A Matter of Perspective September 1 2009

Today is pleasant, with a refreshing breeze.
As I walk, I think about that breeze—what it can mean.

Looking at myself, a woman, age 70, walking down the block,
I can appreciate the wind’s cool brush against my skin;
I’m happy on a sunny day, grateful that we’ve had some rain,
And now the summer heat’s abating.

But I can also look at me as spirit,
An eternal soul who dwells in earthly space today.
In that form, I perceive the breeze as universal love that’s always present,
And rejoice at being one with the Creator and creation.

I smile and reflect on picking the perspective of the moment –
It’s a lot like choosing
Whether I should use my indoor or my outdoor voice!


Today’s Reflections
One of the most striking changes in my life since Ellen -- my Love -- died is discovering how many dimensions make up “reality.” As a child, like most children, I had an active fantasy life. Also like most children, I learned that only physical reality counts. Only one thing is possible at a time, and that has to fit within the bounds of “reality.” We learn to think that our little box is all of life – so high, so wide, so deep, ticking along in a line, second by second.
But how do I account for love, for dreams, for wishes, for the obvious division between different feeling states? How can I feel one moment that life is black, that nothing will ever be good again – then 10 minutes later find a ray of joy in a friend’s smile or a child’s enthusiastic greeting, as he runs toward me waving the picture he just drew – arms outstretched to hug me?
Obviously, real reality has many, shifting possibilities. What if there were more than I could ever imagine? It’s possible. What if grief were just a facet of joy, of love, of energetic discovery?
Actually, it is!

A FLY’S EYE SEPTEMBER 2 2009

I’m trying to picture seeing like a fly,
With all those prisms -- each a different view
Of the same thing.
How does its brain put them all together?
What does that dimension feel like?
Clearly it’s very different from our
Tripartite way of knowing.
The world we know with senses is a box –
High, and wide, and deep.
But that’s not all the world there is.
At times we know things not encased within those measures.
In fact, in mind and spirit, we can conjure up
An endless plenty – possibilities and feelings.

As I traverse this part of life,
I discover an infinity of understandings.
I can choose my way of being now –
Like the fly, I can see through many lenses;
All show what’s possible, and real.