Journeys With Oz

What’s in a word?  Thanksgiving evokes thoughts of having a day off to eat turkey with our friends and family and watch football. Most of us stress too much shopping for and preparing the meal. We then eat too much, spend too much on “Black Friday” and then regret too much.

The official holiday was created by President Lincoln in 1863 as a national day of thanksgiving. That’s a nice idea. To have one day set aside to be thankful. For our country, our freedom, our abundance, our families. But they felt it needed some history behind it so they attached it to the Pilgrims. Why them?

I was taught that the pilgrims, in search of religious freedom, landed on Plymouth Rock after an arduous journey from Europe. The early Plymouth records refer to all passengers from the first four ships as “First Comers”. Now that’s an interesting phrase. It sounds bold, brave and curious. All qualities I admire. I looked up the definition of Pilgrim and found: “a traveler, one who has come from afar and is on a journey”.

That puts an interesting slant on the historical context for me. Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks and remember the pilgrims coming from afar on their journey.  I like thinking of myself as a first comer on my journey in life. It does make me feel brave, bold and curious.

Does it help me to be thankful? Of course it does. I feel better when I appreciate my life and my gifts. But did you know the words thanks or appreciation are the most powerful vibrations for healing, transformation and potentially peace?

Dr. Emoto, the author of “Miraculous Messages from Water”, was asked if he had come across a particular word or phrase in his research that he found most helpful in cleaning up the natural waters of the world. Dr. Emoto identified a special combination that seems to be perfect for this: “love plus the combination of thanks and appreciation reflected in the English word gratitude.

Just one of these is not enough. Love needs to be based in gratitude, and gratitude needs to be based in love. These two words together create the most important vibration. And it is even more important that we understand the value of these words. For example, we know that water is described as H2O. If we were to look at love and gratitude as a pair, gratitude is the H and love is the O.

Love is an active word and gratitude is passive. When you think of gratitude — a combination of appreciation and thankfulness — there is an apologetic quality. It’s coming from a reverential space, taking a step or two back. I believe that love coming from this space is optimal love, and may even lead to an end to the wars and conflicts”.

This year I am bold like the pilgrim giving thanks for all the abundance in my life. I maintain a constant state of gratitude. I am a traveler from afar on a journey towards a better me. What a trip! Happy Thanksgiving. Ardis

I am traveling and teaching at the moment with a brief stop in Michigan to visit my family. My sister Carol has four dogs. Three of them are one year old black lab puppies from the same litter. She also has an eight year old rescue dog named Lola. This morning I was dog sitting. The three puppies were outside playing in the fenced in area. It is large and quite secure. It is also the beginning of deer hunting season and I was hearing shots in the surrounding countryside. Being aware of how sensitive they were to noise I knew they would let me know if there were either deer or hunters in the area.

I heard the barking and opened the door to let them in. Skippy, responded. The other two didn’t. I wasn’t concerned initially because they love to be outside and assumed they were still “doing” their business but Skippy kept circling around me, nudging my leg as if he wanted to tell me something. So I went out to check on them. Brody ran up to me with an “urgent” look in his eyes and he was whimpering. I put him inside and checked to see if he was ok. He did the same behavior as Skippy, circling me and nudging me. So I went looking for the third pup. She was nowhere to be seen. Panic set in. How did she get out of the fenced in area? Everything looked secure but she was not there.

 I went inside to get a jacket and Lola made it very clear she was going with me to find our wandering Sophie. Their home is off a busy road and the expansive back yard is surrounded with woods. There were hunters in those woods with guns. I was breathing slowly and deeply to keep the fear at bay and stay centered. I was fighting the panic and urge to start running around the yard to find her. Time was passing that could make a difference between finding her safely and losing her yet I stayed still and kept breathing. Lola was also still and standing right next to me. I looked directly into her eyes and said in a very calm voice: “go find Sophie, I’m worried and need to find her.” Lola nodded her head (I am not kidding, she did!) and started smelling the air. I waited for her to guide me.

I was thinking we should go to the right but she decided we needed to go left. I called Sophie’s name once very quietly not wanting her to think she was in trouble. No Sophie. Then Lola took off- running towards the woods. Knowing I couldn’t keep up with her I just stood there breathing and asking God to bring little Sophie back safely. The deer and the hunters were in the woods. Now I had two dogs possibly in danger. I was not being a very responsible doggie aunt. I could have gone ballistic at that moment. It would have been an easy choice. But I made a different one. I decided to trust Lola. She had been the adopted mom to these three babies. They adore her and she disciplines them consistently. If there was a way to find Sophie I trusted Lola to do it. I visualized them running towards the house together. Two girls out for a romp! Any minute now Lola would bring Sophie back home. I surrendered. I stayed completely still, breathing and trusting Lola.

Time moves very slowly when I’m afraid. I had fleeting moments of feeling guilty. I kept looking towards the woods. I heard a shot. My heart began to race. I kept breathing and seeing them safe. Within minutes Lola was herding Sophie up the hill, not allowing her to retreat. I hugged Sophie and put on her leash. I hugged Lola and she looked at me as if to say:”thanks for letting me do my job. I’m really good at herding my stray babies!” Sophie’s brothers surrounded her with love and kisses when we came inside the house. I imagine their telepathic communication :”How was it? Did you see any of those big dogs (deer) out there? Did you hear those loud sounds? Did you have some good smells? Show me how to get out so I can go with you next time…” Sophie was oblivious to the drama she had created.

I thanked Skippy for nudging me to check on his sibs when I let him in. I thanked Brody for alerting me to the escape and appreciated him for not following her out! Lola took her spot on the couch and looked at the three pups with wise eyes as to say:”you can run but you can’t hide!”

I love animals. They are wise with beautiful souls. They are capable of all the feelings we have. These doggies showed me how a true family works. They watch out for each other. When some member is in trouble they go into action. They make it through the drama without judgment or holding on and then relax once again. They teach me balance. I am listening… Thanks for the lesson puppies and thank you Lola for being such a loving and wise mama. Ardis

When we fly we are instructed to put our own oxygen mask on first if there is a change in cabin pressure. Once that is taken care of we are in a position to assist those around us. We are experiencing a severe change in our economic pressure in this country right now. It has been evolving for decades and we are now reacting to these stresses with upset and blame. I received a wonderful email recently that had a very positive solution to this enormous issue:

Fall is in the air. According to the Five Element theory from China, the season of autumn is an invitation to reflect and let go. Nature models this by dropping the mature leaves so the new buds can grow.  Most of us love the fall colors. We take trips to visit the maples and elms and we are mesmerized by their vibrancy. We are actually looking at the end of a life cycle. There is no sense of mourning or holding on. The leaves come into their full expression and drop off gracefully.

Many eastern cultures look at maturing differently than we do. If you make it to a certain age you have achieved success. You now have time to turn inward and reconnect to your essence. Are you feeding your spirit?  Are you laughing?

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity said: “Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn’t enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die and then dies having never really lived.”

Being fully alive requires living in the present. To really show up and enjoy this wonderful gift that God has given us. Life is what we make it and it’s a choice. I can choose to focus on what is good in my life or use all my energy worrying about what is not working. Whether I am struggling with health challenges, family disruptions, financial insecurity…the list can go on and on- I can find something good to hold onto. Abraham Lincoln said: “when you get to the end of your rope, hang on, since you never know what is coming”.

Life is change. The more we accept that the happier we get to be. Autumn is a time to let go of anything that isn’t working. Maybe I need to clean out my closets and drawers. Or let go of my negative attitude or behaviors, my judgments and criticisms of others. Or maybe I have to forgive. Finally let go of that hurt I am carrying or that grudge against someone. Holding onto these hurts is hurting me, not the other person. Is it possible to forgive? Or maybe the better questions is: can I afford NOT to forgive?

When you forgive someone you are free of the pain, anger or sadness contained in that experience. When you make peace with it inside yourself you are taking your energy back. When you refuse to let go of the upset the other person is holding your energy and you have given them power over you. Forgiveness does not imply that the actions taken against you were ok. It simply means that you are done with it. You are choosing to close the door on that experience, learn what you can from it, focus on yourself and move on.

I saw this on a forgiveness website: “Very few people make it their life’s mission to hurt other people, especially those who they care about. Most are either thinking of themselves, or not thinking at all, but not thinking of deliberately hurting another. When they do hurt someone deliberately, they’ve likely justified it in their mind as revenge or a defensive action. Two babies playing in a sandbox, one baby takes the other’s shovel. The other slaps the thief baby, the thief baby hits the other with the shovel. Both start to cry. Fast forward 30, 40, 50 years and old babies all over the world continue this set of circumstances which ends up in a whole lot of sad old babies walking about.”

Babies truly don’t know better but adults do. We can choose our attitude. We can choose how we respond. In this beautiful season we are reminded to just let go of everything we no longer need. Be like the leaves. Be mature enough to recognize when it is time to drop the old with grace and dignity so a new thought, feeling or belief can blossom.

Ardis