wisdom

Eve of Our Future – Day 722

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Rainbow Selfie – with Kamala at our backs – Photo: L. Weikel

Eve of Our Future

Well, we’re finally here. The time to stand up and be counted, to let ourselves and the world know where we’re headed, has arrived. We’re here. We’ve arrived at the eve of our future.

What will that future look like? I don’t need to tell you. We all know the consequences – some of them immediate – of the choices we’ll be making tomorrow.

We either repudiate what’s been done in our name over the past four years (regardless of how well our portfolios or 401(k)s may have done – that is, if we’re lucky enough to have either) or we don’t. We either show the world 2016 was an aberration, a ‘black swan event,’ or we don’t. We either take a stand against some of the most barbaric, egregious policies and behaviors of any government, much less our own – or we don’t. We either commit to being a global partner and leader in addressing climate change, or we make it worse.

I could go on.

Justice, Integrity, Truth, and Respect

These are the qualities on the ballot tomorrow. And while we yearn to have these values restored within the White House, I sense there’s an even deeper craving for these values to be declared far and wide – and modeled everywhere – as qualities inherent in the way Americans treat each other.

What do we have to lose if we don’t vote, or if vote to retain the current president? E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. He has declared his intentions. Are we listening? There are precious few who will benefit, while vast swaths of our country fall into abject misery.

Love, Compassion, and the Power of Diversity

I believe in us. I believe in our dignity and devotion to higher ideals than the value of the stock market or the country of our origin. I believe that deep down, all of us yearn to be treated with love and compassion. I believe in the wisdom of our forebears who succinctly espoused the greatest strength of our nation: e pluribus unum. “Out of many, one.”

Kamala Harris – Photo: L. Weikel

Rare Treat

As you’ve adroitly surmised from the accompanying photos, Karl and I were invited to an event today featuring vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Taking in the entire milieu as we waited for Representative Wild, Senator Casey, and others to arrive and speak, I will admit to feeling an overflow of emotion. Not wild abandon. Not screaming passion.; but a wellspring of hope and yearning for aspirational governance.

Speaker after speaker, from activists to representatives, spoke with conviction, yes. Each spoke with passion, a sense of commitment to change, and a demand for inclusion and diversity. But there was one thing not a single one of them brought to the table: cynicism.

Kamala Harris – 2 November 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Kamala Harris

I’ve paid attention to our politics. I knew from her resume and the interviews and debates I watched that Kamala Harris is a strong candidate. But there’s something extra you feel when you experience candidates up close and personal. It’s hard to define, but you feel their energy, perhaps a bit more of their essence.

And I couldn’t help but feel we were getting a chance to truly view the Eve of our future.

It’s time.

Photo: L. Weikel

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Surprised Admiration – Day 639

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: abcnews.go.com

Surprised Admiration

It’s not a stretch to figure out what the title of tonight’s post is referencing. When the announcement was made today that Joe Biden was selecting Kamala Harris as his running mate, I’d say my first reaction was a subdued, “Wow.” Not subdued because I was less than enthusiastic. My “wow” was quiet because it contained a surprised admiration that Biden had actually selected her.

There’s no question that she is absolutely qualified to both hold the position of vice president and step into the position of president should the need arise. But she has many other outstanding qualities that complement Biden and will combine with his strengths to create a formidable governing team. And boy, do we need a resurgence of good government.

Most of all, my “wow” was subdued because it surprised me. I was impressed with Biden’s self-confidence and maturity. And no, just because he’s 77 years old does not by any means translate into wisdom or maturity. Mere age alone does not confer self-confidence. Nor does it confer wisdom. And it sure as heck does not confer maturity.

Our Current President

Let’s face it. I don’t even need to write anything under this heading – it is self-explanatory. We’ve all been living (and dying) at the mercy of the whims of a person who lacks these very qualities that Joe Biden just exemplified in his choice of running mate.

The reason I was pleasantly surprised by Biden’s choice is precisely because so many men in his position (and yes, white men in particular, sad to say) would have been both intimidated by how roundly she scored points on him in that early debate and then vindictive as a result. Indeed, I seem to recall some relatively has-been male politicians (Ed Rendell springs to mind) recently being quoted as counseling Biden against choosing Kamala “because she was too ambitious” or “rubs people the wrong way.”

What a bunch of garbage. But when I heard that there were men, the Old Guard, so to speak, of the Democratic party weighing in on the danger of choosing a powerful, God-forbid ambitious woman, my heart sank. There it was again. That same old trope.

A Stellar Field

Let me be clear: I felt that the field of candidates from which Biden had to choose was extraordinary. And those candidates were all stellar in their own ways because he’d promised he would choose a woman as a running mate. And for ever (so far), especially in this country, for women to compete with men they’ve had to jump higher, be smarter, have thicker skin, be more creative, and do it all for less money. So I challenge anyone to honestly tell me they were surprised when it was obvious that the ten or so candidates he was vetting were all superlative candidates.

Given this state of affairs, he could not have made a poor choice. He could’ve made a safer choice – safer as far as his ego goes. He could’ve chosen someone thought to have a more deferential temperament. Or perhaps even more saliently (especially to some of the small men counseling him) he could’ve punished that uppity chick who chastised him on national tv using her own lived experience of being a child who benefited from the busing he failed to support.

Joy and Hope

After my initial, “Huh, wow,” response to hearing the news, I started watching the coverage of the selection on tv. The reactions expressed by so many commentators, activists, and politicians honestly made tears roll down my cheeks. For the first time in so long, I saw joy on people’s faces. I saw hope and heard a renewal of faith in the true nature of our country being expressed.

It felt like when we elected Barack Obama. For me at least, I was seeing an expression of unity and inclusion, a celebration of diversity and an expression of self-confidence that doesn’t require subservience to feel powerful. I was seeing an expression of our country and its values that so very many of us have yearned for and were perhaps beginning to despair of ever seeing again.

It’s overwhelming to consider how many people in our country feel invisible, disposable, voiceless, and worthless.

Which is why it was incredibly powerful to hear so many people interviewed this evening, including those who often do the reporting of our news say, “I feel seen.” Over and over, I witnessed the tears in their eyes. Saw the joy written all over their faces. Heard the hope tingeing their voices.

The election isn’t won yet. Not by a long shot. But the spontaneous expression of joy and hope I witnessed this evening was like a steady, yet gently soaking rainstorm on a vast landscape of parched cracked earth.

Photo: cbc.ca

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Coyote and Salmon – Day 443

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Coyote – Photo: City of Lubbock, TX

My Cards Say It All

I’ve been keeping pretty quiet about the Medicine Cards®* I’ve been choosing lately, mostly because they’ve been cosmic pokes in my side. Either that or they’ve been hard to figure out.

For instance, I picked Coyote reversed twice in the past five days. Coyote reversed is tough, because by its very nature, it is inscrutable and hard to figure out. It also comes with the explicit admonition:

“Contrary Coyote may signal a time when everything you touch backfires.”

Trust me, when I choose Coyote reversed, I do my best to lay low and refrain from engaging in anything too sensitive.

When Coyote reversed shows up in my life, I make a point of choosing activities in which I have as little contact with the outside world as possible. That’s not always possible, but it’s generally a good rule of thumb. Let me hasten to add, though: I don’t go traveling into other worlds, either. No, a Coyote reversed day usually calls for channeling my energy into mundane, tangible activities such as clearing away clutter, vacuuming, and doing my best to gain internal awareness of what’s going on within myself, so I can bounce back into the game the next day with greater clarity.

Salmon Reversed

So after not choosing Coyote for a very long time – quite possibly since before I even began my 1111 Devotion – I find it fascinating to have chosen it twice in the past five days (and technically, it was twice in four days, since I chose it last Friday and then again this past Monday).

But today? Today I chose Salmon reversed with Butterfly underneath. And I have to tell you, it so accurately captures my feelings of late, particularly this morning as I struggled to swim to the surface of my consciousness as I woke from a deep sleep.

Salmon, which has as its key words “Wisdom/Inner Knowing” is not, as one might be tempted to assume, about struggling upstream. It’s not about struggle at all (in the upright position, anyway). Indeed, I love the first paragraph of Salmon:

“Salmon is the sacred keeper of wisdom and inner knowing who, despite strong river currents, will always return to the place of its creation. Its determination is driven by the wisdom of instinct and inner knowing, which yields a sense of purpose that cannot be thwarted by external forces. Coming full circle, Salmon medicine people finish what they begin, bringing life’s events and cycles to closure.”

Salmon – Photo: BBC.com

At First Glance

Superficially, I’ll admit, I may have felt as though I was struggling to “return to the place of (my) creation” today. Everything sort of felt like a hassle, and I wasn’t sure if it was my own frustrations with certain situations in my life or if I might just be sensitive to and reflecting the energies ‘out there.’

That might seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes direct action mitigates a sense of overwhelm. I care about what’s going on in Washington D.C., and yet I feel stymied by just how little I’m able to actually do to contribute to a solution to that situation. I envy those attorneys, representatives, and their staffs that are involved in the process because they know they are fighting the good fight. They’re actively engaging in work that makes a difference.

For myself, I know that my greatest joy comes from being of service to others, whether it’s by direct one-on-one work or engaging in efforts that benefit many at once.

My sense of self resonated today with these words contained within Salmon reversed:

“If you have been seeking the approval of others by being a follower instead of listening to your personal knowing, it may be time to reclaim you own authority. (…)  If so, get out of your head and get back to the wisdom found in your heart and feelings. Like Salmon, people sometimes need to backtrack upstream to see where life’s meandering tributaries flowed away from the original headwaters of their certainty, wisdom, instinct, and inner knowing.”

Yes, these words struck a chord. And underneath that Salmon reversed? Butterfly. CHANGE.

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Silence Abounds – Day 434

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Wolf Blanket – Photo: L. Weikel

Silence Abounds

It’s time to step back; it’s time to withdraw into the place where silence monopolizes all conversation, where silence abounds.

Sometimes silence imparts more wisdom and nuance than any number of words could possibly convey, no matter how artfully cobbled together or intricately woven.

Silence is not to be feared. I say that, and I write that; and I know it to be true. Yet no matter how much we may crave it, no matter how earnestly we may seek it out, when it arrives, we sometimes aren’t quite sure what to make of it. Or do with it.

For my part, I intend to revel in it.

Horrors or Riches

I intend to dive into the deep end of the pool of silence I’ve recently found myself encountering.

There very well may be unspeakable horrors waiting just underneath the surface. My toes, as they tread the silence, may graze the skin of these monsters, sensing ever so fleetingly the stubbled, clammy surface of half dead lies, that thing that wants only to consume voraciously, without discrimination, refusing all limits.

And there just as easily – and likely – may be untold riches waiting to be discovered in the silence. The trick is not allowing the monsters to distract or dissuade.

The trick is also never assuming you’ll always recognize the monsters. Or the riches either, for that matter.

Sometimes they’re nested within each other, making the whole process intricately more complicated and fascinating.

Silence abounds. All bets are off. I wonder what I’ll discover.

Cletus knows – Photo: L. Weikel

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Sunset Dakini – Day Seventy Six

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Photo by L.Weikel

Sunset Dakini         

We took a walk late this afternoon. I’m including a few photos I took of the western sky as we crested the hill about half a mile from our house. This is the place where we’re wowed most often by the artistry of our atmosphere.

When I took the photos, I knew the designs in the sky were remarkable. But sometimes it’s not until you get home and you have a chance to look at them in a different context that the images make an even greater impression.

When I saw the first wispy squiggles taking shape, I almost ignored them. My attention was much more powerfully drawn to the burning brilliance of the sun’s rays blazing through the gaps in the clouds just above the horizon.

But something called to me. Those much paler clouds that looked like a feeble attempt at calligraphy asked to be noticed.

And as I did indeed start paying attention to that seemingly less dramatic part of the sky, those strokes of water vapor seemed to coalesce into a face of startling ferocity. Indeed, it appeared to be swooping down toward Earth in a fiery whoosh.

The word that came to mind was dakini.

mayumioda.org

Photo by L. Weikel

I honestly had no idea I was going to write about these photos – nor, especially, of my thought, “Dakini,” that had whispered in the back of my mind when I first looked at the photos I’d taken on my iPhone. Consequently, I’m a bit astonished that my Dakini – my “sky-goer” or “space dancer” which is what the Tibetan word for dakini, khandro, means, is asking to be acknowledged.

But here she is. And this is the little bit I’m finding in my brief search of the word. I refer you to the website from which I’m offering a few quotes, Dakini Power.

Dakini (Sanskrit): A Female Messenger of Wisdom

“A female embodiment of enlightenment is called a dakini. In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. (…) “‘The dakinis are the most important elements of the enlightened feminine in Teibten Buddhism,’ says American teacher Tsultrim Allione. ‘(…) Sometimes the dakinis appear as messengers, sometimes as guides, and sometimes as protectors.’”

I don’t honestly know why I’ve written this post. Perhaps the Dakini (it feels right to capitalize this, I’m not sure why – probably out of respect?) simply wanted to be acknowledged.

I’d like to think perhaps she is acting as a messenger to me. Perhaps she is bringing me some wisdom, perhaps tonight in the dreamtime. Or maybe simply by spurring me to look her up in this way and write about her ever so briefly, I will receive some transmission.

Who knows?

From what I can tell, I’m no further along in my understanding of what the message that I described in yesterday’s post is about.

But I saw a dakini in the sky tonight. That’s something.

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