Standing On Holy Ground

Earlier this month, I returned from a retreat in Sedona, Az. One afternoon three of us hiked these beautiful red rocks to reach the top of this mountain. We were anxious to experience the energy at the site of the Boynton Vortex.

Apparently the energy at the site strengthens the yin/yang or masculine/feminine balance. There were many pyramids of rocks piled at the point of greatest energy. Although I felt a great sense of energy from being there, I also know that I have an energy that is readily available to me in those moments when I recognize I am always standing on holy ground.

I've been pondering the question "who would I be if I actually felt the sense of freedom that would come if I could more often remember I am always standing on holy ground"?

I know this experience is available and it takes a fierce kind of attention to recognize the fullness of these moments. I have them.....and oh.....how I wish they were more than just moments.

I "wake up" when I climb to a beautiful vortex site or when my 5 year old granddaughter says, when I've just told her she can spend the night, "Oh Grammy, I could just cry tears of joy".

And.....I "wake up" when I've just read one of Mary Oliver's lovely poems.

As you read the following verse from one of my favorites, think about how much fierce attention you'd have to have in order to notice this:

"This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us,

if we only look and see."

Will you ponder with me the question "Who would I be if I actually felt the sense of freedom that would come if I remember I am always standing on holy ground?"

I'd love to have you share with me your ponderings.

I'm Trying to Remember.....

Naomi Shihab Nye in one of her wonderful poems The Art of Disappearing says "You're trying to remember something too important to forget. Trees. The monastery bell at twilight.....Walk around feeling like a leaf. Know you could tumble any second. Then decide what to do with your time."

This Summer much of my time has been spent journeying.....a week with friends in Minnesota....a week with friends in Virginia.....a week at a retreat in Sedona, Az. During those weeks, I've remembered to notice the trees, hear the monastery bell at twilight and walk around feeling like a leaf.

Leaves......look at this great stitch plant on the forest floor in Virginia.....notice how the leaves are stitched together......just like us.
A hike through that same forest has one beautiful scene after another.

Willow lives at the Greenbriar in Virginia. I had a wonderful opportunity to make friends with her while there.

I "took the cure" where Thomas Jefferson did in Warm Springs. He found his way to those mineral springs in 1818 - a place that provides a natural remedy to whatever ailments you might have. It was a large deep pool formed from natural rocks with lots of bubbles rising from the stones that form the bottom of the pool. The roof is nothing but rafters and the feeling of looking up while floating in this wonderful warm water was.......Sigh.......

I'm trying to remember to walk around feeling like a leaf.....knowing I could tumble at any second.....I hope we'll all take time to notice during this Autumn of tumbling leaves.

Too Much Fun To Stop

A few years ago I was biking with a group of women in Wales. We experienced all different kinds of terrain…..a path alongside a peaceful river, a field with no path at all, hills and narrow paths with shrubs. A time of rest included stopping for tea and sitting on top of a bunker that had been used in World War II.

We would occasionally get separated from one another. At one point, I was flying down a hill when I heard the others yell to me from the side of the road……"here we are…..stop”. I hollered back “I’m having too much fun to stop”. When I heard myself say that, I was suddenly struck with “that’s right…..I'm having too much fun to stop”. I’ve pondered that statement many times since then …….about life and having too much fun to stop.

A few years ago I retired from the business I co-created with my friend and partner. I loved what we were doing and it was time to give myself space to “take bigger bites”. (I’m borrowing that phrase from Linda Ellerbee’s book Take Big Bites). Even though that decision allowed me to take those bigger bites of traveling, family and friends, I again realized I was having too much fun to stop.

The last couple of years I’ve been doing some business coaching and consulting in a medical office. I hope I never get to the place where I will not be able to say “I’m having too much fun to stop”. For me it has to do with being challenged, creative, productive and having fun.

What are the ways that you’re having too much fun to stop? Is your work so rewarding and fun that you’d be doing it even if you weren’t getting paid? I’d love to hear from you.

Weeds & Peach Seed Soup - Part 2

In my May 9th posting I wrote about the Mediterranean Stuffed Salmon Fillets with Lime Hollandaise. Several people have asked me for the recipe. I found it in a wonderful cookbook by Annabel Langbein called Cooking to Impress Without Stress.

That writing has prompted several great conversations about cooking as part of the sacred journey. It's the inviting, arranging, cooking, serving, caring for and enjoying the guests that makes cooking such an important part of my sacred journeying.

Here it is. Be sure to check out her beautiful website:

http://www.annabel-langbein.com/

Serves: 6-8
Make Ahead: salmon can be stuffed up to 12 hours ahead if kept well chilled

6 - 5 oz. boneless, skinless salmon fillets, cut from the thick end
salt and freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

Stuffing:

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
10-12 pitted black olives, chopped

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Using a very sharp knife cut a thin slash on an angle on the top of each piece of salmon. Combine parsley, pine nuts, zest and olives and stuff about 1 tbsp mixture into each slash. Cover and chill until ready to cook.

Heat oven to 425 F. Season fish with salt and pepper and squeeze over lemon juice. Bake 6-8 minutes or until just cooked through.

Serve salmon with a spoonful of Easy Lime Hollandaise.
I served it with steamed asparagus and put a dollop of hollandaise on it as well.

Easy Lime Hollandaise (Use lemons if preferred)

3 fresh egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
several grinds black pepper
1/2 cup butter

Blitz yolks, lime juice, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. Heat butter until bubbling but not browned (it needs to be very hot for the sauce to fully thicken). With motor running, gradually add hot butter to egg mixture in a slow stream. Chill if not using within a couple of hours.

If sauce has been chilled, reheat with care as it will curdle if overheated. The best way to do this is to sit a bowl of sauce inside a bowl of hot water for a minute or two.

ENJOY!

Living at the Center

We're having 100 degree weather in Oklahoma so the first thing I do early each morning is water the gardens.

The last two mornings, I've walked out of the house and run right into the middle of a spider web. I imagine I look hilarious as I frantically knock it out of the way.

I'm reminded of a few years ago when we had a spider web on our front porch. I would run into the web and wave my arms around frantically trying to get it out of my face and hair. After a couple of those beatings the spider decided to move. She moved to her new spot....a few feet away from the line of traffic and most certainly out of MY way.

I really became quite attached to watching her re-building process....I watched her each day....amazed at her perseverance. During the day the web would disappear and a new one would go up each evening.

It appeared she only did what she needed to do in order to take care of her needs for the day. She spent most of her time at the center of the web.....only leaving her center when it was necessary. It happened very quickly...she'd go out, grab an insect that had been caught in the web and then head back to the center. She must have been very focused in order to know when to leave her center and when not to.

I gained wisdom from this little creature about spending energy unnecessarily. These last few mornings, I've again been reminded that when I stay centered my energies will be spent in much wiser ways.

I'm thankful I notice.....I'm thankful there are gifts all around me and sometimes in the most unexpected places....spider webs.....resting puppies......beautiful butterflies.....on these warm days of Summer.

Are we the only ones of God's creatures that spend so much needless effort from day to day? I'd love to hear some ways that you practice staying centered.

Hiking Elk Mountain

If you'd like to have a feeling of what the old west was like, I can highly recommend spending a day hiking in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. I did that last week. It's located in Southwestern Oklahoma...a short two hour drive from Oklahoma City.

Spring flowers were beautiful and abundant....the bison roaming free were majestic....the prairie dogs were scurrying to manage their daily chores.

Hiking to the summit of Elk Mountain is gorgeous and moderately challenging......reaching the top....standing in the mist....looking out at the 60,000 acres was like having a moisturizing spa treatment.

A tired body......a renewed soul......a wonderful world.

"Be Still and Listen"

When my sixteen year old granddaughter, Montana, was five we were sitting on my front porch, our backs leaning up against the door trying to stay out of the rain. While we were sitting there quietly, I looked at her sweet little face and asked her "what do you hear?" She said "The trees". When I asked her what the trees were telling her she responded "they're telling me to be still and listen". Wow....the wisdom of a five year old.

Today, I'm sitting quietly reading a new poetry book and hear rain. I am reminded of that front porch conversation and Montana's wisdom....."be still and listen". In a talk we were having a few days ago she was sharing about a decision she's made....her process of decision making demonstrating that she still has that wonderful gift of deeply listening to herself.

These days I have less distractions, so find it easier to slow down and listen deeper. Some of the ways I do that are by taking walks, journaling, gardening, praying, laughing, working on my dreams and listening to great music. Often the listening deeper is not about having to know more..... it's about becoming comfortable with the not knowing. These days I think I like knowing less and trusting more.

It's hard to remember in our sometimes hurried days that all we really need is deep within us waiting to unfold and reveal itself. All we have to do is take the time to "be still and listen". The poet Rilke says, in one of his Love Poems to God...."I want to unfold. Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false. I want to stay clear in your sight."

I Kings 19 says "..... Elijah runs to Mt. Horeb. He looks for God, as did Moses, in the wind, earthquake, and fire, symbols of the mountain god. However, Elijah meets God in the 'sound of a gentle breeze'."

How can you listen more deeply in order to be clearer about who you are and where your heart's voice would lead you? I'd love your comments about ways that you "be still and listen".