I am a student of LIFE

My best friend is back at the college campus where we met (gulp) 20 years ago, this time starting up her Masters Program. She is walking around campus watching the parents drop off their child at their dorm, or their first apartment, or their last year at the sorority house. We got nostalgic about the old bars we frequented and the parties we attended. To think back to that time and consider how naive I was. These kids that are arriving at college think they know it all. Leaving the nest and vying in the real world on their own for the first time. Man, I learned a lot in those 4 years. A year and a half in the Business School, two and a half years in the School of Human Development, and 4 solid years in the School of Learn From Your Mistakes.

That period of our lives, in our late teens and early twenties are so full of learning. I look at my elementary school-aged kids now and am amazed at their propensity for grasping new concepts. And we've all heard how toddlers can pick up a second language so much easier than anyone else. My friend is in her late 30's and is embarking on this next level of higher education--knowing so much more than she did when she was in college a couple decades ago. Reflecting on my own life I marvel at how I have changed and grown since becoming a mother 10 years ago. Ten years from now I'll have three children leaving my nest and commencing the stage of learning that only happens by jumping in with both feet. Whoa--scary! (For Mom!) But it's a necessary part of life. Thank goodness they have me to prepare them for it now ;).

Life IS learning. We are on this planet for a finite amount of time and our task is to learn and grow. I know people who didn't go to college but have had experiences that make them some of the wisest people I know. In turn, I know people with a couple of degrees who I wonder if "they'll ever learn." Not everyone is open to receive the teaching in what life offers us every day. That is what I want to foster in my kids. The inquisitiveness to question, the receptivity to accept, and the humility to know that there is always something new to gain, something to help us become wiser, kinder, happier, and higher.

Hearing

Grinch: "That's one thing I hate. All the noise, noise, noise, NOISE."
That's for sure--at the end of the year we are bombarded with a cornucopia of auditory stimuli. There are the pleasant sounds of Christmas carols, the Salvation Army bell, sideline whistles at the football game, and squeals from kids as they spot Santa or play in the snow. There's also the sound of the frustrated person in front of you in line, the whining of the kids when they're fingers are frozen, all the electronic games and annoying singing toys, and the crowds on the street/at the mall/on the rink/etc. Put it all together and what have you got? A headache.

Try to sneak away and find some silence. There's something about the air when the temperature drops to the lower numbers...it sounds different. I don't hear it much now that I live in the South but I remember the sound of snow crunching under my boots when I lived up North. Walking in the snow at night has a feeling--and a sound--like no other. The crackle of a fire in the fireplace--turn off all other sources and sit with that sound for a bit.

On the other hand, music can lift me to a whole new energetic level. Think about those times when your favorite song comes on the car stereo and you wail out the lyrics without a care as to who may be watching you from the car beside you. I love the tone I set in my home when I put my Sunday morning acoustic music on. My whole family eases through the morning. Music can be used to get you running faster on the treadmill or open more deeply into a pose in yoga. Songs can inspire us to make positive change and can resonate with the deep emotions within us. Through the sense of hearing we can feed our souls.

As we look to the New Year and new beginnings, consider that hearing isn't only done with our ears. We each have a little voice inside of us that speaks, and that voice needs to be heard. When we hustle through life at a crazy pace trying to keep up with the Jones', or even with just our own to-do list, we lose the ability to hear that inner voice. It requires being in tune with yourself (pun intended!). That higher spirit, that voice of God that lives in all of us, will tell us what to do to reach our goals. We need to trust it, listen to it, and let it guide our journey. And in challenging times, rather that speaking and asking why, try being quiet and opening yourself to answers you hadn't considered. They might not come right away but if we keep listening we will find peace.

"Peace is not the absence of noise, trouble, or real work. It is to be in the midst of those things and be calm in your heart."

peace, love, and good vibrations~

Belonging to Something Bigger

I was born into my family for a reason--we all were. Each one of us has something to learn from one another--each person we encounter in our lives has something to teach us. A child born into a family in the jungles of South America has a completely different experience than a child born into a family in the English countryside. Born in the 1970's I was raised in the midst of different attitudes and beliefs than my mother who was born in the 1940's. There is a tribal energy that we take on as children. Our worlds are so small. We only know what is taught to us by the adults that care for us day-to-day. As we grow and are exposed to more worldly energy, we begin to think bigger and break away from the rules we lived by and form our own beliefs and values based on our own experiences in the world. This is the beginning of spiritual growth.

This tribal energy is related to the first chakra, that sense of belonging to a group. To some it's a family. To others it's a tight group of friends or a religious group. In reality, it can be any of these, and several of these, at different times in our lives. This is what got me thinking today...the times when these changes in affiliations force us to look at ourselves differently and examine who we really are and what sparks our passion. It's not just when we get on the school bus for the first time. It's when we join a sorority in college, move to a new city, join the world of parenthood, or get involved in community activism. We can be catapulted into a tribal change when tragedy strikes--divorce, death, financial challenges, or when good fortune enters our lives--big promotions, getting married, running our first marathon. We become part of a collective group, and we're challenged to find alignment with those around us. In doing so we explore more deeply what we're made of and what we stand for as individuals.

Very often it's the inner drive, whether consciously or unconsciously, that weens us from our particular tribe. All of a sudden we don't seem to have as much in common with the people around us. Maybe members of our group are making decisions that just don't feel right to us. It could be we become sensitive to certain actions or patterns and we feel on edge. This is our intuition speaking--that inner voice--and we have to listen.

It doesn't mean that we can't still love the members of tribe, but personal growth is necessary. Each one of us will have our time of discovery. Sometimes life events put that opportunity in our laps. And although there is a greater plan behind every encounter, we all have the power of choice. We chose to align with the collective group or to assess the energy that is present and break away. We all must be personally responsible for our thoughts and actions, no matter what is going on with the group of people who surround us.

I have gone through this so many times in my life: Pulling away from my parents. Jumping around to different groups of friends in high school, trying to find the place I felt most comfortable (hard for every teenager!). Moving to Atlanta alone to make a new start for myself. Becoming a wife, and starting my family. Moving from the city to the suburbs. Seeking new companions that share similar interests at this phase of my life. I know myself pretty well by now and the spiritual growth I've experienced in the past 10 years has been incredible. I am in touch with the tribal energy of life on this earth, all of us being connected, from my neighbor to the soldier serving overseas, from my 15 year old cat to the lavender sprouts trying to bud in the pot outside my back door. Our energy is connected, our existence is ever-changing, and our potential to grow is inspiring.

peace, love, and belonging to something bigger...