Greetings all,
I am home at last. So whenever I leave for a good length of time it seems when I come home everything is in flux. The universe has decided it is time I spread my wings and fly higher. I knew something was coming because Coyote has been showing up.
In modern American culture most of us were first acquainted with Coyote as children via looney tunes. Remember poor old Wile E Coyote, Super Genius? The cartoons did get one thing right, Coyote is clever. Traditionally Coyote also got into a lot of trouble with his meddling, however there was no Acme TNT involved. Coyote also had it out for authority figures, particularly those that take themselves too seriously or take advantage of the less fortunate. He is not fond of rules or protocols. Coyote is that friend your mother warned you about, the one who will get you dragged into all sorts of trouble. Well, it seems he's taken an interest in me, how lucky for me.
It began over a month ago with a statue. My uncle brought it back with him while he was closing up his house out west. It's nearly life-size, but highly stylized. It is of course Coyote although painted more like fox (a medicine I carry). Message number one went completely over my head. I admit it sometimes I am dense. Message number two was a bit more revealing. I dreamed a little dream of Coyote walking along one of the pathways near my home. I was with family and I threw sticks because I didn't want him getting too close. Upon waking, I knew it was a message and that he was trying to reach me. I didn't wait for message number three, I sought out Coyote in the lower world in a journey. I call him Laughing Dog because the first time I met him he looked at me and said, "It's you!" Then he starting laughing at me and wouldn't stop. This time when I met him he was not alone he had his pack all around him. He was half serious even. He told me he had something to show me.
Laughing Dog ran and took me to a cliff side. Ahead there were mountains and above them dark clouds with flashing lights and shadows moving behind them. "Storm's coming," he said. This was the future and it was fast approaching. For the record, this is not the sort of thing you'd enjoy seeing in a journey. This was inevitability, it was unstoppable and it was heading my way. So Laughing Dog did something, for good or ill he offered me his help. I paused for a good long moment, I looked at my power animal who managed to shrug. This was one of those free will things. I considered Laughing Dog's reputation for causing as much trouble with his assistance as with his hindering. Still at the end of it all I came to this. I'd rather have the Coyote on my side than working against me, and help offered in good faith by a willing spirit shouldn't be so easily tossed aside. I accepted Laughing Dog's offer of aid in the coming storm.
Well folks the storm is upon me. I am in the midst of it as I write these words. My foundations have been shaken and torn out beneath my feet. All is change. Coyote is master of change…usually. Well he's adaptable, he's even been sighted in my neighborhood. As uncomfortable as it may be I know he has things to teach me. Aside from adaptability, Coyote really doesn't care much about what others think of him. This is something I need to learn a bit of. He's not exactly a worrier either and I could definitely take a page out of that playbook. So here I am playing co-op with Coyote, it isn't clear who is winning at the moment, but with a good attitude and a bit of luck I'm sure we'll pull through.
So I've talked a lot about myself and my experiences this week, but I have noticed that many people around me are going through similar things. There are big changes afoot, and many of us are anxious or down right scared. Our lives seem to be falling apart around us, what we've relied upon for so long is no longer there for us. The storm has come, the winds of change are blowing, and if we listen carefully we may hear Coyote singing. Ask yourself how adaptable are you? Can you master change? Is there an area of your life where the Laughing Dog could assist you? Coyote is here and he is laughing, if we are flexible and brave we may be able to laugh with him.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Musings
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Falling
Greetings all,
I write once more from the road. I'm certainly getting in my miles this year. Soon the travel cloak will be put away for the season, but a few weeks more are left in the rush. As the leaves begin to fall, it is a time of letting go. Just as we do spring cleaning so too does autumn have us let loose of things.
Falling down is an important lesson. One all of us learn (some like yours truly learn it repeatedly just in case we missed the gist). The thing about falling is learning to pick ourselves back up without too much discouragement. I usually do, but not until I have sufficiently bitched about it and beaten myself up for falling down in the first place. Someday I hope to at least transcend the need to beat myself up for not doing everything perfectly the first time. I do believe I have shared my burden of perfectionism. It is never so apparent then when I fail at something. The self recriminations and feelings of worthlessness can be overwhelming. Generally I am very poor company for days after a set back. I want comforting and yet refuse to be cheered or comforted. I call that my pity whore state of being.
This week I was informed that I was being let go from one of my teaching positions. It came as a shock. I have regular students but apparently my attendance rate was too low. (To be fair my class was scheduled at the worst possible time for most working people). I had gotten glowing performance reviews so I was blindsided. So I have spent the last 48 hours alternating between panicking about funds and then wallowing in the depths of being a professional failure. No drama there nope not a bit of it. Okay people no drama to see here move along.
We can either define ourselves by our successes or failures. However probably the best way to define ourselves is how we manage to get back up and face the world again with grace. I swear I will learn to do this gracefully…tomorrow…or next week….perhaps next year. This is harder to do than you'd think. It is easier if we learn it when we're children, but not all of us do. For those who didn't have the creative parenting style that teaches resilience there is hope though. You can learn to be resilient, to dust yourself off and get back in the game. It is a choice. Although I may complain and consider giving up, it is an option that is off the table. I can't give up, not won't, can't.
So how about you? When you fall do you get back up or do you lay there until someone comes along to pick you back up? Do you see failure as some sort of big character flaw that only unworthy people have? Do you beat yourself up when you fall short? Well my dear ones you're not alone. Most of us are still learning how to take care of ourselves while we move forward. Give yourself permission to fall from time to time with the caveat that you will get back up and try again. To rise we must fall, to succeed we must risk failure. Is it really so bad to not be perfect? Think about it as you get back on your feet this week.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
I write once more from the road. I'm certainly getting in my miles this year. Soon the travel cloak will be put away for the season, but a few weeks more are left in the rush. As the leaves begin to fall, it is a time of letting go. Just as we do spring cleaning so too does autumn have us let loose of things.
Falling down is an important lesson. One all of us learn (some like yours truly learn it repeatedly just in case we missed the gist). The thing about falling is learning to pick ourselves back up without too much discouragement. I usually do, but not until I have sufficiently bitched about it and beaten myself up for falling down in the first place. Someday I hope to at least transcend the need to beat myself up for not doing everything perfectly the first time. I do believe I have shared my burden of perfectionism. It is never so apparent then when I fail at something. The self recriminations and feelings of worthlessness can be overwhelming. Generally I am very poor company for days after a set back. I want comforting and yet refuse to be cheered or comforted. I call that my pity whore state of being.
This week I was informed that I was being let go from one of my teaching positions. It came as a shock. I have regular students but apparently my attendance rate was too low. (To be fair my class was scheduled at the worst possible time for most working people). I had gotten glowing performance reviews so I was blindsided. So I have spent the last 48 hours alternating between panicking about funds and then wallowing in the depths of being a professional failure. No drama there nope not a bit of it. Okay people no drama to see here move along.
We can either define ourselves by our successes or failures. However probably the best way to define ourselves is how we manage to get back up and face the world again with grace. I swear I will learn to do this gracefully…tomorrow…or next week….perhaps next year. This is harder to do than you'd think. It is easier if we learn it when we're children, but not all of us do. For those who didn't have the creative parenting style that teaches resilience there is hope though. You can learn to be resilient, to dust yourself off and get back in the game. It is a choice. Although I may complain and consider giving up, it is an option that is off the table. I can't give up, not won't, can't.
So how about you? When you fall do you get back up or do you lay there until someone comes along to pick you back up? Do you see failure as some sort of big character flaw that only unworthy people have? Do you beat yourself up when you fall short? Well my dear ones you're not alone. Most of us are still learning how to take care of ourselves while we move forward. Give yourself permission to fall from time to time with the caveat that you will get back up and try again. To rise we must fall, to succeed we must risk failure. Is it really so bad to not be perfect? Think about it as you get back on your feet this week.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Mastery
Greetings all,
I once more set out on the road again this week. Not just for a weekend this time. I will be staying out until after the second expo. This has been a busy season so far. Once winter settles in, my traveling days will be done for a bit and I can work on my artistic endeavors again. This week's topic could have just as well been last week's, as it arose from a conversation with a friend of mine. I'd like to spend a little time speaking about mastery.
This seem's to be the seeker's goal. Many of us start on a spiritual path either due to a deep longing for meaning or because we are profoundly unhappy with the direction our life has gone. Pain often is a great motivator as we don't seek to change when everything is nice and pleasant. So we set out on the road to discovery. What is mastery though? Ask different seekers and you'll get different answers. For me it was the ability to transmute or transcend any circumstance, to be untroubled by what was within myself and out in the world. For others, it is to be without desire or without fear. The longer I am on my path the less certain I have any idea of what mastery is. These days I would say it means the ability to fluidly change how I relate to anything be it a person, place, circumstance, or myself. I could of course be wrong, it happened once before.
Over the years, I have had people come to me convinced I could let them in on a big secret of the universe, and that they would be transformed into a shinier version of themselves, a version without troubles. Where there is life there is hope, but there are also challenges. The difference between a master and ourselves (I''m assuming you're not an ascended master reading this post, if you are then yay) is how we show up for those challenges. I don't know about you but I don't embrace my troubles like I do my joys. All the people who have come to me wanting to be a master wanted to do it and remain essentially themselves. That's pretty impossible I mean to transform we have to change, quite dramatically. Many of us myself included have wanted change without changing. We start doing the work and things start to shift and we freak out.
I drove myself crazy trying to become a master. Mostly because I decided there was no time to lose I had to achieve mastery right now! No ego involved in that attitude, nope not even a little. As with many things involving the ego it stems from a fear of not being good enough. Yes that old tired belief set. The I'm not young enough, pretty enough, smart enough, strong enough, talented enough, emotionally mature enough, etc…. This mode of thinking always has our becoming somewhere off in the hazy future. Someday I will be good enough to be a master. Someday I will be good enough to be loved. Someday I will be good enough to be of service. It is of course a lie. You will never be good enough someday. You are good enough right now. When I opened my healing practice, I knew a lot less than I do right now, and yet I was able to help people. I'm sure a year or so from now I'll know a great deal more. You see we are always in the process of becoming. Every minute of our life we are becoming ourselves. By taking mastery out of the equation, we allow ourselves to embrace who and what we are. I have in essence given up on becoming a master, and elected instead to become more of who I am in this life.
So how about you? Are you waiting for your so called perfected self to feel worthy? Do you think you need to be a master to be of service? Do you entertain fantasies of an unencumbered journey through life? Well you might want to think twice and remember Dorothy wanted to go over the rainbow, but when she got there she found evil witches, flying monkeys, and charlatan wizards. So why not click your heels together and wish to be who you are. Let yourself off the hook. You don't have to be a master today, only yourself.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
I once more set out on the road again this week. Not just for a weekend this time. I will be staying out until after the second expo. This has been a busy season so far. Once winter settles in, my traveling days will be done for a bit and I can work on my artistic endeavors again. This week's topic could have just as well been last week's, as it arose from a conversation with a friend of mine. I'd like to spend a little time speaking about mastery.
This seem's to be the seeker's goal. Many of us start on a spiritual path either due to a deep longing for meaning or because we are profoundly unhappy with the direction our life has gone. Pain often is a great motivator as we don't seek to change when everything is nice and pleasant. So we set out on the road to discovery. What is mastery though? Ask different seekers and you'll get different answers. For me it was the ability to transmute or transcend any circumstance, to be untroubled by what was within myself and out in the world. For others, it is to be without desire or without fear. The longer I am on my path the less certain I have any idea of what mastery is. These days I would say it means the ability to fluidly change how I relate to anything be it a person, place, circumstance, or myself. I could of course be wrong, it happened once before.
Over the years, I have had people come to me convinced I could let them in on a big secret of the universe, and that they would be transformed into a shinier version of themselves, a version without troubles. Where there is life there is hope, but there are also challenges. The difference between a master and ourselves (I''m assuming you're not an ascended master reading this post, if you are then yay) is how we show up for those challenges. I don't know about you but I don't embrace my troubles like I do my joys. All the people who have come to me wanting to be a master wanted to do it and remain essentially themselves. That's pretty impossible I mean to transform we have to change, quite dramatically. Many of us myself included have wanted change without changing. We start doing the work and things start to shift and we freak out.
I drove myself crazy trying to become a master. Mostly because I decided there was no time to lose I had to achieve mastery right now! No ego involved in that attitude, nope not even a little. As with many things involving the ego it stems from a fear of not being good enough. Yes that old tired belief set. The I'm not young enough, pretty enough, smart enough, strong enough, talented enough, emotionally mature enough, etc…. This mode of thinking always has our becoming somewhere off in the hazy future. Someday I will be good enough to be a master. Someday I will be good enough to be loved. Someday I will be good enough to be of service. It is of course a lie. You will never be good enough someday. You are good enough right now. When I opened my healing practice, I knew a lot less than I do right now, and yet I was able to help people. I'm sure a year or so from now I'll know a great deal more. You see we are always in the process of becoming. Every minute of our life we are becoming ourselves. By taking mastery out of the equation, we allow ourselves to embrace who and what we are. I have in essence given up on becoming a master, and elected instead to become more of who I am in this life.
So how about you? Are you waiting for your so called perfected self to feel worthy? Do you think you need to be a master to be of service? Do you entertain fantasies of an unencumbered journey through life? Well you might want to think twice and remember Dorothy wanted to go over the rainbow, but when she got there she found evil witches, flying monkeys, and charlatan wizards. So why not click your heels together and wish to be who you are. Let yourself off the hook. You don't have to be a master today, only yourself.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Friday, October 2, 2015
The Fires of Creation
Greetings all,
It's the first weekend in October and that means one thing for me every year. The St. James art fair has been something I've been going to ever since I was a teenager. I've gone when it has been raining (like today), when it has been over a hundred degrees and people were melting in their booths, and I've been when snow flurries have been coming down. I walked the whole thing when I was half dead one year. It is something I don't miss. I look forward to it every year. It is held in an old part of town with victorian style homes and little city gardens. Tall oaks shade the city blocks in the area and gas lamps light the sidewalks at night.
This time of the year the leaves can just be at the edge of green or they can be in full fall splendor. After a season of growth I start to turn inwards. With all the creativity of hundreds of artists packed together in a few blocks, something magical happens. Summer has a kind of magic, but mostly it is filled with activity and getting out and about. The intensity of the sun can make it hard to focus on the mysteries. Here at the edge of the waning year, there is a sense of magic in the air. At the fair, I feel that if I stepped around the corner at the right time I'd find myself in another world cross wise to our own.
People who know me personally are aware that I make art as well as do healing work. It was something I came to late, almost by accident. However, years ago on another fair day in October I met a most peculiar artist. She made really interesting paintings done mostly in tones of blue (blue is my favorite color). She immediately started talking to me when I came into her booth. She told me all about her work and how she started making it after a near death experience. All her paintings were recounting her journey into the beyond. She had never been a painter before, but she had been told to paint what she saw. When she looked at me she said, "You're an artist too." I told her sorry but although I liked art I wasn't any good at it, but she persisted in her conviction that I was an artist. I did end up buying a small print from her that I liked. It was three or four years later that I took my first pottery class. I ended up going back to school for a second degree in art. Now people know me as either an artist or a wizard. I'm happy with either title they're almost the same thing in my head. I never saw that painter again after first year she never came back to the fair, but I still remember that spark of magic that passed between us.
I mention all of this because today as I was walking amongst the different booths someone started asking me questions about some of the work. They assumed I was the artist. Apparently there is something that I radiate that makes people think artist. One of the artists I'm friends with told me I practically ooze creativity. I haven't really felt like much of an artist lately. I've hardly done anything visual in months. I've been too busy working and writing. However I've decided to take a break from editing my book for its print version and delve back into the visual arts. The spirit of creativity and magic go hand in hand. Imagination, visions, dreams, and shaping are all ingredients in both media.
"Blah blah blah Mooneagle self aggrandizement," I'm sure you're thinking. There is a point that is relevant to you I promise. You see creativity is something that we are taught out of in our culture. We are all creative and then at some point most of us stop expressing ourselves visually, musically, or theatrically (I mean real theatre not personal drama). As we get older, most of us are passive consumers of the so called "elite" creatives. There isn't anything wrong with that. I mean we're not all meant to be sculptors, but we are convinced we have no creativity or talent. This is a problem. If we go along with the principle that we create our life then we are not living up to our potential. We need to flex our creative muscles to help us manifest and shape our lives. You don't have to be a great painter, musician, actor, poet, or author to add to the beauty of your world. You need to shape your vision of your life and the more you exercise your creativity the easier it will be to mold your life. If you can't picture it then it will be a lot harder to bring it into being. There is nothing as empowering as creating something. The first time I realized I could bring something out of the picture in my head into this world it was an epiphany. I felt powerful like I could create anything.
So how about you? Do you deny your own creative impulses? Are you a good cook and claim you aren't creative? Do you tell great stories to your friends and coworkers and think you have no muse? Are you a gardener who brings forth many fruits and flowers? Is your home a haven of beauty and warmth, but you think of yourself as without talent? Well STOP IT! You are a human being and that means you are inherently creative. As we move into the colder months, start tending the hearth fires of creation within yourself and see what you bring forth.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
It's the first weekend in October and that means one thing for me every year. The St. James art fair has been something I've been going to ever since I was a teenager. I've gone when it has been raining (like today), when it has been over a hundred degrees and people were melting in their booths, and I've been when snow flurries have been coming down. I walked the whole thing when I was half dead one year. It is something I don't miss. I look forward to it every year. It is held in an old part of town with victorian style homes and little city gardens. Tall oaks shade the city blocks in the area and gas lamps light the sidewalks at night.
This time of the year the leaves can just be at the edge of green or they can be in full fall splendor. After a season of growth I start to turn inwards. With all the creativity of hundreds of artists packed together in a few blocks, something magical happens. Summer has a kind of magic, but mostly it is filled with activity and getting out and about. The intensity of the sun can make it hard to focus on the mysteries. Here at the edge of the waning year, there is a sense of magic in the air. At the fair, I feel that if I stepped around the corner at the right time I'd find myself in another world cross wise to our own.
People who know me personally are aware that I make art as well as do healing work. It was something I came to late, almost by accident. However, years ago on another fair day in October I met a most peculiar artist. She made really interesting paintings done mostly in tones of blue (blue is my favorite color). She immediately started talking to me when I came into her booth. She told me all about her work and how she started making it after a near death experience. All her paintings were recounting her journey into the beyond. She had never been a painter before, but she had been told to paint what she saw. When she looked at me she said, "You're an artist too." I told her sorry but although I liked art I wasn't any good at it, but she persisted in her conviction that I was an artist. I did end up buying a small print from her that I liked. It was three or four years later that I took my first pottery class. I ended up going back to school for a second degree in art. Now people know me as either an artist or a wizard. I'm happy with either title they're almost the same thing in my head. I never saw that painter again after first year she never came back to the fair, but I still remember that spark of magic that passed between us.
I mention all of this because today as I was walking amongst the different booths someone started asking me questions about some of the work. They assumed I was the artist. Apparently there is something that I radiate that makes people think artist. One of the artists I'm friends with told me I practically ooze creativity. I haven't really felt like much of an artist lately. I've hardly done anything visual in months. I've been too busy working and writing. However I've decided to take a break from editing my book for its print version and delve back into the visual arts. The spirit of creativity and magic go hand in hand. Imagination, visions, dreams, and shaping are all ingredients in both media.
"Blah blah blah Mooneagle self aggrandizement," I'm sure you're thinking. There is a point that is relevant to you I promise. You see creativity is something that we are taught out of in our culture. We are all creative and then at some point most of us stop expressing ourselves visually, musically, or theatrically (I mean real theatre not personal drama). As we get older, most of us are passive consumers of the so called "elite" creatives. There isn't anything wrong with that. I mean we're not all meant to be sculptors, but we are convinced we have no creativity or talent. This is a problem. If we go along with the principle that we create our life then we are not living up to our potential. We need to flex our creative muscles to help us manifest and shape our lives. You don't have to be a great painter, musician, actor, poet, or author to add to the beauty of your world. You need to shape your vision of your life and the more you exercise your creativity the easier it will be to mold your life. If you can't picture it then it will be a lot harder to bring it into being. There is nothing as empowering as creating something. The first time I realized I could bring something out of the picture in my head into this world it was an epiphany. I felt powerful like I could create anything.
So how about you? Do you deny your own creative impulses? Are you a good cook and claim you aren't creative? Do you tell great stories to your friends and coworkers and think you have no muse? Are you a gardener who brings forth many fruits and flowers? Is your home a haven of beauty and warmth, but you think of yourself as without talent? Well STOP IT! You are a human being and that means you are inherently creative. As we move into the colder months, start tending the hearth fires of creation within yourself and see what you bring forth.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Fear itself
Greetings all,
Well this week I am going to write an actual post rather than just an announcement. You'd have to be on this side of the screen though to see that my shout out last week was miraculous even in its brevity. I'm actually amazed at all that has been done this past month or so.
As I meet deadlines, and take on new challenges I have been met by my old companion fear. I've been playing the what if game in my head, imagining all the different things that could go wrong. This is not something new. I do torment myself from time to time with the worst case scenario. However as I have delved more into my self I am realizing just how much fear has been entangled with my identity. It has become a character trait rather than a passing emotion.
There was a great book written in the 90s called The Gift of Fear. In it the author defined fear as a biological response in the presence of immediate physical danger. We have in our civilized brains taken fear out of the wild and removed it from its moorings. Now it stalks our relationships, our work, and our own daydreams. We daily recreate our own nightmarish fantasies of what we really hope doesn't happen, but can't stop thinking about. Sometimes we become so good at it, they even happen outside of our heads. We have become the chosen one, in our own self fulfilling prophecies of defeat and disaster.
Fear is a useful survival mechanism, but in myself and many others it has gone beyond that. It has become mixed up with who we think we are. We often define ourselves by our fears. This is not in our best interests. It makes us stressed out and it also makes us easy to manipulate. Our media works hard to keep us in low to mid grade generalized anxiety state on a daily basis. Make the people afraid and they will give anything to the powers that be to protect them to whatever bogey man the networks are selling. Most of the time we don't think about it, but every generation it rears its ugly head with things like ethnic cleansing, police killing unarmed men, internment camps, and religious persecution. These are the fruits of fear.
I ran across some old notes from a lecture one of my teachers' gave years ago. I found a quote, "Anyone who is trying to scare you a little is really trying to scare you a lot." It's quite true it is the basis for much of the manipulation we encounter. Now I am not saying we should do away with fear, because it has kept us alive. I am saying that we need to reestablish it as a temporary functional state rather than a constant presence in our heads. We must feel ourselves without constant anxiety. Once I recognized this pattern in myself I knew I had to address it if I was ever to have a moment's peace while I drew breath.
How about you? How much does your fear and anxiety shape your life and choices? Can you imagine yourself without it for a day, a week? or a month? Odds are unless you are living in a war zone or a very violent neighborhood there is no need for that continuous sense of unease. Start to examine how much of yourself and your actions is really you, and how much it is your fears. Until next time check out the song Drive by Incubus. I'll put the link below.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Well this week I am going to write an actual post rather than just an announcement. You'd have to be on this side of the screen though to see that my shout out last week was miraculous even in its brevity. I'm actually amazed at all that has been done this past month or so.
As I meet deadlines, and take on new challenges I have been met by my old companion fear. I've been playing the what if game in my head, imagining all the different things that could go wrong. This is not something new. I do torment myself from time to time with the worst case scenario. However as I have delved more into my self I am realizing just how much fear has been entangled with my identity. It has become a character trait rather than a passing emotion.
There was a great book written in the 90s called The Gift of Fear. In it the author defined fear as a biological response in the presence of immediate physical danger. We have in our civilized brains taken fear out of the wild and removed it from its moorings. Now it stalks our relationships, our work, and our own daydreams. We daily recreate our own nightmarish fantasies of what we really hope doesn't happen, but can't stop thinking about. Sometimes we become so good at it, they even happen outside of our heads. We have become the chosen one, in our own self fulfilling prophecies of defeat and disaster.
Fear is a useful survival mechanism, but in myself and many others it has gone beyond that. It has become mixed up with who we think we are. We often define ourselves by our fears. This is not in our best interests. It makes us stressed out and it also makes us easy to manipulate. Our media works hard to keep us in low to mid grade generalized anxiety state on a daily basis. Make the people afraid and they will give anything to the powers that be to protect them to whatever bogey man the networks are selling. Most of the time we don't think about it, but every generation it rears its ugly head with things like ethnic cleansing, police killing unarmed men, internment camps, and religious persecution. These are the fruits of fear.
I ran across some old notes from a lecture one of my teachers' gave years ago. I found a quote, "Anyone who is trying to scare you a little is really trying to scare you a lot." It's quite true it is the basis for much of the manipulation we encounter. Now I am not saying we should do away with fear, because it has kept us alive. I am saying that we need to reestablish it as a temporary functional state rather than a constant presence in our heads. We must feel ourselves without constant anxiety. Once I recognized this pattern in myself I knew I had to address it if I was ever to have a moment's peace while I drew breath.
How about you? How much does your fear and anxiety shape your life and choices? Can you imagine yourself without it for a day, a week? or a month? Odds are unless you are living in a war zone or a very violent neighborhood there is no need for that continuous sense of unease. Start to examine how much of yourself and your actions is really you, and how much it is your fears. Until next time check out the song Drive by Incubus. I'll put the link below.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Shout out
Greetings all,
This week I am not writing a post, well not in the traditional sense. I am traveling again up to Columbus this time to ULE. I will be speaking there about Runes the topic of my first book which just went up on amazon this week. Needless to say it's been busy and as such I have not prepared a topic. Not to worry fresh insights will be unearthed next week. This week though I am taking the pressure off and just giving myself a pat on the back.
Check out my new book, Drumming Down the Runes Walking the 24 Roads.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
This week I am not writing a post, well not in the traditional sense. I am traveling again up to Columbus this time to ULE. I will be speaking there about Runes the topic of my first book which just went up on amazon this week. Needless to say it's been busy and as such I have not prepared a topic. Not to worry fresh insights will be unearthed next week. This week though I am taking the pressure off and just giving myself a pat on the back.
Check out my new book, Drumming Down the Runes Walking the 24 Roads.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Finding Beauty
Greetings all,
The travels continue as I set forth once more, this time to Camp Chesterfield for their psychic fair. I've been teaching quite a bit the past few weeks, and I've been putting the finishing touches on my first book. I'm just really a cover and a book jacket description away from publication. It has been very overwhelming. Hopefully the next time I finish a book, I won't have everything happening at the same time. I won't lie some weeks it has been quite a strain to pull something out of my head to share here. Not to worry, I'll soon be devoting all my author energy back to the blog…until my next book. Don't ask me when that will be or what it will be about, because I don't know yet.
In the mad dash to get everything done this week I had a moment of clarity in between my classes today. I was looking out a window and noticing the dew on the ornamental grasses of the corporate campus. (I've been teaching tai chi as part of a corporate wellness program this month). The mid morning light was glinting off the dew like jewels as the grass slowly swayed in the breeze. White cotton ball clouds floated by on bright blue sky overhead. It was beautiful. I was moved by the simplicity of that scene and privileged to acknowledge the beauty that nature provides us.
I hear a lot about how mankind is ruining the planet. Hell, I'm often one of the voices raising that point. People do go a bit far in suggesting the planet would be better off without us. We are a part of nature, even if we have forgotten it. Like all the plants and animals, we have a sacred purpose in the web of life. No one really agrees as to what that purpose is, but many of us do agree that most of our species has forsaken it.
Today looking at the perfect way the sunlight kissed the dew, it seemed clear to me what our purpose is. In that moment, I had a strong knowing that our purpose was to behold the beauty and splendor in the world, and when we have rejoiced in it till we are full then we expand it out into the universe. We are the beholders of beauty. By acknowledging and honoring the beauty in the universe we help make it sacred. We can even in a small way partner with it, and create even greater beauty.
Now some of you may think this purpose is shallow and all about looks. It isn't. In our culture, we often confuse beauty with sexy. Not that there is anything wrong with sexy, but it isn't the same thing as beauty. You can be beautiful but not necessarily sexy. You can also be sexy but far from beautiful. Beauty can be in an act, a gesture, or a word. Beauty can be the way you care for your loved ones. It can be perseverance in the face of impossible odds. It can be the lines of wisdom in the face of a beloved grandparent. It can be the way you greet the day.
We daily broadcast images of the grotesque and ugly acts that our kind perpetuate upon the planet and each other. I think it is coercive in a way, to shutdown our basic capacity for beauty. If we stop looking for beauty, we stop finding it. We live in a gray world of blood and ash without it. This makes it easy to market to us. Sex, blood, and death sell like ice cream on a hot day in a world robbed of beauty. The heart is what perceives beauty, and ad men have been really dodgy about marketing to the heart. It is tricky, much easier to cut it out and either make us afraid or horny. Hard-wired biological drives will increase profits, the heart in comparison is a risky venture.
You may be thinking, "Sheesh Mooneagle stop preaching about pretty sunsets and dew drops and give me something practical." If you are thinking that you haven't been reading my blog very long have you? There is some very practical applications and implications of my idea. If we accept it as one possible purpose for humanity it has the capacity to transform ourselves and our civilization. How would we treat the world and each other if we were imbued with the sacredness of our purpose in nature?
This is where I leave you….ok just kidding. Ask yourself if beauty has a place in your heart and life? Do you notice the thousands of acts of beauty around you each day? Do you notice the sun and the moon? Do you delight in how the wind moves through the trees? Do you devote time in your life to creating beauty? Do you bring it into your work and your relationships? If not, it may be time for you to hand your heart some markers and let it recolor the world for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
The travels continue as I set forth once more, this time to Camp Chesterfield for their psychic fair. I've been teaching quite a bit the past few weeks, and I've been putting the finishing touches on my first book. I'm just really a cover and a book jacket description away from publication. It has been very overwhelming. Hopefully the next time I finish a book, I won't have everything happening at the same time. I won't lie some weeks it has been quite a strain to pull something out of my head to share here. Not to worry, I'll soon be devoting all my author energy back to the blog…until my next book. Don't ask me when that will be or what it will be about, because I don't know yet.
In the mad dash to get everything done this week I had a moment of clarity in between my classes today. I was looking out a window and noticing the dew on the ornamental grasses of the corporate campus. (I've been teaching tai chi as part of a corporate wellness program this month). The mid morning light was glinting off the dew like jewels as the grass slowly swayed in the breeze. White cotton ball clouds floated by on bright blue sky overhead. It was beautiful. I was moved by the simplicity of that scene and privileged to acknowledge the beauty that nature provides us.
I hear a lot about how mankind is ruining the planet. Hell, I'm often one of the voices raising that point. People do go a bit far in suggesting the planet would be better off without us. We are a part of nature, even if we have forgotten it. Like all the plants and animals, we have a sacred purpose in the web of life. No one really agrees as to what that purpose is, but many of us do agree that most of our species has forsaken it.
Today looking at the perfect way the sunlight kissed the dew, it seemed clear to me what our purpose is. In that moment, I had a strong knowing that our purpose was to behold the beauty and splendor in the world, and when we have rejoiced in it till we are full then we expand it out into the universe. We are the beholders of beauty. By acknowledging and honoring the beauty in the universe we help make it sacred. We can even in a small way partner with it, and create even greater beauty.
Now some of you may think this purpose is shallow and all about looks. It isn't. In our culture, we often confuse beauty with sexy. Not that there is anything wrong with sexy, but it isn't the same thing as beauty. You can be beautiful but not necessarily sexy. You can also be sexy but far from beautiful. Beauty can be in an act, a gesture, or a word. Beauty can be the way you care for your loved ones. It can be perseverance in the face of impossible odds. It can be the lines of wisdom in the face of a beloved grandparent. It can be the way you greet the day.
We daily broadcast images of the grotesque and ugly acts that our kind perpetuate upon the planet and each other. I think it is coercive in a way, to shutdown our basic capacity for beauty. If we stop looking for beauty, we stop finding it. We live in a gray world of blood and ash without it. This makes it easy to market to us. Sex, blood, and death sell like ice cream on a hot day in a world robbed of beauty. The heart is what perceives beauty, and ad men have been really dodgy about marketing to the heart. It is tricky, much easier to cut it out and either make us afraid or horny. Hard-wired biological drives will increase profits, the heart in comparison is a risky venture.
You may be thinking, "Sheesh Mooneagle stop preaching about pretty sunsets and dew drops and give me something practical." If you are thinking that you haven't been reading my blog very long have you? There is some very practical applications and implications of my idea. If we accept it as one possible purpose for humanity it has the capacity to transform ourselves and our civilization. How would we treat the world and each other if we were imbued with the sacredness of our purpose in nature?
This is where I leave you….ok just kidding. Ask yourself if beauty has a place in your heart and life? Do you notice the thousands of acts of beauty around you each day? Do you notice the sun and the moon? Do you delight in how the wind moves through the trees? Do you devote time in your life to creating beauty? Do you bring it into your work and your relationships? If not, it may be time for you to hand your heart some markers and let it recolor the world for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
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