly: "A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started. He or she is going to sit where you are sitting and attend to those things which you think are important. You may adopt all the policies you please, but how they will be carried out depends on our young people. They will assume control of your duties, states, and nation. They are going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities, and corporations. All your books will be judged, praised or condemned by them. The fate of humanity is in their hands. So it might be well to pay young people attention."

Remember, the best thing to spend on your children is time. Today!

~ Excerpt from Steve Goodier's "Books of Your Life Support System" messages

Suggestion: Ponder the quotes cited above and reflect on any insights/perceptions you experience.

Activity: 

• What legacies are being handed down to our children in our families, communities, churches, schools, corporations, etc.? Are these what will contribute to making a positive difference/change?
• Did you experience any shifts in perception, awarenesses, ideas, etc. that you can share and/or implement in your immediate sphere of influence?
• Share this post and/or any insights you have had with someone who may also gain value from its message.

Make Peace with Silence

  

‎"Make peace with silence, and remind yourself that it is in this space that you'll come to remember your spirit.

When you're able to transcend an aversion to silence, you'll also transcend many other miseries.  And it is in this silence that the remembrance of God will be activated."

~Dr. Wayne Dyer

 

Making peace with silence includes being able to explore and find what brings you peace. Each person must do this for oneself...for what resonates as peace with one person may be totally different for another.

Activity:  Discover various ways of finding peace within. Do you find peace in a sunset? Or a light misty rain? Does the laughter of a child bring you a sense of peace? 

Suggestion: 

• When you follow that state of peace, explore it further and go beyond the peace to a state of stillness. 
• Observe your thoughts and feelings. Is it difficult to embrace stillness? Does your mind increase in random thoughts and ideas?  Notice your aversion to stillness or silence.
• Explore different ways to transcend this avoidance of the stillness.  Taking time to just observe, without judgment and criticism, allows you to experience being fully present with your experience.

Explore using this process of transcendance with other feelings/states of being.  Reflect on any shifts or awarenesses that become activated within this silence.

Blessings...

The Kind of World - Elevate your Viewpoint

  

A young squirrel and an equally young chipmunk became friends when meeting at the base of a tree. "Let's see what kind of world we inhabit," suggested the squirrel. The chipmunk agreed.

Climbing the tree, they called to each other from different branches. Announced the squirrel, "The world is beautiful with sparkling streams and sunny hills."

"No," denied the chipmunk. "It is a world of pale grass and nothing else." "Ah!" exclaimed the squirrel. "I see the problem. I am on the top branch and you are on the lowest. Come on up!"

Elevate the viewpoint and we elevate the world, for our world consists of our viewpoint!

 ~Excerpt from Vernon Howard's book, "Inspire Yourself "

Activity:  Reflect on a time when you perceived the world in a certain way and realized later on that your perception shifted.

Suggestion: 

• Allow yourself to explore different perceptions about an experience you have had or that you have witnessed for another person.
• Notice any differences between your perceptions and those of another person viewing the same situation.
• Reflect on what contributing personal experiences, filters, biases, insights have an impact on the diverse perceptions.

 

Clocks and Changing our Inner Nature

A man once owned a large and expensive clock, made by skilled craftspeople in Switzerland. He kept the clock in a window, where it was seen by passersby who set their watches by it.

But something was wrong with the clock. Its hands habitually showed the wrong time. So the man spent considerable energy every day in turning the clock's hands to the right positions.

This went on for several years, which kept the owner weary. One day someone suggested, "Instead of wasting your energy in correcting the hands, why don't you fix the clock's inner parts?"

"What a tremendous idea!" the owner exclaimed in astonishment and delight. "I never thought of that!"

People seldom think of changing their inner nature for the purpose of ending useless and tiring daily tasks.

~Excerpt from Vernon Howard's book, "Inspire Yourself"

Activity:  Think of a time when focusing on the problem created more anxiety and stress. Shift your focus to recreate what you were feeling, thinking, or experiencing during that challenge.

Suggestion: 

• While stepping back from this challenge, what insights and new ideas surface as to what your inner nature was experiencing. 
• What would you differently? 
• How would you shift the way you react and respond if this were to happen today? 

Wings to Fly

 

When you come to the end of everything you know

And are faced with the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing one of two things will happen.

Either there will be something solid for you to stand on,

Or you will be taught how to fly.

~ Barbara J. Winter

 

Activity:  Reflect on the "Wings to Fly" verse and notice what images and thoughts emerge within you.

• Think of a time when you faced the darkness of the unknown, and how did you react or respond?
• What did you use to stand upon or did you explore a new way to respond?

Suggestion:  Explore new possibilities for reacting and responding to situations, events, or circumstances in your life. Cultivate uplifting and nurturing self-care actions that will assist you in cultivating your new ways to fly!

 

 

Purpose...

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world.

Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be."  ~ Patanjali

 

The great sage and master, Avatar Patanjali, was the founder and father of Yoga, who wrote the Yoga Sutras.  He was considered to be a fully self-realized avatar, who had mastered the mind, the body, its senses, and even this physical world.  He was also a profound knower of knowledge which made him an amazing philosopher and teacher of how to master your life. Activity:  As you read "Purpose", reflect on your own talents and dreams. 

• What project(s)or dreams inspire you to break any bonds of thought? to transcend limitations of your mind? 
• Explore your faculties and talents, allowing any dormant forces to emerge that will aid you in discovering any dreams or projects that may be calling to you.

Suggestion:  Envision the steps you can take that will inspire and lead you to become alive by "some great purpose, some extraordinary project". Begin by taking one small step in this direction. Become open to receiving insights, support and ideas. Create a space in your journal for capturing these inspirational thoughts and steps to manifesting your dreams.