Spiritual

The Sistine Chapel in 360˚

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Here’s a little treat for you. In my restless state, I was revisiting some places on the web I particularly enjoyed, and this is one of them.

Have you ever been to see the Sistine Chapel? I have not, but would love to. If you would, too, then take a look at this fabulous web site where you can view the entire Sistine Chapel in 360 glorious degrees. Your cursor will move the chapel in any direction, and you can also zoom in on any detail. Perhaps one of the most wonderful features of the site is the sacred music that is playing in the background. I was working earlier, (after I’d taken my tour), and just listening to the music while I worked.

This may be the closest I … or you … ever get to this miraculous piece of art. Hope you are inspired …

A Short Film – to Touch Your Heart, to Change the World

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

That’s a pretty big promise, I know. But don’t take my word for it. Take a mere 10 minutes from your life and be moved by this amazing film, “Change for A Dollar,” by Sharon Wright. Don’t miss this. Watch here, or for a bigger view, just click the link above.

 

 

 

Synchronicity

/ still a dreamer

I’m a big believer in synchronicity, which is simply to say, there are no coincidences. I’m also of the mind that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Or, in some cases, appears again.

I am currently reading The Four Agreements, A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz, a Toltec nagual, or shaman. It’s my own book, and this is probably the third time I am reading it, and as with most books of this kind, gaining a deeper understanding of Ruiz’s words. The synchronicity? Two different people mentioned this book to me in a space of as many days. I hadn’t even thought of The Four Agreements in quite some time, but loved it when I read it. So I soon found myself sitting on the floor in front of that bookcase starting it again.

I believe when we have such experiences, we are being pointed in a direction of something we need to know or which will benefit us in some way. So I am again reading about Ruiz’ four (seemingly) simple guides to a meaningful life: Be impeccable with your word, Don’t take anything personally, Don’t make assumptions, and Always do your best. It may seem like something you’ve read before, but written in the framework of the Toltec wisdom, it is quite different.

Some of these lessons are easier to learn than others, some have more personal meaning, and some are exactly what I am focusing on in my life right now. You might find the same. A little Toltec wisdom might be just what you need now, too. After all, you did come to this blog post, didn’t you?

Chronos vs. Kairos

/ still a dreamer

How interesting that chronos and kairos should appear in my reading materials in so close a time frame. Not long ago, I read Madeleine L’Engle writing about it. Then on October 12th, in one of my favorite books, Simple Abundance – A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, Sarah Ban Breathnach addressed it. And as always, these “chance” messages were of particular relevance to my life at the moment, and my feelings of far too much to do in too little time all too often. Might you find yourself in here, too?

Ms. Ban Breathnach defines chronos as how we try and control time – clocks, calendars, datebooks, agendas, beepers, etc. Chronos is time at its worst and a delusion of grandeur – it is the world’s time.

Kairos, on the other hand, is time at its best. Kairos is transcendence, infinity, joy, passion, the sacred. Kairos let’s go and allows us to escape our own confines. It is spirit’s time.

We, who never seem to have enough time, are at the mercy of chronos … or allow ourselves to be. But we need kairos so desperately. We do already know it – it’s any time when we have been so wondrously involved in what we are doing at the moment that we lose track of worldly time and just are. And there we find joy, rapture, oneness with our own spirit.

But how to be in more kairos? Ms. Ban Breathnach recommends the following:

“* By slowing down
* By concentrating on one thing at a time
* By going about what we are doing as if it were the only thing worth doing at that moment
* By pretending we have all the time in the world, so that our subconscious will kick in and make it so
* By making time
* By taking time.”

She says, “It only takes a moment to cross over from chronos into kairos, but it does take a moment. All that kairos asks is our willingness to stop running long enough to hear the music of the spheres.

“Today be willing to join in the dance.

“Now you’re in kairos.”

Where Is the Joy?

/ still a dreamer

If you are a woman and you are reading this, then there’s a good chance that you are struggling to find the joy in life. Today’s pace, especially for women, is more frenetic than ever.  Many of us are working, maintaining a home for ourselves and others, raising children, and running like crazy. We are often overwhelmed and exhausted. Despite all this, we may still be reasonably happy, or … we may be downright miserable.

I do believe our natural soul state is one of love and joy. And that it easily gets lost in the pace of everyday life. As I am reading Marianne Williamson’s book, A Woman’s Worth, I find myself dwelling on this section where she writes about joy. She writes that joy is what happens when we recognize how good things are, how beautiful and amazingly powerful we are as women. And she adds that we can create joy in our daily life; we can decide to be happy. It may take our attention and some effort to focus on this, but it is possible.

I know, and perhaps you have, too, the feeling of real joy. For me, it is a distinct feeling that all is right in the world; all is well and perfect at that moment. The fact is that we can experience this feeling so much more often by focusing on the good, and on the amazing beings we, as women, are. I want more joy; how about you? Reading A Woman’s Worth is just fueling that desire for joy right now. This might be a book you’d be interested in if you’d like to discover more of your own joy and your own worth in the world.

Without ever getting into a women’s rights kind of attitude, but always staying in the positive and the uplifting, Williamson writes about how women have lost their place and been kept down throughout much of history, and conversely, of all we are and can be.

The passage that I love in this section is as follows. “A joyful woman, merely by being, says it all. The world is terrified of joyful women. Make a stand. Be one anyway.”