And then you return to your own home...the holiday festivities have drawn to a close, the leftovers have already been exhausted, and you have to return to "reality." Your adult self comes back into focus. The bills have been arriving in the post, the animals need collecting from the kennel, the employer is expecting you on Monday.
Yup...reality.
The day of a return to reality is the loneliest and quietest and most "blue" days. It's a day when all you desire is to wrap up in a blanket, hold firmly to the relaxation and pampering (self-given or offered by family and friends) that you've experienced during your holiday, and hide from what you "know" is awaiting you in the morning. Not really a wise idea, but it's comforting.
But tomorrow always arrives. The employer always expects you, the bills (and junk mail) always turn up, and the animals need taking care of. And, you always have a holiday to look toward for another respite.
If all we look for, though, are the "calendar" holidays, our lives sink into despondency. On the Path I'm traveling, there are "mini" holidays from the world that incorporate the world and embrace it. All you have to do is make time--not an easy thing--to hold tight to the offered moments (what my hub' and I call "stolen moments" for a myriad of reasons) and utilize them. Embrace the five or ten minutes or the half hour when the animals (or children) are resting...and clear your mind to everything but the moment. Just "be."
If more people "got that" and held fast to the moments, it would be a much calmer, friendlier, more secure world. We'd be grounded...less apt to take things at face value only. We'd not stress so much...not worry so much...not judge so much. We'd be humane humans once again. The second half of a homecoming would be just as embraced as the first half, for we'd be less dependent on others to make our peacefulness and warmth FOR us--it would be a seamless whole.
So, welcome home, y'all.
In the softness of the forthcoming moonlight......welcome Home.
30 November 2008
27 November 2008
Homecomings...
There's a pleasant promise in coming home to one's familial domicile...at times mingled with the dread of past experiences. Which rules the visit is a matter of personal identification...the ability to both overlook and embrace "what's always been".
The soothing childhood sounds come back to you--coffee brewing in the morning, the crisp snap of the newspaper, the banter of parents (usually speaking about you as if you're still 13 which, on these trips, is almost alright). The sensations of not having to do or be or decide are welcomed for you've returned to that nurturing nest where you are NOT the primary.
This homecoming...this "childhood revisited"...is the way we live in Her. She nurtures and we honor her with our development. We keep coming back...weekly, monthly, at LEAST on the Wheel's design. It's our homecoming. The sights and sounds and scents of Nature's cycle...they're as warming and welcoming and as infinitely familiar as these family gatherings in which we participate.
What is Thanksgiving's purpose? It's a day to celebrate and remember and bring together. It's the national recognition of what's "important." So, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you visiting the Lair today....and Blessed Be!
The soothing childhood sounds come back to you--coffee brewing in the morning, the crisp snap of the newspaper, the banter of parents (usually speaking about you as if you're still 13 which, on these trips, is almost alright). The sensations of not having to do or be or decide are welcomed for you've returned to that nurturing nest where you are NOT the primary.
This homecoming...this "childhood revisited"...is the way we live in Her. She nurtures and we honor her with our development. We keep coming back...weekly, monthly, at LEAST on the Wheel's design. It's our homecoming. The sights and sounds and scents of Nature's cycle...they're as warming and welcoming and as infinitely familiar as these family gatherings in which we participate.
What is Thanksgiving's purpose? It's a day to celebrate and remember and bring together. It's the national recognition of what's "important." So, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you visiting the Lair today....and Blessed Be!
23 November 2008
Baking...
There's something peaceful and centering about baking bread. The velvety softness of freshly-sifted flour...the warm, sour smell of proofed yeast...the constant rhythm of kneeding the dough and forming the loaves or boules or what-have-you.
I've been baking. It's my celebration of the season. It's bringing nature's bounty--wheat, millet, barley, oats, nuts and seeds, etc.--into a flavorful concoction that can be shared with friends and family. It's celebrating the bounty She offers to us...and embracing it as it should be.
Looking out my kitchen window as I mix or kneed or wait for the oven timer to "ding", I can see the chill breezes play in the pecan tree. Squirrels scamper in its limbs, glut themselves on the last nuts clinging on the branches, nest in its topmost reaches. Smoke lazily billows from our neighbor's chimney. The errant cat wanders through from yard to yard...anticipating dinner and watching for diversions (a mouse, bug, or bird).
The world is starting to bed down for its annual rest....and I'm baking...'putting up' for the forthcoming season as it were. I've a cup of soothing tea beside me, bread scenting the entire house as it bakes in the kitchen behind me, and sleeping pets purring and snoring as appropriate all around.
That I could freeze this moment in perpetuity....
I've been baking. It's my celebration of the season. It's bringing nature's bounty--wheat, millet, barley, oats, nuts and seeds, etc.--into a flavorful concoction that can be shared with friends and family. It's celebrating the bounty She offers to us...and embracing it as it should be.
Looking out my kitchen window as I mix or kneed or wait for the oven timer to "ding", I can see the chill breezes play in the pecan tree. Squirrels scamper in its limbs, glut themselves on the last nuts clinging on the branches, nest in its topmost reaches. Smoke lazily billows from our neighbor's chimney. The errant cat wanders through from yard to yard...anticipating dinner and watching for diversions (a mouse, bug, or bird).
The world is starting to bed down for its annual rest....and I'm baking...'putting up' for the forthcoming season as it were. I've a cup of soothing tea beside me, bread scenting the entire house as it bakes in the kitchen behind me, and sleeping pets purring and snoring as appropriate all around.
That I could freeze this moment in perpetuity....
Welcome to the Lair....
Merry Meet and welcome!
'Tis the time when Autumn draws to a close...a time of renewal. This is my favorite time of the year. The trees have almost exhausted their showiness, the breezes foretell the coming sleep, and the air is scented with the warmth of family fireplaces. It's the homecoming time.
And you discovered this little home....so I welcome you in.
Were you here in person, I'd pour you a cup of soothing tea, slice a bit of homemade bread, and offer you a moment of respite in front of a crackling fire...surrounded by books and warmth and comfort.
'Tis the time when Autumn draws to a close...a time of renewal. This is my favorite time of the year. The trees have almost exhausted their showiness, the breezes foretell the coming sleep, and the air is scented with the warmth of family fireplaces. It's the homecoming time.
And you discovered this little home....so I welcome you in.
Were you here in person, I'd pour you a cup of soothing tea, slice a bit of homemade bread, and offer you a moment of respite in front of a crackling fire...surrounded by books and warmth and comfort.
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